The Mockingbird Chronicles

New blog location

2009-12-19T08:16:00.001-05:00

Hey all, I moved my blog to wordpress, so you can find it http://www.themockingbirdchronicles.wordpress.com

A good lunch

2009-11-11T14:27:00.005-05:00

I know it's been awhile AGAIN since I posted, but I haven't had internet access! Even now I'm using wireless from someone in my complex who didn't secure their network! I'm posting the amazing lunch I had last Friday that I've been recreating all this week...MMMM....

It consisted of 1/2 of Panera's Mediterranean veggie sandwich, 3/4 c. or so of spicy tomato basil soup(made that one up myself!), gluten free crackers and a big mug of tea(yogi organic green tea pomegrante.... this tea is yummy...it contains stevia leaf in the bag so it's slightly sweet after you steep in-no sugar needed) In this picture I'm eating it on my parents awesome new porch:
And for dessert:

SO Good. The sandwich has on it: hummus, roasted red peppers, cucumber, tomatoes, and onions(and feta cheese if you want, which I did not have) all on tomato bread. To re-create it I made hummus and roasted red peppers and put all the other ingredients on a toasted Arnold's sandwich thin.

The soup I made with 1 can of tomato soup+1 can of almond milk, tossed in some crushed red pepper, garlic, basil, onion powder and parsley and let it simmer for about 1/2 an hour. ..YUM!

My very first trail run

2009-11-06T13:31:00.003-05:00

I'm at my parents house in Savannah, and the neighborhood they live in is off of a two lane road with NO shoulder and tight turns. Multiple bikers have been injured/killed on this road. My mom is adament that I dont' run on this road. So if I run around here I have to stay in the neighborhood, which is a 1 mile loop...I've done it many a time but it's BORING! So today I decided to drive on out to Skidaway Island state park and run the trails there.

I have NEVER run on a trail before so I had NO IDEA what I was getting myself into....I thought I'd do a long run of 9-10 miles. It ended up being 3.65 miles....due to a multiplicity of factors. First, I had a terrible night of sleep last night(I ate dairy yesterday...bad me) and then I slept in(till 0740, which is sleeping in for me!), then my I ate my pre-run snack of pumpkin bread and pb and was going to go get ready and my mom kept asking me for all this help getting ready(for work, nothing special!). then I had all these issues getting my stuff together to do. Finally I headed out and got to the trails around 0930. I headed out...If you loop all the trails it's SUPPOSEd to be 5 miles so I figured I could just do them twice and be done...well, the connector trail from the main trail to the two smaller trails was closed!! I also had NO idea how difficult trail running is! I was really putting in significant effort and only averaging around an 11:30-12:00 minute mile pace! After doing parts of the trails that I could I started running around the campground there. I was going to go for awhile but then I started getting a blister(and didn't have extra moleskin with me) and I knew I had to stop. Now don't think I'm some sort of wimp who can't handle a blister, heck I got blisters that bled and ulcerated during a half marathon last year, but since I have a race coming up on the 14th I didn't want to make things worse...anywho..

Stopped and took some pics on the trail:

Halloween 2009(aka hooker in a cab...)

2009-11-06T12:58:00.005-05:00

Not a lot to say about halloween, other than there are a lot of girls out there who have significantly more body confidence than I do!! If you're wondering about the title of this post it has to do with a costume that my group of friends and I were witness to(unfortunately)....It was a very skimpy yellow/black and white checked bikini like thing...we still dont' know what it was...And trust me, the girl wearing it did NOT have the body for that revealing of a costume. Not that she had a bad body, but a little more coverage and she would've looked smoking hot...instead she just looked like....well, a hooker....and hubby mentioned the pattern of her costume looked like a taxi cab and so maybe she was a sexy cab driver/hoooker...hence..hooker in a cab(we should really market this...i mean hooters has their hooters air...

Anywhooo...here's some of the pics from my little point and shoot. hubby took some better ones of before we went out with our DSLR but it's in the car packed away. No editing has been done with these shots..

Oh yeah, I never told anyone what my costume was!! I have been trying to be this character for three years now but I always ran out of time to finish making the costume but finally this year it worked out! I was Satine from Moulin Rouge...and yes I hand-made the costume(people were asking me all night). It turned out to be this huge production and once I added all the glitter fabric to the basis of the costume it was too tight so I had to cut it down the back, add extra fabric and create a corset! What a pain! Hubby had to throw a costume together at the last second due to his friend backing out...he was Haru the great White Ninja(remember Chris Farley??)

Ta-da! Me and my friend Ron, who went as a Rabi cause everyone thinks he's Jewish(he's not...lol)

The Great White Ninja

All the girls...I guess I win the award for most sparkly!

the boys.

Who invited Achmed?

We did not plan to all be of the Moulin Rouge type theme together...but there you have it. I guess that makes them the Diamond Dogs if I'm the Sparkling Diamond!

Just what you always wanted...an upclose exclusive of my booty...LOL

I don't know who these girls are but they insisted on having a picture with me...

They call them the Diamond Dogs...teehee...I got stopped at a club by a guy who said I looked just like Nicole Kidman in Moulin rouge...UM...DUH!Finally, one of me and my bestest at the club...she was Lil' Red Riding Hood. Her BF was the big bad wolf which you can see if you go back and look at the picture of all the guys.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures and that they were worth the wait!

Lots of catching up to do...

2009-11-06T12:38:00.003-05:00

So it's been awhile since I posted....1 week to be exact...All I can say is it's been a crazy week.

Halloween and then getting all my things together and tying up lose ends so that I would be ready for the (temporary) move to north carolina.

I'm sitting here at my parents house in Savannah waiting for my mom to come home so we can leave for my sister's house in South Carolina(before finally arriving in NC tomorrow...lol). In leiu of writing one long ass post to cover the entire past week, I'm going to do quick hi-lights and then a few separate posts for events that deserve their own post!

Halloween-getting it's own post so you can see pictures!

Sunday-today was senior picture day...whoever decided to put pictures on the day after halloween(and at 0830 no less!) was a true idiot. I had to get up really early to get all ready and make myself NOT look like I partied the night before! Pictures were okay, I hated the ones in the full regalia holding the fake diploma so I didn't order any of those. I used a new makeup product that I'd read about on a photographers website called Makeup Forever HD powder. I think it made a difference, but I'm not sure. I plan to do an official review of it later, and take photos with just makeup on and then photos with makeup on and it over the makeup and see if theres a difference. Long run in the evening-8 miles...it felt GREAT! and it was easy! The whole running 5 minute/walking 1 minute for my long runs is great. I dont' get tired and I feel like I could go forever like that! And because of the rest I get during the walking part my overall pace is the same as if I ran the whole time.

Monday-14 hours of class/board review/meetings...'nuff said

Tuesday-got up early and did a heart pounding faster 3 miles(9:30 pace...very pleased with this time), more boring bored...i mean board review. Went out for sushi with friends...had a veggie roll and veggie soup, quite good!

Wednesday-early day again...went to the gym and did 3.5 miles of hill intervals on the treadmill, plus an additional 10-15 minutes of walking(warm up/cool down). then did some ab work. I made an awesome green monster with pumpkin in it! Tasted just like pumpkin pie! Spent the whole day getting ready for my depature(packing the car, changing the oil, ect). That night hubby and I went to see the Panther's play. We usually buy our tickets the night of the game at the box office(they're so cheap-$10!!) but as we were walking there to get tickets a guy stopped us and offered us 2 lower bowl seats for $5...we worried if he was legit or not, but he went in through the ticket gate with us to show that they were legit. He was a season ticket holder and had been given extra tickets. We were only 14 rows from the ice!! It was so awesome! I've never sat so close. And funnily enough, my lasik surgeon was sitting a few rows in front of us!

Thursday-get up and drive, drive, drive! I had a great lunch. Stopped at panera and got their mediterian veggie sandwhich sans cheese. It was on some whole grain tomato bread with cilantro sauce, hummus, roasted red pepper, spinach and tomato...YUM! I ate half of it and the bag of chips they gave me. I'm going to try to re-create it! I also had a homemade larabar while driving. Got to Savannah around 1600 but went to a running store to get some calf sleeves(http://www.zensah.com/muscle-recovery-sleeve.html) that I read about in runners world(and some body glide http://www.bodyglide.com/). My mom had said we'd go to the gym but then she changed her mind so I didn't get a workout in, wah...nah, it's okay! She wanted to go to Atlanta Bread Company for dinner so we did. They did not have as good of vegetarian selections so I basically had them add stuff to their basic vegetarians sandwhich. I also had a balsamic salad on the side and finished my mom's tomato and fennel soup...yummers! I got hungry around 2100 so I made another pumpkin green monster....mmmmm...and hit the rack early. Woke up around 23:30 with stomach pains, I'm guessing cause I forgot to ask for my sandwich and salad sans cheese at ABC...learned my lesson!

So now I'm all caught up! Mostly...

Gracie's Story

2009-10-29T23:59:00.004-04:00

I went back through my posts and realized that I never have mentioned Gracie or how we ended up with her. I mention in my first post that we have two dogs, and that's about it....Well, actually we have three dogs!

Our dog adventure started in 2007 with Bailey. About 10 months later we got Aspen to be a companion for Bailey. That was probably the best decision we ever made. Aspen brings such a calming influence to our wild and energetic Bailey. Aspen is also my baby. She is such a

mommy's girl.

Fast-forward to this summer. We knew that I would be going away for 6 months for my externships and that possibly I would also be going away for my residency and that I wanted to be able to bring Aspen with me. However, since Bailey has had the companionship of Aspen for 2 years now, she needs to have another dog around. She gets very anxious when she is by herself. So, we knew that in order for me to take Aspen with me, we'd have to get another dog. We hadn't started looking or anything when an opportunity arose.

A person was fired from the store that hubby used to work at before he went to bootcamp(he still works for Best Buy, just a different location) and they needed someone to work extra hours over there, so hubby volunteered. He was working with a guy from another store whom he(hubby) had trained back in 2006. Well, this guy asks hubby if we're interested in getting a puppy(!). Of course hubby said yes and come to find out it's a little girl, 7 weeks old, and a mix of a yorkie and a malti-poo. We talked about it and two days later we went a picked her up-a little black bundle of love-Gracie.

He(co-worker) had moved in with his girlfriend and both had dogs that were not fixed. Well, one thing led to another and Gracie and two other puppies were born. The co-worker and gf could not keep the puppies so they were giving them away(all we paid them for, was the vet care for Gracie)

The coolest part of the whole story is how Gracie got her name. She was the first puppy to be born. She was not breathing and did not have a heartbeat at birth. They thought she was stillborn. Co-worker decided he'd try to see if he could revive her so he started massaging her chest and eventually she started breathing. He said it was lucky that she lived and his mom said, Not luck, it was grace....so of COURSE she had to be named Gracie!

Now Gracie is 5 months old, 6 pounds and a wild licking maniac. She still loves to snuggle though and she and Bailey can play for hours and hours.

Dairy may not be my friend

2009-10-29T23:37:00.002-04:00

So the cottage cheese experiment results are in....drumroll please......

is the antici..................................................................................................pation killing you? (ps...can anyone name the movie I stole that from-the anticipation part anyways?)

I have a stomach ache of the exact same nature as I had last night. Kind of a crampy, indigestiony, sour feeling. I also have, and this is probably tmi but whatever, non-productive acidy burps. I mean, you know how when your stomach is full of gas and you burp and it's relieving? Well, these burps aren't relieving and they have an acidic nature to them. My throat feels burned from the acid.

I've been researching about lactose intolerance and stuff, but all the websites say the symptoms from that come pretty quickly after ingestion of dairy(like 30 minutes-2 hours)...not 10-12 hours later! So I'm not really sure what to make of it. Maybe it's just coincidental that after 10 days of no dairy and no stomach aches I would have two stomach aches in a row after eating dairy??!!

All I know is, no more dairy for me(except my goat cheese, which is less than 1 oz/day and I've read that goat milk is easier to digest anyways), at least for a little while and then we'll see what happens!

The 30 day Beauty and Health Challenge

2009-10-29T10:44:00.003-04:00

I try to live a healthy life. I have a lot of good habits are good for my health. Here's some of the things that I do right:

1. I brush my teeth at least twice a day

2. I wash my face nightly

3. I exercise 5-7 days per week

4. I get 7-8 hours of sleep per night

5. Before I decided to follow a vegetarian diet, I rarely ate red meat(maybe 1/month or less)

6. I eat a lot of veggies

7. I always take the stairs

8. I don't drink soda

9. I park far away and walk

10. I wash my hands properly

However, there are certain things I don't do habitually. I'm not saying I NEVER do these things, but often I find that I do these things in spurts...maybe for a week or two I'm really great about doing one or more of these things and then, they fall by the wayside. So, as of today, I am making and pledge to do the following things everyday for 30 days(starting November 1...I always like to start things on a new month and it works out that November happens to have exactly 30 days). I think they will improve not only my health but my beauty as well.

1. Flossing twice per day(I am so bad about this!)

2. Washing my face TWICE per day(and using an exfoliating cleanser for one of those washings). My morning routine typically involves me running astringent over my t-zone, but I believe my skin would look more glowing and alive if I devoted more time to it.

3. Using a facial moisturizer with SPF in it daily. Again, I never remember to do this!

4. Taking all my vitamins/supplements everyday. Currently I have a multi-vitamin, omega-3's and an anti-oxidant supplement I'm "supposed" to take every day but I slack off majorly. I also want to get some spirulina supplements and possibly macca powder to add to my repritoire.

5. Drink a green monster everyday.

The time it takes to do all these activities would probably add maybe 5-10 minutes of extra "stuff" into my life which is really nothing when you think about it....

Anyone else out there have some health and beauty routines they want to pledge to doing for the next 30 days?

The 30 day Beauty and Health Challenge starts November 1st!!

Lazy Summer Days...

2009-10-29T09:14:00.002-04:00

Ok fine, my calendar may say it is fall, but my thermometer sure doesn't!

Yesterday I took my dogs out at 0700 and it was already 85 degrees with 90% humidity. Let me tell you how great that felt...NOT! I had planned to go for a run, but...well, I just KNEW that I couldn't do it in that kind of weather, with the addition of the sun beating down on my back. There are certain times when I can push through things(like my 5 mile run at 1200 in 96 degree weather) but this wasn't one of them.

So, I told myself, I'll run tonight when I get out of clinic, even though it's my late night at clinic. Hubby doesn't let me run at night after dark when he's home, but it just so happened that he was off at the Panthers/Senators game so I knew I would be in the clear to run at night(I always stay in lighted, very safe neighborhoods at night). However, when I got home from clinic I was EXHAUSTED. Way more exhausted than your typical after a long hard day exhausted. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt there was no way I'd have the energy to even put my running clothes on and stretch, let alone go for a 4 mile run. So, I went to bed at 2100.

I felt so lazy, hence the title of my post . This week has been kind of a down week for me, exercise wise. I'm kind of in limbo land with fitness because I know I'm leaving next week and my workout schedule's going to change in a major way. Plus I'm fed up with all the extremely hot days and running in this weather is really getting to me. And I'm bored of all my running routes. I have a limited number of ways I can start a run(about three different directions) and I'm frankly just BORED!

I've realized something important...I need to make it a priority to get up in the morning and do my runs or my workouts before clinic because often things happen that prevent me from getting my workouts done in the evening(for example, getting invited out to do something) OR I am so tired from a rough day that I just dont' have the energy. Or I need to study or work on a project.

What can I do to make the mornings easier for me to get up and workout? Well, I can make my lunch ahead of time. I can lay out both my workout clothes and my clinic clothes. I can pre-make a morning snack. I can ask hubby to take care of the dogs for me(for the next 6 days anyway until I leave..lol).

So, of course you want to know...did I do this for this morning? Yes, I did, but I didn't get up to run. WHAT?!! I had a bad stomach ache/nausea/acid indigestion last night when I got woken up when hubby got home from the game(and I was awake for HOURS in pain). I'm not 100% certain what caused it. I have two theories. 1. the cake I ate yesterday afternoon. I don't really know why this would make me have indigestion and stomach problems but it's possible my tummy didn't like all that sugar, refined flour and butter. 2. I had dairy yesterday after 10 days of no dairy(other than a little bit of goat cheese on my wraps). I had a big ol' bowl of cottage cheese for breakfast.

So, to test this theory I had cottage cheese again for breakfast today. We'll see how I feel later today. If I have stomach issues again, then I'll unequivocally know to blame the dairy and then I"ll just cut it out of my life. If not, then I'll take last night's issue as a fluke a move on.

Can dairy problems manifest themselves 10-12 hours after consumption?

When Less is Actually More

2009-10-27T21:14:00.002-04:00

If you read my journal with any regularity you'll see that I struggle with my body image and my thoughts regarding this. Yesterday I was doing some thinking about my life and I came to the shocking realization that in the past 5 years, I have spent at least some portion of every year on some sort of diet designed to help me lose weight I had gained. With the exception of this summer, I was always "successful" in losing that weight, for a time, until an increased work load or stress interuppted my careful planning and exercise and things went awry and I gained the weight back.

I don't want to live like this. I want a normal life. I am slowing realizing and working on the fact that maybe in order to live a normal, healthy life where I am not constantly countingcalories or constantly on one diet or another, I will have to weigh more and carry a higher percentage of body fat.

What I finally had to realize is, when I am 50, 60, 70+ do I want to look back on my life and see that I maintained my weight at 125 pounds and 15% body fat but I was constantly battling hunger, tiredness, always on a diet, never enjoying life or do I want to look back and realize how healthily I ate, how I enjoyed life and how exercising was pleasureable and not a simply a way to create a calorie deficit in order to lose weight. I chose the latter.

I also have been realizing that the times in my life when I have been most satisfied with my body, most happy with myself and able to get the most out of my workouts have been when I haven't been counting calories or on some sort of diet and simply been using my hunger as a guide to when I should eat.

It's almost like this, when I am dieting and exercising in such a way to achieve something, either a certian number of pounds lost or a certain percentage of body fat lost, I get so focused on seeing those number and in turn it causes me to focus on all my bodies imperfections and faults. I can't see the forest for the trees so to speak. And then when the loses were not there(as they typically weren't, even before when I had success in weight loss, they weren't always there) I got discouraged, angry, ect.

And I also realized this: when I am not dieting, I dont' go crazy and binge on chocolate or chips or cake because I DON'T FEEL DEPRIVED!

I dont' want to be on a diet the rest of my life. I have come to realize that how I eat now will shape how I am able to eat for the rest of my life. If I continue on the path of restrictive lowcalorie diets then I will be doomed to that for the rest of my life.

I also don't want to feel trapped into needing massive amounts of exercise in order to maintain my weight. I want exercise to be for my health, my sanity and frankly for my enjoyment. If I miss a workout, it shouldn't be the end of the world.

On muscle and fitness and fitness hers there's a woman who has a great quote as her signature, and it says "insanity=doing teh same stupid thing over and over again and expecting different results". I feel like I've been doing the same stupid thing over and over again(exercising excessively and using restrictive diets) and yet I don't get the results I want, neither in my running nor in my muscle building. I have been reviewing other journals and blogs and I look at people who spend way less time working out that I do, eat more than I do and yet, they run faster, can do pull-ups, are stronger and more toned...the list goes on. For so long I've looked at that and instead of thinking maybe I'm going about it wrong, I thought, well I must need to do more because MORE is MORE....Faulty logic for sure

More is not necessarily more!

Weighing In and What I ate: Day 2

2009-10-26T20:53:00.005-04:00

Today's a crabby and tired day for me. Around 1400 I was overcome with exhaustion and I fell asleep on my couch and I slept hard. Weird.....

Workout today was a full body workout curtesy of p90x plus. It's really good but it forces me to realize just how weak I really am...I still struggle with pushups(though I have seen some improvements) and pullups...fuh-get about it. I thought that maybe after so many months of

training to do a pull-up I might be further along...but no dice my friend. If I hang on the bar, I

can barely pull myself up at all...maybe 1/4 of the way. GRRR!

I'm wondering if pullups are just going to be intesnly more difficult for me cause I've got such a larger lower body in comparison to my upper body? I mean I'm a 6-8 on bottom and a 00-0 on top...that's a huge difference...all my mass is in my stomach, hips and legs so that's an awful lot for my little tiny arms to pull up!!!

I think my body has decided it's had enough. Enough of restrictive diets and crazy eating plans and all that junk. I mean, after struggling with my phobia induced anorexia for 3+ years(during puberty might I add, which I think affects things even more!), then all my years of stomach problems and eating very little, then the past 5 years where I've been on one diet or another for at least 6 months out of every year(I thought about this today and I was blown away by the fact that every single year I've been on some kind of "diet" I designed to help me lose weight, only to gain it or more back to lose the next year!).

My body is done with all this. How do I know this? Well, in

spite of daily exercise for almost 6 months combined with a moderate calorie diet, I have put on and maintained over 15 pounds. I've tried multiple types of diets to combat this weight and it ain't going no where. I have trained my body to wonder where the next calorie is coming from because I haven't been fueling myself properly for so long that's it's holding on to everything it has.

When I really started pushing myself physically with exercise over the summer, I saw a huge increase in my appetite....but instead of being thrilled with the fact that it meant my body knew exactly what to do to make sure I met my nutritional needs and that my metabolism was going

into overdrive, I freaked out and worried I was going to gain weight so I started cutting back my food even more. Duh!

Well, enough rambling...on to the good part....the food!

Breakfast-baked apple oatmeal(i cooked the apple with the oats, also put cinnamon and brown sugar on it) with 2 EW and 1 egg. Hubby was hovering around so I felt stupid pulling out the SLR in front of him to take a picture of my food(lol!) so I snapped a quick pic with my iphone but it looks crappy so I ain't posting it!

Snack-had some sesame seed crackers right out of the box in the costco parking lot as I was loading up my car(yes I was THAT hungry!). I'm classy I know it!

Lunch-I took yesterday's basic lunch and expanded on it: Added red pepper to my sandwich and had a big salad as well(spring mix, peppers, walnuts, balsamic vinegrette)

Afternoon snack-celery with pb. I wish I had some cranberries or raisins to put on this...Ants on a log-remember that!

Post-workout-Cherry/pomegrante green monster. 3 c. steamed spinach, 1/2 pomegrante, 1 c. cherries, 1 c. almond milk, handful of walnuts, 1/2 scoop protein powder, 1 t. glutamine. YUM!

*note-I filled this glass three times with the amount I had in the blender.

Dinner-I'm very proud of the creativity involved in my main dish...not so much in the side(lol). Red lentils and white bean stew in half of an acorn squash sprinkled with a little parm. It was incredibly delicious...particularly after I added in some sesame seed crackers! The slight sweetness of the squash was a perfect complement to the garlicy/oniony soup. The side dish...pitiful looking frozen green beans. not so yum!

Red Lentil and White Bean Stew*

2 t. EVOO

1/2 c. chopped onion

1 chopped scallion

1/2 T minced garlic

1/2 c. red lentils

1 c. water

14 oz white beans

1 t. onion powder

1 t. garlic powder

1/2 t. salt

1 t. parsley

dash red pepper flakes

1 tomato, chopped

1.5 c. spinach

Brown onions, scallions and garlic in oil. Add lentils and water. Cook 30 minutes till lentils are tender(they look like soggy cereal..lol). Add rest of ingredients except spinach and cook 30 more minutes. Add spinach right before serving. If desired spoon into a cooked squash, top with 1 t. parmesan and bake for 10 minutes...YUM!!

*ingredient amounts are approximate...I don't measure!

Well, now I'm drinking a mug of mint herbal tea...and maybe I'll have another snack...who knows?

What I ate on my first day as a veggie....

2009-10-26T11:55:00.003-04:00

First day=success! No meat! Woo! Of course I had some eggs and a little dairy after dinner, but I'm not trying to be vegan so I'm okay with that.

Here's my eats:

Pre-workout-apple and 1 c. almond milk

Post-workout-Green Monster(see earlier post for ingredients)

Breakfast-oats, almond butter and eggs

Lunch-flat out artesian bread(can I stress how much I love these?) with homemade hummus and goat cheese...OMG...so frickin' delicious, I'm going to have this again, but next time with peppers and a big salad!(I was running low on food, it was the day before grocery day...you know how that is!)...no picture cause it looked like baby poo spread on bread...maybe when I make it with peppers it'll look better and I'll take a pic.

Snack-arnold flat sandwich bread with pb and nutella

Dinner-curtesy of Sweet Tomatoes-huge salad with all the veggies(including butternut squash pieces-this is soooo good, try it at home!), chick peas, a sprink of sunflower seeds and ranch dressing on the side. I dipped my fork in the ranch and then had several bites of salad so I hardly used any dressing. I've really learned how to love the taste of vegetables and how they mingle together in a salad with very little dressing! 1 c. of vegetarian chili, that I put tons of chives and onions int0(smell my breath now...teehee)...a couple pieces of the different breads, and I only had 1 bite of each...and a cookie with a little frozen yogurt and caramel sauce.

I'm not going to say that this was the most balanced and healthy day I've ever had, but hey, I decided to go veggie early(I wasn't going to start till next week) so my cupboards were pretty bare and then hubby and I went out to dinner. I'm actually proud of myself with my dinner, usually I got crazy at Sweet Tomatoes and pile eggs, cheese, croutons, ect on my salad and eat a ton of baked goods, so all in all, I say success!

I was hungry when we got home from the movies but it was too late to eat anything, so this morning I was SOOO HUNGRY!..Oh yeah, we saw Couples Retreat. It was pretty cute and funny.

Date Night+Cute New Shoes!

2009-10-25T18:04:00.003-04:00

Is there anything better than cute/sexy shoes? Actually there is...a hubby who loves seeing you in cute/sexy shoes and picks them out for you when you're shopping for something entirely different!

Are you drooling with envy yet? Yes ladies, I have a a husband who not only tolerates my shoe obsession, but facilitates it and encourages it and even picks out shoes for me to wear all by

himself!!!!! No, he does not have any brothers and yes his dad is still happily married-SORRY!

Look at these beauties he picked out for me on Friday when we went to Burlington Coat Factory looking for winter gear for my trip to NC:

The Bow! The Heel! The plaid! I could swoon! And best yet? only $19.99-SCORE!!!

Here's a pic of me attempting to model them...but I sorta cut out my other foot...whoops...

You get the idea.

So tonight we're having date night and OF COURSE I'm wearing these shoes! I've got such a cute outfit picked out! It's dinner and a movie, so it's a casual outfit-jeans, a brown button up shirt, my adorable new shoes and a cream colored sweater for the movie...YEA!!!

Dinner-Sweet Tomatoes...our Favorite Restaurant! Then movie...not sure yet! But there are several out that I want to see so...we'll see!

Nutrition and Eye Health

2009-10-25T16:08:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I recieved my October issue of The Review of Optometry. I know you're all aquiver with jealousy, but don't hate...we can't all get such pillars of excitement delivered to our doors!

But seriously, it has an interesting article written about nutritional therapuetics for the eye. It covers the three biggies that most people are scared of when talking about their eyes: glaucoma(an optic nerve disease), macular degeneration(a retinal disease) and cataracts(a lens disease) and how recent discoveries in nutrient supplementation can be beneficial in prevention and/or treatment of these diseases. So without further ado...ps..take notes, there will be a quiz! ....JUST KIDDING!

1. Nutrition and Macular Degeneration:

-Vitamin C appears to protect the retina. A study showed that participants who consumed a

supplement with Vitamin C had 25% less progression of their macular degeneration than those who took a placebo. Good sources of vitamin C-yellow sweet peppers, brussels sprouts, kiwis,

strawberries, papayas and canteloupe.

-Vitamin E-In one study there was no difference in progression of macular degeneration between the study group and the control group. However, this doesn't mean that you should take vitamin E off the menu just yet! Good sources of vitamin E-raisin bran, almonds, canola oil, asparagus, olive oil. Caveat-excessive intake can lead to intestinal distress.

-Carotenoids-Lutein and zeaxanthin may protect women from macular degeneration. These

nutrients absorb dangerous blue light and are found in high concentration in the macula. Good sources-carrots, spinach, winter squash, kale, broccoli

-Omega 3-fatty acids-You must supplement with omega 3 because are bodies can't make it on it's own. There have been no formal studies of omega 3's in the prevention of macular degeneration.

2. Cataracts and Nutrition-

Intake of lutein and zeaxanthin and vitamin C may provide a decrease in the development of cataracts.

3. Nutrition and glaucoma-I think is the most important of the three because it's the only one from which you can go blind...well, technically you could go blind from cataracts IF you never got them removed and they got soo bad that they ruptured and then you had a huge immune reaction to the proteins inside the lens and never got that treated...well, that doesn't really happen in developed countries...but glaucoma? Without proper treatment, blindness is inevitable.

-Ginkgo biloba increases blood flow in the ophthalmic artery. This may increase optic nerve health.

So what do we take from this article? Well, a lot more research needs to be conducted! And secondly, all these nutrients they are recommending are not harmful in their proper doses(particularly when they are coming from fruits and veggies!) so I say, why not?

Article source: Vyas D. Darshna, M. Sc., R.D., LDN and Pinakin Gunvant, B.S.Optom., Ph.D. Nutritional Therapeutics for the Eye. Review of Optometry. October 15, 2009

My new daily running plan

2009-10-25T10:28:00.003-04:00

This is what I did today and it was awesome...I feel so great and energized!

Wake-up

Drink a big glass of water

Take dogs for a walk

Change into running clothes

Have a snack...today it was a cup of almond milk and a fuji apple

Get running gear together

Stretch

walk to entrance of neighborhood, stretch again

Run:

Today was 6 miles. I alternated 5 minutes of running with 1 minute of walking.

Stats:

Distance: 6 miles

Time: 65:15

Average Pace: 10:53

Fastest Pace: 8:09

Walk back to apartment

Stretch

Make a green monster:

Today's ingredients: 2 c. steamed spinach, 1 T chia, 1 c. almond milk, 1 c. frozen blueberries, 1 t. glutamine, 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder(whey/soy mix)

Enjoy green monster while icing the tender parts of my legs.

Shower, massage legs with massaging water setting on shower head

Make a yummy breakfast:

Todays' breakfast: 1/2 c. oats, 1.5 c. water, 1/2 c. egg whites, cinnamon, vanilla, brown sugar, almond butter...and a huge treat-a tablespoon or so of nutella...MMMMMM!!!

I'm joining the Green Monster Movement..and no more calorie counting

2009-10-25T09:40:00.004-04:00

I've been drinking green smoothies on and off for a few weeks now and while I like them and all they haven't really "done it" for me. So after reading about Green Monsters on this site http://greenmonstermovement.com/ , I decided to give green smoothies another go, but start using milk and steamed greens. OMG...what a difference! They taste so much better(creamy, milkshake like instead of lawn in a glass) and are much more filling. YUM!!!

Also...I've decided I need to STOP counting calories. I have become obsessive of each and every calorie and I even have a category on my calorie tracker for misc. calories that I add to my daily totals just in case I measured incorrectly or something like that. I want my hunger to guide my eating, not time or how many calories I have "left".

I deleted my calorie tracker on my iphone! That's the first step. I'm also going to leave my scale at home when I go to NC(wow! big huge step for me!)

My Newest Obsession...

2009-10-24T19:44:00.002-04:00

I'm in love....

The source of my new found affection:

How did it take me this long to find this??? I've been reading about almond milk in blogs I've read and been wondering about it, but yesterday I was in Whole Foods stocking up on dry grains and beans to take with me to North Carolina(because they don't have Whole Foods near me, but I just found out Charlotte has Trader Joe's which I've heard is even better than Whole Foods!!)

Anywhoo, I was purusing the aisles and I stumbled across a sale on almond milk...so I did what I habitually do and flipped it over to look for the nutrient facts...and my jaw dropped when I saw it only had 40 calories...and only 2 carbs..for a whole cup! So, I bought two cartons and as soon as I got home I poured an tall, cold glass...OMG!! The taste is incredible...like the purest yummiest milk ever...and the texture...soooo creamy and thick....But none of that throat thickening after taste you get from moo moo milk. I made a hot coccoa with this and it was off the hook...and don't even get me started on protein shakes made from it!

MMMMM!!!

Time to change Direction...

2009-10-24T19:02:00.002-04:00

If you read my blog, you'll notice that a bunch of posts disappeared. This was purposeful and something that I did. I have finally realized the direction I want my blog to go in and I deleted all posts that I felt didn't follow this direction. I also deleted all posts that were too whiny or complaining or negative. That's not what I want.

I want my blog to be inspiring, real, well thought out and fun. I don't want it simply to be a place where I regurgitate every thought and feeling I have.

So what new direction is this blog going to go?

1. Fitness-I'll blog about my runs and my other workouts and give re-caps of any races I do. Also, if I happen to come across any fitness related news that is very compelling, I'll share it with my loyal readers(meaning myself...lol)

2. Food-I love to read about food. Always have. I want to post here about my journey into vegetarianism and recipes. I also want to photodocument my foods. I love to look at blogs that have this so I assume others do too!

3. General and ocular health-Hey I'll be a doctor, God-willing in 6 months(eek! Can't believe it's that soon!). I will be blogging about the latest research in health-mainly ocular health as that is my specialty, but general health stuff as well.

4. Lifestuff/Photos/my dogs-parties, photos I've taken, funny things my dogs do.

What I don't want in my blog: -endless rambling about minute details in my day(ie, first I did this, then I did this-boring, boring, boring), negative thoughts(about my body, about my life, ect), bitch sessions-this blog is not a place for me to air dirty laundry!

Almond Butter!

2009-10-24T15:52:00.005-04:00

I love me some almond butter! I even bought some organic almond butter from Costco yesterday but I don't want to open it yet cause I know once I do it has to be refridgerated and since I want to take it with me to Carolina in two weeks unopened it must remain!

So what's an almond butter lovin' girl to do? Make my own of course!!

I started with some of these:

I think I used about 1 c. of raw unsalted almonds in my mini-food processor. Then I ran it and ran it and ran it. I've burned the motor out of these babies before so I was careful to stop and let it cool down periodically....Here's what it looked like halfway through:

It stays dry and powdery for quite awhile but don't get discouraged. All of a sudden it will start getting all almond buttery. I threw in some cinnamon for extra flavor...mmmm...here's the final product in the food processor:

I put it in a little tupperware...maybe about 1/2 c. worth...it'll be gone in about a day!

YUMMERS!!!

Is a calorie really just a calorie?...and more crazy thoughts

2009-10-22T14:58:00.005-04:00

We've been told that losing weight all comes down to calories out being more than calories in. You can use fancy formulas to calculate the number of calories your body burns if you just lay on the couch all day. You know the ones...take the square root of the length of your right leg multiplied by your height at 3 years old, subtract your birthdate year, ect, ect....

Of course, you can also go to websites that'll do the calculations for you. And calculate the calories you supposedly burn for many activities.

The math nerd in me jumps all over this. I have spent countless HOURS upon HOURS figuring out the exact number of calories I'll consume and burn and then the weight loss I should see as a result.

But guess what....most, if not all of the time, the equations just didn't add up to real life changes and weight loss. Sometimes, I'd have all my hard work and careful calculations and measurements....and I'd gain weight!

I've been following this whole calories in versus calories out for years and years now. And for years and years I've never really been satisfied with my body or what I'm eating. I've been really thin, but never lean(and there is a difference). But currently, I'm overfat for where I want to be...despite careful calorie calculations, tracking and recording, and in spite of tremendous amounts of exercise.

So it's got me thinking....is a calorie really a calorie?

There's the good old physics definition of a calorie...the energy required to heat 1 g of water by 1 degree C...or something like that...and those calories are actually not the measurement of our food calories...that would be 100 or 1000c to one food Calorie. can't remember the exact equation....

But that's not really what I'm questioning. I am starting to wonder if different types of calories are processed differently and affect your metabolism differently.

I mean, I look at the women whom I admire most for the fitness, their figures, their attitudes, ect and all of them WITHOUT Fail do not count calories! Nor do they get hung up on ratios, macros, am I eating enough protein??? They worry about eating whole, natural or organic foods and they feed their bodies when they are hungry...They eat probably 2-3 times the amount of calories I do, and they're not any more active than I am...and they are shorter than me! And I'm not talking about muscle bound competitors who would be having a larger metabolism due to all that muscle......I can tell you with honesty that there have been times in my life that I have been STARVING at night(and not boredom hunger or any of those, literally, stomach wrenching, gurling, dizzy feeling hunger) but because I've reached my so-called calorie limit for the day, I've forced myself to go to sleep...and sometimes with sleep inducing meds! If that doesn't scream ED, I don't know what does. It was almost like a badge of honor for me to find myself super hungry and able to resist eating...HELLO!

So, I'm adopting a new attitude...EAT when you're hungry. The thing that I must also employ with this is EAT whole healthy foods! Don't reach for quick snacks that are full of crap.

I've been absolutely starving almost the entire time on this v. low carb diet. But today I just can't deal anymore. I'm still sticking to the diet but when I wanna eat, I eat instead of thinking I have to spread out my pre-determined meals over this many hours. I'm already on my fifth meal(and it's barely 1800) and almost at my "calorie level" for the day. But you know what? POO on that! I'm going to feed my body when it wants! How can I expect my body to repair itself and make itself better if I don't get it enough building materials?!

I actually don't even know if this diet is even working for me. Besides the insane hunger(which makes no sense because I've read that this type of diet is supposed to BLUNT your hunger...) I haven't really lost much weight...maybe 2 pounds(it's been 5.5 days, which I know 2 pounds would be a great loss in a week for a typical diet but the weights supposed to just fall off on this low-carb thing...I mean that's why I'm doing it afterall!), but the starting of the diet also coincided with the ending of my period so that 2 pound loss could've happened anyway.

Am I abandoning the low carb diet just yet? Nah...I'm going to give it a few more days, but I'm starting to think...what does it matter anyways? Whether my thighs are 23 inches or 22 inches on Halloween, is anyone really even going to notice...or for that matter CARE? I'm going to an event where everyone will be drunk! Do I really think that people are going to be STARING at my thighs thinking how could she wear that costume with those thunder thighs!

Random thoughts and musings

2009-10-21T13:07:00.005-04:00

Yesterday was a crap day. I had this vision of a perfect day getting a ton of stuff done and two workouts complete. Pretty much none of it happened.

I have a research paper due on Friday. I wanted to use my time between patient's in clinic to work on it. I left all my research notes at home. So, that was a no-go.

When I got home I wanted to do yoga with my hubby and then go on an easy 4 mile run. Hubby's been so cranky and moody for the past few weeks and yesterday was no exception. We ended up having a huge blow out when I got home and then he was in no mood to do yoga, so I decided to work on my paper for a bit then go on my run and do yoga later in the night while watching Biggest Loser.

My run was horrendous. I felt all this tension in my neck and shoulders and I just couldn't relax. I started feeling like I was on the verge of a panic attack and was finding myself short of breath! I was also having really bad pain in my shints....grr! I ended up only completing 1.65 miles before walking home and giving up! I didn't even do yoga because I knew I wasn't in the right mind-set!!!

I ended up doing some work on my paper and watching the Biggest Loser.

Eats were good though. So far I've done pretty well with this very low carb thing. I am hungry most of the time but I don't feel theoverwhelming need to eat crap. Like, I have cravings but I don't HAVE to fullfill them(at least not yet). One thing I am learning is to really look at what I am craving and if I can live without it or if I really need it and make a good decision based on that.

So, now onto the random thoughts and musings...

I feel, exercise-wise, I am spreading myself too thin. Not necessarily that I am spending too much time working out, but that I'm trying to do too many things all at once. I'm trying to improve my running...I'm also trying to improve my strength....oh and my balance and flexibility. The thing is, I think you can work on all those things at the same time, but not to the extent that I've been trying to do each one. I think you need to pick a focus and have the other things support/compliment it. For example, if your goal is to run faster, longer, ect, you need to focus on running and then do weight training and balance/flexibility that will support your training.

I tend to do this a LOT-want it ALL, particularly with exercise. But I just don't want to anymore. I can see myself starting down the path to overtraining again.

I decided to think about what I really want fitness wise. Of course, I want to have beautiful toned muscles, be able to run for miles and stay at a nice lean weight. If I had to pick one thing, it would be to be a better runner. As much as I love the whole weight lifting, getting big muscles thing, I have absolutely NO desire to do a competition ever, nor do I feel I have enough discipline to get to the point where I could be ready to step on a stage. I do, however, LOVE to do races, 5ks, 10ks, half=marathons, I love 'em all! And I'd love to do a marathon some day. I also definitely think that my body could use some more tweaking to add muscle, but I'm definitely light years ahead of where I used to be and I also know that I"m not willing to do any bulking again until I get down to a lighter/less fat me.

I wasn't going to do another round of p90x right now, I had a plan to lift on my own to compliment running, but then hubby wanted to and I knew if I didn't do it with him then he'd probably not do it. Well, he's now decided it's just too much for him and he's either not going to do it all(the more likely thing I think) or what he says he'll do, every other day, what workouts he "feels" like that day. Given that, and given the fact that I'm leaving in 2.5 weeks anyways, I think I"m going to stop my second round of p90x and concentrate more on running. Not really "training" running for a specific pace or anything like that, but really more on brining my current level of runnign(which is crappy) up to where I was last year(pre-injury).

So, I don't know exactly what this means for me. I haven't exactly decided how my workouts will look or what they will be. As for running, well, I think I'm going to stick with 2 easy, 1 long, and 1 short intervals for now. Maybe 1 or 2 other days of cross training(biking, kickboxing, ect). I'm still going to lift weights, but not with the vigor and intensity of before. I think I'm going to do more body weight type exercises(for the main muscles) and maybe just a few exercises for acessory muscles. I don't know, we'll see.

Right now, I just feel that I want to concentrate on running. Maybe next summer when it's so unbearably hot I'll go back to a more weight lifting focused program....

I've been doing a lot of blog reading and the women I admire most/want to be like the most seem to have some things in common. They are runners, they practice yoga, they eat super clean, but don't count calories, they are either 100% veggies or mostly veggies(and they don't eat processed, sugary crap) and they eat A LOT!(and they have the lean yet sculpted look I desire). They don't obessively exercise, but they enjoy their workout times and feel energized by them. They have BALANCE...not balance in the sense of standing on one leg(though they probably have that...lol) but balance in their lives. This is what I want.

It's funny because I had already decided when I went to NC I was going to go veggie, not because I don't like meat(cause I do...I love it...lol) but for ease of cooking and prepping and storing. I am extroirdinarily particular about my meat and whether it's kept at a proper temp or cooked to a proper temp(and the handling of it and anything that touches it!!) and given the fact that I'm sharing a kitchen with multiple people, I think for my own sanity, not eating meat is the way to go!

I can't go vegan because I love my yogurt, eggs, milk, ice cream, ect, and I'm not sold on the whole soy thing. I've read a lot of bad things about it and it frightens me. But I do want to try the vegetarian lifestyle and these blogs give me all kinds of great ideas for recipes!! I do know that if I had to prepare my own meat from the animal, I would not eat any meat ever.

It's something I've thought about for a long time now, but it seems daunting to start a veggie lifestyle when I have so much meat already frozen in my freezer(bought on sale). It's also such a shift in thinking, because regardless of whether you eat lots of protein rich veggie foods, veggies just don't have the same protein content as meat, and I've for so long been on the whole, "super high protein, lower carb" mindset, it's a total paradigm shift. I've spent the past 2.5-3 years looking at food's protein content and total calories and if they protein content wasn't high enough relative to the calories, it wasn't a food I kept in my aresonal(hello beans!).

I know this is all rather hypocritical coming from me while I am currently on a high protein, low carb diet..LOL...but that is just what I'm thinking about. This whole high protein, low carb right now is just temporary, a means to an end. The veggie thing is something I'm comitting to for a longer period of time and maybe permanently(though I'm not certain of course, we'll see how I like it and how I feel).

Today was crappy too. I had leftover anger from yesterday and I just felt mean and cranky all day. I just want to go to bed and sleep away this crabbiness!!

So what's the point? The point is I want balance. I want to change my workouts, I want to change my eating habits and I want to stop counting calories. I want a total overhaul. Excessive exercise to normal amounts of exercise, Too many focuses to one focus(running), obessessing over every calorie to just eating what my body needs and using whole, natural, unprocessed foods(and no meat..lol).

Here's the me I want:

My phobia prevents me from reaching my full fitness potential

2009-10-10T18:37:00.002-04:00

If you don't already know this about me, I have a phobia of vomiting. Emetophobia if you want to get technical about it. I'm afraid of myself vomiting or of someone else vomiting. I can't stand to watch it on tv/movies or hear people talking about it. I obsess over "what ifs" related to vomiting. I am 100% obsessed with cleanliness and food safety. If there's any question over a food's safety, I won't eat it. I'd rather eat dried out chicken that's been way overcooked than risk eating normally cooked chicken that *might* be contaminated. I've got all sorts of other rituals and behaviors that I perform when I get stomach aches(which happen a lot) and panic attacks. I've had this for more than half my life.

Best as my doctors can figure out, my phobia started with a traumatic incident involving my grandpa. He has severe intestinal problems and has very little small intestine left, so much has been removed(the max amount that can be removed and leave you living is what's been taken from him). Anyhoo, he builds up scar tissue and consequently can become very ill(projectile vomiting for hours on end, with him ending up in ICU, ect). Well, when I was about 10 years old we were staying with my grandparents for Christmas. My grandpa had one of his attacks. I remember laying in my little bedroom(which coincedentally shared a thin wall with his bathroomm) listening to him being sick all night. It was terrifying. Then he was the ICU and almost died. I was freaked out for a long while but the phobia really developed that summer. My mom was friends with all the other hospital executives wives who had children of similar ages to my sister and I and we all went to this frozen yogurt place. I got some sort of coconut concoction and that night I felt the sickest I had ever felt(but didn't vomit). From then on I started fearing both nausea and vomiting and it just grew and grew(the fear). I started obsessing over "safe foods" and eating less and less as I reasoned that the less I ate the safer I was from contamination and from having something to throw up. My weight dropped rapidly, but my PCP attributed it to a growth spurt. Finally, my parents had to put me into a hospital when I reached about 65 pounds(I think i was probably 5'5'' or 5'6'' and 12 years old).

Unfortunately I was treated as a your typical anorexic and the fear of vomiting which was at the heart of all my restricting...I could've cared less about controlling my weight. I would've loved to be able to eat! But at that point I couldn't physically eat without feeling very ill and then having a panic attack. I eventually put on some weight and I was released from the hospital. I've struggled with the phobia ever since. In undergrad I was given the magic pill that takes away my anxiety-Xanax. The unfortunate side effect is that since I've been taking in for about 8 years now, my panic attacks have gotten progressively worse. I won't take the time to go into all the manifestations this disease(and yes, I fully believe it is a disease) has in my life...lets just say they are many. I"ve been in multiple therapies throughout the years and nothing seems to have helped but I still have a little hope that some day I will find something or someone who can help me get better.

Anyways, getting to the title of this post, how my phobia affects my fitness. I believe it affects both my diet and my ability to workout.

First with the diet. I think it affects my diet(and I when I say diet, I mean what i eat, not a specific "diet" like used in the media) in two ways. My self control is very low for foods that I enjoy(chocolate, chips, cookies). This is because for over 10 years I couldn't eat stuff like that without getting raging stomach aches. Only since I've been into fitness have I found an appetite that allows me to eat those things without immediete consequences. Plus my stomach used to be micro-sized due to all the years of restricting from being terrified of getting sick. My phobia used to keep my weight in check by not allowing me to eat as much. Now that I work out my appetite is huge, but my metabolism is still that of my former skinny, sick self. I have no self control because I feel as if I were denied all those treats all those years. Secondly, my diet is affected by my phobia because of my use of Xanax. For me, what little self control I do possess is shot to shit when I take xanax. It makes me not care at all what I am eating and in fact, I tend to heavily crave crap after I've taken it. It's like when you drink and you get hungry? I'm the same way with my meds. Sometimes I will wake up in the middle of the night with a horrific panic attack and sit there crying, shaking, sweating, nauseated beyond all get out and I'll try to NOT take xanax because I keep thinking about how I'll want to eat crap the next day! Then the attack gets even WORSE and I have to take more xanax to overcome it and end up even worse the next day!

My phobia also affects my workouts. The obvious one from the previous paragraph is that taking of xanax makes me sleepy so a lot of times I don't have the energy or the time to do my workout cause I needed extra sleep to get the xanax out of my system. The other not-so-obvious reason is that I don't push myself physically to the point of nausea/vomiting while working out. I will never push myself as hard as I can because once I start to feel nauseated, I pull back till I feel okay again. Every person whose blog I've read or whom I've spoken to about fitness has at one point or another pushed themselves so hard physically that they have vomited or nearly vomited. I can tell you this has really affected me on some of the races I've run. I'm not a fast runner by any stretch of the imagination so a sub 9 minute mile pace on a 5k would be phenomonal for me to achieve. I've almost achieved this on several races, but near the last 0.5 mile I'd start feeling a bit nauseated or something like that and I'd slow way down and end up with a time of 9-10 minute mile pace, when if I could've kept pushing maybe I'd have done an 8:30 pace.

So there you have it...phobia of vomiting is hindering my progress to the level of fitness I want.

My new favorite breakfast...

2009-10-01T16:47:00.004-04:00

I kinda made this up one day....but before I go into the details, I'm the kinda gal who like a lot of bang for her buck and getting all my nutrients in with one dish. Casserole type things where I get my carb, protein, veggie, fat all in one have always appealed to me...the simplicity. I also carry food with me everywhere I go so that I make sure that I have food available should I need it. enter the perfect travel breakfast.

Here's what it is:

1/2 c. dry oats

1 c. water

4 egg whites

1 tsp. brown sugar

1 T. peanut butter

lots of cinnamon

dash of salt

you cook it all together and MMMMM!! So yummy!! and it nearly has a perfect ratio of protein/carbs/fat. And it's supremely filling. Most days, I can't even finish it and have the rest as my afternoon snack!

Nutrient facts:

334 calories, 28% fat, 42% carbs and 30% protein

I bring it with me to clinic and the mornings and everyone goes crazy over how good it smells.

Where do I go from here?

2009-09-19T14:25:00.002-04:00

I finished p90x. I don't think I'm physically fit enough to start insanity, and I really want a break from workout dvd's. I want to spend some time exploring and experimenting with different styles of working out.

I also want to start running again(I mean more than the 1-2 times/week that I did in the last phase of p90x).

I want to run another half-marathon. There's one in December in Charlotte(where I'll be living) which is coincidentally 12 weeks away and I happen to have a 12 week half marathon training program! I'm doing the novice training because even though I've ran a half before, it was a year ago and I"ve been kind of out of the running training for awhile. Plus I want to still have some focus on weight lifting instead of all the focus being on running. Balance, it's my new nickname...or at least I am striving for it to be!

So what's the plan? Well, I"ll be running 3 days/week. Two short easy runs and one long slow distance run. That's it for running. No intervals, fartleks, tempos, nuthin'. That'll come later when I train for the Gasparilla Half Marathon(in the end of February). 2 days a week I will be doing some sort of cross training(biking, kickboxing, maybe plyometrics, swimming, spinning..whatever I want!). 1 day of stretching/rest.

As for lifting...well...that's something I want to experiment with. I want to try different styles of weight training because I have workout ADD. I get bored fairly easily with the same type of lifting workout. I'm going to switch it up a lot and see what works for me. Some weeks I"ll do a split, some will be full body workouts. Some weeks I'll do heavy lifting in the gym. Others, I"ll focus on body weight exercises only. I'm excited!! This week I'm going to focus on body weight and balance activities(pushups, pullups, balance squats, jump lunges, ect). My BOSU ball's going to get a lot of activity this week! I also want to try some of the crossfit workouts, but that'll be later on.

I tend to get really exicted when I plan/start a new workout routine and I am really motivated for the first couple of weeks, but then my motivation starts waneing and I get bored, and don't push myself as hard. But I hope that by constantly changing up my workouts, I'll keep re-stoking the fire and keep pushing myself to be better and fitter.

I'm also committing to writing in my blog a lot more. I know I started it and then my postings have been very random and spaced out and I want to be consistent with it.

Thanks for taking this journey with me!

The 92 calorie cupcake

2009-09-11T15:26:00.003-04:00

These are amazing...and super simple to make. They don't taste any different to me than a traditionally prepapred cupcake yet they have about half the calories(before you put icing on it I mean). I haven't yet made the recipe as a cake so I don't know if they'd turn out or not...

1 box chocolate cake mix
1/2 c. cottage cheese pureed till smooth
5 egg whites
6 T coccoa powder

Mix, put in muffin pan and cook according to cake mix directions. Delicious!!-It makes 24 muffins!!!

Macros:

92 calories
1 g fat
16 g carbs
2 g protein

I topped mine either with fresh fruit or sometimes a scoop of ff frozen yogurt....MMMM!

My first attempt to use photoshop for anything beyond cropping

2009-07-05T18:48:00.004-04:00

I'm a photoshop newbie. Had for a year now, never really used it for anything other than cropping and letting it automatically fix the pictures...LOL...This is my very first attempt at something "creative". This collage is of my friend's birthday at Stir Crazy(click on the image to see it larger). Good times.

Welcome...a rose by any other name...

2009-07-05T16:55:00.004-04:00

I have wanted to start a blog for ages now but as usual, it took me awhile to get here!!

I'm always so inspired when I read others blogs. My main sticking point was the name. Might seem like a stupid reason to hold off on blogging, but I felt(feel) that the name sets the whole tone of the blog. I wanted a name that would cover the direction I wanted the blog to go, and that direction is everywhere! This blog is not a fitness or nutrition blog, though it will certainly contain those items. It's not an art or photography blog, though I hope to put up some of my "artwork"(I put artwork in quotes because I don't consider myself an artist, just a dabbler). It's not a literature blog or just a place for my daily updates. My idea is for it to be all these things and more.

So maybe you see my quandry with the name! I didn't want a boring name like "tamara's blog". Those familiar with blogging will surely notice that I have not come up with a new or brilliant concept for my blog; it's merely me picking and choosing those things that I like from other blogs,which is how I finally came upon the idea of the mockingbird, which is a bird that lacks it's own song and mimics those of other birds. And even in the title, I was inspired by/borrowed from someone else. That someone is Derek Webb who has an album called "Mockingbird". So if he ever finds his way to reading this, well, THANKS!

So who am I? I'm a 27 year old, 4th year optometry student down in Sunny FLA. I have an amazing husband and two awesome dogs. I love to read, exercise and cook. That pretty much sums up my activities.

I'd love to learn how to take amazingly beautiful photographs, since I do have a pretty nice camera. I'm moderately creative, but don't get to flex those wings too often. Hubby and I can't wait to move out of south Florida. Our dream location is San Francisco, but that's probably a few years off.

I believe in clean eating(though I do love those cheats!) and drinking lots of water, sweating and lifting heavy.

I used to be a runner, and hope to be one again someday. Right now, I have achilles tendonitis and plantar faciitis, so no running for me!! I've run one half marathon(and multiple 5ks) and I hope to be back into running enough to run either the Gasparilla Half Marathon in February or the Gate River Run in March(maybe both??). Some day I do want to tackle the MARATHON. Right now, I'm working out with the P90X system and I love it! If you want to know if it works, IT DOES! I'm only 3 weeks in but already seeing changes in my strength and flexibility.

I hope that my blog inspires others as so many before me have inspired me. I hope it will be funny, poignant and contain useful information.

Thanks for reading!!