Can a Monday morning ever really be good?  Well, maybe on holidays haha.  I have stuff going on every single weekend until April so I feel like it is always Monday morning before I know what hit me.  Yesterday I skipped my 5 mile tempo run (shame on me), the hubby and I were basically just being lazy bums.  Although we did manage to clean the apartment up some.

Return of the Tortilla Pizza

It has been a long time since I felt like pizza and since we didn’t have a big crust, I made a personal sized tortilla pizza.

1 multi-grain tortilla

pasta sauce

veggies

cheese of choice

Toast your tortilla in oven at 350 (flipping repeatedly) until slightly golden brown.  Top with pasta sauce, veggies (mine were artichokes, mushrooms, and few slices of chicken sausage), sprinkle with cheese.  I used shredded mozz.  Put back in oven at 350 for few minutes until things start melting then turn on broiler to brown cheese.

So good!  I also added some fresh ground pepper.

On the side was about 1/4 large apple and small plum.

Then my snacking began again:  truffle, rest of apple, and way more than one serving of cereal.

Dinner:

I wasn’t really hungry (and probably should have listened to my body), but I figured I should eat a real meal so I would stop snacking.  A HUGE bowl of Kashi/Special K with half a banana.

On the side the end piece from my hubby’s loaf of bread.  My favorite part of any bread is the end piece.  I have no idea why, but I steal them out of all the bags of bread in our pantry.

My husband had Oreos for dinner.  I kid you not.

Weekend Changes

After our dinners last night we sat on the couch feeling miserably full.  Don’t get me wrong I like my belly being full, but it seems like every weekend the hubby and eat to a level of uncomfortable fullness.  While feeling uncomfortable we both decided that we need to stop letting our healthy eating fly out the window every Friday night.  I don’t think there is anything wrong with indulging a little on the weekends, but we have let it get out of hand.  Both of us have also been experiencing some stomach issues, which may be caused by stress or the weekend eating habits, or both.

Anyway, we have decided to cut down unncessary snacking, processed foods, and sugar.  The goal is to feel better, not be in a food coma on Sunday night, and hopefully shape up for swimsuit season.  The hubby and I have made some really good changes to our lifestyles after the little unhealthy hiatus upon arrival to Houston.  We have gotten regular exercise back, starting packing our lunches, and cut down takeout.  Although we have both made these changes, our bodies keep telling us something is still off.

It is time for us to bring moderation to the weekends.  Maybe this will make waking up Monday morning easier?  That might be wishful thinking.

As we make these adjustments I will fill you in on what we do to keep better track of ourselves and how we enjoy without over doing it!

To start this week, I am going to try and cut down grains, processed foods, and sugar.  This is a personal choice because I have been experiencing a lot of stomach issues and I feel that giving it a little rest might help.  So expect meals for the next week to be heavy on vegetables and fruit.

Monday morning:

For a kid who used to hate bananas, I sure do love them now.  Although I love my oatmeal for breakfast, I wanted to give all the fiber, carbs a rest.  Bananas to the rescue.  I had a banana with little bit of AB and cinnamon sprinkled on top.  Cinnamon is supposed to help regulate your blood sugar levels so I thought it was a great way to start out eating better for my body.

I am going to head to the gym before class and do my scheduled intervals for Monday, and then if the weather remains nice the hubby and I are cutting out TV time tonight to run the 5 miles from yesterday.

Houstontians: Bob Greene, Oprah’s personal trainer will be at West University Kroger on Thursday as part of his book signing tour.

Be sure to enter my giveaway- a winner will be chosen tomorrow!

Can you tell when your body needs a change?

I used to be very good at listening to my body, but stress of school and life has been louder than body’s voice lately.

This morning I had the first of my long runs for my next half marathon (the double half Pelican Challenge).  It took me 40 mins of running until my body felt like running.  I probably should have taken another rest day this week, but we cut about 20 minutes of the run instead.  My big toe also really started hurting! I felt like the thing was broken it was in so much pain every time my foot hit the ground.  My husband told me I had turf toe.  I told him only football players get that.  Neither of us know what we are talking about, but I am staying off my feet the rest of the day and hoping it gets better!

Pre-run food was a piece of toast with AB and cinnamon.

This nearly empty jar makes me so sad and so happy at the same time!

The hubby and I then went forth and did 1 hr 22mins for a total of 8.33 miles.  It was slow and I don’t care.  Tomorrow is a 5 mile tempo run, so I wanted the energy.

Let me recap dinner last night:

Greek yogurt, banana, blueberries, tons of cinnamon, and Kashi.

On the side sandwich thin with Laughing Cow and strawberry jam.  The BEST combo ever, if you haven’t tried this- YOU NEED TO!  No joke.

Dinner was fairly small because I mindlessly snacked soooooo much last night.  The hubby wasn’t getting home until late and I just sat in front of the TV and munched.  It was relaxing.  I also watched Lifetime Movie Network for a good couple hours while the hubby was gone.

My snacks are unpictured but I had a few handfuls of tortilla chips, lots of handfuls of Special K cereal (cereal is deadly around me!), 2 of my truffles, and then a late dessert of vanilla frozen yogurt.  Somehow I still managed to wake up hungry this morning so my body must have been hungrier than I thought!

The hubby and I are going to check out a rumored gumbo cookoff and then watch the Boilers!

What are your plans this lovely Saturday?  Lovely because I saw the sun peak its little face out!

What better way to start the last day of the week then by making oats so good that you smile!

YUM!  I just heated up some overnight oats (no stove involved).

1/4 cup oats

1/8th cup oat bran

1 tbsp flax meal

topped with the crushed end of a bag of Kashi

banana

AB

cinnamon

honey

AMAZING!  This was exactly what I needed to brighten my spirits.  Getting my butt up and hitting the gym this morning also helped.  I did 30 mins of quarter mile intervals (about 3 miles total).   I then came back to the apartment and did a little bit of ab work.  I should have had a plan, because I ended up mainly just watching Buffy and throwing in a few random ab moves.

On Wednesday I did a bunch of squats/lunges in my strength set and my legs are still killing me!  I find it somewhat ironic that I ran 13 miles with little leg soreness; I do about 40 squats and I can barely walk.

Dinner last night was made in about 5 minutes because I was exhausted after 12 hours of school.

Multi-grain wrap with hummus, artichokes, mushrooms, carrots, and the rest of the bag of pretzels I had to buy at the vending machine to make it through my last class.

By the end of the week my meals lack all effort and creativity, I am just too worn out to come up with something.  Hence eating things like oats for dinner ,frozen pizza, or leftovers.

Do your meals get less creative towards the end of the week or do you meal plan?

I predict an iced coffee this morning before class.

Is it just me or is 2010 flying by without me even noticing?  I am one of those people that NEEDS to slow down and smell the roses.  I have actually been pretty angry with myself lately for not enjoying life more.  I use law school as an excuse all the time (and trust me it is a pretty darn good excuse), but law school is NOT my life.  In 20 years my life may have absolutely nothing to do with practicing law and I don’t want to look back wishing I had done all these things or enjoyed where I am right now in life.

That being said, I don’t want to fail out of law school either!  I will straight up admit that I don’t get straight As in law school, which was really hard to accept when I had only gotten 2 B’s my entire life until this point.  But I am glad.  I don’t want my life to be nothing but work, those people aren’t happy, they burn out, and in the field of law there are many horror stories of addictions and falls from grace.

I need to work on my life balance.  These are the things that are important to me (in no particular order):  School, Husband, Dog, Running,  Friends, Developing Life outside of Work/School, blogging.  Right now I wake up, blog quickly, try to hit the gym (usually doesn’t happen), work on reading, go to class, come home, usually get in the workout I missed, and do homework until it is time for bed.  I need to spend more time with my husband and our dog (my little family), I need to spend time being young and going out with friends, enjoying the things that Houston has to offer (even though it isn’t a lot), and I need to find time for myself.  To give you a little glimpse of how long it has been since I have actually done something for myself:  I haven’t had my nails painted in well over  year because I feel I shouldn’t waste time doing that when I have reading to do!

Anyway all my ranting is just me being angry that I don’t have a life or more fun.  I fear that I am wasting my youth (this girl is a young 23) and missing out on life around me.

Do you “stop and smell the roses”?  Do you ever feel like you’re missing out on life?  If not, give me some tips on how I can have more fun and enjoy my time now

Okay, enough ranting.  Food time:

Hump Day’s lunch was yogurt topped with blueberries and Kashi, sandwich thin with Laughing Cow and jam (a little smidge of AB too)!.  Unpictured snacks included some white cheddar rice cakes and an apple.

Dinner was packed up so we could watch the game with fellow Purdue Alum across the street.  I packed a salad and half a tortilla stuffed with hummus and mushrooms

Dessert (unpictured) was hot chocolate with whipped cream and one of my Godiva truffles. I think the hubby has eaten more the my Valentine’s gift than I have- the box is halfway gone!

Workout: Wednesday morning I got up and did 10 mins on treadmill (ouch my leg hurt!) and then 30 minutes of strength moves!  After the hubby got home from work we did a very slow 3.5 mile jog.

Thursday: Woke up, briefed my cases as fast as possible while enjoying this big bowl of cereal:

1 cup Special K Vanilla Almond, 1/2 cup Kashi, blueberries and banana.  So good!  I also sprinkled a little vanilla protein powder on because I think I need to add a little extra with my new training program.  (Soon to debut my training schedule)

I also got to use my lunch gear again!  Makes lunch much better I think:

Excuse the phone photo, didn’t have time to photograph before leaving.  Today included a AB and banana sandwich with a bag of apple slices and side of greek yogurt with blueberries and banana.

Don’t you wish you were still partying in New Orleans right now?  I know that I sure do.  But…this girl has Admin Law bright and early, so it is back to Monday reality for me!

But first…lets live in the winning moment one more time:

The hubby in his Drew Brees jersey, myself in my Mrs. Brees shirt.  SOOOOO happy for the Saints.  Also happy that Drew Brees is representing Purdue!  And yes, I really am that short!

My eats yesterday were just ridiculous!  But running for two hours gave me a lot of burned calories to make up for.

At the two parties we stopped at I munched on the following:

• roasted chickpeas
• cracker and cheese ball (probably like half a dozen at least)
• chips and spinach dip
• cupcake (made with applesauce, none of the boys even knew!)

I came home for the last quarter of the game to relax and keep Trooper company.  I made myself a huge yogurt bowl.

Sorry the weird lighting in some of these photos, I was playing around with settings on my camera.  This bowl had pumpkin yogurt (greek yogurt + pumpkin+spice), apple chunks, blueberries, Kashi Honey Almond Flax cereal!  So good!  And I was actually full after this bowl, but the game got nerve racking so I snacked away anxiety!

About a whole bag (luckily the small size bag) of pretzel nibblers was consumed and then 1/2 cup frozen yogurt with blueberries on top!  With my belly uncomfortably full the Saints intercepted the ball and ran it for a touchdown.

By this time the hubby had joined us and we were jumping up and down while Trooper stared at us in disbelief.

Onto Monday morning- I didn’t sleep well last night, maybe too excited still?  I just got up at 5:30 instead of laying there awake.  I have intervals on the schedule but my legs were still a bit achy.  I hit the bike for 5 minutes and then did strength!  Woo!  I did a whole 25 minutes of weights, crunches, squats!  I was proud of myself.

Breakfast was lovely berry oatmeal.

1/4 cup oats

1/8 cup oat bran

1-1 1/2 tsp flax

1 cup water

blueberries

almond butter

strawberry jam

Kashi

Now it is time to hit the books again…Boo!

Do you like Peanut Butter? Who doesn’t!  Head over to Une Vie Saine to check out her great PB & Co. giveaway!

How was everyone’s Super Bowl?  Any good eats or recipes you came across?

It is 40ish, raining, and windy.  Isn’t this supposed to be Houston?  I am counting on mid to upper 60s with sun today!  Today is supposed to be my 2 hour run for the week (since I slept through it yesterday!) but if this rain doesn’t let up I am going to have to move it until tomorrow!  I really dislike moving my runs about, it makes me feel like I am avoiding or failing.

After my very brisk walk home from school (my hands were frozen!) I made a GIANT bowl of pumpkin oats.

No, your eyes are not deceiving you.  My bowls of oats keeping getting bigger.  This one is at the brim of my bowl.

1/4 cup oat bran

1/4 cup oats

1 cup water

1/2 cup pumpkin

cereal and almond butter on top (Special K does make a great oats topper!)

This was sooo much food!  I probably should have divided it into two servings, but it was too yummy!  I have just recently started adding the oat bran and it just really produces a large volume of food!

This giant bowl of oats warmed me up.  On the game plan for the rest of the day:

• Homework, briefing
• Need to run (want 2 hours, with rain I will do speed intervals at gym)
• Homework
• Dinner time with my two boys.

Does getting off your workout schedule bug the heck out of anyone else?

Today I have a 15k on the training plan.  Since the closet 15k race today is about 200 miles away, we are heading down to Rice to run 9.3 miles at a race pace.

The weather is BEAUTIFUL!  This may be bad news for my school work!

Pre fuel:

Sorry for the horribly bad picture.  Half a banana with almond butter.  Also going to have a Cliff Block or two.

Check out the hubby’s new gear!!!  Yep, he finally got his own running belt.  He went for the Nathan Speed 4.  I will have him write a review of what he thinks after our run today.