Overnight Oats!!!!

So my morning is hectic, I'll give you the morning routine... (Yes, it's saved to my iPad notes OCD style...)

5am: alarm goes off across the room to avoid a comfy snooze

5:15-5:30am: 2 cups of coffee, Kimbo outside, set out food/water for Kimbo, change into workout clothes

5:30-6:00am: Kinect workout 

6:00-6:30am: switch laundry, unload dishwasher, make girls' lunches, prep Bill's breakfast, 3 notes for my 3 favorite people

6:30-7:10am: girls up, girls dressed, brush teeth, hair done, their breakfast, out the door for the bus, eat something to nourish me through my run from 7:10-8am. <-------- this is where Overnight Oats enters. I need something with carbs, something fast, and something that won't upset my stomach while I run. 

This is amazing. Not like a little amazing, but the most delicious, most nutritious ridiculousness you have ever eaten. And you make it the night before and it's just sitting and waiting for you in the morning. Awesome. 

In a glass canning jar:

1/2c steel cut oats (Benefits)
2T chia seeds (Benefits)
1 scoop of protein powder (I use isolate 100 calorie powder with no sugars or carbs)
     Shake these three vigorously.

Add 1/2c almond milk, I use vanilla unsweetened
Then toppings, I use 1/4c cranberries.
     DO NOT SHAKE, yes I know it looks like it needs stirred or shaken, IT DOESNT, trust me, you'll thank me in the morning. Put in the fridge, in the morning take our, NOW stir, eat half!!

This recipe makes 2 servings, I just scooped out half in the morning into a bowl, left the other half (confession: I ate the rest tonight, it's that good), and has 353 calories per serving. And honestly it was amazing how great it made me feel, totally energized. 

Tomorrow, I have to be to work at 6am, this does not make my morning routine run smoothly, but it'll work out. 

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers & Meeting my Nike Fuel Goal

This is my luck... Finally warm enough and the sun is out for my morning run and it's pouring down rain... Damn. So, did my Nike+ Kinect training then ran on my treadmill and read other peoples blogs. 

Me + My Treadmill = Sweet Sweet Love

I hit my Nike+ Fuel Band goal tonight for the first time too!!! The goal in 3500, and at 8pm, I am sitting at 3930+. Woo hoo!

So tonight, the hubby and kiddos wanted Fried Potatoes & Eggs. And I made Quinoa Stuffed Peppers and they were delicious.

Ingredients:

1T oil

1 red onion, finely diced

1 large shallot, finely diced

2T minced garlic

1 medium zucchini, grated

1c corn

1c cooked quinoa

3 large bell peppers, any color (I prefer red)

1c cherry tomatoes, halved

Sauté onion and shallot in oil for 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until your kitchen smells amazing. Add zucchini, corn, quinoa & seasonings of preference (I used Johnny's, but I use it on everything). Cook until heated through. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, cut peppers in half lengthwise. Divide the filling between the 6 halves and place in a casserole or baking dish. Top with cherry tomatoes. Bake for 25 minutes. (113 calories per half). As far as family friendly, the critics agreed to 0/5 stars, the hubby nor the girlies were interested in even trying it. 

Unexpected Rest Day & Crock Taco Chicken Bowls

So this morning I woke up to Dr Who's Tardis noise... Why you may ask? Two reasons... One, my phone was plugged into a charger that in turn was not plugged into an outlet therefor my phone was dead and my alarm did not go off at 5am. Two, my daughter's cell phone text tone is that Tardis' noise. Thankfully my mom is a riciclously early texter and had sent my daughter a 6:30am 'good morning' text. So this morning was an unexpected rest day. Thankfully tomorrow is my scheduled rest day, so swapping was no biggie. :)

Instead after work, swimming some laps was the only workout of my day. :) It feels so good to swim my stress away after work. 

Stretching my caloric intake over the day seems to be working really well, with several small meals I plan out my eating much better and am much less tempted to eat junk or a bunch of food after dinner. Today had a whole wheat bagel for breakfast (I was running late remember), at ten I ate the chicken broccoli rice casserole I made Sunday, at noon I had a chicken breast and cottage cheese, at three I had a rice cake with peanut butter, dinner I made crock taco chicken bowls and ate it in a whole wheat tortilla. Yum. Which made me think about food blogging... Maybe adding recipes here and there and figuring up the calories. 

3 whole frozen chicken breasts

1 can black beans

1 can of corn

2T of garlic

1 jar of salsa

1c uncooked brown rice

1c water

1T cumin

1T chili powder

Add to crock pot in order listed above, I don't even stir mine, set on low and leave for 8 hours. After 8 hours, separate chicken with fork. Eat plain, or in a tortilla. So good.

The critics (my picky family), The Hubby gives it 4 stars out of 5, and both the kiddos approved and had second helpings. They all had cheddar cheese on theirs as well. :)

The Weekend

It was a long week this week. Work has been super busy and pretty hectic, helped my dad and grandpa place my grandma in a long term care facility in the town they live in while fighting her insurance company and the facility about her payment, and stress at home. So Friday evening, alone with Bill, couldn't have come soon enough. 

Saturday, we went to the ski hill I grew up on to try to teach Bill to ski. On the way up we swung by Starbucks, a perfect way to head to the ski hill, skinny soy vanilla venti latte and a delicious feta spinach wrap. Yum. 

The snow was perfect, the hill almost empty (it's a small yet perfect hill) and the sun was out. Great day in the snow. Bill did not enjoy skiing, but it was so nice to be out. I ended up doing several runs with an old family friend and it was great catching up with her. 

Kimbo was not going to let me sleep in this morning, but really just wanted someone to nap on... What a pretty, spoiled, rotten girl she is.  

Where did the week go?

What a week... Work has been crazy busy and that makes everything seem crazy busy. Have I mentioned how much I love my job? Don't get me wrong about the crazy busy, I do love my job, I love what I do, I love the feeling of helping people, I love to feel depended on, but sometimes it's exhausting. Especially when I start to feel like I'm the staff social worker too. 

Running has been going well, feeling good and building my base to start marathon training the first week of February for Couer d Alene. I am still faithfully playing my nerdy Kinect Nike game, and love it. And with the girls in swimming lessons Tuesday & Thursday, there is no excuse not to swim. 

Thankful that tomorrow is Friday, and jean day... Wish casual Friday meant "wear your yoga pants to work". Ha. 

Welcome Monday

After a sad recovery from the 49ers loss and a long busy weekend with four children and there neighbor children, I welcomed Monday. 

But this morning, woke up with a twelve year old boy on our floor and a eight year old boy was in the living room before my coffee was even brewed, so needless to say my perfected morning routine was less than routine... So instead I went to work early and left early after the boys were brought back to their mothers house. My run felt okay, as they always do for me after work and meetings and stress, but nonetheless I got it in... But the better part was my awesome Nike Kinect game, I seriously am a total nerd about it. 

Read an article tonight about a lady, Meg, that was killed by a drunk driver while out running. Meg left behind a husband and three children. Truly heart breaking. Tomorrow my miles will be for Meg. 

Freeze Your Fanny 5k

And I did freeze my fanny, even in my new cool Mizuno gear. Race was here in the valley and a frigid 22 degrees. 

And today I also registered for the Run or Dye 5k with a bunch of my coworkers and Bill, should be a great time. 

I Run Because She Can't

My new Nike+ band came today! I haven't used if enough tonight to give a fair review... So more to come. Instead, with a race just two days away, I put on my Care to Cure necklace, that I always wear during races, along with Huntingtons Disease blue Care to Cure band, it doesn't mean a thing to anyone else but it means something to me. I run, and I continue to run because of my Grandma Penny. She died at the age of 62 from Huntingtons Disease. Most everyone has never heard of it, and likely because you don't know a family riddled with it. Huntingtons Disease is a genetic disease, my maternal grandmother had it. There is a 50/50 chance that my mom has it, if she does have it, there is a 50/50 chance My sister or I could have it. If my mom does not have it, there is 0 chance my sister or I have it. If I had it, it would not mean my sister necessarily would, she's got her own 50/50 chance. The disease itself is much like a cross between early onset progressive dementia and Parkinson's. The earliest symptoms are often subtle problems with mood or cognition. A general lack of coordination and an unsteady gait often follows. As the disease advances, uncoordinated, jerky body movements become more apparent, along with a decline in mental abilities and behavioral and psychiatric problems. Physical abilities are gradually impeded until coordinated movement becomes very difficult. Mental abilities generally decline into dementia. Complications such as pneumonia, heart disease, and physical injury from falls reduce life expectancy to around twenty years after symptoms begin. My grandmother was diagnosed at 52. There is no cure and no treatment to slow progress, just treat symptoms. There is a test, to find out if you have the disease, but it's a very personal decision for everyone in my family. I have an aunt that has been tested, she does not carry the bad gene, therefore her daughter and two grandchildren do not have any risk of being a carrier. No one else in my family has been tested. When we were at the genetic counselor appointment just after her diagnosis I remember her saying, "the stronger and healthier you go into this disease the better off you are". 

I run because she can't. When I am running and feel weak, her memory is my strength. 

Trying a Little Yoga

So, still obsessed with my Nike+ game... But I won't bore you with that again. Completed my tempo run, have a 5k Saturday, so no long mileage this week.

But, I after reading an amazing blog post post, I did some yoga, and honestly it felt great. Check it out here.

Interesting Roller Coaster Called Life

Lets start at the beginning...

Part One: The Morning

Great morning workout. Started again with the Nike+ game because my legs were soooo sore from the jumping I ASSumed the workout would loosen them up. Wrong... So after that fun workout with my virtual trainer (how nerdy am I...), I drug my spinning bike downstairs for thirty minutes on my spinning bike... THEN, was loosened up enough to run, SLOW... What the hell? A video game is kicking my ass?

Part Two: Work

Complaint surveyor in again today... For real? Again. No tags. All is well. (Btw we are a 5 star building!!!) THEN my Mizuno stuff for Saturday came!!! Woo hoo! 

Part Three: Back Issues

Well, finally got my results on my back X-ray... But first, my lab work is perfect, iron normal, cholesterol great, thyroid excellent, blood cell count normal. Then he explained my X-ray. My back is hurting because I have Degenerative Disc Disease. The biggest concern I had was surgery, which won't be necessary and running, which I can continue. He spoke with an orthopedic doctor, and they both feel confident that although running may cause pain it won't make my back any better or any worse if I run. He said surgery was likely in my future, like in my 40s but not soon. He also order physical therapy to strengthen the muscles in my back and to help with pain. I know this doesn't sound like great news, but I feared far worse and feared I would have to stop running.

Part Four: My Family
Swimming lessons resumed tonight for the girls. They are separated this time, they both were nervous but they did excellent. Bill and I swam laps and I felt great. Usually I feel tired after working out in the morning and swimming at night but tonight I felt good, like I could swim forever. The difference, COFFEE! Bill bought me a coffee bean grinder, which I couldn't wait to use, so I had coffee before we swam. I will be doing this again. Now, snuggled in with Bill watching Homeland with my glass of wine, my dog, playing Words with Friends...

I am a lucky girl.

Nike+ Kinect Fitness & Play 60

So, Bill bought me the Nike+ Kinect Fitness game. I was skeptical. I'm not a big gamer and I was already surprised how much I liked the girls' Just Dance game. Two games I like? No chance. That is, until today. Today I LOVE this game. Last night I did the assessments, which included both a fitness assessment and an athleticism assessment. It was pretty neat. Then it builds a four week training schedule based around your goal, mine was "Get Lean".  So this morning was a cardio session, and I hate to admit it, but it was challenging and fun. Totally looking forward to my workout tomorrow! (AND Bill ordered me the Nike Fuel Band, so I'll tell you about it when it gets here!)

My run afterward was slow... I don't know if it was the difference in my workout before my run or not, but tomorrow I'll run first. 

Great day at work, accomplished a lot, except that I've been sucked back in to Words with Friends and it's so damn distracting! Ha. 

Looked into the Play 60 that the NFL is always talking about for the girls, signed them up, and they are already nuts about it. Couldn't be happier than talking to them about eating right and fitness as they earn little online badges and awards. BIG SUCCESS. 

But no one died...

My routine was all messed up this morning.......... I had to fast for blood work this morning... ie: no coffee, no thermogenic, no PreWorkout, means NO HAPPY RUNNING LADY... Sleepy, cranky, lazy lady... Knowing this about myself, I set my alarm to 6:30am instead of 5am... Kimbo didn't get the memo, and woke up at 5:15am... Ugh. As soon as she had been taken out for our 5am standing-in-the-yard-waiting-Kimbo-out-session, I laid down on the couch, decided to try to fall back asleep... "MOM, I HAD A BAD DREAM" was followed by thundering steps up the stairs... Ohhhhhhh, my goodness... I'm up! Our morning routine was all out of whack, but we worked it out. I didn't have any coffee or enough sleep but no one died. 

Then headed to get my blood drawn. The lady was wonderful, even used a premie needle... And just when I thought I would endulge in some wonderful Starbucks coffee... My phone rings... Asotin Elementary... "Graci is sick", the secretary says... Yet, later Graci admits she wanted to hang out with Kimbo. 

But really, who can blame her? I wanna snuggle with her all day too!

Work was difficult. And that's all I'm going to say about that. Came home to gorgeous flowers, pic to come when they open up, and this sexy man in one sexy hat. 

He even moved my spinning bike into the living room for me after dinner. How did I get this lucky!?!?!

Thermogenic + 2 Cups of Coffee + PreWorkout = Super Woman

Woke up early this morning, started my run early, since today was a "rest day", I just ran for forty minutes, without regard to time or speed, reading blogs and articles. It felt great. Got the girls' bathroom clean, cleaned the basement and moved the coach to accommodate moving my bike downstairs with my treadmill. Then got the girlies up, dressed, hair done, breakfast made, lunches packed, reading logs signed, kissed and out the door. Then set about more housework, laundry, cleaned out the leftovers in the fridge from the holidays, dumped all the junk in the pantry from stockings/homemade candy & cookies, prepared ribs for dinner in the crock pot, then finally separating the trash that made its way into the cardboard recycling and loading the Subaru with the recycling. Point being, the earlier I wake up the more I accomplish (with the help of my thermogenic, two cups of coffee, and my PreWorkout). 

Work was another day of chaos, my giant to do list just got longer, and more families needed to see me than I could even fit on my schedule... But days like this, I feel so on my game, and so good about what I do. I totally LOVE my job, and the people I work with are pretty awesome too. 

Tonight, we swung by the pool after I got home, even talked BBEEAALL into swimming with me. Being in the water after a stressful day, feels so good, like I literally can feel the stress leaving my body into the water. We didn't swim a lot of laps, but it was a perfect way to de-stress. Since dinner was done, we came home and ate right away. 

Then... This Happened:

What??? A Gore jersey and a hat?!?!? Go Niners!!!

Thrivin' on Chaos

Up for a tempo 3 miles early this morning, still running inside on the treadmill... Yawn. But feeling good.

Work was crazy. Totally crazy. There wasn't a moment all day I didn't feel buried, even as I left the facility I was on my cell with a resident's family member. Went out straight to the radiology department at the hospital... Finally getting my back x-rayed. Results soon to follow...

Good day & Great news!!!

Monday, usually not the best day of the week, but today, getting back into the swing of our routine, felt good. Kiddos back to school from Winter Break, made my erratic morning schedule back to normal. Ran a 40 minute tempo run and it felt great. Ate just as planned, without the temptation of junk, as the holiday food crap has disappeared. 

The great news you ask??? My baby girl Graci's test results came back today and after two weeks of horrible tests and procedures for her, finally good results. I could not be happier. 

Feeling thankful. :)

Chapter One 01.01.14

Happy New Year 2014! 

Great little day off! Today was technically a "rest day" but it was a perfect day to get Kimbo out for a run. We ran two very slow (and distracted) miles. The levee was very busy and Kimbo was very interested in everyone, excited to see the bikes, and less than friendly to passing by dogs. Made for an erratic few miles but it was nice just to be running outside. Came home, grabbed the girls, they rollerbladed & rode the scooter, while we (Kimbo & I) walked with them. When we returned home we played Just Dance on the Kinect. 

Good day as far as eating goes too. 

Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1/2c crab, 1c mushrooms, a string cheese, 1/2c light vanilla almond milk & 2c coffee. 

Lunch: 1/2c crab, 2c lettuce, 2T cesear salad dressing & an orange

Dinner: 1c homemade lentil soup, 5 whole wheat ritz crackers

I'm short on calories tonight, so I'll have a skinny cow ice cream bar and some kettle corn prior to turning it in for the night. :) woot.