Adele, Train, and fantastic restaurant recs!

Finishing off Saturday, August 11th

So, I must share my texting story.  It's hilarious to me and the parties involved, so I hope you can at least chuckle along with us because it made my cheeks hurt and jokes to follow for over 24 hours post texting.

OK, so Jen and I haven't had a chance to go out and celebrate FITT-RX with our husbands until this past weekend.  We were looking into finding a great restaurant without having to drive.  We are responsible people and opted to riding the train, instead of making someone be the designated driver.  Or I guess you could look at it as, "what a bunch of lushes.  Not one person is willing to drive?"  The answer..."no."  We are celebrating and our husbands are a huge part of FITT-RX...a HUGE part of it:)

Our friend, Rachel, I would say is a restaurant connoisseur in my opinion.  She always knows the hot spots in the Chicago area so I sent her on a goose chase to give us her "professional" recommendations.  She did not disappoint.  Here's what she came up with and to be nice, I'll include links in case any of you are interested.

And, yes, I've gone off on yet another tangent, but thought some of you may enjoy.

Glen Prairie, Glen Ellyn, IL
Topaz, Burr Ridge, IL
Salpicon, Chicago, IL
Chicago q, Chicago, IL
West Town Tavern, Chicago, IL
Adelle's, Wheaton, IL
Davanti Enoteca, Chicago, IL (been here and it's fabulous!)
Sable Kitchen, Chicago, IL
RPM Italian, Chicago, IL (Bill and Giuliana Rancic's place)
The Roof Top at The Wit, Chicago, IL

OK, obviously I need to get out more, because I've only been to one of these places.  So here's the texting debacle.

Jill:  Adelle's in Wheaton at 8:00.  We can take the 7:12 train.  My sitter's coming at 6:30.  Maybe catch a quick drink at 100 South first?  Then after dinner we can catch the 10:54 train back to Elmhurst.  How's that sound?  No driving.

Jen:  Great!  Do we need tickets?

Jill:  We can get them in the train.

Jen:  No the concert u dork!  Ha

Jill:  What concert?  Adelle's is a restaurant.

Jill:  Omg...that is so funny!

Jill:  3:00 run still good for u tmoro?  How many u need to do?

Jen:  Omg!! I am so stupid!  I am dying laughing right now.

Jen:  Ended up running 10 miles.  Never ran that in my life.  First 45 min were awful!  Ran with my K Swiss today.  Only a little shin pin.  Yay!

Jill:  Oh good!  Glad u got it in.  thought u did a shorty today.  So no long run for you tmoro:)  Lucky dog.  Yes, I've been laughing about you going to see Adele tmoro night.  Seriously...too funny!

Jen:  Shut up!  I am so dumb!  I couldn't decide between 4 and 10.  Said f$$$ it and did 10.

Jen:  So I just told Ken about my misunderstanding.  He said, "shut up!  Are you kidding me?!?  She is playing at the Olympics during the closing ceremonies."

Jill:  But we heard she's warming up in Wheaton!

Jen:  Ha ha!!!

Jill:  Thank Wade for that one.  I'm still laughing at you.  Plus, I love how I answered about the train tix and you called me a dork.  LOLOLOL!

Jen:  that's what makes it funnier!  I totally was thinking, "why would she assume I didn't know how to get train tickets?" in my face.

Jill:  And I thought, "Geesh, has she never been on a train?"

And the jokes went on and on that entire evening.  Jen is a sport!  She got me that evening though at Adelle's.  We were talking about finding our "Chi" which I can't do, and instead of me saying "Chi" (pronounced Chee), I said "Chai" (like the tea).  Now I'm the DORK!

OK...enough said.  Onto to the dinner and drinks.

Pre-dinner drinks:  100 South Extra Dirty Ketel One Martini with 1 blue cheese olive; Adelle's Pomegranate Martini

Dinner:  We split our appetizers between the 4 of us.  Risotto; Tempura Green Beans; For dinner, I had the Red and Golden Beet salad, and for the main course I devoured the Andouille Crusted Scallops.  For dessert, we split the taffy apple bread pudding between 3 of us.  I believe I probably had most of it.  The entire meal was simply fantastic!  I also had a couple vodka drinks at dinner as well, and can't remember the name of it.  Basically, you give them a type of vodka then they make the drink.  It's muddled with mint, etc...sort of like a mojito and so delicious.

After dinner, we enjoyed a private concert by train as we headed back to Elmhurst.  HA!

Sunday, August 12

Breakfast:  A couple pieces of French toast with a bit of margarine and syrup.  A handful of Frosted Mini Wheats and orange juice

Long Run:  I entered the unchartered territory of my marathon training and finished 15 miles.  By the way, as you enter Glen Ellyn, the prairie path is absolutely beautiful.  A pretty run.

When I got home from my run, I NEEDED to go to Costco and Jewel.  My cupboards were bare and mama had to fill them back up.  At Costco, I sampled this Oat Fit Oatmeal.  It was good and I bought a box.  My son is an oatmeal eater and so are Wade and I.  You wouldn't know that after reading my posts though.

2g of fat, 100 calories, 0 sugar, 4g protein, 18g carbs

Dinner:  Banana with fake Nutella and I found a Kale salad recipe that was just ok.  Glass of Tru Moo chocolate milk that was diluted down with skim milk.

Evening snack:  Popcorn

Monday, August 13th

Breakfast:  Special K Red Berries Cereal; frozen blueberries; almond milk; handful of raspberries

Morning snack:  Oatmeal Raisin granola bar

Lunch:  Finished off the Kale Salad, raspberries, and a chicken burrito.  I found these burritos at Costco.  I think I looked at everything, but the calories.  One burrito is 320 calories.  Note to self...you're afternoon snack must be light!

OK, their marketing dept. had me at SKINNY.  I'm not a big organic guru, but didn't even think to look at the nutrition facts.  Now look below.

Check out the carbs!  59g which is 20% of an average person's daily allowance.  That's a lot of carbs in a 6oz. burrito.  The 320 calories I wasn't thrilled with either since I'd like to eat more than just a 6oz. burrito for lunch.  

Snack:  apple

Dinner:  Tilapia on the George Foreman grill, roasted zucchini and jalapenos, 1/2 cup Chicken Fajita Rice a Roni (not a big fan of) which is another high sodium, high carb dish.  For dessert, I ate about a cup of frozen kefir.  This is tart, tangy, and soooo good!  Oh, and I had 2 dark chocolate granola crisps. Oh, and before I put the Moose Tracks ice cream back in the fridge, I had a couple spoonfuls of that.  Oh goodness, need to eat better during the day.  I'll blame it on the 15 miles yesterday.

Need to drink more water tonight.

Enjoy your evening with your families.  We've got kids baths next! 

Chuckwalla Lizards to Reality TV Addictions

Finishing off August 9th

The Bears pre-season opener was this night and my husband took our son to the game.  Lucky boy:)  Mommy gave up her ticket, but of course, I wasn't going to watch the game at home.  I met my friends in Naperville and we went to a place called "Bottom's Up" for dinner and drinks.  Sounds like my kinda place with the way this blog is turning out to be.  Seriously...if you read from January thru March you know I don't drink this much beer.  I'm telling you...it's summer people!

Dinner:  A "lightly breaded" (whatever...they say this so it sounds like it's healthy) chicken sandwich and fries (I did not finish...rare!)  2 1/2 drafts of Coors Lite.  The food was good, atmosphere was great, and the company was fantastic.

Late evening snack:  1/2 cup Frozen Kefir - I was introduced to this after the half marathon I ran in June.  This stuff costs an arm and a leg, but it's very, very good.  I buy it when it's on sale.  Low in calories and very healthy.

Friday, August 10th

Breakfast:  Kashi Blueberry Cluster cereal, blueberries, almond milk, and coffee with non-fat hazelnut creamer

Lunch:  We went to the Brookfield Zoo for the first time in 2 years.  Finally, renewed our zoo pass, because it's worth it:)  I ALWAYS pack a lunch when we go to the zoo.  We each had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread; sliced apples; string cheese; and a granola thin with dark chocolate (80 calories of yum yums).  If you buy your food there, you'll end up eating pizza, hot dogs, fries, pretzels, nachos, or sandwiches that costs too much.  In fact, I CHOSE to buy our drinks there and for a Gatorade and a water I spent $6.00 - highway robbery!  Plus, just a note to all you zoo members...if you buy anything that is on an outside cart, you DO NOT get your food discount.

At the zoo, my kid's favorite exhibits were Stingray Bay and the Chuckwalla Lizards.  We spent almost an hour in Stingray Bay, because we FINALLY found a spot where the stingrays swam up to you.  The mama Chuckwalla Lizard had babies in March.  We had THE best time watching the comedy these lizards put on.  Seriously, they are way better than watching any of those ridiculous shows my husband watches (he knows I think they are ridiculous) like Swamp People, American Hot Rod, Jersey Shore, Ice Road Truckers (has anyone ever seen an accident yet?), Pawn Stars, Storage Wars, American Pickers (OK, I'll watch this only because they are based in Iowa.  GO HAWKS!), American Choppers, Myth Busters (I will watch this at times), COPS, Pimp My Ride, Monster Garage, Bikini Barbers (train wreck), American Hot Rod, Deadliest Catch, Miami Ink (yes, I watch too), LA Ink (I also watch), Survivor (agree!), The Amazing Race (agree), Fear Factor (agree!), Rock Star INXS (we both liked), Wipeout (agree), Cake Boss (I will watch with him),  and Rob and Big.

But now that I've gone to Wikipedia for the reality show list, I will make this a fair game and will unveil what shows I have watched (then and now).  The Real World, Road Rules, Laguna Beach, The Hills, Blind Date, Temptation Island (hey, we knew one of the girls!), The Bachelor (I don't watch every show), The Bachelorette (I don't watch the entire season), Biggest Loser, Extreme Makeover - house edition, Extreme Makeover - weight loss edition, Joe Millionaire, Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?, Who Wants to Marry My Dad?, Parental Control, A Shot of Love with Tila Tequila, Rock of Love with Bret Michaels, Trading Spaces, Clean Sweep, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Dr. 90210, Celebrity Fit Club, Wife Swap, Super Nanny, Newlyweds - Nick and Jessica, Blow Out (DUMB), The Girls Next Door, Meet the Barkers, The Gastineau Girls, Hogan Knows Best, Keeping up with the Kardashian's, Kimora, Life in the Fab Lane, The City, TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes, Big Brother, Survivor, Fear Factor, The Amazing Race, The Apprentice, Wipeout, American Idol, America's Got Talent, Dancing with the Stars, Project Runway, The Voice, America's Next Top Model (If I said ANTM, who would've know what I was talking about?).

For a way to waste a half hour, click here.

OH MY GOD...DID I JUST GO ON A TANGENT ABOUT REALITY TV!?  I WENT FROM CHUCKWALLA LIZARDS TO REALITY TV.

DISCLAIMER:  PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE SHOWS WERE NOT A SERIES I WATCHED TO THE FINISH.  THESE ARE SHOWS I MAY HAVE WATCHED ONE OR MORE EPISODES OF.  I WILL NEVER, EVER COMPLAIN OF MY HUSBANDS REALITY TV ADDICTION.  IT APPEARS THAT I MAY HAVE ONE OF MY OWN.  I HIGHLY SUGGEST THAT IF YOU DON'T THINK YOU HAVE A PROBLEM TO DO WHAT I JUST DID.  HOLY CRAP!



A Chuckwalla Lizard - Feather and Scales exhibit at the Brookfield Zoo

Go see them!

Dinner:  Peppered Pork Roast; veggies, quinoa and brown rice, chocolate chip cookies dipped in moose tracks ice cream.  This dessert should've been highly avoided.  Thank goodness, I'm running this weekend.  BTW...my Saturday afternoon run has quickly turned into a Sunday afternoon run.  You'll understand this if you read my post about texting.

Saturday, August 11th

Breakfast:  Special K Red Berries Cereal, blueberries, almond milk, coffee with non-fat hazelnut creamer

Workout:  I instructed 2 TRX workouts this morning and did the first one.  The second one I instructed but did not participate as much.

Lunch:  1/2 Sandwich with ham, cojack cheese, and margarine spread.

Heading off on a family bike ride in a bit, and then will be going out to dinner in Wheaton this evening.  I will share a hysterical texting story if I get permission from the victim.  OMG...funny.

Stay tuned...

Wisconsin and Iowa fun! Summer drinking:)

I left you with after dinner on Tuesday, July 31st!  Whoa...I've been busy, and lucky enough I've been keeping track on my phones notes.  Writing this out now is going to look like a lot!

So, I had dinner on the 31st, then ran with some friends.  Afterwards, we went out for a couple beers.  I had 2 Leine's Summer Shandys.

Wednesday, August 1st

Breakfast:  Kashi Blueberry Cluster cereal; frozen blueberries; almond milk; coffee

Lunch:  We ate at Potbelly.  I had a Hammie and Swiss Sandwich and salt and vinegar potato chips.  The Hammie's have less bread in them which lowers the calories.  Ice water

Snack:  Our new neighbors surprised me with two humongous cucumbers, and ginormous zucchini, and a jalapeno pepper.  All won't go wasted here!  I sliced one of the cucumbers and mixed it with vinegar, water, a bit of sugar, and pepper.  You let them sit in the fridge, and voila!, you have a great snack.  So, snack was cucumbers and a banana.  After writing this, the combo does not sound appetizing.  It was still good!

Workout:  Jen kicked my ass in TRX class.  Thanks, Jen!

Dinner:  Turkey burger with a whole wheat bun a sweet potato fries at Pint's.  I drank a 1/2 of an iced tea, and my son decided to take the other half and make it disgusting by adding pickle juice.  He "said" it was good, but I think he just didn't want to admit that it was gross.

Thursday, August 2nd

Breakfast:  Kashi GoLean Triple Berry Crumble cereal; frozen blueberries; almond milk; coffee with non-fat creamer

Lunch:  A friend of mine went to Chow and bought 3 amazing salads.  One was chicken salad, another kale salad, and the third was just simply fantastic too.  She had these Skinny Girl Pina Colada's so I had one of those, plus a Leine's Berry Weis.

Dinner:  A friend of mine from out of town came in with her kids, so we had friends over to see them.  We had pizza (3 square pieces for me), ramen noodle salad that is to die for!, blueberries and raspberries.  I enjoyed a Sweet Tea Vodka with Lemonade and a couple Summer Shandy's.  Yikes, I'm sounding like quite the social drinker on this post!

Friday, August 3rd

Breakfast:  Kashi GoLean Triple Berry Crumble cereal; frozen blueberries; almonmilk

Lunch:  Carrot Cake LaraBar and a piece of pizza; water (OK, good THEN bad!)

Snacks:  We went up to Wisconsin to visit friends and she always has fantastic snacks.  When we got there, I had cantaloupe, strawberries, cheese and crackers.

Dinner:  I brought up dinner to share with everyone.  It was Baked Spaghetti (recipe on an earlier post); garlic bread; and a lite Cesaer salad.

Drinks:  Summer Shandys

Saturday, August 4th

Breakfast:  I made Monkey Bread that ended up spilling all over the bottom of my friend's oven.  Yes, I'm a fantastic house guest.  BUT, it was a blessing in disguise, because she learned how to clean her oven and it sparkled after the cleaning...HA and PHEW all at the same time.  Yes, it stunk like burnt food for a while, but I was so relieved that it cleaned up.  So, I ate way too much monkey bread and had some cantaloupe.

BUT, I must say that a lot of the mixture you put on the top of the biscuits found its way to the bottom of the oven (ummmm, hellooooo less calories!), but it was still moist and tasted good - even though some of the biscuits needed to be microwaved to finish the cooking process.  It was completely eaten, however, I'd still consider this a fail...ugh!

Snacks:  Cheese; crackers; hummus

Drinks:  1 Miller Lite, water, and 3 Summer Shandy's (THIS IS SUMMER PEOPLE, and I WAS ON A LAKE!)

More snacks before dinner:  Chips and Guacamole; cheese and crackers

Dinner:  This dinner was fabulous!  I had 1 slice of a pork tenderloin; brussel sprouts; corn on the cob; cheesy potatoes; grilled potatoes; ramen noodle salad; and a chocolate chip cookie.  I was DONE!

Drinks:  We went to a couple bars to have some drinks.  The first bar I had a shot (no arm twisting) and I can't remember what it was called.  I also had 2 Coors Lights. 

The second bar we had the honor of watching a bachelorette/bachelor party which was a complete train wreck.  These people were ridiculously intoxicated and could barely look at you in the eye when they talked to you.  The bride and groom were smashed so you certainly could not get an idea of who they were in real life.  However, I will admit the groom hit on me while we were there, and my husband was laughing so hard.  He knows I can handle myself, and I certainly didn't need the "wall of Wade" to get in the way.  God knows what would've ensued.  HA!

My girlfriend asked the groom if it was a good idea to get married in a couple weeks.  He didn't answer her, but WOW, we were glad they left and I can't believe their party was heading elsewhere...you'd think they were done, BUT we are in Wisconsin after all.  I had a couple Coors Lights at this bar too.

Just in case you were wondering...

Late Dinner Snack:  CRAP I decided to have an Oatmeal Raisin cookie and a 1/2 chocolate chip cookie.

Sunday, August 5th

Breakfast:  The firemen in the town we were at had a breakfast.  I had one pancake, one piece of french toast, and one sausage.

Dinner:  We went to Culver's on our way home and I had a Garden Fresco salad with a little raspberry vinaigrette dressing and since I had a light salad, I treated myself to a Turtle Cheesecake ice cream cone.  Now that I'm typing this...I think I had enough "treats" the night before.

LONG RUN:  Yes, I got home and I ran 12 miles.  OK, that ice cream cone was not so bad after all.

Dinner:  A piece of string cheese, Kashi GoLean Triple Berry Crumble Cereal; frozen blueberries; almond milk; water

Monday, August 6th

Breakfast:  Look at dinner from last night and omit the string cheese

Snack:  I had a meeting at Elijah's and instead of a coffee I had this Blueberry Pomegranate smoothie with antioxidants.  The color of the smoothie was black...looked gross...but it is so good!

Lunch:  2 egg whites; 1 whole egg; skim milk; veggies; ham; cheese - all mixed together in scrambles eggs.

Snack:  I treated myself to a banana with chocolate hazelnut butter.  It wasn't nutella and not as good as Nutella, but still good.

Dinner:  Marco's last summer hockey session was this evening and we went to Mama Maria's (the one on North York Rd.) for dinner as a celebration.  This place DOES NOT get the credit it deserves!  WOW - so fantastic!  I had a couple pieces of bread with olive oil and Parmesan; I shared a antipasti salad with a friend as well as split a plate of stuffed gnocchi.  AMAZING!  Lastly, my husband was talking about how spicy the jalapenos were on his pizza, so I had to try a piece.  HOLY SMOKES - steam was going out my ears.  It was so hot and the ice tea I was drinking was not helping the situation.  I had a small corner piece of pizza without those damn peppers to help cool me down.  If you like super hot jalapenos - then Mamma Maria's is the place you should go.

Tuesday, August 7th (This is teaching me to blog more often as I feel like I've been typing forever, plus it's harder to write all this food down!)

Breakfast:  Same as breakfast yesterday...yada, yada, yada...

Workout:  4 mile run

Lunch:  Marinated Cucumbers (recipe above); a banana with that fake Nutella

Snack:  I drove to Iowa to visit a great friend in from Australia.  It was so awesome seeing her!  She looked fabulous, hasn't changed a bit, and our conversation at our table of 5 was incredible.  But, before I talk about that, I did have a snack at my parent's place before I headed out to meet her.  I had some cashews and almonds with chocolate covered raisin.  Just enough to get me through to dinner.

Dinner: We went to Champp's in Dubuque. They did not have Summer Shandy, but had Shock Top. This beer is so good! In fact, I had 2 big ones and a small one at dinner. I also ordered this great chopped salad with chicken, lettuce, feta cheese, walnuts, cranberries, and apples. No need for dressing. This salad was perfect AS IS!

A post dinner picture.

Wednesday, August 8th

Breakfast:   I was still at my parent's house and I had Special K Red Berries cereal with skim milk.

Lunch:  The kids and I went to Subway and I had a 6 inch on wheat turkey with a ton of veggies and yellow mustard.  I also had harvest chedder sun chips and an iced tea.

Snack:  I had a few spoonfuls of that damn fake Nutella!

Dinner:  2 pieces of leftover pizza followed by a 6 mile run.

Thursday, August 9th

Breakfast:  Mixed both Kashi cereals together with frozen blueberries and almond milk.

Lunch:  2 egg white and 1 egg scrambled eggs with red pepper, yellow pepper, mushrooms, onions, spinach, and cheese.  So good!  While my eggs were cooking, I had a piece of celery with peanut butter.

Note to self:  After writing this out, maybe I should eat more fruit.

All caught up!  Bears pre-season opener tonight!  Get ready for fall, cooler temps, and football!!!



Summer is harder to journal...just sayin'.

Friday, July 27th

Breakfast:  Kashi blueberry cluster cereal; frozen blueberries; almond milk; coffee with the fixin's

Lunch:  Tuna lettuce wraps (I mix light tuna in water with greek yogurt and pickle relish); pretzels; apple; water

Dinner:  The neighbors had a happy hour and I had 2 pieces of pepperoni pizza; blueberries and strawberries; this awesome ramen noodle cabbage salad with cashews; 2 s'mores bars (Yum!  Need the recipe!); water

Saturday, July 28th

Breakfast:  Kashi Go Lean triple berry crumble; frozen blueberries; almond milk; coffee with the Cinnabon creamer

Morning Snack:  Apple and an Iced Coffee with Cinnabon creamer

I hit the road to Iowa to pick up my husband and kids.  Wade finished RAGBRAI which stands for the Register's Annual Great Bide Ride Across Iowa.  Over 500 miles of fun, hot, and humid bike riding.  Doesn't sound fun to me, but he SWEARS I'd have a blast.  I also swore I'd never run a marathon, and I see where that's got me.  Detroit October 2012!  I will not get cocky about it until I successfully finish it.

Snack and Lunch:  While waiting for him, I hit McDonald's for a Fruit 'n Yogurt Parfait.  Don't knock'em til you try one.  They are 160 calories worth of pure yumminess.  He arrives and we celebrate with 2 Miller Lites, followed by a trip back to Dubuque and we stopped at Culver's.  I planned out Culver's so I could partake in a Butterfinger short concrete.  Think of a DQ Blizzard - good!  Anyway, before the concrete I had the Garden Fresco Salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing.  On the salad was tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, croutons, and red onions.  Salad + Dressing = 240 calories.

Today was also my family reunion where my parents had my kids.  We were late due to the RAGBRAI finisher, but we still made it to see family.  My mom had a Leine's Summer Shandy waiting for me.  Another good beer.

Dinner:  After the reunion, we went out for pizza at the Shot Tower in Dubuque.  I had 1 piece of pizza with everything, and 2 pieces of one that had chicken and other veggies on it.  My kids were being a pain in the butt, and ordered chicken tenders and fries.  After they saw the pizza, they opted for the pizza.  AAAHHHHH!!!!  Of course, my son's chicken tenders look so good, so I eat one with barbeque sauce.  It was as good as it looked.

Sunday, July 29th (not as bad as I had originally thought)

Breakfast:  Today started with my mom's AMAZING coffee cake.  I ate way too much of it, and I also had coffee, blueberries and watermelon.

Lunch:  Seafood and Crab Salad from Subway; Iced Tea

Gorgefest: I mean graduation party/dinner.  Awesome fried chicken; great mac 'n cheese; cole slaw; chips/salsa, pita chips with this fantastic dip (asked for the recipe); pecan tarts (2); m&m's (too many to count); one cookie dipped in chocolate; Arnold Palmer Iced Tea

The post before this describes my run after this feeding frenzy.  I could've gotten more graphic, but thought to spare people details.  Too put it mildly, my belly had cramps and oh god, did it slow me down!  But FINISHED it!

Monday, July 30th (I haven't been writing this, but I am drinking lots of water.)

Breakfast:  Kashi Go Lean Triple Berry Crumble; frozen blueberries; almond milk; coffee with fixin's

Lunch:  Green Monster (look for old post titles for the recipe)

Snack:  Cherry Pie Lara Bar; Apple

Dinner:  Turkey Burger on a wheat bun and edamame.

Tuesday, July 31st

Breakfast:  Kashi go Lean Triple Berry Crumble; frozen blueberries; almond milk, coffee with fixin's.

Lunch:  1 egg and 2 egg white scrambled eggs with ham, onion, and cheddar cheese; 2 pieces of wheat toast with margarine and cinnamon and sugar.

Snack:  Peanut Butter Cookie Lara Bar;  Have I ever mentioned how good these are?

Dinner:  From Costco I bought these Chickpea patties of some sort.  I threw the box away to save room in my freezer so I have absolutely no idea on the nutritional value.  I know they weren't bad since I read the label before purchasing them.  I eat 2.  I make a spinach salad with tomatoes, onion, and peppers topped with Strawberry Balsamic dressing.

I'm off to teach a Tabata Boot Camp, run with some Run 'n Wine girls, then have a couple beers.

Later!





Break

The Power of a Text.

I am training for a big race in October and this weekend I had a step down week.  Ran 12 last weekend and this weekend I was gearing up for "only" 9.  Believe me, step downs are nice to have, especially for what my mind went through this weekend.  Anyway, here is my weekend conversation I had with myself about this 9 mile run.

Friday night:  Ok, I teach 2 TRX classes in the morning so I'll get up at 6am, run for an hour and a half and teach the classes.

Saturday morning:  Ummmm...no.  I'm sleeping in til 7, then I'll just run Sunday morning.  Heck, I teach 2 classes and one of them I'm doing the workout anyway, so that counts for something, right?

Sunday morning:  I wake up 3 minutes before my 7am wake up call to run my 9.  NOT!  This bed feels so good and heck, I'll just do it when I get up around 8.  I crawl out of bed at 8:45 and I'm not feeling it.  I'll just do it after my class tomorrow at 11:00am.  It'll be hot, but jeepers, it's been HOT all summer so that's not that big of a deal.

Sunday afternoon:  We drive to a graduation party and on the way there, I talk to my friend, Jen.  She says she's going to run that evening.  I tell her I still have to get my run in so I'll go with her.  We agree to an early evening run.  Meanwhile, at the graduation party, I absolutely gorge myself with all sorts of great food including mac 'n cheese, fried chicken, cole slaw, appetizers, and desserts which I eat way too much of.  I will post my food journal later.  So we leave the party and I tell my husband there is no way I can run because I just ate way too much.  This is what ensues.

We run and I finish 8 miles.  Only puked a little in my mouth once:)

Thanks, friend.  If it wasn't for you, I would've run in the midday heat and regretted that I didn't do it the day before.  Now that's the power of a friend and text messaging.

A little thing I do to make peanut butter a bit healthier.

I left you after I finished up lunch on Tuesday.

Dinner:  My family was gone and I was by myself (how sweet it is!), so I got home around 4:30 and I was going to lay around and make myself a turkey burger.  YUM!  HOWEVER, I get a text from my friend who cuts my hair at 5:10 asking if my haircut was 5 or 5:30 that day.  CRAP!  She rescheduled that morning and I told her I'd be there by 5:00.  UGH!  The George Foreman was a fired up with my turkey burger ready to be cooked up.  No can do now.  Worse yet, I had a class to teach at 6:30 so it was prepare something now, or starve during class.  I made myself a PB&J and headed out for the much needed haircut.  I hate when I don't put appointments on my phone calendar...and also forget to set the alert.  I mean...I did just reschedule this appointment that same morning.  Short term memory loss for sure!

I taught a Tabata Boot Camp after the haircut, and I brought the group outside because it was under 95 degrees.  Who would've thought that would've seemed cool?  There was a breeze and made it feel 90.  Woohoo!

Evening Snacks:  I mixed peaches in lite syrup with nonfat cottage cheese when I got home and then also made some popcorn later.  Throughout the day, I drank lots of my water concoction - sparkling key lime water with coconut La Croix.  So good!

Wednesday, July 25th

Breakfast:  I had a few squares of Frosted Mini Wheats left, so I mixed that with Special K with Berries Cereal.  Added some frozen blueberries to keep the Almond Milk cold, not to mention the added benefit of the blueberries.  The blueberries have 3 huge benefits:  super healthy, super yummy, and keep the milk super cold.  Now I cringe when I eat cereal without them because I feel like I'm eating luke warm cereal.  I also had coffee with the Cinnabon creamer.

Lunch:  A turkey and cojack cheese sandwich with Brownberry Wheat bread with a light layer of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spread.  I also cooked up some baby spinach in a bit of olive oil.  I'll be honest, I don't know if I would've made the spinach if I wasn't keeping this journal.  Also, when you cook spinach, grab about twice what you think you need.  SERIOUSLY, that stuff cooks up and it looks like nothing when you're done.  Water.

Snack:  Oatmeal Raisin Granola Bar and some watermelon

Workout:  After my snack I went to workout.  I ran 4 miles on the treadmill, and then headed to the free weights.  I love free weights!  They are way more functional than sitting on a machine, and they force your body to work several muscle groups, not just one.

3 sets of everything and I always practice active recovery.  You'll never see me sitting around doing nothing.  When I complete a set of anything, I'll go right into another set of something else while the muscle group I worked on before is resting.  ACTIVE RECOVERY = TIME MANAGEMENT!  You'll get out of the gym much quicker when you practice active recovery.  Who has time to give yourself 15-30 seconds between sets?  I don't!

 (OK, just read this over to edit and noticed I wrote "everything", "nothing", "anything", and "something" in a total of 3 sentences, and I'm not fixing it cause I think it's funny.)

Concentrated Bicep Curls
Calf Raises
Tricep Dips

Chest Flys
Squats with dumbbell wood chops
Plank with dumbbell back rows

Finished up with a bunch of core action that concentrated on every single core muscle.

Workout lasted about an hour and 10 minutes.

Dinner:  Another PB&J...I needed something quick because I had to get out of the house to teach TRX and Dude's Training.  I really like Costco's Kirkland All Natural Peanut Butter.  When you open a new jar, you'll see oil sitting at the top that you're supposed to mix up.  I use a spoon and get it out.  Yes, by the time you get to the bottom of the jar, it's not very moist, but I'm guessing I got a heck of a lot of fat and calories out of the jar by taking that first step.  Plus, it tastes just as good in my opinion.

After work, I went home to change and head to a friend's house.  I had some watermelon and ate a white peach on the way there.  While there I had 2 1/2 Coors Lights while enjoying great conversation with friends I hadn't been able to hang out with in a while.  So nice:)

Thursday, July 26th

Breakfast:  Special K with Berries, Almond Milk, and Frozen Blueberries.  Coffee with Cinnabon creamer.

Lunch:  Lettuce salad with ham, cheese, and strawberry/balsamic vinaigrette dressing and a banana.

Snack:  Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte LaraBar - Wow!  So good!

Dinner:  I went to Pizza di Pazzi in Elmhurst for a delicious meal with great company.  They had $5 dollar Martini's so OF COURSE I HAD TO HAVE 2 extra dirty Ketel One Martinis with 2 blue cheese olives.  I had 2 pieces of bread with Parmesan and olive oil, and I split the Orto salad with a friend and also split a chicken dish with her as well.  The meal was fabulous!

Post-Dinner Fun:  After dinner we headed across the street to Pints.  There I had a Oberon Sky Beer and a Miller Lite.

Then the dreaded I'M-HUNGRY-SO-I MAKE-A-BAD-DECISION-WHEN-I-GET-HOME-SNACK!!!! - I made s'mores!  What?!  Well, they were good and all you gotta do is soften the marshmallows in the microwave.  Ugh!!!

Food Journaling for 4 more weeks...Why???

Here I go again.  A client wants to lose those nasty last 10 lbs, and what did I say?  I said, "You should try food journaling!"  Then, without even thinking about it, my statement was followed with, "I'll do it with you for 4 weeks!"  So...here I go again, and can't wait to do this with a client who is determined to make her goal.

Typically, the average person can lose 1-3 pounds per week and that depends on several factors.  They include:  How much you need to lose.  How much you already weigh in relationship to your height. Go to http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bmi-calculator/NU00597/ to figure out your body mass index (BMI).  By figuring out your BMI, you can get a better indication on what you'd like (or need) to lose. How much are you willing to exercise.  And finally, how will you track your food intake.  Notice these are not questions...rather statements.  All four of these factor in on how you will succeed.  Think about this first before turning those statements into questions for yourself.

Each person is different, and remember...slow and steady weight loss is a heck of a lot better than rapid weight loss.  Studies have shown that slow and steady weight loss will keep the weight off longer and hopefully forever.  Rapid weight loss tends to not be as effective since most will put on pounds after they lose the weight.  Why????  Because they are hungry and never really taught themselves how to eat right.

What I learned from food journaling from January to March this past year is this...
1.  I was able to put myself on a eating schedule.  No more mindless eating!
2.  I gave up all soda!
3.  I gave up artificial sweeteners (except those found in gum).
4.  I learned to recognize the difference between biological hunger and emotional hunger.
5.  Can't forget social hunger!  That can be tricky.  You're not actually hungry, but the awesome food is EVERYWHERE and it's SO GOOD!
6.  I'm still able to eat everything in moderation.  That is nice.
7.  Lastly, I learned how powerful I was from the experience.

Who's in?  Feel free to join me in this 4 week food journaling experience.  Why not?

I start today, Tuesday, July 24th and this will continue on until August 21st.

Tuesday, July 24th

Breakfast:  Frosted Mini Wheats, Frozen Blueberries, and Almond Milk; Coffee with Cinnabon creamer.  Yummy and filling!

Lunch:  1 egg and 2 egg white scrambled eggs with onion, ham, spinach, and cheese.  A piece of Brownberry Wheat toast with margarine and grape jelly.  A big glass of Key Lime Sparkling water.

The rest will be included in my next post.

Happy Journaling!  Let me know if you'll be joining me!

Jill