COOKING & CARDIO

I Love My Dinner Plates - Is That Weird?

2008-10-30T13:17:00.000-07:00

So while traveling, I'm thinking of the things I want to cook when I get home. And I'm thinking of the plates I'm going to serve said cooked food on. Hubs & I just moved into a new apartment and *finally* opened all of our wedding gifts and are using them. It makes such a difference to have really pretty, "grown-up" tableware.

Don't know if I have many readers, but if you're reading, do you have any favorite patterns? Mine is Portmeirion Botanic Roses :)

How Would I Travel Without Starbucks.....

2008-10-30T04:30:00.000-07:00

Nevermind the fact that I completely rely on it for caffeine when I have to be at work at 6am (or beg a coworker to bring it in for me when I have to be in at 5!) but Starbucks is awesome for eating when traveling. No, I'm not talking about the pumpkin bread, rainbow cookies, or apple fritters (omg, amazing!). It's their oatmeal that I've come to absolutely love.

It helps that it's getting cooler, but being able to run be a place and get coffee and a filling good source of protein and fiber for not crazy calories is wonderful. I've also gotten it when taking early flights at the airport, or being stuck with delays. Definitely keeps me full for a while, so I'm not tempted to hit up the vending machines.

I think everything Starbucks has been doing lately to push nutrition - their healthy sandwiches, oatmeal, sugar-free syrups, fruit cups, etc. - has been great. Their nutrition information is also readily available on their website. True, they still have some outrageously high-cal treats, but it's called personal responsibility people. I do enjoy the occasional apple fritter, but I work it into my day.

Back to my skinny vanilla latte and catching up on email :)...

Starting back up...

2008-10-29T16:34:00.000-07:00

Phew, this past month has been BUSY! I had my one year wedding anniversary (does that mean I'm not a newlywed anymore??), traveled a whole bunch for work, and moved into a new apartment. November and December are going to be very low travel months, so I'm hoping to get back into a gym routine and get settled into our new place.

I'm trying to plan out our meals for each week. I tend to buy too much food, and want to try too many recipes, so I'm going to plan to have the same meals for breakfast and lunch for me and the hubs, and rotate dinner meals. This will also help me eat better, if I know that the majority of the day I have meals planned. Let's see how well it goes!

This weekend will be food shopping, so I'll post on Sunday how that goes. Until then, it's trying to get by with eating out for every meal and airport food. One good thing about flying back home on Halloween night is that I won't be buying (and subsequently eating!) any Halloween candy. I will miss seeing all the cute costumes though...especially the ones I bought for my dog :).

Traveling and Eating Well

2008-09-03T16:50:00.000-07:00

Ugh, business trips. My job includes far too many of them. And unfortunately, they're not to places known for healthy and light food. Not to offend anyone, but traveling in the south is tough. In a land of BBQ, buffets, and fried food, trying to eat well is a pain. (I'm from the NYC area, so it's quite a big change for me!)

Add to that 12 hour days on my feet, and the prospect of the gym just flies out the window. If I can really get my traveling under control, I think that's a huge part of getting healthier and happier.

I'm trying to make September a really healthy month. I got a workout in on the 1st, and tracked my calories fully for the past two days. Today I was flying here, so I gave myself some slack - flying always throws me off, so it's eat whatever I can stomach.

I just found out that the Starbucks here is carrying the new breakfast items - I can't wait to try the oatmeal. And they are now promoting their whey protein to add into drinks - that'll definitely help me meet my protein goals. Over the weekend I had the veggie egg white flatbread sandwich at Dunkin Donuts - so good! Too bad they don't have DD down here!

Alright, off to watch America's Next Top Model - such a guilty pleasure, I love it.

Perfect Day for a Bike Ride

2008-08-17T11:05:00.000-07:00

Today is absolutely gorgeous :). Hubby & I dragged out our bikes and went on an hour long bike ride. His bike is pretty sporty, but mine is very girly and perfect for rides around the park. The pic above is of my bike.

I wore my heart rate monitor to see how good of a workout the bike gave me - turns out, a good one! A one hour ride burned about 550 calories. We had a good amount of uphill biking, and only stopped twice to have some water.

I got my heart rate monitor about 3 months ago, and it's been well worth the investment. I paid $150 for it, and in turn I've learned how to make my workouts more effective. The first time I had it on, I went to the gym and did my usual workout on the elliptical. Ha! I didn't get my heart rate up that high at all, and I kept slowing my pace and my HR dropped. Since then I've learned how to get my heart rate up more consistently (running and especially the stair-climber) and how to maintain it. It's really helped shape my workouts and help me get more out of them. Plus, it's much more accurate than the machines or just using a calculator online.

Now to relax and straighten up for the rest of the day :). I love lazy Sundays.....

The Incredible Inedible Egg?

2008-08-16T11:03:00.000-07:00

Ok, here's a confession....I HATE eggs. When I was younger I liked them and would snack on hard-boiled eggs. But then as my eating habits changed I started to find the smell of cooked eggs just repulsive. Add to that a year and a half of being vegan when I avoided them completely and now I can barely choke them down.

A little over two years ago I decided I wanted to eat egg white omelets (for health value, protein, etc.) and can now do that as long as they have cheese - goat cheese is the best - or lots of veggies and a ton of hot sauce. This morning I tried to have scrambled eggs whites along with some veggie sausage patties and 3 small pancakes I made, but it just wasn't working. I tried dipping them into Grey Poupon, but the eggy flavor still came through. Maybe I should've tried hot sauce? I would just really like to be able to whip them up quickly in the morning and have them as a nice protein boost for the day.

I guess I should just stick to omelets! I have another recipe from Everyday Food for an Egg White Omelet with Spinach and Cottage Cheese. I have spinach in my fridge, so maybe I'll pick up some cottage cheese later to try it tomorrow morning. The recipe isn't online, but another blogger has it posted: http://sweetandsaucy.wordpress.com/2008/06/09/egg-white-omelet-with-spinach-and-cottage-cheese/

Off to the dog park for a perfect Saturday with lots of little dogs running around :)

Dinner Tonight

2008-08-15T14:26:00.000-07:00

Here's what I have planned for dinner tonight:

Spinach and brie chicken with tomato orzo

Leaping Lizard 2006 Chardonnay

Sugar-free chocolate pudding and raspberries for dessert

I haven't made the recipe before, but I got it online from Everyday Food magazine (a GREAT magazine with easy, simple, delicious recipes). The recipe can be found here: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/spinach-and-brie-chicken-with-tomato-orzo

I don't eat much chicken and only recently started cooking it as I used to be a full-fledged vegetarian who had also dabbled in veganism. But, since I got married and my husband is definitely more of a meat-and-potatoes guy, I've started cooking meat and have even been eating some. I've been sticking to chicken and fish, and I don't really see myself branching out into red meat.

As for the menu, Leaping Lizard is also one of my favorite types of wine. They are really reasonably priced (<$15) and have a great chardonnay and cabernet.

I'll post later how dinner turns out :)

Update: Dinner was good. The chicken came out well, and I used toothpicks to help hold it together. I wasn't thrilled with the tomato orzo though - needed more of a flavor boost.

Pilates for Pink

2008-08-15T13:43:00.000-07:00

I subscribe to SHAPE magazine (along with a slew of other health-related magazines) and recently saw an ad about an upcoming event - Pilates for Pink. I first discovered Pilates about 10 years ago, and while I haven't been practicing it for a while it's always something I go back to. I really think it makes a difference in creating lean, long, and strong muscles. As someone who really doesn't want to "bulk" it's a perfect fit.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the practice, it was started in 1912 by Joseph Pilates. He created the method to help rehabilitate detainees in an internment camp with exercises mostly confined to bedridden movement. This led to the present mat exercises, and equipment such as bed springs were used, leading to techniques such as the Pilates Reformer.

After emigrating to the US, Joseph Pilates continued the practice by opening a fitness studio and working with many dancers from the New York City Ballet. From then on, Pilates grew and was carried on from his students, and their students and so on. Today you can find many Pilates studios, as well as classes offered at most gyms. The mat classes are the most popular, but you can also find classes using the Reformer. I've taken a Refomer class, and the amount of control you need to stabilize your muscles and movements are incredible - definitely have on my list to take more of those.

Among the many benefits of Pilates, you'll often hear about how it creates a long, lean, sleek body without creating bulky muscles. It also can help improve posture, balance, and flexibility while making you become more connected with your body by being aware of your breathing and how you carry yourself. There is also a focus on your "core" - the abdominal muscles that help support your body and are utilized in many movements.

Back to Pilates for Pink, it's a awareness initiative for The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. There are giveways, products, classes, etc. I'm all signed up to go and am looking forward to it! I think it's a great way to support my health and the health of other women. For those of you in the NYC area, the event is on September 28. And if you're not in the area, there are products on the website and other ways you can support!

http://www.pilatesforpink.com/

"Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness" - Joseph Pilates

Pilates history from http://www.pilates.com/ and http://www.pilates.about.com/

Getting Started

2008-08-15T12:35:00.001-07:00

Just a quick little post to get started. Will have more up later, but didn't want this area all blank!