Morning has broken...

For the past two years, most of my workouts have occurred during my lunch hour.  Since I had a new baby and a child in elementary school when I added exercise into my daily routine, mornings and evenings were not good times for me to exercise.  Luckily, I work at a community college and have free access to our college gym.  We're a small community college, so our facilities aren't that grand, but we do have an indoor track, an elliptical, and a weight room, which is all I need.

This arrangement worked fine for the past two years, but it wasn't ideal. I don't always have a free lunch hour depending on meetings or college events, so many times I would have to forfeit a run or elliptical session because of work demands.  Once I began running longer distances, the hour I had wasn't really enough. 

So, a few weeks ago, after missing a lot of runs and mid-day exercise sessions, I had a long talk with myself.  Just in my head...not out loud...although those talks occur too.  I realized that it was time to change my routine and find a way to exercise either in the morning or evening.  I quickly determined that the evenings are out.  I don't really like to exercise at the end of the day.  After a full day of work, I just want to hang out with my family. 

So, that leaves early morning for me.  Now that Ben is no longer a baby (sniff, sniff) and Amelia is more capable of getting herself ready in the mornings, early morning exercise is doable.  So, I started running and going to the gym early each morning and it's working out great! I love my new schedule!  Every morning, my alarm goes off at 4:50, and I hit snooze once.  I have to hit snooze.  I can't seem to get up without doing so.  I'm out of bed by 5:00 and dressed for my run or the gym by 5:10.  I can't exercise without some caffeine in my system, so I spend about 30 minutes drinking coffee and water.  I also need that time to "get things moving" if you know what I mean.  I like my system to be "cleaned out" before I start running or hit the gym.  I'm out the door by 5:40 and I'm done by 6:45. 

That's when Ben and Amelia tend to wake up, so I don't even miss any time with them in the mornings.  It's great!  I can start the day with my exercise already completed and I don't have to worry that I will miss a workout because something else comes up.  And, I get the extra perk of an empty gym and my choice of equipment.

I don't think I can ever go back to lunch hour exercise.  Especially since I now spend my time eating and reading blogs!

Green Day

No, I'm not writing about the band.  Although, I really like them.  I'm actually writing about my food.  I know, I know...I don't do a lot of food posts here, but sometimes I feel like it.  Today is one of those days.

On any given day, I strive to eat as many (natural) colors as possible.  I love to see a beautiful rainbow on my plate.  It makes me feel so healthy.  But, sometimes my day of eating ends up being a little less diverse.  Today is a perfect example.   I must have been in a green mood, because this is what I ate:

BREAKFAST

This was a delicious green smoothie made with water, baby spinach (4 cups), banana, clementine, frozen mango, frozen pineapple, chia seeds and hemp seeds.  This is one of my favorite smoothie combinations!


LUNCH

Split pea soup!  It doesn't look very vibrant, but it was yummy!


DINNER

OK, this really looks like a big mess, but it sure was delicious!  It's a makeshift "taco salad."  It's mostly lettuce and avocado with a veggie burger crumbled on top and some salsa sprinkled about.  It was the most colorful meal of the day, but it still had a lot of green in it.  Ignore the container.  I had to eat this "on the go."

I had a few snacks in between, including an apple cinnamon Chobani (green label) and a bunch of snap peas.  I also had a cup of green tea.

My day wasn't comprised of only green foods, but that seemed to be the overarching theme. I wonder what tomorrow will be like...

Do you try to eat as many colors as possible each day?  Do you ever have days where you eat mostly one color?  What are your favorite colors to eat?

What a Weekend!

Whether you celebrate Easter or Passover or just weekends in general, I hope you had a good one.  I sure did!

My weekend was spent in the best way possible...with family and friends and tons of random fun.

We colored eggs

Flew kites

Hunted for eggs

Dressed up

And enjoyed some alone time

It was wonderful in all the right ways.  We were busy, but not too busy.  We spent time with friends, but we also spent time as a family.  We had a lot of adventures, but we also had a lot of time for quiet reflection.  Quite honestly, it was the perfect mix of everything.  It was a great weekend!

Snack Attack!

I am a snacker.  Always have been, always will be.  When I was younger, I used to diet all the time (that's another topic for a different day), and I always tried to limit my eating to 3 meals and one snack a day.  It never worked, and my diets always failed.  Well, except for the period when I had a minor eating disorder.  I say minor because it only lasted a year or so and I didn't end up far below my healthy weight.  Still, during that time I subsisted on diet pills and very few calories, which meant I didn't snack much.  However, for the other 34 years of my life, I have always been a snacker.

I like to eat every 2 - 3 hours, which means I eat a lot of small meals each day.  I don't eat tons at once, but I do graze throughout the day.  Alright, who am I kidding, there are plenty of times when I eat a lot in one sitting.  The fact of the matter is that I LOVE food.  Luckily, I really like healthy foods, which means my constant snacking isn't a bad thing.

Since I love snacking so much, I always have an arsenal of food in my purse or desk.  Add two hungry kids into the mix and sometimes I feel like I'm carrying an entire grocery store around in my purse.  I have a large desk drawer devoted to snacks in my office and I'm always picking up items to add to it.  Here's what it looked like on Thursday:

It's actually a little sparse by my standards, but I'm going to pick up some additional snacks at the grocery store this weekend.  The item on top is beet chips. They're awesome!  The soy crisps are great for when I feel like a crunchy chip.  There are two packets of instant miso soup for a quick lunch addition or afternoon snack.  I also have a packet of Justin's almond butter and a bar.  The two boxes on the bottom are instant organic oatmeal.  I'm not a huge fan of instant oatmeal, but I like to keep it on hand since I eat breakfast at my desk each morning.  It's great for mornings when I forget to bring something or when I am running late. 

I also have a mini fridge in my office that I keep stocked with cut up veggies, fruit, Chobani, Baybel and laughing cow cheese.  I try to keep a box of crackers and rice cakes and some kind of nut butter on hand as well.

I know it seems like a lot of food, but I work full-time and spend about 8 hours at work each day.  If I don't keep healthy snacks on hand, I'm more apt to go to the college bookstore or cafeteria when I'm hungry which would result in a lot of unhealthy impulse purchases.

Since I'm a snacker and I have no plans to change that any time soon, I want to make sure I keep my snacks healthy.  That way, when a snack attack hits, I'm prepared.

Date Night

For those of you with kids, you're totally going to understand how incredible what I'm about to say is.  For the rest of you, who experience date night's on a regular basis...well, good for you.  Enjoy it, because someday you might have kids and suddenly realize that a half an hour spent as a couple at Target without children is magical.

Anyway, last night Paul and I had a date night.  Both kids were at my parent's house and Paul and I had three hours to ourselves...you know, to have dinner and then run errands, because that's what parents tend to do on date nights.  I know it sounds boring, but if you have ever tried to shop with two kids in tow, you understand how fabulous it is when you don't have to chase anyone around the store.

So, like all parents who have a night away, we made plans to eat dinner at a restaurant that isn't completely child-friendly. Tonight's choice was a new Himilayan restaurant that I have never been to.

The place is small and intimate and beautifully decorated.

The food was fabulous and Paul and I enjoyed eating together without having to tell anyone to stop getting up from their chair or throwing food on the floor.  It was so strange.  At one point, I almost reprimanded the old man at the table next to us for getting up from his seat, but then I remembered that he wasn't with us...old habits die hard.

I had a soup called Vegetable Thenthuk, which the menu described as "pulled wheat noodles in a vegetable broth with spices, radishes and spinach."  The menu stated that it was hearty enough to eat as a meal.  After trying it, I have to agree.  This soup was incredible.  It was spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg and many other fabulous spices and full of hand pulled wheat noodles, radishes, spinach, carrots and celery.  I loved it.

Paul and I had a great time chatting over dinner and enjoying each other's company.  The food was delicious, the atmosphere was intimate and charming, and the couple time was much needed.  I left the restaurant feeling very relaxed and ready to tackle the week ahead.  After all, sometimes all you need is a good date night.

Making it Work

As you know, I work at a community college, and while I do teach part-time in addition to my full-time responsibilities, I do not have summers or breaks off.  I'm a 12-month employee.  This week is spring break which means all students and full-time faculty are off.  It also means that the childcare center that Ben goes to is closed. Since it's a college childcare center, they are only open during the semesters when classes are in session.  So, those of us who work year round are forced to find alternate care for the breaks.  I spent three weeks arranging childcare for Ben for this week.  I had each day carefully planned out and an arsenal of babysitters lined up to hang out with my funny 2.5 year old.  But, as is the case with these kind of plans, they fell apart the first day.  So far, my childcare has fallen through three out of four days this week.  This means that I have had to leave work early and/or take time off so that I could be home with Ben.  You know, because it's frowned upon to leave a 2.5 year old home alone.  Don't get me wrong, I always love an opportunity to take a day off to spend time with my kids.  It's my favorite thing.  However, it's tough when it happens over and over again.  Luckily, I have a really understanding, family-friendly boss.

Having to leave early and take time off also means that I haven't been able to run since Sunday.  I'm down to the last few weeks of half marathon training and I really need to get in four solid runs each week.  That's just not going to happen this week.  I am going to run on my lunch hour today and tomorrow and then do my long run on Sunday, but that's all I'm going to have time for.  Saturday is my swimming day.

I love my job and my family and I feel really blessed to be able to do something I love that offers a bit of flexibility.  However, it's weeks like this that make me feel completely overwhelmed as a working mother.  It can be so tough to find the balance between career, mothering, marriage and self.  Honestly, earlier this week I had a mini-breakdown because I was so stressed about childcare issues and work obligations and lack of running and I found myself telling Paul that we need to figure something out because this schedule just isn't working.  But, you know what, today is a new day and I feel better about the whole thing.  I know that I can do this, even when there are weeks that feel like too much.  I just have to be committed to making it work.

Being Mindful

Now that the CFC is over, I have been thinking about how I felt during the week and how I want to proceed from here.  If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know that I firmly believe in the 80/20 rule when it comes to eating (and most other things, really).  I don't think any foods should be completely banned ( unless there is an allergy).  Instead, I like to make sure I eat healthy, whole foods at least 80% of the time.  That way, I don't have to worry as much about what I'm eating the other 20% of the time.  Quite honestly, It ends up being more like 90/10.  I really LOVE healthy, whole foods and my regular diet is comprised mainly of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans/legumes.  However, there are times when I just want to eat something that isn't as healthy, and I don't sweat it.  I know that I'm eating well most of the time.

Since I have two kids, I really try to set a good example for them.  We don't have tons of junk food in the house and they always have vegetables as part of their meal.  I don't buy a lot of processed food and avoid the big no no's like hydrogenated oil, high fructose corn syrup and too many artificial colors/flavors.  But, my kids are in school/daycare and have a social life, so these items make their way into their diets occasionally.  Since I provide a healthy foundation at home, I don't worry about it.  I'm not extreme by any means.  I want my kids to develop healthy relationships with food and understand that there's a time and place for everything.  I want them to be mindful about what they put in their bodies.

As I reflect on the CFC, I realize that I want the same for myself.  I want to remain mindful about what I'm putting into my body.  I want to eat when I'm hungry and not just because the food is in front of me.  I want to eat sweets because I'm really in the mood for something special, and not just because my co-worker is eating M & M's in her office...or these great bakery cookies, which she brought into my office today.

I had a few bites of each and then put them away.  In the past, I probably would have ended up eating all three over the course of the afternoon.


I really want to practice mindful eating.  So, that's what I'm doing.  I'm trying to make food choices that keep me feeling as good as I felt over the past week.  I'm not eliminating anything anymore, but I am going to pay attention to how much of the "unclean" foods I'm consuming.  A few chocolate chips is one thing, but handfuls each night are a completely different story.  I need to remember to practice moderation.

But, I do have to admit that I am enjoying having the ability to eat some of the foods that I eliminated last week.  Last night, I had these for dinner and enjoyed every bite.

CFC: Days 6 & 7

I'm home from Massachusetts and almost done with the Clean Food Challenge.  Today is day 7!  I'm happy to report that, other than one specific indulgence (more on that later), I was able to stick with the CFC while traveling.  Quite honestly, it was really easy and just proves that it's not hard to eat healthy even when you're on the road and at restaurants.


I had a great time in MA, especially since I was able to shop at both Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.  We don't have either where I live.  This was actually my first time at Trader Joe's and I am completely hooked. Oh, how I wish we had one closer.  I hear one is supposed to open in Albany, NY, but that's about 2 hours south of me.  I travel there often throughout the year, so I'll be able to stock up when I go, but it's not close enough for me to do my weekly grocery shopping.


Since I have two days of CFC to report, I'm going to break it down by day:

Day Six

Breakfast:

I had the orange mango banana smoothie from Starbucks, but I asked them to make it without dairy.  I also ate some mixed nuts.  I was hoping to get oatmeal at Starbucks, but they didn't have any.  So, this is what I ended up with.  It was really good.

Lunch:

I ate this in the food court at the mall.  It's Dal Makhani from the Indian restaurant.  It was really good and contained no "unclean" ingredients.  (Oops...when I just looked this up to make sure I spelled it correctly, I realized that most recipes use butter.  So, it might not have been as clean as I thought it was.  Oh, well. There's nothing I can do about it now.)




Dinner:

This was my favorite meal of the day.  It's from the salad bar at Whole Foods!  Since they list the ingredients in each item, I was able to choose things that were allowed as part of the CFC. At the bottom is a bed of greens, and on the top is kale slaw, sesame tofu, dolmas, black bean and corn salad, quinoa, cranberry and cashew salad, edamame, shredded carrots, roasted mushrooms and eggplant, roasted garlic, hummus and a falafel.  I loved this so much and wish I could eat it every day.

I didn't really have any snacks on Day 6.  We were running around so much that we didn't have the time to eat other than when we got the above meals.

Day Seven

Breakfast:

I had another smoothie for breakfast.  We went to Trader Joe's first thing this morning and then left to come home from there.  So, we stopped at Starbucks to grab breakfast for the road.  This was a perfect option!


Lunch was really just snacks in the car.  I had a tropical Lara Bar and some tortilla chips, along with orange segments and baby carrots.  It wasn't very exciting, but it held me over.


Dinner was a huge salad with tons of veggies and beans on top.  I didn't take a picture because I had two kids crawling all over me with "welcome home" excitement.


I also snacked on some cashews and dried fruit.


So, here's the part where I have to come clean (pun intended).... 


I knew going into this challenge that I was going to be traveling during the last two days of it.  I also knew that I would be traveling with one of my girlfriends and that we would want to drink wine together in the hotel room.  I mulled it over in my head in the week and half before the challenge started, and I weighed my options.  I considered postponing the challenge, but I really wanted to do it with everyone.  I wasn't concerned about eating clean during the trip because I knew I could find plenty of healthy options, and I really liked the challenge of doing it.  But, I wasn't sure I was OK with refraining from the glass or two of wine I knew we would want to drink while hanging out in our hotel room.  So, I decided that I would let myself do whatever felt right when the time came.  I didn't bring any wine with me, but my co-worker did. We didn't have any on Friday night, but last night she decided that she wanted to have some.  We were hanging out in our hotel room and enjoying some girl time, and it just felt right.  So, I decided to have a glass.  I know it's not allowed as part of the clean food challenge, but I don't feel bad about it.  I still ate clean 100% of the time I was in MA, and I still consider the CFC a success.  So, there you have it.  I'm not going to lie about my weekend and pretend that I didn't drink the wine.  After all, this blog is a reflection of my life...real life.  

CFC: Day 3

Wow!  Today was another great day.  I can't believe the first three days have felt so good.  I'm wondering if that means the end of the challenge will be difficult.  I even went out to dinner with my family and another family and was able to stick to the challenge...oh, and we went to a pizza place!  I had no problem eating my huge, fresh salad while they all ate pizza and wings, but I do have to admit that it was tough to watch our friends enjoy their delicious beers.  I really wanted a glass of wine.  Earlier in the afternoon, I went to our local pub (it's actually modeled after a traditional pub) with my boss and two of my co-workers to celebrate the end of a stressful reaccreditation visit (oh the joys of higher education).  I drank water while they all enjoyed wine and mixed drinks.  It was pretty difficult.  I'm surprised that alcohol has been my weak spot this time around.  I mean, I do love wine, but I don't drink it every day (I usually drink it on the weekends).  So, I didn't expect to notice it missing from my life this week, but I do.

Here are my eats for the day:

Breakfast:  Surprise!  Overnight oats again.  I really just love this.  Today I changed it up a bit and topped the oats with blueberries instead of raspberries

Lunch:  Huge salad with tons of fresh veggies and chick peas

Dinner:  Another huge salad

Snacks: raisins and almonds, banana, brown rice cake with hummus (I allow myself to eat rice cakes because they are only puffed rice and salt, but some consider them processed and don't allow them), dried cherries, cashews, Lara balls

I'm not usually a banana eater, but I really enjoyed the one I ate today.

I'm pretty happy with my meals for the day, but I feel like I needed more with my dinner.  We were originally supposed to go to UNO because they were donating 20% of each meal purchase to help fund a local children's museum that is in the process of being established.  I had already looked at the menu online and selected the chopped power salad (minus the chicken and feta) and the farro salad. I knew that would be enough to satisfy me.  But, the wait time was 45 minutes because of the size of our party, and we knew that the five kids with us, which included a one year old and a two year old, would never hold it together that long.  So, we decided to go somewhere else.  Since we went to a pizza place, my choices were limited.  Most of the salads had meat and cheese on them, so I ordered a large garden salad.  It was delicious and full of tons of different veggies, but it didn't have much staying power.

So, I'm almost halfway through the challenge and I'm feeling pretty good.  I'm hoping the second of the challenge goes just as well.  I'm wondering if it will be difficult to stick to it while I'm on my girl's weekend in Boston.

CFC: Day 2

What a great day!  Having done this challenge before, I know that there are good days and bad days.  There are days that I embrace the challenge and feel healthy and strong.  Then, there are days that I feel grumpy and frustrated.  Well, today was one of the good days.  I felt great eating my healthy food throughout the day and got excited about all of my yummy treats and meals.  I had a fabulous lunchtime run (4 miles) and felt energized the rest of the day.  It's days like today that make me realize how important it is to eat healthy as much as possible.  Trust me, I firmly believe there is room in every eating plan for some of these (my kryptonite):

But, I also realize each time I do one of these clean food challenges that I just feel better when I eat healthy, whole foods.  I know that some of my fellow CFCers are having similar revelations today.  For their experiences, check out Emilie's blog.

I do have to admit that I had one rough moment this afternoon.  At about 2pm today, after a chaotic and stressful morning at work, my colleague offered me some M & M's.  Any other week I would have scarfed them up, but this time I politely refused. I felt good about it, but I did find myself longing for those little nuggets of chocolaty goodness.

So, here's a rundown of what I ate today:

Breakfast - The same oats as yesterday (no picture necessary)

Lunch - A huge salad and a sweet potato (no picture because I was so hungry that I ate it and then remembered that I wanted to take a picture)

Dinner:  Mama Pea's Spanish Quinoa and cut up veggies.  I can't post a link to the recipe because she doesn't have it on her website.  But she does have it in her wonderful cookbook.  I highly recommend you buy it.


















(Wow...look how scratched my dining room table is!)

Snacks - Angela's Endurance Crackers, fresh mango, almonds, cashews, raisins, carrot sticks, cucumbers, snap peas, Lara balls (real recipe with instructions coming soon)

So, it was a day of great food and good vibes.  I'm feeling so good this time around.  I'm wondering if the whole challenge will feel good, or if I'll have one of those dreaded bad days eventually.

I'm Ready to Get Clean!

OK, so tomorrow is the day I start the Clean Food Challenge.  This will be my third time doing it, but only my second time doing it as part of an organized group.  The first time I participated was in June, which is also when I started this blog.  I love this challenge, and I might have nagged Emilie a little bit to organize another one.  After weeks (OK, really months) of not eating as healthy as I should - I guess this is where I should admit that my attempt to go sugar-free was a complete flop - I am in desperate need of a clean food challenge.  I feel bloated, sluggish and just generally yucky.  My pants are snug, my skin is a mess, and I am on edge most of the time.  Sure, some of it is because of work stress and general life stuff, but a lot of it is because I have been overdoing it with handfuls of chocolate chips at night (what, you don't eat handfuls of chocolate chips at night as a snack?) and the random snacking on chips and cheese sticks and my kids cheddar bunnies.  As someone who prides myself on my healthy diet, this isn't really a great way to function. Honestly, how can I be a healthy living blogger if I'm not practicing what I preach.  Just to clarify, I totally believe in living a healthy, balanced life which includes the occasional indulgences.  I'm not an extremist when it comes to what I eat.  I have no problem eating the occasional bag of Doritos or Taco Bell bean and cheese burrito.  After all, I subscribe to the 80/20 rule.  Unfortunately, in the past few months, this has been more like the 50/50 rule, which I'm not comfortable with.

So, in an attempt to get myself back on track, I'm committing to the Clean Food Challenge for one week.  What does this mean?  It means that I can't consume dairy, sugar, gluten, processed foods or alcohol.  I will only eat clean foods (i.e. whole foods), and I will drink 120 ounces of water each day.  Some people cut out coffee, but that's not an option for me.  I fear for my husband and children if I don't have coffee in my system.  After all, cutting out wine is hard enough.

This challenge is going to be especially challenging because I am going to Boston with my friend next weekend (Friday - Sunday).  It's going to be just the two of us, which means two days of me time.  No kids, no work, no responsibilities.  I love Boston and all it has to offer (especially the food), and I really think it's going to be fun to experience it while I'm participating in the clean food challenge.  I will have to try to find healthy food places to visit that will allow me to stick to the challenge while still enjoying yummy food.  We're planning to visit Whole Foods and Trader Joe's (sadly, my town doesn't have either) while we're there, so I'm sure I'll be fine.

So, tomorrow will be day one of the challenge.  I will blog about my experience each day with recaps of what I'm eating and how I feel.  I'm excited for tomorrow, but today I enjoyed these.  

Don't let the fruit deceive you.  There was a lot of chocolate frozen yogurt underneath it.

I know I can have them again in a week, but it was still a nice way to end my phase of gluttony and get ready to clean up my act.

Date Night

As I mentioned before, the past few weeks have been pretty chaotic.  Paul and I have both been busy with work and other obligations and the kids have had a lot of activities and birthday parties to attend lately.   As parents, Paul and I really strive to make sure that our kids have the opportunity to participate in a lot of fun activities without over scheduling them and negatively impacting our quality family time.  We do the same with our own activities and outside obligations.  In addition to our full-time jobs, we are both part-time graduate students, adjunct college instructors and runners.  So, it can sometimes be difficult to manage it all and make sure that we strike the right balance.  The past couple of weeks have been particularly busy, and our whole family was feeling the strain.  So, tonight we made time for each other.  We ignored the meal plan and the household budget, gathered up some pads and pens, and made our way to our favorite Mexican restaurant for a family date night.

Ben took this picture and it came out really dark, but it's still pretty good for a 2.5 year old

Even though we had to rein the kids in a few times, it was completely worth it.  It was just what our family needed.  Plus, I got to have sangria, which is just what I needed before I start the Clean Food Challenge on Monday.

So, when life gets crazy and overwhelming, make sure you find the time to reconnect with your family.  It doesn't have to be at a restaurant or cost any money.  It just has to be somewhere that your family can spend quality time together (like your living room).

On a totally separate note, these pictures make me realize how much I need a real camera.  My iPhone just isn't cutting it any more.  I guess I better start shopping!