The Five C's of Running

Hello Everyone! 

This morning, I did a couple miles on the old treadmill (which has NEVER had any clothes hanging on it – thank you very much!) then jumped off, threw on a running jacket, and headed outside for the remaining 2 1/2 miles. After my run, I did a few stretches and a 15-minute ab workout. I used to be a really hardcore runner, thinking that anything less than 6-7 miles was not worth my time. But after overtraining for a 1/2 marathon, I cut back quite bit and found that my body and I were much happier. This got me thinking…why have I been running for over 10 years and why do I keep running? The answers are simple  and can be explained in just five words – control, convenience, cost, calories, and challenge.

Running With Cake: The Five C’s of Running

  1. Control Factor: Running makes me feel strong and in control. If I can run for miles and miles, I feel like I can do anything.
  2. Convenience: You can do it anywhere/anytime. 
  3. Cost: For the most part, all you need are good running shoes and running clothes.
  4. Calories: Running is a HUGE calorie burning exercise – need I say more!
  5. Challenge: Distance running can be grueling at times, but it’s the utter satisfaction of finishing a race or achieving a personal record that makes it all worth it!

And the question is…Why do you run? If you don’t run, what is keeping you from starting?

By the way, overtraining is one of the most frequent mistakes made by runners. If you’re curious about the other common running mistakes, check out this Quiz from Women’s Health magazine which lists the top 11 running mistakes. I took the quiz, applying it to my current running style, and scored 100%. 

As for the rest of my day…Breakfast was a big bowl of Honeynut Cheerios with a handful of walnuts – gotta love that MUFA crunch!

11.24 Honeynut Cheerios

I only worked a 1/2 day today because I had a ton of errands to run before heading out tomorrow for our Thanksgiving feast! I am seriously amazed at how efficient I was between 1-5:30 PM. In just 4 1/2 hours, I managed to go to:

  • Go to Hobby Lobby
  • Do Laundry
  • Make 3 1/2 dozen chocolate chip cookies
  • Tidy up the house
  • Put away the Fall decorations
  • Go to Kohl’s
  • Go to Crate and Barrel

And somewhere in that marathon of errands, I managed to eat a bit of lunch…

11.24 Salami and Ham Sandwich

A salami, ham, and cheddar cheese sandwich – the RWC standard these days, particularly when I don’t feel like cooking.

Dinner was a tad more exciting – Italian sausage on our indoor grill. We invested in Italian sausage a few weeks back – I say invested because we bought it at Costco, where the food (and everything else)  comes in huge quantities, which causes you to invest a lot of time in eating it. To accompany the sausage, we had some very creamy Trader Joe’s shells and white cheddar cheese (aka. fancy mac & cheese) along with grilled bell peppers and onions.

11.24 Trader Joe's Macaroni and Cheese

Scott actually made the shells and cheese using the exact recipe on the box. I assured him that a standard box of mac & cheese is not difficult and that you don’t need to follow the recipe exactly. But, he’s a stickler for following recipes – most of the time 😉

11.24 Grilled Italian Sausage and Peppers

Hey, how did that Go Roma business card get in the picture?? I think it wanted its 15-minutes of fame – but don’t we all?

Thank you to all of you who voted for your favorite foodie magazine. As promised, the magazine with the most votes would become the new Running With Cake subscription. And the winner is…Cooking Light magazine! Fine Cooking also was mentioned by more than one person, but Cooking Light seem to be the food blogger favorite. I plan to subscribe in the next two weeks, so that I can avoid getting a duplicate of the December issue that I plan to purchase tomorrow 🙂

OK ladies and gents, I’m off to bed. I need to get bright and early to get in a run before we leave.

Enjoy your evening and your Wednesday!

Vote For Your Favorite Cooking/Food Magazine!

Hi All! I don’t know about you but today seemed to go by so SLOW! This is sort of our “slow season” at work, or rather a slower season. People are starting to go on vacation, some are working from home. As a result, it’s been very quiet at the office and the hours just seem to drag by. Luckily, I always have work to keep me busy, but when I see everyone else taking vacations or chatting with coworkers to pass the time, it’s hard to focus on work. 

Anyway, my day started with a great run on the treadmill. I tried to do a split – 1/2 treadmill, 1/2 running outside, but when I stepped out the door, it was just starting to rain. So it was back to the treadmill and away we go!

Breakfast was a small bowl of homemade oatmeal…

11.19 oatmeal with peanut butter

I added a handful of sliced almonds to the oatmeal and topped it with a spoonful of all-natural peanut butter. I find that when I add protein – especially extra protein – to my breakfast I usually don’t need to snack before lunch. And, that’s just what happened today!

11.19 oatmeal with peanut butter 2

The oats plus tons of monounsaturated fats (MUFA) gave me enough energy for hours. It also was so warm and soothing – just perfect for a chilly and rainy fall day.

Lunch happened to be leftovers from last night – spinach risotto…

11.19 spinach risotto

I have come to learn a thing or two about risotto. I’ve learned no matter how awesome and “very Italian” it tastes on the day you make it, by the second day it tastes just like Rice-a-Roni. Not very risotto-y or Italian, but still adequate for lunch leftovers.

If you can believe it, dinner was MORE leftovers in the form of Monday’s turkey tacos. But, I decided to change it up a bit and make a taco salad…

11.19 taco salad 1

This is what happens when Scott teaches at night. I become the sandwich-leftovers queen, and tonight was no different.

11.19 taco salad 2

After dinner, I starting flipping through my Real Simple holiday issue again. I LOVE that magazine! It is probably my favorite non-fitness magazine. But, I noticed my subscription is up this month and wondered whether or not I should renew. Ok, that took me all of 3 seconds to decide – heck yeah I’m renewing! But then I wondered if I should branch out from Real Simple and health/fitness magazines and maybe subscribe to a food/foodie magazine. 

With Gourmet magazine now defunct, I’m down to the following 4 magazines that I’m contemplating subscribing to:

  • Fine Cooking: It seems like such an elegant magazine, which great ideas for fancy full-scale dinners, etc.
  • Bon Appetit: Again, this tends to lean on the more elegant/fancy side of the foodie magazines, but they have great photos and recipes.
  • Cooking Light: This is the Real Simple of cooking/food magazines, easy to follow, and mostly uncomplicated recipes. Plus, most recipes and articles are geared toward the use of health ingredients and cooking methods.
  • Everyday With Rachel Ray: I do like this magazine, but sometimes I feel like it’s designed for someone with ADHD. It is all over the place as far as sections, articles, etc. But something about it still draws me to it, kind of like a car accident where you can’t help but look.

I’m fairly sure I will subscribe to one of these magazines, but I’d love your help deciding! Please send me your vote for your favorite food/cooking magazine! Just leave a comment on this post and let me know if you subscribe to any of the four magazines I mentioned above (or read them on a regular basis), what you like about them, and which one of the four you’d recommend. The magazine with the most votes will earn my subscription! Now I know all of you foodie bloggers out there must subscribe to at least one of these, so don’t let me down! You have until Tuesday, November 24, at 9 PM Eastern to cast your vote. I can’t wait to hear from all of you!

OK peeps, I’ve got a brownie sitting here with my name on it.

11.19 brownie 1

Have a great evening everyone! And remember, to vote, vote, VOTE!

From Salads to Shopping

Morning All! 

I am so tired and sore from walking all over downtown Chicago yesterday – ugh! But, it actually was fun playing the part of the Chicago tourist during the Christmas holiday – we need to do that more often. Last night’s post was getting pretty long, so I decided to wait until today to post my awesome dinner!

11.14 Home Salad Bar 2

Toward the end of our Chicago jaunt, I started getting a headache. By the time we got to the train, I had a full-blown migraine!! Yikes – and I didn’t have any Excedrin migraine on me so I was miserable. When we arrived home, I immediately took some medication and laid down for about an hour. In the meantime, Scott whipped up a totally yummy – and super healthy – at-home salad bar!

As you can see, he included a bunch of goodies like:

  • Chopped mini bell peppers
  • Carrots
  • Onions
  • Cucumbers
  • Salami
  • Ham
  • All-Natural bacon
  • Almonds
  • Cheddar cheese
  • Green leaf lettuce

11.14 Dinner Salad

He also took some of the leftover 3-cheese bakery bread and made some incredible asiago/garlic cheese bread…

11.14 Garlic Bread

I had 2 pieces but really wanted to eat more like 5!

This morning, despite being sore and tired from yesterday’s 2-hour walk, I went for a fast 5 mile run. A cold morning run was really what I needed to get me moving today. 

Breakfast was a big ‘ol oatmeal bowl full of fresh oats, chopped walnuts, and a dollop of peanut butter for good measure…

11.15 Oatmeal with peanut butter

I threw in a swig of orange juice because I feel like I’m seriously lacking in the vitamin C category these days…11.15 orange juice

Now, we’re off to do the Christmas shopping that we didn’t get to on Friday.

Have an awesome Sunday everyone – and remember to enter the tasty Explorer’s Bounty giveaway by 9 PM Eastern on Tuesday!

Could I actually like a Miley Cyrus Song?

Hi All!

It was another glorious day in Chicagoland, which means another awesome run! I ran a very fast 5 miler but felt like I could have run 6 or 7. I am attributing my energy to not only the weather, but also the LUNA bar I had about an hour before I ran…

11.8 prerun

I received a coupon via email from LUNA saying that I could buy two bars and get one free, but I had to download the “coupon printer”. It says it’s “safe” to download this software, but I’m always hesitant to download things on my work laptop for fear of it crashing. Has anyone downloaded the coupon printer before? What was your experience?

While I was running I heard this great song that actually made me want to sing along with it. I had heard the song before but had no idea who sang it. Come to find out – it’s MILEY CYRUS!! OMG, I can’t believe I actually like a Miley  Cyrus song, but her “Party in the USA” song is so fun. I don’t plan on turning into a Hannah Montana fan anytime soon, but I will definitely not turn this song off when it comes on the radio.

After my run, I enjoyed a quick yogurt bowl while getting ready for the day…

11.8 breakfast

I had Chobani’s vanilla Greek yogurt with a handful of walnuts for added MUFA and crunch – super filling and so YUM!

After breakfast, we spontaneously decided to head out to the zoo for the day. Although it was spontaneous, it seemed to take us forever to get out the door. We didn’t actually arrive at the zoo until noon! Of course on the way, we made a couple stops, including Barnes and Noble for my sweet indulgence on this “last day of summer”…

11.8 starbucks

Because we arrived at the zoo right at lunch, we plopped down at a picnic table and enjoyed some homemade salami/ham and cheese sandwiches…

11.8 lunch

Although we’ve been to this zoo many times, today was the first day I had ever seen the bats. Creepy but kind of cool. The giraffes and Meerkats are more my style.

Dinner was another Every Day With Rachel Ray recipe from this month’s issue. Tonight it was the BLT Creamy Mac & Cheese

11.8 dinner mag photo

The above picture is actually a photo I took right from the magazine, but check out how closely my creation resembles the real one…

11.8 dinner2

Woo Hoo – another recipe winner! This recipe was fantastic, although I’m guessing pretty high in calorie due to the cream cheese and bacon. Ok, did I mention that I like bacon? I was never really a fan of bacon until I was an adult and learned to make bacon the exact way I like it – crunchy! I try not to eat too much bacon, but when I do I buy/eat the uncured/all-natural kind. Bacon really kicked this dish up to a whole new level and the added spinach (substituted for arugula) gave the dish some much needed veggies. This dish is definitely going into my recipe book, not only for the flavor but also because it only took about 30 minutes to cook!

After dinner, we decided to celebrate my last evening before going back to work by heading to the ice cream shop – Maggie Moo’s, which is similar to Cold Stone, although I think they have better-tasting ice cream than Cold Stone. I was so torn between Red Velvet ice cream – because you all know I’ve been on this Red Velvet kick – but decided to go with the…

11.8 dessert

Blueberry Muffin ice cream! I just adore this specialty flavor – although it’s very rich so I don’t suggest making it a habit. I had mine with walnuts – I needed to make it healthy somehow! Sorry about the odd looking photo. I forgot the camera so I had to rely on Scott’s iphone.

Gotta head to bed. I want to make sure I’m fresh and ready to go for work tomorrow. Have a great night!

Thursday is the New Friday

I finally made it! I made it to my favorite day of the week – Thursday! For many people with full-time jobs, Friday is the best day of the week because it signifies the last workday before the weekend. However, for me, that day is Thursday! We are fortunate enough to have flex time at work which allows me to work extra hours from Monday-Thursday and have Fridays off (unless something major comes up). So, for us flexies at work, Thursday really is the new Friday – giving us a 3-day weekend every week. I so LOVE where I work! Don’t get me wrong, I have to pack in a FULL work week into four days, so those days are very long and tiring. But, it’s all worth it when Thursday rolls around.

And, here’s how my favorite day played out this week….

I was up bright and early, and ready to run around 6 AM. But I got sucked into the Internet shortly thereafter and didn’t start running until 6:30 AM (why do I even bother getting up at 6 AM?) It was raining pretty steady so running outside was not a very good option. So, the treadmill it was. Four miles of monotonous treadmill running was all I could take this morning, but I did do a few extra stretches and a complete ab workout.

Now, onto breakfast…

10.15 breakfast

I have NOT been in a breakfast mood the last week or so. I just don’t feel hungry and nothing seems appetizing. Today was more of the same – blah – honeynut Cheerios with walnuts. It was definitely crunchy and full of MUFA, but it just lacked the pizzaz that I need at breakfast.

Because of the powers that be (aka – me taking forever to get out the door), I didn’t arrive at work until nearly 9:30AM. Then, I was in back-to-back-to-back meetings from 10 AM to 2 PM – no joke! Whew, I’ve had enough meetings in the past month to last me the whole year. In between meetings, I had about 15 minutes for a quick, souped-up lunch….

10.15 lunch

Thick and yummy potato soup – I only wish I had more time to savor the taste!

With our big meeting just 2 weeks away, today was a packing day for my team. So after lunch and more meetings, I stuffed a huge trunk full of office supplies and other goodies specific to my projects. The trunk was slightly overpacked and just barely shut. With no lock to keep it from bursting open, I pondered out loud what I could do to avoid the thing busting at the seams. Someone suggested plastic ties – genius!! I didn’t even know we had these and they worked like a charm. I only hope that someone has scissors onsite in San Diego so I can cut those babies off!

I completely forgot that I had to leave at 4 PM today in order to make a 5 PM eye appointment. I practically ran out the door, coat unzipped, bag loosely packed, and my hair flying every which way. The appointment ended up taking all of 15 minutes – I can’t believe I left work an hour early for that!! But, that’s the price you pay when you’re desperate for contacts.

Before I hurried out the office door, I stopped in the staff lounge to grab some water. Luckily I did because there was a bunch of leftover food from a lunch meeting – catered by Panera! I hadn’t really thought about dinner so Panera saved the day! I grabbed some Mediterranean salad and 1/2 a Mediterranean sandwich and gobbled that up after my appointment….

10.15 dinner

Finally, office food that is NOT a coffee cake or a cookie! Oh, by the way, we have 3 food-related functions at work next week. Thankfully, I have great willpower or else I would need to wear stretchy pants to work every day.

After my very convenient and FREE dinner, ice cream sounded soooo good and we just so happened to have chocolate peanut butter ice cream in the freezer…10.15 dessert

Again, very convenient and only slightly more expensive than dinner.

Although tomorrow is technically my day off from work, I will be spending it running errands related to work – picking up suits from dry cleaners, buying new black heels and nylons, etc. In years past, I have not tackled these errands until a few days before our big meeting and totally regretted my procrastination. So this year, I am getting a jump start on my tasks in hopes that I am packed and ready to go by October 29!

OK, chicas, that’s enough for me for tonight. See you all tomorrow!

It's 3 AM, But I'm Not Lonely

Happy Friday everyone!

I’m watching Psych right now and loving it! I really should go to bed since I only got about 4 1/2 hours of sleep last night. I woke up at 3 AM and just couldn’t go to back to sleep. I actually started thinking of that song by Matchbox 20 – It’s 3 AM. But, I wasn’t lonely just anxiety-ridden.

I got up around 4 AM and actually worked for a few hours. How dedicated is that? Breakfast was another cereal bowl, but this time with a new cereal…

10.9 breakfast

I received a free sample of Total blueberry pomegranate in the mail so I threw that into the mix with Cheerios multi-grain and Kashi Go Lean. I topped the cereal with a bunch of walnuts for some extra MUFA and crunch. The Total cereal sure smelled good when I poured it into the bowl – very fruity. It added a little bit more sweetness to my normal cereal mix, which was surely welcome. But I really don’t think it was anything extraordinary, but then again, I’ve never been a big Total fan.

Scott and I opted for lunch at Portillos today – a Chicago hot dog/Italian beef favorite. I ordered the all-beef hot dog with everything…10.9 lunch

Really messy, but awesome! I did NOT eat the pickle right on the hot dog, but I left it on for the picture to give you the full effect. If you ever want to see a crazy place at lunchtime, just go to Portillos – it’s nuts! There were so many people in the restaurant that we almost didn’t find a seat.

Dinner was leftover soup…

10.9 dinner1

With a side of Mac and cheese…

10.9 dinner3

Now, I really need to get to bed, as I’m sure you can all understand. I hope I will be able to finally get some sleep and shake this headache that I’ve head all day.

Night everyone!

Breakfast and Life On the Go…

Hello All! Sorry I’ve been MIA all day. It’s been one crazy day! I started with a 4-mile run. It was so foggy out this morning that by the time I got home my hair and face were drenched as if it was raining!

I was really behind schedule after my run, so I had a breakfast on-the-go, which I hardly ever do. Luckily, some smart person out there was thinking of me and all the other over-booked women out there and invented a portable and healthy breakfast in a bar!

9.24 breakfast1

I had another one of my LUNA bars – this time chocolate raspberry. This bar had a great flavor but it was probably a little too much powerbar for me for breakfast. I really prefer it as a pre-run snack. 

9.24 breakfast2

I was really dragging on my way to work, so I stopped off at Starbucks. No, my old Starbucks did not reopen. I stopped at one of those mini Starbucks inside a grocery store. I was really debating on getting a skinny vanilla latte and a mocha frap….guess what I went with –

9.24 starbucks

Hmmm..sooo goood! I drank some of it right when I arrived at work, but then I had to run to a meeting at 9 AM. I usually don’t take anything but water into meetings, but I ended up being in back-t0-back meetings from 9 AM – 12:30 PM!! Oh my gosh – how do they expect me to get any work done? On a break, I ran back over to my desk and grabbed my mostly melted frap and took it back into the meeting. I’m really glad I did because it kept me alert through all of the meetings.

After the meetings, I ate some leftover stir-fry because I didn’t have time to get out for lunch…

9.24 lunch

The stir fry was good but I could have eaten a LOT more than what I brought.

Oddly enough, by the time I got home from work, I wasn’t really that hungry. Scott was at class again tonight so I just threw together a very quick and simple dinner…

9.24 dinner

A 1/2 peanut butter and jelly sandwich, with a side of Cape Cod chips and a nectarine – healthy and satisfying…

  • Protein – √
  • Whole Grains – √
  • MUFA – √
  • Fruit – √
  • Fats – √

I probably could have whipped together something a little more exciting if I had more energy. But at least I’ve graduated from cereal!

Ok, time to say goodnight Gracie!

Enter At Your Own Health Risk

Morning All! So I came into work this morning and stopped by the staff lounge to put my lunch in the fridge, and I was faced with the following scene…

9.22 treats2

Box after box…

9.22 treats3

After box…

9.22 treats1

And more boxes…9.22 treats4

of PASTRIES!! Don’t supposed there’s any MUFA in those?

Note to self: Do not go into the staff lounge unless 1) it’s absolutely necessary to get my lunch or 2) I suddenly become hypoglycemic. Seriously, there should be a sign on the door that says Enter At Your Own Health Risk.

Apparently, a vendor that we use for printing brought all of these lovelies in as a thank you for providing him with business. It was a very sweet gesture (literally) but hasn’t anyone ever heard of healthy food? I think I’m going into sugar shock just looking at these pictures.

I want to add that this is just the start of “food season” at our office. From now until the end of the year, there is literally nonstop food at our office. Thank goodness I have self control, unlike some of the other girls here. Does anyone else have a “food season” at their work? How do you handle it? 

Thankfully, none of today’s tantalizing pastries tempted me – at least for now – because I ate breakfast before coming to work.

9.22 breakfast1

I received another Kashi sample – this time it was their Honey Sunshine cereal – little pillows of whole grain goodness.

9.22 Kashi1

I had very high hopes for this cereal because it looked like Captain Crunch (one of my faves as a kid), smelled like Captain Crunch, and even got soggy like Captain Crunch. Well, this was no Captain Crunch!  But, with 6 g of fiber and only 100 calories per 3/4 cup, it’s a pretty tasty, and much healthier alternative to Captain Crunch. Maybe it could be marketed as the new Captain Crunch for adults??

9.22 breakfast2

Now, I must really get some work done before I blog the day away! You all know how that goes!

Damn it – someone just walked by with a chocolate eclair – Look away, Jennifer, look away!!

Misty Morning Run

Morning Friends! I went to bed last night thinking that I may have to run indoors this morning. Most of the weather reports called for rain in the early morning. But, I was very happy to wake up to find that it was only a light mist.

I woke up very early this morning – around 4 AM and just couldn’t fall back to sleep. Maybe it’s the Autumnal Equinox causing an imbalance in my life and sleep patterns – he he! I stayed in bed trying to go back to sleep but that did not work of course. So, around 5:45, I got out of bed and on the computer. It was still dark outside, otherwise I would have hit the road right away. It did not get light enough for me to run until around 6:15.

After my misty 4-miler, I enjoyed a familiar breakfast…

9.21 breakfast2

Trader Joe’s nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt! After nearly a week of  not having any yogurt, this was definitely a welcome change from cereal. A girl can only go so many days without her Greek yogurt (a week max) before she starts to go through yogurt withdrawal.

I topped my yogurt with about 1/4 cup of Cascadian Farm organic dark chocolate almond granola. If you haven’t had this granola, it really is worth a try. It has a great flavor and has chocolate in it!

9.21 breakfast1

I also added a giant strawberry to my granola bowl for added vitamin C and other healthy antioxidants. I have been eating a ton of blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries this summer – all of which are great for the immune system and your skin!

I topped off my breakfast with a shot of daily wellness from Zola. This was day 21 in my RWC Daily Wellness shot challenge. I must say, it has become kind of a habit to drink this juice shot every day. I wonder if I’ll miss it when I run out at the end of the month?

Have to get to work. See you all after dinner!

There is such a thing as bad pizza..

Hello All,

My training course today went ok. It was delivered very nicely by my team. Now, how it was received is another story. It’s very disheartening when you put so much effort into a presentation or program and then someone in the front row is texting the whole time. Not cool in my book. You could at least fake that you are somewhat interested. 

Anyway, for breakfast, I tried my new Cascadian Farm organic dark chocolate almond granola…

9.17 granola3

Oh my, this was GOOD! I think I could actually get my husband to eat it. He even commented when he saw the box, “hmm, dark chocolate almond granola… I could go for some of that!” He doesn’t usually eat granola, so, that’s really telling you something.

9.17 granola1

I really like this granola – reminded me a lot of my own homemade granola, although I don’t include chocolate in mine. I added it to a bowl of Trader Joe’s vanilla nonfat Greek yogurt and it stayed crunchy the whole time. And, it was yummy!

9.17 granola2

I only added 1/4 cup of the granola to the yogurt (only about 70 calories) but I wish I would have added more! The only negative is that I wish there were more chocolate pieces in my box. I shook it around a bit and really didn’t see much chocolate in it.

Between preparing for and actually delivering today’s training session, I was busy from about 9 AM – 1:30 PM, then I had a meeting from 1:30-2:30 PM. Thankfully, the training included a pizza lunch. However, by the time I actually got around to eating the pizza, it was soggy. Oh my, two soggy pizzas in one week = a really bad week!!!

9.17 lunch

The photo of the pizza actually looked BETTER than it tasted, if you can believe that. This was really proof that you can have bad pizza, no matter what people tell me.

Alright, I’m wrapping up and hoping to get out of here soon. See you all tonight!