Tuesday, December 16, 2008 at 09:46 AM
I had a feeling that I already used this post title. I used it on the morning of Wednesday, February 6, 2008, just a few days after I started the blog. I love looking back at old posts and seeing how far I’ve come with my blogging skillz (writing, content, photography, etc.) and food choices (I eat less artificial stuff now).
Anyway, I had a slow start to my morning. I seriously struggled to get out of bed. Plus, I was having some strange and interesting dreams, and I wanted to know how things turned out! 
Workout
After slowly getting out of bed and dressed for the gym, I miraculously had a great workout. I ran for 40 minutes on the treadmill, followed by 25 minutes of upper body free weights.
Run Stats:
- Distance: 4.47
- Time: 40:02
- Pace: 8:57 min/mile
- Calories: 438
Upper Body Dumbbell Workout:
- Single arm rows: 20 lbs, 15 reps, 3 sets
- Upright rows: 12 lbs, 15 reps, 3 sets
- Military press: 12 lbs, 15 reps, 3 sets
- Biceps curls: 12 lbs, 15 reps, 3 sets
- Lateral shoulder raises: 8 lbs, 15 reps, 3 sets
- Tricep dips: Body weight, 15 reps, 3 sets
Breakfast
Mmmmm… Zoe’s! I put a good 1/3 cup of Zoe’s granola on top of my oats this morning. The crunchy nuggets are so delicious with the mushy oats. I love the combo of crunch + mush! 
Also in this morning’s oats: dried cranberries and almond milk. Now that I am in the office, I am sipping on Sumatra coffee with vanilla hemp milk, which doesn’t blend well at all with coffee… oh well, I just keep stirring.
Blog for Your Health
From Self magazine, December 2008
Blogging may be good for your health!!!
- Sound Slumber: Blogging about your feelings can bring on relaxation, which helps usher in sleep.
- Improved Immunity: Expressive writing may encourage growth of white blood cells, which fight off infection, research shows.
- A Hardy Heart: Writing about emotional topics may lower blood pressure and heart rate, keeping your ticker in better shape.
Question of the Day
How has blogging (and/or reading food/fitness blogs) improved your own health and wellness?
Posted by: Tina
Posted in: Uncategorized, workouts
Tags: almond milk, dried cranberries, granola, hemp milk
Wednesday, December 3, 2008 at 09:46 AM
I love that I got Mal into eating oatmeal for breakfast. After listening to me rave about oats for months and months, he finally gave them a try, and he’s been hooked ever since! However, he’s quite the oatmeal monster! Look what I found this morning when I went to cook-up my morning batch of oats. (Luckily, we had another huge canister in the cupboard!)
Mal makes oatmeal like a guy. He just pours oats right from the canister into a big Tupperware container, which he takes to school and cooks there. No measuring, no fun add-ins, no nothing. Just oats in a Tupperware container to go. I, however, make oatmeal like a girl. I use a measuring cup each morning to portion-out 1/2 cup of dry oats. I add in all of my fun ingredients (fruit, nuts, etc.), cook in the microwave, pour into a nice, neat bowl, (take a million photos), and enjoy. Who would have guessed that the genders eat oatmeal so differently!?!
My oat bowl this morning was a wonderful mix of sweet, smooth, and chewy. Inside my bowl was raisins, dried cranberries, ground flaxseed meal, and honey…
… which was topped with vanilla yogurt “icing” and cranberry sauce.
A very holiday-esque bowl of oatmeal! 
Favorite Products of 2008
Tayna from Iateapie.net (one of my favorite websites!) recently asked me to share my 5 Favorite Food Products of 2008 with her to feature on her site. (She is highlighting various food bloggers all December long.) This morning, Tayna featured my top 5 selections! I’m sure you guys can probably guess which products made my list, especially which product took place numero uno! 
Be sure to check it out!
Question of the Day
What are your top 5 food products from 2008?
Posted by: Tina
Posted in: Uncategorized
Tags: cranberry sauce, dried cranberries, honey, oatmeal, raisins, yogurt
Thursday, November 6, 2008 at 11:07 AM
GOOD MORNING!!!!!
How’s that for an energized good morning!? I’ve been (wide) awake since 4:00 am! I had a terrible migraine late yesterday afternoon (I actually left work early), so I went to bed almost as soon as I got home. I only get migraines a few times a year, but when I get them, they’re awful! I’m such a baby when I have them too! Basically, I’m pathetic and whiny until I fall asleep, and then I am out-of-commission for hours.
As soon as I got home from work yesterday, I took some Excedrin Migraine and passed out until early this morning. I woke up, however, feeling like a new woman! My migraine was totally gone, and I was jazzed to get the day started. Even for me, 4:00 am is too early to start the day, so I set my alarm for an early morning workout about an hour later.
Workout
My workout this morning was GREAT! I had some extra time this morning, so I made sure it was a good one! I’ve been “training” to improve my 5K time for an upcoming race in December by using one of Hal Higdon’s programs to keep me on track.
According to Hal Higdon, in order to set a PR, you need to improve your endurance and your speed. You can do this by (1) running more miles, (2) running faster, or (3) some combination of both… which means: speedwork.
If you want to race at a faster pace, you need to train at a fast pace. Interval training (where you alternate fast running with jogging or walking) is a very effective form of speedwork. Following Hal Higdon’s 5K Intermediate Training Program, I did the following 6 X 400 workout this morning:
- 5 minute warm up (walking + slow jog)
- 400 meters hard (7.5 – 8.5 mph on the treadmill)
- Recover by walking 400 meters
- Repeat 400 m + recovery for a total of 6
- 5 minute cool down (slow jog)
My speedwork took much less time than I expected (less than 30 minutes), so I finished up my workout with a 30-minute speed walk and some upper body strength training (below).
- Lateral shoulder raises, 3 sets, 15 reps, 8 lb. dumbbells
- Military presses, 3 sets, 15 reps, 8 lb. dumbbells
- Bicep curls, 3 sets, 15 reps, 10 lb. dumbbells
- Tricep dips, 2 sets, 15 reps, body weight
- Pushups, 1 set, 15 reps, body weight
I feel like I’ve had quite the morning already, and I haven’t even blogged about breakfast yet!
Breakfast
It’s kind of crazy how I never get sick of eating oatmeal for breakfast. Most mornings, I consider having something else, but nothing is as satisfying and filling as a yummy bowl of oatmeal. Plus, it has the most amazing staying-power! Typically, I’m not hungry again for 4-5 hours!
Today’s oatmeal was an all-star mix of ingredients:
- 1/2 cup dry oats
- 1/3 cup canned pumpkin
- 1 tbsp ground flaxseed meal
- 1 tbsp sliced almonds
- 1 tbsp dried cranberries
- 1/2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
On the side: the worst cantaloupe ever! I already complained about this particular cantaloupe in a previous post. I should probably just throw it out, but I have a really tough time wasting food. I think this cantaloupe’s destiny is in a smoothie. Any other ideas? I’d hate to just toss it, but it’s just not tasty.
Midway through eating my oats, I realized that something was missing: a scoop of peanut butter! I’m tellin’ ya, the scoop of peanut butter (or Barney Butter) is what adds to that ever-lasting satisfaction until lunch.
Question of the Day
What “tools” help you stick with your healthy lifestyle?
There are lots of tools that help me stick with my healthy lifestyle. For instance, I use my planner to record my workouts. I also keep a binder of workouts torn out of magazines or found online, so I have plenty of ideas to help switch things up and motivate me. In the past, I’ve used Fitday.com to track my meals and snacks. I also have a Nike + iPod gadget that helps me keep track of my runs. There are lots more too!
Posted by: Tina
Posted in: Uncategorized, workouts
Tags: dried cranberries, peanut butter, pumpkin, pumpkin seeds
