I made a Super Smoothie for breakfast this morning.  This is the 1st smoothie that’s ever kept me full until lunchtime.  I used enough ingredients to serve 2 people:

• 1 small bottle of POM juice
• 2 cups of frozen strawberries
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 tablespoon of flaxseed
• 1/3 cup of oatmeal
• 2 tablespoons of maple almond butter

Despite the other flavors, this smoothie tasted like POM.  Yum, very very good!  And the oatmeal helped to thicken it, but blended nicely.  I really liked the texture.

Leftover chicken Pad Thai for lunch.

I received a bag with 5 tablespoons of barley tea from Cindy Harriman, for Oldways and the Whole Grains Council.

Here’s some of Cindy’s info about Barley Tea:  Koreans swear that barley tea is essential to the digestion, and relieves constipation. The Japanese, who call barley tea mugicha, also claim important health benefits. In fact, Japanese research has documented the many antioxidants found in barley tea, and its apparent benefits for improving blood flow.

Directions:

1. Boil a quart of water.
2. Throw in 2-3 tablespoons of roasted barley and simmer for about 5 minutes.
3. Strain out the barley kernels.

I haven’t tried it yet.  I’m going to have a cup while I relax later tonight.

Even though my physical therapist dad gave me advice and he’ll provide a better assessment of my injury on Friday night, I decided to consult my favorite doctor: Dr. Google.

A Google search for “upper hamstring pain” led me to a post on the Cool Running web site.  It warns that many runners confuse a hamstring pull with sciatica, the pinching of a nerve running down the back of the leg.  (Well, that’s the easiest way to describe it without getting too technical.)  I’m going to print self-treatment for both injuries and see what I can do at home.  It would be great if some information  overlaps andI can start treating both conditions at once.  Only until I know exactly why I’m feeling pain!

I’m not a whiner when it comes to injuries.  Yup, I have the photo of my cankle circa 2006 as proof!

In college, I tore several ligaments in my right ankle, took a week off, and then got a brace and started tumbling again.  So I’m blogging about this injury because it’s something that I’m dealing with…but I’m not letting it hold me back!  I’m still going to be exercising and doing what I can, running as often as possible, keeping the Half Marathon in the corner of my mind (May 2nd isn’t far away), and taking care of myself.

That being said, I’m off to the gym!

After an uneventful plane ride home from Baltimore with Ali and Julie, I faced my worst nightmare: Unpacking!  (Borrowed this gorgeous airport shot from Ali!  Picnic lunch, yay!)

I may have lost the battle, but Unpacking isn’t going to win the war.  I swear I’m going to put everything away when I get home from work.

I’ll even make some room in my closet for these babies.  I’m sending 2 pairs of OLD sneakers home so I can enjoy my New Balance sample.  3 days later and I’m still excited!  Free shoes are a BIG deal, especially cuz I really like them.

Sipped and slurped on a big glass of water with a lemon.  Love the vintage Harpoon glass.  I think this one is from St. Patrick’s Day 2006.

Jared made dinner: chicken and whole wheat spaghetti.  He overserved me, as usual, but I saved a piece of chicken for lunch later this week.

While we were at the airport, I told Ali and Julie that I was craving a smoothie.  I ended up ordering a Chai Smoothie and while it was delicious, my craving was still there.  So I decided to make my own smoothie at home.

• 1 banana
• 1 container of POM juice
• a few handfuls of frozen berries
• a few handfuls of spinach
• 1/4 cup of water

Mmmm!  Delicious Banana Berry POM smoothie.  I was sneaky and didn’t tell Jared there was also spinach in his smoothie.

First sip…and he loved it.  I dropped the Spinach bomb, but he was so impressed with the taste that he drank the whole thing.

My back/butt/hips were bothering me last night.  Maybe cuz I spent a few days away from my foam roller???  I spent a lot of time whining and a little time stretching.  Hopefully I feel ok to run tomorrow cuz my next workout calls for a speed run.

This morning I had an overflowing bowl of PB Puffins cereal with a spoonful of Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter.

When I left for work, I saw this chaos on Tremont Street.  ABC is filming a cop show on Union Park until 10 pm tonight so there are trucks and equipment all over the place.  Jared and I normally walk down Union Park to go to the laundromat.  I wonder if they need any extras in the background cuz we had 2 bags of laundry to drop off…

Leftovers for lunch.  Annie’s hamburger helper with a few pieces of broccoli.  I love Annie’s mac and cheese, but I don’t care for this meaty version.  It was ok when fresh, but ehhh as leftovers.  I need a huge glass of water to wash the taste out of my mouth!

Typical Sunday night =Sushi + the Amazing Race

I ordered Sweet Potato Tempura rolls and Kappa Maki rolls.  Jared’s fishy fish rolls were squeezed in between my nice veggie rolls.

Mmm, plus edamame on the side.

I had some Kashi cereal for breakfast on Monday morning.  Then I snacked on some almonds when I got to work.

Completely unbalanced lunch!  I ate a mini-loaf of banana bread and sucked down an ice coffee.  Of course I spent the rest of the day craving fresh vegetables!

My Half Marathon training has been throw a tiny bit out of whack.  I expected this so I’m not concerned.  I didn’t find time to go on a longer run this past weekend.  Ohh well.  Still plenty of time before the race!

I ran 2 miles on the treadmill during my lunch break at 6.5 mph then stretched and went back to work.  I was supposed to run 3 miles with Jared after work, but that fell through.  He really needs new sneakers before he runs again so I think he’s going to get fitted on Thursday night.

To fulfill my fresh vegetable craving, I made a plate of peppers and cucumbers with hummus as soon as I got home from work.

I bought ingredients for dinner from Don Otto’s Natural and Organic Market.  See…organic pasta and responsibly made pork sausage.  Making those positive changes in the way I shop for food.  (While dinner was cooking, I cleaned out the fridge and tossed anything that was old, unhealthy, or just not going to be eaten.)

I ate a bowl of penne with 1/2 of a pork sausage.  I topped the penne with a swirl of flavored olive oil, a tiny bit of sauce, and some Parmesan cheese.

I made a smoothie for Tuesday’s breakfast using:

• 4 ice cubes
• 1 cup of almond milk
• 1 1/2 cups of frozen berries
• 1 cup of spinach

I spent almost 20 minutes fighting with my smoothie maker in order to get everything to blend.  Grrr.  But when my Not-So-Green Monster was finally ready to go, it tasted fresh and healthy.  If preparing and cleaning up weren’t such a pain, I’d make smoothies more often.

I was really excited to make a Green Monster smoothie for breakfast.  I blended:

• 2 cups of spinach
• 1 cup of almond milk
• 1 frozen banana
• 1/2 cup of frozen berries
• 1 tablespoon of Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter

(Can you see almond milk leaking from my blender?  Oops, forgot to tighten the plug.  I’m sort of a disaster in the kitchen!)

Sorry for the blurry picture.  But as you can see, my smoothie was less on the green side.  It looked more like a shaker of mud.  Looks can be deceiving because it tasted awesome.  Come on, it had dark chocolate PB in it.  How could it not taste great?!?!

Cole asked to see a picture of my cupcake soap.  Super cute, but I’m still tempted to use it cuz it smells amazing.  It’s made from the “Rosemary’s Baby” soap from the Stella Marie Soap Company.

I had thought about getting up to take the 6 am Body Pump class or the 7 am Fusion Strength class this morning since I had a meeting scheduled during my normal Thursday BP session.  Instead I chose sleep!  I decided I’d try to recreate Body Pump on my own.

But when I got to work, I found out the meeting was postponed so  I’ll be going to Body Pump after all.  I even found out early enough that I called my mom and convinced her to come.  She’s starting a 12 class pass today so I’ll be working out with my mom many times over the next month.

Sugar coated almonds for my morning snack.  Hopefully I ate enough to help me power through Body Pump.

We were supposed to end the Vegetarian Challenge by cooking a tofu meal at home…

Instead we ended up having dinner at Picco with a group of friends.  For the last meal of my Vegetarian Challenge, I had red wine and a few slices of the Neapolitan pizza.

My friends are awesome!

We stayed at Picco until they closed.  Luckily it was a short walk home and then right to bed.  I needed to be up and at ‘em this morning.

Megan was going for a 20 mile run and I joined in the keep her company.  Elina ran too, and we all had a great time running and chatting.  I started off saying I was going to run 5 or 6 miles.  But I ended up running 8 miles!

It was a lot of fun to run with Megan and Elina.  We talked about anything and everything:  running, blogging, shopping, relationships, drinking and dining.  The 8 miles went by so quickly!

I had to laugh because last time I was training for a Half Marathon, 8 miles was my longest run and I waited til a week before the race to see if I could handle that distance.   It feels great to push myself to train for this race.  I’m so much stronger than I realize; I need to keep working hard!

I was so thirsty when I got home so a smoothie was the perfect breakfast.  I used:

• 1 container of mango yogurt
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 cup of fresh pineapples
• 1/2 of a banana
• 1 tablespoon of blueberry flax seed
• 2 ice cubes

Delicious and refreshing!  Much needed to help me rehydrate after a long run.  I blended the right combination of ingredients so this smoothie wasn’t too thick.  Instead of needing a spoon, I was actually able to drink and enjoy.

I made a PB&J Smoothie for breakfast using:

• 2 ice cubes
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1 container of Vanilla yogurt
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 tablespoon of jelly
• 1 hearty tablespoon of peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon of blueberry flax seed

Amazing!  I gulped this down so fast I’m surprised I didn’t get an ice cream headache.  I was surprised that as I was drinking, I could taste each flavor, one at a time.  As I first took a sip, it tasted like banana.  Then my tongue caught the sweetness of the jelly.  Finally I got a hint of creamy peanut butter. So so good!

I didn’t feel like walking to the gym.  So I moved the coffee table for 30 minutes of Yoga Sculpt OnDemand.  This was a more challenging yoga workout but not too intense.  I think I would’ve felt like I was sculpting if there had been more chair poses.  If I sit in those for a while, I can really feel it in my hips and butt.

I made a TJ’s pesto Parmesan turkey burger for lunch.  I didn’t even have to worry about defrosting the burger.  It went straight from the freezer into a frying pan with a little bit of olive oil.  After 4 minutes per side, I was good to go.

Since I couldn’t decide what I wanted to accompany my turkey burger, I had a few carrots, cucumbers, and blue corn chips.  2nd tasty meal of the day! Y-U-M!!!!

I’m about to give up on the Pats game.  The Patriots look flat and unmotivated.  Just give Baltimore the win and I’ll watch something else on TV.  Yeah, I’m an angry fan right now!

I was excited to try Zico coconut water in a smoothie this morning.  I blended…

• 1 container of Zico coconut water
• 2 ice cubes
• 1 cup of frozen berries
• 1 tablespoon of blueberry flax seed
• 1 packet of truvia

Though the smoothie wasn’t going to be very filling, I was thirsty and it did the trick.  I also liked the subtle sweetness.  I wasn’t in the mood for something to taste over the top sugary.

After leaving my smoothie on the table so I could finish drying my hair, I returned to find that the coconut water had separated from the rest of the mix.  With a few swirls of a spoon, everything was blended back together.  I made sure to drink it really quickly so I could finish it before it separated again.

Here’s our little Christmas tree, waiting to be decorated when I get home from work later tonight.

And here is the bane of my existance:  Jared’s mess of boxes and wires that sit on either side of the TV!  There must be some way to organize, or at least hide, everything!

It’s sunny, a little muggy, and over 60 degrees in Boston today.  It didn’t feel right listening to Christmas music on the drive to work.  It felt great to snack on a Clementine though.  My smoothie didn’t keep me very full and my stomach was growling!

Here are 2 shots from the tree lighting in Copley Square because despite the weather, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I was really thirsty when I rolled out of bed. So a smoothie was the obvious breakfast choice!

• 4 ice cubes
• 1 cup of orange juice
• 1 container of peach yogurt
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 tablespoon of blueberry flax seed

I finally made a smoothie that was liquid enough to enjoy drinking!  The peach yogurt added the perfect amount of sweetness.  Aside from causing multiple Ice Cream Headaches, this smoothie was awesome.

I snacked on a Blueberry Bran (VitaTop) VitaMuffin when I got to work.  I’ve been singing Vitalicious’ praises for a while now.  Everything I’ve eaten of theirs is just so good!

I had leftover acorn squash and stuffing for lunch.  Still so proud of myself for the recipe I created; I wouldn’t change a thing!

Since most of the squash had been scraped out, I had pita chips and my last wedge of Laughing Cow cheese as a side dish.

Ok so this wasn’t the most delicious cupcake I’ve ever eaten….but come on, it was a mini cupcake and I would’ve been crazy to say no!

I made a smoothie for breakfast with a sample of Barlean’s Organic Oils Pomegranate Blueberry Total Omega Swirl.  It’s a complete and balanced source of Omega-3, 6 and 9.  It is 100% vegan because it’s plant based.  No fish oil that makes me squeamish!  This smoothie contained:

• 2 ice cubes
• 1/2 cup of orange juice
• 1 cup of frozen berries
• 1 container of vanilla yogurt
• 1 packet of Pomegranate Blueberry Total Omega Swirl
• 1 packet of truvia

We didn’t get bagel at this morning’s staff meeting so I snacked on a CranBran Vitamuffin instead.  I’ve always been a fan of bran muffins, and this was no exception.  It tasted great after being heated for 20 seconds.  There were lots of plump cranberries and it was really filling for only containing 100 calories.

I snacked on some Wheat Thins dipped in Laughing Cow cheese.

Then I ate leftover couscous for lunch.  Not overly exciting but really tasty.

I wanted to use my Soy Milk that claims to be best if used by 10/20/09.  It was fine for my smoothie, but I don’t think I’m going to hang onto the carton for much longer.

Today’s Berry Blend contained

• 2 tablespoons of blueberry flax seed
• 1 cup of frozen berries
• 1 container of strawberry yogurt
• 4/5 of a cup of soy milk

I should’ve used more soy milk and a few ice cubes.  This was really thick, and difficult to drink without a straw.  The entire contents of the cup kept sliding into my face when I tilted the cup back to take a sip.  I had pink spots all over my nose and the sides of my mouth.  Wasn’t pretty but would’ve created a humorous photo.

I sampled a 2nd VitaMuffin when I got to work.  This Apple Berry one was frozen last night, thawed on my way to work, and then microwaved for 20 seconds.  As soon as I opened the microwave, I could smell an amazing berry aroma.  The actual flavor didn’t taste very strong and apple berry-like.  It tasted more like mild baking spices.  It seemed like a great breakfast food or oatmeal topping.  I liked the taste and texture.  These are great when served hot!

I didn’t have time to make my sandwich at home so I packed all of the ingredients and assembled this at work.  I topped Arnold Thins with hunks of leftover chicken, bits of celery for crunch, and a huge smear of vegetable hummis.  It was delicious!  I never buy celery, but the stalks were leftover from Sunday’s chicken soup.  Aside from making “Ants on a Log,” I never thought I’d have a way to use the leftovers.  Well…it might be a new sandwich essential!  I normally eat chips with sandwiches because I need something crunchy.  This celery was a much healthier alternative to satisy that craving!