Holy Burrito

I couldn't leave California without one awesomely-authentic Mexican meal, so this morning, after another long walk down on the beach, I headed to Lily's Cafe.

This place is amazing. It's a little hole in the wall, but cheap and so satisfying.  It's frequented by locals and somewhat of a hidden gem.  I had the breakfast burrito.  O.m.g.

Featuring: a fresh tortilla, scrambled eggs, cheese, refried beans and bacon.  And I also added some hot sauce and salsa to spice things up.  Two million calories later, I'm in a total food coma. But it was worth it!

It's just about time for me to shower and start packing (boo).  We are having dinner with one of my mom's friends, then I'm off to LAX to catch the red-eye back to DC tonight.   While the East Coast will always be my home, spending time in California reminds me not to take life (or myself) too seriously, and to just stop and enjoy the scenery once and awhile.

And what awesome scenery it is.

See you on the flip!

Converted

I know this makes me a bit of an odd ball, but I'm usually not a huge fan of yogurt.  Something about the consistency and the live cultures creeps me out.  But I'm happy to say that Greek yogurt has changed that.  In my best Paula Deen voice, "I'm converted ya'll!" 

I mostly stick to the Fage brand.  It's so good, but around $2 a yogurt.  As my Dad would say, "champagne taste, beer budget."  Well last week I hit up Harris Teeter, and saw there was a 4 for $5 special on Yoplait Greek yogurt.  I gave it a shot, and I'm so glad I did.

I've tried both the strawberry and blueberry flavors so far.  Both are great, and the nutrition stats are pretty good considering the fruit addition.

I think I'll still stick to Fage for cooking, but the Yoplait alternative is certainly cheaper for daily use.  Speaking of cooking with yogurt, I'm trying out this chicken slouvaki recipe next week.  It looks simple to make and delicious.

In other news... I'm heading to California tomorrow.  I'll be in business meetings on Thursday and Friday, and then spending Saturday and Sunday with my mom.  I'm so excited to see her, and to relax for a couple days to relax before flying back to DC.

Just to nip any of your weather-related jealousy in the bud:



Rain, rain go away...

If you have any favorite yogurt brands, flavors, recipes, etc. please let me know!  I definitely want to start using it more as a healthy substitute for some of the not so healthy things I love (sour cream, I'm looking at you).

2011 Love The Run You're With 5k Recap

Official time: 40.29 (13.02/mile average).

I really wanted to come in below the 40 minute mark, but we were close enough.  Notice that a 70 year old woman named Janet finished just 14 seconds behind us.  Go Janet, go!

Overall, I thought the race was really well organized and fun.  There was a pretty brutal hill at the beginning of the course, but after that it was flat.  And on the way back, you get to run down that same hill.  I totally need to run a 5k downhill sometime.  Weee! 

I felt really strong the first mile (we walked the hill), but at mile two I started getting a weird chest pain and/or cramp in the ribcage.  Argh.  I thought if I walked a bit, it would go away, but it kept coming back with a vengeance.  Needless to say, I walked a ton, but we still finished with a decent time and not in last place.  WIN.  Thank you to JB for cheering us on, and to everyone else for the supportive comments, texts, etc.  I RUN FOR YOU!  J/K, but I really do appreciate all the love :-)

And on a non-race related note, just wanted to say how excited I am that it's almost 60 degrees out today (heat wave!).  I'm so excited for spring.  In celebration, I made a spring-inspired spinach and fruit salad at lunch today:

That hot mess in background is turkey chili.  It paled in comparison to my salad.

Happy Monday!!!

Salsa Chicken

This salsa chicken concoction is one of my go-to dinner favorites, and it's also super satisfying and healthy.  Win!

Ingredients:

•  1 pound chicken breast

•  1 tablespoon olive oil

•  1 jar of chunky salsa

•  1 can of black beans

Cut the chicken breasts half or thirds, and boil for 7-10 minutes:

Drain and once cooled, shred the chicken with a fork:

Add chicken to a fry pan along with 1 tablespoon of olive oil for 1-2 minutes.  Add salsa (I use medium for more kick) and mix, followed by a can of black beans.

This makes about 2.5-3 cups, so it's quite a few servings.  Yay for leftovers!  I usually use it for a salad topping, or as a tortilla filling.  Tonight was a tortilla night...

I add some salad greens, 1/2 cup of the salsa chicken mix, a tablespoon of reduced-fat shredded cheese, and a teaspoon of reduced-fat sour cream.

Yum.  It's no gourmet meal, but at around 400(ish) calories, it's very satisfying!

SparkPeople

Hello, Monday.  I hope everyone had a great weekend! 

My first week into 2011 went well.  I managed to eat pretty healthy, and made it to the gym four times (3x spin; 1x Body Pump) for solid workouts.  I got some running and hiking in there, too.  Now I just have to keep this momentum going...

Speaking of, wanted to share something I've found really helpful lately.  Over the past few months, I started using Livestrong to track what I was eating on a daily basis.  I thought doing so would be a pain, but it's really helped me understand some of the bad eating habits I have, and how better choices can make a big impact.  I guess there really is something to this whole balanced diet concept!

I recently switched over to using Sparkpeople to track this info (thanks to BrieFit ).  I think Sparkspeople is a bit more user-friendly, and I love that they focus on different goals within a diet, versus just limited calories and fat.  They also have lots of common take-out food (Subway, etc.) in their menu, which is nice if you don't always have the nutrition information available.

Here's an example of what one of my good days looks like....

 I try to stick to around 1,500 calories per day.  Of course, there are some days when I go above that, and some days I'm slightly below it.  I try not to stress about the exact number, and just go based on what makes me feel the best.  1,500 seems to be a good number for me when I'm doing moderate excercise, so that's where I am right now. 

My favorite part about Sparkspeople is that you can run a "Daily Feedback" report at the end of the day that charts out where you calories are going to in terms of nutritional value.  Here's the feedback from the same day tracked above:

I'm high on carbs (shock!).  I'm working on adding more healthy fats into my diet (almonds, etc.) and cutting back on some of the carbs, to help my body adjust.  See, such helpful information to have!

Back to the grind.

Words of Wisdom

Sorry for the blogging hiatus -- things have been a bit of a roller coaster over the past few weeks, and are just now leveling out.  But I'm here.  And just in time for Thanksgiving!  Since my family is out of town this week, I'll be spending the holiday with family friends.  And I'm cooking up a storm for the first time in awhile.  I'll post pictures, but I'm planning to make mashed potatoes, biscuits, a veggie dish, and the now infamous pumpkin bread.  Yum!  Very happy that I get to use my parent's Le Creuset set as well. 

P.S.  I came across this quote today and I think it's pure wisdom.  Marilyn Monroe is the woman.

"I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together." ~ Marilyn Monroe

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Have a fun and safe holiday. :-)

It's Officially Fall When...

... I make my first batch of turkey chili and pumpkin bread!  Both of which I did this weekend.

It was kinda like senior year, only funner! 

And as a result, I also spent a couple hours doing this:



I've been a total slacker about working out over the past couple of months, so I'm trying to get back into a routine (story of my life).  I think the cooler weather helps though.  Does anyone else feel that way?  It's way easier for me to motivate myself when it's not nasty hot outside!

Well, I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.  I'm off to finish up some school work and watch some football.  Let's go Redskins!

True Lemon Love

Since I like to make an occasional shameless plug, like here and here, I have another one for the archives.  Meet my flavor the week, True Lemon:

How'd we meet?  Let's just say my office is little bit instant coffee-tea-miscellaneous other drinks-soup obsessed, and we keep up with the trends.  See what I mean? 

We actually replaced our fabulous Starbucks machine with Flavia.  As in powdered coffee.  Don't be jealous.  Anywho, I took one look at the newcomer, and after being slightly skeeved out by the idea of "crystallized lemon" I came around and decided to give it a go.  It can't be any worse than the Spring Vegetable Instant Soup in the background, right?

Each True Lemon serving is about the size of a sugar packet, and has no calories, carbs, or sugar.  And it's not an artificial sweetener, so there's none of that scary chemical stuff that I consume way too much of already (thank you, Diet Coke habit).

I'm really not a fan of plain water, so I decided to add one packet to my 24 oz. Camelbak, in hopes of actually wanting to drink water throughout the day.  A few shakes and apprehensive sips later... success!  This stuff is good, and it has just enough flavor to make water not boring. 

The box also says that you can use it for baking and such.  I think I'll stick to jazzing-up my water for right now, but you never know where this new relationship might take me.  Love makes us do crazy things.

Hello, August

Hi everyone!  It's been a while, hope you are well :)

So last week was little rough... for multiple reasons.  Needless to say, I was super happy when Friday finally rolled around.  Since my friend Ashley had an equally bad week, I invited her over for dinner on Friday and made The Pioneer Woman's Chicken Parmigiana.  If you've ever tried anything PW, you know it was fabulous comfort food!

I changed the recipe a bit (blasphemous, I know) by using SmartBalance instead of butter, and only using around 20 oz. of crushed tomatoes and 8 oz. of diced tomatoes.  I also cut down to 1 teaspoon of sugar instead 2 tablespoons.  It still turned out great!

 (Source)

On Saturday, one of my besties was in town from Baltimore.  I had tickets for one of the semifinal matches of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, so after hanging out and catching up for a bit, we headed out.  The match was Marco Baghdatis v. Xavier Malisse.  I've never been to professional tennis match, and it was a blast!

We had great seats -- Baghdatis was right in front of us!

The pros serve at 120+ miles per hour.  Insane.

 And then a courtside switch.  Hello, Malisse.

It was a "cool" low-90s day in DC, but we baaaaked sitting out in the sun.  We whimped out and left after an hour, but it was fun watching while we lasted.  Baghdatis ended up winning the match, but unfortunately lost to David Nalbandian in the finals.

I spent most of Sunday playing catch up on work, and recovering from yesterday's brutal workout.  My usual trainer is on vacation, and the sub-trainer kicked my ass.  And I got my first intro to kettlebells.  I thought they were fun at the time, but man am I feeling it today.  Have you ever tried these? 

Brutal, which means they're doing their job!  I also finally joined a gym in DC, since I'm in the area for a least awhile.  I've taken both spinning and yoga at the gym before, and I'm excited to have regular gym access again. 

I'm off to watch the first NFL preseason game (even if it means watching the Cowboys).  Football season makes me incredibly happy :)  Let's go REDSKINS!!!

xoxo,
Olivia

Tracking. Dislike.

It's official, over the past couple of months, I've completely fallen off the wagon.  Like hardcore, tumbled off, face first.  RIP, motivation.

As some of you know, I recently moved into the city, and I'm staying with my parents for awhile until I figure out my situation.  This means I'm living rent free for now, woot!  I'm still focused on building up my savings, but I decided to splurge invest in some personal training classes to get me back on the fitness track.  No big deal, right?  Um, worst (best) decision ever. 

First off, I have to track everything I eat.  WTF, this is not Weight Watchers.  What did I get myself into?  I see the point of it being an all around life improvement process, but I'm iffy about having to put the pen to paper when it comes to my diet.  Anywho, I'm doing it, and it's been interesting.  I've always heard that five small meals a day is best, but I feel like I sit around eating non-stop...

Here's my lovely tracking sheet, complete with columns for fat, calories, carbs, etc.  Talk about facing the facts!  Eep.

As a result, I've been eating lots of these:

Cosi Signature Salad with chicken, and half-portion of the reduced fat dressing.  Cosi is one of those places that people think is super healthy, but if you aren't careful, you can totally end up having a 900+ calorie meal... so definitely check out their nutrition facts online (also posted at each location) before you decide!

And I'm refraining from eating too much of this:

Sad, I love bread.  Luuurve.  Instead of eating the whole thing, I'll just take 3-4 bites then get rid of the rest (cuts the calories down by 60-70% but I still get to have some).  Kinda a waste, but better that it goes to waste than to my waist :)

I have ten sessions of PT to burn through (I'm on the 3x week schedule), so I'm going to give this food tracking/training combo a try for awhile and see how it goes.  It's definitely a pain in the ass, but I'm hoping that it will help me get into a good routine...

On a somewhat related note, please let me know if you have any advice for foods to eat pre-workout!  PT sessions are from 6:00 - 7:00 a.m., so I'm confused about how to fuel.  I don't want to eat right beforehand because then I may get sick from having food in my stomach (and no way in hell am I waking up at 5:00 a.m. to make a real breakfast), but I tried going the no food route and literally had to stop mid-workout because I was going to hurl.  No bueno.  I've heard bananas and peanut butter are good, but it just seems heavy.  Suggestions, please?

Hope everyone is well, and sorry I haven't been posting as much lately!  It's my busiest time of the year at work, so I'm still trying to get myself into a workable schedule.  More to come!

xoxo,
Olivia

Shakin'

Jilly, this post is for you :)

A few months back, I was reading Oh She Glows, and came across a link to Angela's Green Monster Movement.  Sounds scary, but Green Monsters are just smoothies made with a mix of fruits and veggies.  I was completely grossed out at first, but decided to give it shot.  I've tried a few different combos, but I like the basic "virgin" version the best.  I made one tonight for dinner, since I had lunch at 3:00 p.m. and wasn't very hungry. 

"The Virgin Green Monster"

• 1 cup of spinach (or more if you're feeling ambitious)
• 1 cup of milk (I use 1% but skim or soy works just as well)
• 1 tablespoon of flax (optional, but I always include it)
• 1 banana, sliced
• 1 scoop of chocolate or vanilla whey (alternately, any cocoa power or chocolate sauce works)
• Ice (I used 6-8 cubes)

Directions:

So easy.  You just add everything together (minus the ice), and blend for about 15 seconds.  I like to add the spinach on the bottom of the cup, then the banana slices, followed by the flax and whey powder, and finally, the milk.  This way, the lighter ingredients are weighed down by the heavier items and everything gets mixed together well.

After the first round of blending, just add the ice and blend for another 15 seconds and waaaa-la!  Green Monster goodness :) 

Keeping in mind that it is a healthy shake, I think it tastes phenomenal and definitely fills me up for a few hours.  I'm even going to out on a limb and say that it takes like a chocolate banana milkshake.  You can totally sub stuff in and try other combos -- I've also tried using cherries instead of banana, which was delicious.

If you come up with something particularly good, please share :-)

Happy shakin'!

xoxo,

Olivia

Summer Lovin'

It's officially summer, hooray! 

Sarah and I had planned a pool day on Sunday, but opted for the Occoquan Crafts Show instead.  It ended up being pretty fun!  Occoquan is a quaint little riverfront town along the Potomac.  Gorgeous to say the least, and feels like it's nestled in the mountains instead of 20 minutes from downtown DC.  Historic, too.

Confession:  I've never really been to a craft fair, so I didn't really know what to expect.  There was well... quite a mix of people.  We started off on the main strip, and one of our first stops was at Wild Bill's Old Fashion Soda Pop Co.   Gotta love an old timey soda pop company that has a website!  :) 

You buy a large tin mug (for $10-$12) and that gives you unlimited pop.  Sarah was kind enough to share with me, and we started off with Root Beer.  Sooo yum, and it didn't have any of the syrupy taste that's so common in soda these days.

We wandered amongst the vendor stalls and saw some cool (albeit random and somewhat useless?) stuff.  I got a few pictures, before getting yelled at and told I wasn't supposed to take pictures.  Oops! 

Edible bird feeder, anyone?  For realz.  And no fair is complete without an obnoxious amount of fatty food.  Everywhere!

Confession, part deux: I had a corn dog.  When in Rome...

Our last stop by was at locally famous bakery, Mom's Apple Pie Company.  Turns out Sarah and I are suckers for samples, because we had to buy an apple pie after having a just taste.  So worth it.  I definitely recommend paying this little hole in the wall a visit when in Occoquan.  Sorry, no pics... I was too distracted by the sweets.

After all of that splurging, I knew I had to drag my butt to the gym.  I've been avoiding the gym all together over the past few weeks.  That motivation I had earlier this year?  Totally shot.  It did actually feel good to get back at it, but it took a really good workout mix to get me there.  I'll post some tunes later this week, for anyone needed some jamz...

Switching gears, one of the best things about summer is the fresh produce that comes in season.  My new fave?  A spinach and strawberry salad, topped with toasted almonds.  I stole this idea from a friend's get together, and I'm in love.  I top it with store-bought sesame ginger dressing.  Light, healthy, and satisfying.  Can't go wrong!

Does anyone have other good, healthy summer options that I can try?  I may attempt some sort of gazpacho, but it scares me.  Eeek.  Other suggestions are greatly appreciated :)

xoxo,
Olivia

Sunday Funday

Sundays are my second favorite day of the week, and you know what makes them even better?  No homework... no work brought home from the office...and getting to spend some quality time with friends and family.  Love :)

I have to mention the fabulous new restaurant that Ashley and I tried today in DC.  Ah-maze-balls.  Logan Tavern is our usual go to place, but we walked by Churchkey and decided to give it a shot.  Such a good choice.  Apparently it's a Sunday hot spot (who knew?) so we agreed to take the bar-style seating towards the back of the restaurant, looking over the kitchen.  It was awesome to watch all the goings on. 

The view from our seats:

Both of us opted for the "Boozy Brunch" -- two cocktails, an order or donut holes, an entree, and unlimited coffee (that's per person ...don't be too grossed out). 

Round one: donut holes!  One chocolate, one lemon poppy seed, and one glazed...with bacon.  Bacon on a donut!  Who thinks of that?!  It was delish.

My hot date!

Next were the entrees.  I went for the fried chicken and waffles (so healthy, haha) and Ash got a breakfast sammy with cheese, ham and a fried egg on top:

Both were awesome.  I wasn't a huge fan of the chicken, but the waffle was yum.  Overall, I definitely recommend Churchkey for brunch in the city!  There's also an affiliated  bar upstairs called Birch & Barley, which has hundreds of different kinds of beer and looks awesome.  It's next on the list!

Well, I hope everyone had a great weekend.  I'm off to bed to hide from Monday....

xoxo,
Olivia