11 Things

Brittany tagged me to post 11 random things about myself and then answer 11 questions. Sounds fun, right?


Random Facts:


1. I am seriously addicted to chapstick. I re-apply a million times a day, and I never go anywhere without it.


2. I love making to do lists. I feel such satisfaction in crossing things off my list. If I did something that wasn't originally on my list, I'll go back, write it in, and then cross it off.


3. I played basketball for 7 years of my life.


4. I get the dictionary.com word of the day sent to my phone. It's such good way to expand your vocabulary! Nerd alert.


5. I've gotten stitches three times but have never broken a bone.


6. When I was little, it was my dream to work for the FBI. I even had a spy kit!


7. I think I've read every single Babysitter's Club and Nancy Drew book there is.


8. Clue is my favorite board game.


9. I didn't drink coffee until I went to college. Now I drink coffee like it's water.


10. I've had glasses since I was in kindergarten and worn contacts since 4th grade.


11. I've been to Disney World 9 times.


Questions from Brittany:


1. Do you prefer summer or winter clothes? 
Summer. Bring on the sundresses and J.Crew shorts!


2. What are your top 3 favorite books?
All the Emily Giffin books, Redeeming Love, The Hunger Games, The Help


3. What is the last movie you saw? 
The Descendants


4. If your house caught on fire what are the 3 things you would grab first? (Besides pets and people)
Laptop, books, and clothes.

5. What is your all time favorite thing to cook? 
Roasted vegetables and homemade pizza. I'm such a gourmet chef...

6. If you could travel to anywhere in the world where would you go? 
That's too hard to choose just one! I'm dying to go to Australia, Switzerland, Brazil, Costa Rica, Argentina, Germany, Austria (Sound of Music tour, anyone?) Africa, and China.

7. What do you like to watch on TV? 
Monday: The Bachelor, The Voice, How I Met Your Mother
Tuesday: Glee, New Girl 
Wednesday: Modern Family, Revenge

8. What is your favorite holiday and why?
Christmas because it's Christmas...self-explanatory. Thanksgiving is a close second because I obviously love the food and getting to spend time with family.

9. What type of food (Greek, Mexican, Japanese, etc.) is your favorite? 
Greek. I love my chicken kabobs, salad, pita bread, and hummus! Although, I really like fish tacos and guacamole too.

10. If you could go back to high school and/or college and do it all over again would you? 
No. Been there, done that. I'm happy where I am right now!

11. What is something you have learned after graduating high school and/or college that you wish you knew while you were still in school?
Give everyone a chance. Look for the best in people always. People just might surprise you!

RIght Now

Things I'm loving right now:

Zoe's Grilled Shrimp Salad: 

Give me a massive salad filled with all kinds of delicious veggies, and I'm a very happy girl. This bowl contains charbroiled shrimp, zucchini, white beans, greens, feta, diced cucumber and tomato, and creamy Greek yogurt dressing.

Attention B'ham Residents: This salad can only be found in the Vestavia location!

It had way too much dressing, but it was so good, I didn't even care.

Homemade Meals:

I went home for dinner on Tuesday night and had the best meal! We had oven baked parmesan chicken with mushrooms, roasted sweet potatoes and baby red potatoes, and steamed green beans, broccoli, squash, cauliflower, and onions. After dinner, we watched Glee and New Girl.

Isn't my mom the best?? All my favorites!

For dessert, we had vanilla frozen yogurt with blueberries, strawberries, and fat free whipped cream. It was heaven!

Pure deliciousness.

Cinnamon Raisin Toast:

Such a good pre-run breakfast! I am not one of those people who can run on an empty stomach. Hungry Kristen=Not a Happy Runner.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Bread (yes, there is such a thing!), PB & Co White Chocolate Wonderful, sliced banana, cinnamon, and agave nectar.

Turkey Sandwiches on Bagel Thins:

So simple, yet so good.

Boar's Head turkey, melted Swiss cheese, and Dijon mustard on an Everything Smart Bagel.

The Voice:

Just started watching this show and am already hooked! Love everything about it.

Move over American Idol. 

Weekly Workouts:

Monday: Yoga (focused on hamstrings)

Tuesday: 3 mile run + yoga (focused on core)

Wednesday: 4 mile run

Thursday: 3 mile run + weights

Friday: Spin class (1 hour) + yoga

Saturday: 5 mile run

Sunday: Off

That's all. Have a good one!

Why Half Marathon Training WIll Be Better This Time

Today is my first official day of half-marathon training! Except today is a strength day, so no actual running will be involved. I'm going to a yoga class later this morning.

Last year, I ran my first half-marathon. While I had a blast running it and my overall time was decent for a complete novice, I think there's always room for improvement.

Not that I really know what I'm doing this time either, but here are a few reasons that I think this time will be better than the last.

1. I'm following an actual training plan and tracking my mileage. Last time, I didn't follow any general guidelines, but I was smart and consistent. I gradually increased my mileage. I took rest days and cross trained. I listened to my body. I didn't over-do it. However, I do think a specific training plan will be beneficial. I'm using Hal Higdon's Novice 2 Training Plan. I'm actually combining it with the Intermediate Training Plan to make my own personalized plan, since I'm such a running expert and all. As far as tracking my mileage went, I used a very handy website called Map My Run last time. It got the job done, but I'm not sure it was entirely accurate. I now have a fancy Garmin watch that tracks my mileage and my average pace.

2. I'm cross-training more effectively. Most of my previous cross-training was just ellipticising for an hour or going on power walks around campus with friends, both of which are very enjoyable activities that I will probably still continue to do from time to time. But I've started adding activities like spinning, yoga, and weight lifting into my regular exercise routine. I can tell I've gotten stronger and built more muscle, which will definitely improve my running performance.

3. I'm eating healthier foods. As much as I miss the convenience of walking downstairs and having dinner prepared for me each night at the sorority house (man, that was the life), I do not miss "Fried Fridays" and eating vegetables drenched in butter and seasoned with bacon fat. Although I still managed to eat pretty healthy, I didn't have my own kitchen and couldn't always control what I put into my body. Now I'm able to choose what foods I eat and how I prepare them. This means I get to eat power-fueling foods like kale and quinoa, instead of cheese-filled breadsticks and nightly cookie dough (no, we never raided the kitchen late at night).

Healthy Sorority Dining:

The sorority house salad bar was top notch.

Not so healthy:

Lots of carbs. None of them are whole grain.

I also ate too many Gigi's cupcakes in college.

4. I'm not going out 3-4 x per week anymore. Last year, I was training for a half-marathon during my last semester of college. I was taking 18 hours of essentially "elective classes." I wasn't stressed out, and I had a lot of freedom in my schedule. In an attempt to make the most of my college career, I was frequenting jazz night at the Alcove and Innisfree's trivia night on a weekly basis. I don't regret it all (probably some of my favorite college memories), but it didn't always make me feel my best for long runs. I used to sacrifice sleep for the fun but now my nightly schedule looks a little like this: get in my pj's at 8 pm, make some decaf herbal peppermint tea, drink tea in bed while reading, lights out at 9:30 pm. I'm such a grandma.

Trivia night helped me learn many useless facts.

I am now a smarter person because of it.

5. I have cool new running gear.  Last year, I hadn't even heard of Lululemon until I went to NYC for Spring Break and Ann showed me the light. At the time, I only had about two good running tops to my name. Back then, I had to travel to places like Nashville and Atlanta to stock up on Lululemon goods, but now Birmingham has its very own store. I'm not sure if my addiction to Lululemon is a good thing or a bad thing. It's good in the fact that I don't have to do laundry as much, but it's not so good for my bank account. True story: I'd rather buy a new running top than a nice dress these days. Real clothes- who needs 'em? I live in my yoga pants. Ask anyone. I also got some high tech socks that absorb sweat and some new kicks! They're the Brooks Pure Cadence- it's a more lightweight, natural feeling shoe that still has some support.

Bright colors are fun.

Will and I have matching shoes.

Things I'll miss: 

1. The best training partner anyone could ever ask for. Mary Alice and I used to be across the street sorority house neighbors. Now she lives in Atlanta, and I live in Birmingham. Some people like to be all silent, focused, and "in the zone" when they run but not us. We talked about everything- life, the past, the future, family, friends, boys, classes, teachers, food. Some of the best conversations I've ever had. We had fun with it and didn't take ourselves too seriously. Some days I had runs that sucked, and I wanted to give up. If I didn't have MA to talk me through it, I probably would have given up. Bottom line: running is more fun with other people and having a support system is everything. MA, if you're reading- we can totally still make this work. We can just train separately and then meet up for an amazing time in Nashville!

I can't explain it- running just bonds people.  

2. Long runs around UA's campus. I lived in my sorority house my senior year of college, and it was so nice to walk outside and just start running. There was no need to drive anywhere. The University of Alabama has a beautiful campus- I miss running through downtown, stopping at the Rec and Lakeside Dining for water breaks, and finishing up on the Quad. I also felt this weird connection to anyone I saw running on a Saturday or Sunday morning. I was all "Everyone else in Tuscaloosa is probably still sleeping right now and recovering from a late night out and we're outside running 10 miles! We're awesome. We're in this together." It sounds lame, but it was inspirational and empowering.

I miss college now and got slightly emotional writing this post, but I'm excited to see what training brings around this time. Hope everyone has a great week!

Little Savannah

Hope you all had a great weekend!

On Friday night, Will and I went to dinner at Little Savannah. It's an adorable little neighborhood restaurant. It's fine dining, yet still casual and didn't feel stuffy.

We split the Cornmeal Crusted Fried Oysters to start. They were topped with a chipotle aioli, and I liked that they were not too heavily fried. Just the right amount of crisp!

I ordered the Destin Triggerfish for my main meal. It came with quinoa salad, arugula, sugar snaps, red onions, orange, lime, and citrus emulsion. It was healthy and satisfying!

For dessert, we split the Bacon Brownie with Goat Cheese Ice Cream. It sounds weird and we were skeptical at first too, but our waitress assured us it was delicious (and it was!) The bacon was subtle and it was a good balance of salty and sweet. Obviously, the ice cream was my favorite part. Try goat cheese ice cream when you get a chance!

After dinner, we met up with some friends at a karaoke bar. I most definitely did not sing karaoke, but it was a good time.

On Saturday, I slept in, worked on a paper, and went for a 5.75 mile run. Later, I met up with my two favorite Lauras (they're both teachers and runners) for dinner and a movie.

We ate dinner at Urban Cookhouse, where I branched out and tried something new. I ordered the Shrimp Kabobs, which came with rice pilaf and roasted veggies that I subbed for the side salad. Their roasted veggies are amazingly delicious. I was also a big fan of all the squash and zucchini on the kabobs. I loved the whole meal!

I also got one of their cookie brownies bars to take into the movie. Omg. It was soft and doughy and perfect. We saw The Descendants, which was a very well made movie but also sort of depressing. I did think it was deserving of all of its Academy Awards though! 

I love the song that plays at the end of the movie trailer.

 

I think this song is the main reason I wanted to see the movie. Movie marketers are so good.

After church this morning, Will made me brunch! We had scrambled eggs with avocado, yogurt with granola, and whole wheat toast with strawberry jelly. It all tasted great, and thought he did a beautiful job with the food presentation- he said it's because he knew I would take a picture of it.

I went to work this afternoon, and I got home right after the Super Bowl had started. I have the TV turned on, but let's be honest- I only watch it for the commercials. I snacked on some almonds and raisins during work and made dinner when I got home. I heated up some leftover quinoa and added some frozen vegetables, cannellini beans, and BBQ sauce. 

Probably the most unconventional Super Bowl dinner ever.

I'm also eating my first ever bowl of cottage cheese + Sunbutter right now. I know many bloggers swear by this bedtime snack, but I've always been a bit iffy about the idea of eating curdled cheese. However, anything is good with Sunbutter, and cottage cheese has started to grow on me. I'm still not 100% sold, but I can work with it.

I threw in a few blueberries for some color.

I still have so much homework to do before tomorrow. Got to get to it!

The Law of Volumetrics

So, I've been posting a lot more frequently lately, and I really like it! I didn't realize how much I missed the blog world...

Since I'm sure you're all dying to know...

I started off my day with an early morning spin class. It was sweaty and awesome and totally kicked my butt. I started sweating within the first 3 minutes, so you can only imagine how I looked after the class was over!

Breakfast was waiting on me when I got home....overnight oats! So shocking.

1/3 C oats, 1/3 C skim milk, 1/3 C Stonyfield 0% Vanilla yogurt, 1 T ground flaxseed, 1 T Sunbutter, banana, blueberries, raspberries, and Love Grown Foods granola.

Oh, and I also bought some new coffee- Folger's Gourmet Vanilla Biscotti. It's delicious! I hate using creamer in coffee (and artificial sweeteners, but that's another story), but I love the vanilla taste, so flavored coffee works out great.

Lunch was scrambled eggs on a whole-wheat sandwich thin spread with 1/3 reduced fat cream cheese. I had some baby carrots + cherry tomatoes on the side that were later dipped in salsa.

During the afternoon, I wrote a couple of papers, saw some clients, and ate a Kashi Dark Chocolate Cherry bar and strawberries. I was semi-productive, yet sort of ADD at the same time, so I still have some homework to finish tonight.

I ordered some food models for client educations, and I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning when they were finally delivered! You know you're a dietitian when you get excited about plastic broccoli and carrots.

Since spin class was so tough today, I decided it would be to my benefit to go to yoga and get all stretched out. Yoga is oh so therapeutic.

After yoga, I came home and made dinner. I had a Wild Alaskan Salmon Burger, quinoa, and stir-fried veggies with an orange and slivered almonds. I topped it off with Bragg's Liquid Aminos for some Asian flair.

This looks like a lot of food. While it's a lot of food, that doesn't necessarily mean it contains an excessive amount of calories. Let me teach you a little something about the Law of Volumetrics...

Here's the breakdown of my meal:

Salmon burger=130 calories
Quinoa=180 calories
Stir-fried veggies=50 calories
Orange=60 calories
2 Tbsp. almonds=70 calories
Grand Total=490 calories


Just a little comparison....

There are 600 calories in an order of medium curly fries from Arby's alone!!!

I don't usually count calories, but I did tonight just to prove a point. When you fill up your plate with nutrient-dense foods, you can eat more. Fruits and veggies add a lot of bulk, without adding a lot of calories. They're also high in fiber, which helps keep me full and satisfied. Personally, I would rather be able to eat more and actually feel full than eat a smaller portion of something "not so great for me" and be hungry 2 hours later.

Just a little food for thought!

Big Blue Bagel

Yesterday Will and I went to Big Blue Bagel for lunch. It was a good, casual lunch spot!

I created my own bagel sandwich- I chose a sun dried tomato bagel and added cajun turkey and provolone. The sandwich also came with lettuce, tomato, and spicy mustard. I was super impressed with the fruit I chose as my side item! It was really fresh and a pretty decent portion size. I loved all the grapes and strawberries, and there was even a halved banana in the mix!

So remember how I got to sample new flavors of Chobani when I was at the ADA conference in San Diego last year? They're officially in stores (or at least my local Publix)! I had my favorite flavor, Blood Orange, with some slivered almonds and granola for a snack yesterday!

This morning I had Greek yogurt bowl with Chobani Apple Cinnamon, Oatmeal Squares, banana, strawberries, blueberries, and Sunbutter. Nut butter is essential to Greek yogurt creations.

Lunch was the rest of my Whole Foods Vegan Three-Bean Chili with whole grain toast spread with fig butter (and a little Sunbutter added after the picture was taken) and leftover broccoli + cauliflower on the side.

Before class, I had half of this Publix Greenwise Organic Spinach and Feta Pizza with an apple for dinner. It is soooo good!

I ate dinner a long time ago and needed some extra fuel for spin class in the a.m., so I just made myself a small bowl of Stonyfield 0% Vanilla with some berries and Love Grown Foods granola. I was going to stay up to watch Revenge, but it's another repeat this week, so I guess I'm headed to bed.

Weekly Workouts:

Monday: Grand Jeté barre class. This is so tough!

Tuesday: Spin class

Wendesday: Vinyasa flow yoga

Thursday: Spin class + an evening yoga class if I have time

Friday: Spin class + yoga

Saturday: 5-6 mile run

Sunday: Off

I'll leave you with this quote:

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma- which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your own heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

-Steve Jobs

Have a great night!

The After Party + The Rest of my Weekend

After dinner on Saturday night, we headed to the after party at Good People Brewery, where they had all kinds of flashy signs welcoming us to the event.

We were greeted at the door and given these adorable little beer glasses to take home as a souvenir.

I think this was a Coffee Oatmeal Stout.

They had several different tables set up with different cheeses/appetizers to pair with different beers throughout the night. You could just take your glass up to the bar, ask for your choice of beer, and then go to the table whose cheese selection was paired with that beer.

At this point in the night, I was pretty full, so I didn't eat or drink much- just a few sips and nibbles here and there. We ended up calling it a pretty early night because Brittany had to drive back to Tuscaloosa, and we were both exhausted.

I was so tired that I slept in on Sunday and did essentially nothing all morning. Apparently, eating and sitting down all day wears me out.

I was productive the latter half of the day though- I cleaned, went to yoga, went on a 3 mile run with Will, ate at Whole Foods for dinner, and worked on homework the rest of the night.

Sunday Eats:

Quaker Oatmeal Squares, skim milk, banana, raspberries, blueberries, Love Grown Foods Sweet Cranberry Pecan granola.

Scrambled eggs with sautéed portabello mushrooms and spinach, avocado, and goat cheese on a Multigrain Flatout wrap. I also had an apple.

Fajita beef with onion and peppers, sage stuffing, grilled green beans, corn salad, sautéed kale, broccoli pomodoro with sun dried tomatoes. Yum!

When we were leaving Whole Foods, we naturally decided that we wanted cookies. The guy just so happened to be taking away the old cookies and putting out new cookies. He told us we could have the broken cookies for free! I had a PB Chocolate Chip cookie, and it was delicious as always!

Yesterday, it was my parents' 30th anniversary- my dad is out of town, so I met my mom for lunch at Bottega Cafe after class. 

I ordered the Nicoise salad. It was filled with all kinds of healthy stuff, like greens, medium rare tuna, hardboiled egg, chickpeas, roasted peppers, roasted white potatoes and sweet potatoes, radishes, and olives (which I avoided).

For dinner last night, I tried Whole Foods Vegan Three-Bean Adobe Chili that I bought the other day. It was super filling and had just the right amount of kick without being overly spicy. I'm such a fan of WF homemade soups- I love that the sodium content isn't through the roof!

Perfect with whole grain toast.

I just got back from spin class a little while ago and ate my overnight oats while I was writing this post. I'm always sad when I take the last bite :(

Love Grown Foods granola is one of the best things on earth.

I guess you're all caught up now- hope you have a great day!