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St. Waffle Patrick’s Wednesday Day
Happy Waffle Wednesday!! Oh and I suppose St. Patrick’s Day too ;) Any Irish out there? I don’t think I’m actually Irish. I have an Irish name in my family, but I think we discovered it was actually a Norwegian adopted by an Irish family when he came to Canada. Are you out there mom? Can you correct me on this? Anyways, my last name is German, I’ve got a solid Scottish foundation, and a sprinkling of French. Basically, I’m Canadian! :D
Oh yes, we were talking about waffles, weren’t we…
- 1/3 cup rolled oats
- 1/3 cup cottage cheese
- 1/3 cup egg whites
- cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- stevia
All blended up with an immersion blender and poured into my belgian waffle iron.
Topped with almond butter, fresh strawberries and yogurt. I’m all for the toppings, but I found the waffle got lost under all the mess! I’m simple, I think I like it best plain and dipped in syrup :)
Then it was off to woooooork. I don’t know what is up with me lately but I’m in a weird head space. I think it’s because I only have 7 weeks (!!) left at my job, I’m writing my personal trainer exam in 5 weeks, and I have 10 weeks until I move to Toronto. GAH.
At least I still have a constant in my life – exercise! I held off on my workout until after work today because the weather was 12 C, sunny and downright bee-yoo-tiful. Perfect running weather. I was starving per usual after work, so I grabbed a couple dates + AB before heading out.
Best cardio fuel there is. Does nothing strange to my tummy and gets some sugar in me quick.
By 5pm I was out the door! I’m quite proud of myself for actually doing it so late in the day, as I’m notorious for making excuses as each hour passes. In fact, this was my first evening workout since I started my job in January! The stellar weather and Beatles playlist I put on my iPod helped. I was actually looking forward to the fresh air.
I went out with the intention of running for 40 minutes. No speed or mileage goals, just 40 minutes of cardio outdoors. I just mapped it out and I did 4.2 miles in 41 minutes! Perfect! I felt at ease the whole time, so it’s nice to know I was going at a respectable (for me) pace.
Came home and foam rolled, stretched and iced. I am an injury-free zone thankyouverymuch :)
Dinner tonight featured this new-to-me food.
Veggie Patch Garlic Portabella Patties. Stats are okay. Low-ish on protein, but low on carbs too.
Ingredients could definitely be better (and shorter).
You can’t see it, but I am making a face right now looking at those ingredients :P
Luckily, they were quite tasty!
Nothing mind-blowing, but nicely spiced with a firm texture. I ate it on a bed of swiss chard, green beans, onions, mushrooms, green onions and garlic sauteed with some marinara sauce.
This was also my first time trying swiss chard! It was good, the flavour got kind of lost in everything else so I couldn’t pick up anything distinct about it. Cooks just like spinach with a hard stem like kale. Will buy again! (because I ate the whole bunch!)
Thank you for all the great fitness and exercise resource suggestions from my last post! I wanted to make a list of all the extra suggestions I got in the comments:
Runner’s World
Oxygen Magazine
New Rules of Lifting for Women
Muscle and Fitness
Bicycling Magazine
Women’s Health
Men’s Health
Yoga Journal
bodyrock.tv
Fit TV
Shape Magazine
Fitness Magazine
Shape Fit
ACE
ACSM
NASM
Isn’t that amazing!? Thank you so much for chiming in!!
Today’s question is actually going to touch on tomorrow’s topic. I know, I’m getting ahead of myself. But I really want to hear everyone’s opinion on this first!
Okay, so question of the day is: do you honestly enjoy working out? Do you look forward to workouts? Do you enjoy the act of working out just as much as the feeling of accomplishment afterward?
I’m constantly running into people who don’t. I have a hard time talking to them about my passion for exercise, as I love everything about it. For example, I was looking forward to my run today, even though I knew it could potentially be hard. I always cross paths with people who say they exercise because they have to, and don’t seem to find much joy in it. Convincing others that working out is fun is a wall I always hit, and I would like to learn a way over it before I become a trainer. So let me know! I’ll do the usual rambly-rambles on it tomorrow :) See ya then!
Single Ladies
I’m watching hockey again. Who am I?? :P It’s actually really exciting. Canada is dominating Russia. Pent up anger over the loss to the US I suppose…
Chugging right along.. I ran 10k today! According to my blog archives, I haven’t done this since December 27. I have a sneaking suspicion I snuck one in January somewhere, but regardless, it’s been a while! Longest distance I’ve done on the treadmill all winter, so it’s nice to know I could maintain it :) Here’s the speed breakdown:
| Minutes | Speed – MPH |
| 0-5 | 3.5 |
| 5-10 | 5.6 |
| 10-15 | 5.8 |
| 15-20 | 6.0 |
| 20-25 | 5.8 |
| 25-30 | 6.0 |
| 30-35 | 6.2 |
| 35-40 | 6.0 |
| 40-45 | 6.2 |
| 45-50 | 6.4 |
| 55-60 | 6.2 |
| 60-65 | 6.4 |
| 65-70 | 6.6 |
I love this speed pattern because 1) it takes me almost exactly 60 minutes to do a 10k, and 2) the first half is “easy” and the second half is really challenging! A nice mix of both efforts. I increased the incline a tad from 1% to 1.5% and I could totally feel it. I need to challenge myself more with inclines. I don’t want to turn into a treadmill wuss :P
Now, I know it’s Waffle Wednesday and all, but I do not have a waffle iron at my office like some people. Actually, all we have is a dinky microwave and mini-fridge in the photocopy room. Both of which I put to use today. I had a hot breakfast!
That does not look appetizing. Microwave oats never do. But it was quite tasty! It was one package of President’s Choice cinnamon multigrain oats, with 1 cup water, 1/2 cup egg whites, topped with a mix of 1 tbsp cashew butter and 1 tbsp molasses. The egg whites in the microwave were… interesting. Not creamy like on the stove. More like a cross between oats and a quiche. Not bad, just not custard oats. The topping was delish!
I had more oats for my mid-morning snack. Why mess with a good thing? ;)
Homemade Apple Cinnamon Protein Bar. It’s love.
Lunch was another ginormous salad.
Spinach and various veggies mixed with leftover salmon and quinoa stew. Mmm…this stew is just as good cold, and even better as a salad! I showed my giant tupperware who’s boss.
Yumyum.
I spent my lunch break spending more money on beauty products. Gosh, looking good is expensive. I finally broke and bought a professional hair straightener. I’ll post about it tomorrow when I test it out. The girl who sold it to me laughed out loud when I told her my current straightener is a Conair from Walmart. Thanks lady.
Rushed home again for supper. This time with good reason – I had a movie date with the girls from work!
Was feeling something simple…
Burgers and fries… kind of ;)
Sol veggie burgers. They’re made with beans and soy. Kinda mushy, but I dig it! Topped with heaps of salsa.
Sweet potatoes and carrot fries. Miraculously, I’m not orange yet.
I have to admit, dessert after the movie is the same thing I’ve had every night for a week!
Protein cookie batter. I mix up 1 1/2 scoops chocolate whey powder with almond milk until it is a wonderfully thick goo, then top with PB, chocolate chips and sprinkles. It’s amazing. Kinda like a gooey fudge. Thanks to April for introducing me to it!
So the movie we went to tonight was Valentine’s Day. The type of cheesy chick flick I pretend to be too cool to like but secretly love. Anyways, it got me thinking about how happy I am to be single right now. I know, totally not what those types of movies are supposed to do :P But I see so many girls who whine about wanting to be in a relationship, while I am ecstatic to finally be on my own. I’m really excited to spend this next period of my life being selfish, getting to know myself, and making decisions that satisfy my own self-interests. I still dream of a boy, house and dog someday, but I know I won’t be happy with it until I spend more time with me. I’ve been feeling this odd contentment with my life lately, and I think that’s why :) I spent Valentine’s Day alone this year (well, with friends!) and I didn’t have one pang of loneliness, if anything my heart feels more full!
I also want to thank you for all the wonderful comments on my weight lifting post. I had a lot of fun reading them in between work assignments today :)
Question of the Day: Single? In a relationship? If so, how long? I’ve been in serious relationships since I was 17!! No wonder I’m happy to be single :P
Blogging About Bloggers
Hello friends! Are a lot of you going back to work on Monday? I’m still at my mom’s place, but I drive back on Monday. Boo. Although, if I stay here, I may run out of pants that button up ;)
Started the day out fabulously with a run at a new women’s only gym in town. I was there waiting when they opened the doors at 8am! After all the HIIT yesterday, I was feeling a long and slow run, so that’s what I did :)
On 1% incline:
0:00-5:00 – 3.5 mph
5:00-10:00 – 5.6 mph
10:00-15:00 – 5.8 mph
15:00-20:00 – 6.0 mph
20:00-25:00 – 5.8 mph
25:00-30:00 – 6.0 mph
30:00-35:00 – 6.2 mph
35:00-40:00 – 6.0 mph
40:00-45:00 – 6.2 mph
45:00-50:00 – 6.4 mph
50:00-55:00 – 6.2 mph
55:00-60:00 – 6.4 mph
60:00-65:00 – 6.6 mph
65:00-70:00 – 3.5 mph
Covered about 10k in this and loved the interval pattern. Except, I was out of the line of fire for the air conditioning and was a downright sweaty mess. Felt like I was running in July again!
Came home and gobbled up dessert breakfast.
A random packet of organic cinnamon instant oats I found in my mother’s pantry, mixed with yogurt, topped with crumbled whole grain crusted apple pie and PB. This was awesome. Some desserts were just meant to be crumbled atop oats ;)
Then my mom, sister Jane and I actually went to church! It’s been almost ten years since we’ve been to the small Anglican church we basically grew up in. We were feeling very nostalgic being back there today. Now that I will have proper weekends at my new job, I hope to make it to church more often in Fredericton!
Lunch was almost a repeat of Christmas dinner.
I got lazy and just reheated a few of the dishes. Sweet Potato, Goat Cheese & Parmesan Galette, Brussel Sprouts with Bacon & Figs, turkey (the dark meat!), Chunky Cranberry Apple Sauce and stuffing that I didn’t end up eating.
Chris showed up this afternoon to spend my last night here with me. We spent the afternoon scouring used book stores with Jane. For dinner we hit up my favourite restaurant in Moncton – Calactus! (which you can also read about here, here, here, and here – I eat there a lot!)
It’s a local vegetarian/vegan restaurant full of delicious, natural ingredients.
Except this time, we had special guests – Angela from Oh She Glows!
And her husband Eric. Both are in town visiting Angela’s Dad for the holidays. We’re from the same hometown and even went to the same high school!! We were in different years though and don’t remember each other. Funny how the two of us would both end up as food bloggers!
Chris got his usual – The Big Marc Burger.
With a side “caesar” salad and homefries.
I tried a new dish this time – the Burrito.
Omg. Soooo good. It had black beans, broccoli and other various veggies, smothered in cheese of course ;) The best part was actually the chapati bread they wrapped it in. Loved it!
And let me just say that Angela is a downright sweetheart! Just as lovely, smart and gorgeous as she comes across on her blog! Her and Eric were awesome to hang out with. I’m such a dork, I love being able to talk about food, exercise and blogging with other people who get it!
Angela also gave me two new Glo Bars to try, which I obviously can’t wait to dig into ;)
Chris and I skipped on dessert as my mother was assembling a trifle just as we were leaving. I was excited to come home and try it!
My mother’s too funny. She apologized for not putting whipped cream on top because she thought it’d be ugly for the blog. Whipped cream + custard + cake + strawberries is delicious no matter how you serve it.
Best way to end the day is the same way you started it – with dessert!!
I think it may turn into a low-key evening around these parts. Chris and I are hitting up a spin class together in the a.m, and heading back to Fredericton at some point before dark. Really wish I could just stay here forever, but I can’t afford the new wardrobe :P I’ve savoured every piece of food I’ve eaten these past few days, but it’s time to go back to the real world and do some damage control! Time to introduce green vegetables back into my life ;)
Question of the Day: What food do you always crave after a few days out of your regular eating routine? When I come home from vacation, I’m always most excited for oatmeal, apples, pitas and salad. Standard eats that just always make me feel goood.
