I’m back!

I started this blog with so many great intentions: another half marathon, weight lifting goals, diet goals, etc.  But, sometimes life just takes over.  After nearly seven year struggle, my mom passed away from ovarian cancer.   While her death was not unexpected, it was (and is) the hardest thing I have ever experienced.  That said, it gives a whole new meaning to life.  So, in the spirit of my mom, I intend to live each day to its fullest.  I intend to forgive myself for all of my imperfections and embrace them.  I intend to set goals that are too high to reach… because why not?

One of those goals is to bring a new voice to the fitness/food/health blog world.  Over the past two months, I have been an avid reader of other blogs: fitnessista.com, choosingraw.com, kellyolexa.com, ohsheglows.com, and healthytippingpoint.com, to name a VERY small handful.  Although I know that some of these ladies work in corporate America, many of them do not.  I jealously review photos of their late morning runs or extra long bike rides.  But, my life isn’t like that.  I have time for an hour of exercise, on a good day.   I have time to eat healthy, but not necessarily to cook every single day.  And, I understand why so many of my fellow desk workers are so unhealthy:  we sit ALL day long.  And, yes, we eat at our desks.  Sad, but true.

So, I want to reenter this world and give a voice to my world-wide-office-mates.  No, I’m not vegan.  No, I’m not a raw foodist.  No, I am not a cook.  (In fact, I am a danger in the kitchen!)  But, I am ready to learn how to navigate the working world in a healthy and time-sensitive manner.  I’ll be honest, my initial goal is to lose the 5 lbs I have gained through all of the events that surrounded my mom’s death (a few of those events involved me and some vegan ice cream…).  But, more than that, I want to feel more energized.  I want to wake up in the morning and feel a little more ready to get going (instead of feeling like someone threw a bag of bricks onto my chest).

Here goes…

Checking in…

I probably should forewarn everyone that with my schedule, I will certainly be a twice weekly or so blogger.  I wish I could do this everyday, but there are not enough hours.  (And, if I had an extra one, I probably would spend it sleeping or working out..or staring at the cute guy at the gym, like I did today…haha!)  Anywho, I have done ok with my goals this past week.  I have not exercised enough, but I was a little under the weather on Thurs/Friday of last week.  HORRIBLE headaches.  Granted, a workout could have helped that.  It certainly did today!  I did strength training at my personal trainer’s at 7 am this morning and ran 3 miles (with one big hill) this evening.  Not too shabby!  Even though it is MLK day, I did eat at my desk.  Breakfast this morning was a green smoothie with extra spinach.  I had an early lunch of manna bread with dulse and avocado plus an apple.  It was delicious.

I tried one of these this afternoon to tie me over until my workout:

At first it was almost too chocolatey!  Amazing, since I love chocolate.  But, I managed nonetheless.  It was pretty filling and, even though it was so chocolatey, did not give me the sugar rush that a brownie would have.  I will say, though, so far my favorite chocolate raw food bar is the Pure bar.  Those really do taste like a brownie.  Try both…let me know what you think.

Workin’ it and workin’ out.

One of the best things I have discovered is lunchtime workouts.  Sure, you do have to hustle to the gym and hustle back…and your face might be a little flushed when you arrive back at the office (despite a very quick shower and fresh makeup).  But, getting off of my rear end for an hour during the middle of the day makes me feel SO much better.  There is just nothing else like it!  And, when I go at noon instead of later in the evening (or at the crack of dawn when I am half awake), I tend to work a little harder.  Early morning or later evening, this girl is tired.  Today I went to the treadmill class at my gym.  It’s a little daunting, but in the end, I still control the speed of my own treadmill.  Today’s class was 45 minutes of running on the treadmill with sprint intervals.  Needless to say, it was brutal but worth it.

When I got back, I ate at my desk.  Here’s today’s fare:

On the left is half of a yellow bell pepper stuffed with cashew cheese (recipe:  around a cup of cashews soaked for 2 hours, 1 TBS nutritional yeast, lemon juice to taste, chives, salt to taste) and on the right is a salad with baby romaine, Trader Joe’s microgreens (mmmmm…), blackberries, and pomegranate seeds.  I put a little bit of Briana’s vinaigrette on the salad.  Delicious.

Tomorrow’s workout goals:  cardio of some sort and stretching.  Oh, and besides the workout goals, I am starting a 30 day raw food challenge.  In some ways, it’s not a challenge because I love raw food.  But, the challenge is to make it easy to bring to work AND to avoid all of the temptations.  More on this later.  

I Eat at My Desk…

I eat at my desk.  And I’m not the only one in corporate America whose job necessitates that daily practice.  I usually eat breakfast as I run out the door or when I arrive at work.  Lunch is a little while later…at work.  Dinner is probably the only meal that I do not eat at my desk.  Is eating at my desk a healthy habit?  Certainly not.  I am usually simultaneously checking my email or reading some law related article or reading my favorite opinion column in the NYTimes.  I am barely paying attention to what I am eating.   Sound familiar?

Well, if it does, you are more than welcome to join this journey with me!  Part of this journey will certainly about food.  How do you avoid that candy bowl that the partner around the corner keeps in his office?  It is there everyday…  (mmm…peanut butter M&Ms).   If you are successful at avoiding temptation, what do you eat at lunch so that you are satisfied and energized?  Do you eat snacks?  Do you eat carbs?  Do you eat meat?  I’ll put the disclaimer up front that my diet is primarily vegetarian, with a little bit of fish.

Another part of this journey will be about exercise.  Food gives you energy and so does exercise.  For me, this year is going to be primarily about running.  I ran my first half marathon last summer.  I have a few races written down in my calendar for this year…another half marathon or two, an 8K, a 10-miler.  As much as I would love to plan out every day of my life and have everything perfectly organized, that is certainly not reality!  So, I will keep you posted closer o these events.  My first one is the Austin Half marathon in February.  I cannot wait to get out of the cold for a bit!

One other goal I have is to do more strength training.  I LOVE yoga, so that is going to be part of my strength training.  But, I want to get back into some of the more traditional strength training…classes at my gym, some personal training, and maybe some at home dvds.

And finally, part of this journey will be about my daily efforts to live the life I want to live.  Here goes…