Embracing Balance

Ever try to get seven woman to plan something?  HILARIOUS!  We have two Facebook email threads plus a Group wall going and we still can’t decide where to go dancing on a Friday night in Toronto.  But we sure are funny!

This morning FH was back to work on his ship (it’s a good thing I’m sick of ranting about the Navy because poor FH really got burned on this course he just took), so I was up early to drive him and hit the gym. 

Worst. Run. Ever.

OK, not EVER…but in recent history at least.  I don’t know what was wrong with me, but I just could not muster up the energy for more than 3 minutes at a time.  It’s super frustrating that no matter how much I practice or how often I go or how hard I try, I just don’t really ever seem to get much better.  My lung capacity sucks and hasn’t shown any signs of improving…meh.

I still got through 1.62 miles though… that’s only about .10 less than I normally do. (2 minute warmup, 18 minute intervals, 3 minute cooldown)

For a Wednesday morning the weight area was really busy today.  The gym itself wasn’t overly busy, but the area I needed was extra popular…couldn’t get the tricep machine, couldn’t get the 25lb barbell, couldn’t get a good spot in front of mirror.  Weird.  So I settled in on a mat and got some extra core work in instead.

30 regular crunches

30 reverse crunches

30 bicycle crunches

30 side to side twists

2 x 1 minute plank (one on elbows, one on hands)

2 x 30 second side planks (one each side)

Thankfully my Pink Smoothie cheered me up!

I did have to supplement that smoothie with a piece of toast and peanut butter, along with my coffee though.  The holding power wasn’t great, but that could be because of my workout (such as it was).

For lunch I decided it was time to put more of the bread products in our fridge to use, and made a turkey and hummus sammich on a leftover deli style hot dog bun.  In the bun: organic hummus, matchstick carrots, red onion, tomato, deli turkey, and grainy dijon. 

With a side plate of raw veggies, white cheddar, and pickles.

Now to prepare for the weekly neverending conference call!

A few of you lovely readers left me a couple of ideas, but I still need MORE!  I’ll be sure to try out something to do with coffee because that seems to be a HOT idea out there.  I need to get my hands on some whey protein first though, so the smoothie can still serve as a meal.  (I’m just not in love with having to buy one of those hugeass tubs of it…can you buy whey protein…or some other kind of protein…in a smaller container?)

Today I decided to go with a recipe from the book that inspired the whole concept of Smoothie Week.  This is my Rebar cookbook.  Rebar is a fantastic vegetarian restaurant back home in Victoria.  I only ate there a couple of times, but it is extremely well known and I’ve never heard a bad word about it.  They also have a bakery, Cascadia, that makes fabulous baked goods.

I have been thinking about something tropical because I had a container of fresh frozen pineapple in the freezer that I wanted to use up.  Hence…Double Happiness! 

In the blender:

(I don’t have plain soy milk, so I used unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze.)

Today’s smoothie boasts a much more palatable color…pink!  It is tasty and refreshing…and may potentially bring me good luck!  I think I would use more coconut milk next time because I can barely tell it’s in there…but I LOVE coconut flavored things, so if you don’t then this would be just right.  🙂

Over all this one has been my favorite so far, although I do feel like the Green Monster from Monday definitely FELT more healthy.  Not sure that it actually was, but the idea of drinking 2 cups of spinach sure makes things FEEL that way!

I can’t hear what she’s saying but I wonder if she knows that yelling at him over the sound of their lawnmower makes her voice carry up to our window?  It’s pretty obvious she’s annoyed at him about something!

Ahhhhh suburbia.  Don’tcha just love being only 8 feet away from your neighbors?  🙂

So, mid-afternoon the munchies hit…as always when I sit at my desk all day…so I decided to put some of the fresh berries to use.  In the bowl: sliced fresh strawberries, fresh raspberries (perfectly ripe!), the leftover bit of Liberte vanilla yogurt, and half of a crumbled up oatmeal chocolate chip bar.  (OK, you caught me, I ate the other half!)

After work I discovered FH snoozing on the couch so I took that as a sign that he wasn’t waiting around for dinner and used the opportunity to do a session from yogadownload.com.  Detox Yoga #1.  I thought I had done it before, but during the practice I didn’t recognize it so I guess it was one of the ones I downloaded and never got around to.  I quite enjoyed it, except I’m still terrible at Warrior 3.  I’m trying though!

When I finished FH was awake so I put him to work grilling up some steaks.  He’s in charge of steaks.  :)  Such a guy thing!  I don’t know what he seasons them with, but he always makes them super tasty.  (Veggie-heads close your eyes…red meat photos coming your way!)

To go with the meat I boiled up some more corn on the cob, and prepped a zucchini for grilling.  Easiest meal I’ve made in ages!

Cute little tenderloins…mine was only about 4oz…just perfect pour moi!

A la Amy, I topped my zucchini with herby goat cheese (insert drooling here).  And of course rubbed some real butter on my corn because margarine just doesn’t fly in this situation.  🙂

See, he grills the perfect medium-rarish steak!  (I like it soft and pink, but not running juice).

The sun came out again this afternoon and made for a lovely evening so we went for another walk around the neighborhood.  It’s not a big area but there are lots of different routes to walk so I’m happy FH is interested in going with me!  Afterwards I watered my lawn and checked on my little garden.  It’s coming along great!!  The new grass is starting to sprout…I’m very please with myself!

And now a movie with the mister.  He brought me a little treat from the movie store and I’ll happily enjoy a few of these:

   Cuz when the sugar crash comes, it’ll be bedtime anyway!

1) If you haven’t already, please visit the link on the side —> and DONATE to Relay for Life in support of the Canadian Cancer Society.  I broke my original goal on Friday, but since my plea for more pledges I have only received one more (thanks Mikey!!).  In just three days my team and I will be staying up all night for the cause, and we could use your support!

2) No one has offered up any smoothie recipes for Smoothie Week.  Come on…I know all you lurkers (hello 73 followers, at least 120 visitors per day…and only 3-8 commenters!!) must have some great ideas so please share them!! Is there anything you would like me to try that you have been afraid to do yourselves?

3) If anyone has tried any of my recipes, please make sure to give a shout out on your blog…and shoot me a comment or email and let me know how it went.  If you include a link or a photo, I’ll gladly mention you here on Embracing Balance.

4)  If you are participating in Smoothie Week, or if you just think it’s a good idea please TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS!  Post a link to me and let me know about it and I promise I’ll remember you the next time I’m sending out love in the form of baked goods (or if I ever get any free swag to review I’ll be sure to share!!).

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OK, now that all of my shameless self promotion is out of the way…lunch!

Last night I marinated up a Greek-ish salad.  Today I just had to add in the chickpeas and toast up a pita.  Deeeelish.

In the bowl: English cucumber, tomato, red onion, orange pepper, light feta, Kraft Calorie Wise Balsamic Vinaigrette, Greek seasoning, chick peas.

Served with a (80 calories!) whole wheat pita, toasted in the oven and brushed with EVOO.  Big dollop of organic hummus for schmearing.

For a little something sweet afterwards…dried pineapple & cherries.  On the windowsill for size observation…it’s a tiny little 1/4 cup ramekin.  🙂

A Brown Monster?  Sounds good, no? 🙂

Well folks, I’m hear to tell you that green + blue + orange = brown.

Admittedly I was worried that I’d ruined this particular smoothie.  When I saw the color I was not impressed.

However…lay your fears to rest!  It tasted fruity, fresh and tangy.  All good!!

In the blender today: 1/2 cup fresh frozen blueberries (slightly thawed), 1/2 very ripe banana, 1/2 cup Liberte vanilla yogurt, 2 cups organic baby spinach, 1 heaping tablespoon flax meal, about 3/4 cup orange juice (could have used only 1/2 cup).

The results were ugly, but refreshing and yummy!  Served up OSG style again, in a stylin’ martini glass.

     Of course once I finished up my salad in a glass, I went straight for the coffeeeeeeee.  Two cups today people…not interested in another afternoon crash like yesterday!  Along with one of my banana coconut oatmeal muffins and my new best friends…allergy pills. Sneezing like a mad woman over here!

Do you know what happens when I am tired, do a morning workout, and only have one cup of coffee?  Afternoon crash, that’s what.  I did predict a dragging of the feet, but holy man…I just about nodded off at my desk!

I tried to be healthy and fill the void with 1/2 an apple with some crunchy organic peanut butter, but it didn’t work.

Around 3:30 I decided maybe sugar would help, so I drank up the second half of my Sugar Tahiti Treat leftover from yesterday.  Along with this I had a handful of honey roasted cashews and some chocolate macaroons.

Felt great for about half an hour, but then the drive to get FH zoned me out again.  THIS is why I don’t really drink sugary sodas anymore…the CRASH.

Not enough coffee + too much sugar = exhausted me

Thankfully, dinner was easy leftovers of last night’s awesome pizza.  I heated it in the oven because microwaving it would have been gross.  We added some sautéed mushrooms on top this time just for fun, and served it with a huge, fresh salad.

In the salad bowl: romaine & radicchio, broccoli, cauliflower, orange pepper, tomatoes, red onion, and Renee’s Spring Herb Italian dressing.

After dinner FH suggested a walk, so we took a 15 minute stroll around the neighborhood.  Lovely.  Clear skies, but quite chilly!

For dessert I made up a bowl with the last of my Liberte coconut yogurt, one of my banana coconut muffins broken up, and three fresh strawberries chopped up and stirred in.  It’s like healthy trifle!

I’ve prepped more strawberries from the HUGE box I bought today, plus made a Greek-ish salad for lunch tomorrow, and cut up some more veggie sticks for whenever I need them.  We have a whole lotta produce in the fridge right now and I find it gets used up more quickly if it’s prepped and ready to go.

Now I think a sit on the couch is in order.  I’m pooooopered.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Back to the early mornings this week (well, today for sure…FH’s course is having a lot of issues so it’s all one day at a time for now) so back to the gym this morning.

Took it a little easier on the treadmill…my back is still bugging me, my shoulder is acting up, and for some reason my hip joints are sore.  I feel like an old woman!  And the worst is that I haven’t done anything strenuous to make all of these things hurt at the same time.  Bah.

So I lowered my pace to 4.5mph on the treadmill and just took it slow.  3 minute warmup, 17 minute jog, 3 minute cooldown.

I wasn’t thrilled with my distance or calorie burn, so decided to add 12 minutes of high incline walking on the elliptical for a total of 45 minutes of cardio (2.45 miles, approx 250 cals burned).

Today is lower body strength day but in keeping with the theme of switching things up and taking it easy on myself, I decided to skip the squats and lunges today.  Instead I did 3 sets of 15 hamstring curls on the ball and 2 full sets of Eurydice’s bum exercises.

As always I threw in a bit of core work.  30 crunches, 30 reverse crunches, 30 side-to-side twists.

On the way home I HAD to stop at Starbucks (to pick up some loot for the fast approaching Blog Girls GTG) so grabbed my morning coffee while I was there.  Today’s choice: grande non-fat coffee misto (translation: coffee with lots of hot milk).  This kept me to one cup instead of two today, so I foresee a bit of a lag in my step this afternoon.

Breakfast consisted of my Green Monster, my very milky coffee, and one of my banana coconut muffins.  Lots of protein and fibre in all of that so it kept me going for about 2.5 hours.

For lunch I did some digging in the fridge.  We seem to have a lot of bread-type products open (pitas, 2 kinds of bread, a roll, hot dog buns) so I decided a sammich was the way to go.  Turkey, light cheddar, tomatoes, lettuce, honey dijon and light mayo on a multigrain seeded bun.  Yum Yum!

Served with some veggies sticks and an oatmeal chocolate chip bar for dessert.  I’m so full!

A month or so ago I got a new cookbook that has what I thought was a chapter on smoothies.  This gave me the great idea to have a Smoothie Week!  Although it turns out most of the recipes are for juices (and I don’t have a juicer) I decided to go ahead with Smoothie Week anyway.  🙂

Each day I will make a new smoothie for breakfast, or maybe an afternoon snack…depending on what’s going on.

If you have a “must try” smoothie recipe, please leave it for me in the comments.  I am willing to break out of the box and try more than just strawberries and bananas this week.

To launch the week, I decided that I should offer homage to Oh She Glows and join the Green Monster bandwagon.  *shout out to Angela*

In the blender: 1 small very ripe banana, 2 heaping teaspoons flax meal, 2 heaping cups organic baby spinach, 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond breeze

And just as everyone says, you can barely notice the spinach.  All I could taste was banana and a slight hint of vanilla from the almond milk.  Awesome!

Served up Angela style!

What should I blend up tomorrow?