Summer Vegetables

Today we did some errands and went to the farmers market! So many beautiful veggies and fruits. We loaded up on fresh veggies and peaches! I brought a yogurt with me because I knew I’d get hungry throughout our errands. I topped it with blueberries we bought at the market, and I ate it at the market itself. I also had a few bites of banana and a spoonful of almond butter before heading out the door. I stopped by dad’s house to pick up some camping gear and to visit, and I munched on a whole bunch of trail mix. I also noticed that these peanuts (that I did not eat) had gelatin in them — why?? and so not vegetarian. just pointin it out… After some errands with dad (more on that tomorrow) I came home to find mom munching away on some tasty bread and oil dip. I had a few small hunks as we got dinner ready. I had a salad with some beet hunks and yellow bell pepper, raspberry vinag. dressing And two awesome ears of corn from the market – they were perfection!! and very sweet. Also, a boca burger topped with ketchup and bread and butter pickles.We also had a caprese salad which I had a few pieces of. Basil from the porch and tomato from the market. Mmm local!
We’re contemplating going to a movie .. it’s a rainy evening here in Massachusetts..

Happy Hour, Happy Gym

Today chugged along pretty smoothly and I realized I only have about 2 weeks to finish all of my research at my internship, because present my work on July 26th — AHH!!!!! I really need to buckle down, focus, and crank out some seriously good work, and asap! I think the pressure will help :) I had packed a veggie laden lunch today but my boss messaged me asking how I would feel about a salad. How do I feel about free salads? Fantastic! I tucked my lunch in the fridge and we ventured over to get salads. This time I asked for no feta cheese, and dressing on the side. Good decisions. And I ditched the free slices of bread that came with it. Just don’t need it! And who knows what their bread was made of, I’m guessing not whole grains…It was quite tasty and full of the veg I craved – cucumbers, tomatoes, and red peppers, and probably about 12 too many kalamata olives, but they were so tasty! I also passed up some leftover red velvet cake someone brought into the office, go me! I find it helpful to think about how I’ll feel after I indulge in something. If I can foresee that it won’t be positive feelings, then I try not to do it. I had one of the gorgeous peaches I bought at the farmers’ market yesterday. It was just perfectly ripe! mmm juicy. After work we had a happy hour scheduled with an appointee at the agency. I was hoping for just a glass of wine, but of course we ordered pizza. I had one super cheesy slice and my one glass of wine. Yum! I then came home around 7 and got myself straight over to the gym. Had I drank a second glass of wine I definitely would not have made it.. good thing for limits. At the gym I did:

— 30 mins on the StairMaster
— arm strength training
— 25 minutes on the elliptical
— leg strength training

I then headed home and mixed up a protein shake and stretched out. After showering I decided I should have a bit more of a substantial dinner, even though that pizza slice and wine were sort of dinner (?). So I decided to heat up my abandoned lunch. Solid bowl of frozen veg, a sprinkle of leftover lentils, one egg white, and nurtitional yeast and soy sauce.

It did the trick. Getting things ready for tomorrow, ordering new running socks, and chatting with Jeffers. G night!

Upping the miles, upping the veggies

Just got back from a great run with Melissa! I was worried I’d be sluggish and might not even be able to do the whole 7 miles, but, once we got truckin I felt good and more excited about the run. I took an aleve before heading out, in hopes to get rid of my headache I’d had throughout the afternoon, and figured it wouldn’t hurt with any soreness I might have after the run.  Today’s run was the longest run I’ve evern run outdoors! One time last June I ran 8 miles on a treadmill, but that doesn’t really count (no elevation whatsoever). So I’m pretty psyched that this is my longest on record :) Melissa and I talked lots of running talk, from socks, to shoes, to goo, to protein recovery. I realized that since I’m upping the miles so much I need to be more aware of recovery foods, protein after runs, etc. So right when we got back I whipped up a protein shake – 4 oz almond milk, 4 oz water, and 1 scoop of vanilla vegan powder. Ends up being about 90 calories and 13 g protein. After rinsing off and stretching (other way around) I cooked up some dinner – simple veggies with soy sauce and two egg whites. Perfecto. I’m pretty beat from the run – organizing some things here, video chatting with Jeffy, then an early bedtime. G night!

Fun friends and raspberry jam bars

After work I bolted to the gym – for real, bolted. I had it all planned out: if I got there and was on a treadmill by 5:15 I would be able to do a 30 minute routine and jog home, with approximately 18 minutes to stretch, shower, heat chili, and get to a potluck event by 6:20 (20 minutes fashionably, and very much planned, late). Yes it was a 2 minute walk from my apartment. This was all very precise, and I was lucky life went fairly precisely so that I was hitting “start” on the treadmill promptly at 5:15. I was inspired to try my first ever treadmill sprint interval routine, thanks to Julie over at Peanut Butter Fingers. I pretty much did the exact workout she lists only I did 30 minutes and alternated between speed 5.2 and 8.0 sprints. For some reason I was worried it would be miserable or that the sprinting would be rough, but I actually really enjoyed this routine! Upping and downing the speed every 60 seconds made the 30 minutes fly by and I worked up almost as good of a sweat as 30 minutes on the stair master, which is quite the sweat!  I’ll definitely be repeating this workout often. After 30 minutes I hopped off and jogged home (5 mins) to cool down.

I prepped and got to our intern potluck just as people were getting the food ready. It was a smorgasbord of everyone’s wonderful cooking and baking! And it was all vegetarian which was awesome!

Some of the lovely gals prepping some delicious deviled eggs! I had one (well, half of one, or is that considered one deviled egg? Confusing)  And I had two glasses of red wine that someone brought. Kate had some beautiful sunflowers on her kitchen table.

I loaded my plate with a bit of everything: mushroom/veggie quiche, green pepper stuffed with lentils, goat cheese and covered in tomato sauce, whole wheat pasta with pesto sauce and walnuts, and some chili and rice made by yours truly. Not pictured are a few spears of aparagus baked in lemon juice and cherry tomatoes, oh, and seconds of everything! Literally. Shouldn’t have, but did.

Dessert was gobbled up before I could photograph it – it was incredible and insanely rich: raspberry jam white chocolate shortbread bars. WOW. One of the interns has tons of raspberries growing in her parents’ garden so she made the jam herself! And brought a bin of raspberries that we munched as an appetizer. So. much. good. food. I was so full when I left that I walked around the block a few times just to digest!  It was a really fun night with new friends and good chit chat. And after all that eating I’m glad I was able to fit in a short but good workout beforehand. Now some odds n ends to do before bed time. One more day of work then a holiday weekend and flying home! :)

Green, lush run

Just got back from a great 6.3 mile run with Melissa! We ran along the Capital Crescent Trail up through Georgetown. It was a great trail that I didn’t even know was there – really flat, surrounded by lots of greenery, and right alongside the Potomac River so there were lovely views here and there as we chatted and ran along. I can’t get over how much better running with someone is than running along with music! The time just really flies by as we chat and I don’t even feel like I’m pushing that hard as we up the miles. It feels SO GOOD to be out running again. It wasn’t too hot out at all today either so it wasn’t too sweaty of a run. I got back and drank the other half of my protein shake that I had saved from earlier. I then put together a quick light salad to get in some more veg.

With dollops of salsa.

And bubbles!

That run wore me out a bit. Gotta finish up a load of laundry, prep for tomorrow, and relax before bed! I’ve had “The Switch” with Jennifer Anniston on Netflix for days now, so maybe I’ll start watching that. 4 days til my visit home! Weeee. G’night!