Fighting the Pudge

2011 is Drawing to a Close

2011-12-30T19:36:00.002-06:00

I am watching "Spirit of the Marathon" on Netflix right now and it is just the boost I needed. I ran my October 29th 1/2 marathon in Greenville, SC and felt great. My buddy Mel trained and ran right along side me. The ankle really held up and I was quite pleased. This was by far the most well organized and exciting race I have done to date. The best part was meeting my running hero Jeff Galloway the night before when my husband went to a dinner with me and waited while I got to chat with Jeff for a short bit. What a terrific man. He makes all the time in the world to really talk to people. The following Saturday I joined a Galloway training group and have met a terrific group of men and woman. We have been training for the 26.2 with Donna in Jacksonville, FL (I am running the half). This group has given me the missing sense of community I had been longing for and has helped me to become a fast runner. I've made several new friends and feel terrific going into this New Year with a good deal of training already under my belt. This next year will definitely bring a marathon! Happy New Year! Happy Running! 26.2 I see you!

First Day of Fall

2011-09-24T10:16:00.003-05:00

It's September, and the crisp weather feels great. I sprained my ankle July 26th while training for my October 29th marathon. I had to wear a "space boot" for a few weeks and start a physical therapy regimen. It has now been almost two months and I have been off the trail almost this whole time. I just went for my first run this morning with my group and it felt awesome. We completed just over 2 1/2 miles and I was so happy to be out this morning. I have had a few nice walks with the dog these past two Saturday's, but I am anxious to see how my October race will go. I have decided to downgrade to the 1.2 marathon, as I have been out of training for too long. I'll schedule another one for several months out and get back into training. So nice to be back!

13.1!!!!

2011-04-10T08:03:00.010-05:00

On April 2, 2011, I completed my first half marathon training run ever! Mel, Brandon, and I had an awesome morning on Swamp Rabbit Trail and we finished with a killer up hill to the coffee shop. Danielle and Jenny joined us for the last 4 miles, and we were all laughing at ourselves when it was time to leave the table and go home...there was a lot of moaning to accompany our stiffness. We wore it like a trophy!

To date I have lost 8lbs! I have always exercised, but nothing has ever made the weight come off. I was so excited to see 161lbs on the scale this morning. I just might actually see the 150s soon. I never thought that would be possible.

I have also been pleasantly surprised at how much my running ability has changed. I have been running 4.5 miles every Thursday with a friend and working up to 0 walk breaks to change up the distance run/walk training we are using for the Marathon. I still need small walk breaks sometimes, and take them, but it is so much easier now.

The high school where I work hosted a 5K race yesterday (April 9, 2011) to support two wonderful women and their fight against breast cancer. Christie, one of the two amazing women, is a runner! She completed 6 miles before the race, and another 6 after. What a rock star!

This is Jessica, my Thursday running buddy, and I at the finish line.

It was hot and muggy, and I ran the whole thing just to see if I could! It felt amazing. I finished in 38 minutes, and then discovered the distance ended up being 3.5 miles instead of 3.18...so that's even better. I won a $10 restaurant gift certificate in a raffle and had a free massage too!

I was looking through some old photos and came across this one from the summer of 2004.

I was 25 and about 145lbs. That's a 16lb difference from my current weight. What a difference in my face! But, I am really seeing some changes just in the 8lbs I have lost. I would love to reach this weight again :-) That's my current goal. I've never set a weight goal before, ever. So, here's to it!

Let the Torture Begin!

2011-03-06T19:29:00.022-06:00

Okay, so this has been a great weekend. Despite all the crappy rain we've had, I've had a very successful running experience these past few days and weeks. I am so thankful for my Crim Training Run experience as an early runner! Going from a sometimes jogger and walker (thanks mom and dad and good old Graytrax Rd.) to completing a 10 mile race over the course of a summer training program has served me well these past few months. Based on Jeff Galloway's marathon training method of run/walk right from the beginning, I have enjoyed the experience relatively injury free and the mindset that I can complete long distances with the proper training.

Meeting Jeff Galloway in Flushing park all those years ago was such an awesome experience. The one thing I remember the most was a young woman asking him what the best way to train for hills was! He tried hard to stifle a laugh and responded with this wisdom, "To train for hills, you must run hills." :-)!

Three years of grad school, four and a half years of teaching, and the death of my father has put a lot of distance between the road and me. Yes, I certainly continued to exercise, jogged occasionally, and kept fit through the grad school part, as I was working at the Y as a lifeguard and swim instructor and working out in between shifts, but these past few years have taken the worst toll on my drive, energy, and belly. I am looking forward to the days when I can button my nice tops without gaping holes between the buttons.

I have continually gained weight since I have been teaching, and especially since my dad died just over two years ago from brain cancer. I jogged with a co-worker once a week early on in teaching, but after she transferred, I didn't keep it up. It's funny how I always seem to come back to the YMCA though. It has always been a strong part of me since the age of 19 when Jim Delp hired me for my first summer job at Camp Copneconic . We had a nice chat earlier this evening, and after many years it seems as if no time has passed at all and I was so pleased to hear that he and Susan were doing well.

I met with Gretchen, this tiny spitfire of a trainer at the Y today, and she put together a program that I am quite excited about and terrified of at the same time. I met with her last week for the first time to have a fitness test done. Both Mel and Danielle have done this and had workouts designed to help them meet training goals. So glad I am not going through this alone! I have hit a bit of a wall with my training and need to do more. WELL! IT STARTS TOMORROW! OMG!

So, I have been pretty successful with using my heart rate monitor as my main guide. I have been religiously tracking my workouts, heart rate, and completing around 800-1000 training load points each week for 5 weeks now. My Timex chart suggests this level to complete a 10K. I ran my first 10K race yesterday morning with Mel by my side, run/walking for an average pace of 13 minutes per mile and I felt great when it was done. We finished in 1:22:??. I was quite happy with that time. My legs were so heavy and my shins were hurting pretty severely the first 2 miles, but I was warmed up by mile 2.5 and felt good the rest of the way. I am always pumped before a race and was in a fairly peppy mood for all of it. Some of the hills still kicked my butt, but we had been training on them for over a month, so I knew they were coming. This is always a good thing for me.

Progress has been both good and slow coming. It's funny, but I keep thinking at certain times, "how in the world can I work in more training or ever increase my endurance!?!?" Well, here are a few wonderful moments I have experienced: (1) A few weeks ago, about the 15th of the month, I logged onto Spark People and remembered that I had taken my measurements a month before. I scoured around for the tape measure and literally jumped up and down when I discovered I had actually lost 1.5 inches on my waist, an inch on my right thigh (the only one I measured), and a 1/2 inch on my hips! (2) It wasn't until 2 weeks ago that the scale has actually started to cooperate as well. I started out at 169lbs (my highest ever!) back in January, and have now reached 163.5. That might not seem like much weight loss, but just seeing that "3" in 163.5 was a dream come true! My Timex chart says to maintain your current weight, you should complete between 700-1000 points per week, so that's not much different than for completing a 10K! So, it wasn't that big of a surprise as to why it wasn't coming off (I eat fairly well). It was still frustrating none the less because I have been working my keaster off! (3) I added a Thursday 4-5.5 mile park run with Jessica about 4 weeks ago where I am pretty much running the whole thing without walk breaks, for endurance. This past Thursday was actually pretty easy for me compared to when I started! Score. (4) I timed my mile for the first time in years; 10 minutes!

This brings me back to my first meeting with my Y Wellness trainer, Gretchen. I had to complete a 3 minute step test, a 1 minute barbell (35lb) test, stretch test, and some other stuff. I performed well above average on everything. Then came the fat content! Nail biting, but I was still expecting it to be kind of high. It was! 30.8%! Okay, I am over that now, and working to become much more healthy, especially around the middle because that is not a safe place for me to be carrying the majority of my fat. I had already run for the day, so Gretchen had me come back today for a new workout regimen.

She knows I am training for a marathon on October 29th, my 6th anniversary, and is working with that. I expected some sort of weight routine, but I was quite wrong! She wants me taking a lot of the Y's group classes and changing up my routine. She know that training with my heart rate monitor has been a source of encouragement for me and has worked with that too. So here it is...

Starting Monday, I will be taking 2 one hour classes, Intense Fit and Body Sculpt. Tuesday is either run or Pilate (really looking forward to this one). Wednesday, she wants me to take a cycle class, but I am switching to my second Body Sculpt class instead (she wants me to do that on Saturday morning, but I am not willing to compromise my Saturday group run!!) Thursday is a run with Jessica and then on to Body Combat. Intense Fit on Friday's, and my group run on Saturday. Gretchen has me doing this for the next 5 weeks and says to expect not to be able to walk too well this week! She also expects me to start seeing some results in about 2 weeks! :-) If it's too much, she'll make some changes, but it is this type of push that I really need! My long run yesterday was 9.5 miles ( I went to the Y later after the race to do an additional 3.3 mile run on the treadmill to complete this) and I have longer ones coming as I train for my first marathon. My Timex chart suggests to be completing 1500 to 2000 training points for a marathon; this will certainly get me there.

So, between following Jeff Galloway's run/walk marathon training schedule (he wants first timers to be doing a 3 min run/1 min walk), using my heart rate monitor and chart, upping my game with my Gretchen weapon, and training for those long runs with my friends, I figure I've got some good days ahead. My next 2 races are a 5K at my school on April 9th and my first 1/2 marathon on April 30th! My longest run ever is 12 miles (CRIM training run ages ago) and 9.5 yesterday. I am on my way! Let the new torture begin!

Beautiful Weekend Weather!

2011-02-13T10:56:00.021-06:00

Stephen and I just returned from a beautiful walk downtown Greenville with our dog Charlie. The weather this weekend has just been gorgeous and has really helped the winter blues to start going away. This brisk walk to the dog park and back helped get my workout week off to a good start. Thanks Stephen for your Sunday morning motivation and energy! Even Charlie seemed to need some real outdoor time. He had great fun romping around with the other dogs.

After the race...
I completed the Green Valley Road Race 8K yesterday and was so proud of Margie and Danielle for completing their 2nd ever race! Mel and Brandon really pushed themselves and finished well ahead! A nice surprise was to see Jessica at the race too!

The course was not well marked at all, so we ended up completing somewhere around 5.3-5.5 miles instead of 5. Jessica ended up doing an extra 2 miles! She was running in the same race and they sent her a different way than us!?? :-( It was weird, but I still had a nice time.

I ended up downtown later in the afternoon because it had finally warmed up from 22 to 53 degrees! Much better than the freezing morning temp! And every family and jogger in Greenville seemed to have the same idea as me; be outside! I ended up briskly walking another 2.9 miles for a total of around 8 miles for the day.

Now that I am tracking my training load points each week, I knew I needed more to reach my goal for the week, so this extra walk got me there. I want to run the 10k I have planned for March 5th with good effort. To do this, I need to be completing between 800 to 1,000 points per week. Last week I logged a total of 831pts and this week was 925! Yeah! :-) By training this way, I can really see how much effort I am exerting and I am very mindful about the effort I put into each workout. I didn't do this before and this is really helpful. I am still using Jeff Galloway's training run distance schedule for the 1/2 marathon (April 30th) and I am doing pretty well with my distance, but I am getting to the point now that I am going to have to step it up even more during the weeks to come. Joining Jessica on Thursday after school for speed/endurance runs will definitely help me here. Now I have had incredible energy this week; I just pray this continues through eating better and getting a good nights sleep.

Thanks to Lauren Runs' latest blog post, I have an idea of how to meet my long run goals and still continue with my Saturday group planned runs when our distance goals are not the same. So this coming Saturday, I am scheduled to train for 8 miles, but we are currently run/walking our upcoming 10k road course. I think I will attempt to go out earlier than normal and run 2 miles before I meet with the group, so that I can log my 8 miles for the day. I wouldn't miss running with my friends on Saturday morning for the world! This is my saving grace and motivation!!! However, the following Saturday calls for a shorter run of 3 miles, so should I meet up with them part way through their run? Hmmm. Reading other blogs and joining SparkPeople.com's 13.1 blog group has helped a ton. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Here's to a great week of warm weather! Boy is it needed. I've had some crappy motivation. It's the people around me completing goals and getting out there that keeps me going, like Mel Edwards and her super amazing goal-setting! Thanks everyone.

8K On the Horizon

2011-02-10T21:04:00.003-06:00

These past two weeks have been exhilarating, challenging, frustrating, painful, and so so satisfying!

Twelve days ago, on a Friday night, I hit the pool at the Y with a vengeance. The swim workout posted was for 3,250 yards and I knew I could do it. I made it to 2700 yards and got kicked out of the pool because the Y was closing. Booo! I didn't pay attention to the earlier closing hour. Oh well, 2700 yards! Woohoo!

But, I had to stop a few times to knead out an on setting charlie horse. This ended up plaguing me over the next week in the form of a severely tight and tender right calf muscle. It may not have helped that my Saturday group run consisted of a new 10K route. I tried to rest it for 2 days, but I felt the need to walk it out and see if that would make it feel better. I did that and it felt good (1 hour walk on the treadmill). I ended up running 4 miles on the treadmill the next night because I was both itching to get moving and moving just felt better. After talking to a Y Wellness trainer, I decided to take the next day off and rub it with bio freeze. That was a "duh" moment for me. I use that stuff on my back whenever I am having pain. Needless to say, resting, exercising, and gelling my calf all helped, but gosh was it painful to the touch.

The first Saturday after our 5K race took us to new heights. We mapped out our new 10K road race route for March 5th. This was a tough day for everyone as we were not all feeling our best. The next Saturday was much better. A much more positive attitude was buzzing for the group. I needed the run and the company because I had had a bad morning. I had to meet the group at Coffee to a Tea after they had completed the first mile and then I was good to go. It was such a beautiful, drizzly crisp morning. Lunch at the coffee shop after was the highlight :-).

On another note, I started using my heart rate monitor as a training tool. I've had it for months, and used it sometimes, but I never knew what a powerful tool it could be! Mel runs with one and I would sometimes hear her say she was working in a certain zone and meeting her 85% target hear rate. I was so curious about it that I pulled my HRM manual out and discovered a plethora of information. Oh man, was it frustrating and infuriating when I first tried following a sample workout and did a few of my normal ones, only to discover I was not working hard enough to keep my heart rate in my 85% target zone! I just didn't believe the numbers. I just decided to not stare at it and not worry about it. That was too frustrating. Low and behold, once I took to the streets and was running at my normal rate, my heart rate was cooperating too. I started keeping a chart logging roughtly how many minutes I was working in each of my heart rate zones (there are 5). There is a simple math formula to calculate minutes worked vs heart rate zone to yield a "training load." Timex's (my HRM brand) training chart suggests to complete a training load of 800-1000 points in a week to be able to complete a 10K, 700-1000 to maintain your current weight, and much more for that marathon I want to run this year. Once I felt comfortable changing up my running routine with my monitor, I really knew I had some powerful information in my hands.

I am an excel junkie and love charts and organization, so I converted my paper chart to an electronic one with pretty formulas that will give me immediate feedback after each workout. I am now able to walk, bike, run, and do all sorts of cardio workouts, enter my information, and visually see what my training load yielded for each workout and what my current total for the week is. It's awesome to compare one workout to another and see the numbers. Last weeks total was 831 points for may training load, so I was quite happy. So far this week, I am at 541.

I am running an 8K this Saturday and am quite looking forward to it. Danielle, Margie, and I will run it together. Mel and Brandon are going to go for their best time possible, as they both need qualifying times for placement in the Disney Marathon next January! Go Mel and Brandon Go!

I am not too worried about time on this one because I had a pretty hard run after work today with my friend Jessica. She is a runner! No 1/1 pace on this run. We had awesome weather and completed 4.6 miles through the park in 59 minutes. This included a potty break and several short walking breaks. My buns were feeling those hills. Jessica can do this with her hands tied and set a pace slower than she normally runs, but it kept me in my 85-90% heart rate zone for 54 minutes!! A few times I got over the 90% mark, so I cut it back there. I don't think I would have pushed myself that hard if I had gone by myself. So glad you decided to come out after all Jessica! We are going to make this a regular thing on Thursday's after work. I am really looking forward to becoming a faster runner and changing up my run/walk routine just for something different.

Here we come 8K!

Snowed In

2011-02-01T22:09:00.000-06:00

Happy February everyone! Chicago is currently covered under a fresh blanket of snow, as the 2011 Snowpocalypse has finally showed itself. The Windy City is supposed to get 18 inches of snow overnight and it's not supposed to stop snowing until Thursday. Wowsa! I think Punxsutawney Phil will predict that there's much more winter on the horizon come Groundhog's Day tomorrow.

Anyhow, here we are at another week! Ryan is in Berlin on business and man is quiet around our place. I've taken this time to myself to catch up on a few odds and ends. Last weekend, I did my fair share of cooking, too. I whipped up some grapefruit-orange juice, chili with ground turkey and some apple-cinnamon bars, some of which are included in today's post.

The last two days I've had my usual egg on plain seven-grain toast and an iced skim latte. But this time, I tried Eating Well's cranberry muesli. I have to say I was a little unsure about it at first -- I wasn't entirely sold on the slightly bitter taste. But this morning, I knew it was a keeper. Look at that color, too! What's not to love?

By the way, I have to apologize for this week's photos. Ryan took our nice camera to Berlin, naturally. Anyways, the cranberry muesli was super easy to make. No oven time, just some spare 5 minutes to mix the ingredients and voilà!

So back to this insane snow. Things didn't start to pick up until mid-afternoon today. Steph, my dad, and my mother-in-law all inquired if I had enough food on hand, haha. Anyhow, here's a snapshot of the action. Be sure to imagine lots of crazy blowing snow. The wind is still howling as I type this post.

Lunchtime featured an oldie but goodie: Chef Meg's tomato soup from SparkPeople. We had some in the freezer, and with Ryan being gone, I resorted to having some leftovers. I paired mine up with some dill crab salad on a napa cabbage leaf.

For dessert, I snuck in an apple-cinnamon fruit bar, one of Eating Well's many yummy and easy recipes. My camera wasn't exactly cooperating, so I had to borrow from a photo from EW.

Since it's winter, soups and chili are regularly on my mind. Tonight, I had some of my slow-cooker chili. My recipe is pretty traditional, but I use ground turkey, low sodium black beans and kidney beans, and a red pepper. On the side, I had a mixed greens salad with heirloom tomatoes, cucumber and slivered almonds topped with light balsamic vinaigrette from Kraft.

Prior to calling it a day, I pushed through 30 minutes on the elliptical machine and did 10 sets of 10 weights. WOO! I also skyped with my dear friend Raina, who has been sharing her fitness goals here. She turned a fabulous 33 years old yesterday -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRL!

Ok, it's just about time to hang out with Conan and enjoy some vanilla Chobani with fresh raspberries.

Thanks so much for reading! xx

Ten Days Later

2011-01-31T19:53:00.011-06:00

Body Moving: Well, it's been 10 days since my last post, and I am happy to report that I have not given up on Step Aerobics. I have been to 3 classes so far, and while I'm not ready to go to the head of the class, I'm sticking with it. I have definitely had my moments where I'm totally messing up, and I literally have to talk myself out of quitting (or giving the instructor dirty looks). But, I figure that as long as I'm moving my body, I'm getting a work out...and that is a vast improvement from where I was in December 2010. I have also incorporated into my workout a cardio kickbox class and some elliptical. "Variety", I think, is what will keep me exercising.

Good Eats: Thanks to Paula Deen at pauladeenmagazine.com, I have stumbled upon my most favorite lunchtime dish--Spicy tomato soup. What's even better is that the prep time is under 10 minutes! Just grab your crock pot and throw in the following ingredients:

1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
3 cups canned chicken broth
1 (29-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (29-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juice
2 dashes hot sauce
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon dried dill weed
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves

*Serves 6.

For a thicker version of the soup, Ms. Deen melts a 1/2 cup of butter in a saucepan on the stove and slowly stirs in a 1/2 cup of flour. After the combination is thick and creamy, she then adds it to the crock pot. I typically avoid this step, only to keep my soup on the healthy side.

For another tasty treat, try making mini-pizzas on wheat English muffins. I made mine with spaghetti sauce (rather than pizza sauce), low-fat mozzarella, and chopped yellow and orange peppers. This is a great, healthy alternative to your traditional greasy pizza. But, keep in mind they taste best when fresh out of the oven (rather than after being reheated in the microwave).

By the way, I baked these healthy treats at 350 degrees, for approximately 10 minutes, followed by 2 minutes under the broiler.

Let me know if you have any easy, healthy recipes to share!

Coming Out of the Fog

2011-01-24T22:08:00.000-06:00

Hiya dear blog friends! Well, here I am, back after a few weeks away. I promise you, I had every intention of blogging at least every other day. But as soon as I got back into it, the mother of all sinus infections took over my life. I am telling you, dudes, it was ridic! I felt pretty much out of it for two weeks, which means I did absolutely no working out. All I wanted to do was curl up under a blanket and sleep. And that I did, but toward the end, I was restless. But I did keep up with my healthy eating and here are some highlights.

Freshly-squeeze grapefruit-orange juice with turkey bacon and one egg:

Chef Meg's Tomato Soup (Spark People) with country bread and a mixed greens salad:

Sausage, Tomato, and Arugula Fettuccine (Cooking Light):

Spiced Cod with Broccoli-Quinoa Pilaf (Real Simple)

Shrimp Panzenella (Eating Well):

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili (Eating Well):

But here we are, it's another week and I'm finally getting my butt back into gear. so let's get to the present, shall well? Since getting sick, I've religiously made my own juice every week. I typically stay away from store bought juice due to the high sugar. But lately, I've only had a craving for citrus, so I've stuck with my grapefruit-orange recipe. I LOVE IT! Any juice fans out there? If so, what are your favorites?

Anyhow, for breakfast today, I had a small glass of grapefruit-orange juice and my usual iced skim latte. For the main entree, I cooked up Banana, Wheat Germ, and Oats, as featured in the January/February 2010 issue of Cooking Light. Lately, too, all I want for breakfast is something made with oats. I have always been a huge oatmeal fan, but I am super into finding new oatmeal-like recipes. This one was super easy. Top with bananas, a teaspoon of butter (I used ghee) and a tablespoon of brown sugar. Pretty yummy, although I might switch up the banana.

For lunch, Ryan and I resorted to one of our favorite cookbooks, Ellie Krieger's So Easy for her Tortellini-Spinach Soup. Love love love this one. Her recipe includes carrots, onion, celery and diced tomatoes and it's pretty hearty and filling. On the side, we had a mixed greens salad with cranberries, cherry tomatoes, walnuts, and fresh parmesan with a small dabble of Kraft's light balsamic vinaigrette.

I stuck to my regular water intake for the entire day and had zero cravings for snacks. The only thing I reached for was a dark chocolate calcium disc from Adora. This is huge, as I've been in a super-snack mood lately. When I was sick, I have to say I gave in to some of those cravings on occasion. But today was a success!

This post obviously includes a ton of magazine recipes and tonight's dinner also went that route with Real Simple's Grilled Lemon Chicken With Cabbage-Corn Slaw. Awesomely tasty! Chicken kind of bores me sometimes, but this particular recipe was zip-friendly.

Woo! I am really pleased with today's results. I even topped my evening off with 35 minutes on the elliptical and 10 minutes of weights. Woo! It felt great pushing through some of that ... I needed that feeling, especially after my lame sinus infection. Woo! (again!) A FAB start to my week and a FAB return to my weight-loss journey... thanks so much for all your kind words and for always reading Fighting the Pudge. May you have a fantastic evening! Time for Conan! xx

First 5K (in Several Years) Complete!

2011-01-22T12:54:00.015-06:00

What an exhilarating morning! Mel, Danielle, Margie, Brandon, and I ran the Greenville News 5K this morning. It was so much fun to stick together as a group and cheer each other on. This is the first race I have done in years and the excitement was in full force. I am running 5 miles (run/walk - that's our distance training method) on other days, so this wasn't too hard, but boy was it cold! A balmy 27!

Here we are about a 1/2 hour before the race and getting psyched up as we saw about 1,500 other runners/walkers join our ranks.

Mel made signs for Danielle and Margie to wear on their backs! Congrats to them for doing such an awesome job today!

At the start, Mel set the 1/1 pace time on her watch and we were off! Margie just started running last Saturday and she is already racing. I was so impressed. I love, love, love using my All Sports app on my phone to track our mileage along the way. It uses the GPS on my phone to track our route, time, and distance in real time. I love that type of feed back. I would like to find another 5K before the 10K on March 5th and really push it to see what sort of time I can make. This run was for fun and to do it as a group and wasn't too intimidating. I definitely can tell since I have been trying to work out 6 days a week in some form or fashion that my endurance is much better than 1 month ago, but I've still got a lot of training to do. I was so excited to get back into the pool too! I've had three good swims, 2 this week. I was so happy to swim 1800 yards on Tuesday (1 mile), then when I went to the pool on Thursday (STILL a bit sore from Danielle and Mel's killer "The Bruce" workout the night before at the Y) I was quite slow going. After about 500 yards in, I looked on the wall to see a "try me out" swim team workout printed on the dry erase board by the pool side. 3250 yards! The distance seemed mind boggling at first, but then I realized I used to do that daily for swim team in high school. Goes to show me that I had my mind pretty closed at going beyond 1800 yards. This changed my thinking and I swam 2000 yards in all. I'd like to tackle that workout as a cross training exercise, or at least work up to it in the next few weeks.

It was so exciting to cross the finish line and see the excitement on everyone's faces. There's just something about completing a race vs completing the same distance on non race days. Here we are after crossing the threshold!

I have to congratulate my team mate Mel for being such a leader and team motivator! Thanks to her, we have ourselves a wonderful little team and are quite determined! Running with a group is so motivating! Mel's lovely husband Brandon is always out there and sticking with us! My hats are off to Danielle and Margie, who are now officially racers! :-) I had so much fun. The best part was seeing Stephen and Thad (Danielle's husband) at the finish line. That means so much that they were there. It's exciting to have someone at the finish line to give you a smile and a hug.

After the race...
We've gotten into a nice little routine of going to a local coffee shop for a post run coffee warm up before we head our separate ways. Thumbs up to Coffee to a Tea!

On the way home...
So my mom has always liked to walk and jog. As we chatted on the phone about the race and some of my past runs, we got talking about the CRIM 10 Mile Run that takes place in Flint, MI every August. I told her I was planning to come home to run it again. My mom was excited and said she was going to sign up for the CRIM training run and we are going to run it together! Cheers to my mom!!

The next challenge on the schedule is the March 5th 10K Reedy River Run! I need this sort of motivational goal to keep my butt in training. :-)

7:36pm
The Results are in...although not doing this for time, I still want a record!

1703 420 Brandon Edwards 00:51:35 16:38 35 M Greenville, SC
1704 456 Raina Farrell 00:51:35 16:38 32 F Simpsonville, SC
1705 422 Mel Edwards 00:51:36 16:39 42 F Greenville, SC
1706 680 Marjorie Hintalla 00:51:37 16:39 33 F Greer, SC
1707 1227 Danielle Roland 00:51:37 16:39 35 F Greenville, SC

Back in the Game

2011-01-21T09:42:00.004-06:00

Hi everyone! Long time, no talk! I actually fell off of the healthy-lifestyle wagon during the last few months of 2010 (and gained three pounds to prove it!). Luckily though, 2011 has brought a new sense of motivation and dedication to getting back on track! The reason? I got a Wii for Christmas! Haha!

Since Christmastime, I have committed to at least 30 minutes of physical activity, 6 days per week (in an addition to the twice-daily walks with Teddy). Turns out though, that I have had so much fun with Wii, particularly "Just Dance 2" and "Wii Fit"(including such activities as Advanced Step, Rhythm Boxing, and the Obstacle Course), my average has been about 60 to 90 minutes per day. A definite plus of Wii--I don't have to leave my house (which is so helpful, since I have baby Teddy to take care of). But, I sometimes wish I could break a little bit more of a sweat with Wii.

My solution? Dance 101--a dance studio located in the Buckhead/North Druid Hills neighborhoods of Atlanta, Georgia. Dance 101 has a TON of classes, my favorites of which are anything having to do with hip hop. So, for the past 2 nights, I attended Dance Fitness and Hip Hop Fit. Can you believe that both classes were FREE? Dance 101had FREE beginner classes all this week! Between Dance 101 and L.A. Fitness (my current gym), my goal is to plan to attend 3-4 classes each week (2 will most certainly fall on the weekends, since it's so hard to be away from Teddy during the week).

This Saturday, I'm planning to attend Step Plus Abs at L.A. Fitness. I'm a bit nervous though because this ain't your mama's Step class. I have been to this complicated class before and almost wanted to cry, I was so lost. But, it's a good workout (hey, at least I've got my body moving, right?), and I am absolutely determined to learn this advanced way of doing Step. I'll let you know how it goes!

Happy working-out to MacKenzie, Raina, and the "Pudge" community!

I Used to be a Runner ... and I Am On My Way Again!

2011-01-16T17:26:00.008-06:00

I just came back from the Y and completed a 5 mile run on the track while Stephen played basketball. I have been training for about a month now and feel quite good with my runs. I generally walk for a 5 minute warm-up and pick up the pace at a 1/1 run/walk. I love this training method, introduced to me at my first CRIM Training Run event in the gym at Mott Community College in Flint, MI in April of 2002 (I was 24). I have been thinking about previous races I had completed while working in Flint, and I wondered if I could find the results online. I love the internet! Finding all the results took a matter of 10 minutes! What a great way to track my running career! So, I've done a few, but I am quite a bit older now, many pounds heavier, and not in the shape I used to be. I haven't really had too much interest in my time completions, but looking back, I was pleasantly surprised to see some improvements over the years. I am looking forward to adding to this time line, as I have several races on my training schedule from now until April...and I do believe I'd like to go home and run the CRIM this coming August. I seem to recall there was a half marathon in addition to the 10 mile run, maybe a week later. I will have to do some researching.

So here it is. I am about to turn 33 the last day of this month. My first 5K in years is next Saturday. My game plan was to make sure I had a good warm up before the start so I could go right into my run/walk. Time didn't matter, but now it is starting to. I completed my 5 mile run in 1:22:54, but this was not at race pace, included a 5 minute warm-up walk, and water breaks at each 1 mile increment (YMCA indoor track).

Race Time Line
I remember running these first 2 races with no training practice, I ran the whole time, and I was most definitely huffing and puff. It felt awesome to complete them though!

Race 1
5K - October 20, 2000
MSU / U of M Tailgate Challenge
Flint, MI

Female Age Group: 20-24
Place Name School Name Age Time Pace
13 Raina Allen MSU 22 39:30 12:43

Race 2
4 mile - March 16, 2002
Shillelagh 4M
Flushing, MI

Female Age Group: 20-24
Place Name Age Time Pace
14 Raina Allen 24 46:28 11:37

Here I had such an awesome group of people to train with. I was scared to run 10 miles! In 3 months! However, the drive and the way running made me feel were enough to want to complete such a big challenge. My running group leader knew I wasn't doing all the work I was supposed to be completing on the other 6 days between our long run days. It was so hard to fit it in, but I was able to keep up. I was NOT the best one in the group lets say! Even with training just one day a week with runs of increasing distance up to 12 miles and working out maybe 2 days additionally was enough to get the job done. I completed the CRIM! This is a huge deal in Flint every year. Can't wait to do it this fall. It has been 8 years.

Race 3
10 mile - August 24, 2002
CRIM 10 Mile Run
Flint, MI

Female Age Group: 20-24
Place Name Age Time Pace
190 Raina Allen 24 2:15:08 13:31

I kept up the races through the next year and still enjoyed it.

Race 4
5K - Nov 1, 2002
U of M/MSU Tailgate Challenge
Flint, MI

Female Age Group: 20-24
Place Name Age Time Pace
8 Raina Allen 24 36:08 11:38

Race 5
5K - August 7, 2003
Great Pizza Challenge 5K Run & Walk
Flint, MI

Female Age Group: 25-30
Place Name Age Time Pace
16 Raina Allen 25 34:13 11:01

I was a bit shocked when I looked up this time and discovered it was about 5 minutes better than the previous year, because I did not do the training run for this CRIM. I did train sporadically with a neighbor. The best part was knowing the course, because those Bradly Hills are torture!

Race 6
10 mile - August 23, 2003
CRIM 10 Mile Run
Flint, MI

Female Results
Place Name Age Time Pace
16 Raina Allen 25 2:10:18 13:01

So, here I am, 8 years older at (soon to be) 33 and finding myself infected with the running bug like no other. I have loved re-reading Jeff Galloway's Marathon again (CRIM training run is based on his training method), learning about the "Penguin" from Mel, and reading numerous running blogs. The inspiration is needed.

Here's the plan so far:
1. 5K (3.1 miles) on January 22, 2011
2. 10K (6.2miles) on March 5, 2011
3. Half Marathon on April 30, 2011
4. 10 mile CRIM at the end of August 2011

For the first time, I have a desire to run a marathon at some point in my life. This is the ultimate running goal for me, but I don't have a plan for this part in mind. I definitely want to include more 5K's in here too.

So, here's to my 2011 running year!

It's a New Year and I Am Back! Running!

2011-01-08T12:46:00.005-06:00

I have missed blogging and need to make the time to do it.

I've got the running bug again and I love it! I have been super motivated to get into running again now that I have a great group to do the work with. I have had a standing Saturday morning training run date with the girls from work (Danielle and Mel!) since early December 2010. Mel and her husband started doing 5K race after 5K race and I loved how excited and motivated Mel always sounded. Danielle and I soon joined her on various workout adventures.

They introduced me to "The Bruce", a great 1 hour cardio/strength training workout put together by YMCA staff trainer Bruce. I've never met him, but boy did that kick my butt. So, together we are on our way to becoming runners. Mel has been at it for months and this is her first time being a runner. Danielle too! I've always liked running and began seriously giving it a shot back in Flint, Michigan when I was the Aquatics Director for the Downtown Flint YMCA. The famous Flint run is the annual CRIM, a 10-mile run through the city that happens every August.

What a rush that was. I did the Jeff Galloway training run and learned to run/walk. This made the impossible possible. When I first started, I was winded after one mile, but we were soon running four miles... and low and behold I could do 12! I did that for two summers. Now, I am up to four miles and have my first 5K on January 22 in downtown Greenville, SC. Mel then posted that she was going to run a half-marathon! Mel's enthusiasm is so addicting. I am now doing the half-marathon too and I have pulled good old Jeff Galloway's "Marathon" book off the shelf and gave it a good dusting. It just so happens that the half-marathon training schedule on his website fits into our time frame perfectly for an April 30th race in Greenwood, SC! I am so excited.

Additionally, Stephen has joined us on one run and may do the 5K, too. We have become YMCA members again and Stephen has got the workout bug. Thank goodness because he has also been my motivation on the evenings that I haven't wanted to get out the door and says "Get in the car, we are going to the Y!" I am so thankful for him. Here's to running!

Bust a Move

2011-01-05T22:34:00.000-06:00

How's everyone doing on this wintry Wednesday? How many have stuck with their New Year's resolutions so far? I'm pleased to say that I'm doing a-ok so far. I've got some reading in, my daily exercising is building up, and I plan to attack my closet and billfolder this weekend! My friend Sarah also knows of a fun and free Zumba class, so that'll be happening soon.

Moving on ... my day was full of royal wedding news. Like I've briefly mentioned before, I blog for a UK entertainment website, covering music, movie, television and pop culture news. With Prince William and Kate Middleton's recent engagement, I've also covered some of the events surrounding their forthcoming royal wedding. Lots of fun so far. Anyhow, my day plugged along at a steady pace and I only stopped for my three main meals.

I'm an oatmeal fan obviously and regularly feature my go-to staple, Love Your Man Steel-Cut Oatmeal. Please bear with me this week as it's my breakfast through Thursday. But this morning I also had an egg on seven-grain toast on the side, plus an iced skim latte.

For lunch, Ryan and I were in the middle of deadlines, so we had to make it quick. We had a beef burrito from Evol (with jalapeno side drizzled on top) and a salad on the side. I topped my mixed greens with sliced tiny peppers and chopped tomatoes with a tablespoon of Kraft's light balsamic vinaigrette. This carried me through dinner. No in-between snacking, no cravings, no problem.

Once dinnertime rolled around, Ryan resorted to one of his healthy classics: grilled chicken gyros. We serve ours on a whole-wheat pita that's topped with a light greek yogurt sauce. From there, add chicken, some cucumber and some pepper. We LOVE this one!

My daily workout came later in the evening with some "Just Dance 2" on Wii. I know I'm a little late in coming around to this popular game, but it RULES! My Mom got our family "Just Dance 2" while everyone was home during the holidays. Everyone participated, including my Dad and Ryan. Totally addicting and super fun. I danced my butt off so much during Christmas that my arms and legs were sore for days.

So naturally, once we returning to Chicago, I found an on-sale copy at Best Buy. And tonight I busted a move for 30 minutes. This is my ideal workout, too. The quickness of each routine totally keeps me focused and I just love dancing, plain and simple. Perfect timing for me during these winter months, as I'm just not feeling the elliptical right now.

Ok, it's time for me to call it a night. I'm going to give The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo another go. May you have a fantastic evening and a great start to your Thursday morning. Cheers!

How often do you change up your exercise routines?

New Year! New Goals! New Me!

2011-01-03T19:07:00.031-06:00

Happy New Year to everyone out there in bloggerland! I hope your holiday season was merry and full of fabulous fun and fabulous food. Mine certainly was. Here are some quick highlights from my Mom's fantastic Christmas dinner. On the menu was her classic spinach salad with eggs and slices of bacon plus her olive oil/lemon/vinegar dressing. We've had this at everyday holiday for most of my life and it's fantastic. Our main entree included salmon and steak, asparagus, mashed sweet potatoes, cranberries, and blueberry muffins. I have to include her table setup as well ... she always does an amazing job!

We also had one of her signature apple pies and my husband's homemade pumpkin pie for dessert. And I cannot forget about my Mom's epic cookies. She's made the Santa cookies for decades. I have fond memories of making 'em when I was a little kid. They're fab!

Ok let's fast-forward to the present: 2011. It's that time of year where everyone's making New Year resolutions and gearing up for big life changes. I typically do not make New Year resolutions because I never keep them. But for some reason, this year, I feel more determined that ever to see my New Year's goals through to the very end. Call me crazy! I seriously do feel ready and willing to accomplish a few, albeit small, things.

But before I share my list, I'd like to re-declare my mission with Fighting the Pudge. My dedication to finding my way to a healthier lifestyle with a healthier outlook may have taken a back seat in the last two months, as seen with the lack of posts. But as the saying goes, "Life is what happens when you're making other plans." Even though I may have stopped posting, I stayed true clean and healthy eating. Sure, my exercise routine and logging my meals via Spark People also suffered, but I got in some walking and yoga whenever I could. And I'm still getting into my size 10 pants (and one size 8), so I'm ok with that. But in my time off, I noticed that my passion for blogging was burning out. I needed a break.

Anyhow, here I am today, ready to get back to the reasons why I started this blog in June 2010. That means more healthy eating and regular exercising. I still have 15 more pounds (and probably a few extra) to lose. My projected goal is to shed these 15 pounds and then some by May 1. Will I post about every single meal every single day? I don't know. I'm still figuring that out. But I will continue to log my calories and meals via Spark People on a daily basis and photograph my food. I do enjoy the latter.

Ok, I'm getting TOTALLY carried away here, so without further ado, here is my New Year's resolution list for 2011:

- Work on being a better listener (My ADD brain gets ahead of the conversation way too much sometimes)
- Read for at least 30 minutes everyday (I spend too much time on the computer and watching TV).
- Do not waste my monthly magazine subscriptions (No more giant stacks of BUST, Time Out Chicago, Real Simple, Eating Well etc.)
- Join a book club (I'm a book geek. And I want to meet and spend time with other Chi-town peeps).
- Blog when it feels right and when I feel good (to avoid burning out).
- Try Zumba once and for ALL (My Mom loves it)!
- Keep all drawers, closet, and bill-folder organized.
- Say hello to passers-by when walking through the city. (Why not? My sister in Atlanta does this all the time and can't believe we don't).

I am sure a few things will be added to this mix during the coming weeks. This year, though, is shaping up nicely already. I kick off my second semester volunteering for Open Books this month. Ryan and I are also taking our first big trip together in March when we venture to Ireland. This has been a longtime dream of mine since I can remember. I am so so excited! I feel very blessed and aim stay focused on that very fact all year long.

Ok, this is running super long, so let's chat food. My morning breakfast featured a regular staple of mine: Bethenny Frankel's Love Your Man Steel-Cut Oatmeal. It's just too easy to make and a great source of protein. I also had an iced coffee and some blueberry Chobani on the side.

Snacktime came twice today. Before lunch, I grabbed a skim mozzarella string cheese from Frigo. In the late afternoon, I enjoyed a chocolate calcium disc from Adora.

For lunch, Ryan and I consulted Teresa Giudice's Skinny Italian cookbook. For Christmas, my awesome sister got us and my parents autographed copies since my Mom and I, plus Steph, are all huge fans of the Real Housewives reality series (minus D.C.). Anyhow, on Sunday night, Ryan prepared Giudice's Giardino Minestrone soup. Her recipe includes grean beans, diced tomatoes, Cannellini beans, zucchini (we used summer squash since the grocery store was out), onion and some herbs. We also topped ours with a tablespoon of freshly grated parmesan cheese and had some seven-grain sprouted Trader Joe's toast on the side. Super filling and super good!

And lastly, for dinner, we resorted to some leftover salmon for a fantastic veggie salad. Ours included mixed greens, cucumbers, sunflower seeds, and a homemade lemon vinaigrette. For dessert, I had some strawberry Mochi. YUM!

If you've read through this entire post, I sincerely applaud you (and thank you, of course) for sticking with me. I'm excited for 2011 and all of its many surprises. I hope you are too! Best wishes for a happy and healthy twenty-eleven! Cheers!

Do you have any New Year's resolutions?

Home at Last!

2010-12-07T21:19:00.000-06:00

Heeeeeey my dear readers, are you out there? I've really missed hanging out in the blogosphere. Many thanks for those who have left friendly comments and messages. I greatly appreciate it.

Well, why the break? I guess I needed one. Work got kind of crazy during the first two weeks of November and didn't entirely let up until the Thanksgiving holiday. Fighting the Pudge has been in the back of my mind throughout my time away, as has working out. I must be honest -- I haven't worked out in what seems like ages. I've done yoga a couple of times, but that's it. With the insanity of work, I let all of my focus go toward that. Nasty habit, I know. But it's December and with the holidays coming up quickly, my spirits are high. I'm getting back into it.

As for the food, I suppose I burned out on photographing my meals three times a day, five times a week. For those who also do this, do you find yourself sick of doing that from time to time. For me, though, I found that I missed it somewhat. It's really helped me with my weight-loss journey. I've found it keeps me on track in a positive way. So here I am, again, back at it :) But I have to give a big shout out to my Mom. She surprised recently, as she informed me that she missed my blog and that I need to get back into it. Thanks Mom, you're the best.

Let me cut this long (boring) story short and start again. Just a warning: it's going to be a week of simple meals. Today for breakfast, I resorted to my favorite Love You Man Steel-Cut Oatmeal. I also paired it up with a banana and an iced coffee.

Before getting into today's lunch, I'd like to share that on Sunday, my hubs referenced a Whole Foods recipe for a wonderful Butternut Squash Soup, which was meant to last us all week long. Well, Ryan wasn't a fan of the soup's consistency, so we chucked it. I hate hate hate wasting food. So instead, we resorted to turkey sandwiches (and some veggie sandwiches later on this week) for lunch. Today's selection has a slice of provolone cheese, spinach, a slice of roasted red pepper and mustard. I also had a McClure's spicy pickle and an orange.

Remember how I've been volunteering for the awesome non-profit literacy program, Open Books, this semester? Well today marked my second to last session with my student. Next week we're supposed to have a fun farewell/holiday party.

Anyhow, Ryan prepped some fantastic parmesan encrusted tilapia. We also had some green beans with cranberries and walnuts on top. Awesome!!

Since I mentioned the holidays above, I figured why not share some of our holiday set up. Also, check out the winter wonderland that hit Chicago over the weekend. Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T20:36:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! May each of you have a fantastic holiday with lots of fantastic food! Is anyone heading out for Black Friday sales? I am back home in Michigan, visiting with my in-laws and my parents.

Again, I wish all of my dear blogger friends and readers a very happy holiday! I hope to be blogging again very soon! Take care!

My Sincere Apologies

2010-11-08T19:26:00.000-06:00

Wow, where has the time gone? My dear Fighting the Pudge readers, I would like to apologize for my recent absence, as my job has pretty much taken over things in the last week or so. I've missed out on working out and logging my meals, so I'm a little anxious at the moment. But I've stuck to healthy eating throughout this chaos. It just feels weird not to log it via SparkPeople.

Anyhow, I hope each of you are doing well and having a great November so far! The storm will most likely come to a calm this weekend. Thanks so much!! xx

Is It Friday Yet?

2010-10-27T21:48:00.000-05:00

It's starting to feel a lot like Friday around here. Or maybe it's because I work from home now. Either way, it seems like it should be the end of the week already. Is anybody with me?

BBC blogging took off like wildfire this morning and I didn't get a chance to have breakfast until 11 AM. In the old days, I would have skipped this meal. I skipped breakfast many, many times! But since taking on this new mission to get healthy, I haven't missed one meal. Anyhow, since I was running late with having my first meal of the deal, I went the simple route with some vanilla Chobani, a slice of Arnold whole wheat bread with a teaspoon of reduced fat Jif and a banana. I didn't end up having the banana until after lunch.

Hats off to my friend Tracey at Veggies, Cake and Cocktails for mentioning her obsession with vanilla Chobani. I finally tried it and um, hello!!! SO GOOD! I'm sticking with this one for sure!

I kept things simple when it came to lunch and had a turkey sandwich on multi-grain flatbread. I topped mine with dijon mustard, mixed greens, and a slice of roasted red pepper. On the side, I had a McClure's spicy pickle and an orange. Totally FAB-u!

Once dinnertime arrived, I was in the middle of our cleaning mission. As I mentioned yesterday, Ryan and I are prepping for a weekend visit from his parents. It'll be their first time visiting Chicago since we moved here earlier this year, so we needed to give the apartment a little refresher.

I got about three-fourths of the bathroom clean once Ryan informed me that dinner was ready. Once more, we consulted the November 2010 issue of Real Simple for inspiration and created their Steak Faijitas with Sweet Potato and Poblano dish. It calls for sour cream in the sauce topping, but we went the greek yogurt route instead. We also served ours on a spelt tortilla. On the side, we had some freshly made coleslaw from Whole Foods.

The sweet potato adds a nice change to your usual fajita recipe, but this one was kind of high in calories. I suppose some of that is my guilt talking since I've been failing miserably on the exercise front for a couple of weeks now. I AM doing it tomorrow! I AM!

Ok, it's time to escape my computer. I've been on it for what seems like 20 hours. I know many of you out there get this :) I hope you had a fabulous Wednesday!

What are you doing to celebrate the upcoming Halloween holiday?

Pumpkin Time

2010-10-26T22:46:00.033-05:00

It seems like much of this side of the country is experiencing some crazy weather. The wind was absolutely insane today here in Chicago and I don't think it's about to stop any time soon. This time, it goes beyond our nickname, The Windy City.

For breakfast today, I paired up one Organic Valley egg with a piece of turkey bacon and one slice of multi-grain flatbread. I also had some strawberries on the side. Super good! Ryan is really loving the turkey bacon too. So much in fact, he went out and bought another pack so that his parents can have some when they visit this weekend.

Today's lunch also saw a repeat of Monday's chili and this time I topped it with some Black Diamond Grand Reserve Cheddar. I also had a mixed greens salad with baby carrots, parmesan cheese and balsamic vinegar on the side. The Black Diamond cheese was fabulously yummy, but I think I'll hold off on it next time around.

A couple of hours later, I grabbed a KIND bar to snack on. The cranberry almond version was good, but not as hearty as other combinations.

Dinner also saw a repeat of Monday's Real Simple dish: Chicken with Acorn Squash and Tomatoes. I need more squash in my life. I really do. We usually have it when we make Ellie Krieger's Butternut Squash Soup. Now I want to find squash-centric desserts, other side dishes, and the like. If anyone out there has a recommendation, I am all ears.

Last but not least, Ryan and I got ready for Halloween tonight by carving pumpkins. He and I have never done this together, so this was a lot of fun. Being the crazy and passionate sports fans and college diehards that we are, we each paid homage to our respective alma maters when carving a design. I *just* had to do it. My Michigan State Spartans are No. 5 in the country right now and currently undefeated. I've been waiting for this my entire life, but I never thought I'd see it. Needless to say, football season in my divided household has been a complete blast so far! GO STATE! (Next time, I'll take the photo when it's not pitch black outside haha)

Snuck into the Halloween Reese's Peanut Butter Cups again, too. I should have purchased a bag of candy that I'm not too fond off in order to stay away. Arrrgh!

Do you have a favorite kind of Halloween treat? If so, do you have an alternative to candy?

Playing Catch Up

2010-10-25T22:24:00.000-05:00

Hello dear blog friends! I hope everything is fab in your world. Last week totally escaped me. I had every intention of keeping up with my posts, but honestly I just ran out of steam. I am back this week, hoping to get back on track.

It was in the 70s today and it's OCTOBER! Crazy temps, I tell ya. I'm ready for fall sweater weather. Anyhow, I attempted to do something a little different for breakfast today since many of my dishes have featured many repeats as of late. I prepared multi-grain blueberry pancakes with turkey sausage. The pancake recipe is included in Bethenny Frankel's Skinnygirl Dish book and I went with Pamela's gluten-free pancake and baking mix and fresh blueberries that I already had in my pantry. I topped mine with a drizzle of pure maple syrup and had a piece of organic turkey sausage from Applegate Farms. Fabulous and only 35 calories in one serving. I initially prepped two slices, but Ryan stole one. :) I also had an iced coffee and a banana.

Lunch time came a bit later than usual due to impending blog deadlines. Ryan prepared his own chili in the slow cooker overnight; we almost always go with ground turkey in our chili, but the store was out, so we opted for ground sirloin, and added in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, some onion, chipotle chillies, and Tabasco sauce. Super good! On the side, I had some multi-grain saltines from Nabisco. I also had a dark chocolate calcium disk from Adora after lunch.

Once the work day was done, I hopped on my elliptical trainer for a long overdue visit. I completed 30 minutes while catching up on old episodes from this season's 30 Rock. Oh how I miss working out earlier in the day. Once 5-6pm hits, my motivation starts to dwindle. But I have a recharged outlook on keeping up with exercise this week. One day at a time, I say.

For dinner, we reached for the November 2010 issue of Real Simple. Inside, they have some festive fall dishes and we decided to try their recipe for Chicken with Acorn Squash and Tomatoes. It was wonderful, really, and totally satisfying. I am a big tomato fan, and this particular mix was a nice change. Highly recommend this one!

Prior to calling it a day, I reached for the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups bag that's sitting on top of my fridge for Halloween. I did sneak in one piece of chocolate and still made it under my monitored calorie count for the day. Woo hoo!

Here's hoping I can blog about Ryan's birthday at Rick Bayless' awesome XOCO restaurant tomorrow. Until then, thanks for reading Fighting the Pudge! I hope you had a fantastic Monday! xx

Plugging Along

2010-10-20T21:50:00.000-05:00

Wowsa! Today was a busy one at work, but also a gorgeous one outside. How is fall where you are? Per my dear blog reader Kristy's (at My Little Space) request, I attempted to a take a photo of the Japanese Maple tree outside my office window. Sadly, the leaves keep falling off of it each day. I shot from both the inside and outside, but the inside shot won. Apologies for the fuzzy screen look. :)

Today's breakfast featured an oldie but goodie, my open face fruit sandwich with chia seeds. I haven't had this in what seems like a while and it's another go-to safety dish when I'm running on borrowed time in the morning. I also had my usual iced coffee.

While waiting for some publishing issues to sort themselves out, I reached for a snack: an McIntosh apple with homemade apple butter, which were both purchased during a quick trip to the orchard on Sunday. The closest orchards to Chicago, at least to my knowledge, are in Wisconsin. Ryan and I decided to stop by Spicer's Orchard near my parent's house on our way back to Chicago on Sunday. It was a last minute trip, and a lot of fun! Not sure if serving apple butter is the greatest thing to serve with an apple, but it worked for me.

Come lunch time, we reverted back to our goal of working with a limited grocery list and today Ryan prepared a grilled chicken pita with cherry tomatoes, olives, greens and a greek yogurt sauce. On the side, we had a spicy McClure's pickle. A quick and easy, yet filling lunch!

After lunch, Ryan and I took a break from our work to take a walk outside. The weather is in the high 60s and quite lovely. I'm also trying my best to tear myself away from the computer for a few minutes each day for a short break. This afternoon, we visited Starbucks, where I ordered a tall skinny vanilla latte. I love them!

But dinner was another story. I have to say we caved when dinnertime rolled around only because we both worked past 6 PM. Once that happens, we wuss out on cooking something. We shared a medium margherita pizza instead from Robey's. I can't say I didn't enjoy it.

Arrgh ... back at the elliptical tomorrow. Time to take care of some organizational stuff before I hit the hay. How was your day? Thanks for reading! xx

What kinds of food do you go after when you don't feel like cooking?

Faster Than the Speed of Light

2010-10-19T21:24:00.000-05:00

Happy Tuesday everyone! Fall is certainly in full swing here in Chicago and the large Japanese Maple tree outside my office window has finally changed color. It's a fantastic golden yellow ... I should take a photo of it. Anyhow, here we are at Tuesday. Tuesdays are always bonkers on my end since my work day is slightly cut short with my volunteering duties at Open Books. Every Tuesday blows through like the speed of light. I can't complain though ... It keeps me on my toes.

Lately, I've noticed that my breakfasts are fitting into the "quick" category, so to speak. With a 7:30 AM start time, I am typically rushing to get a healthy breakfast together and that's probably why you seen a lot of eggs here. Today is no exception.

For lunch, we had some of our leftover black bean and avocado salad with a non-dairy burrito from Amy's. YUM! And like I did yesterday, I snuck in two more chocolate chip cookies. So bad, but oh so good!

Once returning home from another fun-filled day with Open Books, Ryan was in the midst of preparing dinner. Tonight, he concocted a fabulously tasty Mediterranean Chicken dish with Jasmine Rice. YUM-MY! Definitely an easy one to mix up!

I have to say, so far so good on the lighter grocery list this week. Skipped working out today since I have a lot of catch up work to attend to. Back at it tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

When watching your grocery budget, what are some of your favorite easy-but-tasty dishes?

I'm Baaaaaaack!

2010-10-18T21:46:00.011-05:00

My dearest readers, hello again! It's been a while hasn't it? I'm just now starting to feel back to normal after a fantastic trip to New York City. I had every intention of blogging while I was there. But I swear to you, I never saw my laptop. Between working from the BBC offices, seeing Ryan's family some of the time, visiting with friends, and getting around NYC and New Jersey, I never sat down until 10:30PM each night. At that point, I was spent. I seriously admire folks who can do it all and blog about their meals and exercise everyday, especially when living out of a suitcase. You guys are my heroes!

I wasn't home 24 hours until I had to jump on another plane to head back to Michigan for a speaking engagement at my alma mater, Michigan State University. I was honored to be a part of the Neal Shine Ethics Lecture last Friday, speaking about my experience as the bobsled, luge, and skeleton producer at NBCOlympics.com during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games. I also attended MSU's homecoming game and hung out with my family. Loads of fun was had in the last 12 days, but I'm glad to be back in the Windy City, computing from my green-walled nook. How the heck are YOU?

Monday morning started off with some Fage fat-free yogurt! Oh how I've missed this stuff. I ate a yogurt parfait from Starbucks for breakfast everyday when I was in the Big Apple, but I missed making my own food. This dish is easy and I included golden raspberries for the very first time. Ryan looked at me like I was crazy when I purchased them, but they are fab! The strawberries, almonds, and chia seeds (plus a tablespoon of honey) aren't too bad either ;)

For lunch, we resorted to one of our usual go-to meals when we're lacking groceries: Rising Moon Ravioli. The Butternut Squash version is probably our favorite. Ryan likes to dress it up with chunky veggie pasta sauce from Rinaldi that's mixed with garlic, balsamic vinegar and red wine. I also had a mixed green salad on the side with sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, tomatoes, carrots, and freshly grated parmesan. For dessert, I snuck into Ryan's homemade cookies from my Mom. Couldn't resist.

Upon returning home from our weekend in Michigan, Ryan and I stopped at Whole Foods to pick up a few things. While it wasn't our usual grocery trip, we hope our selection will hopefully last us throughout the week. They had a fabulous sale on freshly grilled tilapia tacos, so that's exactly what we planned for Monday's dinner. We served ours with Rudi's spelt flour tortillas and some cherry tomatoes. Ryan also created a fun black bean and avocado salad on the side.

Yay for home cooking! I almost forgot ... I got back together with my elliptical trainer, too. Even though it was only for 35 minutes, it was good to be back. Walking nearly five miles every day in New York was fine, but I missed shedding some sweat, y'know? HAHA!

It's time to play catch up with all of my bookmarked food blogs. Thanks for your patience and for always supporting Fighting the Pudge.

Here I Come New York City

2010-10-07T14:50:00.000-05:00

Apologies for the quietness the last two days. Like usual, work has taken over and here I am, just mere hours away from flying to my beloved New York City! I hope to blog a ton about my food and exercise while I'm there. It'll be an interesting test, balancing healthy meals and exercise with working in the city. This will be my first time trying this in such a core environment, so here's hoping I can keep up with my SparkPeople log, too. I am determined to stay on course in losing an extra 15 pounds by the end of the year.

But aside from that, I'll be seeing a handful of great friends, taking in a Broadway show on Monday and doing serious shopping in SoHo. Until we chat again, may you have a fabulous day and thanks a ton for supporting Fighting the Pudge!

Fall Means Fall Cooking!

2010-10-04T21:09:00.000-05:00

Wow, I think fall is officially here in the Windy City. Leaves on the Japanese Maple tree outside my window are finally starting to change color. It's also a little chilly outside and today was the first day where Ryan and I kicked up our thermostat. Here it comes ...

Happy Manic Monday, my dear readers! Tell me, what did you have for breakfast today? I'm always up for new breakfast ideas. Actually, I tried a new granola recipe this morning, Spark People's Low-Fat Maple Granola. It's a tasty fall dish with its mixture of almonds and pumpkin seeds. I had my usual iced coffee as well.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Ryan and I are heading to our old stomping grounds of New York City come Thursday. I seriously cannot wait! The Big Apple is so nice in the fall and I'm really looking forward to the daily hustle and flow. We are also meeting up with his family for his Dad and Aunt's birthday celebration and seeing a host of pals. Again, I am so excited!

Anyhow, with our upcoming trip, we're trying to use up as many ingredients in our pantry before we leave, which also means that our meals are going to be less involved this week. Who says low key isn't lovely, right?

Our lunch for this week is one of those meals: Curried Butternut Squash Soup. It's loaded in veggies and quite delicious. I had mine with an orange and a pickle on the side today. I also tried drizzling some non-fat plain yogurt, so don't be alarmed by my squiggly-like attempt in the photo below.

Dinner featured one of our old-time favorites, the very simple Spanish Rice. Ryan introduced this dish to me when we first started dating and we always bring it back into rotation when we're in a rush. It's a nice mixture of whole-grain rice, lean ground turkey, one can of low sodium black beans, and a can of diced tomatoes. We also season ours with a dash of oregano, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. YUM! For tonight's dinner, we also had a mixed green salad on the side with cucumbers, tomatoes and freshly grated parmesan cheese. So quick, so easy, and oh sooooo good!

Later on, I was still pretty hungry and had a part-skin mozzarella string cheese. I also dived into the last of my Blackberry Pomegranate True Delights from Quaker.

Fab food for a fab day. To tell you the truth, I am exhausted! I am going to hit the hay tonight before 9:30. I haven't done that in what seems like a hundred years. I need to catch up on my sleep so I can attack Tuesday with full force ... and hit the elliptical too.

Wishing you all a great evening! Thanks for reading xx

Chicago's AIDS Run Walk

2010-10-03T17:11:00.002-05:00

My weekend started off with a bang with Saturday's AIDS Run Walk at Grant Park! I really needed it too, for I needed to get outside after being cooped up in the house for much of this week. I was anxious to stretch my legs and take in the autumn air. Sorry to sound cheesy, but that's the truth.

Taking part in Chicago's AIDS Run Walk was a lot of fun! Over 7,000 people participated and over a half a million dollars was raised in support to fight AIDS. I also accomplished my goal of raising $400! Thank you thank you to my family and friends who took time out to donate. I greatly appreciate it.

Despite the roaming clouds and drizzle, I plugged along throughout my 5K walk and completed the race in 59:03. Here are some snapshots from the event.

My next walk is the Hot Chocolate 5k walk on Saturday, November 5th. Woo hoo! Cannot wait!

I would also like to wish my fabulous Mom a wonderful and fantastic birthday today! Love ya Mom!

Carne Asada Friday!

2010-10-01T20:11:00.015-05:00

WOO HOO! It's Friday! Don't you just love it when this day rolls around? What do you guys have planned this weekend? At last, my AIDS Run Walk is tomorrow!

Today's breakfast featured some more eggs -- I've really been in the mood for them lately. Ryan and I are also trying use up everything we have in our pantry since we're heading to New York City next week. Anyhow, I had an egg sandwich on flatbread with some mixed fruit on the side.

Since I spend much of my day blogging for work and blogging for fun, I thought I'd share a snapshot of where the magic happens, haha. I heart this little spot in our apartment.

Once lunch rolled around, we were scraping by with a lot of leftover ingredients. I got creative and resorted to one of my old faves, a veggie sandwich on Arnold multi-grain bread and Athenos jalapeno and artichoke hummus. It does the trick every time!

At the end of the work day, I reunited with my elliptical machine after nearly four days and it was fabulous. You know, for the first time in my life I'm really starting to notice the signals that my body is giving me in regards to exercising. I was so ansy by the end of this week, it wasn't even funny. So yeah, it was great to get back on the horse and kick some butt!

While this week has been long, our Friday night is going to be equally so. Ryan and I are headed to Lincoln Hall to see one of my very favorite shoegazer bands, Chapterhouse. They've reunited after 16 years and they're opening their U.S. tour in the Windy City. I'm covering the show for Anglophenia.

But before our evening out, Ryan prepped Carne Asada with Jalapeno Cilantro Pesto! Incredible! We also had homemade salsa and Tostitos' baked scoops on the side.

How was your week? Happy Friday everyone! xx

Non-Stop All Day Long

2010-09-30T20:50:00.000-05:00

When your job consists sitting in front of a computer for eight-plus hours, it can be bad news bears sometimes. Today was hectic with several deadlines and it was just one of those days where my eyes felt fuzzy from staring at computer for too long. I'm also going stir crazy because I haven't channeled any of my energy through exercise. This has to stop. It's my fault for taking on additional freelance assignments on top of my regular freelance gig. I never learn, I suppose.

Anyways, I prepped my favorite Love Your Man-Steel Cut Oatmeal for breakfast and had an iced coffee. I like oatmeal in general, but I've been sticking with Bethenny Frankel's easy and healthy version for a while now. Any oatmeal lovers out there with other suggestions?

Lunch was quick today, with a non-dairy burrito from Amy's Kitchen. I've never had anything from Amy's Kitchen before and my burrito was surprisingly good. I had mine with two tablespoons of light sour cream and jalepeno sauce.

I fought against snacks today and only had a small one about an hour after lunch. This time I had a McClure's garlic pickle with some part-skim, light string cheese and some pretzels.

Quittin' time didn't roll around until 7pm tonight and when all was said and done, I was starving and exhausted. I haven't had sushi in ages, so I had some spicy tuna and salmon rolls. Yum!

Come tomorrow morning, I promise myself that I'll wake up 6:30AM to hit the elliptical trainer. At the very least, I'm going on a 45-minute walk with the designs of hitting the elliptical at 5PM. Either way, the last two weeks haven't yielded my greatest performance in the exercise department. My AIDS Run Walk is Saturday ... it'll be SO GREAT to be outside and walk five miles. I cannot wait to break away from the routine. One day and counting!

The Office, Grey's Anatomy, and Private Practice will have to sit tight via my DVR. It's a quick freelance deadline and some blood orange gelato tonight. Until tomorrow ... thanks a mil for reading! xx

Do you ever have a week where things just don't seem to fall into place, especially after trying so hard to get it together during the week before?

Snack Attack ... Arrggh!

2010-09-29T20:01:00.001-05:00

Happy Wednesday, folks. I have to say today I was sort of in a snacky mood although the morning and early afternoon didn't start that way.

Breakfast featured one of my regular favorites, a one-egg sandwich served on a Arnold multi-grain sandwich thin and ghee with strawberries. My friend Katie recently commented about my use of ghee, asking if it's the Indian kind. Well, I think so? When I was home over the summer my Mom was all about what she called "ghee". She informed me that it's just (boiled) unsalted butter, but with the fat scooped off the top. So essentially it's clarified butter, right? Once scooping the fat off the top, I pour the melted butter in a small jar and refrigerate. It lasts me about three weeks. And a small portion goes along way. That's my ghee.

Ryan and I realized that we kind of blew it this week with our meal preparations, in that we failed in making enough food for the entire week. So for lunch today, we resorted to having organic Mediterranean garlic and herb ravioli from Rising Moon. We serve ours with chunky vegetable pasta sauce from Rinaldi. Reallllllly good stuff! I also had a mixed greens salad with baby beets, cucumbers, walnuts, and BelGioso parmesan cheese.

After lunch, I grabbed one of my trusty dark chocolate calcium disks from Adora. I LOVE THESE!!

Again, getting back to our lack of planning in the meal department, we ended up at Whole Foods for dinner. This worked out nicely since we had to pick up a few odds and ends. I grabbed for as many greens and colors at the salad bar and ended up with some kale with cranberries, cucumber salad, curry cauliflower and some pasta with sun-dried tomatoes. I can never pass up Whole Foods' soup, and tonight I had their chunky vegetable with orzo. To drink, I tried Zevia's orange flavor. My Mom talks a lot about stevia and Zevia's caffeinated beverage uses stevia. Good good good!

When we got home is when things started to go the snack route. I should have reached for a water instead, but I wanted to chomp on as many Potato and Cheddar PopChips as I wanted to. I couldn't stop. They're too good.

Bad news is that my exercise is falling to the wayside because of all of my work time spent on the computer. I need a vacation from my desktop, STAT! I pray I see my elliptical on Thursday.

Thanks for reading! Hope your Wednesday was fab fab fab!

How do you handle it when your snack cravings kick in?

My Day Is Made ... with Crab Cakes

2010-09-28T21:54:00.002-05:00

It was another crazy busy day in the world of UK entertainment. But again, I'm grateful for the work and love being productive, so bring it on. I'm adjusting to the AM starts, too. Each day is getting easier with reconfiguring my daily routine.

I resorted to my fat-free Fage and fruit dish for breakfast today. It's quick and easy to prepare and totally satisfying. I also had an iced coffee. Just one cup is my early morning savior.

Balancing blogging with laundry left me with only a few minutes to grab lunch, where I had the last of my Sweet Potato Chili. I also had a pickle on the side with some baby carrots and jalapeno hummos from Athenos.

Tuesday is my day to volunteer with Open Books. I always look forward to this time away and the chance to converse with some really amazing students. The two girls that I meet with each week are so kind and always enthusiastic about reading. It's been a fun experience so far.

Ryan kindly prepared dinner this evening since I was away and man, was it fabulous! He prepared Ellie Krieger's Crab Cakes with Smart Tartar sauce. We also had green beans with walnuts on the side. We've done Krieger's Salmon Cakes countless times, but this was our first attempt at the crab cakes. YUM!

I think I'm going to call it a night with some pistachio gelato and some TV. Gonna relax a bit before a freelance deadlines come up. Anyone out there a fan of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? I am going to try to start this book tonight, once and for all, if I can keep my eyes open. Would love to hear your thoughts or any book recommendations for that matter :)

Back on the elliptical tomorrow, too. Thanks again for reading! Have a fabulous evening!

Falling Behind

2010-09-27T20:33:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone and Happy Monday! Man, I tell ya, weekends operate at the speed of light and before you know it, it's Monday AM and then it's nearly the end of the work day. I've been meaning to catch up on my blog posts since Friday, but I figure starting fresh rather than going backward is a better way to kick things off this week. So hello, again!

Thanks for all of the fantastic comments on balancing work with exercise. I'm glad I'm not alone. Even though I've only been freelancing for BBC America's entertainment blog, Anglophenia, for a week, I'm still working out some kinks. I didn't hit the elliptical trainer (my first 45 minutes in nearly a week) until 5:30PM today, which is much later than I'm used to. But hey, this is how the working world does it, right? Gotta get back in it. In a perfect world, I'd love to exercise when I get up in the morning, but with a husband working at home and my 7:30AM start time, it's a little difficult.

Anyways, breakfast featured a new recipe, fANNEtastic food's Blueberry Spelt Pancakes with Yogurt Maple Banana topping. YUM-MY! I am probably the world's worst pancake maker, for I had to pitch the first one I made, but my second was a hit with Ryan. And as they say, third time's a charm and the pancake I had was lovely. The banana topping is really light and much tastier than I had imagined. I used Fage's fat-free yogurt and the bitter taste wasn't so noticeable with the combined banana and maple syrup. I also had an iced coffee.

For lunch, I had Sweet Potato Chili, which is included in Whole Foods' Market Cookbook. This is FAB-U-LOUS! It's also a little spicy, but I don't mind spicy. I also had an orange on the side.

Later on this afternoon, I was feeling a bit crazed in between blog posts, for I also squeezed in two phoners for a press bio I'm working on. I was looking for something crunchy, so I grabbed some pretzels and a spicy McClure's pickle with a club soda. Best!

Once the work day finally ended and my workout was completed, I was starving for dinner. I snacked on an Adora milk chocolate calcium disc. These little guys are really perfect.

Lastly, for dinner, Ryan prepared baked parmesan tilapia with grilled asparagus. He also whipped up an incredible mustard-based sauce for the asparagus. SO GOOD! It's a little bit of mustard powder, dijon mustard, greek yogurt, red wine vinegar, and tarragon with salt and pepper to taste.

I also caught up on last Thursday's season premiere of Grey's Anatomy during my workout today. Wow! Did anyone see it? I am so proud of Christina! But this season is gonna be another doozy. Hope to catch up with Private Practice tomorrow. Did anyone else catch some great TV last week?

Ok, I gotta put this post to bed and enjoy some R&R ... and some gelato. :) Many thanks for reading Fighting the Pudge! Have a fab evening!

What's your favorite post-work or post-dinner snack?

Work Never Stops

2010-09-23T22:42:00.014-05:00

Greetings blog friends! Seriously, summer won't leave Chicago. It's outwearing its welcome, but somehow a part of me doesn't mind. What I do mind is the humidity. Boo!

Breakfast kicked off bright and early at 7:30AM with one egg on Arnold multi-grain sandwich thin plus mixed berries and an iced coffee. I can go the entire day with just this one coffee, but I wonder if there's more of it in my future? My fellow coffee drinkers, can you only last on one cup a day? I suppose my dose is a bit more than your usual cup.

Like I mentioned yesterday, I figured I'd probably reach for my Greek Bulgar-Chicken Salad for lunch and I did! Can't get enough of this stuff. I also had a McClure's garlic pickle and a pear on the side.

After lunch, I snacked on a vanilla bean sugar cookie, courtesy of Astrid at I Have Two Feet and Ten Toes. I bid on these mamas in the Carrots N' Cake bake sale a couple of weeks ago. Boy are these yummy! Fabulously yummy! Thanks so much Astrid!

Blogging for Anglophenia today took off like wildfire and for the second day in a row, I missed working out. I *cannot* do this tomorrow. I am missing my elliptical. What, I miss exercising? Had you told me I would say this a year ago, I would have said you were crazy. But you have my word, it's me and my elliptical tomorrow, man. In the past I've always struggled with balancing exercise with work, but now that I am working from home you'd think it might be a little easier. I'm working my way through it, I suppose ... learning the ropes this week while I reconfigure out my daily routine.

Dinner, oh dinner. Ryan and I both worked until 7, 7:30PM, so we went for pizza. We shared a medium margherita pizza and I had a spinach salad with veggies and balsamic vinegar on the side. I will make up for my pizza splurge tomorrow.

Did anyone catch the season opener for The Office? I thought it was laugh-out-loud hilarious! So thrilled it's back. I'll have to catch up to Grey's Anatomy this weekend. Ssshhhh don't tell me. :) I think it's about time for me to hit the pillow. Many thanks for reading. xx

Do you ever struggle with balancing work and working out? How do you handle it?

Feelin' Good

2010-09-22T20:12:00.000-05:00

Here we are, middle of the week time. How's your week going so far? Fall is here in the Windy City, but man, summer temperatures are trying to stick around. Yesterday, we had a high of 89 degrees and today was close to that with a nice breeze.

As I got back into the groove of working for a living, I had one of my favorites for breakfast: my open fruit sandwich with ghee and chia seeds. I had an iced-coffee too, which helps with my 7:30am start time. :)

As I mentioned yesterday, I had an appointment with my doctor this afternoon to discuss my progress. I wasn't over anxious or crazy excited. I was just content and happy to have reached this point. Sooooooo .... between June and today, I achieved my goal of losing 15 pounds!!!! I am really happy. Most of all, I'm just glad that I stuck it out and actually made an effort to change my life in this way. That's the biggest accomplishment, at least to me. And I'm going to keep on keepin' on.

Lunchtime came and went since I was downtown, but I met up with my friend Sarah after my appointment for some frozen yogurt. Lunch for the day, yeah!

For dinner, I had Greek Bulgar-Chicken Salad, after catching the recipe via Self magazine's Twitter. Pretty yummy and light. I haven't had bulgar in ages, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to bring it back in. With the mixture of tomatoes, kalamata olives, cucumber, and feta, this dish was delicious! I'll probably have it again for lunch tomorrow. We also had some grilled zucchini and eggplant -- leftovers from cooking the Italian Vegetable Bake -- on the side. I also snacked on a spicy pickle from McClure's.

Wow, this week is flying by like crazy! I really need to catch up on my blog reading, but more deadlines are coming up. Time to take care of some freelance work. Thanks so very much for reading Fighting the Support. It means a lot. xx

T-Minus One Day

2010-09-21T22:50:00.001-05:00

Well, here I am one day away from getting my first proper weigh-in since starting this blog in June. It was then that I started to seriously think about my weight and health. I talked to my doctor about my concerns and we came up with a plan. It was a simple plan, really, and it involved me making the effort to work out five days a week on top of eating healthy.

What started out as biking and some Wii Fit turned into Yoga, walking, free weights, more biking, and the elliptical trainer. It's been a total work in progress all summer. Thinking back to mid-June, I'd never heard of Zumba. I knew what Bikram Yoga was, or so I thought so. Three months later, I do Yoga once a week and I'm signed up for Bikram. I am also signed up for two 5k walks for October and November and I'm looking for a Zumba class.

My journey so far has been mind-boggling in the most positive ways. Sure, I've had my defeated moments, but I've brushed myself off and continued on. I've fallen in love with this blog and the food community. Three months ago, I had no idea that such a place existed. In the last six or seven weeks, especially, my journey has become less about the weight and more about enjoying the entire adventure. I've learned about so many different meals and ways to cook and I'm still learning soooo much and know there's plenty left to discover.

Anyways, tomorrow will be like any other day, but a bit exciting. I do know that I've lost some weight because I'm fitting into pants I couldn't fit into a year ago and really, that is more than enough to know that my hard work is paying off. But through all of that, I know I'm becoming a healthier person ... than ever before.

Getting back to Tuesday! Can I just tell you that today was absolutely bonkers? I started blogging for BBC America's Anglophenia blog, which is a fun spot for your latest UK entertainment news with an American accent, of course. I am really excited about it and thrilled to have the opportunity to work from home. Thank you for baring with my whiny moments of not having a full-time job.

Breakfast included my usual iced coffee and I indulged in a cup of fat-free Fage greek yogurt with strawberries, bananas, walnuts, and chia seeds. It's exactly what I needed as I plowed through some David Beckham and Gordon Ramsay news. HA!

In between posts, I got in 45 minutes on the elliptical trainer. I needed it badly, as I didn't exercise on Monday and felt the need to really sweat my brains out.

For lunch, I had a chipotle wild salmon burger on a Cybros seven-sprouted bun with mixed greens and mustard. Ryan also whipped up some cucumber salad with feta for a side. A quick and satisfying lunch!

The rest of the afternoon was a bit of a blur with consuming publishing guidelines and directions. Once dinner rolled around, it was about 7:30pm. This time, we tried SparkPeople's Italian Vegetable Bake. This particular dish is really low in fat and sodium, but also loaded in nutrients and minerals with the plethora of colorful veggies. I'd never had okra before, so this is one of the reasons I wanted to try this dish. What an awesome mix of fresh tomatoes, eggplants, zucchini, and green beans, too. Top it with some parmesan cheese and you have yourself one of the healthiest dinners around.

Once the dishes were done and everything was put away, I crashed out on the couch. We were pretty excited for the new TV drama, Detroit 1-8-7 since we're both from Michigan. Not bad. This week is gonna be great, though, with all the new TV coming up. Woo hoo for The Office, Criminal Minds, and Grey's Anatomy! I also snacked on some hemp granola trail mix with cranberries, sunflower seeds, and chocolate chips. I'm becoming obsessed with this stuff.

What are some of your favorite television shows? Which ones will you be watching this week? Tell me! :)

Mom's Cooking + Monday Meals

2010-09-20T22:01:00.001-05:00

Happy Monday everyone! I hope everyone's week is off to a great start! The weekends always seem to fly by, don't they? Mine was jam-packed with football and then some back home in Michigan. Michigan State beat Notre Dame on Saturday night with an awesome last-minute fake field goal touchdown and I nearly lost my voice from screaming so much.

While I was home, I also enjoyed some of my Mom's cooking. It's been fun watching my Mom embrace the food community online, too. She's discovered sooooo many new ingredients and recipes, which has only made her more excited to cook healthy. Going to Whole Foods is one of her favorite field trips. And what an amazing change from when I was a kid, for I always heard my Mom say that she didn't like to cook. Here we are 30 years later, and she has a bread maker, a juicer, and other kitchen gadgets. Plus, we're swapping kitchen techniques, recipes, and other helpful hints. It's a lot of fun! This weekend she really hooked us up, cooking my Dad, Ryan, and me a fabulous pre-game breakfast on Saturday, with some homemade oatmeal and blackberries, plus fruit and eggs.

She also served a lovely brunch prior to our jaunt back to the Windy City on Sunday. The chicken salad with grapes and apples was delicious. Her homemade spicy tomato soup included tomatoes from her garden. And you can never have too many raw veggies and fruit! YUM!

Come this morning, I was still reeling from the excitement of Saturday's game. Such excitement only pushed my motivation in the right direction ... for work. I caught up on loads of odds and ends, while tinkering away on some freelance work. Breakfast included Love Your Man Steel-Cut Oatmeal and an iced coffee. I also tried Vega Shake & Go's Vanilla Almondilla flavor. It was nice and frothy, but I think I prefer the Choc-o-lat version.

With several deadlines looming over my head, my butt never left the chair today, sadly. I gotta kick some serious booty on the exercise front tomorrow, stat! Lunch was a quick one, too. I had lemon dill tuna and kalamata olives on an Arnold multi-grain sandwich flat, with spinach and stone ground mustard.

Later on, I snacked on an apple with a tablespoon of reduced fat peanut butter.

Dinnertime was spent at the super-size Whole Foods, for Ryan and I had zero groceries in the house. Hitting two birds with one stone tonight seemed appropriate. For dinner, I had some mixed greens with vegetables as well as some sliced golden beets, italian vegetables, and chili lime tofu. I have to have my soup whenever I'm at Whole Foods, and tonight I opted for the Black Bean Adobo recipe. Can't forget my LaCroix sparkling water. A few new changes to my regular Whole Foods menu. Apologies for the dismal lighting in the following pics.

Man, and here we are, almost the end of Monday. Tuesday is likely to be just as busy, but I prefer it that way :) First proper day of fall and my brain is already churning with several recipe ideas.

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you had a great, stress-free Monday! xx

The Weekend Has Arrived

2010-09-17T15:44:00.001-05:00

Happy Friday everyone! Ryan and I are heading back to Michigan in a couple of hours for a fun, football-filled weekend. We're joining my Dad in East Lansing for the Michigan State/Notre Dame game on Saturday and I cannot wait. The MSU/ND game is always at night (8pm on ABC) and there's nothing like being underneath the lights. Tons of fun! Here's hoping the projected thunderstorms disappear.

This morning I wanted to try something new for breakfast. I had some chocolate smoothie powder from Vega Shake & Go left in the cupboard, so I opted to take a look on the web for some inspiration. I ended up going with Evan's Vega Mix-N-Go Breakfast. I like to call it Chocolate Oatmeal Breakfast Pudding!

Wowsa, what a mix of bananas and oats! A little bit of Vega powder goes a long way, too. I also added chia seeds to mine. Super good with my iced coffee!

After breakfast, I headed outside for some power-walking. During my 40-minute outing, I also came across the following:

Pretty sweet, right? It's an advertisement for a Nintendo's time-travel mystery game, Professor Layton and the Unwound Future. Anyhow, I love it and many of these sorts of posters can be found at The Love Shop and Keep Calm Shop, both via Etsy. Other bloggers like Heather and Danielle also champion 'em too. Words to live by, yeah?

Before lunch, I plowed through another intense 25-minute run on the elliptical. But I was hunnnngry after that, so Ryan and I headed to Whole Foods for some food. I had some mixed greens with veggies and balsamic vinegar, and berry-watermelon salad. I couldn't pass up my regular fave, Tomato and Basil soup, either. To drink, I had a blackberry Izze.

We'll be having dinner on the road tonight and I've packed myself one of these beauties plus a vegetarian chocolate chip cookie and an orange!

Before I step in the car, I've calculated 10,317 steps on the pedometer, so I feel good to go! WOO! May everyone have a relaxing and fun weekend! Thanks again for reading. GO STATE!

Alive and Kicking

2010-09-16T20:56:00.000-05:00

Yay for Thursday, friends. We're inching closer to the weekend and sprinkles of fall are finally in the air here in the Windy City. No more blah for me today, either! I plowed through some intense elliptical work for 30 minutes this afternoon and added another 20-minute walk outside. I *had* to get out of the house today. I spend a lot of my day working at the computer. With the sun behind the clouds and a cool lingering in the air, it seemed like the perfect time to head outside. With various errands to run, I earned a total of 10,478 steps (thank you Omron pedometer) for Thursday. I feel good!

I was craving eggs this morning, so I cooked up two eggs with pepper and chives on a Arnold multi-grain sandwich thin for breakfast. I also had some mixed berries and an iced coffee.

Ryan and I are heading to Michigan tomorrow for some Michigan State football this weekend, so for lunch we wanted to use up a few items that have been in our fridge for a bit. We resorted to our trusty Rising Moon Ravioli, Butternut Squash-style. Ryan also cooked up some Rinaldi pasta sauce with garlic and red wine vinegar, plus BelGioioso parmesan cheese. I also had some mixed greens on the side with tomatoes, cucumber, beets (!!!), and some olive oil and vinegar on top. While not incredibly eventful, it was good good good!

I spent a part of my afternoon brushing up on a new CMS program and wrapping up additional odds and ends. Once all was said and done, I grabbed my first apple of the fall -- my absolute favorite, Michigan McIntosh Apples -- for a snack. I added two tablespoons of reduced fat Jif on the side. Love this snack! For those apple lovers out there, what else do you pair 'em up with besides peanut butter?

Dinner, once again, featured Cooking Light's Turkey and Bean Chili. I tell ya, this version is hearty, yet lite. You don't feel quite so full when finished and that's a thumbs up in my book!

Prior to calling it an evening, Ryan and I ran a few more errands around town. We capped things off with our first pumpkin lattes of the season. Oh how I love Starbucks during this time of year. How about you?

At last, the day is done! Time to catch some reruns on TiVo. I hope you had a fantastic day and that you're gearing up for an awesome weekend. Thanks a mil for reading Fighting the Pudge and for supporting my food changes and weight-loss journey. xx

Do any of you use a pedometer? Would love to hear your thoughts on whether or not you think they work, what brand you prefer, etc. I'm experimenting with mine as a means of tracking my daily steps and exercise.

Bring on the Baby Beets

2010-09-15T21:32:00.019-05:00

Wednesday, can be a tough one sometimes. You're half way through the work week, but not close enough to the weekend. Anyhow, today started off nicely with Love Your Man Steel-Cut Oatmeal with cranberries and a banana. The Chicago sun was shining and I was ready to take on my day.

I accomplished a few freelance odds and ends throughout the morning and checked a few more things off my to-do list. For lunch, I busted out some baby beets. Now let me tell you, before today I haven't had a beet since pre-school. How long has that been? What, 27 years or something? CRAZY! That entire time I had convinced myself that beets weren't for me. When you're a kid, you had moments where you just decided you didn't like something and you wouldn't like that particular something for the rest of your life. Am I right? Well that was me and beets. But with my new adventures in food and exercise this year, I am up for trying things I "supposedly" do not like. So for lunch, I added some baby beets to my lemon-dill chicken salad. Excellent! Loved them! How did I go my entire adult life without having beets!

I also shared a sliced pear with Ryan and had one of my favorite spicy pickles from McClure's.

Once lunchtime was over, my wacky hormones started to take over. I started to feel blah and my motivation began to wain, but I pushed through it. I spent the remainder of the afternoon researching a story for a freelance article. But it was the freelance database that was totally out of wack. And in the back of my mind, I knew not working out before lunch might come to bite me eventually. By dinner, my stomach was in knots due to this out-of-sorts tech issue on the freelance side. I wasn't feeling too hot and unfortunately my Turkey and Bean Chili would have to wait.

I finally finished my cup of chili around 7pm and it was mighty good. The fresh cilantro and lime really give this chili an extra spark. The cannellini beans are a nice change from your usual kidney or chili bean. Later, I was still a bit hungry, so I had two tablespoons of reduced fat Jif on an Arnold multi-grain sandwich thin.

I'm kind of all over the place today, I guess. But I've really noticed that my mind drifts off into a lazy place when I don't take the time to work out. My goal is to exercise 45 minutes, 5 days a week. A week from today, I have my first proper weigh-in since June. Fingers crossed these little setbacks haven't worked against me in the long run. Back on the saddle tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

What is your day like when you skip your daily workout? Does it affect your mood or motivation?

We On Award Tour

2010-09-15T10:07:00.000-05:00

Since starting Fighting the Pudge in June, I've received some fantastic comments from many of you out there in the blogosphere and have been fortunate enough to make some incredible blog friends along the way. Earlier this month, I received my first two blog awards -- what a wonderful surprise! Today, I'd like to pay it forward.

Many thanks again to Kristy of My Little Space for passing on the following award, which I was so honored to receive. Please do check out Kristy's amazing blog, live from Malaysia. She's an incredible and creative cook and her creations are out of this world amazing! Prepare to be blown away.

At the same time, I'd like to pass this on to several awesome foodies, for their lovely blogs inspire me every day! You guys are truly awesome!

LeashieLoo at All Kinds of Hungry
Rachael at Mrs. Adventure
Kori at [ReFresh]

LeashieLoo of All Kinds of Hungry was so kind to pass along the following award to me this month!

The Rules:

1. Answer this question: If you had the chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be?
2. The second thing you have to do is, pick 6 people and give them this award. You then have to inform the person that they have gotten this award.
3. The third and final thing is, thank the person who gave you the award.

My answers:
1. I was such a worry wort as a kid and teenager, to the point where I'd have constant stomach aches. I worried over piddily things, too; what people think of me if I do this or don't do that, grades, etc. I don't reflect upon my past with any regret because every experience has made me who I am, but I definitely wouldn't have sweated the small stuff so much. I would have relaxed a bit more. Having to readjust that as an adult has taken some work, but I'm certainly a better person because of it.

2. I hereby award this Cherry on Top Award to:

Tracey at Veggies, Cake & Cocktails
Kristy at My Little Space
Tina at Faith, Fitness, Fun
Katie at Ozark Adventures
Joanna at 40 Day Kedge
Jessica at Jessica's Jaunt

3. Thank yoooooooou LeashieLoo at All Kinds of Hungry for the Cherry On Top Award and for reading my blog! It means a lot! You have a fab sense of humor, a cute cat, and appreciate a good snack. That rules!

Thank you again to everyone out there in the food and wellness blog community for sharing your thoughts and for supporting Fighting the Pudge! I appreciate it more than you know! xx

ps ... Thank you Tribe Called Quest for inspiring today's blog title

Success!

2010-09-14T20:38:00.001-05:00

Remember last Friday when my photos didn't save correctly? This was when I made fANNEtastic Food's awesomely yummy Almond Butter French Toast? Well today, I saved myself and made this fabulous dish once more, and I have the photos to prove it.

Last time I used Arnold's whole wheat bread, but I don't think it was thick enough to soak up the french toast mixture. This time I tried a 12-grain loaf from Whole Foods and the thickness was just right. Ryan isn't a french toast fan (I can't believe it, either!) and I made him a mini helping. He LOVED it!

I know I post a lot about leftovers, but I am guessing a lot of you do the same? Ryan and I try to stretch out food out during the week (as best as we can, of course) in order to avoid wasting food. Plus it's just us and that makes life a bit easier when you have your meals ready to go. So yeah, lunch featured Saturday's game-day hotdish, Buffalo Chicken Casserole. I also had a salad with herb greens, cucumber, tomatoes, and balsamic vinegar.

Tina at Faith, Fitness, Fun had a compelling post this morning about finding joy in each day. I feel like this is something I take for granted as I get into my daily routine. Taking time out to notice what makes you happy throughout the day should be a natural part of living, right? Anyhow, I thought she made some interesting points, which brings me to what I'm joyful for today: volunteering!

While I'm still feeling the affects of what seems like a never-ending recession and not having a full-time job at the moment, I am using some of my time to get back into the community. I did just this when I was caught in the first round of layoffs at Microsoft in March 2008. I was living in New York City at the time and needed something to intercept the usual job search rigmarole. Fortunately for me, I found iVolunteer (I have their widget listed at the bottom right), which is a non-profit group that places individuals with Holocaust survivors for weekly visits. I had the opportunity to meet with a lovely woman named Ruth up until my move to Chicago earlier this spring and the experience was incredible.

Anyhow, I'm getting carried away here. What I'm trying to say is that volunteering, at least in my experience, provides a positive outlet that's so separate from everything else. And today, I started the Book Buddies Program with Open Books. Here's my joy for the day, people! Book Buddies is a weekly program that provides elementary students the opportunity to meet individually with trained mentors for assistance in reading. I'm a book geek, so this is awesome! The students I met today were fantastic, bouncing off the walls with enthusiasm and bright and wide-eyed for what's coming up this semester. I could say the same for me.

Once walking in the door from my fun-filled hour spent with my two book buddies, Ryan had more leftovers ready for dinner. This time we had our second and final helping of Grilled Salmon with Cilantro-Yogurt Sauce and Red Pepper-Coconut Rice. Still so good!

I also had a hankering for some ice cream from Gyood. This stuff is 100% lactose and cholesterol free and low in fat. I enjoyed it, too, as I did 45 minutes on the elliptical machine today, plus 10 sets of 10 weights! Annnnnd I went over 10,000 steps on the pedometer, so I'm in good shape.

Another good day for the books, my friends. Thanks again for reading! xx

Have you volunteered before? If so, what was your favorite volunteer experience? Or would you like to volunteer?

I Heart Fage Yogurt

2010-09-13T22:23:00.001-05:00

Wow, I think Fage is becoming my new best friend. I've used it countless times in various recipes, but I've never had it simply as yogurt. Admittedly, I'm not the world's biggest yogurt fan. I've never cared for the texture or the various flavors from brands like Dannon, Yoplait, and the like. Tell me, am I missing out?

It's only since beginning this blog that I've taken a serious interest in yogurt, especially Siggi's. Now, I've done the same with Fage (0% seems to work best for me). I think it's the thick and creamy consistency of these kinds of yogurts that ultimately stays with me. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that, as a kid, I absolutely LOVED Cool-Whip and Reddi Whip. I don't know why, but I just loved that thick and creamy texture. It's kind of the same with these Greek and Icelandic yogurts. With that, I've been able to add much more protein to my diet, which brings me to today's breakfast: more Fage, with fruit, almonds, chia seeds, and honey.

I'm trying to squeeze in what is most likely my last helpings of summer fruit. Oh I am sooooooo going to miss having berries whenever I want to. This particular mix of fruit and yogurt is a hearty enough portion (1 cup Fage plus fruit) that keeps me completely full and satisfied up through lunchtime.

Speaking of lunchtime, Ryan and I cooked up some Cashew Chicken Salad, featured in the September/October 2010 issue of Cooking Light. We used regular raisins, as we didn't have any golden raisins on hand. I served mine on a multi-grain sandwich thin from Arnold and had a McClure's garlic pickle on the side. More protein for me, too!

My workout came a little before dinner with 30 minutes on the elliptical machine. I'm developing a bad habit as of late in allowing various online duties to take over a lot of my day. Ugh, the life of a web editor and writer, er web junkie. Freelancing is kickin' about, so I can't complain.

Come dinnertime, I consulted Cooking Light's expertise once more for their Grilled Salmon with Cilantro-Yogurt Sauce (more Fage!) and Red-Pepper Coconut Rice.

Fabulous, fabulous meal! I can't believe I've never had jasmine rice before! Upon opening the bag, the nutty aroma caught me by surprise. The mix of light coconut milk with a half-cup of diced red bell pepper made for a great side dish with grilled salmon. We made enough for leftovers tomorrow!

Thanks again for reading! I hope your Monday was a marvelous one!

With all this talk about yogurt, do you have a favorite yogurt brand, flavor or recipe?

School is in session

2010-09-13T20:33:00.003-05:00

School has been back in session for 5 weeks now! Hard to believe. Summer has been awesome and I am still not ready for it to end. I had a fabulous trip to Michigan and a wonderful visit in Chicago with my husband as we saw some of our very dear friends MacKenzie and Ryan. What a blast.

School has been tough but wonderful at the same time. I had a nice 2 mile walk with Charlie tonight. Absolutely beautiful outside. Tons of bikers and walkers of all sorts were out tonight.

Weekend Brunch, Football Hotdish, and More

2010-09-12T21:45:00.008-05:00

This weekend had a little bit of everything: football, cooking, brunch, crafting, and more. How was your weekend?

On early Saturday afternoon, between my Michigan State game and his Michigan game, Ryan and I prepared Buffalo Chicken Casserole. This little gem is featured in the September/October 2010 issue of Eating Well under their "Hooked on Hotdish Casseroles" feature.

Ryan was keen on this particular dish because of the "buffalo" factor. At our house come fall, football Saturday has to have "buffalo" involved somewhere. Since I'm not a buffalo wings kind of gal, this casserole dish was a great alternative. It's a nice mix of whole-wheat macaroni pasta, chicken breast, celery and carrots. The sauce is made of skim-milk, a touch of cornstarch for thickness, and buffalo sauce. I paired mine up with an IBC Diet Root Beer.

Sunday was much more productive and we started things off with some brunch action at Bakin' & Eggs. This place is quite popular and this is the first time Ryan and I have been able to get a table before 11 A.M. The modern decor with vintage accents is super cute, plus some of the seating is actually in old church pews. Pretty cool idea! Their fresh selections of pastries, cupcakes, and other pies, too, look just as lovely.

I can't forget their menu, for it features a creatively healthy spin on your usual diner fare. Ryan ordered a sundried tomato frittata with goat cheese and potatoes. Holy yum! I had the whole wheat granola pancakes and those were just as delicious, with maple syrup and berry compote. We also tried a Black Bear, which is cocoa and milk mixed with iced coffee. Not bad.

I only made it through one and a half of those pancakes, but man, they were *awesome*! I think I'm going to dream up my own concoction.

Once done with brunch, some errands, and an open house, we ventured to Wicker Park for the eighth annual Renegade Craft Fair. Wow, the festival has grown exponentially since it's inception in 2002. So many vendors, and soooooo much to choose from.

I am a stationery nerd when it comes to events like these (holla, BUST Craftacular!) and buy as many cards and postcards as I've budgeted for that day. I fell in love with these recipe stationery cards from Bison Bookbinding & Letterpress. They came in a pack of six, but here's a snapshot of my four favorites. Check out their Etsy store more awesomeness.

Also included below is a cookbook marker by Tartella. These came in a pack of three and talk about helpful and pretty! Now I no longer have to earmark my favorite recipe pages or consult the Internet to verify more obscure measurements. Check out Tartella's collection for additional food-inspired products like wine bags, napkins, and recipe cards.

I'd like to give a shout-out to KIND Healthy Snacks, for they were the first table I visited upon entering the festival. They so kindly hooked me up with a reusable bag and some health bars. I've never had them before, but my friend Linda says they're great! Blog friends, have any of you tried 'em?

Ryan and I also escaped the heat and the crowd to have lunch at Via Carducci La Sorella, a quaint and cool little spot that serves rustic southern Italian food. We shared Carpaccio di Salmone, which is thinly sliced smoked salmon served with arugula, capers, and olive oil over bread. We also shared a margherita pizza.

A great end to a great weekend, but I'm looking forward to getting back to my weekly routine. Cheers and thanks for reading!

Piedmont Pup

2010-09-11T22:19:00.000-05:00

Atlanta is a storm of thunder and lightening at the moment. But, for the majority of the day, we had 100% goregous weather! So, Teddy and I decided to spend our morning outside, and we ended up on a bit of a park adventure. We hit Lenox Park, as well as Piedmont Park--all before lunch!

Lenox Park, with its various walking paths and great scenery, is only a mile from home, and as a result, it's a hot spot for Teddy and me on Saturday mornings. We trekked for about 45 minutes, and I'd say we managed a little over 2 miles. It was the perfect morning energy booster for me. As for Teddy...he definitely earned his mid-morning nap. :)

A bit later, Teddy and I had big plans to attend Piedmont Park's SOLD OUT "Splish Splash Doggie Bash". We didn't actually have tickets. But, we couldn't pass up a chance for Teddy to swim in the Parks' pool with all of his furry buddies, and we kind of figured Teddy's sweet face would convince the event's organizers to let us in. Haha. Unfortunately, we got our dates wrong, and the big swim is NEXT Saturday.

Nonetheless, being the resourceful duo that we are, we did another long walk around the Park, and we happened upon the Park's Green Market. The Green Market is a mini-sized farmer's market with a bunch of organic food options, including produce, frozen yogurt, and even dog treats. It worked out well for Teddy, who walked away with peanut butter-flavored sweets, courtesy of Big Daddy Biscuits. It worked out well for me too, since the long walks kept me from having to visit the gym today!

Hooray for Friday and Almond Butter French Toast

2010-09-10T23:53:00.009-05:00

The weekend is nearly here, hooray! Are you ready for the weekend?

Today was a pretty normal day with my usual email upkeep and list duties. For breakfast, I tried fANNEtastic Food's recipe for Almond Butter French Toast with Cinnamon Apple Yogurt Topping. I love french toast, but I've never made it before. Anne P. of fANNEtastic Food makes it look so easy, so I decided to give it a try.

Two words: *Truly awesome!*

Unfortunately, my pictures for most of today were deleted! Aaarrrrrggghhhh! I am SO BUMMED! I hope to make this dish again on Monday, so I'll make sure my photos are saved.

It would have been even more awesome, too, had I tried a thicker bread, but there's always next time, right? Anyhow, I served mine with some strawberries and raspberries on the side.

Some of my late-morning duties required a trip to the post office, so I hopped on my bike for part of today's workout. It was gorgeous outside and getting 20 minutes in was exactly what I needed. Once I got home, I added 25 minutes on the elliptical.

Sadly my lunch photos were also lost, but I think you've seen enough pictures of our turkey-style taco salad. After lunch, I snacked on some of my hemp granola trail mix. Love this stuff!

For dinner, we met up with the fabulous Tracey of Veggies, Cake and Cocktails and her husband, Patrick. I had the pleasure of meeting this lovely couple at the Healthy Living Summit here in Chicago in August.

Ryan and I had an absolute blast with them, and as longtime Chicago residents they suggested several cool spots for food and drinks. We met at Firkin and Pheasant for dinner and this little place ended up being a Michigan State bar. WOO HOO! Go Spartans! Ok, I'll pipe down now. Anyhow, we each shared some appetizers, with some popcorn shrimp and the Scotch Egg, per Patrick's suggestion. The Scotch Egg is truly one of a kind and really tasty. For my main entree, I had the grilled chicken wrap with brie and apple, plus some tomato and cucumber salad.

After a few drinks at Crossroads Public House, we ended our evening at The Wiener's Circle. Chicago is famous for their hot dogs and until tonight, Ryan and I had yet to have one of the Windy City's celebrated dogs. Let me tell you, the hot dog we had was out of this world. Topped with mustard, a pickle, tomatoes and hot peppers, SO GOOD! Plus, the waitstaff was a riot with their surly and bossy behavior. A perfect end to a fantastic night!

Happy weekend everyone! What do you have planned? It's more football, cooking, and baking for us. Thanks again for reading!

Trail Mix Smiles

2010-09-09T21:38:00.000-05:00

Happy Thursday everyone! How's everyone's week shaping up? I have to say that today was much brighter and much more productive. I kept my snacking at bay as well and am gearing up to make some healthy eats for this weekend's football games.

Today for breakfast I tried something new. Although not terribly inventive, my Fage fat-free yogurt hit the spot. I combined a cup with some fruit and almonds and topped my yogurt with a tablespoon of honey. Once mixing it all together, it was a pretty hearty breakfast. I had my new favorite chocolate shake from Vega Shake and Go Smoothie and an iced coffee. This carried me through lunch and then some. Love it!

Prior to enjoying some leftovers at lunch, I pushed through 45 minutes on the elliptical trainer. It was a great workout today and definitely kept my mind at ease and fully focused on various odds and ends that had to accomplished this afternoon. Come lunchtime, I did reach for the Lean and Beefy Taco Salad, turkey-style. Today, I added a tablespoon of fat-free sour cream from Lucerne. Another keeper!

Dinner also witnessed some leftovers action with Baked Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta. You can't go wrong with this dish, for it's high in protein and mighty tasty. I am also obsessed with fresh dill. Once more, I paired it up with some mixed greens, chopped cucumber, and kalamata olives. I love this little version.

After dinner, Ryan and I took a field trip to the biggest Whole Foods ever. Well, it's definitely the largest one we've ever been to. I could spend several hours with its never-ending isles of sooooooo many good foods, plus there's a bar and a handful of mini eateries. Ample parking with 400 spots. This is *huge* after years of living in NYC without a car and little space. We also made our own trail mix at the DIY-trail mix bar (next time I'm there, I'm so taking photos!). I made mine with sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, chocolate chips, and hemp granola. Totally completed my awesome day!

The job angels must have been listening because I'm in the final stages of completing a freelance deal with one of my very favorite news outlets. Details TBA soon. Thanks sooooooooo much for all of your comments and for all of your support. It's so wonderful to meet so many of you in this forum. Y'all rock!

What kind of recipes are you preparing to make this weekend?

Just Not Into It

2010-09-08T20:32:00.000-05:00

ACK! Today was one of those days where I ignored my mind and my body and reverted back to my old behavior. I had way too many snacks. It didn't start of that way, however. Breakfast was great with my open fruit sandwich and chia seeds, with watermelon. I am loving my chocolate smoothies from Vega Shake & Go!

Upon returning from my volunteer orientation at Open Books, I fixed myself a lean and beefy taco salad with ground turkey. This delightfully filling dish has black beans and corn mixed with the group turkey. I topped that on a bed of romaine lettuce with a quarter-cup of colby cheese and some cherry tomatoes. Quite yummy if I do say. I had a few dashes of jalepeno sauce, too.

Once I was done with lunch, I wanted to have some of the fruity Irish Bread that I baked over the weekend. I only ate about half of the portion featured in the photo below. But this is where everything started to sort of ... get ... away ... f r....o m ... me.

I first had part-skim mozzarella string cheese. Then I ended up having a heaping handful of chipotle Pringles, which Ryan got for free from last Sunday's Cubs game. Ugh. I haven't reach for any junk food, minus a few weak moments, all summer long. We don't buy any of that stuff, either. I suppose dinner was a much better comeback with some Creamy Corn and Vegetable Soup. Apologies for the poor photo quality. The lighting wasn't the best and our soup is a bit thicker than the recipe. But it was loaded with zucchini, red pepper, and tomato.

I napped for the remainder of the afternoon. ACK! Mid-week blues, man. I want a job, job Gods! Help!

Shake It Up

2010-09-07T20:59:00.001-05:00

I have to say with the extra sleep I got this past holiday weekend, Tuesday was a-ok and pretty productive. Ryan and I had every intention of waking up for a 7am walk around the neighborhood, however that didn't exactly happen. Tomorrow, I swear!

I kicked off my morning with my first Vega Shake and Go. I received a package at the Healthy Living Summit last month and was inspired to finally try it after Allie at Live Laugh Eat recently mentioned having one. I tried the Choc-a-lot version and it was positively yummy. Each shake includes two servings of veggies, 2500 mg Omega-3-6-9, and 11 grams of protein. It's also gluten-free, dairy-free, and 65% organic. Not bad, right? Super easy to make with two heaping helpings plus water. I paired my shake up with one scrambled egg with chives and berries. An iced coffee was close by, too. :)

It was me and my elliptical trainer for 45 minutes later this morning. Boy, if I miss a couple of days, I somehow ended up paying for it. Haha! Anyhow, I feel like I really earned the last five minutes today. Certainly well worth the sweat and hard work. Lunch kind of snuck up on me, too, and with the extended holiday Ryan and I were a day behind in meal prep. Aaaagh! I headed up to Whole Foods to pick up a few things and grabbed some lunch from the hot and cold bars. The walk home was absolutely lovely, with not a cloud in the sky. But the Windy City's namesake was in full effect with some crazy wind, too. Yikes!

I picked up my favorite Tomato and Basil Soup with some mixed greens and vegetables. I also tried Whole Foods' French Greens Beans with Herbs and Sesame Cucumber Salad. Awwwwesome lunch!

For dinner, I brought back one of our oldies but goodies from Ellie Krieger: Baked Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta. I seriously cannot get enough of tomatoes and this is a hearty dish where the tomato is the true star, with fresh dill and parsley mixed in. I also had spinach salad with shredded carrots, cucumber, and kalamata olives.

You know I can't pass up having dessert, so I had my last two vanilla marshmallows from Zingerman's (Thank you Rittballa!). If you're not familiar with Zingerman's, do yourself a favor and check 'em out. They are AMA-ZING! With living in Ann Arbor for seven years, I frequented the deli, the bakehouse, and the roadhouse and Pat and Dick’s Honeymooner was my go-to sandwich from the deli. Its to-die-for mix of smoked turkey breast, Wisconsin muenster, and sweet-hot honeycup mustard on grilled challah bread makes it the most incredible sandwich ever. I'm serious!

Ok, I'm getting carried away here. The vanilla marshmallows are made of sugar, egg white, gelatin, and mexican vanilla bean and are absolutely fabulous at 60 calories each. Like it says on the bag, they're "lighter than air with a vanilla flair." I am going back to Michigan in two weeks and you better believe I'm making a stop at Zingerman's Bakehouse to pick me up some vanilla AND chocolate marshmallows.

As for Wednesday, I have volunteer training with Open Books and a punk rock show with Young Widows at night. What do you have planned? Thanks so much for reading! xx

Do you have a favorite hometown dessert?

Where Boot Camp Ends, Something Else Begins

2010-09-07T12:40:00.003-05:00

Hi friends! So I write to you having completed a full month of boot camp! Woo hoo! While I cannot say my attendance was 100% (more like 75%), as I had originally hoped, I definitely reached my primary goal, which was to get in enough physical shape to begin a workout regimen of my own. Before boot camp, I feared doing more than taking a brisk walk with my dog, Teddy. Now, I am motivated to get back to the elliptical at the gym, to get Teddy and I out running on the open-road, and to delve into dance and yoga. (Dance 101 in Atlanta has countless dance classes, and I always break a sweat!). I am also going to start using my TV-watching time (which is just about every night) to do some strength training (3 lb. weights, toning exercises, etc.). Recently having turned into a Gleek, Tuesday night's Glee episode will most certainly provide me with some catchy background music. In other words, boot camp was just the jump-start I needed to get back into exercising!

I also have a renewed desire to eat healthy! I tell you, I have always been a junk food eater. It was not uncommon for me to have pizza for lunch and then a burger and fries for dinner. But, once my sister started this blog (which has totally inspired me), I have begun playing with healthy (and tasty!) recipes, which my body has certainly appreciated. I'm not necessarily talking about changes in my appearance (since I have some more "exercise + nutrition" work to do if I want to drop a dress size); but, I have noticed a considerable change in how I feel in terms of energy and regularity--both of which are the result of making only SLIGHT changes to my diet. It is very cool that my body is now starting to crave something healthier.

With all of that said, I am in the process of creating a weekly workout schedule, as well as looking for a few healthy and easy recipes. If you have any ideas, I would greatly appreciate it! My goal is to turn "exercise + nutrition" into a lifestyle, as opposed to a fad that I visit a couple of times of year. So, any particular tips that you have on avoiding the burn-out of trying to be healthy would be great.

P.S. In case you are wondering whether my mile-time improved as a result of boot-camp, I'm sad to report that due to a work conflict (Court in the wilds of Forsyth County), I had to miss our final assessment. Maybe I'll try to give myself the assessment and see how I come out. :)

Labor Daze, Food Haze

2010-09-06T21:13:00.000-05:00

Here we are at Labor Day Monday and it's been a quiet one in my neighborhood. I had plans to head to the burbs for some biking with Ryan, but a few edits and application deadlines kept me at home.

For breakfast, I had some more of my Love Your Man Steel-Cut Oatmeal. Last week's batch is never-ending, I swear. Today, I topped mine with three-fourths of a banana, a quarter-cup blueberries and a dash of cinnamon. I had my usual iced coffee, too.

Today seriously flashed before my eyes. I had my head down with work stuff for the majority of the day, but did do some baking in relation to one of my job applications. To make a long story short, I had to whip up a quick loaf of Nana Morley's Irish Bread, and I ended up snacking on a bit of it mid-afternoon since I hadn't had lunch yet. I hope to share the recipe shortly.

For lunch, I resorted to my regular back up, a veggie sandwich on Arnold wheat bread with Athenos hummus. Today, I tried the jalapeno artichoke kind and it was really, really good. I also tried McClure's famous spicy pickles, straight out of Brooklyn and Detroit. OMG! You guys, these are the *most delicious* pickles ever! I plan to blog about this fantastic company sometime this week.

My work finally wrapped as Ryan walked in the door around 4:30 and we pretty much started planning for dinner. Since it's Labor Day and September is in full-swing, we decided to rig up the grill in celebration. We prepped lean ground beef and sprouted seven-grain buns from Cybros. Ryan cooked up some baby red potatoes with parsley and garlic, while I gathered some herby mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil for a salad. SCRUMPTIOUS!!!!! I didn't want the burger to end. A fab ending to a relaxing weekend.

Last but not least, I squeezed in an Applesauce Oat Cake during my deadlines today. With dinner still on our minds and our bellies full, Ryan and I had to try a small piece. A light, sweet dish perfect for fall.

Back to the grind (exercise, too) tomorrow, woo!

When you're in the middle of a busy day or week, do you have a healthy go-to dish that sates your hunger?

Football weekend and more

2010-09-05T22:08:00.001-05:00

Happy Labor Day weekend! I hope your weekend is going great and that the weather is fab where you are. My weekend was mostly low key, with lots of college football on Saturday. And when it comes to college football, Ryan and I live in a divided household. I am a graduate of Michigan State University, whereas he is a graduate of the University of Michigan. We're big, big rivals, although I might say that the rivalry between UofM and Ohio State is much more serious. Anyhow, we love this time of year and look forward to screaming at the TV in support of our respective teams.

For breakfast on Saturday, Ryan prepped his own version of hippie hash, which is inspired by The Fleetwood, a greasy-spoon diner on Ann Arbor's west side and one of the city's most treasured establishments. I also lived two blocks down the street from the Fleetwood for nearly seven years. People LOVE this place! Anyhow, hippie hash is a must-have, with it's mix of onions and peppers, feta, potatoes, and scrambled eggs. Our version, however, included a combination of two eggs with three eggs white with broccoli, scallions, and cherry tomatoes. I paired mine up with some toasted sandwich thins from Arnold. I eventually topped one with a half-tablespoon of raspberry preserves. YUM!

I had high hopes (and efforts) for making a healthy lunch menu in advance of Saturday's games, but it wasn't to be. I was hoping to find something new, instead of your usual bar fare. But we went with our signature chicken tenders from Perdue. These white chicken tenders are baked and we like to indulge in some buffalo sauce, too. Add a side of veggie and some of Ryan's homemade ranch dip (mayo, lemon juice, and herbs) and there's our football lunch. I kept things healthy with loads of water throughout the afternoon.

See, Ryan is into it!

My Michigan State Spartans beat the Western Michigan Broncos 38-14 and Ryan's Michigan Wolverines surprisingly toppled the Connecticut Huskies 30-10, so not a bad opening day to football season. We ended our evening with some pizza from Robey's. I can't resist their margherita pizza.

Our summer basically came to a close on Sunday with our fourth and final Cubs game. Ryan won a pair of bleacher seats during the Roscoe Village Burger Fest in July, so we were happy to go. I wanted to load up on protein and carbs prior to the game in order to fight off any game-time cravings, so we had two eggs on whole-wheat toast, plus I had some fruit, a small glass carrot-celery and apple, and an iced coffee. This kept me satisfied for much of the day.

Sunday's weather was really lovely, too, no humidity at about 75 degrees. I did enjoy a hot dog with mustard and a diet coke later on. But we were still a bit hungry, so we had salads (mine was mixed greens with chicken, gorgonzola cheese, and grapes) at a nearby bar, where we watched the rest of the game. The Cubs ended up losing to my former New York Mets 18-5. Yikes! All in all, a lovely day.

I hope you had a fabulous weekend! Thanks for reading!

TGIF!

2010-09-03T21:33:00.017-05:00

Happy Friday everyone! I hope everyone has had a great week and is gearing up for an even better holiday weekend! What do you have planned? Ryan and I are keeping things chill with a lot of college football on Saturday and our fourth and final Cubs game on Sunday.

I wanted to get in some yoga time this morning, but I had a volunteer orientation coming up in the afternoon. One of them had to give, and unfortunately it was yoga. Between balancing commute time and other in-between duties, I wanted to make sure I had enough time to get ready and downtown in a timely fashion. Breakfast included some of Bethenny Frankel's Love Your Man Steel-Cut Oatmeal with blueberries, a side of watermelon, and an iced coffee. Love this oatmeal, man!

Lunchtime would come later because of my orientation at noon. It's time to get involved again and with my current situation, I definitely have the time. When living in New York City, I volunteered with a non-profit organization called iVolunteer, which places individuals with Holocaust survivors for weekly visits (I have one of their widgets on the lower right side of this blog). That was one of the most rewarding experiences in my life and I still keep in touch with Ruth.

But now that I'm in Chicago, it's high time I find my volunteer place once more. A friend recommended Open Books, a non-profit group that not only has the city's *coolest* used bookstore, but also provides community programs to promote literacy in and around Chicago. Volunteers basically keep this organization running and it's very, very cool stuff. In two weeks, I'll be reading with two students at a nearby elementary school, and also have plans to get involved with helping around the bookstore. I'm a book geek in general -- earned my Master's in English Literature in 2005 -- so this will be a lot of fun, I think.

Anyways, once I got home, I reached for my leftovers from Rios D'Sudamerica. Not bad a day later, either.

It actually felt a lot like fall today with the wind and lower temperatures. Many people were wearing long sweaters and jackets. This weekend is supposed to be just as lovely. How's the weather where you are? You ready to give up your flip-flops and shorts yet?

The hubs and I had more leftovers for dinner, too, as we indulged in the last servings of Chef Meg's Healthy Chicken Vegetable Casserole. We also did a quick grocery run at Whole Foods and caught some Criminal Minds re-runs. Quite an eventful evening, eh? I suppose twenty-something MacKenzie would be laughing at thirty-something MacKenzie for not taking on the town every single weekend. Oh well, getting older feels good.

Slacker in the exercise department today. BOO! But on the flipside, I had quite an exciting moment. I tried on a pair of size 10 pants that I haven't been able to wear since before my wedding in June 2009. They fit! I am really excited because I'm finally seeing results. I feel much healthier and energetic with exercise and my new approach to cooking and eating, of course. But fitting into an old pair of pants again is sweet, sweet victory.

Again, Happy Friday and Happy Weekend everyone! Thanks for reading! xx

Rainy Thursday

2010-09-02T21:11:00.011-05:00

Clouds and rain set the tone for Thursday and it was definitely one of those mornings where you wanted to stay in bed forever. Isn't Hurricane Earl the craziest thing? My husband is in awe that it's the size of California right now and is glued to The Weather Channel.

Anyways, here we are at Thursday and college football kicks off tonight. I'm holding out to celebrate until Saturday. To me, that's the official day and I'm going to be cheering on my Michigan State Spartans WOO HOO! More about that later this week. What plans do you have coming up this extended holiday weekend?

Today for breakfast I was craving my open fruit sandwich with chia seeds. This dish is so simple and filling, I seriously can't get enough. I've only made this with a banana and strawberries, so I went that route again today. The cantaloupe was a bit weak, so I drizzled some agave nectar on top and that definitely did the trick! YUM! It's a nice switch from honey and with far less calories.

Since the week is winding down, so is the food in my refrigerator and pantry. I decided to keep things simple and use up any perishable items for lunch. I grabbed some Bumble Bee albacore tuna in water and the last of my cucumbers and cherry tomatoes from my Green City Market trip, and voila: Lemon Dill Tuna Salad! Sometimes simple gets the job done right, right?

I also had a nectarine, as I'm trying to squeeze in these seasonal fruits before fall arrives.

As I sifted through email and readied some job applications this afternoon, I snacked on a Frigo part-skim mozzarella string cheese and some cherries.

For dinner, I met my friend, also a fellow Spartan and longtime Chicago resident, Sarah at Rios D'Sudamerica for Peruvian food. What a GORGEOUS restaurant! The South American accents and paintings were eye-catching to say the least, and their virtual tour on their website is just a glimpse at how truly cool this place is. The quality of the photos are slightly dark as the lighting inside went for the ambience factor. Can't blame them.

Sarah and I shared Empanada al Horno y Chimichurri, which is a light Argentinian pastry filled with a mixture of beef, raisins, olives, and onions, with chimichurri drizzled on top. I cannot tell you how great this was, seriously! We also had some freshly baked bread with jalapeno sauce.

For the main course, I was in a seafood mood and ordered Arroz con Camarones, otherwise known as rice and shrimp cooked in Brandy, green peas and peppers. FAB-U-LOUS!

Sarah says "cheers" to Rios D'Sudamerica! You can never go wrong with good friends and good food!

I almost forgot! I've made a comeback in the exercise department this week and completed 45-minutes on the elliptical trainer earlier this afternoon. I'm three for three this week and plan to kick it again on Friday and Saturday. So much better than the last two weeks of August.

Thanks a mil for reading Fighting the Pudge and for your support as I continue to chase my goals in getting fit and healthy. xx

Is It Really September?

2010-09-01T11:18:00.004-05:00

Here I go again, lamenting about the fact that summer is pretty much over. It was a fast, but enjoyable one for sure. It was also one full of surprises: I started this blog, AND have stuck to my decision to get fit and healthy. I also met some lovely food bloggers, like Mrs. Adventure, My Little Space, 40 Day Kedge, and All Kinds of Hungry.

But the fall is definitely one of my favorite times of year, with college football and professional hockey back in action, not to mention the plethora of fun holidays. What are some of your favorite things to do in the fall? Do you have any fun fall-like dishes?

Wednesday breakfast included an egg sandwich on Arnold whole-wheat sandwich thins, plus some watermelon and blueberries, and an iced coffee.

Well, some of my Wednesday was kind of eaten up by a haircut appointment. Long story short, what should have taken 90 minutes tops took about three hours. BOO! Oh well, you move on, right? Lunch came a little late because of the delays, but my veggie sandwich was well worth the wait. I had some spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots on Arnold whole-wheat bread with roasted garlic hummus from Athenos. Plus, I added one of my homemade pickles!

I did snack on a part-skim mozzarella string cheese later in the day, too.

We consulted SparkPeople's Chef Meg once again, as we prepared her Healthy Chicken Vegetable Casserole for dinner. It seemed like a lovely mix of colorful veggies and protein, so why not, right? We used yellow and orange bell peppers, broccoli, and zucchini with whole-wheat penne from Rotini. For extra kick, Ryan added some cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes to the cheesy sauce. Fabulously filling entree for dinner!

Because it's September and because you still have that feeling of starting fresh, Ryan and I decided that we'd like to do something once a month and make it a habit. I suggested doing brunch or lunch every third Sunday at a new Chicago spot, but he opted for movie night. HAHA! I'll keep ya posted.

I rounded out my Wednesday evening with some Siggi's plain yogurt with honey and strawberries, my new issue of Time Out Chicago, and some Criminal Minds re-runs. How was your day? Thanks for reading.

Does this time of year, with the school year starting, motivate you to start something new?

Productivity Comes First ... Then the Cubs

2010-08-31T22:29:00.009-05:00

Wowsa, here we are on the last day of August. I'm sure I'll lament about this some more tomorrow, but this time of year always takes me back to starting school. It's that's feeling of getting a fresh start, you know? With my current unemployment situation, I feel like I need to be starting anew as well. :)

Today was fantastically busy with various networking duties and deadline tweaks, so I cannot complain. I don't think I left my computer most of the day, other than to kick some butt on the elliptical trainer for 45 minutes.

I kicked off breakfast with some more Love Your Man Steel-Cut Oatmeal was plenty, too. I paired that up with some fresh strawberries, a banana, and an iced coffee.

For lunch, Ryan and I had our final helping of Bethenny's Asian Chicken Salad. This one is a good one and I'll definitely bring it back. Also, I have to give a shout out to my dear Michigan State Spartans, hence me including my glass in the photo. Ha! We're just five days away from the best day of the year: the first day of college football! YAY!

I also snacked on some nectarine slices after lunch, and eventually had myself some part-skim mozzarella string cheese.

Ryan and I had our second Cubs game of the summer and start time was 7:05, so dinner was quick. We had a mixed greens salad with carrots, cucumbers, blueberries, and shredded BelGioioso parmesan cheese. For our main entree, we had spinach-cheese tortellini from Buitoni, served with with tomato and basil pasta sauce from Rinaldi. Love this back up meal!

Ryan and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary in June and I went the traditional route of sticking with the "paper" theme. We'd just moved to Chicago and both of us had always wanted to see the Cubs play at the historical Wrigley Field, so I purchased us two tickets to see them play against the Pittsburgh Pirates, plus it was free hat night!

Even though my first trip was two weeks ago when my Dad visited, it was awesome to go with Ryan and experience the Cubs games underneath the lights. Did you know that "The Friendly Confines", which was built in 1914, didn't have night games until 1988?

Unfortunately, the Pirates held off the Cubs 14-7. It was still a blast to be there, though! Our third and final Cubs game of the summer will be on Sunday.

When attending sporting events or concerts, how do you keep it healthy?

Inspired by Bethenny

2010-08-30T19:45:00.002-05:00

Happy Monday everyone! I hope your week is off to a good start. This week is another busy one, but good busy with assorted deadlines, Tuesday's Cubs' game, and dinner with Sarah on Thursday. And this morning I was determined to get back on track with working out.

I revisited one of my growing favorites for breakfast, Bethenny Frankel's Love Your Man Steel-Cut Oatmeal, which is featured in her Skinnygirl Dish book. This time, I added a quarter-cup blueberries and also had my regular iced coffee. I am in love with my bowl, too, which is from one of my favorite stores in New York City, Fish's Eddy. Super cute designs, a lot of funky vintage glass and ceramic items, and great prices.

I guess it's just a Bethenny kind of day, as we opted for one of her Skinnygirl Dish recipes for lunch. This time, we went for the Asian Shrimp Salad and it was fantastic! A nice mix of spinach with napa cabbage, and shredded carrots, snap peas, and scallions. The Asian Dressing paired up ginger flavors with dijon mustard accents. Gorgeous colors all around, too.

Well, I'm not thrilled to admit it but snack time got the best of me today. I should have gone for a nectarine or a peach, but instead I had a Cybros multi-grain flatbread with a banana, chia seeds, and a tablespoon of reduced fat Jif. Can't feel too guilty, as I did rock the elliptical trainer for 45 minutes today and completed 10 sets of 10 dumbbell routines.

Lastly, for dinner we enjoyed herb-crusted sesame chili tilapia with almond green beans, my third and final Bethenny installment for today. The green beans were spot on in crunch and flavor. I know I'll be picking up some more at Green City Market on Wednesday.

The first of two reunion shows for the Real Housewives of New Jersey is on shortly, woo hoo! Back at it tomorrow. Thanks for reading xx

Running with the Weekend

2010-08-30T09:31:00.007-05:00

When it comes to the weekend, is it challenging to keep things on track? How do you keep your meals healthy? Do you exercise consistently? I have struggled with keeping a weekend routine ALL SUMMER LONG! It's not that I'm not eating healthy because I am ... for the most part. I have also squeezed in some quality cardio time throughout my summer weekends. But I feel like my weekends are just not as organized as my five-day week. Maybe it's summer, maybe it's the gorgeous weather, the barbecues and baseball games, I don't know. This weekend wasn't any different. Ryan and I opted to explore some more of Chicago in search of open houses and houses for sale. Am I really this old to be doing this? Haha! I feel 16!

This recap post is going to be very much like the theme in above paragraph: random. Please forgive me! I am trying to keep myself accountable for my weekend nutrition and exercise and I know I have failed miserably with posting on the weekends. But moving on ...

Saturday breakfast included a spinach omelette with cherry tomatoes. Ryan uses one egg with two egg whites when making this dish. I also had some homemade carrot, celery and apple juice and an iced coffee.

We spent much of the afternoon in our car, so we went to Qdoba for lunch. I kept things lite with a naked burrito with black beans and pico de gallo. For dinner, we tried The Village Tap, where I had chicken tacos. These were very clean and satisfying with lettuce, salsa, and corn tortillas. The chips were also baked.

We hit the pavement again on Sunday and once more we found ourselves eating out. Ugh. But for breakfast, I filled up on a two eggs on a multi-grain sandwich thin from Arnold and some watermelon with blueberries. Ryan and I also had a small glass of carrot, celery, and apple juice and an iced coffee.

Subway was our lunch option, where I had my signature six-inch turkey on wheat with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and mustard. We also stopped by this *awesome* coffee shop in Andersonville called The Coffee Studio. The sleek, modern decor was a lovely match to its health-friendly menu. Very cute place! I wish I'd taken some photos, but it was a quick stop in before an open house.

After several more stops, Ryan and I switched up to our usual Sunday grocery duties. We called it a day at Whole Foods. We were both too tired to cook anything. I had a salad with veggies, plus some lemon dill tuna and some lime and cilantro quinoa. I cannot pass up the tomato basil soup either.

How was your weekend? Thanks for checking out Fighting the Pudge!

Gettin' My Yoga On

2010-08-27T21:01:00.001-05:00

When walking to my 8 A.M. yoga class on Friday, I was greeted with this fabulous chalk art. Awesome, right?

It felt great to be back at yoga. I'd missed four weeks and I don't want to go that long again. Yoga really does get your mind in a positive space. Before class, I did grab a bowl of coconut granola.

For lunch, Ryan and I headed outside for a break. We almost always eat in for every meal, especially with my recent changes this summer. But the weather was so perfectly warm and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We have a cute area nearby that has a handful of shops and restaurants, and many of which we have yet to try. We opted to check out Kitsch'n on Roscoe for lunch.

It's a fun spot with plenty of pop culture decor inside. It reminds me a bit of Igloo in my old neighborhood of Astoria, Queens. Anyhow, I ordered the spinach salad with chicken, feta, mandarin oranges, and bacon and a side of raspberry vinaigrette. It was big enough for some leftovers to bring home, but I also had a side of Kitsch'n's famous rosemary mashed potatoes.

Ryan and I also stopped by the nearby Starbucks for iced coffees. This new coffee habit ... yikes, I don't know. It's becoming quite the ritual.

In between job searches and bio edits, I stumbled on the Hot Chocolate 15k run via Joanna's 40 Day Kedge blog. Hooray! Another fun and exciting Chicago event that I can participate in. I'm doing the Chicago AIDS Run Walk in October, so why not get involved in another, right? The Hot Chocolate 15k does allow walkers for the 5k, so that's what I'll be doing come November 7th at Grant Park. I'm really excited! Registration fees will benefit the Ronald McDonald House.

Well today was as healthy as it was going to be with eating out for lunch, but the hubs and I reached for a pizza for dinner. We did keep things on the healthy side however and some of my farmer's market findings
with the last of my green zebra tomatoes and mini bell peppers. We also used an organic multi-grain crust from Rustic Crust, part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese, plus some fresh basil from my herb garden. Ryan did top his portion of the pie with some chopped salami. I stayed away from that side of the pizza. :)

Pizza is one of my very favorite things in life. It will always be there. YUM!

Happy Friday everyone!

Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-08-27T15:53:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite bloggers, Brown Eyed Baker, has a fantastic recipe for Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. I made these for my Dad when he was visiting Chicago last weekend, as he's the world's biggest cookie connoisseur. They were a big hit and you can't eat just one. Last night Ryan was looking for a dessert, so I decided to whip up a batch since I already had all of the ingredients on hand.

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

3. On medium speed, cream together the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat to combine. On low speed, gradually add the flour until just combined. Stir in the oats, and then the chocolate chips.

4. Use a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons) and drop dough onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden. Cool completely on the baking sheet and then store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Her recipe says it makes 16 cookies, however I was able to make 24 total cookies. Pretty yummmmmmmy! Thanks to the Brown Eyed Baker for allowing me to reprint her recipe. Enjoy!

Do you have a favorite cookie recipe? Please share! :)

Stuck ... Sort Of

2010-08-26T22:00:00.001-05:00

Sometimes, when you're really hitting your stride with exercising, life flows pretty nicely. You're happier and some of the negative stuff just bounces off you a helluva lot easier. Things just seem a bit brighter. Am I right? But what do you do when everything comes to a screeching halt because of a small setback?

My workouts have seriously taken a back seat the last two weeks. My schedule is pretty packed and I'm thankful for that, but somehow working out hasn't happened as planned. Grrrr.

I'm brushing it off and looking toward Friday. I'll be at yoga come hell or high water at 8 A.M. Count on it.

Today, I tried something new for breakfast: chia seeds! I've heard about these foxy little herbs for a while now and Carrots N' Cake frequently mentions them. They come from the mint family and are helpful in several area. Not only do they reduce your blood pressure, but they're loaded in Omega-3 goodness and aid in making you feel full. This morning, I added mine to an open fruit sandwich with bananas, strawberries and a tablespoon of reduced fat Jif. With some Arnold bread, it was pretty scrumptious if I do say so myself. I also had a cup of watermelon and an iced latte. Woo!

Lunchtime also saw the return of Chef Meg's Taco Soup. This time I had some multi-grain saltines from Nabisco and 10 cherries. With being back in the Midwest, I'm able to get my hands on some sweet cherries!

Once I wrapped up a few things, I decided to give pickling a try. Eating Well's guide to pickling various vegetables is quite thorough. I totally thought the process might be intimidating, but in the end it was quite easy and quick. Here's the scoop on making dill pickles:

I pulled out four cucumbers from Wednesday's trip to Green City Market and sliced them up accordingly. I had saved an old glass jar to use and only ended up needing two of the sliced cucumbers. Eating Well suggests the spears (at 3.5 pounds) be cut into quarters or eighths. I just eyeballed what looked right. Haha.

Next up, I prepared the sour pickle brine by combining 2 cups of white distilled vinegar, 1 cup cider vinegar, and 3 cups of water in a large saucepan. (*Note: Eating Well's directions called for 3 cups of one particular vinegar, but I combined the amounts of what I had on hand and it seemed to work out just right). Add 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons sea salt and 2 tablespoons sugar to the pan. Bring to a boil and stir until salt has dissolved. Let it boil for 2 more minutes and remove from heat. This sour pickle brine yields 6 cups.

From there, I added about six small cloves of chopped garlic, ground black pepper, and fresh dill to my glass jar and added my cucumbers spears and the brine. Overall, all of this preparation totaled about 20 minutes, tops. I am sooooo looking forward to trying one of these pickles in the A.M., as Eating Well suggests refrigerating for 24 hours.

I also pickled some of my purple haze carrots, as I had a lot of leftover brine. I've never had a dilly carrot before, but I figured why not give 'em a try. I bet they'd be good on a salad. I'll photograph those this weekend.

Once pickling was done, I returned to my computer to work on some additional edits on a press bio. I also snacked on a fresh peach.

Our Roasted Ratatouille Tart also made its final debut this evening during dinner. It was still as zesty as it was when I first made it, however, the crust didn't hold up as expected. I'll definitely be trying the cornmeal crust next time. In addition, we had some herb lettuce with some farmer's market cherry tomatoes and cucumber. I want more of these yellow and orange cherry tomatoes. They are just too good!

As the evening winded down, I chatted with my blog partner in crime Raina and made some Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies for Ryan ... more about those tomorrow. I also chatted with my friend Alyssa and she told me how I need to watch the Jersey Shore. I know, I know ... it's super lame that I haven't seen a full episode. But I come from the era of the first six seasons of the Real World. Anyways, Thursday has come to a close. How was your day?

As always, thanks for reading!

Boot Camp Bust

2010-08-26T15:32:00.002-05:00

Despite waking up at the crack of dawn this morning, boot camp was a bust! The weather consisted of a bit of rain and some very distinctive lightening...and, as anyone who has ever participated in an organized sport knows, lightening = CANCELLATION! I cannot say that I minded though. :)

Not wanting my early morning wake-up to be for naught, I put the leash on Teddy, and we did a one-hour long walk along Lenox and Peachtree Roads. No umbrella or doggy raincoat were needed, since the rain had, more or less, subsided after a few minutes. The long walk was not only a treat for Teddy (since he is used to the boring 30-minute neighborhood walk), it was for me as well! I really enjoyed the change of pace and being able to tour Atlanta under the lights, before the workday traffic reared its ugly head.

Of course, if you choose to take an early morning walk, be sure to dress in bright colors and to walk in well-lit, public areas.

Until tomorrow!

Keeping Time with Coconut Granola and Veggie Salad

2010-08-25T22:13:00.046-05:00

This week is flying by like crazy! Please ... slow ... down. I have several things left to check off my to-do list for this week, not to mention press bio revisions and more. Sometimes I wish we had 30 hours in a day.

Breakfast included a new granola dish courtesy of Mrs. Adventure. A few weeks back she suggested that I try her coconut granola recipe because it's lower in fat and calories. I'm not the biggest coconut fan, but do enjoy chunks of coconut from time to time. Whoa! What a fantastic surprise! This particular recipe is light in sweetness and in coconut, so it offers the perfect blend of flavors. The sunflower seeds also really pop here. I'm definitely keeping this one in rotation this week.

I also paired mine up with a cup of watermelon and some iced coffee.

I finally got Chef Meg's Taco Soup together for lunch. It's too thick to be a soup and turned out like a chili, but really good nonetheless. I added some cherry tomatoes from the farmer's market and a handful of Baked Scoops from Tostitos.

I spent the rest of my day between old projects wrapping up and new freelance gigs coming in. Snuck in another iced coffee too. Yikes. I hope this isn't a scene of what's to come. I gotta get back to having tea. Riiiiight?

Dinnertime featured some lemon dill salmon burgers from Whole Foods. We served ours on seven-grain sprouted buns from Cybros with herb lettuce and mustard. I also mixed up some green zebra tomatoes and mini bell peppers purchased at Green City Market with a half-cup of chickpeas. I always used to laugh whenever the Food Network comments on the "color" of a dish ... but I absolutely *LOVE* the color of this veggie salad. Haha. We drizzled some dressing made of rice vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and pepper. Pretty fantastic!

It seems like the job market here is slowly gaining momentum, so I spent the rest of my evening applying for jobs. Fingers and toes are crossed that something falls into place this fall. I had top off my day with some plain Siggi's yogurt and raspberries.

When things get crazy busy, do you find yourself wishing for more time in a day?

Green City Market

2010-08-25T15:41:00.002-05:00

Apparently it's WooHoo Wednesday? I saw the tag referred to via SparkPeople on Twitter this morning. It's WooHoo Wednesday!

This morning, I headed to Green City Market in Lincoln Park. What a beautiful farmer's market! I could have easily bought one of everything! There were countless choices for fruits and vegetables and so many bright, gorgeous colors. The flowers, the desserts, the bread ... Green City Market rules! Here's a look:

Along with the Tomato Festival tastings happening today, Kristine Subido, the executive chef at WAVE, was on hand for some impressive demonstrations. My friend Linda and I had a sampling of her Corn Flake Crusted French Toast with fruit. Absolutely delish! Subido passed out her recipe, so I'll be sure to debut here shortly.

My main goal for today's trip was to purchase some vegetables for pickling. The August issue of Eating Well magazine has a fantastic article on how to preserve some of your veggies in this manner. I figured, with my current job hunting situation, that I definitely have the time to try this out. But I also grabbed some multi-colored cherry tomatoes, mini bell peppers, green zebra tomatoes, and an eggplant. For pickling, I'll be using cucumbers and purple haze carrots.

When it comes to flowers, I'm pretty much a sucker for taking photos. I love being at my parents' house when my Mom's flowers are in full bloom. Anyhow, here's a look at some of the loveliness at Green City Market.

Do you have a favorite farmer's market item or recipe?

Ratatouille Tuesday

2010-08-24T22:46:00.001-05:00

Hiya! How's it going in your neck of the woods? It's still pretty summer-like here in the Windy City and the hot temps aren't going to disappear too soon, either. More of the same today: laundry, deadlines, and emails. Good news is that I kept my promise and finally reunited with my elliptical trainer. I thought I'd have hell to pay since I hadn't been on it in ages, but I pushed through for 45 minutes. It felt great, too.

I opted for an egg this morning for breakfast. As you've probably noticed, I am not an egg-cooking expert. But still, with an Arnold sandwich thin, an iced coffee, and a nectarine, my morning got off to a good start.

I was mentally ready to prepare Chef Meg's Taco Soup for lunch today, but it got away from me and I was much too hungry after my work out to make anything like that. Instead, I had a veggie sandwich with spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots on Arnold whole-wheat bread, with roasted garlic hummus from Athenos. YUM! Can't get enough of this one.

I also had an orange. I haven't had one all summer, it seems. Glad to have it back in rotation.

Around 4:30, I dove into my ratatouille recipe and had a mug of white pear Revolution Tea. I was craving a coffee, but I didn't want to have a second cup, for I don't want to become a coffee crazy person. HAHA!

Anyhow, I'd been eyeing this dish from Ellie Krieger's The Food You Crave cookbook for years, but I always felt it was too much work with a New York City schedule. I've been in the adventurous mood this summer when it comes to trying new things. And Mrs. Adventure posted her own ratatouille recipe recently, thus inspiring me to finally take this on. Here's the scoop on Ellie Krieger's dish, but I did mine without the cornmeal crust. I used a whole-wheat pie crust from Wholly Wholesome instead.

Ingredients for the filling:
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
2 shallots, thinly sliced (about 1/3 cup)
Cooking spray
1/2 pound thinly sliced eggplant rounds (about 1/3 medium eggplant)
1 zucchini, sliced into 1/8-inch rounds (about 8 ounces)
3 medium tomatoes, sliced thinly
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Instructions:
For the filling: Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat; saute shallots until soft, about 5 to 6 minutes. Spray 2 baking trays with cooking spray.

Arrange the eggplant, zucchini and tomato slices on the trays in a single layer and brush with the remaining olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, and roast the vegetables until soft but not browned, about 15 minutes. Remove the vegetables from oven and cool.

Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Lay the eggplant slices in 2 layers on the bottom of tart; cover with 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese and some of the shredded basil. Add the zucchini and shallots, top with another 1/3 of the mozzarella and basil, then the tomatoes.

Top with rest of the mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and vegetables have further wilted. Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes, and cut into 8 slices. Serve warm.

I think Ryan and I cut the ratatouille a little too early, as it was a little runny when trying to add a piece to our plates. Leaving it for a few minutes might be a better idea ... so don't be alarmed by the mess that's on my dinner plate. I assure you it's pretty darn tasty. I l-l-love the tomatoes!

We also paired ours up with a herb lettuce salad, some chopped cucumber, and blueberries. My Mom has been adding fruit to her salad all summer. We also have a ton of it in our fridge right now, so why not add it to our salad. Perfect!

Later tonight, I was hungry for something else. We had a little bit of ice cream left, so I opted to make myself a Vernors float. Vernors, if you're from Michigan, is a BIG DEAL! It's not bad for you and it's just a piece of childhood. Whenever you're feeling sick, a glass of Vernors helps settles your stomach. It also has the coolest logo! My Vernors float was exactly what I was looking for. I had mine with a half-cup of dairy-free vanilla ice cream from So Delicious and a Diet Vernors. BEST EVER!

Do you have a favorite snack or drink from your childhood?

Foggy Monday

2010-08-23T21:21:00.011-05:00

Question for those who are reading this blog: Do you ever find yourself totally out of it on a Monday morning? Like no matter what you do to get your booty back in gear after the weekend, you still feel like a space cadet? Do you ever skip your workout? This pretty much sums up my Monday.

I haven't worked out in DAYS! Five ... er six to be exact. I didn't do it today, either. I haven't missed exercising like this since before I started this blog in mid-June. Talk about a slip up. This time, though, I'm ready to get back on the horse, whereas as in the past I most likely stopped working out altogether ... or at least until my next half-committed effort. Girl Scout's Honor, Tuesday is my day!

For breakfast, I had some sliced bananas on a multi-grain sandwich thin from Arnold. I'm liking these a lot and have enjoyed my switch from Cybros. But I also love the Cybros brand. But's nice to change things up once in a while, right?

I also has some plain Siggi's yogurt with fresh raspberries. I did add a teaspoon of honey to the mix, too, as I needed some extra flavor. And you'd think with my morning iced latte, that'd do the trick in getting me out of a Monday fog.

Lunch saw the last of Chef Meg's Tomato Soup (via SparkPeople). I'm telling you, if you're looking for a change in your regular tomato soup, this version is absolutely fabulous. I know it's summer and with the weather being so darn humid lately, you might ask yourself, "Do I really want hot soup right now?" This recipe fits, trust me. It's not like having chili in July, haha.

I also paired up my soup with some raw veggies and a tablespoon of Roasted Red Pepper Hummus from Athenos. Later on, I also had some of Lucerne's part-skim mozzarella string cheese.

I spent much of the afternoon getting through laundry and other Internet duties. Come dinnertime, I had my head down in preparing our grocery list and meals for the week. We didn't do our regular Sunday grocery shop since we were tired from the weekend, thus we resorted to one of our regular Plan B ideas with Rising Moon Ravioli. But before enjoying our Garlic & Roasted Veggies selection, I snacked on a homemade blueberry muffin that I made last week. I couldn't resist.

Anyhow, we added a herb salad with cucumber and carrots, plus some BelGioioso Parmesan Cheese, to our ravioli menu. Yum!

Tell me, how do you beat those foggy days? Thanks a mil for reading Fighting the Pudge.

Getting Back on Track

2010-08-23T16:21:00.000-05:00

WOWSA! What a whirlwind weekend! It's mid-afternoon on Monday and I'm just now returning to my lovely blog spot. I had the pleasure of having my Dad in town for a visit and we had a blast! But unfortunately, I wasn't the best at documenting all of the lovely food I had this weekend. We did our share of eating out and eating in, and all in moderation. On Saturday, Ryan cooked up some killer spinach and tomato omelettes for breakfast and some kickass burgers for dinner. Here's a quick look at some of our weekend adventures at Wrigley Field, Navy Pier, Millennium Park, and more!

Thanks for reading! It's back to grind (and to the kitchen) this week!

Glass: Half Empty

2010-08-23T13:48:00.005-05:00

As you can guess from the title of this post, I am feeling a bit worn out from boot camp. Each morning, I awake at 5:15 a.m. (yikes!), to the sounds of Kelly Clarkson coming from my CD alarm clock (double yikes!). But for boot camp, I would be blessed with the opportunity to sleep for another two whole hours...I cannot help but feel a twinge of jealousy for the extra zzzz's my dog, Teddy, gets to enjoy. The other slight annoyance comes in knowing that once I get home from work, I have but 3 hours before I need to turn in for the night. Nothing makes the boot camp experience less fun than a less-than-full night of sleep.

However, before I deter you from embarking upon this ambitious, adventursome fitness regimen, which has been known to involve crawling through sand, running up hills, climbing stairs, etc., I want to give you 3 HUGE reasons why boot camp is DEFINITELY worth the pain (and, I am doing this for me as much as I am you):

(1) Boot camp is versatile! I am literally never bored with the workouts that Body Firm puts together for us campers. Today, we turned the beachy, sandy volleyball court into a track, as we sprinted back and forth until I was seeing spots. As for tomorrow, we were told to "get ready to crawl in the grass." Crab walk, anyone?

(2) Boot camp is intense! That means my workout is bigger, badder, and better than the workout I would have planned (or not planned) for myself. By the end of each morning workout, I am drenched in sweat, and my body feels like it was pushed to the max (in a good way).

(3) Boot camp is over before the sun comes up! That's right...my workout is OVER before YOU have a chance to press SNOOZE! In other words, instead of spending my day worrying whether or not I will have the energy or desire to make it to the gym after work (and then feeling guitly because I inevitably did not), boot camp allows me the peace of mind of knowing that I already worked it out!

Better jet. Only 6 more hours until bedtime. :) Best wishes with your workout!

Happiness is Homemade

2010-08-18T23:09:00.008-05:00

Here we are at Wednesday and only 24 hours until my Dad is here in the Windy City. Deadlines are here with some freelance bio projects and interviews to be conducted. Things are busy, but good busy! YAY!

I was craving some Siggi's yogurt so come breakfast I paired some plain creamy goodness with little bit of honey, some strawberries and an iced coffee. I also had a quarter-cup part-skim shredded mozzarella on a multi-grain Arnold sandwich thin. Fabulous! I'm finding out that the more protein I'm able to have earlier in the day keeps me from snacking during the afternoon. So far, so good.

My homemade tomato soup recipe and I finally got together today for lunch. Wow, this one is a good one, and spicy too! As I've mentioned here before, I monitor my meals via SparkPeople and I've really grown to enjoy this community. It has tons of recipes and many helpful exercise suggestions. Anyhow, I've had my eye on Chef Meg's Tomato Soup for a while now.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow or white onion, chopped (I had half of a red onion and half of a white one, so I used both)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 pounds tomatoes, de-seeded, chopped
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 t thyme, dried
4 oz. bread, crust removed (about 4 small slices -- I used Arnold's 100% Whole-Wheat)
12 oz chicken or vegetable stock
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
black pepper to taste

Directions
Heat oil in a stock pot or tall saucepan. Add onion and garlic and saute for 5 minutes. Next, mix in tomatoes. Add pepper, sugar, thyme and bread and cook for 3 minutes.

With an immersion blender or food processor, blend the mixture. Slowly add stock to mixture and combine. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add vinegar during last two minutes.

With the combination of thyme, brown sugar, red pepper flakes, and balsamic vinegar, this version has quite a kick. Also, some suggest topping it with a half-cup croutons or some blue cheese. It makes a hearty 8 servings ... so here's my lunch for the next couple of days.

Ryan also tried it and LOVED it. What? My husband? Like tomato soup? Never thought I'd see the day. HA! For lunch, I paired mine up with some nectarine slices and a spinach and vegetable sandwich with Athenos garlic hummus.

In preparation of my Dad's visit, I also squeezed in some blueberry muffins (I'm making chocolate chip peanut butter oatmeal cookies on Thursday!). I've never made muffins from scratch, but Bethenny Frankel's Skinnygirl Dish has an easy enough recipe with oat flour and other natural ingredients. Check out this beauty.

Dinner, once again, saw more leftovers of the Spinach and Mushroom Quiche with summer squash and zucchini. Ok, I tried the mushrooms. I tried to be a good sport, but I don't think they're for me. I think everyone has one food they just don't care for, right? Well, I think the mushroom might be mine. But never say never. Maybe I'll come back to mushrooms later on.

Is there a particular food or ingredient that you just can't do? Have you ever come back to it later and decide that you actually enjoy it?

Lovin' Leftovers

2010-08-17T21:05:00.003-05:00

Cooking for two can sometimes provide more than plenty of leftovers to carry you throughout the week. That's exactly what's happening for Ryan and I, as many of today's meals are repeats. Can you blame me? Everything so far has been incredibly tasty and healthy.

I kept with Bethenny Frankel's Love Your Man Steel-Cut Oatmeal for breakfast, but added some fresh strawberries. I also had an iced latte.

I had some packages to send out today, so I hopped on my Trek to get the job done. My trip to the post office ended up being a quick one, so I just decided to stay on my bike for a while. 30 minutes on the bike, check.

Like yesterday, I was starving before lunch. I had plans to make this wonderful homemade tomato soup, but my huge took over. I resorted to Monday's fabulous veggie sandwich with Arnold whole-wheat bread and garlic hummus from Athenos. In addition, I had some watermelon and blueberries and some Breakstone's cottage cheese.

The majority of today was busy with your typical pre-guest preparation as well as other online duties. Freelancing is keeping my head in the game lately, so I feel very fortunate. But one thing that I'm really excited about is that I registered for Chicago's AIDS Run Walk! This event, featuring both walkers and runners, will take place at Grant Park on Saturday, October 2nd and my goal is to raise $250 between now and then.

I haven't participated in an event such as this since I was in high school, when my sister and I were in involved in the annual March of Dimes fundraiser walk for a couple of years. If you're able and would like to donate to my cause, please let me know. I'll gladly point you in the right direction and send loads of good karma points your way. YAY!

Before dinner, I had a one slice of Arnold multi-grain flatbread with a tablespoon of reduced fat Jif. I have to get better at taking pictures of my snacks!

We still had half of a rotisserie chicken left from Sunday, so we opted to have our Pepper Jack, Chicken and Peach Quesadillas from Cooking Light for dinner this evening. Still so GOOD! Especially with some spinach salad! I bet nectarines would be good in this dish, too.

Ryan's watching Eric Ripert's show on TiVo and I'm reading to call it a night. Time to grab my copy of Rob Sheffield's Talking to Girls About Duran Duran (laugh out loud, by the way), some banana soft serve, and give my eyes (and brain) a break from my BFF the computer. As always, many thanks for checking out Fighting the Pudge.