Learn Your ABC's

Hello all! Those of you that have been following have heard all about my knee and blister problems that I've been having with running. Basically both problems have been keeping me pretty stagnant lately. I've been trying to find other activities such as spinning, yoga or Pilates to help balance out my days, but  without being able to go outside and run in the beautiful weather I've become very unmotivated. My half marathon is Saturday and even though my blisters will not be 100% better,  my doctor thinks with some mole skin I'll be able to finish the race. And NO, I didn't got to the doctor for a blister if that's what you are thinking. :-) 

I was actually at the doctor getting these brown specks that cover my torso checked out. Some call them beauty marks, my doctor calls them potential cancer and likes to see me on a regular basis. I guess that does all go in line with my healthy body mission. Anyhow, I have a little bugger on my side, right under my bra band that needs to be removed. It's probably nothing serious as I've had this same thing done numerous times, but the doctor wanted to remove it right then for a biopsy. I was able to schedule it for early next week instead so I could still run my half this weekend. However... once again I've been told to that exercising is not recommended while it heals because it can stretch the stitches and cause scaring. My body is really resisting me on Operation Bikini Bod this year. Maybe I can still do some spinning since that doesn't use upper body, hmmmm?

For those of you not familiar with skin cancer, also known as Melanoma, it's time to brush up on your ABC's. The ABC's can help you to determine what is a normal, healthy mole and one that may possibly become cancerous.  Normal moles are usually flat, light in color, and smaller than the diameter of a pencil eraser. Normal moles usually do not change. If you are noticing changes, you should see a doctor. The things to look out for with moles are 

• Asymmetry -  when one half of the growth has a different shape than the other.
• Borders Irregular - when the growth has scalloped or uneven edges. 
• Color varied - when the growth is more than one color. Melanomas may be black, shades of brown and tan, and even have specks of red, white, and blue.
• Diameter - when the size, measured edge to edge, is bigger than the diameter of a pencil eraser.
• Evolutions - Melanoma will change in shape and size over a short period of time.

For more information on Melanoma, you can check out Melanoma.com. If you think you may have Melanoma, you should contact a health care professional immediately as Melanoma is a quick spreading and life threatening disease.

And now for my eats. My camera has been dead for days, so iPhone photos for now, but I finally have it charging!

Lunch yesterday was Smoked Salmon wrap.

Whole wheat wrap, two - Laughing Cow Wedges, 3 oz smoked salmon, red onions, tomatoes, and arugula. If only I would've had some capers.

I also brought this salad back to the office with me. Some spinach, asparagus, onion, tomatoes, cucumbers and 6 bean salad. I topped it with a little homemade honey dijon vinaigrette!

Then I needed something sweet so I had 1/4 cup Bear Naked Granola.

My afternoon workout was called.... cleaning house! Cat hair, cat hair, everywhere! The cats are moved out so I had lots of wiping, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming and polishing. It may not be the same as a 3 mile run, but cleaning house is definitely a workout!

For dinner I went out with a friend. Started with a biscuit with yummy honey cinnamon butter.

Then I had a Caesar salad.

And then Cajun pasta with chicken, mushrooms, peppers and onions and a "Cajun" creme sauce.  Cajun goes in quotes because there was nothing Cajun about it. I ended up covering it with a bottle of hot sauce. It was tasty once I fixed it. :-)

Poor pictures, sorry. Now I know I've A. cheated on my eating out only once a week but... I've justified it by saying I haven't had to pay for every meal. ;-) and B. haven't been making my normal healthy selections and eating lots of carbs but... I've justified that I'm running a half this weekend so I'll be back to my normal eating very soon!

Breakfast this morning I went back to my oldie but goldie favorite. Plain yogurt, raspberries, flax seed and Cardamom tea with soy milk and local honey.

Enjoy your evening!

Locally Grown

Since moving to the desert, I have been on a search for locally grown fresh produce. There are several farmers markets that happen around town and when I first saw this I was very excited. One afternoon I joyfully jumped in my car and drove 20 minutes to the other side of town all in the name of fresh produce, only to discover upon arrival extreme disappointment. Although it's advertised as fresh produce from California it looked more like half ripe tomatoes and damaged produce brought up from Mexico. I did a quick scan . Nothing organic, nothing mouthwatering, nothing that gripped the senses saying fresh! I walked away empty handed and have continued my produce shopping at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's ever since.

Then last week while doing some research on the web I came across this site LocalHarvest.org. This is a great website for finding locally grown food and produce near where you live! While this website also suggested my not-so-great farmers market, it also lead me to some local farms and a site that I'm particularly happy about, Made in Pahrump. Pahrump is a very small town about 45 miles west of Las Vegas. Pahrump is seated in a valley between the Spring Mountains and Mount Charleston. The cooler air that bounces off the mountains keeps the valley cooler than Las Vegas allowing them to grow produce year around. Pahrump also has a winery! I've actually tried their Syrah and it was delicious!

I have yet to make my virgin voyage to Pahrump for fresh veggies and wine, but expect to see them in the near future!

Now for some good eats! Blogger was not uploading my photos yesterday so I wasn't able to finish my post!

Friday after work I met a friend at the sports book for some cocktails and the Ohio game. I had a vodka soda and then we went for some dinner. I only had my iPhone so bear with me on the photos. We had wine and bread some un-pictured calamari.

Then we split the eggplant parmesan. I love eggplant!

When I got home I was still a little hungry so I worked on the left over roasted vegetables. 

 Saturday morning I stayed in bed till late. I got up at some point and had some cottage cheese.

and around noon I finally made this yummy sandwich.

Turkey, Laughing Cow wedge, Wholly Guacamole, roasted red peppers, banana peppers, and arugula with a glass of chocolate almond milk.

Then I think I went back to bed for a nap. :-) Saturday night I went to a baby shower/party. Where there was lots of this.

And some of this...

And more of this....

and even more of this...

Ultimately leading up to some of this...

Flip Cup!

Wow! To act like a college kid again is great fun!

Sunday when I woke up I wanted breakfast! I've been on a huge breakfast kick lately and have been loving it! I made my cheesy potatoes with hash browns, cheese, and greek yogurt.

Made some fresh squeezed grapefruit juice.

So yummy!

I had a piece of toast with a Laughing Cow wedge, turkey, and 1 egg + 1 egg white

Super yummy! I headed out to Costco in the afternoon and came home with this.

Pineapple, asparagus, bananas, raspberries, ravioli, smoked salmon, a huge tuna steak, and New Moon! Can you believe that huge bunch of bananas was only $1.32? and the huge bag of asparagus only $2.99! and the giant thing of raspberries $4.99! Costco is great for a lot of things, but sometimes it can become a bit ridiculous. What would a single gal like myself do with 3 cantaloupes!

In the evening I went to meet my friend;s boyfriend who was in town. I had 3 of these.

And two pieces of this delicious pesto & roasted red pepper bruchetta

A bite of this spinach & artichoke dip. It was ehh.

And a slice of this pizza

When I got home I was still a little hungry so I thought I'd finish off these brussel sprouts.

And still hungry I had some asparagus

 And late night I made this smoothie in a bowl. One banana, a handful of raspberries, a scoop of SF Quick, a little bit of almond milk and some ice cubes. Tasty!

And here are Mondays eats since Blogger was having issues yesterday. Breakfast was a whole wheat english muffin with a Laughing Cow wedge and smoked salmon.

It was 82 yesterday so at noon I split from work and ate this wrap on the way to the pool. A whole wheat wrap, turkey, Laughing Cow, a little guac, banana peppers, tomatoes and spinach.

Then we had some of my skinny margaritas. I use to bartend so I tend to free pour all the ingredients but it goes something a little like this. 2 oz tequilla, 3/4 oz Triple Sec, 1 oz fresh lime juice, add Crystal Light Lemonade to your desired sweetness.

We went from skinny margs at the pool to happy hour to meet several friends. I switched over to red wine and had these snacks. Calamari, BBQ shrimp, and beef carpaccio.

It was all very yummy but not all that filling. Our night continued like this...

I'm pretty sure this was what my running coach meant by load up on salt and carbs this week, right?? There was only one fix for me this am.

Egg McMuffins are one of my few guilty pleasures. My cameras been dead since Sunday night hence all the iPhone photos.

Off for now! Looking forward to spending my evening at home and getting some much needed sleep!

Frazzled Mind & Soul

In my very first blog post, I talked need for a healthy mind, healthy body, healthy soul. As much good food and exercise you put into your body, without a healthy mind and soul, you ain't got jack. Stress can have a significant effect on your health and has been know to cause anything from backaches, insomnia, to heart problems. This month as much as I have tried to avoid stress in my life, my roommate, very soon to be former roommate, has set off time bomb after time bomb. Without going into specifics, lets just say I'm grateful for my true friends and outlets I have such as running.

 Now for some food!

I have been having a Chipotle craving for 2 weeks. Finally had to give in. ;-)
 

 

Of course I had to get chips too....

That sad apple in the background has been my snack on my desk all week that I haven't been hungry for! I'm sure having 700 calorie lunches has nothing to do with not wanting a snack.... 

I always get rice but I never eat it. I just like it being there for some reason. I know, I know, some kid in Africa is starving because of me. 

I went to spinning after work and I was still stuffed! It was tough keeping all that Chipotle down! This was my first time in a spin class and I only went because I have blisters the size of Texas on my feet and can't run. It was okay. I might check it out again.

I also gave in to the no groceries till Saturday. After Chipotle all I wanted was veggies for dinner! So I chopped up some brussel sprouts, carrots, onions and sweet potatoes and put them in the oven. 

While those were baking I made myself and arugula, beet and smoked salmon salad.  This was super yummy and I made the yogurt dijon dill dressing on the side. 

Then I had some veggies! The dressing/dip was so good, I made a little more to put on the side.

 And then I had my new love, banana soft serve. I need to get some appropriate size bowls for this. :-)

Breakfast this am was 1/2 plain yogurt with flax seed and toast with almond butter.

Lunch today was a repeat of last nights salad but this time I added tomatoes and cucumbers.

This dressing is great! I think I used about 1/4 cup greek yogurt, big teaspoon of whole grain dijion, bunch of dill and several dashes of rice wine vinegar to get it to the right consistency. 

 Then I had 1/2 cottage cheese with cumin. 

And I had some Wisecrackers with laughing cow and kombucha for a snack. 

That's all I got for now! I'll update again Monday since I have no internet at home no thanks to my soon to be former roommate. Hope you have a great weekend!