Category Archives: exercise

Everyday Eats

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veganmofo

Eats

A typical day of vegan food…

Remember the Pumpkin Pie Smoothie?

smoothieThat was breakfast this morning.
Mmmmmmm!! Delish.

And lunch was another oldie but goodie: Apple Cherry Oatmeal

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For dinner I tried a recipe from Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan, Blackened Tofu, which would easily fit in here:

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So in a last minute play, I rebounded with this:

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which went very nicely with our brown basmati rice and steamed broccoli.  :)

Run

I hopped on the treadmill today and went for a run. I know…it was beautiful outside today. But the treadmill is SOFT and the gym has WATER and so I opted to run inside.

Distance: 6 miles
Pace: 8:40 minute mile

I found out the gym now has BodyPump classes – has anyone tried this? I think I might give it a go next week. Right now I am running 6-8 miles every other day, and on opposite days getting on the elliptical machine or going to a vinyasa yoga class. I also have gotten back to walking the dogs 2x a day – about 2 miles each time. I LOVE running, walking, and yoga but the elliptical machine is…well…dry. So I’m looking for something else to add in.

On another note…

I came across an article in the Baltimore Sun called Turn Over a New Leaf: Vegan Diets are Moving Solidly into Mainstream. How awesome is that? The article says there are about 1,000,000 vegans in the USA, and that the rise of “eating locally” has resulted in an increase in vegetarian and vegan cookbooks. It also includes a recipe for Manhattan Vegetable Chowder that looks awesome!

Have you seen an increase in people going vegan?

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Yay for Being Home!

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We arrived home last night after 10 days on the road. During our vacation we:

  • Explored Door County – walked around the cute towns, shopped, got massages at the Lavender Spa in Egg Harbor, and loved the Greens and Grains health food store, also in Egg Harbor.
  • Visited our friends Sam and Tessa in Neenah, Wi – went out with several of my friends from high school and had a blast seeing everyone!
  • Hung out in Madison with Kiljoong and Christina – walked on State Street, watched the boats and students from the Union Terrace, had a vegan breakfast at Monty’s Blue Plate Diner, and enjoyed Nepalese dinner at veg-friendly Himul Chuli.
  • Went to Lambeau Field in Green Bay (aka “Mecca)!
  • Visited Gary and Tiffany in Fort Collins and got an in-depth tour of the city and surrounding area – thanks Gary and Tiffany!! xoxo  :)
  • Ate at Watercourse in Denver. A lot.
  • Explored the city of Denver by foot. Fell in love with Denver.
  • Spent lots of time with Jonathan and Lisa, who showed us parts of Denver we hadn’t even thought to explore!
  • Spent time with D’s friends from college and had a great time at Benji’s wedding in Keystone, CO.DSCN0023

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Wow what a trip, huh?

Run

During our trip I managed to run 6-8 miles nearly every other day. I skipped the last day because we were in Keystone and honestly I was having trouble breathing at times! We also walked a lot in Denver and in Keystone so I’m pretty happy with how I exercised during our trip.

Eats

Ok well my eating is another story. As always I struggled with food on the trip. We were able to find vegan food everywhere we went, and once I found it I ate a lot of it! This was especially at WaterCourse, which is definitely my favorite restaurant. It’s so unusual to walk into a restaurant and be able to eat anything that’s on the menu – sandwiches, soups, breakfast scrambles, biscuits, desserts. I loved it and literally ate it up!  We ate a lot of food – and then walked most of it off afterwards.

When I go on vacation, I tend to teeter between “hey I’m on vacation and I’m gonna eat whatever I want!” and “just eat when you’re hungry.” I think I did a better job than usual of not beating myself up for eating so much – in the past I probably would have felt really bad about it. This time I figured I’ll get “back on track” when I get home. So I jumped on the scale this morning and see that I only gained two pounds while on our trip. Ok – I can handle that!  :)

How do you approach food and exercise while you are on vacation? Do you indulge (Hey you’re on vacation!) or do you try to maintain good habits (stay the course!)??

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How I Started Running Again

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Someone told me today that my blog should be titled eat.eat.eat. LOL! OK, I guess I need to write about something other than food, huh?

So I’m going to say a few words about running today. I LOVE to run! Maybe it’s the endorphins, I don’t know. But when I run I feel really happy.

It wasn’t always this way. When I was in my young twenties, I strongly disliked running! When I ran it felt like my backside weighed about five thousands pounds and was hanging below my knees. I’ve always had strong lungs thanks to my swimming background, so breathing while running was never an issue. I just found running to be extremely uncomfortable and BORING!

So I dabbled in running on and off for many years. At one point I even ran a marathon! But I never really loved it. Then I injured my ankle and I dropped running like a hot potato. And I never looked back :)

Then last spring I was staring at age 40 head on and decided it was time to get serious about losing weight. I was at my second all time high weight and hoped to drop about 10 pounds. So THAT’S what motivated me back into running.

I started off VERY SLOWLY. For my first “run” I alternated walking one minute with running one minute (at 10 minute / mile)  for about 10 minutes total. I did this every other day and then after a week I increased it to 15 minutes total. Each week I added an additional 5 minutes until I was up to 1/2 hour. Then I worked on running 2 minutes and walking 1 minute.

During this process I often felt like I could go further but I made myself stick to this schedule. I know that runners develop injuries gradually – I mean, have you ever heard of a runner just all of a sudden falling down in pain? Probably not – usually it’s something that develops over time. And often times we push ourselves past what our bodies are ready for – that’s how we get shin splints! Maybe it’s the endorphins? So take it slow and gradually increase your distance, time, and speed.

Today I run about 6-7 miles, every other day. I average about a 8.5 minute mile, and I’ve avoided running injuries. And combined with good eating habits I’ve been able to drop over 20 pounds and maintin it for a year. Not bad for a 40 year old!  :)

Back on Track

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After my weekend in Florida and my donut extravaganza yesterday morning I’m feeling like I’m back “on track.”

Breakfast: Green smoothie (3.5 points for those of you who count :)

  • unsweetened almond milk
  • vanilla Spirutein protein powder
  • banana
  • spinach
  • cinnamon, vanilla, almond extract

Lunch: Fruit salad

  • blackberries
  • blueberries
  • raspberries
  • strawberries
  • mango
  • kiwi
  • shredded coconut
  • sliced almonds

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+ Trader Joe’s fat free vanilla frozen yogurt drizzled with honey for dessert.

Dinner: Salad + 2 homemade biscuits + another small bowl of froyo

Salad

  • mixed greens
  • cherry tomatoes
  • cucumbers
  • carrots
  • red pepper
  • Newman’s Own Lowfat Sesame Ginger dressing
  • hemp seeds

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The hemp seeds kept getting stuck in my teeth – I don’t recommend adding them to salads! I keep trying to find a good use for them…any ideas on how to use hemp seeds?

Exercise:

  • Yoga: 20 minutes
  • Walked: 2 miles with the dogs (40 minutes)
  • Ran: 6 miles in 50 minutes
  • Walked: 2 miles with the doggies (35 minutes – hubby wasn’t with me!)

Sorry for the blurry pictures – I’m working on it! I did manage to snap this beauty:

DSC_0158awwww….isn’t she awesome??