Lying Low

Happy Memorial Day! I hope that you had a great one.  Thank you all so much for your sweet comments about my fall.  I honestly can’t believe how much it has taken out of me. Its been a super sore couple of days but I’m hoping tomorrow will be much better. I’ve been resting (and its driving me crazy), taking epsom salt baths (its a good hurt?)and I’m currently lying with my feet elevated to try and reduce some of the swelling in my knees. I can’t wait until things are back to normal!

Anywho, today was obviously a pretty low key day. I woke up and made myself a delicious omelet with bell pepper, onion, sundried tomato, spinach and provolone cheese. I also had a toasted bagel thin on the side. It was delish.

 
After breakfast, I relaxed and then decided to try doing some upper body exercises to get my blood flowing. I did some push ups, side planks, bicep curls and shoulder raises followed by some crunches. It felt good to do something besides sit on (half of) my rear.

After my little workout, I took and epsom salt bath. It was not fun, but I’m hoping that it will speed up the healing process. By the time I was out and dressed, I was more than ready for some lunch and had half a pita with hummus, lettuce, sprouts, tempeh and some hot sauce – with pickles on the side, of course.

This afternoon I managed to get a lot of school work done which felt really good. I started getting hungry again around 3 and had a nanner with pb sauce (peanut butter with a bit of almond milk and heated – edibleperspective style). :)

 
I worked until about 4:30 and then gave in to rare daytime tv. It was a nice treat. Once Brian got home from  helping a friend move, we took a ride up north to get out of the house and pick up some dinner from our favorite Thai restaurant. I ordered some Tom Yum soup with shrimp and a carrot, cashew, tomato and green bean salad.

The soup had great flavor, but it definitely needed more oomph. There were two tiny shrimp in there and a few floating mushrooms but was otherwise just broth. The carrot salad, on the other hand, was delicious!

We just finished a game of cribbage and some leftover frozen yogurt and I’m feeling quite sleepy. I think it may be time to bandage up and head to bed. :)

Have a great night and an even better day tomorrow, friends!

Em

Crash Bang Boom

…is my new nickname.  For some reason, yesterday I decided that after three years’ absence from rollerblading, it was time to get back into it.  My location of choice? The nearby land reservation with a paved (but ridiculously hilly) path surrounded by heavy brush.  Luckily, I convinced Brian to come along and run beside me. I was feeling pretty good until I got to the first big downhill and just got going too fast and lost control. – sliding about 15 feet down the hill on my knees, elbow and bum.

Luckily, there are no broken bones or serious injuries – but I’m covered in really nasty road rash. Both knees, my right elbow, and perhaps worst of all, my left thigh right below my butt are really scraped. Let me tell you – it sucked walking barefoot the one mile back to the car while trying not to cry and passing other people enjoying the trail (on foot, like sane people). 

I have not lost my sense of humor, though, and am lucky enough to have Brian around to buy Walgreen’s out of their first aid supplies and to hold my hand when we spray anti-bacterial spray on my rear. Haha. :)  Honestly, yesterday I was super sore but I’m already feeling better today and I think that my scrapes have even started to heal already! 

Needless to say, yesterday was not focused on food. I was pretty nauseous and lightheaded all day but, Brian did make me some pizza and go and get me some froyo which was awesome.

This morning, he even made me oats – something he has heretofore been afraid to make lest he not meet the bar I have unintentionally set. They came out deliciously! He added the cinnamon and nutmeg right to the milk and water before even adding the oats. I think it made a huge difference. He also added nanner and raisins.  Of course, I topped my bowl off with some peanut butter. Yum.

Now, I’m going to attempt putting some real clothes on and we’re going to get out of the house in search of some lunch. I hope you guys are all enjoying the weekend in one piece!! :)

Em

Friday at Home? No problem!

So, Brian is at the Celtics game tonight (exciting) and after trying to scrounge up some plans, I was eventually destined to a night at home. While nights at home are nice, I kind of wanted to kick off the long weekend in style, thus was born my plan for a special Friday night at home.  If you ever find yourself in the same situation, here are the steps to a fitting slide into the weekend:

1. Make yourself an inadvertently cool looking cocktail...

Ice, POM Juice, Lime Seltzer, Absolut Vodka

2. Make a ridiculously large, fishy, garlicky salad (you have no one to answer to, after all). Also, have half a pita smeared with hummus. Take a few bites before breaking into the salad. That drink was strong...

3. Dance to songs like Rude Boy while cleaning up a week's worth of crap in your kitchen. Close the blinds lest the creepy neighbor see. Feel free to ignore the stove top - those pieces of food aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

4. Don’t even kid yourself that you won’t want dessert later. Take out some dark chocolate from the fridge so that it can come to room temperature well before your craving hits. Plan to eat it with some more vodka dried fruit.
 

Kismet Green Hummus

Hi friends. Happy Emilyday! We’re almost to the long weekend. I’m quite excited for it. I don’t have any real plans and its super nice. I’m looking forward to catching up on some sleep and enjoying the weather. What about you?

Before I get into the day’s eats, I’d like to thank Melissa for her guest post! I’m really appreciative and it seems like you enjoyed the insight. Yay for that.

My day started out with a delicious bowl of kashi go lean with berries topped with plain greek yogurt, nanner and cinnamon. So good. Its like my hot weather oats.

For lunch, I had a special treat that is a bit kismet – green pea hummus.  Picture this: last night, I really wanted hummus and went to the cupboard for chick peas only to find that the cupboard was bare (well, not nearly bare, but no chick peas!). So, after some scrounging around and dreams of tahini and garlicky goodness, I thought, hrmm…green peas…maybe they will work!  And work they did.

Now, the kismet part? As I was reading one of my favorite new blogs (never home)maker this morning, I realized that Ashley had just made green pea hummus! Weird huh? Our recipes were strikingly similar, down to the spinach (we bought a HUGE tub of it this week). And the verdict? It was delicious – and a beautiful color.

 
Yum.

Snack was uneventful but tasty – some dates and nut butter.

After work, I quickly changed and made my way to the state park nearby. There are wonderful trails there and it was such a beautiful day. I was so pumped to be out there and ran for about 35 minutes.

I was starving when I got home and quickly got to work on dinner – green curry with tempeh, sweet tater, onion, bell pepper and lite coconut milk over roasted broccoli. It was especially delicious topped with hot sauce. Mmm..

I also just finished an amazing dessert – some Ben and Jerry’s frozen yogurt with a dark chocolate square.

  
Before I get to chillaxin’ time – I need to ask your help.  I had a great telephone call with my brother Sam, tonight. Hi Sam! He’s in Michigan for school and I’m trying to convince him to do a guest post. Would you guys be interested in a post featuring his workout routine and how he got to where he is with it? I think a little comment persuasion might do the trick. :)

For your help, I leave you with an awesome song:

Guest Post Wednesday: You Can’t Find Love in a Cookie

Hi Guys! Happy Wednesday! As you know, I’m busy getting my work and learn on and so I’m going to get right on in to our second Guest Post Wednesday. This Wednesday, Melissa of MelissaNibbles has prepared a really special, important post. Melissa is an extremely intelligent, funny person – she also has amazing musical taste. :) Anywho, here she is…

You Can’t Find Love in a Cookie

The title of this post comes from the cover of an old Shape Magazine. The cover caught my eye this morning as I was getting ready for work and got me to thinking about my past with disordered eating and emotional eating. I'm so grateful and happy that I'm no longer in a place where I do that. Sure, I indulge now and then, but that's normal.

As a teen, I turned to food for comfort and love that I wasn't getting in other relationships in my life. I had friends, but was often very lonely. My parents weren't home very often (working) and when they were, they were too tired to spend any real, quality time with me. My father holed himself up in his bedroom and rarely came out to talk to me. My sister and I were never close because we simply don't have a lot in common. We both twirled baton and while I hated it, she loved it. I picked it up as a hobby as a way to get closer to her and because it seemed like it was what I was supposed to do. I never really enjoyed it and the fact that it didn't bring my sister and I closer only made me dislike it more. I excelled in school, but it didn't seem to matter to my parents for some reason. My good grades didn't seem to impress them as much as winning a twirling trophy did.

My weight was a constant problem with my mother and my baton coach. I had to wear skintight costumes and they were always reminding me that I didn't look good in them and needed to lose weight. All my friends were other twirlers and I was embarrassed to talk to them about my problems. Food was always there though. It tasted good and a bite of a cookie made all my problems go away. They say that nothing tastes as good as thin feels, but I disagree. After a long day at school, twirling practice and then being lectured about your weight by either your mother or baton coach, a bite of cake tastes better than anything.

There would be times when I would get control of my emotional eating and lose a few pounds. My mother would be so proud and my coach would notice too, but a few pounds never seemed to be enough. I felt like nothing I did was ever enough for anyone. Food was my solace. It didn't judge me and it felt so good to eat something forbidden. In college, I excelled in my studies and made a lot of new friends. Weight was never an issue. What a relief! I felt free from being judged and was surrounded by people that liked me just how I was.

Eventually I stopped turning to food for comfort and ate to fuel myself. I was ready to lose the last few pounds, but did it on my terms. I researched and found a diet plan I could live with and the weight melted off. I know quite a few people suffer from emotional eating, here are some tips that helped me gain control and confront the issues I was hiding from:

1. Find food-free ways to socialize. This was very helpful to me. I used to plan binges on days I knew I'd be going out with a friend for dinner. I would stuff myself with pizza and ice cream. It wasn't about spending time with my friend, it was about the food. That's just sad. Now when I spend time with friends, we get our nails done, go to the movies (bringing our own snacks), or go for a walk. It's about the friends now :)

2. Keep tempting foods out of the house. I know this can be a tough one, especially if you have kids, but it's worth making the effort. You can't binge on ice cream if it's not in your freezer. Plus, it'll make ordering dessert that much more of a treat when you're out if you aren't eating it at home all the time.

3. Find Ways To Cope. When you're emotional eating, you're not eating because you're hungry. You're eating because you're unable to cope with your feelings. In my case, I was lonely and had a terrible body image. Finding friends and enjoying life again saved me. As an adult, it's not always that easy to make new friends or find that sort of outlet. There are sites like meetup.com that have different meetups for people interested in all different hobbies. If you're reading this and live in MA, come to a healthy living meetup! If you really need someone to talk to, reach out to a family member you trust or look for a local support group. Sometimes all you need is someone to listen to your frustrations.

I hope some of you can use these tips to cope with emotional eating. It's a frustrating problem, but you can beat it!

Hot Hot Hot

Hi friends! Happiest of Tuesdays to you! Its a HOT one here in Boston – I think it got up into the 90s! Anywho, to beat the heat, I got up before work this morning to meet up with Jillian. I did the Last Chance Workout from onDemand. It doesn’t really get easier. So tough. I was sweating like crazy!

To fuel up after my butt kicking, I had a yogurt mess with go lean crunch berries cereal, plain greek yogurt, nanner and cinnamon. Always does the trick.

Lunch was really tasty and came in a HUGE tupperware. We have a tupperware thief in this house (ahem, Brian) and so I was stuck with a tupperware that could feed a family of four. I managed to fill it will baby spinach, bell pepper, carrot, sprouts, raisins, egg, and some brown rice. I made some easy balsamic and olive oil dressing to drizzle on. Yum.

 

Snack was yumtastic – dates with naturally nutty vanilla almond sunflower seed butter. 
 

After work, I made my way to Target to do a bit of shopping. I was quite successful and found some cute shirts, a skirt, a dress and some socks. Yay. :)

When I got home, I was hangry and did not want to cook anything. I made a sammich with pickles, spinach, bell pepper, sprouts, mustard and homemade hummus on a bagel thin.  For some more crunch, I had some baby carrots and bell pepper dipped in hummus.

It cooled off a bit and it was so nice out that I decided to take a walk after dinner. It felt nice to get out! I had a good time looking at all the houses and imagining who lived there, what it was like inside, etc. Do you guys do that? I wish I could look at people’s decorating sometimes. :)

After a cool shower, a strategically placed fan and some ice water, I’m feeling cool as a cucumber. I think some frozen yogurt will only further that.  On that note… I’m off to get me some of that and watch The Biggest Loser.

Have a great night guys!

Em

Back At It

Hey guys! Happy Monday! I’m sorry that I disappeared over the weekend. Nothing went as I had planned but I’m back and so let’s get to it!

Today, I woke up starving! The pedometer has really made me conscious of how much walking around I’m doing and it felt good to walk a lot during the weekend.  I think the extra little walks are really adding up. I’m an eating machine. Anywho, I quenched my hunger with a toasted sandwich thin topped with naturally nutty vanilla almond sunflower seed butter, raisins, and half a nanner.

Lunch was leftover black beans and brown rice. The key to really tasty beans and rice is using a can of diced tomatoes with green chilis. I think this can had some cilantro and lime as well. Delish.

Snack consisted of some homemade hummus (made with 3 cloves of garlic, lemon juice, a big can of chick peas, cumin, and tahini) and some pita chips.

After work, I made my way to the gym and did 20 minutes on the spin bike. I haven’t used the spin bike in a while and was looking for something different for this Mix it Up Monday. I can’t believe how hard the spin bike can be. I mixed it up seated and standing throughout the 20 minutes and loved the change. After the bike, I hit the treadmill for a 20 minute hill walk. It felt good (I also got to enjoy the May Shape Magazine featuring Ellen DeGeneres – awesome).

Post workout, we made our way to a local farm stand under the impression that it was open until 6:30 (I checked the website before I went to the gym to make sure!).  I was so pumped to pick up some local, fresh veggies, but unfortunately, they close at 6. I think I may email them about it – they should update the website!

Anywho, we stopped picked up some essentials at the grocery store and then made our way home.  Brian was exhausted and I was starving and so something quick and easy was definitely necessary. We decided on veggie burgers with sauteed veggies and sweet tater rounds. My veggie burger is hidden under pickles and mustard.

Now, its time to relax. The Celtics have a very exciting game tonight and so we’ll be cheering them on.

Hope that you guys had a great day!

Em

Happy Friday, Friends!! I'm off to a concert tonight but will be back tomorrow. Woo hoo for the weekend!

yogurt mess brekkie

salad bar on steroids



vacation & pie in bar form

A Thankful Emilyday

Well, I’d say that the first of Eating to Run Guest Post Wednesdays went just swimmingly.  That is in no small part to our lovely guest post-er HomeCookedEm and the wonderful blogging community.  Your comments were all wonderful and I’m so thankful that so many new faces stopped through.  I’m so excited to keep the guest post Wednesdays coming! 

Needless to say, despite some craziness at work, this was a true to form Emilyday. The weather was beautiful, I got out for a great walk, and I was smilin’.  The day started out with an iced coffee from Dunkin and a bagel thin spread with Naturally Nutty Cinnamon Vanilla sunflower butter and topped with nanner. Yum.

For lunch, I had the other half of a very special burrito brought to me as a surprise from my fellow yesterday. It had brown rice, black beans, mango salsa and grilled tofu packed in there. Today, to spice the remaining half up a bit, I added it to some lettuce, cucs and carrot and topped it with salsa.

Snack was a recent favorite of mine – 3 dates and a boiled egg. These dates seriously taste like caramels. So good.

 

After work, Brian and I made our way (long way, thanks to the @#$@# traffic) to the frisbee field where he had an ultimate frisbee game.  I changed before leaving work and set out for a jog right when we got there. I ended up finding a really cute neighborhood to run in (cute until I found an ENORMOUS hill).   I ran for 30 minutes and then called it a day.

The game was a lot of fun, but super buggy! Brian’s team ended up winning. To curb my hunger, I snacked on a kashi trail mix granola bar.

By the time we were on our way home it was already close to 9 so we called an ordered from our favorite Chinese restaurant. I had steamed shrimp and broccoli with brown rice. Topped with hot sauce and a bit of soy sauce.

Right when I click publish, I’m going to get myself some dark chocolate and relax! I’m so pumped its almost Friday! Can I get a “Heck Yeah!” for that?!

Have a great night, guys.

Em

Guest Post Wednesday with Homecooked Em

Hi friends! Happy Wednesday! I'm super excited to kick off the first in a series of guest post Wednesdays! I already have some guests on tap, but I'd love to add to the list. Feel free to email if you'd like to participate!

Today's guest post is extremely special to me because the lady behind it is sweet, inspiring, funny and incredibly creative. Without further ado, I'll hand it over to Em!

________________________________________________________________

Hello Eating to Run Readers!!

My name is Em and I have a blog over at HomeCookedEm. I can’t even begin to tell you just how honored I am to be doing a guest post for my dear friend who I share a name with, Em. We first met at the end of last summer through our blogs and we developed a special friendship instantly! Having the same name is only just one of the many things we’ve found that we have in common. She’s been there for me throughout all of my ups and downs during the past year and I know that she is a forever friend. Genuine friends like Em are hard to come by and I look forward to being able to meet her in person one day to tell her thank you for all that she has done for me.

Something Em has taught me is that I am good enough just as I am. She has helped me to see that my worth is not reflected by a number on the scale, how many calories I’ve eaten today, or how far I ran. Em sees much more in me. She has shown me that it’s what’s inside that really matters. When she gives me compliments on my blog or writes me supportive emails, she mostly lists things about my personality instead of physical accomplishments. I really appreciate that because it shows that she focuses more on the good inside of people.

We should all learn a lesson from Em and acknowledge the beauty we see inside each other. Instead of saying things like, “Have you lost weight?” or “Where did you buy that shirt?” try saying something like “I really appreciate how honest you always are with me,” or “You are such a dedicated and passionate worker.” I can absolutely guarantee that complimenting someone on their positive personality traits or attitude towards life will stick with them much longer than giving them a pat on the back for eating a salad at lunch.

Source

Now I’m definitely not saying complimenting someone about something on the surface is bad. I’ll be the first to admit that it puts an extra skip in my step when someone tells me I smell good or notices my new hair cut. My point is that by only focusing on those material and physical parts of our friends and family, we are reinforcing them to think that what we value about them are their outward appearances.

So I challenge all of you. Next time you see someone and your natural reaction is to compliment them on the new car they just bought, turn it around into something like, “You should be so proud of all of the hard work you put into saving up your money for this car.” As a first grade teacher I’ve started modeling this to my students and it’s catching on quickly. Now instead of getting notes about how much my students love my earrings or the way I paint my nails, I’m getting more and more notes about how much they enjoy being at school and thanking me for reading their favorite stories.

Now practice by giving yourself a compliment.

What’s something you’re proud of yourself for today? Have you worked hard to reach any goals lately?

Get me a Ketchup Trough!

Hey guys! Happy Tuesday. I personally can’t figure out where the day went! Whew. Thanks so much for your input on the Health Miles at work. It seems like most of you support the idea. I can’t say that I’ve found anything negative about it, myself!

I started the day with cold hard proof that I have way too many peanut butter jars going at once - yet another meal of oats in a jar. These oats were made with water, 1/2 cup oats and a mashed nanner.  The mashed nanner made them soo fluffy from the nuker.

The perfect background. <3 

Lunch was the same sangwich as yesterday – its so good! I love the crunchy and pickles and honey mustard. Mmm…

And snack was a few dates (sorry Bri, I’ll buy you more!) with the other half of my coconutty bora bora bar.

 
After work, I went to the gym and did a quick 2 mile run on the treadmill. I didn’t have too much time before my ride left and with my pedometer, I’ve been actually making sure to get half hour walks in everyday.  It felt good to run and I didn’t even cry from my sore soccer mus-kles.

After work, I got started on dinner – roasted tofu, sweet taters and broccoli.  While it was cooking, I did a push-up pyramid up to eight push-ups and then back down to one. Its a fun challenge and left my arms super tired.

Dinner was delicious. I sauteed some bell pepper last minute to have as well.  Unpictured is the trough that contained some mustard and ketchup for dippin’.

I just finished a small bowl of Ben & Jerry’s light chocolate brownie ice cream. So good.

Now its time to cheer for the Celtics! Make sure to check in tomorrow for my first Wednesday guest post!! The author is quite a special lady.

Have a great night, friends!

Em

To Move (While Documenting) Or Not to Move (While Documenting)?

Hi Friends! What’s the good word? I think today the good word for me was “sun.” Even Mondays are better when the sun is involved. Unfortunately, the sun had NO impact on my sore muscles. Wow. My abs, back, hip flexors and hamstrings are incredibly sore today.  I knew that soccer would be a good workout, but man. Don’t make me laugh, because it hurts. :)

Anywho, I started out my day with a yogurt mess – kashi go lean berries with plain greek yogurt, nanner, a bit of pb and cinnamon.  So good.

Lunch was really tasty. I loved the simplicity of it as well as the yummy textures.  I made a hummus sandwich on pumpernickel bread with spinach, carrots, pickles, bell peppers and honey mustard. Yum.

Snack consisted of a few dates and a boiled egg.

Before I went over to the gym, I was feeling pretty hungie and so I also had half of this new-to-me bar. It was really tasty and reminded me of the inside of a almond joy bar (a childhood favorite o’ mine).

 

At the gym, I did a hill walk on the treadmill. I slowed the speed down a bit from my usual in order to appease my aching mus-kles. I still worked up a sweat and felt great to move for about 50 minutes.

Dinner was super simple and tasty – baked sweet tater with baked beans and spinach. You can’t really see the spinach here, but its there underneath that heaping pile of beans.

So recently, our company decided to take part in the Virgin Healthmiles program. Basically, any employee who so desires can sign up to receive a free pedometer and login to the healthmiles website. By wearing the pedometer and taking an average of 7,000 steps per day, we can earn $500 dollars in cash over a year.  You can get additional “points” for weighing in or for creating challenges among your colleagues to do things like run a race or go for a hike.  I think its a pretty neat concept and was really excited about it – mostly because I would be doing the workouts anyhow.

I received my pedometer on Wednesday have worn it every day since. I’m amazed at how aware it makes me of my sedentary hours at my desk and the many steps I take just being at home (doing things like Rock Band, cooking, cleaning, crazy dance parties, etc.).  I was talking about it with some girls at the company gym this afternoon and it definitely seems to have done the same for them. It seems like a great way to get people moving. I’m finding that the 7,000 step daily average is fairly easy to achieve.

Anyways, I’m pretty interested in what you think about this. Do your companies take part in anything like this? Are you a part of it? If your company doesn’t have any programs like this, do you think you would join if you could? Just a note – there is no way for our company to know any of our personal information and it is entirely voluntary.

Butt Kicked

Heyo! How goes it? I hope that you had a wonderful Sunday! It was absolutely beautiful here – not a cloud in the sky and a great breeze. So nice!

I started my day bright and early because I had my second soccer game.  We were only expecting 11 girls – just enough to field a team but not enough for any subs – and so I knew that I needed to fuel up properly.  I had a whole wheat bagel toasted with cinnamon sunflower butter and a nanner.  I also had some coffee, bien sur!

The game was a lot of fun but SO tiring. 45 minute halves are long! The team we were playing was very good (and had subs) and they definitely tired us out. It was a ton of sprinting and kicking and the like. Brian even came to cheer us on.  We got killed – I don’t even remember the score, but it was a lot to a little. The great thing is, all of us are just happy to be out there.

On the way home, we stopped to get lunch at a little diner because I was starving and couldn’t wait much longer. I ordered an egg white scramble with feta, spinach and tomato along with some dark rye toast with melty butter. It definitely hit the spot.

Once we got back I basically showered and stuck myself to the couch. I was so beat. I did get up to make myself a smoothie. This one had raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, a scoop of vanilla protein powder and some water. Yum. The granola is very necessary.

Around 4:30, I couldn’t fight my sleepiness and succumbed to the nap spot. The nap spot was termed by Brian and is the guest bed in our extra room. Its so cozy and there is a window right by the bed that I cracked open to let the breeze in. It was so nice. I slept for about an hour.  I definitely need to take more naps.

I hung out for a bit and then started getting dinner ready - pasta primavera with red sauce and white beans.  We picked up some fresh cavatelli pasta last week and I was excited to use it. For the sauce, I sauteed some carrots, bell pepper, peas, and garlic and then added a can of plain sauce and a can of white beans.  For spices, I added a lot of basil, oregano, and red pepper flake. It came out really delicious.  Here is Brian’s beautious bowl.

We just got back from a nice walk. I was getting cabin fever and its such a beautiful night. I think now its time to treat myself to a bit of light Ben & Jerry’s brownie fudge ice cream and some reading!

Have a great night, friends!

Em

Home Body

Well hello. Happy Saturday! I hope that you’re having a good one! Despite not really leaving the house much, I have been pretty productive today. I got up around 8:30 and started making a yummy breakfast. Brian was out and about early so I was solo. I bet you could have guessed that I made oats, huh? These were simple banana cinnamon oats but were jazzed up by the near empty peanut butter jar I consumed them from. I also had some iced coffee. Mmmm….

 
After digesting a bit while reading some blogs, I made my way out for a walk around the lake. Its about 5 miles and I always feel so great after – something about the fresh air and ample opportunities for people watching. :)

I got back around 11:30 and had a bit more iced coffee before deciding around noon that I was ready for lunch.  I heated up some leftover chili with added spinach and toasted half of a whole wheat bagel (to be topped with smart balance and garlic powder).  This was super satisfying and yummy.

After lunch, I got to work on my thesis.  I worked for a few hours (with breaks for facebook and blogs, of course) and got about eight pages pumped out.  I’m pretty happy with that! Its so tough to stay focused when: 1) Graduation is still months away and 2) Its so nice out!

When my brain finally refused to continue, I did some stretchy yoga for about 15 minutes and then made myself a yummy smoothie/sorbet concoction with frozen peaches, frozen blueberries, a scoop of vanilla protein powder and some water. I topped it off with some go lean crunch and a few dark chocolate chips. Yum.

I started to do some reading outside but it got kind of cloudy and chilly. Now I’m feeling ready for a nap.  I need to shower at some point because we’re going out for a friend’s birthday tonight.  Maybe a quick nap and then a shower? Shower and then a nap? Decisions, decisions. :)

I hope you guys have a great evening!

Em