Hey friends!

Sorry for the delayed post! My Thursdays are crazy-busy with work, lunch, bible study, bike……..the list goes on. But tomorrow is Friday so its all okay

THANK YOU to those that donated and also those that contributed a dessert recipe!!!

My mouth was seriously watering as I looked over all the recipes I have so far. Everything looks so delicious and I can’t wait to try some of these recipes! I need more though! Please, please, please send over your recipes to HelpJennaRun@gmail.com . It doesn’t have to be fancy and can be a recipe that you make all the time and have changed maybe an ingredient or so to “make it your own”. I can’t wait to see the finished product…I know it will be fabulous!

This morning I started off my day with more hot carbs and nut butter (hehe):

This would be a delicious toasted Rudi’s Honey Sweet Whole Wheat bagel with pumpkin seed buttah and raspberry preserves! YUMO!

I just LOVE this pumpkin seed butter.

You can’t be the stats for anything in the world. One serving of two tbsp is equal to 10.5 GRAMS OF PROTEIN (!), 160 calories and 13 grams of fat. Plus, it is green and tastes totally nutty and delicious! This awesome snack definitely kept my engines going for about five hours til’ it was breakfast time!

This morning I broke out these bad boys

These little “cookies” are 100% raw and are so crisp, delicious and addicting!! I crumbled a few of them over my morning bowl of oat bran, along with almond butter and 1/2 banana for a yummy treat of a breakfast

Delicious and filling…I loved the little crunchy cookie bits in my almond butter!

We finished everything at superman pace this morning and I got home early, around 11:45. I wasted no time in getting lunch on the table! Here is my Rudi’s 7 grain + flax wrap stuffed with 1/4 cup Cedar’s roasted garlic hummus, 1 orange bell pepper, 2 stalks celery and 1/4th of an avocado—

I was so stuffed after this monster of a wrap that I didn’t eat the cheese! I DID manage to fit in two tiny squares of organic dark chocolate though

After I ate I (almost) immediately set off on my bike. I really wanted to get in a decent bike ride before I was due at Sarah’s house for bible study at 1:30. So, I put on the Garmin, helmet and RoadID (obvious essentials) and off I went! And I’ll proudly say it again, I LOVE MY GARMIN! Today I set it on bike setting and I just loved how it tracked my distance and everything..told me when to cycle faster and when to slow down—it was awesome! Between getting to Sarah’s house and later getting home, I cranked out a hot and sweaty almost-10 miles and got my heart rate pretty high up there. I was feelin’ the burn for sure!

Too bad my Target bike is the slow kid in the group even though I pedal with all my heart and soul. Seriously…people lap me on their super cool road bikes like its no one’s business. Good thing Sarah is letting me borrow her road bike for my triathlon this summer (thank you, Sarah!!!!!!!)! Her bike has 21 speeds and mine has 6…….maybe that’s where the problem lies?

During our bible study time, I snacked on this yummy bar:

And then when I finally made it home (after being locked out and waiting for my mom to get home from work), I heated up this delicious dinner:

I realize now looking back that I HAVE been eating a lot of frozen dinners lately, which is rather unlike me because I love, love, love to cook! However, this is a good example of when real life gets in the way! Between my 3 AM wake-up call to working on my feet for 9 hours a day, blogging, reading blogs, emailing, working out, bible study, walking dogs, making breakfasts for upcoming days…………….I just can’t do it all! I know there are many of you that feel the same way, no?!

That’s why in situations like this, Amy’s is a GREAT alternative. Actually I think it is the best alternative! This meal was absolutely delicious and contained 21 grams of protein, 380 calories and 17 grams of fat. I think I am in love with Amy’s tofu because no matter what, it is always chewy and perfect! In this meal, it was seasoned with Mexican spices, sprinkled with cheese and served on a mini corn tortilla. Also included in the meal were creamy black beans and delicious roasted potatoes. I would definitely buy this again! Thanks, Amy! And also, don’t forget for those that participated with me in Meatless in March, I will be giving away a huge Amy’s gift box in just a few days!

I served my entree with salsa on the side and hot sauce drizzled all over the place! I also had the sweetest, ripest mango I have EVER had. No seriously! It was soooo mouth watering yummy!

And another one bites the dust:

Okay. I have seriously been eating my WEIGHT in nut butter lately! But I just love it so! No one else in my family helps me out with eating the almond butter…its just my addiction and I really do eat about a whole jar every week and a half all by myself.

Tonight I scraped down the sides of this near empty jar so I had some topping for my warm VitaBrownie!

(sigh in contentment)

I am SO happy tomorrow is Friday! Unfortunately my love is going out of town all weekend with “the boys” so I am flyin’ solo. Tomorrow should be interesting as I actually am going to see a new sports medicine doctor regarding my shin splints! The pain is NOTHING like it was last fall (thank God!) but with Team in Training practice starting in 6 weeks, I just want to be sure I take all the precautions and train the proper way. Part of me thinks I am just plagued with shin splints forever, but I’m still hoping and praying for a miracle. This doctor I am seeing tomorrow sounds really great and has worked with Tampa’s professional sports teams a lot during training. Hopefully he can show me some strengthening exercises and get me on the right foot (no pun intended) to start my half marathon training!

And tomorrow night I am very excited to take a Jenna-night. Every girl needs a night to herself once in awhile right??! I feel like so often we get so busy with everything that we forget to take care of the most important thing…ourselves! So, tomorrow night I am picking up Indian take-out, drinking red wine and passing out watching a movie. Good thing Ryan found me this coupon to my favorite Indian place!

A free chai tea sounds faaaabulous.

As for now……….g’nite yall! =)

ps—-

please pause and check out Sarah’s weekend plans on her blog. It just made me almost spit my water across the room because I started laughing so hard. That is all.

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2009. | Permalink | 52 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Amy's, bars, dessert, hummus, nut butter, oat bran, Product Reviews, raw, Snack, training, vegan, VitaBrownie, wraps

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Hi!

A huge continued thank you for Team in Training donations!! You guys seriously rock Also, thank you for the great ideas regarding fundraising ideas! The words “jenna bread auction” sort of got my wheels turning a little bit……….

So, this afternoon I went with my mom and my brother to Trout Creek Trails, where I did my 5K trail run a couple weeks back. I had in mind to run 3 1/2 miles and I actually did do 3.4 miles (according to my handy dandy Garmin…love this thing), but it was very “meh”.

First of all, I REALLY need to stop eating a heavy lunches and then running only an hour later. I know eggs aren’t the heaviest, but I still had a cramp on my run and had to stop once to get rid of it! I think on the days that I plan to run in the early afternoon after work, I’m just going to have something like a clif bar and some fruit for lunch and then a big snack after the run. Hopefully that’ll do the trick!

Other than the cramp, my shins were still rather sore from pounding actual pavement instead of soft grass on Saturday (at quite a fast pace!) and I GOT LOST TODAY!!!! No seriously, rule number one when running in an unknown spot should be GO BACK THE WAY YOU CAME!! DUH jenna! I started out okay today and tried to follow the same path as I ran a few weeks ago, but ended up getting all turned around right when I hit mile three and actually started to panic (omg what if the sun sets and I never find my way back to the car??!) and thank God another runner was around for me to ask the way back to the parking lot. I was only about a half mile from the lot, but I had gone in the opposite direction and needed to cut through the woods to get back. Obviously the point here is that I have zero sense of direction and really need a running buddy. Enter Team in Training! Too bad I have to wait until May 16th to meet my new teammates!!

I went SUPER SLOW today. I’m actually really trying to slow down my pace to a 9:30 or 10:00/mile because I know that a) going super fast will hurt my shins and b) I won’t be able to hit 13.1 at a 8:00/mile pace. No way. Today I paced pretty consistently at 9:30 so I was happy with that.

Another crazy thing that happened this afternoon was that right when we were leaving the trail and getting ready to get on the ramp to go on the expressway, two cars CRASHED only about 10 feet from our car!!!! It was totally crazy…like it was happening in slow motion or something because we were so close. My mom screamed and I called 911 and gave directions because we were the first ones at the accident. We rushed out of the car to help the people and it turned out no one was hurt but one of the little girls in the back seat of the car that was hit was bleeding and scraped up a bit. Very very scary. Please drive carefully, friends!

After all the craziness, I snacked on a banana and drank some coconut water to refuel. It was HOT outside!

And then when I got home, I made dinner! I was excited to try a new Amy’s dinner tonight!

This meal is very simple and delicious. It is a tasty combination of brown rice, veggies and marinated tofu, all tossed in a yummy Japanese inspired teriyaki sauce. I was worried that because it was so simple it might also be on the bland side, but it definitely was not. This was hearty and surprisingly filling for only 290 calories. The rice was perfectly cooked and the tofu was chewy and delicious. I paired it with a yogurt for some extra protein (the meal contains 10 grams):

Honey on top….just the way I like it!

While I ate dinner I iced my shins and had a heating pad on my back (slept wrong last night and have been in major pain all day today at work!). For dessert, I had my favorite coconut milk ice cream sandwich

I just can’t get enough of these. Seriously the best thing since the VitaMuffin .

I’m off to soak myself in a hot bath then hit the sack. I’m exhausted today!

The pool at the Y closes at 2:00 on Monday and Wednesday, so tomorrow I am packing all my swimming stuff and going directly there after work (also packing a banana and an odwalla bar!) to swim for about half an hour. See you when I get back, hopefully with yummy new bread pictures!

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2009. | Permalink | 49 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Amy's, banana, coconut milk, Product Reviews, running, yogurt

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Hi guys!

How was your Thursday? Mine was busy, busy, busy! Good news is that tomorrow is FRIDAY! =)

This morning I snacked on my favorite Kashi bar and an apple around 3:45—

I love this bar because of the chew! It takes me forever to eat and I love the caramel flavor. It also keeps me full for awhile and that’s always a plus (although I am definitely not as hungry today as I was yesterday!)!

I also had a Kombucha while at work……I said only on Fridays but it just looked so good!

I was excited about breakfast because I got to try out this:

Turned into this—-

So portable and easy…I love it! The only ingredients in this rolled oats bowl are rolled oats, cinnamon, water, agave nectar and sea salt and it contains 220 calories. I’m guessing it contains the heart healthy portion of oats (3/4 cup dry) and that is why it is more calories than just a standard cup of oatmeal.

My thoughts?

I was very very VERY pleased with this product! I did bulk it up a bit with a half scoop of chocolate protein powder, half a sliced banana and a scoop of almond butter, but the overall flavor and texture of the oatmeal was wonderful. Even though it does contain a sweetener (agave nectar), you would never know it because this didn’t taste sugary at all. It was very thick and “porridge-like”, just how I like my oatmeal to be. This breakfast kept me full and going strong for about 5 hours! I would be very interested in trying out the other Amy’s breakfast bowls (cream of rice, steel cut oats) to see how they measure up. This is one for one though!

Like I said before, my appetite was a lot less ravenous than yesterday! Funny how that is sometimes. I felt FULL all morning at work from my breakfast and when I got home I was craving yet another ab&j on an ezekiel muffin. I just can’t get enough of this (or nut butter for that matter!). On the side, I had watermelon, half a red pepper and cucumber….nice cooling produce for this hot day!

After lunch, I biked to Sarah’s house for bible study. Yes, my friend Sarah does have a blog (she’s had one for a long time actually) but she just recently decided to make it more “open” to the blog world! I hope you all will visit her site and support her as you continually support me! The bike ride there was….interesting. It took about 15 minutes and was on a narrow sidewalk next to a busy street (don’t worry, I wore my helmet!) so I was constantly having to stop and go. On the ride back, I took a longer more scenic route along the bay to actually get a bit of a workout in. However, I made the mistake of riding by my favorite health food store and therefore just HAD to stop for another one of those amazing veggie juice drinks that I had last Sunday! Here’s my favorite mix of carrot, ginger, beet, apple and celery:

After bible study, before starting the second leg of my bike journey (haha), I snacked on a primal strip for some protein:

I LOVE these!!!

Tonight’s dinner was super simple, yet again. I promise to make it up tomorrow night! When I got home from biking, I was having an intense Indian food craving so I heated up my favorite channa masala:

Tastes SO authentic!

I also had about 80% of my last Rudi’s wrap (the other 20% was left out in the fridge and had gotten all hard and icky) with sliced cucumbers and the last of the jicama. I’ve got to hit the store tomorrow! I’m going through my produce like crazy…I guess that’s a good thing though!

Dessert was a frozen Veggie Girl Chocolate Chip Almond Fig Blondie (!!!!)

Yes, Veggie Girl, I am still savoring every morsel of the delicious dessert you baked me!!! These were AMAZING straight out of the freezer…no need to thaw! Very very chewy and delicious.

Also in the news is that I have decided to really take my training to the next level………

I picked an event that is sort of far off, but it gives me a lot of time (and I’m going to need it!) to train and get strong and ready. I was thinking this morning at work at what I think it really means to be ALIVE (yes, I have deep thoughts after 2 cups of coffee while topping muffins at 4:15 am), and to me, really living your life is challenging yourself and doing things that scare you! I love the feeling of accomplishment, of strength and of just really feeling like I am living my life to the fullest every second of every day. That all being said, I have decided to train for a TRIATHLON on August 2nd. I NEVER in a million bagillion years would have thought this would be something I ever would want to do, and even the thought of it really freaks me out (I cannot swim to save my life), but I think it would be such an amazing sense of accomplishment. Sarah is hopefully going to do it with me (she has done three triathlons) and she’s going to sort of “coach” me through the training process….especially the swimming part, which I am terrified of!

The triathlon is a sprint tri in Key Biscayne….we swim in the Atlantic, bike in South Beach and then run over the bridge that connects downtown to Key Biscayne. Its for a great cause, too, and that is research for Huntington’s Disease.

For those of you that don’t know, Huntington’s Disease is an inherited disorder resulting in the slow and irreversible loss of both mental and physical capacity. The usual age of onset is between 30 and 50, usually after a person has established a career, married and begun a family. Initial symptoms can be hard to detect and identify, including depression, mood swings, forgetfulness, and lack of coordination. That all being said, I will be raising money for this event to give as my donation. There is no known cure to this disease, but the money donated will go to improving the lives of those who are affected with the disease and to provide further research on it. I haven’t worked out the details yet, but in the future there will be a spot where you all can donate if you feel called to! I have to raise $125, which shouldn’t (hopefully) be too difficult to do because I know how amazingly supportive you all on the blogging community are. More details on all that donation stuff to come in the future though!

(I really have no earthly idea what I am getting myself into so seasoned triathletes feel free to leave suggestions on how to train someone that is used to swimming doggy paddle in the pool)

Tomorrow is work, lunch with Courtney at GrassRoots, grocery shopping, mushroom recipe formulating and hopefully playing with a new toy that should come tomorrow in the mail………….

Bible study quote of the week:

“It’s tough being a woman who can balance passion with patience. Wait upon the Lord…that is where our strength comes from” Beth Moore

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2009. | Permalink | 73 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: almond butter, Amy's, announcments, bars, dessert, Exercise, Kashi, Product Reviews, Snack, veggies

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Ahhhhh Sunday night. I’m so sad

This weekend was one of the best I’ve had in a long time and I finally feel like I got some relaxation in….actually, I feel like I relaxed more this weekend than I have since I started my job in January! Hooray! I’m going into this next week with a super positive attitude since last week was rather tough. Wednesday is going to be the only day that I’m going to run because I actually have another 5K on Saturday morning! Besides that, a new vegan/raw restaurant is opening up conveniently right next door to Ryan’s office, so I’m totally planning on making the trip for lunch one day this week!

This afternoon Ryan and I parked ourselves like beached whales poolside. It felt amazing. I snacked on an apple with almond butter mid-afternoon:

And I had my first Ooba experience!

(kindly disregard scars on wrist….they are from the ovens at work I SWEAR!)

Ooba is a sparkling beverage flavored with hibiscus flower! How cool is that?! Basically, it is a hibiscus flavored soda, with all natural ingredients and much less calories. One serving of Ooba contains 90 calories and the Ooba people say that it helps cardiovascular health, is a super antioxidant and high in vitamin C. I actually really enjoyed the taste of this, not knowing exactly what hibiscus flowers tasted like beforehand! I sort of expected it to have a flower-y taste (hmm like soap?) but it did not at all. It was very light and refreshing! I really don’t choose to buy drinks that are high in sugar and calories very much (why drink your calories when food is just so good?), but if I saw this at Whole Foods when I was buying my lunch, I think I would make the splurge. It wasn’t overly sweet like some fruity sodas are and it is just so pretty (plus it is just fun to say the word Ooba).

I was also sent two other new Ooba flavors, Hibiscus and Lime and Hibiscus and Orange, but I haven’t broken into that stash yet. I am slowly savoring the original flavor right now!

Dinner tonight was super comforting…………..

And delicious!!! Holy goodness, was this ever good! I have been DYING to try Amy’s new Southern Meal line and can’t find it anywhere around here so thank you sooo much, Kimberly, for making my dreams come true! This meal was comforting to the max…I especially loved the sweet potatoes! It was also one of those meals that remarkably looks like it does on the cover of the box. See?

Super creamy mashed sweet taters, collard greens and flavorful beans on pimento spiked cornbread. Brought me back to my ‘Bama days and I LOVED it! One meal has 340 calories in it and 12 grams of protein. I added some more protein to my meal by adding on egg white fluffies with a little of this special cheese—

I used 1/2 cup egg whites and a small square of this stuff (DELICIOUS!!!)—zapped it for 2 minutes in a coffee mug in the microwave and it fluffed up big time...actually it almost overflowed the mug!

I also sliced up some starfruit but didn’t end up eating it ’cause I got too full!

The end result was a very satisfying dinner! I wouldn’t hesitate to buying this entree again (if I could only find it!). Everything was very flavorful and the food was just so comforting and nostalgic….and healthy! Amy’s wins again!

I did have to give in to my sweet tooth though as I packed my lunch…I wasn’t hungry enough for ice “cream” and I just needed a little something

I took a bite of dark chocolate and then a bite of macaroon…..pure heaven. Sigh.

I’m off to spend some time with the guy upstairs (I mean God…haha). I’ve been a super slacker on bible study for the last two nights and need to get caught up and pick my memory verse for this month and read some more of Matthew. See you tomorrow!

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2009. | Permalink | 32 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: almond butter, Amy's, dessert, macaroons, Product Reviews, Snack

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Well, 7 hours of yoga later, I am back.

Actually it wasn’t 7 hours—but my noon workshop class went waaaay overboard and lasted a solid 3 hours! Never have I done yoga for such a long period of time. It was great though! The class was focused on balancing vata, and it was one of those classes where you hold crescent moon and warrior one for, like, 10 minutes. The class was very slow but sometimes the slow classes are the ones that work you the hardest!

I had a veryyy early lunch at 10:30 of this:

With a half cup of cottage cheese (gotta keep eating soft foods!):

Yummy and it did a good job of holding me through such a long practice!

I didn’t get home until 3:15 and had to be back at the studio for a lecture at 4, so needless to say there was no time for blogging, let alone a shower! I did manage to throw together a quick smoothie though—

This is a combo of a 2% fage, a whole mango (minus the pit of course) and a big squirt of agave. After all that asana, I needed a major boost!

Smoothie in hand, I rushed back to the studio for Kishan’s three hour lecture. Now, he is actually a philosophy and Indian studies teacher at UCLA (as well as in training to be an Ayurvedic physician) so listening to him was actually just like being in college again! He spoke for almost 4 hours on Ayurveda and he had me the entire time.

Here are some notes I took during the lecture. Now please keep in mind that you can agree or disagree with what he says. Its definitely very “out of the box” for us westerners to hear and its good to be open to what different people have to say. I’ve been interested in Ayurveda for awhile actually and after hearing him talk, I think I’m going to see an Ayurvedic doctor for my migraines since clearly traditional medicine doesn’t work for me!

Ayurveda is the science of life, way of being, looking into the body, mind and spirit—a holistic system of living and medicine

• Primary goal is to keep the healthy “healthy”—- Food IS medicine
• You are what you eat.
• Keeps the healthy healthy by helping us maintain balance with diet and lifestyle
• Like increases like. We need to balance everything.
• Some people aren’t meant to be vegetarians. We are meant to eat to our body type and keep it in balance. In Ayurveda, meat is sometimes even used as medicine. Depends on our activity level and our metabolic rate. ANYTHING can be medicine. Depends on your body.
• Shift your diet and lifestyle toward your imbalance
• Prakrati and Vikruti—–our states of health
• Prakrati is our current state of health. Vikruti is where we want to be!
• Prakrati often depends on our parents and their imbalances when we were born. Looks at internal state of the mother’s womb even as well as seasonal factors, food we’ve been eating, ect. Ideal setting would be for both parents to get really balanced and then conceive so that the child is born Vikruti instead of in a Prakrati state.

• The Universe is made up of 5 elements—-space, air, fire, water, earth. If there is a decrease in one, we need to pull another one to balance it off.
• From these 5 elements, the doshas (intelligence in the body) hails. When they are in a place of balance, they are invisible. When there is a weakened tissue in the body, they have the ability to manifest in the body in some sort of form

Your pulse is really the only way to tell what dosha type you are. Quizzes are sort of bogus. Only a certified Ayurvedic doctor can tell what you truly are.

• Ayurveda says allergies do not exist. Something is imbalanced. We need to look at the root of the problem. Western medicine covers up the problem yet does not heal it from the inside out. Stop bandaiding your symptoms. Find the root cause.

• all disease processes come from low digestive fire (agni)

• NO COLD DRINKS —-causes the stomach to contract and shiver
• ice water shocks the stomach and creates toxicity in it. Food cannot digest properly when the system gets shocked by cold. All drinks should be room temperature to hot.
• Ice cream at night is “the worst thing ever”.
• Also only warm foods at breakfast and no fruit because fruit is heavy and more difficult to digest in the morning. Cold milk and banana is NOT the right way to start your day in balance!

He went on to further elaborate on the different doshas and creating balance so we have zero health problems. I always thought of myself as a Vata but after talking to him and the Ayurvedic physician there, I think I have more of a Pitta imbalance. Very interesting. It lasted almost 4 hours! Afterwards he led us through some seated meditation and chanting.

I was STARVING by the end of the lecture (it didn’t end until about 7:30). Ryan was still in St.Pete and all this yoga made me really crave Indian food so I stopped at this tiny hole in the wall place only about a mile away from the studio that one of the girls in the workshop told me about. Turns out I wasn’t the only one with the same craving—I ran into Stacey, a girl I met in yoga, there!

I ordered channa masala with naan:

Ahhhhhhhhh it was amazing!!!!!!!! I was so hungry and even though I’m not supposed to eat bread for a week because of my mouth (bleh), I demolished the entire thing in about five minutes flat (well except for the veggie salad thingy…..no crunchy things right now!). Don’t worry. I was careful and chewed the bread slowly on the opposite side of my mouth. It was freakin’ amazing. The best naan I have ever had. Hot and buttery and chewy.……….so good. The channa masala was great too. I asked for a little bit spicier (you can get it mild, slightly spicy or HOT) and it was perfect. I’m so glad I found this little place and will definitely be back in the very near future!

Ryan just got home and we are relaxing on the couch. I actually cannot even move after so much yoga but tomorrow is the final day of the workshop and class goes from 11-1:30. Phew! I wish yall could be here and do this with me—its so interesting!

Have a wonderful evening and I’ll see you for breakfast! =)

ps—Kishan recommended this website if you interested in learning more!

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2009. | Permalink | 37 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Amy's, Indian take-out, mango, smoothie, yoga detox weekend, yogurt

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