Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!

Today started off with a huge new container of chia seeds!! I mixed up some more pre-mixed oat combo, and then made some pumpkin-chia oats for breakfast.

Oatmeal, cottage cheese, pumpkin, almond milk, chia seeds, pecans, and peanut butter!

Along with a nice foamy mug of coffee.

Race Photos

Ok I promise this is the last time I mention the half marathon, but official race photos were just posted. They actually weren’t as bad as typical race photos haha…well maybe they were…

<—I’m in the background there

<–What the heck am I doing in this picture?!? Maybe someone should tell me that you don’t have to literally prance over the finish line- it’s ok to step on it.

Hey Mr Sunshine

Did you check out my half-marathon recap?! You should 🙂 Or at least skip to the part where I finished in 2:04:25 and was way happy about it!

There was a horrible intense storm last night, but in the morning it was like nothing even happened. The sun was out and shining, and the birds were chirping away.

Today’s oatmeal included pumpkin, cottage cheese, almond milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, pecans, and sunflower seeds. With peanut butter. Oh and Amazing Grass powder.

I couldn’t resist eating them outside even though it was a little wet out there.

I’m not gonna lie- it was a little tough coming down the stairs this morning… just a tad on the sore side haha. Today is definitely a recovery day!!

Sneaky Friday

Today’s breakfast might look a little familiar…..  more oatmeal breakfast cookies!!

I’m missing my bowl of oatmeal, but I’m glad I have a closes substitute. Yesterday they also had fresh fruit, hardboiled eggs, and yogurt for breakfast, along with coffee and tea. Kind of random, but a nice post-oatmeal snack. 🙂

(Oh and by the way, these breakfast cookies work perfectly fine without the almond milk and baking soda I forgot yesterday- they’re dense & moist!)

I’ve definitely got a nice mug of coffee waiting for me to drink in the car too. I’m looking forward to some more fresh fruit once I get there too. Mmmm strawberries & pineapple!

Oh my gosh it’s Friday!! My week has been so crazy that I’ve completely lost track of what day is what. I sure hope I don’t forget when SUNDAY rolls around!!!

Sorry it’s short & quick, but gotta go get my learn on- conference style!

The Week Before the Half

Sorry for the lack of post last night- I wrote it, but apparently the publish button doesn’t click itself…whoops. I was just rambling about my upcoming half since it was officially a week away yesterday, so I’ll just move the rambling to this morning. 😉

But before that, breakfast!

Oats. My oat combo (ahh I’m almost out!!) with bananas, cottage cheese, and PB.

And coffee. Slowly but surely working my way through the Fresh Market Peppermint Blend.

The Week of…

So by this time next week I’ll have finished running a half marathon. Three months ago I signed up for the Tobacco Road Half Marathon with two friends. It seemed ages and ages away. And now all of a sudden it’s next this week.

While it’s not my first, it still feels like it. The big question is…am I ready?

Am I as ready as I could be? No. Am I ready enough? Yes. Considering everything that it’s taken to get to this point, I’m about as ready as I could be. Did I do as much running as  my training “partners”. Heck no. But if I had, I’d probably be hobbling around like a gimp. So I ran as much as I could, and I’m hoping race-day adrenaline will make up for the rest of it.

My goals for the race? Finish. Seriously, I know everyone says that to not set themselves for not meeting their goals, but in all honesty I’ll be happy with finishing. I’ve struggled through 10 mile training runs, so getting through 13.1 will be completely satisfying.

My secret goal when I signed up for the race was to finish in under 1:58:25. It’s not a random arbitrary number- it was my time for the leg of the marathon relay I did when I was 16.

Although it seems obvious that I’m not 16 anymore, it took starting to run again to really figure that out. Although it’s great to have an ambitious goal, I think I’m gonna have to save this one for another race. Do the math: 1:58 is a 9 minute mile pace. My fastest training runs have been 10:30 at best. So I’m being realistic, it’s not happening. So 2:17-2:24 would be much probable. We’ll see what happens! Like I said, I’m worrying about simply finishing 🙂

The Countdown Begins….

It’s not going to be the ideal week before the race- I wasn’t able to get a long run in yesterday. Hopefully I can today, but I’m not sure yet. It was a weekend of highs and lows in the SoS household- my step-grandparents celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary (isn’t that amazing?!) the same day my husband’s grandmother passed away. There will likely be some traveling in the next few days…

Then the three days leading up to the half marathon, I will be sitting ALL day long. I’ll be at a two and half day conference two hours away- so four hours of driving a day plus 10 hours of lectures. (That’s 12 hrs of driving plus 25 hours of sitting crammed into 2.5 days. Then running at 7am the next morning.) So, I think I might be a little tired come next Monday. 😉

Regardless of all that, I’m nervous but really excited!!

Anybody else racing this weekend?!

Apples and Ba-nay-nays

Definitely starting the morning out with some coffee!!  More Fresh Market Peppermint Blend. If one day I report that I accidently knocked the canister over and it’s all gone, don’t get suspicious on me 😉

I had my coffee alongside some stovetop banana oats with roasted apples, NO wheat berries (no worries, I felt fine- it was just gross I didn’t notice earlier haha), and cottage cheese.

Topped off with pecans and coconut flakes.

And PEANUT BUTTER!!! (But you know that was coming, right?!)

It’s officially the weekend!! Anyone doing anything fun?!

Rancid-ness

Today was another one of those mornings when I couldn’t decide which way I wanted to go with my oats. Since it worked out so well yesterday with the pumpkin and apple oatmeal combo, I figured I’d go the route of not deciding again this morning.

Today I went for stovetop banana oats with cottage cheese, topped with roasted apples, wheat berries, coconut, and chopped walnuts.

And my favorite morning companion, peanut butter.

It was looking so promising at this point…

But you know how they say you should trust your instincts?

I didn’t.

I thought something tasted a little “off”. Most of the way through the bowl, I decided it was the wheat berries. So, I ate through those quickly…

As I was washing my bowl, I checked the wheat berries “just to see”….oh goodness. SO BAD. I don’t know why I didn’t notice when I was making them. Although batch cooking these guys was a great idea at the time, I guess I went a little overboard- clearly I didn’t eat them fast enough.

Hopefully I won’t pay for this later…..

Serve Me Up Another

I enjoy every single bowl of oats I eat (obviously, or I wouldn’t eat oats 2093293 times a year), but I think this one tops the charts.

Pumpkin Apple Oats

I couldn’t decide between the pumpkin and the apples. They were both just begging to be eaten- so I used them both! (The oh-so-common fall back option for a non-decision-maker like myself)

My oat combo with pumpkin puree and cottage cheese stirred in, then topped with roasted apples, wheat berries, and crushed walnuts.

I swear I had a spoonful of peanut butter on top of this but I can’t find the picture?!

I was seriously so sad when this bowl was finished. I almost got up and made another, but I controlled myself. Actually I dug into the last slice of banana bread instead 😉

And some Fresh Market Peppermint Blend coffee. I’ll be pretty happy when this bag is gone, but until then, I’ll keep drinking away. I’m just itching to get my hands on some Spring Blend!!!

Almost weekend!! 🙂

Punkin Oats & DYKT #6

Yup, you guessed it: pumpkin oats for breakfast! Again.

 

Today was my usual oat combo plus Amazing Grass powder, cottage cheese, pumpkin, walnuts, and peanut butter.

 

And coffee 🙂

 

DYKT #6

Did you know that kids who are moderately overweight shouldn’t  be put on a diet?

In our obesity-centric world it’s easy to think that anybody who’s overweight should automatically be on a diet. kids are a different story. They’re still growing, and more importantly they’re still in their formative years- both physically and mentally. Putting a kid on a diet can have lasting effects on their self-image & self-esteem.

Instead, it’s currently recommended to help moderately overweight kids (10-15 pounds) make small changes in lifestyle, such as improvements in eating choices, increasing physical activity, and decreasing screen time. Adding fruits, veggies, and whole grains and cutting back on junk food can help improve diet quality.

The idea is to slow the rate of weight gain- that way as they continue to grow in height, their weight will gradually become more appropriate for their new height. A low calorie diet can inhibit height growth & deprive kids of the vital nutrients they need for development.

Not So Basic Oats

Sometimes it’s comforting to go back to basics.

Is it strange that I consider oatmeal, wheat germ, flaxseed, cinnamon, nutmeg, coconut, chia seeds, cottage cheese, wheat berries, pecans, and almond butter basic?!

I’m always adding some kind of fruit or veggie, like bananas or pumpkin, and sometimes I forget that I really like it the way I started eating it. Just with cottage cheese and nut butter.

I usually prefer peanut butter on my oatmeal, or at least a combo of PB and almond butter, but this morning I opted for just almond butter. It just seemed right.

So good. I could actually taste all those ingredients in there without the extra flavors hiding them- cinnamon, coconut….mmmm.

Any fun plans for the weekend?! I’m volunteering at the Women’s ACC Tournament tonight!

5 Grain Kind of Morning

Instead of my usual oat combo and almond milk, this morning I went for some Bob’s Red Mill 5 Grain Hot Cereal and rice milk.

Loaded up with toppings: pumpkin, cottage cheese, Amazing Grass Amazing Meal, cinnamon, and walnuts.

Plus wheat berries for super extra chewiness.

And a heaping spoonful of peanut butter, because, well, there’s no point otherwise. 😉

Rounded out with a mug of coffee with So Delicious coconut creamer. Every time I use this I hope it tastes like coconut and it never does. Maybe one day I’ll learn.

Weekend’s almost here!!