Beer, Brunch and BAA 5k

This was a fun and busy weekend! On Friday I was so excited to be going into the weekend. I had a long week at work and was so looking forward to good friends and good weather.

When I got home from work I spent about an hour at the gym doing some cross training and getting in a nice stretch in the sauna. I ended up staying in on Friday night which my tired self definitely welcomed.

On Saturday morning I met up with some friends for brunch at Stephi's on Tremont. It was GORGEOUS out and we sat at a table right by a big open window. I ordered a goat cheese fritter and pear salad which was delicious.

After brunch we headed over to the Beer Summit at the Park Plaza Castle! We came prepared with some pretzels necklaces.

I ended up drinking wayy more than expected which unfortunately resulted in some drunk eating. I tried to go to bed pretty early because I had to be up around 6 am for the BAA 5k. TKO was running it too so we met up and took a cab over to Copley. Being at this race really made me remember how much I LOVE races. There were so many people and the race atmosphere is really like nothing else. It was an absolutely beautiful day and the course was gorgeous. We finished under the Boston Marathon finish line which was so cool! I really with I had my camera when I was running down Boylston and approaching that finish line.

I finished in under 37 minutes which was exciting, I guess. I was really hungover from the day before and obviously had a lack of training. The race definitely lit a bit of a fire in me -- I WANT to get back to my 10 min/mile pace.

After the race we had some bloody marys (my first!) then went to Cafeteria on Newbury Street for lunch. I ordered a pomegranate lemonade and a cobb salad that had grilled chicken, bacon, avocado, hard boiled eggs and bleu cheese. It was a really good salad!

I was so tired after brunch that I went home to take a nap instead of enjoying the beautiful day. Hopefully there will be more to come! TKO and I had dinner plans so I just laid around until it was time to go. We took the T into Harvard Square and went to Russell House Tavern. The restaurant had been on my bookmarks for a while now so I was excited to go.

We started with some Island Creek Oysters,

and then I ordered a walnut & fig salad and a ricotta-sausage pizza. I ate about half the pizza and took home the rest. It was soooo good.


TKO ordered this bloody steak.

After dinner we walked around a bit to enjoy the warm night. We stopped at LA Burdick's for some dessert and walked away with a few pieces of chocolate, including this adorable little mouse!

When we got home I passed out pretty immediately. I'm not ready for the work week!! I really wish I had taken today off to watch the marathon. I'm currently live streaming it at work. Just saw Josh Cassidy win the wheelchair portion and break the course record. I was tearing up over here!

Tonight I'm planning to go food shopping and go to a pilates class at the gym. I haven't done pilates in ages so we'll see how that goes!

Planning

This will be a post of planning:

MEALS
(I like to plan 5 meals for the week, so that two of the days -- usually weekends -- I can improvise)

Dinners:
1. Turkey burger with sweet potato wedges
2. Rigatoni with spinach, feta and chicken sausage
3. BLT (with turkey bacon) + sweet potato wedges
4. Eggs w/ turkey bacon and toast (breakfast for dinner!)
5. Buffalo chicken sandwich + carrots & celery

Lunches:
1. Turkey sandwich w/ fruit and trail mix - times 2
2. Salad (watermelon, cucumbers, feta, grilled chicken, balsamic)
3. Leftover pasta & chicken sausage
4. Buying lunch today

Shopping list:
- cucumbers (2)
- lettuce (spring mix)
- tomatoes (3)
- carrots (small package)
- celery (package)
- bananas (5)
- apples (3)
- watermelon (hopefully can carry!)
- sweet potatoes (2)
- spinach
- feta cheese
- eggs
- turkey bacon (take out few slices then freeze)
- chicken breasts (need 3 3 oz pieces)
- boar's head low sodium turkey (1/4 lb)
- watermelon
- balsamic dressing
- pickles (maybe)
- trail mix

WORKOUTS
I'm going to try a few new classes this week, so here's my plan:
Monday: Pilates @ 7:30 + 1 mi. run
Tuesday: Zumba @ 7:30 + 1 mi. run
Wednesday: Run/walk 5k
Thursday: Circuit Strength @ 6:30
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Dance @ 12:00
Sunday: Run/walk 5k

GOALS:
Run a full 5k by May 7th
Find a new fitness class that I enjoy (I've officially written of Thurs. night zumba)
Use up a portion of the meat in the freezer

Will update later with a recap of this weekend!

Eating Out & Losing Weight

If I haven't mentioned it yet I'm back in weight loss mode. How I got here, I have some idea, but it's really unfortunate. It's kind of sad that I was SO sure I had changed my habits for good. Whoever says habits form in 4 weeks is lying -- I practiced consistent healthy habits for close to two years and then suddenly, I just wasn't. Or not suddenly, over the course of the last 8 months or so.

Anyway, what happened last year or 5 years ago or whenever doesn't matter. What matters is now. So let's talk about now.

Lunch today was a yummy salad (which cost me $9..UGH. I cannot go another week without food shopping).


Spinach & mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, artichokes, roasted red peppers, pepperoni and mozzarella cheese.

So back to weight loss. There seems to be 3 main things I'm struggling with this time around:
1. Drinking water
2. Exercising more than once or twice a week
3. Making good choices when eating out

Let's focus on #3 today. It's really hard to be a foodie/restaurant connoisseur/elite yelper when you're trying to lose weight. For some reason eating out has been coming up so much more often than it used to. I think there's a few reasons for that: my friends all live further away so we get together to go out to dinner (rather than just hanging out at someone's apartment), I have a lot more work related dinner events, and TKO is a foodie and we love to go out to eat together.

So going out to eat...sometimes it's way easier than other times. For example, when I went to Stats a few weeks ago and got that amazing watermelon and feta salad. It was still a little painful to overlook the french fries and the buffalo chicken, but as soon as I took a bite I got over it. I love healthy food just as much as I love unhealthy food -- I need to remember that! Other times it's a lot more difficult. Last night my friends and I went to a pub near our school that we used to go to all the time. In the past I would have hands down ordered a buffalo chicken wrap. Last night I scoured the menu for so long searching for something to order besides a garden salad. I'm not kidding when I say there was NOTHING to order. I considered the chicken fajitas, but knew they could be dowsed in oil and would have had trouble avoiding the tortillas/cheese/sour cream/guac. With nothing else to choose I went with a small cup or clam chowder and a side salad without cheese. I was definitely full from the meal, but watching my friends eat wraps/fries was tough when I was eating something I didn't really want.

This is getting a little dramatic.

Anyway, here are the steps I'm planning on taking for the time being when it comes to eating out:
1. Voice my opinion about restaurant choice -- obviously things don't always go my way, but sometimes I can offer up a place that I know has healthy AND delicious options.
2. Look through the menu beforehand, CHOOSE SOMETHING (no matter how long that takes), and then stick with that.
3. Don't be afraid to ask for things -- I felt embarrassed saying "without cheese" last night but that was so dumb. I'm paying, I can have whatever I want!
4. Remember that it's just one meal, I will feel 100% times better than if I eat something unhealthy, and I won't even think about it the next day.

So that's the plan for now. I have 4 meals out to tackle this weekend so we'll see how I do!

Eating More Protein

I had mentioned last week or so that I really need to start incorporating more protein into my diet. Thanks to some brainstorming and some suggestions from my sister, I have a whole list ready! Here is what I came up with...

Protein Sources:
- turkey burgers (i haven't made these in so long but have a bunch in the fridge)
- tuna salad
- ground turkey/beef tacos/burritos/naked burritos
- shellfish/seafood (i have unopened bags of frozen shrimp, tilapia and calamari in the freezer)
- chicken sausages (have a few of these in the freezer)
- hard boiled eggs (eggs in general)
- turkey/regular bacon (for BLT's or breakfast)
- make a batch of plain shredded chicken in the crockpot, use it all week in salads, lettuce wraps, soups etc.
- buy cooked whole chicken from grocery store
- cold cuts from the deli (boars head low sodium turkey and chicken breast) - for sandwiches or snacks -- i love pickles wrapped in turkey!
- beans - for burritos, salads and soups
- nut butters (almond)
- hummus

When it comes to adding more protein (and eating healthy in general) it's all about prep and planning for me. It's not as easy for me to cook meat/boil eggs/cook beans etc. as it is to say, boil pasta or eat some bread. I used to meal plan for the week when I went food shopping but lately have been more or less winging it. Perhaps it's time to get back to that habit?

So this 5k is coming up on Sunday and I finally forced myself to run last night. I hadn't ran for a few weeks and have a variety of excuses that I'm not going to bother writing down. TKO let me borrow his KT Tape to see if it helped out my shin splints and I think it might have, although it might have just been all the rest I've had. I'm going to use the tape when I run tomorrow and on Sunday and then will have a true opinion.

Anyway, I hopped on the treadmill thinking I'd die after 2 minutes but surprised myself and ran 2 miles (slowly, ranging from 5-5.5 mph) and then walked/ran the last 1.1 miles. the whole thing took me about 38 minutes. It's pretty embarrassing that my 5k time is up by 8 minutes but what am I gonna do? Last night was definitely a reminder that I have to push myself if I want to get back into running shape. It's not going to come back by running a mile and then walking, I need to set a distance goal and keep going until I get there. The 10k I'm signed up for is on June 24th and I AM GOING TO BE ABLE TO RUN IT. I'm working on making up a training plan and will post it on here as soon as I get it together. I need the accountability.

Alright back to work!

Easter bunnies

Hellooo...I am exhausted today. This weekend flew by and was far too fast for my liking. On Friday I hopped on a plane to NY to go home for Easter. I got home around 8:30, grabbed some food, then went out for a night on the town with some friends. I had a lot of fun but drank way too many bud lights. Luckily I avoided 4 am Taco Bell, but it was a close one.

On Saturday I woke up bright and early and grabbed breakfast with a few of my girlfriends. Afterwards I went to the movies with my sisters to see the Hunger Games. The movie was great, but I don't really get all the hype. I read the Hunger Games (quickly) last year and was excited about the movie, but didn't rush to see it. The series doesn't compare to Harry Potter or even Twilight (which I'm not a fan of), and I just don't get the big deal. It's not like people read the first book and were anxiously awaiting the second and third. Every single person I know read all 3 books at once, in a matter of like two weeks. I don't know why this is annoying me but it just is lately.

After the movies we came home and had some chinese food for dinner. I ate wayyyy too much. Then we colored eggs! I love Easter and have missed it the past 2 years. Here's a before and after shot:



Next we made these adorable cupcakes. How cute are they!?


The next day started early with opening baskets and an egg hunt! There were 4 of us (ages 15, 23, 25 and 28 mind you) and it got pretty competitive! I did not win :(

We had the family over to my house and had some delicious food, which I forgot to take pictures of. I still feel full from this weekend.

I took an 11pm flight back to Boston and am now sitting at work like a zombie. I'm so tiredddddddd ah!!!

This short and quick weekend at home did not quench my homesickness. Even though Boston isn't THAT far from New York, it's still hard not being close to my family. It's really making me think about my future and where I want to be. I'm so torn. My little sister will be going to college soon and I feel like I've missed a lot. For now I'm just going to start making visiting home a priority. When I go home only for holidays I find that I struggle the whole time to balance between friends and family. If I just went home more often I wouldn't feel so desperate to squeeze everyone in. So that's that.

I have the B.A.A 5k this weekend and it's going to suck. I am going to a beer summit the day before and will probably be exhausted and hungover, great.

I'm quite the debbie downer today, lo siento.

April Showers

Hey there! I swear I just wrote Happy Friday and then deleted it. I am SO off in my days this week -- no clue why. But, Happy April! We all know what April showers bring!!! I can't wait for it to be really nice out! I've become such a pansy to the cold. On 55 degree days I'm wearing leggings, boots and my winter coat. I used to wear flip flops if it was over 35!

I've been feeling pretty under the weather this week but am definitely doing better today. My throat has been hurting a lot but with tons of fluids and sleep I think I'm on the up and up. Woohoo!

In other news, I'm onto book #10, Rena's Promise: Two Sisters in Auschwitz. I'm already a third through it. The story is really captivating and I truly enjoy reading anything to do with the Holocaust/World War II -- whether it be a textbook, a memoir, historical fiction. Anything. These stories and facts are so shocking but (I believe) so critical to read. It's hard to imagine these atrocities happening within this century, but important to remember that they did happen. If I needed more of a reason to buy the book, it was a kindle daily deal (which I am incapable of resisting) and has 5 stars on amazon (out of over 150 reviews).

My eats this week have been pretty great. I made a huge batch of pasta salad on Monday and have been eating it for lunch all week. Pasta salad just reminds me of summer, and this particular one reminds me of my family, so I never get sick of eating it!


As you can see there are tons of veggies in there. The ratio of pasta to veggies is like 1:4. I added in lots of cucumbers, olives, red peppers, artichokes, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, and snap peas. Yumm.

The other night for dinner I made some homemade healthy pizza. I topped two whole wheat tortillas with sauce, mushrooms, spinach, turkey pepperoni and cheese and popped them in the oven. I overcooked the cheese a bit but it was still good!


Last night I invited TKO over for dinner. I made us a healthified chicken parmesan with whole wheat spaghetti and a side salad. I spiced and herbed up some thin chicken breasts then cooked them in olive oil. I topped them with sauce and cheese, broiled them for a few minutes, done and done.


(That plate looks freakishly white)

I've been having a hard time getting protein into my diet lately, which is why I made the chicken last night. I have been trying to sneak some in with cheese, greek yogurt and hard boiled eggs but I would like to incorporate more. I'm just so sick of chicken! Maybe I will try to make some lamb. Do they even sell that in groceries? Apparently people eat that on Easter (we don't), so it must be somewhere. Hmmmmmm...

That's all for today, seeeeeya later!

Eatin' and Drinkin' through Burlington, VT

Let me start off this post by apologizing for the lack of pictures. I still don't feel comfortable taking pictures of my food/drinks in front of semi-strangers. Maybe one day. But for now, we'll all have to suffer through simply reading my words.

This weekend was so great!! While coming home from work on Friday I had a hankering for oysters, so I called my trusty oyster buddy (TKO) and requested a night out. We went to Island Creek Oyster Bar in Kenmore Square, which if you remember, is where I had my very first oyster!! Oh the memories.

We started off with some oysters, of course. We ordered 5 different types -- my favorites by far were the Island Creeks and the East Blonde Beach. For my entree I ordered the salmon, which came with mushrooms and peppers and served over ISraeli cous cous. It was fairly tasty.

TKO ordered the scallops in a chorizo hash.

I like ICOB but I think I'll mostly stick to oysters from now on.

On Saturday morning we woke up bright and early to visit some of TKO's friends in Burlington, VT. I was super excited because I've never been before, but didn't realize it was a 4 hour drive. Lucky for me (but not for TKO), I had dramamine to make the car ride more enjoyable. I am officially the worst road trip partner of all time.

We got to Waterbury, VT around 12:30 and met TKO's friends, Amanda and Andrew, at a great lunch spot, The Reservoir. They had a long beer menu so we of course started with some brews. For lunch I ordered the grilled chipotle chicken sandwich and TKO ordered this massive burger.


This thing came with an American flag sticking out of it -- only for serious Patriots, obviously.

After lunch we headed straight to the Ben and Jerry's factory for dessert! The tour was okay but the free ice cream at the end was what we were really there for! They gave us Milk and Cookies, which I've never had before. It was a great flavor! The factory was pretty fun but I especially liked the "flavor graveyard" they had.


After ice cream we headed to the Rock Art Brewery for some samples. Next we went to the Alchemist Cannery for some Heady Topper samples and Miss Pac Man!


We headed back to Amanda and Andrew's for a bit to rest before going into town. At about 7 or so we headed to Church Street. It was lit up so beautifully and really reminded me of Quincy Market! Shops and live musicians lined the streets and there were a ton of unique bars and restaurants.


Our first stop was Ake's Place, where Amanda's friend was showing her photography. It was an Africa exhibit which I of course loved. Next we went to the Farmhouse for some more beers. I was pretty drunk at this point and totally neglected my camera. The Farmhouse was such a cool spot. They had a great drink list, it was big and roomy, and didn't feel pretentious at all. Made me want to move to Burlington!!

We decided to hold off on dinner and ended up going to Leunig's Bistro for their late-night special -- $15 for soup/salad and an entree from 10-11! I drunkenly ordered the white bean soup and the steak frites (since when do I eat steak?). You could tell we were all hungry because as soon as the food came out there was silence at the table. It's so funny when that happens.

After our dinner we headed back to the apartment, watched some TV and called it a night.

In the morning we headed to Sneakers for breakfast. I ordered chocolate chip pancakes (again!! what has gotten into me!?) and smothered them in some VT maple syrup. Yum. The pancakes also came with scrambled eggs and some home fries. Deeelish. After breakfast we went over to the harbor to walk around a bit. It was a gloomy day but it was still beautiful. And on the other side of Lake Champlain is NY -- so cool!

This is ridiculous but I felt a little pang of homesickness looking at New York over the lake. I'm happy I'm going home next weekend.

We left VT around noon and I struggled to stay awake through the drive home and mostly failed. When I got home I slept more and then went to bed around 9:30. I'm like an infant with all this sleep!

And on that note, it's time for bed. Good night!