Working My Way Back

I spent this weekend trying to get back on track. It has been a little less than a week since we moved into our new place, I had a week of working at my new job under my belt, I learned what grocery stores carried what, what fitness centers available to me (yeah, I have three FREE options- work, base, and the apt complex) had what equipment and my Vitamix arrived Friday so I had no excuses left not to get my life (RE: training and eating) back on track. So, on Saturday morning Paul and I set out to do just that.

Our first stop was the local farmer's market. It was pretty small and most people were selling just baked goods but we managed to find some amazing rainbow swiss chard, baby kale, carrots and broccoli. It was raining so I think there were probably less vendors that usual. It was our first trip there so we aren't really sure what the norm is but we still plan on going back. Especially since it is on the way to base, which was our second stop.

My half marathon training schedule called for a 7 mile run but the weather forced me to run inside instead of the awesome chip trail I ran on the week before. Sidenote: Sunshine State...is that sarcasm? We've had 2 sunny days out of the 2 weeks I've been here. I don't do well in these conditions. I need sun daily or I go a bit mad. Hopefully the weather gets better. Anywho...7 miles to run. I am still not great when it comes to running a constant speed on the treadmill so I ended up splitting my time between the treadmill and the elliptical. I did just shy of four on the treadmill (snooze fest) and a bit more than three on the elliptical. I was hoping to use the arc trainer but there weren't any available so I grudgingly used the elliptical. I know those elliptical miles don't really count as running but hey, I did the best I could.

Then we headed to the natural foods co-op to pick up some bulk goods. I am a huge fan of buying grains, seeds, nuts, etc in bulk and now that I have a Vitamix I am can use them whole or grind them to make my own flours, nut butters, non-dairy milks, and such. So far I used the Vitamix to grind my own corn meal out of popcorn kernels, flax meal out of flax seeds, and I made some apple juice (for a recipe that called for it as a cooking liquid) using an apple and some water. This week I plan on making some hummus and almond milk as well. I am so excited to be able to make more of the things I eat at home especially almond milk. It's hard to find a decent non-dairy milk that isn't pumped with funky chemicals and preservatives. I used to only buy the Whole Foods brand but I don't have that option down here. I have been using a brand of soy milk I found that has just two ingredients; soybeans and water, but I prefer almond milk over soy so I am glad I can make some myself.

This weekend we also created our meal plan for the week:

Sunday: Stuffed peppers with swiss chard hash

Monday: Polenta (made from the cornmeal I ground yesterday) with green lentils (which I am currently sprouting) and portobello mushrooms topped with a creamy basil/spinach/sun dried tomato sauce and steamed broccoli

Tuesday: Veggie burgers (new recipe out of the Vitamix cookbook) with fries and greens

Wednesday: Tofu scramble with tomatoes, mushrooms, onions and spinach with hash browns

Thursday: Portobello steaks with roasted cauliflower and sage carrots

As I mentioned above, I am sprouting some lentils right now. I am also sprouting some quinoa to use to make my own rejuvelac- a natural probiotic. I have found kombucha down here but it's more expensive and I am kind of sick of paying so much for it. I can make 64 ounces of rejuvelac using only 1 cup of quinoa. That will save me between $13-$15 just by making my own. And if it does the same thing as the store bought kombucha then I totally think it's worth the effort.

I also made up a huge double batch of steel cut oats in the crockpot yesterday. It was pretty simple recipe; I just threw some oats, water, soymilk, an apple, and two plums in the crockpot with some pumpkin pie spice (couldn't find the cinnamon) and let it cook. Then I portioned them into 1/2 cup servings (which I will have 2 of for breakfast) by scooping them into lined muffin tins and freezing. So that took care of breakfasts for the next two weeks. Score.

My training plan for this week will be running Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Hot yoga with my friend Jodi on Saturday morning, and hopefully a bike ride around the UWF mountain bike trails on Sunday.

It feels good to have a plan, to be able to eat 'real' foods again, and to finally be able to shift my focus back to training and being active. I feel like crap when I eat crap and I feel like a sloth when I act like one.

Happy Monday!