Nutrition Nut on the Run

sweat it out.

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After 16 sips of Sierra Nevada beer and a stack of “sinful” blueberry + peach puree cornmeal pancakes, I was ready to cleanse my body from my indulgences this afternoon.

I was so so stuffed from this morning’s carbs & caffeine, that I had to wait until almost 5:00pm before I felt my food was digested enough to exercise. Once I got to the WREC, the glucose had been absorbed from my intestines into my cells, and I was ready to move!

  • 60-minute treadmill run (7.5 mi.)

30 minutes @ 0 incline / 15 minutes @ 0.5 incline / 15 minutes @ 1.0 incline – 8:00 min./mi. pace

Even though this was an easy run, it was still a sweat storm on the ‘mill!!

  • 20-minute StairMaster
  • 10-minute strength training

 arms & legs using 10lb. dumbbells + 10 assisted pull-ups & 10 assisted dips

Once home, all I wanted was something fresh, raw, and colorful… and icy H20!

The ideal summer salad:
raw, organic baby spinach + a chiffonade of organic basil, fresh mozzarella, farmers’ market tomatoes (that taste like candy!), drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, S + P

 

Speaking of cleansing eats, I enjoyed a delicious – thick! – Green Monster smoothie earlier this week. I don’t know why I don’t whip up these nutrient-dense blender “beverages” every day – they are guaranteed to be delicious and revitalizing!

The Clean Green Monster Smoothie:
  • 1/2 frozen banana
  • 1/2 c. frozen mango
  • 1/4 ripe avocado
  • 1 tsp. chia seeds
  • 1 c. raw, organic baby spinach
  • 3/4 c. unsweetened vanilla almond milk

I hope y’all are enjoying the late July weekend.

See ya Sunday!

Hillary

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<— check it out: 3 new featured recipes!

Also, a Fitness Page is in the works – stay tuned!

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What’s your favorite way to get “back on track”? Do you have a go-to recipe or workout?

So, I write…

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Today hasn’t been a terrific Tuesday. It’s been one of those days where you encounter one rude, snappy person after another. It’s been one of those days where you have an afternoon breakdown in your car and the the next best thing to self-pity is a foamy latte and piece of Chocolove Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt and Almonds. Then, to rid of any lasting frustration, you write. Writing is how I deal. I like to spell out my life on “paper”. I like pressing each individual key on the keyboard in a syncopated melody. I like taking my life and turning it into poetry. I don’t talk a whole lot. When I do, it’s quietly. But when I write, I can be bold, precise, truthful, raw. Writing is how I deal. So, that’s what I am doing now. There will also be some photographs thrown in from yesterday. Yesterday was a good day, and since I like to focus on the positives, we’ll stick with Monday, fast forward over today, and then take it from Wednesday… Wednesdays are always wonderful.

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 A KERF-style lunch

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 Sprouted Wheat tortilla, local hummus, little gem lettuce & veggies

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food should taste good blue corn chips

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carrot crunch & kombucha

I had an amazing afternoon snack. After my awful experience with whey protein powder, I was so excited to have found Amazing Grass to add to my Chocolate Cherry Bomb Green Monster smoothies. I had no stomach issues this time around – my tummy loves GREENAGE.

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100% Organic
1 frozen banana
1/2 c. frozen cherries
1 1/2 c. spinach
3/4 c. unsweetened vanilla almond milk
Chocolate Amazing Grass

 

With a boost of green energy, I was ready to do some baking! Enter one of Angela’s splendid vegan creations…

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Cherry Coconut Butter Banana Bread

[original recipe @ Oh She Glows]

  • 1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
  • 2 T ground flax
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 2 1/2 ripe bananas
  • 1/2 c. real maple syrup
  • 1/4 c. unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 3 T canola oil
  • 2 T coconut butter
  • 1/2 c. chopped + toasted pecans
  • 6-8 halved + pitted cherries
  • 1 tsp. unsweetened coconut

In a medium bowl, mix together dry ingredients. In a small bowl, melt coconut butter in the microwave for approx. 20 seconds. In another bowl, mash 2 whole bananas, then add other wet ingredients (including the coconut butter). Whisk until combined. Add wet to dry. Mix minimally, then fold in chopped pecans and other half of banana, coarsely chopped. Plop into a greased loaf pan and place cherries on top along with a sprinkling of leftover chopped pecans and 1 tsp. of unsweetened coconut. Bake @ 350* for 45-50 minutes.

Note: My loaf did not turn out as ooey gooey as Angela’s. In fact, it was quite the opposite – dry and ‘wheaty’. After spending a sh*t ton on pecans at the store and chopping them for the recipe, I forgot to fold them in – oopsie. Perhaps follow Angela’s recipe more precisely, as mine didn’t get a whole lot of praising from my critics. I ended up smearing mine with [non-vegan] buttah : )

* * *

I often get lazy when it comes to dinner – it’s, by no means, my favorite meal of the day – but, I try to keep it nutritious nevertheless.

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Grilled Tofu with Apricot Ginger Teriyaki
+
crazy cabbage slaw
cabbage, red onion, shredded carrot, bell pepper & avocado
tossed with canola oil, toasted sesame oil & seasoned rice vinegar

I’ve been at the computer more than my liking today, so I’m outta here. Until I write again…

Hillary

  1. How do you deal with your frustration?
  2. Do you have any favorite vegan recipes?

Staying Sane

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GIVEAWAY: Don’t miss your chance to win a custom box of Element Bars. There are four easy ways to enter. Go get creative!

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Hey! Happy Saturday/almost Sunday! Wahoo…I can hardly believe I made it through my last week of classes alive. I’ve got four finals standing between me and the end of my 3rd year of college. I will be officially done Thursday morning – I can taste the finish. This week wasn’t as terrible as I had it panned out to be. My key to staying sane? Exercise! Between being under the weather and travelling, my workouts had been few and far apart. I knew getting my heart pumping would help reduce my stress – at least momentarily – which is why I made it a goal to exercise every day. As Saturday comes to a close, I can say I’ve done just that – I fit physical exercise into my schedule 6 days in a row… and it’s in tomorrow’s plans as well.

Saturday’s Sweat Session:

45-minutes treadmill intervals

  • 10 min. @ 4.4mph – 4.0 incline
  • 10 min. @ 7.0mph
  • 10 min. @ 4.0mph – 4.0 incline
  • 10 min. @ 7.4mph
  • 5 min. @ 4.0mph [cool down]

+ stretching and more stretching

Unfortunately, blogging didn’t make it to the top of my priority list amidst my mad dash to the finish, but I will share with you a few random eats from the latter half of the week…

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1/4 c. rolled oats, 1/4 c. oat bran, 1/2T flax, cinnamon, pear & almond butter

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whole wheat mac & cheese with peas please + a “green” monster [1 c. organic spinach, 1/2 c. very cherry frozen berries, 1/2 c. 2% Greek, 1/2 banana]

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Thursday I came home after a long day at school to a tub of Great Harvest cookie dough sitting on my shelf of the fridge with a “Happy Studying” note. Roomie love! These definitely made an appearance for Cookie Friday ; )

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So much real buttah!

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I think I could live off of Dr. Praeger’s California Veggie Burgers. I easily eat through a box a week.

1 beautiful burger atop organic baby lettuces, 1/4 avocado, raw sunflower seeds + olive oil & seasoned rice vinegar

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These slipped away faster than the shutter of my camera – oopsie!

I’ve tried to keep focused on Organic Chemistry, Food Safety, Statistics, and such… but sometimes I got a little sidetracked:

Do you have any excellent articles to share?

How do you stay sane when life gets stressful?

Whatcha up to this stunning weekend?

Catch ya later!

Hillary

Every Day is Earth Day

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All day yesterday I had a million ideas swimming around in my head about what I wanted to write about in honor of Earth Day…but as you may have noticed, I never got around to getting those thoughts out to the world wide web. Between a dead loner phone and a busy schedule, the Internet and I were running different routes yesterday.

Anyway, did you all celebrate Earth Day by being “green”? I try my best to be friendly to Mother Earth every day. Here are a few ways that I reduce my footprint:

  • Ride the bus to and from campus.
  • Recycle. Recycle. Recycle.
  • Wash and reuse plastic food bags.
  • Bring reusable bags to the grocery store.
  • & rarely ever use produce bags.
  • Use a stainless steel H2o bottle.
  • Use cold water only for laundry.
  • Buy recycled paper products.
  • Buy locally grown products if available.

How do you GO GREEN?

earth-day

Of course yesterday’s efforts wouldn’t be complete without making a Green Monster. I went all out and added more green to the mix by adding avocado – yes, you heard me right…avocado in my smoothie. Ashley’s smoothies always entice me by their thick, glossy appearance – I had to give it a try.

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1 cup baby spinach, 1/4 avocado, 1/2 cup frozen very cherry berry blend, 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

The verdict: it tasted healthy…obviously. Even though it may look like a chocolate shake, it was far from it! Seriously…how more pure can you get?

I can hardly recollect what else I consumed yesterday, but I do remember going to the gym for a 1-hour spin class + 1 mi. run + a bit of conditioning. Oh, and I carpooled to the gym : )

* * *

Today I woke up excited to know that I had finally made it to Friday – it was an emotionally stressful week to say the least. After a green lunch [veggie burger + edamame hummus + avocado], I decided it was necessary to celebrate Cookie Friday. So…I pulled out a few frozen cookie dough balls I stuck in the freezer from the previous celebration and within minutes, I had gooey, warm chocolate chip cookies.

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I had another thing to celebrate today:

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I am officially a participant of the Nike Women’s [1/2] Marathon 2010…and Courtney is too – hip hip hooray!

Naturally, I celebrated by going for a 32-minute run around the neighborhood in the beautiful, late-afternoon sun. Nothing else is a better cure for letting go of a rough week.

Court and I are ecstatic! I think this girlie weekend will be epic.

Dinner

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Ya’ll seriously need to copy Caitlin on this. It is what you see – a ‘baked’ sweet tater & vegetarian baked beans – and it’s “epic” [as she would say]. It may be a little starch/sugar heavy, but just focus on all the incredible nutrients on my plate.

I may or may not have just polished off my fresh Friday cookies sitting here writing away; I’m not too worried about it though : )

Can I bicker for just 1 second?

  • Weekend Weather Forecast: 80* sunshine
  • Hillary’s Schedule: O. Chem Exam #4 Monday @ 10:00am

I’m going to figure out a way to soak up the sun somehow. I am going to find a way…

Happy Weekend!

Hillary

Edamame –> Idamommy

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Hey Yo! We made it over the hump of the week! I’m super happy that this week is zooming by; it’s just cruising downhill from here.

You can probably guess what was on my plate for breakfast today…yep, waffles it was! I went with an “open-faced sandwich” today – the more PB & banana, the better.

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I normally don’t get to eat lunch home on Wednesdays, so it was a treat to have a break in my day to do so. I was dreaming of this lunch all morning.

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Green Monster a la:

1/2 frozen banana

1/2 cup mixed berries [strawberries, raspberries, blueberries & blackberries]

1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1 cup fresh baby spinach 

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Sandwich a la:

whole wheat toast

raspberry jam

extra sharp white cheddar

fresh baby spinach

…and because I always have something sweet to polish off a meal:

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Remember the box of No Pudge Fudge Brownie Mix my mama gave me?

Mix together:

4 T mix

2 T 0% Vanilla Greek Yogurt

a few bittersweet chocolate chips

+ 1 minute in Mr. Micro = a guiltless decadent dessert.

After my last class, I rushed home to make an early dinner in lightening speed. I guess I should be on Iron Chef because this rushed salad was a victory!

It screamed Spring – fresh color, color, color!

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Baby Arugula, Spinach & Lettuce Mix, Carrot, Edamame, Tomatoes, Sunflower Seeds, Feta, Olive Oil & Seasoned Rice Vinegar + Fresh Pepper

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I also tested out a new item I picked up at TJ’s yesterday – edamame hummus – with a couple multigrain crackers. As if hummus couldn’t get any healthier, this was colorful too. Edamame makes green hummus – surprise, surprise.

I didn’t have a lot of time to savor my delicious & nutritious dinner because I had to rush out the door to go baby-sit. Edamame –> Idamommy…wow, I’m ridiculous. I wish I had had time to workout today, but making a little extra cash is always helpful. Plus, yesterday’s time at The Resort left my legs sore today:

1 mile indoor track run @ 8:10

strength [arms + legs]:

  • seated row: 20 @ 40 lbs.
  • bicep curls: 40 @ 10 lbs.
  • “weights-to-chin”: 20 @ 10 lbs.
  • bicep curl lunges: 20 @ 20 lbs.
  • glute press: 40 @ 40 lbs.
  • squats: 40 @ 20 lbs.

1/2 mile indoor track run @ 4:15

30-minute spin [11.2 mi.]

1/2 mile indoor track run @ 5:00

stretch

There are my eats for the day [minus a couple post-sittin’ snacks]. It felt good to take photos of my food again. It’s become part of me; the addiction is in my blood : )

How do you like to consume edamame?

Hillary

Give It A Whirl

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Hi again! Lucky for you, I can’t complain about a lot at the moment as I am blogging from my comfy bed [which now is bedded…after two days], with the soothing sounds of James Morrison. I enjoyed my Tuesday just like any other Tuesday Saturday. After my banana berry waffle, I was craving a Green Monster for lunch, so I pulled out the blender…and it stayed out the remainder of the day; I ended up using it a total of three times today!

Blender Round 1

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Mmm…Dark Chocolate Milkshake. Fooled ya! That would be my delicious Green Monster a la: 1 banana, 1/2 cup frozen berries [raspberries, blueberries, strawberries & blackberries], 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 T ground flax, 1 humongous handful of fresh spinach, and ice.

I then got an intense craving for p.nut buttah:

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Whole Wheat Toast a la PB & Raspberry Jam

After lunch and running a few errands via Green Monster energy, I came home and rinsed out the blender for round two.

Blender Round 2

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After working for a hummus company [summer 2008] and being spoiled by both my mom and dad’s homemade hummus, I am never amazed by any tubs I bring home from the store. Today I decided to give making my own a go. I basically made the recipe up as I went, so it didn’t turn out to be blue ribbon quality [I’m thinking more tahini, more acidity, more zing!]…but it’s definitely edible : )

Healthy Hill’s Hummus

1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed & drained

2 T tahini [sesame paste]

1 T olive oil

1 T seasoned rice vinegar

4 T water

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1/3 cup chopped parsley 

3-4 minced garlic cloves

salt to taste

I gave my hummus a taste test with half of a huge carrot for an afternoon snack and then I was off to the gym. Today’s time spent at the gym was a complete 180* spin from yesterday’s weak workout:

  • 1 hour spin class
  • indoor track run [1 mi.]
  • arms + stretching

2 x 12 lat pull downs @ 40 lbs.

2 x 12 seated row @ 40 lbs.

4 x 12 “weights to chin” w/ 12 lb. bar

4 x 12 bicep curls w/ 12 lb. bar

2 x 12 tricep extension w/ 12 lb. bar

Dinner was Sunday’s leftovers: stir-fried tofu, brown rice, broccoli & carrot + sesame seeds & sesame oil [sesame 3x in 1 day!].

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Blender Round 3

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That you might ask is banana soft serve! I know it doesn’t look like much, but holy yum! For those of you ice cream/fro yo lovers, like myself, you must try this ASAP.

To make: Freeze your overly ripe bananas – the longer the better – that didn’t get invited to your most recent oatmeal party. Place however many bananas into a blender – I’d say 1 per serving – and blend away! You don’t have to add a thing! I didn’t freeze the banana for long enough tonight, hence the runnier texture, but with a dollop of PB&Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams, I couldn’t find a spoon fast enough.

Talk about a healthy dessert. This soft serve would be delicious with an encyclopedia’s worth of toppings.

There ya have it…today’s blender excursion. I hope ya’ll will give these recipes a whirl in your blender! Well, my contacts are getting drier by each word I type. Must turn off my light. I’ve got classes a holiday to prepare for!

Night,

Hillary

Forever Full

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Hey Guys! I’m really excited to be able to have time this afternoon to write a post…but even more excited about Spring Break when I will have all the time in the world to blog, blog, blog! Hope you’re ready for some ch-ch-changes around here, because Nutrition Nut on the Run will be getting a face lift!

Until then…let’s talk food.

I made the BIGGEST bowl of oats today! Seriously, folks…it was enormous. The pictures don’t do it justice. It wasn’t on purpose that I made oats for army – I didn’t even wake up hungry, stoked about breakfast, like I usually do – it just happened.

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Oatmeal Overload

In the mix:

1 1/4 cup water

1/3 cup rolled oats

1/3 cup oat bran

1/4 cup pumpkin

1/2 T ground flax

cinnamon

Top with:

1/2 banana

1 T walnuts

brown sugar & cinnamon

Although my normal ratio of oats to water is 2/3 cup: 1 cup, oat bran expands a lot more than whole oats and pumps up the volume! In the future, I plan to reduce the portions to 1/4 cup.

With a barrel of oatmeal in my stomach I was ready to head to campus and not have to worry about any hunger attacks. When I got home around 1:30pm, the oats still hadn’t thoroughly digested. I know I didn’t need any more food energy [calories], but I ate a light lunch anyway.

Mini GM: 1/2 Frozen Banana + 1/2 cup Almond Milk + 1 Huge Handful of Fresh Spinach

Low-Fat Cottage Cheese + Avocado, Cucumber & Tomato

TJ’s Chocolate Chunk Cookie [times two]

One of my least favorite feelings is that of continuously feeling full. I’m certain my calorie intake was way more than necessary this weekend and am feeling the lasting effects. The late night snacks aren’t helping either. I like going to bed and waking up “comfortably hungry”. I’d ask if you have any advice, but I’m pretty sure the answer is simple: don’t eat as much! Easier said than done, right?

Well, if you’re a reader of Skinny Runner, you know today’s Running Tuesday! I’m hoping a heart-pumping run/spin sesh will sweat out some of my excessive sugary treats [a.k.a. box of TJ’s cookies]. Then I am hopping on over to my bi-monthly Nutrition & Food Association meeting.

Are you participating in Running Tuesday today? If so, share!

Later,

~ Hillary

I Like It Green

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Hello, how goes it? I got up nice and early this morning and have been crossing things off my to-do list right and left.

First thing first…breakfast! Today’s inspiration came from Miss Caitlin. She is sort of famous for her pumpkin yogurt, and even though it’s no longer “pumpkin season”, she still enjoys her orange yogurt bowls on a regular basis. I love pumpkin, so yesterday while on my grocery quest, I bought a huge 30 oz. can of pumpkin. I was really excited adding another item to my breakfast possibilities list, but was so disappointed when I did not like it [icky texture]. I maybe ate half of what is pictured, and then resorted to a piece of toast. Dang it! Now I’ve got a life-supply of canned pumpkin that I need to figure out what to do with. Ideas?

1/3 cup Pumpkin, 1/3 cup 0%  Plain Greek, 1/3 cup Humboldt Honey Granola + a few raisins & drizzle of agave

Whole Wheat Toast with Real Butter, Cinnamon & Sugar

…sometimes you just need the real deal.

Next on my list: SPIN! I went to my usual 10:00am class at The Resort and left an hour later after a rockin’ ride. I think that makes three hard rides for the week – yippee!

After running a couple errands, I refueled with a Green Monster. Oh, how I missed these. It’s been far too long.

In the mix:

1 banana

1 cup almond milk

1/4 cup rolled oats

1 T ground flax

1 cup fresh spinach

Ice

…polished off with of hunk of 73% dark chocolate, of course!

I am hoping the addition of the oats to my smoothie will make it stick to my ribs a little longer than normal, so I can keep moving on down my Saturday “chore” list.

What are ya’ll up to today? Anyone have a kick-butt workout to share?

Peace Out,

~ Hillary

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Your Questions Answered

What’s your workout schedule like? Do you plan it out or just do whatever you feel like doing that particular day?

My workout schedule is fairly random. It changes depending on whether or not I am at school [where I have a “free” gym], or at home where I do not belong to a gym, but have friends to run with/make me run a million miles =] I currently exercise an average of 5 days per week. I would probably prefer 6, but my school schedule makes that difficult. With the luxurious recreation center on campus [a.k.a. The Resort], I am able to switch up my workouts…as there are numerous types of cardio machines and fun classes, such as Zumba. The majority of my gym workouts usually include some sort of strength training as well. While at home, my workouts consist of running and DanceFit classes [run 3-4 days a week & dance 3 days].

My 1st Green Monster

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I can officially say Happy Saturday! My body clock is back on schedule and I’m no longer confused about what day of the week it is, as was the case on Thursday. However, I am telling myself that today is January 1st since I didn’t like how my year started off (food wise) yesterday. I am starting fresh today, ignoring all lazy thoughts and fueling my body with healthy, colorful eats…and LOTS of exercise.

Speaking of colorful eats, I made my first Green Monster for lunch today. For those of you not-so seasoned bloggers, a Green Monster is a smoothie made with spinach. I have only seen and heard wonderful things about these smoothies from fellow bloggers, and I’ve been wanting to give it whirl. The adorable Angela founded the Green Monster Movement in response to the positive feedback she received about her green creation.

My Virgin GM:

1 cup organic baby spinach

1 cup organic almond milk

1 frozen banana

1/3 cup frozen blueberries

My first Green Brown (due to the blueberries) Monster was 100% delicious! I am so excited to experiment with other versions, including 1) Amazing Grass, 2) yogurt, 3) flax, 4) almond butter, and more!

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I had a great treadmill workout, inspired by Angela, before my Green Monster experience:

45 minutes walking @ 10.0 incline [15 minutes each @ 3.8, 4.0, 4.2mph]

Abs:

15 V-vups

45 Leg Raises

Planks (45 seconds each right, left, center)

Arms:

2 x 10 push-ups

15 tricep extensions @ 15lbs.

Legs:

2 x 15 squats @ 15lbs.

15 Toe Touches @ 30lbs.

Hope you’re enjoying your weekend. Off to run a couple errands…

~ Hillary


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