4th of July Fun!

Hey all! Hope everyone had an awesome 4th of July holiday! I myself got Monday off of work...couldn't be happier!

As follows with the great American tradition, I spent my Independence Day at a friend's house eating barbecue and watching the neighbors blow up stuff. The following is a recap of my fourth starting with what I ate:

You'll hopefully excuse me for photographing my half-eaten meals lately :/. Since I've started running I've made a habit of scarfing down my food before remembering I wanted to show it to you all. SO, what I had here was an Amy's California Veggie Burger with avocado, salad greens, a little carrot, a little red pepper and some cucumber in it. Essentially I took my friend's beautiful salad and put it in my burger. She was kind enough not to be aghast. I also, ate her salad as a salad, since I could only stuff my burger so far.

Put these bad boys on the grill. The zucchini was especially delicious!

Fruit salad. I am REALLY big on fruit. YEAH!

Among other things, potato chips and cookies were also consumed, however, I do not have pictures of these. For the evenings activities we played a few rounds of "HORSE" disc golfing, where I come from a lot of people call this "folfing," but most people look at me a little funny when I say that here. There was a general suggestion that we call it "frolfing" for frisbee golfing. What do you think?

Here is what the disc golf net looks like. The object of the game is to get these mini-frisbees (the disc) into the net. If the person before you throws it under their leg while jumping off the porch and rolls into a ninja pose and their disc makes it in the net, you must exactly replicate this approach in the same manner. It was a really cool activity for people who had just stuffed themselves with awesome BBQ.

And here is the best pic I could get of a firework. It pales in comparison to what we actually saw, but there ya go!

As for running, I have been keeping my pace slow, stretching a little longer and doing about 20 minutes of actual running 6 days a week. Today was the start of my second week of running, so I have officially run 12 miles last week and two today. I'm feeling pretty good! Well, I think I'm going to keep this short and we'll see if I've got something interesting to say tomorrow.

Peace!

Vegan Italiano!

Hello hello! And happy Friday to everybody. I'm gratefully looking forward to the upcoming three day weekend that's stretched out ahead of me. The promise of barbecue with good company and berry picking has gotten me through what seems like a really long week. :)

So...I did miss a post last night, and there was a good reason why. This reason is called Portobello. Evidently it is not just a type of mushroom anymore...




:) So. Now you know what I did last night. I was having a sort of rough day and Jay was awesome enough to take my super subtle hints that I wouldn't be able to stand after work even to make dinner because I was so tired, and he took me to some of the most amazing vegan food.

We definitely indulged. First I got a drink...

*all pictures taken via Jay's I-phone...I forgot the camera oops!

You may be wondering at this point, why there is a straw in my beer. That is because my beer is not my beer. It is my kombucha! I have been informed that kombucha may be a good source of probiotics, and since I have adopted a mostly vegan diet of late, I am decidedly a bit lacking (no yogurt etc). Does anyone know the specifics about what probiotics do and what good sources are? Luckily, there are plenty of alternative methods of incorporating probiotics into one's diet that do not involve yogurt. Perhaps a blog post on that later.

Jay had a beer

I thought the stopper was cool! Jay was all excited because he's apparently not seen this one outside of the actual brewery.


I got a little dressed up for me. I decided this was the best kombucha I'd ever had. So good.

This was our mushroom paté with tiny pickles, mustard, and baguette. This was definitely my favorite part of the meal. As much as I hesitate to idealize meat taste and texture, I feel it would be unwise to deny the obvious resemblance both in texture and in flavor that this had to really gourmet meat loaf. Amazing!

I must find out where I can get these little pickles! I don't even like pickles but these made for a great accent on the paté.

And this is what I ordered as a main: Vegan Lasagna. 100% true story.

The lasagna had a "cheese" made with cashew butter and tomato sausage that tasted so good. I cannot even begin to describe how much better it was than "real" lasagna. I wish I had paid more attention to the menu to see what else was in it.

Jay had gnocchi with tomatos and zucchini. That was also great, but I liked mine better :).

All in all a successful night out with awesome eats!

And now for running updates!

Yesterday was my rest day. I didn't have any pain in my legs yesterday, but as I mentioned, I felt a little off and was having trouble keeping my head above water. I think maybe I got used to feeling those endorphins in the morning and wasn't expecting to end up at work groggy.

This morning I woke up on the right side of the bed. It was supposed to be my second rest day, but I was really craving to get back out there before my muscles forget everything and I'm screwed Saturday morning, so I convinced Jay to ride in the rain on flat tires while I ran. It went by pretty fast this way, I mostly laughed the whole way at seeing him half drowned by the rain, trying to balance with my slow pace and on flat tires. For those of you that know Jay, you know he HATES the rain and prefers not to be in it. It's a good thing we live in Portland where we get ~76 days of sun a year ;).

Anyway, he was a sport.

The run was a little tough, I did feel a little pressure (now that he was there and definitely going faster than I could) to step up my game and run faster. However, this did not work exactly. Pretty much immediately I was gasping for breath. Not good. I recently spoke with my sister and she gave me a tip which I think will be valuable. She said that I should find a pace in which I could comfortably converse with someone and step it down a notch from there. Essentially go really slow and I will be able to cover more distance. This seems like key for a beginning runner. So that will be my experiment for the next few days. I think it will definitely be a challenge to go slow, but I'll give it a try!

Well, good night for tonight!

Da Dip!

So we made it through Wednesday. Another day another dolla dolla bill. I have to say I am pretty pumped for the upcoming 3 DAY WEEKEND 4th of July HOLLA! I may have a few inspired recipes in the works as a nod to the holiday.

As for today, I've got a great dinner recipe which is totally (speaking of dollas) money efficient and tastes awesome. As usual, another vegan recipe based on a bowl I had at Cafe Yumm once.

Dip-ity Do Da

Doesn't that look tasty?

Ingredients:
-1/2 can black beans
-1 cup cooked rice
-1/2 cup salsa
-1.5-2 tbsp hummus
-6-10 diced olives
-2 stalks celery
-1/4 avocado
-1-2 tbsp Yum sauce (optional)

Directions:

Cook rice of your choice (I usually use brown or basmati). Drain and rinse black beans, put in a bowl with salsa, hummus, diced olives and sauce. Mix this together. If you want to eat it hot, throw it in a skillet and begin heating 5-10 minutes before rice is done. Mix cooked or cold bean mixture with rice.

Chop avocado and salt lightly, then throw it on top of your mixture!

Dip celery sticks in for awesome!

It tastes great hot or cold and is SO filling. Jay brought home a little treat last night as well that we split with dinner. Presenting...

Reed's Extra Ginger Brew!!

Amazing stuff! I have no idea how many sugars are in it...and I'm not going to look right now. I put mine in an ice cold mug.

Almost gone...

I like me some gingery ale.

And as awesome as summer dipp-ity do dinner is, I also have a report for running.

Awesome thing #1: I finally got a good running tank from Lululemon at there local store on sale. After running today, I can definitely attest that it was well worth the moneys. It breathed a lot better than cotton and looked better which made me feel great. The run today was pretty congruent with my run yesterday except that I had a strange minute or two of feeling slightly euphoric while rocking out to my music on the last leg of my run.

Anybody else tend to feel random upwellings of happiness while running? I just felt like everything was synching right and I was really enjoy myself, really appreciating the moment. And believe me, I was soooooo not looking forward to my run when I woke up this morning. Ugh! I woke up tired and to make matters worse, it was cloudy and cold (and I don't have crops or any warmer gear yet!) But I made myself go out, and told myself that if I just ran for a few minutes at least I would warm up, and you know what? I did.

Tomorrow will be my first rest day after 5 days straight of running. I was a little scared that like other activities I've rested on, I will just elect to stop when Saturday rolls around and I am feeling like sleeping in. Also, I thought I might go back to square one in terms of my fitness for running. It has definitely gotten easier over just a few days and I'm anxious not to lose all that. SO I created a semi-solution which is..... bringing Jay with me on his bike! BAM!

Problem solved.

Anyway I'm outta here to catch the last bit of sunshine before tomorrow hits me like a big slap in the face (...heheh...not really ;)).

Shreddin'

Hey all! Happy almost Wednesday! Got some great stuff coming up for blog post numero dos, so hold on tight!

First order of business: Breakfast

Oh yeah, it's serious.

Add blueberries (mine were frozen, but fresh would be awesome).


Heat soy milk on medium for 5-8 minutes and pour over top.



We're not done yet....

AGAVE SYRUP!! (Jay pictured here)


Made short work of that one!

All in all a filling, healthy, delicious breakfast that I will consumer over and over and over again. And quick too!



Now that I've got my fuel let's move onto: Running!

A little history for you: I grew up with asthma that was mainly exercise induced and for that reason do not have much of a basis to build on as far as cardio. I am just now starting to learn how important cardio is and how I can get a little in 5 days a week.

My plan is to set aside time 5 days a week for half an hour each day where I will put myself outside with appropriate running gear, music, and a camelback. I have decided that for now, I will be just fine with however much actual running I feel I can do, but I will not go back inside, back to bed, or set to other tasks during that half hour. That will be my commitment to my body each day, whether I am able to run or just spend the entire half hour walking my neighborhood.

My first day I was able to run about 5 minutes without stopping. When I finally did stop it was because of a side ache that nearly had me doubled over. Since then I have been able to increase my total time spent running and my time without stopping by small increments each day.

Here's me right after a run on what I believe is day 2. :)

I am going to work on keeping track of my running times and will probably put those in future blog posts.

My thighs are pretty sore daily and usually I have this feeling when I'm running like maybe I'm not getting enough oxygen. Have any of you out there had a similar feeling? Is this pretty normal when you first start running? Also, if anyone's got good pre or post running stretches please share!!

Here's some post run fuel (note: this is the day before last post...usually I don't eat cereal twice a day :D)

One pugalicious glass of agua!

A sweet glass I got at an event called Pug Crawl in Portland. I do have a pug who will be featured in later posts!

1/4 organic baby seedless watermelon. First time I tried one of these and it was very flavorful. I did miss spitting the seeds a little. But only a little.

1 slice Ezekial raisin toast with Nucoa butter...



AND Oaty Bites. Pretty good for a light snack ;).

Pretty amazing stuff! Well I think that that's about it for tonight!

Hello World!

Welcome to blog post numero uno of Nibbles That Fit! It is good to finally begin putting into documentation a few major changes I have recently ushered into my life and daily regimen. In the following paragraphs I will attempt to put into words (hopefully short and sweet!) what I mean to do here on this blog, why, and what I believe the major benefit of this is. This is as much to anchor my thoughts as it is to enlighten you, the reader. Here we go.

Focus

My primary goal is to create a casual health promoting forum which will be focused on the following:

1. Eating Healthy Tasty Stuffs! (Nibbles!!!)
2. Maintaining an Appropriate Level of Physical Health (Fit!!!)
3. Fun/Sanity: The glue that binds it all together

I'm pretty sure everything I want to write about falls under these three categories. We'll see if I can stick to it.

Inspiration

Why am I suddenly drawn to the blogosphere? The long and short of it is that I spent a lot of time, more specifically in college and high school, fueling my body poorly (aka eating crap or unfortunate combinations of foods), being emotionally unstable, and totally not having any fun. Being out of college has given me a good chunk of time to focus on myself, to ask why do I feel so crummy and what can I do about it? After years I am finally starting to feel like a more stable, healthy, and happy person and a lot of that has been inspired by other bloggers. I am excited to make connections with other people who are on different parts of their journey. There is so much we can learn from eachother and share.

Additionally, being a naturally forgetful person, I am hoping this blog will be a great way to remember the days of my life (no pun intended)...so much awesome stuff happens day to day, and it's important to remember the good things. Also, it's important to remember which blog had that awesome vegan cheese sauce that I just can't seem to remember where or who it was and....BLOG ROLL. YEAH!

Benefits

I touched on this a little in inspiration, but it is also important to emphasize that this blog is based on win-win i.e. I will share what I know and my crazy often ill-begotten food experiments, and I will get to learn from your feedback so please feel free to comment, you are more than welcome!

Also, I'm pretty sure I have all but spent my boyfriend's patience with my "...awesome allergy reducing anti inflammatory snacks!" and "oh my gosh, quinoa is so good for you and let me tell you why..." and yet again "I can run without stopping 1 more minute than I did yesterday! I almost died going up the hill though..."


Nuff said.

I hope you enjoy reading my blog as much as I enjoy writing/thinking/pondering it's topics.

Until next time!