you know you’re a health nut when…

…your dinner looks like this:

It’s Kath’s Orangey Bean Salad, only with pintos instead of navy beans (it’s what I had). Actually, it worked out perfectly because I used half the can of beans for Ellie’s sloppy joes, and planned on using the other half for this. I also had an avocado from the Southwestern Barley Salad I made a few nights ago, so it worked out quite well. I put it in my tracker and it was 350 calories.

If you hadn’t guessed already, Andrew was on his own for dinner tonight; he and his dad drove THREE HOURS to go look at tractors today. He would have had a cow if I’d put this in front of him on the table. Seriously. A cow. I’m pretty adamant about serving good, healthy food here in this house and making him (occasionally) eat things he doesn’t like, but even I wouldn’t make him eat this. He would have died.

I also brought these yummy treats to the table:

Strawberries, a bit of honey, cinnamon and some shredded coconut. I took a bite or two, but alas, was too full of beans to eat it! Blame it on this new thing I’m trying, it’s called “stop-eating-before-you’re-uncomfortably-full.”

Guess I’ll just have to save them for later tonight!

recovery morning

I had every intention of spending this Monday morning like every other Monday morning: getting up with the dog around 6 a.m., having coffee while making our breakfasts and Andrew’s lunch, then heading to the gym for pilates/yoga and swimming.

Until we didn’t go to bed after our day at the “beach” until well after 11. And Hadrian woke me up at 3:50 to go to the bathroom. (To which I replied, “It’s not time to get up yet, go lie down” and he promptly crawled back onto his bed.) And then he woke me up again, this time at 5:30, and I relented and took him out. When I ended up sleeping-in until 7, I still thought I might just fit in a quick run, but my body was telling me I needed a rest day. Between 13 miles on Saturday and an easy elliptical workout and long day yesterday, I was tired!

That, and I needed to get organized for the week before picking Andrew up to see houses with our realtor over his lunch break. It’s my routine; I hate being super busy on Sunday night or Monday morning and not feeling prepared for the week.

So, I’m calling this my recovery morning, filled with:

-a big steaming cup of coffee, sweetened with creamer and coconut milk

-two loads of laundry

-downloading yesterday’s photos

-catching up on blogs and email

-making the bed

-adding “to-do” items to the planner

And, of course, my “recovery” breakfast:

One banana, cut-up strawberries, 1/2 C plain yogurt, 1/4 Wegmans granola with raisins, flax seeds and flaxseed meal. YUM! Today will be filled with lots of water and nutritious foods to make up for yesterday’s steak sandwich and mindless munching. Overall, I think I did very well for someone watching what they’re eating while being surrounded by chips (I took it easy), beer (I refrained, mostly because I just wasn’t interested) and burgers (I ate what I packed–leftover quinoa and an orange).

On the docket for the afternoon:

-beach-photo post

-blog work–new page and updated “About Me” page coming soon!

-emptying the dishwasher

-writing contest entries

-“clips” portfolio work

– Ellie Krieger’s Sloppy Joes for dinner!

lunch, etc…

This was my lunch today:

Pretty good for a hotel kitchenette, huh? (Although I guess none of this required ACTUAL cooking, but still.)

I used the strawberries and red lettuce greens I got at the farmer’s market yesterday to make my strawberry balsamic salad. I added some gorgonzola cheese crumbles (still getting used to it–I so want to like blue cheese!), toasted pecans (I was too lazy to caramelize them) and red onion into the mix as well. I topped it with a drizzle of sunflower seed oil and some swirls of this balsamic syrup my mom brought back from one of her trips. The label is all in Italian…

I burned a couple corners of my GH Cinnamon Swirl bread (boo!) and added a dollop of hummus and some cucumber. I like the hummus from Patricia Wells’ Salad as a Meal cookbook. It’s garlicky and fresh as opposed to most that have cumin in them. Her version includes cilantro, something I’d never thought to add but is actually very good.

Today is the first day I can say that I’m actually bored. Like, seriously bored. Part of it’s the weather. It’s one of those ‘overcast one minute, sunny the next’ kind of days. I tried to go outside to read with Hadrian and wouldn’t you know we got all the way to the sitting area and it started to sprinkle. Grrr. I’ve tried alternating reading (just started Steve Martin’s ‘Shopgirl’), computering and taking Hadrian outside. Oh, and getting coffee (see below).

I thought running with Hadrian would completely tire him out, but it doesn’t seem to be the case. I’m looking forward to upping our mileage together, both for him and me. Right now, I take him out for one mile (which provides a nice warm-up for me), then bring him back, give him a couple ice cubes in his crate (a great way to help cool him down without allowing him to slurp up too much water at once), then head out for my “real” run. I really like the companionship he provides, especially in unfamiliar territory, but it does add a bit to the morning routine.

Our hotel has coffee (regular, dark roast and decaf) available 24-7. This is bad. I find myself wandering to the lobby WAY too often to grab a bit here and there. I do try to mix the decaf with regular in the afternoons, but still.

I’m completely unmotivated to count my calories right now. I should be, since I only have a couple stubborn pounds left, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. Maybe I just need a couple more days to get motivated again.

I’m planning on making a pretty ambitious meal tonight in our kitchenette–steaks, asparagus and barley–if I remember, I’ll take a photo!