Revolutionary

Have a hot second to do some good?  Sign Jamie Oliver's petition, part of his Food Revolution to provide America's kids with better food at school and better health prospects.  He's planning to take this petition to The White House after his show Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution airs this spring, to see if he can get the Obamas more involved with helping improve nutrition in schools.  Pretty cool!  I watched the first episode of his show this weekend and loved it -- there's so much hidden truth behind some of the food we think is good for us. 

Here's Jamie's message:

The American Food Revolution needs to start now! If you care about your country and the health of its children please help us make a difference. We need your support to get people back in touch with food and keep cooking skills alive before it's too late. We want to make sure every kid gets good, fresh food at school. It's proven that real food promotes more effective learning. If you want better health for your kids the junk food must go. I need to be able to show The President and industry how many of you out there really care about this issue so please don't wait, sign up today. It will only take 30 seconds.

He's doing good things.  Plus, he's easy on the eyes.  Double bueno :)

xoxo,
Olivia

Knowledge Is Power

Regardless of which side of the health reform debate you take, there is one positive change I think we can all agree is a step in the right direction. While this hasn't been talked about as much as pre-existing conditions or insurance caps, the health care bill calls for chain restaurants to post calorie counts on their menus.

Here's an excerpt with more information from Fast Food Maven:

A little-known provision within the Health Care Reform Bill is a mandate for menu labeling at chain restaurants across the nation.  Passed by the House of Representatives on Sunday, the bill requires restaurants with 20 units or more to provide calorie information on menu boards. Vending machines will also be required to post calorie counts.

The national mandate would pre-empt existing legislation, including California’s current menu labeling law. By Jan. 1, 2011, the state law will force restaurants with 20 or more units to post calorie information on their menus and indoor menu boards. The National Restaurant Association, which expressed concern over the health-care provisions of the main bill, said Monday that it approves national standards for menu labeling. Chain restaurants in California must provide nutritional brochures.

“This legislation will replace a growing patchwork of varying state and local regulations with one consistent national standard that helps consumers make choices that are best for themselves and their families,” said Dawn Sweeney, president of the association, a lobbying group for the restaurant industry.

Some restaurants are already making the switch, including Panera Bread. The chain recently announced plans to install new menu board with calorie counts in all company-operated units by next month. As of July 2009, chain restaurants in California must offer diners nutritional brochures.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not thrilled about the idea of knowing how many calories I'm about to subject my body to before inhaling a cheeseburger, but I do think just having the information available will increase awareness and get people to make smarter decisions. Case in point, when going to Panera, I usually opt for the Sierra Turkey sandwich.  After all, how bad can a turkey sandwich be? Well, I'm a sucker because the Sierra Turkey has around 1,000 calories. For comparison purposes, a Big Mac has only 700 calories. Holy.crap. I looked up the Panera nutritional facts, and it turns out that a much better choice would be a roast beef sandwich or a turkey panini. Good to know!

I think this is a really positive move and one that will greatly benefit the American public. Knowledge is power, friends :)

Ok, stepping off my soap box now.

xoxo,
Olivia

A Girl Can Dream

To all my fellow decorettes.... if you haven't already, check out One Kings Lane.  It's like a Gilt Groupe for home decor.  The stuff is still pretty pricey (it's mostly high end items that are offered in limited amounts at a steep discount), but it's so fun to look through the collections and a great place to get ideas and inspiration.

Here are some of my favorites from this week:

Blanche Ivory Ribbed Porcelain Lamp - "Both humble and haute, this lamp is loaded with character, thanks to its ribbed ivory base and festive, hand-embroidered floral-motif shade.  Made of ivory porcelain, with a cotton shade in brown and citrine. Dimensions: 15” diameter x 32 1/2” tall."

$199 (Originally $495)

Wouldn't it be perfect for a cozy reading nook or sunroom?  Love. 

Avocado/Cherry Striped Pillow - "Vibrant and fun, with a touch of vintage inspiration: a beach-striped pillow in hues of avocado, green and cherry, in a variety of widths. Made of 100% cotton. Includes 95/5 feather/down insert. Dimensions: 20" x 20"."

$79 (Originally $105)

I'm head over heels.  These would a great touch to my living room for the summer.  Hopefully they'll still be available when I win the lottery.

Donatello Medium Rectangular Frame - 'Radiating the warm, timeless radiance of pewter, this wonderfully ornate frame showcases special memories frozen in time. Made of Pewter. Dimensions: 6" W x 7.5" H".

$49 (Originally $155)
 
Such a steal. I'm not usually into the more antique inspired items, but I think this would make a great accent piece (especially since it's small). 
 
If you want a member invite to One Kings Lane, let me know!  They have a variety of items on sale (everything from candles to cutlery) and it's a fun site to check out every now and then.  It usually gets at least one "when I grow up...." out of me each time I visit :)
 
xoxo,
Olivia

Steal My Sunshine

This weekend was fabulous -- it was sunny and in the 70s both days.  Love!

On Saturday I had brunch at Ris with The Proudfeet.  It was great to catch up, and brunch was so yummy.  Afterwards we stopped by TDR Island to roam around and soak up the sunshine. I've never been to the island, so it was exciting to explore.  The Proudfeet were nice enough to let me play around with their camera (they have a sweet Nikon D5000), and gave me some photography tips which was awesome since I'm interested in taking some classes over the summer.  Click here to see the beautiful pictures that they took!

Today was pretty low key. This morning I took Cooper to the dog park to romp around and enjoy the warm weather. We met another French bulldog puppy (4 months old) named Wilbur, and he and Cooper were instant friends.  Frenchie puppies are the cutest -- ahhh!  After not feeling well earlier in the day, I finally perked up and my roommate and Emily and I headed to dinner at Guapo's in Shirlington.  We were hoping to sit outside on the patio, but I guess March is a bit early for the outdoor seating.  Booo.  Any who, we still enjoyed a nice time out.  I had a frozen margarita (splurge!) and a chicken tostada salad.  I was trying to be healthy, but I think a taco "salad" still packs a good amount of calories in.  Oh well, it was delicious and a good treat :)

I took all last week off working out since my body was achy after last week's 8k, but I'm determined to get back into the swing of things this week. I registered for the J. Brian's 1.5k in Fredericksburg on April 10th, which should be a quick but fun race. I was tempted to try for the 15k but then reality hit me.  Maybe next year! 

It's back to the grind.  Have a great week!

xoxo,
Olivia

Breakfast Dilemma

I was reading The Fit Bride a few days ago and saw a recipe for homemade protein bars. Since eating breakfast is a major struggle for me (unless we're talking pancakes), I thought this might be a good grab-and-go remedy for having at least something in the morning.

I gave it shot last night.  Here's the recipe, via The Great Balancing Act:

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 4 scoops chocolate whey protein powder
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 2 tbsp shredded coconut
• 2 tbsp mini chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup water

Mush together all ingredients and press into a 9×9 baking pan. Place in the fridge to harden then divide into approximately 8 individual portions. 

Yum, coconut and chocolate. How bad can it be? Here's what mine looked like before going into the fridge:

Most of the ingredients were available at at Harris Teeter, but I had to stop at GNC for the chocolate whey powder. As expected, going to GNC was a special experience. I almost got lost in the "muscle milk" section but was able to find a small(ish) bag of what I needed. It was $17.00, so hopefully I can use it in other stuff as well. 

The bars are in the fridge today and I'll cut them up and try one tomorrow. I hope they taste alright!  Here's the approximate nutritional values: 174 calories, 6g fat, 17g carbs, 1g sugar, 3g fiber, 15g protein. Hopefully I won't feel like there's a brick in my stomach after one of these bad boys. I'll let you know :)

Well, that's all for now. I'm excited for March Madness to kickoff today. I would love to win some mulah from the pool we have going at my office. Let's go Kansas!

xoxo,
Olivia

2010 St. Patrick's Day 8K Recap

I survived my first race, yipee! I agree that doing a 5K before an 8K is probably best, but this was all a learning process.

I ended up averaging just over a 14 minute mile for the race, which is above the pace I usually keep on the treadmill (typically between a 10-12 minute mile). I quickly learned that things are much different when you run outside... as in the ground isn't moving under you, and you have to deal with constantly changing surroundings (other runners, road conditions, weather, etc.). Somehow I also managed to pull a muscle in my leg last Friday, which was a bit irritating throughout. Overall, there were lots of walking breaks involved. But no excuses -- I'm still happy with how everything turned out, and now I have a point of reference for future improvement. 

Much love to my running partner JLB, who was very patient and stuck with my sluggish pace throughout the race...eventhough I know she could have gone much faster! :)

Here's a snapshot of the official results (via ChronoTrack):

First place went to Abiyot Endale, who finished in 24:20. That's just under a 5 minute mile pace. On top of it all, he didn't even have time to warmup because he forgot to set his clock forward, and arrived only a couple minutes before the start of the race (according to the website). He still managed to be freakishly fast. I'm in awe.

The rest of my weekend was pretty quiet -- Saturday involved lots of errands and a trip to Ikea for a new TV stand (I donated my old one to my baby bro, who's finally moving out of my parent's house and into his own place). After the race on Sunday, I was a hungry monster and just wanted to lounge around and do nothing. I did pretty much that... and studied for my International Business mid-term (which I took last night and I think went fairly well).  Cooper kept me company since he's all about the lazy lifestyle.  Check out those wrinkles:

I hope everyone has a great week. I'm super excited for the warm and sunny weather we're expecting in DC this week. I'm so over the rain!

Ready, Set...

I'm off to spend the night at my parent's house, so that I'll already be downtown and ready to go for tomorrow's race. I even got an awesome bib number - 388 (eight is my lucky number!)

I hope everything goes well! Thanks to everyone for the support. I even got the most gorgeous bouquet of tulips from Laney Bug :)

Xoxo,
Olivia

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Rut Tut Tut

I had a happy hour last night with some friends, which was a blast.  Because I was starving after work, happy hour turned into dinner, and lots of delish but not so healthy food was involved.  So bad, but so good :)  I wasn't all that concerned about it since I was planning to head to the gym afterwards, but being so full left me sluuuggish.  I was really tempted to just go home and go to bed early, but fortunately that wasn't an option to begin with, so off to the gym I went. 

Every day I tell myself that I'm just going to do a hard treadmill workout, but I end up getting suckered into starting off on a PRECOR elliptical.  I like to call this a "warm up" but it's really just a less painful way to start off my workout.  Not that it's easy -- I typically burn between 600-700 calories in an hour (or so the machine tells me) and I sweat up a storm.  There's just something more...civilized about working out on the elliptical.  It makes me feel more in control and like I can target what areas I work on versus just going into "survival" mode like I do on the treadmill. 

Any who, I've been doing this for a month or so now.  I do the elliptical for an hour, then hop on the treadmill afterwards.  But, after an hour on the elliptical, I'm pretty tired so I usually only do about a mile on two on the treadmill.  I feel like this routine isn't doing anything for my fitness level though.  I love the elliptical, but I feel like those 600-700 calories aren't really coming off... maybe I'm wrong, but it's making me frustrated and feel like I'm hitting a rut.  Last night was my first attempt to change things up in hopes of keeping my body guessing (haha, Dodgeball).  I did start off on the elliptical, but cut the time down to 30 minutes, and then hopped on the treadmill in hope of doing 3 miles in 40 minutes.  Eh, FAIL.  I pushed myself to do the first mile at 6.0 (10 minute mile) and then my legs just refused to do anything else.  I ended up doing 1.2 miles in 12 minutes.  And just getting to that point was a battle.  What's up with that?!

Today I'm super sore, which I actually don't mind because it reminds me that I'm working hard.  What bothers me is that the improvement process is so slow.  I guess I just expect to get back into the swing of things pretty quickly, versus having to fight for it.  Not sure how I'm going to run an 8k on Sunday.  There will be some serious walking breaks involved...

Sorry for the rant!  Hopefully the rest of the week at the gym will go better :-)

xoxo,
Olivia

Life's Little Things

It's another gorgeous, sunny day in DC.  We're even supposed to hit 60 degrees today. Go crazy!  Smells like spring...

When I got home from work last night, I had a surprise waiting for me in the mail.  It was a package from Jill (boss from a previous job), who now lives in North Carolina.  Jill has two boys, Max and Ben.  They are the cutest kids ever, and I've pretty much been able to watch them grow up over the past few years.  I visit them a few times a year, and we always have a blast playing sports, games, watching movies, etc.  I'm a total tomboy and have no problem fitting right in with this crowd :)

Since Jill, Max and Ben know how much I love penguins, I'm always getting fun treats from them.  Yesterday I got the best gifts ever... Max and Ben each sent me a penguin arts-and-craft project, and Jill sent me penguin appetizer forks.  Oh, and I also got pictures of each kid.  Sooo adorable.

Here's Max's penguin.  Love!

And Ben's.  Could he be any cuter?!

Totally made my day.  It really is the little things in life that matter most!  I can't wait to visit NC next month!

xoxo,
Olivia

Mexican Can Can

In an attempt to transform myself into a domestic (or at least less undomestic) goddess, I've been trying out some new recipes.  Tonight I made Chicken Enchiladas which turned out amazing! I'll be spending some extra time at the gym this week because of them, but so worth it :)  I definitely recommend this recipe for anyone needing a cheese fix (Laney, I'm thinking of you!).  Nom nom.

Here are the main ingredients, minus the tortillas:

This recipe is nice because it's so straight forward -- time consuming, but pretty easy breezy for a novice cook like moi.

2 lbs. of skinless/boneless chicken breast.  Boiled, then shredded.  Lots of chicken...

Mixing in the onions, taco mix and lime juice:

Baaaaked.

And some Spanish rice on the side:

And here's the finished product.  My presentation skills are lacking, but you get the idea!

I didn't wrap the tortillas as tightly as I should have, so I had to use an extra baking dish for the fifth enchillada.  Alas, you live, you learn. 

Alright, back to watching the Oscars.  Hope everyone had a great weekend!

xoxo,
Olivia

March Madness

It's March.  When did that happen? 

I looked at my calendar this morning and realized that the St. Patrick's Day 8K is next Sunday.  Holy crap! I'm so not ready, but I know I'll get through it one way or another.  I did four miles in 50 minutes on the treadmill yesterday, which didn't hurt as badly as I expected (yay).  I'm hoping to do the full five mile distance one evening this week, when I'm feeling extra energetic.  Wish me luck!

A friend was telling me about how she amps up her health/fitness routine a few times a year with what she calls "30 Day Challenges."  It's basically just a month where you set goals at the beginning and do your best to maintain throughout the month.  I'm making March 2010 my first "30 Day Challenge" month, focusing on maintaining my workout routine and finding a better balance when it comes to eating healthy.  My goals for the month are pretty flexible since I'm a believer in baby steps:

• Workout 4+ times a week (mix between cardio and weight training/BodyPump)
• Eat a healthy breakfast everyday.
• Pack my breakfast and/or lunch 3+ days a week.
• Get 7+ hours of sleep a night.

Not so bad, right?  I pretty much follow these points already (minus the sleeping part - I'm awful about getting enough rest), but I want to stick with a formal plan and see how it goes.  Today I packed my breakfast and lunch, and tried to keep it fairly low in fat/calories since I have class until late tonight and won't have a chance to workout.

Here's what I had for breakfast -- a "yogurt mess" of 2% Plain Fage Greek Yogurt; 1/2 cup of Raspberries; 1 cup of Kashi Puffs.  It may sound scary (took me awhile to come around to the idea of so much yogurt for breakfast), but it is actually delish and very filling:

I stayed pretty full until around 1:00 p.m.  For lunch I packed 1/2 of a roast beef sandwich (I will eat the other half around 5:30 p.m. when I'm on my way to class), a bag of sliced red apples, and some green grapes.  Oh, and I had a Diet Coke.  I think I went a bit overboard on the fruit, but I think this should hold me over until the end of the day.  I'm working on wheaning myself off Diet Coke, but for now I'm alright with just having one or two a day.  See, baby steps :)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I made a big batch of Turkey Chili last night, so that will probably be my dinner.  Not to bad, for a Monday. If anyone has good ideas for healthy and easy to make breakfast/lunch items, please do tell.  I need all the help I can get!
 
xoxo,
Olivia