02 Wednesday Nov 2011
Posted in Exercise Journal
Happy November everyone! Happily in the sunny state of VA again for work with the husband. Thrilled because we got out last night for two mile run outside. Today I adventured to the gym and ran two miles on the rickety old treadmill as staff tried to fix the broken tv, I didn’t do it!
08 Thursday Sep 2011
Posted in Exercise Journal
Yesterday I took myself to the gym once again. It was nice to get back into the grindstone of working out and feeling good after a two day break. As I was reading the book Mile Markers by Kristin Armstrong, I came across something that was interesting. She wrote something along the lines of “people that are runners love to workout and make sure they fit it into their daily schedules. People that do it because they have to make up excuses to get out of it.” I found this very well written with a little truth to it. Lately I have found that, yes, I do have to exercise to lose a few extra pounds of fat on my body but more importantly because I love doing it! I love the feeling of working out and sweating all the nasty chemicals that have entered my body through the air every day. It’s a cleansing moment for me.
Does anyone have the same experience? Do you love or hate your workouts?
02 Friday Sep 2011
Posted in Daily Blog Journal, Exercise Journal
Tags
diet, exercise journal, exercise log, my workout, vegan, vegan diet, vegan dinner, vegan food, vegan menu, vegan runner, veganism, weight loss
Changes are a good thing, especially when it involves coffee. My adventurous day out of the home office started out with dropping my husband off at work and heading off to Panera Bread. I’m not a big fan of Panera Bread but it’s basically the only breakfast place close to my husband’s work that has vegetarian options. I’ve read from other vegan bloggers Panera Bread has vegan bagels but unfortunately I have read that most locations do in fact put an egg wash on top (which is basically a lazy way to brown the top easily). Additionally, bagels are so high in calories so it is a dieter’s nightmare.
My breakfast ended up being a whole grain bagel (plain and no toppings) and a large coffee. Panera Bread’s website has nutritional charts for each and every product and it stated the Whole Grain Bagel has 340 calories. The coffee is calorie free, always a plus. I took my breakfast and sat in a corner window alongside a double outlet. I munched on the whole grain, sipped coffee and enjoyed working in a new environment. There is jus something about working in a new place to get the ideas to flow through the keyboard. I got so much work done.
After a few hours of crunch time, I was really into my work but some “business suits” came in a sat right next to me. They were completely over-the-top loud, I’m assuming it was on purpose because when I left I heard them stating they wanted my perfect seat with the electrical outlet. So, I’m assuming their behavior was all an act of immaturity in plans to get my seat. Grrr
In the car I regrouped and shook off their behavior so that I could enjoy the rest of my day out. I then went to a few shops to get some things on our grocery list that we can’t purchase at the local farmers’ market. It’s nice to have some time alone but I do have to admit I love shopping with my husband better – it’s nice to have him to chat with while filling the shopping cart. Lol, I missed him so I picked up a few goodies for him to be spoiled. My favorite pastime is spoiling him, haha.
Next I went to Robek’s Smoothie Shop and purchased my husband’s Zen Berry Smoothie, which is the only thing on the menu that is vegan. Caution if you are vegan, all the other smoothies have sorbet that contains dairy products and their powders are not all vegan. Additionally, if you purchase a travel mug, you get $0.20 off each smoothie. Haha Not a discount really but it does reduce materials going to the landfills so the travel mugs are eco-friendly. Just wait until they have a deal where you purchase the travel mug you get a free smoothie – it ends up being the same price as a smoothie. The only problem is that the zen berry costs $1.00 more than non-vegan options. I took the smoothie to my husband as a dessert when we met up for lunchtime. My stomach was feeling a little off still so I went to lunch (bento) with him in the park and chatted with him while he ate.
After lunch I drove home to get some more things done before the evening approached. I did some laundry, hung it out to dry, make a dinner picnic, picked up the kitchen, and then I was off again to the gym. I knew that I wanted to get to the gym at least for a little workout, so I hurried around the house to assure I had the time. Thankfully I did things fast enough so I could spent about an hour in the gym. I ran 5k, a round of 30 sit-ups and then lifted weights for about 20-30 minutes. By that time I was completely out of time and I’m sure if I picked up the hubster in the condition I was in, he would have preferred to walk home. Time was on my side so I hurried and took a shower before the furry baby and I flew out the door to pick up the husband for our surprise romantic beach picnic.
Dinner was near the beach and we watched the army recruits train, boats race and the sun go down. It was the perfect ending to a near perfect day.
Calories Eaten: 1,189 (oops) Calories Burnt: 238 Calorie Differential: -608
27 Saturday Aug 2011
Posted in Exercise Journal
Finally yesterday I got back to working out. It’s been hard for me to want to leave the house since it is still uncertain as to what happened with our furry baby the other day. Sad enough that it had to happen in the first place, but my furry baby is now in a bit of shock and doesn’t leave my side often anymore. She’s more than sensitive about me leaving a room without her next to me.
Thursday I conned myself out the door and to the gym for a little “me time”. I love working out but it’s hard to leave the house, my nerves are still shaken. It was hard but at least I can say I managed to dress myself, walk out the door, check the front door was locked only three times and then walk to the gym. This short walk is one thing that I enjoy daily since it refreshes my mind and body before and after a workout. There’s nothing like fresh air to make the body feel better, even through the stressful times.
My workout didn’t stop as planned unfortunately. The ever changing climate in the gym always keeps me on my toes wondering if I should wear winter or summer running clothes. Today I was smart though and wore three layers of clothes, just in case. It was a “desert day” so I stripped down to my bottom layer of clothing to prepare for the heat. Clothing preparation= success. Whether is be nerves about leaving the house or just an unsettlement, my stomach was jumping all around. Seeing that I worked so hard to get myself out of the house though, I made myself get in a short workout.
I had planned a 5k distance per my usual easy day routine but found out that it was going to be more challenging than normal. My stomach just would not settle down. So, I ran one mile and then went to use the restroom. I was having cold sweats and not feeling up to par so I knew something was up. Then I chose to run the rest of the way and just end the workout with the 5k run. Just after two miles though, my stomach was unbareable and I knew I couldn’t go anymore. To tell you the truth, the thought of throwing up or passing out kept crossing my mind. Then there was the thought my husband was going to be really mad if I didn’t stop – he’s always telling me not to push myself too hard.
Thankfully I made it home, took a nice cool shower and got into some comfy clothes to relax. Sometimes we have to remember that working out is great but there are limits so we must listen to our bodies.
17 Wednesday Aug 2011
Posted in Exercise Journal
You know it’s been too long when… you wake up in the morning and interrupt a running dream. It’s been four days since I have really taken to the road or gym for a good workout. Sure, walking around as a tourist in Michigan and swimming was nice but it’s not the same as a good ‘ol sweating workout. I woke up this morning dreaming that I was late for a running event that I had signed up for along with some friends. I ended up going late and not registering for the race, which meant I wasn’t supposed to run. Thankfully I managed to help out a friend that couldn’t run because of an injury right before the race. I started running the race with hardly tied running shoes and no socks. That’s it and I woke up. Strange but I can tell it’s a sign. Do you ever have these dreams?
02 Tuesday Aug 2011
Posted in Daily Blog Journal, Exercise Journal, Food Talk
Tags
diet, eco-friendly, exercise journal, exercise log, healthy foods, my workout, running, vegan, vegan breakfast, vegan diet, vegan dinner, vegan food, vegan menu, vegan runner, veganism, weight gain, weight loss
The weekend was very calm so I knew that the first part of the week would be a good one. The husband got up before I did; yeah, I had to double check there weren’t pigs flying out my window.
He began to make his own breakfast since it’s his week to do meals. Unfortunately he forgets about me, so I have to make my own breakfast and lunch. But, at least he is trying to make a few dinner meals on his own. Note to you all out there, it’s great to have your spouse make meals every once and a while. Not only does it give the main chef in the house a break but it also gives your spouse a small glimpse of all the hard work done every other day. It stresses my husband out to have to make a meal but I think it’s good for him to make something that he has picked out. Husband made himself some cold oatmeal cereal with some Organic Whole Grain Cereal sprinkled on top, a little homemade almond & coconut butter, a peach diced up, and organic coconut milk. For me, I had baked tofu, cherry tomatoes from our own plant, and a sliced peach. Mmmm
Lunchtime came so fast. I was so completely busy with work that I didn’t have time to think about what to eat for lunch. So I took advantage of the leftover mock pepperoni and made a mock taco salad. Yum! It is an instant favorite in our household. Additionally I had a homemade Oatmeal Raisin cookie, one little piece of dark chocolate and a frozen Popsicle. I went a little crazy with the snacking, I wasn’t very happy with myself. I was still a bit hungry, but I went ahead and drank some English tea to reduce my urge to eat more. Drinking lots of fluids helps me reduce my food cravings. Only problem with my plan is that it makes me also have to use the restroom all the time. Lol
I took to the gym before my husband came home. I have come up with a plan that I want to workout at least a little before my husband comes home to assure that I get enough time to do the work that needs to be done. Then my husband meets me at the gym or we meet outside to run in the hot heat. Today though, he met me at the gym since we had severe thunderstorm watch and it was lightly sprinkling. Workout: 2 hours in length.
Again it was the husband’s turn to make dinner while I did some work on the computer. He made a questionable dinner of quinoa and chickpeas. The recipe seemed to be missing something though, flavor. My husband also gave me a plate of lettuce and a sliced tomato. (haha, nothing else on it) I ended up not eating much so we again had to have some stove popped popcorn and English tea as a snack. He agreed though too about not enjoying the meal, thank goodness it wasn’t just me.
Workout today:
4 miles in 49 minutes on spastic treadmill
5 miles in 30 minutes on bike
30 minutes weight lifting
10 minutes stretching/yoga
3 sit-ups (my stomach muscles hurt so bad I couldn’t do anymore)
02 Tuesday Aug 2011
Posted in Daily Blog Journal, Exercise Journal, Food Talk
Tags
diet, eco-friendly, exercise journal, exercise log, healthy foods, my workout, running, vegan, vegan breakfast, vegan diet, vegan dinner, vegan food, vegan menu, vegan runner, veganism, weight gain, weight loss
I know, I know, I’m a day behind but nevertheless it’s here. Unlike the past few months, my husband and I had an uneventful weekend. Actually, we didn’t even venture out to any community event or tourist attraction. Hard to believe, I know, even for me.
The weekend for me starts on Friday night after I finish my last article for the week. Amazingly I was on fire, kinda like the Northern states right now, so I had a little free time. The weather was very questionable outside and the skies were threatening anyone without shelter. So, after my husband called to let me know he was going to have a meeting around the time he normally comes home – I took advantage of my free time. I took off to our gym to do a little workout. About an hour into the workout I received a call from my husband stating he was going to be delayed yet again. Now I don’t love my husband being gone but I do love the chance to get a 1 ½ hour workout- hooray! My workout: 30 minutes running, 30 minutes weight-lifting, and 30 minutes biking. I also managed to do some yoga (right in the gym baby) to stretch as a cool-down. For dinner: Mock Pepperoni Pieces over a bed of salad. Simple but delicious! After dinner we headed off to one of our local Panera Bread Restaurants for a little work on the free wi-fi outside the house. We treated ourselves to sugared drinks: Husband=Iced Green Tea, Me=Lemonade.
Saturday was another one of those un-inspired days. We took off to Cleveland’s famous farmer’s market to get a bunch of fresh produce. We are a little unhappy with the choice of farmers’ market in the area. If you have ever lived in Cleveland, you know what I mean. It’s hard to find fresh produce from a local farmer, especially at the Cleveland Farmer’s Market. Some vendors actually have fresh Ohio produce but double the price compared to other imported options they have, very disappointing. Hence, we generally do not purchase from there for this reason. It’s inflated prices for non-organic imported produce. We left with some flavored couscous, kale, peaches and a few potatoes. When we returned we ended up working a little and then taking naps. It was husbands’ week to cook meals (probably will last a day or two) so he took off to do about 3 hours of cooking (he takes longer since he’s a very precise thinking and doer). I took off to the gym for 2 hours, which he was thankful I got out of the kitchen. I never leave him behind when I workout since we are partners in workouts but when he’s busy, I get my own freedom. My workout: 30 minutes running, 45 minutes biking, 30 minutes weight lifting, and some yoga stretches. Dinner: two different kinds of Indian Curried Lentils. After dinner we settled in for a nice Japanese movie calledダーリンは外国人 (My Darling is a Foreigner).
Sunday: We woke up early again thanks to our loud neighbors, so we had a little spare time. The husband, who becomes easily addicted to things, wanted to return to The Root Café in Lakewood, Ohio for some vegan pastries and locally roasted coffee. It is a funky café that only sells locally grown organic produce; all of their goodies are done in-house. The prices can get a little high, especially for entrees but we do enjoy the coffee and atmosphere. We sat for about three hours working on some things that needed to get done, such as purchasing my 7 year old nieces’ birthday present and a little present for my husband too. Then, I took my handsome man to Lake Erie to play around with my new camera. I love my camera! Thank you honey!!! I took around 70 photos of him and also the boats playing around on the water. It was perfect. Afterward we took an unusal trip to Five Guys Burger joint for lunch. Unfortunately they do not cater to vegetarians now vegans but they do have an option to toss vegetables on a bun. Hopefully they will soon realize not everyone wants animal flesh. We had an unhealthy meal but we don’t do it often so we were okay with it. We didn’t even manage to eat one small fry together so I guess we are changing our minds on fast-food. Needing to walk around, we took to some shops to walk around. A trip to Robek’s Smoothie to get a Zen Berry (the only vegan option on the menu) and we were off to our house. We headed to the gym right away. We weren’t feeling like working out but we went anyways. Unfortunately we only spend about 30 minutes lifting weights together. Normally we don’t workout on Sunday’s so we weren’t disappointed with only 30 minutes.
Next was dinner which again was the husband’s duty. We weren’t hungry after the junk food we ate at lunch so we decided on mock taco salads. We had leftover mock pepperoni, a little leftover vegan re-fried beans and some salad each. The husband also had some homemade Almond & Coconut Butter on homemade bread. We topped the evening off with some stove popcorn and a good cup of English tea. It was uneventful but sometimes that is what we all need.
29 Friday Jul 2011
Posted in Daily Blog Journal, Exercise Journal
Tags
diet, diet log, eco-friendly, exercise journal, exercise log, healthy foods, my workout, vegan, vegan breakfast, vegan diet, vegan dinner, vegan food, vegan menu, vegan recipes, vegan runner, veganism, weight gain, weight loss
I’ve been sweating it out the last few days and unfortunately it hasn’t dealt with my running shoes. Rather my focus has been turned to the kitchen, mainly due to the fact it’s been cooler in the morning with rain and hot/humid in the afternoon.
Wednesday
Breakfast I created a Chocolate Chip Pancake for the husband while I had a lovely bowl of Cold Oatmeal Cereal. Lunch was of course leftovers – eliminate food waste Dinner was something that I worked on the whole day. I whipped together a batch of Herbed Garlic Bread in two forms to be able to have Tofurky Sandwiches. Add a mini cucumber and it was a full meal. Yum! 
Exercise: We ran 1.1 miles but ended up not working out for us. I wore a pair of Nike shorts and running shirt that I hadn’t worn in a while. The shorts were one of those pairs that gets hidden at the bottom of the drawer that I kept overlooking. Oops! Shortly after leaving the house, I found out the shorts were no longer fit for running. It kept creeping up in the back which is never comfortable for a runner. The front, oh the front of the shorts kept trying to cuddle up with my running bra. One of those downfalls of being short I guess. As a runner, it is definitely not comfortable. I just couldn’t keep going, it was that uncomfortable. By the time we reached home, I was so mad at myself for wearing the outfit I lost confidence in going back out there to run. Grrr. I ended up doing some yoga at home alone.
Thursday
Another rainy morning and steamy afternoon but for some reason the rainy weather gets me in the mood for baking away. I’m sure my husband doesn’t mind though. Ha-ha Breakfast I ended up creating a new recipe for Oreo Waffles! (Yeah, you read that correctly.) I regrettably ate half of one along with a piece of baked tofu and two very thin slices of homemade bread.
Snack turned out to be an uphill battle with me. I tried to calm my urge to overeat with two cups of and a cup of fresh antioxidant-rich purple grapes.
Lunch came much faster than I had anticipated and I decided something a little warmer would cool down my body. I tossed together an easy dry tofu soup, freshly cut strawberries, a mini cucumber and a ton of water.
Dinner came a little later tonight since the hubster and I went to get a few organic things from the store. So, we came home and I tossed together a fast dinner of Boca Spicy Chickenless patties over chopped romaine lettuce. My husband had his patty on some homemade bread. I combined it with a mini cucumber and cherry tomatoes. It was a perfect dinner.
Snack time was perfect with a nice hot cup of tea and frozen grapes.
Exercise was not available today again because it was extremely hot and steaming. Thunderstorms hit our town hard the whole day and not only were the streets flooded but visibility was extremely low due to the humidity. It was the strangest thing. Thankfully I worked out really hard while trying on some running shirts for the hot weather at the stores.
Additionally I found the most amazing camera bag, hooray! I also did some yoga newspaper reading. Ha-ha, doing yoga as I read the Wall Street Journal on the floor. Vegan cat did her kitty yoga alongside me – which ended up being on my newspaper as I was reading it. Oh, the joys of being a cat parent. Lol
14 Thursday Jul 2011
Posted in Daily Blog Journal
Tags
diet, eco-friendly, exercise journal, exercise log, healthy foods, healthy recipe, my workout, running, vegan, vegan breakfast, vegan diet, vegan dinner, vegan food, vegan menu, vegan recipes, vegan runner, veganism, weight gain, weight loss
It is under my impression that God gave PMS just to get back at men. Yes, that sounds strange but it truly is my opinion of the moment. See, husband’s can drive us crazy, right gals? Sure, it’s not all the time but some days you just want to put out an ad and find a loving home for your husband for a week or two. If you have no idea what I’m talking about and are in a relationship, just wait a few more years and you surely will. Ha-ha, it’s something to look forward to the future!
Anyways, so my theory of his hour is that husbands’ get to drive us woman nuts during the month. In turn, us woman get to get the ball rolling and turn the wheels to the husband (or partner, I believe it goes either way). It’s only right that during our PMS moments we get to really dig it into our husbands’ and show our irrational, crazy PMS lady side. So cut the ribbon with the large scissors and here we go!
Other than cramping and going irrational at just about everything, I had a rather good day. It was more calm than the last few days so I had time to get some things done that have been needed to be gotten to. For instance, I have been wanting to get started on a new book I found at the used book shop (a steal at $3.00) and that’s just what I did while sitting outside in the sunshine today. The book is Natural Cures They Don’t Want You To Know About! by Kevin Trudeau. On a normal day I’m not much for “gimmick” sounding books however I saw a few minutes of him introducing the book a few years ago and was very interested. Unfortunately my husband and I were running late to church so we weren’t able to watch the PBS infomercial but who could turn down the used book for $3.00! I’m just around page 80 but it is really turning into a educational book about the chemicals that we use daily. Not that everything is eye-opening after all the research I did before and after going vegan, but there are some more examples that I really appreciate for reference. For instance, homogenized/pasteurized milk has been linked to heart attacks? Who would have known, I didn’t make the link before he mentioned it. So, I got to that book and some other studies that I have been putting off.
Additionally I had time to listen to a new album I purchased by a more recent British singer by the name of Eliza Doolittle. If you like Lily Allen, you will definitely love her chipper songs. Also, I listened to another new album by the Australian band, Sparkadia. If my neighbors didn’t know I was crazy already, they do now since I was dancing outside as I studied some Japanese Kanji. Lol
Even though I took to dancing today, it is an exercise day off; so nothing to report there. The last two days have been run 5k then walk 5k. It’s been a good workout seeing that the temperatures were higher and the humidity levels were near 90%. Yikes! I love the heat and humidity though; I’m probably one of the only people sitting outside in it with a big grin on my face. I totally could live in a tropical area such as Okinawa or Australia.
Speaking of Australia, my bestie whom I have mentioned many of times has just started up a new blog. Welcome to the blogosphere Aussie Bestie! You can see her site here. She has a wonderful eye for photography and knowing that she lives in Australia, I’m sure there will be fantastic photos!
Other than that big news, life is just going at the moment. Just the normal excitement of shopping for produce tonight: bright red strawberries and more tomatoes – just another day in a vegan’s life.
Note: Camera XD card is dead… RIP. I have to purchase a new one before I can get really good photos up here. Sorry guys, I’ll try to get that done ASAP.
13 Wednesday Jul 2011
Posted in Daily Blog Journal
So maybe it might not be appropriate to call my husband adorable but he truly can be charming when he gives it a second of a chance. It is the reason why I married him and continue to love him, even on those days I want to yell at him. Ha-ha
We’ve been having a major discussion lately about how I wished he would spend a little more time planning things me. Girls, if you want your spouse/partner to take a few moments to think about you more, you just have to ingrain it into their brains that you are feeling slightly underappreciated. In my case, I hate receiving flowers, candy and/or other “I did something bad” presents. Seriously, who wants to get an “I’ve cheated on you” present when your spouse didn’t do anything. Haha I totally trust my husband and we have a terrific relationship so I would never even have to think about getting one of these presents.
What did my husband do instead of the typical “I’ve done something wrong” present? He created a runners’ gift perfect for the exercise-enthusiast like me. Girls’ you know you have something special when a gift is specifically designed just for your interests.
Among a few other personal touches upon his arrival home, the darling man planned a new quote for every mile we passed which was just over three miles of running. We are on a run 5k, walk 5k plan right now. We are working on building our body to handle the higher temperatures along with the high humidity levels. He hide the four quotes in our water bottle and after each mile marker, he read the quotes. Additionally he had hidden two mango mini candies for after our run. (I have low sugar levels.) It may sound small but it’s a very meaningful thought and gift to give someone you love.
2 of the 4 Quotes: 1. “What we once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we deeply love is part of us.” 2. “Your training partner is key to your success and friendship based on your runs together are strong.”
