Smellin’ Good

Greetings and salutations. I only say that because Christian Slater says the same thing in the classic cult movie The Heathers.

Christian Slater in his younger days was totally attractive. He’s not so bad right now either.

Anyway, my week has been rather well! Not that you asked, but whatever. I’ll tell you anyway.

Monday: I worked until 1:30 ish and I started at 8:40. It was so mundane. After work I went to New Seasons Market then my mom dropped me off at the gym. I just wasn’t feeling it. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical (boooo), 45 minutes of moderate weight lifting, then another 30 minutes on the elliptical. I then rode my bike home. That took 30 minutes or so.

Tuesday: I had a job interview at Zupan’s. Zupan’s is basically like a Whole Foods except it is a lot smaller and more local. Same prices, same products. Looks like I got the job though since I had to take a drug test and then take two tests.

I lifted weights again and did an hour on the elliptical.

Wednesday: No work so I went to the gym where I did water aerobics with the old people and 45 minutes on the elliptical. I also rode my bike to get my hair trimmed later that day.

I haven’t run yet and it’s been about a week. The good news is, I have been waking up with less foot pain. I still need to buy new shoes since I am not running in my Nikes. No way.

I tried on the shoes that I posted the other day and did not like a single pair. Then, I tried on these:

I liked the way they felt, but just because they are the first pair that fit okay, I am not going to buy them just yet. I went to make my way to the Portland Running Co. to try on some more shoes before I make my mind. Besides, my horoscopes have been telling me to be iffy with my money.

The New Balance shoes felt good on my feet yet I was still unsure about them. Maybe my feet just aren’t use to supported shoes since I have been running in old shoes with like a billion miles on them. Yeah, that’s accurate.

I miss running of course. To make it worse, some guy at Zupan’s randomly asks me, “Are you a runner?” Stop mocking me!

I bought some fish oil vitamins too. I read that fish oil reduces inflammation in the body so perhaps it can help my foot. I’m not a doctor.

I’m also on the fence about buying Glucosamine. I don’t know the benefits at all or if it will help my foot/running. I would love some feedback on Glucosamine and if anyone takes it. 

Thursday: I woke up at 5:15 for a 6 AM spin class followed by 37 minutes on the elliptical. I have to work later today so I just wanted to get my workout out of the way. I’ll be on feet the rest of the day anyway.

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I think I set a new record for myself. Two days of this week I have worn normal clothes. Woo! That’s not counting Monday and today when I have to wear a uniform.

Holla!

Even if most of the time I live in tempo shorts and sweaty sport bras, I do like to smell good.

My smellin’ good stash.

I use lotion daily on my legs, arms, stomach, neck, etc. I do tan so I need to keep my skin smooth like a baby’s bottom hence the Johnson’s baby lotion.

Do I have enough? I rarely use the cat one which is Katy Perry’s perfume. I like simple body sprays instead of heavy perfumes.

I need this stuff! I have total runner’s feet. I swear they are never getting better. My mom is disgusted by my feet and I am just plain embarrassed.

Do you like smelling wonderful? What’s your favorite smell? 

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Honorable purchases:

I obviously love Chelsea Handler.
So good! It has 7 grams of protein.

It’s almost Friday! Have a good Thursday.

Random question: Does anyone have any recipes involving cherries?

Vegetarianism

Happy Mother’s Day to those of you who are moms, which is no one that reads my blog so whatever!

I’m glad you guys all love my puppy. If you don’t love puppies in general, there is something wrong with you. Kittens are just as cute too.

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I wanted to post about vegetarianism . I am not doing this to persuade anyone to become a vegetarian because I am simply going to lay down some facts that shocked me when I read the information. I understand becoming a vegetarian is not for everyone. You want a steak have it, but I think you should think twice about it.

Technically, I am a Pescetarian. I eat fish as well as dairy products even though I would like to give up milk completely. During the summer of 2010, I gave up most meat except for chicken just because I loved chicken a lot.

I first started dabbling in the world of vegetarianism  in the eighth grade when I gave up meat for Lent. It was tough for me actually. I was the biggest steak eater ever.

If you gave me a steak, I would eat it all including the fat. I loved bacon and beef. As I type this, I feel disgusted in myself that I ate the fat off bacon all the time. It was gross, but at the time, I thought nothing of it. I thought it was all right to order a ‘hamburger’ from fast food joints when I’m sure their meat was only 50% meat. Anyway, after Lent, I ate meat again. However, I stopped eating steak at the end of my eight-grade year when I went to a fancy restaurant. My godmother convinced me to order their largest steak and they laid it down on my table. It was so thick and the blood dripped when I stabbed my fork into it. I was disgusted so I stopped eating steak.

I continued to eat meat until last summer. It was mostly because I wanted to be healthier yet it also had to do with my eating disorder. I’m pleased to say, though, that now I don’t eat meat because I love animals dearly and I have found vast amount of information in the dangers of eating meat. These dangers affect us individually and our environment.

More and more Americans are eating meat unfortunately. There is a rise in eating everyday at fast food places where people think nothing of that ‘all white meat chicken ‘ they are eating. According to the Environmental Magazine, “Strong growth in meat production and consumption continues despite mounting evidence that meat-based diets are unhealthy, and that just about every aspect of meat production… is an environmental disaster with wide and sometimes catastrophic consequences.” In addition, “More than a third of all raw materials and fossil fuels consumed in the U.S. are used in animal production. Beef production alone uses more water than is consumed in growing the nation’s entire fruit and vegetable crop.”

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have my diet be based with veggies, fruit, grains, and fish than beef.

Just think about the animals, too. Many of the animals are in high stressed environments and end up dying from stress. Cows, pigs, and chicken barely have any space either. Cows may have a bit more room, but pigs have about 14 square feet of space.

Do I wish more people were vegetarians? Of course I do. If you follow vegetarianism  correctly, you can have a healthy diet. Regrettably, most people who stop eating meat start replacing meat with starches. That’s how I was in eighth grade. Oh, no meat? I’ll just have chips.

Many think that if you’re a vegetarian, you do not get enough protein.

That is not true. I eat Greek yogurt, eggs, quinoa, lentils, cottage cheese, spinach, etc. I get more protein than probably most meat eaters do.

If you eat meat currently, I encourage you to try to eliminate the amount of meat you eat. Possibly have a meatless Monday. If you want more information on the case against meat, visit
http://www.emagazine.com/archive/142

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My weekend was uneventful. I spent most of it at the gym, the grocery store, and the bookstore. I spent over an hour in the bookstore because, hey, I’m a geek.

My workouts included…
Saturday: Hour spin class + 37 minutes or so on the elliptical
Sunday: 40 minutes of weights + hour spin class + 21 minutes on the elliptical

I wanted to do a long run today, but I decided since I did something to my knee on Friday I should hold off. It felt fine today, but I just wanted to play it safe.

I did create a training program for my trail race, yet I am not following it. I just run. I’ll be adding hills and what not, but I’m not going to get all obsessed with a training program because for me, that takes the fun out of running. I also find training programs to be ludicrous. I just want to do what I want to do. I plan on increasing my running mileage this week! Woooo.

Honorable eats: 

Do you eat meat?

Brag about your weekend. Make me jealous. What did you do?

Do you follow a training program or do you just run how much you want?

On that Note

From elementary school to my second year of high school, my breakfast usually consisted of the nutritious flat flaky piece of… bread? Is that what you call it? Well, whatever it is, I normally ate two Poptarts for breakfast with several glasses of milk in which I would dip the Poptart in the milk and savor every bite. If that didn’t fill me, I ate a bowl of cereal too or something else that would later make me gain unhealthy weight as a teenager. I loved Poptarts and, of course, I still do. However, I wouldn’t dare eat one. I know they taste good and I had a sudden craving for one when I saw they came out with new flavors, but why bother to eat one when Poptarts are truthfully unhealthy?

Yeah, I eat cake and ice cream basically every night. And yeah, both equally have a ridiculous amount of sugar so what’s my justification for not eating Poptarts?

In my mind, I think cake and brownies or whatever has sugar because that’s what makes them so delicious and it’s needed. Sugar is just a main ingredient for cake, ice cream, etc. As for Poptarts, they add unnecessary sugar. This is all my opinion and my own way of tricking myself into not eating Poptarts.

Besides, I try to stay away from any packaged foods. Eating cake from Whole Foods that’s vegan isn’t going to kill me. It’s not like it is entirely ‘healthy’, but it’s better than the package Twinkies that are guaranteed to last another century. Give or take. Poptarts are just junk and the makers just want children addicted to them. The main ingredients in a Poptart include: enriched flour, sugar, dextrose, vegetable oil, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, sodium acid, gelatin, and partially hydrogenated soybean oil. Remember, I am leaving out about ten other add-ins. Then, one Poptart is about two-hundred calories with nineteen grams of sugar with 220.0mg of sodium. Nothing in a Poptart is nutritious for you.

So, as much as I would want a double fudge chocolate Poptart, I’d rather stay clear of all the additives and make my own. Here is a recipe for double chocolate poptarts that you can always healthify yourself:
http://www.chow.com/recipes/29472-double-chocolate-pop-tarts

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On that note, I would like to mention things you will not see in my blog.

1. Recipes besides that one up there. That’s the only exception.
2. Cooking/baking – I can’t bake or cook or make myself a meal that doesn’t involve more than two steps. Luckily, I still live at home and my mom cooks for me.
3. Fashion – I barely dress cute.
4. Anything on The Royal Wedding – I’m sick of it. Who cares? When Britney Spears has a wedding, then I’ll get excited.
5. Religion – True, I go to a Catholic school and have been since the third grade, but I am no means religious. I go to church, but currently I am agnostic. I have no problem with people who are religious though.
6. Amazing photos of food – Half of the photos I take with my cell or I just quickly snap with my Canon.

Those are the things you will not see. Is there anything on my blog you do want to see though?  A song of the week? Clowns? That’s a no. I hate clowns.

Honorable eats:

Crab + mushrooms + cauliflower+ zucchini

Ribbon cake + raspberry filling

By the way, go check out Megan’s GoMacro Bar giveaway @ 
http://myveganstory.wordpress.com/2011/04/27/gomacro-review-2nd-giveaway/

Were you ever addicted to Poptarts or something similar?
- They have such amazing flavors now that I want to try them! You think it’s worth it?

What blogs should I check out?

P.S. In my next post I’ll talk about running since it’s been going great!

Goals, Books, and Barefoot Running

This weekend has gone by fast. Too fast and I feel like I got nothing done. I haven’t even done my homework yet.

Friday night I went to a concert and was out until midnight, but I was up and at it at seven Saturday morning. I went to a spin class at nine then did the rowing machine for ten minutes and the elliptical for twenty minutes or so.

The rowing machine is a great for cross training. You work your arms, shoulders, back, core, legs, hips, and torso. Really, you are working every major muscle group. There are so many benefits for runners and cyclists who use the rowing machine.

Saturday I decided to go to the bookstore because I wanted to buy the book Natural Running since I want to get into barefoot running. I need to do more research before I go out and buy a pair of barefoot running shoes. Long story short, I bought Chicken Soup for the Soul: Runners and Born to Run.

Next week my gym is having a seminar on chi running and barefoot running. I’m super excited because I want more facts. I’ve been looking at barefoot running shoes.

So far, I am leaning towards Vibrams. I have been reading they actually help with foot injuries. Oh, and good news! My foot is starting to feel better. I’m still going to take another week off though. Just in case.

As well as hitting up the bookstore, I went to Whole Foods where I found Jimmy Fallon’s new ice cream and free samples galore. Can I just live in Whole Foods? I love that place. I spent an hour just walking around drooling over everything I wanted.

Today’s workout: one hour of a weights class, 45 minutes cycling, and 10 minutes on the elliptical.

I decided I want to create some goals for April. I believe it’s very important to set goals and that an individual should always be working towards something, whether it can be achieved in a month or a year.

1. Start swimming! I e-mailed the triathlon coach at my gym and he is willing to let me try out the master swim class for a few days to see my potential. I want to do a triathlon in the future so I need to improve my swimming skills.

2. Listen to my body. If you read ‘my story’, you know I struggle from a past eating disorder. I do not count calories for the most part, but they are unconsciously on my mind. I know I can eat 2000+ calories a day and I’m petite (5’3). I work out intensely so I need to let myself eat when I’m hungry and even when I’m not just to get in those calories. I have to fuel my body correctly and I shouldn’t worry about eating three bowls of cereal after dinner if I’m still hungry.

3. Take running up again slowly. I don’t know when I am going to begin running again because I want my injury to be fully healed before I go pounding the pavement. However, when I do run again, I will only allow myself to go so far. I cannot just knock out 14 miles and expect to be alright. This also goes with listening to my body. If my foot starts to hurt, I need to stop running and take a break.

4. Cycle more. I already do bike outdoors and in, but I want to bike more and drive less. I want to bike to the grocery store or the mall instead of driving. However, this is going to be tricky since my mother (yes, I’m 18) lets me ride my bike to certain places only if I haven’t exercised intensely already. It’s all due to the past and how I can sometimes over exercise.

Honorable eats:

Toffee bread pudding

Sweet & salty

What are your thoughts on barefoot running? Have you read Born to Run or Natural Running?

Do you have any goals for the month of April?