I am MIA

Hhhheeeellllllllllllllllllllllloooooooooo!  This week is flying by, and I have not posted since Monday!  I feel so behind. 

Unfortunately, I don’t have much to post, as my picture taking is slacking due to not wanting to look like the completely crazy new girl at my job :)  I hope you understand. 

I’ll give a quick update, and promise to post some good stuff tomorrow! 

My new job is going fabulously after two days.  The people are amazing, the company is very professional, with priorities and organization – something I’m not used to…this is a GREAT thing!!!  And the best part…

THERE IS SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH! 

Yes, for serious.  They offer a company-sponsored lunch program.  There are 7 menus from various area restaurants to choose anything from, everyday!  Yesterday I had a Greek Mediterranean Salad with Chicken, and today I tried a different restaurant’s Portobello Salad, which included mushrooms, roasted red pepper, artichokes, chevre cheese with Balsamic.

Like I said, check ya tomorrow!

Lovely Oats

  I haven’t had oats in a while, I thought this lovely Monday would be a good day for oats, to start off the week right and all.  It’s a big week for me!  My new job starts tomorrow! 

In the mix:

• 1/4C quick cooking oats
• 1/2 banana
• 4 dried plums (prunes cut up)
• 6 almonds
• 1T sunflower seeds
• chia seed (1t)
• Agave
• cinnamon
• Barney Butter (1T)

A stick-to-the-ribs kinda breakfast! 

Back up…my Monday started with a 58-minute walking treadmill workout of 4.0 miles.  Plus, some free weights.  I really need to get back into strength training more, I felt weak today. 

Thank you everyone for the kind words about my new adventure and about my 5 Mile Race on Saturday – I love all your comments, they are so fun to read and inspirational! 

Yesterday was rainy and cold.  Something about a rainy, cold Sunday does not bother me.  I managed to make it to the gym for a quick swim sesh and yoga.  I haven’t swam in a while and it felt great to get back in the pool.  Is it just me or is swimming kind of boring?  After about 20 minutes I had enough.  Don’t get me wrong, I like to swim and change up my routine, I just don’t last as long as I should in the pool.  The best part is the Steam Room after!

Post-yoga lunch was a Smoked Salmon Veggie Sandwich.

• Sandwich Thin
• Garden Veggie Cream Cheese
• Smoked (raw) Salmon
• sprouts
• tomato Blurry??  Not sure what happened there.

  Trader Joe’s Pomegranate Greek Yogurt w/ mixed nuts

   

I spent the afternoon getting my bag and supplies ready for work and watching New Moon.  I didn’t read the book, but am thinking I should just stick with the books – they are usually better than the movies. 

Did you see the New Moon movie?  Read the book?  What are your thoughts?

Dinner was a lot of veggies.  Just wasn’t in the mood for meat or bread. 

Tomato, Basil and Fresh Mozz salad w/ Italian Dressing

Kale Chips

 Steamed Broccoli and Mushrooms

Not to mention…there is an unphotographed and uneaten BURNT sweet potato that I had all intentions of loving.  Long story short, I micro-waved it in a paper towel and the next thing I knew there was A LOT of smoke rolling out of the micro.  I don’t think anything caught fire – like last time – but my house was definitely filled with smoke and it still smells awful.  The potato burnt thru the paper towel which caused the smoke.  It was only in for 5 minutes, and I fork-pricked the potato.  Will stick with no-fail sweet potato fries going forward.

To make up for my mishap, I had dessert.  A yogurt, Cheerios, peppermint patty pieces, Craisin – filled parfait! 

I hope you all had a great Sunday and have a good start to a new week – and the month of April!!

5 Mile Saturday

{Note: I started this post on Saturday and didn’t finish, so, now it’s Sunday and I’m still writing as if it were Saturday!!}

It is a beautiful sunny, not a cloud in the sky, kind of day here in Southeast Detroit.  A brisk 30* at race time..brrrr! 

Pre-race breakfast included…WAFFLES! YAY – I rarely have waffles anymore!

One w/ PB and one w/ Orange Marmalade Preserves

RACE RECAP

I totally failed on the picture taking.  Just didn’t think about even though we had a lot of time – the race start time was delayed 15 minutes due to last minute registrations.  This is the only pic I have via mobile cam.

Me and Allison – she walked/jogged with the jogging stroller and 7 month-old Ava riding along!

This is a course map: all the way around Walled Lake = 5 Miles

I ran with no iPod – I find I run faster and more in tune with my breathing, pace and nature (as cliché as that sounds…) without music.  Sometimes I think music slows me down because I run to the beat.  Does anyone else find this to be true too?

Overall Stats:

• Time: 40:29
• Pace: 8:06 mile (avg) – did not wear my HRM strap
• 18th out of 81 women
• 67th overall out of 173

I am VERY pleased with my time, I felt good (besides slight IT band soreness) too!  So sorry for no pics, it was a fun race, gorgeous day and for a great cause. 

Post-race lunch.  PIZZA!!!  Hit the spot!

I will definitely make this a yearly race, since it’s 1 mile from my house, goes to a charity, well organized and FUN, which is most important! 

Do you have any specific events each year in your town that you always run or walk in?

Pre-Race Grab Bag

 

IN NEED OF A GRAPHIC DESIGNER!

Did you notice my new blog design?  I was playing around today with the new Blogger Design Template – very cool and updated platform, finally!  I like the pink and green theme, but need a new “Pickley Pear” graphic/title.  Anyone know of any good graphic designers that may want to create something neat and fun for my Blog Title?!  One that actually fits the width?  For free!? :)

I may have not mentioned, I am running a 5 Mile Race tomorrow morning.  There is both a 5K walk/run and a 5 Mile run – nice to have two options.  It should be a beautiful sunny morning, with a temp of about 30*!  Yikes! COLD.  I have yet to figure out how many layers to wear.  Sunshine is key.  I’m looking forward to this run, it goes around the lake that is right near my house, and the money goes to a great cause – The University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.

Therefore, I kind of let loose on my eating today.  I don’t carb-load before races, it’s proven NOT to work so well in the past.  Plus, it’s only 5 miles…  I tend to calorie-load a bit though.  No exception today.

Egg White (add broccoli, onion, mushrooms) Sandwich Thin w/ fresh mozz, tomato, Frank’s Hot Sauce

Kiwi

Note: this BIG breakfast was after a morning workout of Friday Yoga, plus 30 minutes on the Arc. 

Still hungry – sooner rather than later – I tried Siggi’s for the first time!  I finally found it at Whole Foods this week - $3 a cup, seriously?  Oh yes, SO WORTH IT!

LOVED IT!  120 calories and 11g of sugar.  Perfect.  I try to keep the sugar content down, and this is pretty darn low for good, flavored yogurt.  I added some nuts to it for added crunch.  I am anxiously awaiting the Orange & Ginger cup in my fridge. 

Lunch was…a variety, of sorts.

 Terra Chips, Red Pepper Hummus, Chicken Salad, Carrots, Cuc

Surprisingly, there are still more chips in the bag.  Another new recipe in the pile mom gave me…Bare Bones Low-Fat Chicken Salad.  I used the some of the leftover chicken I made the other night.  The chicken salad is tangy, and crunchy.  I would prefer this kind much more over mayo-drenched.

 Afternoon snacks included: 3 Dove Dark Chocolate Bites and 1 apple with PB.  With a side of OprahGotta enjoy my last few days of laziness before starting my new gig on Tuesday! 

I originally had dinner plans tonight with two friends, but one got sick so we decided to reschedule for next week.  Probably saved me from eating a big fat burger and fries something not as healthy as this…

 Kale Chips and Steamed AsparagusTabatchnick Low Sodium Split Pea Soup

(of course I added sea salt, pepper, and Franks – gotta have flavor!) 

MultiGrain PopChips + plain hummus 

  I have a low-key night planned – Jamie’s Food Revolution starts in 5 minutes, which is pretty exciting!  Well, for Friday tv anyway.

Question:  What do you eat the day before a race?  Anything specific?  

See ya tomorrow with a full race recap!

Green Monster = Cure?

Thanks everyone for your praise on my exciting news!  It means the world to me!  And also, thanks for your advice on negating the common cold. 

I read Cara’s post this morning entitled: “A Green Monster saved my life”  I took her idea and made myself a big green monster filled with:

• POM juice
• milk (regular, skim)
• 3/4 small banana
• strawberries
• Amazing Grass
• Spinach (a lot)
• vanilla extract
• ice

(recycled photo – they all look the same)

It tasted good, as well as made me feel instantly energetic.  I still wasn’t feeling 100% until about 2 hours later, my nose stopped running, no more sneezing, no watery eyes, I am cured!!! 

No lunch photos again…I was out! 

Afternoon snacks included…

  These Terra Chips are my new favorite.  They remind me of why I cannot eat out of the bag.

 

Dinner was…OK.  Just ok.

I’ve had this Panko Shrimp in my freezer for a few weeks now, and thought tonight they sounded pretty good.  Of course, a Whole Foods purchase. 

A big NEGATIVE!   Too much breading, I could barely taste the shrimp, and far too salty (hence, 360mg sodium yikes!).  I am disappointed ‘cause I really thought they had potential. 

Oh well…I also made these, from scratch.  Without fail. 

  Sweet Potato Fries w/ nutmeg and chili powder, s&p, and ketchup

Toss w/ EVOO lightly, bake at 400* for 15-20 minutes, turning once

Kombucha on the side

     

And a Romaine salad with tons of veggies on the bottom

• Cucumber
• Asparagus
• Grape toms
• red pepper
• mushrooms
• Craisins
• sunflower seeds
• Crispy Onions
• Italian Light Dressing

I took a day off working out today!  Yes, a rest day.  I wasn’t sure if I was getting sick or what so I thought today would be good to rest my body and mind.  I think it did a body good!  Enjoy your evening!

Gimme that VitC (and other ‘news’)

What do these items have in common?

(source)

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Yep…a cold.  It’s not totally here yet, but I feel it coming on.  I’m poppin’ pills (VitC that is), drinking VitC and trying to stop the sneezing and runny/stuffy nose stuff that’s going on in my head.  NO FUN!  It all came on in about an hour this afternoon – a gorgeous sunny day at that.

Day o’SUN

Besides feeling kinda yucky right now, I had quite a nice day.  Morning meal was Grape Nuts w/ milk and banana sliced.  Must have been to early to take a picture

I managed to get myself moving for a morning Spin class.  Today’s format was HILLS.  Definitely got the heart rate up…and down…a lot of times.  Good strength training on Hills’ days.  Wednesday’s class includes a 10 minute core workout too, which I love.  Sometimes 60 minutes of spinning is just too much, today was one of those days.  (Obviously, I know why I was dragging in the class and my heart rate was so high…the sickness plague was brewing).

Healthy post-workout snack + Vit Water

I’m going to miss my lunches with dad… (more to come, keep reading!)

I didn’t want to eat too much ‘cause I had lunch plans with mi padre.  Camilla’s Mexican Cuisine was the location, authentic and plentiful (and great lunch specials).  I had two soft chicken tacos with “whole beans” instead of refried, no rice.  Just like in Mexico, no sour cream was served, which is fine with me, though if it had been there, I would not push it away. 

I snacked on these guys for the first time this afternoon…

Heaven! My new fav chips.

Dinner was un-motivational…

Spinach (more VitC) with

*egg white (hard-boiled)

*grape toms

*sprouts

*cucumber

*sunflower seeds

*half chicken breast

*Newman’s Own Light Italian

  Ezekiel Tortilla w/ Sweet Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Another first time purchase – in love.

In other (more exciting) news….

I received a phone call this evening from one of my previous co-workers!  I haven’t spoken to her on the phone since September, upon my departure from my job.  We talked for a half hour – and it was so nice to hear from her!! Totally made my day. 

On that note, I have never explained in detail what I actually “do” (besides eat and workout, right??!).  For the past 7 years (since college), I have worked full time in different corporate arenas – accounting, project management, logistics, and human resources.  Most recently, my position in Human Resources was eliminated due to downsizing.

Detroit – Auto Industry – Bad Economy – you get the point! 

So…for the past 5 months, I have been job searching, soul searching, researching, etc. that “perfect” career for the next phase of my life.  As of last week, I found it!!  I am starting a new job next week (Tuesday) as a Human Resource Generalist at a large company in the Detroit area, non-automotive related!  Thank goodness (no offense to our beloved vehicles). 

I am very, very excited and ready for a new challenge.  I won’t go into the minuet details of the interview process, but there were over 500 candidates (the economy is still DOWN, believe me), and I had 4 interviews with various HR folks at this one company.  I am truly thankful for this new opportunity.

And…the best part, from what I hear, these people LOVE TO EAT!  They know about my blog, although I am not sure if they are reading it or not. Part of my job will be writing employee, internal and external, communications and may or may not involve internal blogging, how cool is that?!  I hope to have some new and exciting ideas coming in the near future.  You may not see quite as many posts or workouts in the near future either, but I will still be here! 

So, that’s my BIG NEWS and with that, I am going to relax and get to sleep early tonight.  I’m doing anything to kick this bugger! 

Question:  What do you do when you feel a sickness coming on?  I need aversion tactics!!