Colossal Meltdown

Okay, I admit it. I had a freaking meltdown this afternoon. I don't know if it's the heat (and lack of AC in my office) getting to me, or the fact that I've been doing email support for work for like a week straight now due to vacations...or some PMS. I think it's likely a combination of all three. To be honest, I don't know what I want to do with my life. I wish I did. I like to think something to do with fitness and nutrition would fit me, but maybe I'd get sick of that too. In an ideal world I'd of course be independently wealthy, travel a lot, and of course sit by a pool with handsome pool boys to fan me with huge leaves. But we all know it isn't an ideal world. So I sucked it up and finished my work just in time to sign off and head to the gym.

I did the following workout (variation of Gina's Summer Shape up)

Warmup: 10 minutes on the treadmill plus 5 minute cooldown (worked out to about 1.7 miles).

-Leg extension machine 1x10 @ 100lbs, 2x10 @ 80lbs
-Calf raises on a step 3x10
-Squat jumps (as many as you can for 1 minute total)
-Lunges (twisting with medicine ball) 3x10 @ 10lb ball
-Jumping jacks (as many as you can for 1 minute)
-Stability ball hamstring curl 3x10
-Wall squats (Hold for 30 seconds with 30 seconds rest in between; 3 times)
-Dolphin plank (hold 30 seconds) then do a side plank for 30 seconds, other side 30 seconds, then back to dolphin plank for 30 seconds) - I did 3 of these.

Cardio: 10 minutes on the treadmill plus 5 minute cooldown (worked out to about 1.7 miles).

After that I went to Costco because I needed spinach (fortunately Costco is right around the corner from the gym).

So I made a new recipe for dinner tonight. It was VERY easy and VERY delicious. I was nervous, I admit....but it was delicious. I made the following recipe (from recipezaar.com) for pulled chicken sandwiches in the Crock Pot.

http://www.recipezaar.com/Pulled-Chicken-Sandwiches-Crock-Pot-242547

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced or 1/2 large onion, thinly sliced
  Note: When I make this again I will likely use 2 onions, they were the star of the dish.
  
  
• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Sauce

• 1 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
  Note: I didn't have any on hand so I omitted this and it was fine.
  
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
• 1 pinch salt

Directions

1. Cut the onion in half and slice into thin half rings. Line the bottom of the crock pot with the onions.

2. Trim the chicken breasts and place on top of the bed of onions.

3. Mix all of the sauce ingredients together and pour on top of the chicken covering completely.
   

4. Cook for 6 hours on low setting. The sauce thickens and turns into a dark rich brown during cooking. At the same time the onions dissolve into the sauce.

5. When the chicken is falling apart tender, take two forks and shred the chicken.

I actually had mine in a bowl since I didn't feel like a sandwich roll.

I also had a sweet potato (wanted fries but didn't want to turn on oven) and some sauteed zucchini, summer squash, and 'shrooms.

Jada has been busy tonight sleeping in her saucer bed. We call it the Little Grey Bed. For a little grey cat, obviously!
Cooper is lounging on the couch with me.

Make sure to get in your last minute votes for Danica!!!!!! Danica's Nectarine Raspberry Sorbet

Happy Friday Eve!

It's a beautiful, warm evening here in the Seattle area. I was so happy I got my run in early, and I'm going to do the same tomorrow (mile repeats at the track) since I know it's going to be warm again tomorrow. Saturday morning I'll hit the gym for my bicep/tricep workout.

I was feeling lazy after work today so I did some basic strength workout. I did 4x10 sets of scorpion push ups. I also did some bicycle crunches.

I'm sitting here watching the KFC World Cup of Softball. I admit, I am super in love with Jennie Finch's hamstrings, I know weird fascination right? I seriously cannot stop staring at them. Sadly I cannot find a good pic of her hamstrings (surprising some dude hasn't put up a picture to gawk at her butt). But this pic shows just how strong her legs are, love 'em seriously.

So for lunch today I had leftover quinoa, chicken, and veggies from last night. Seriously so good, I'm obsessed with this meal.

My snack was 1/2c 0% Fage, 1/3c Kashi Go Lean Crunch - Honey Almond Flax, and some sliced strawberries.

Dinner tonight was a Hugh Jass taco salad. It had: romaine, chicken, corn, black beans, red bell pepper, tomato, guac, and a lot of salsa. I also added a few riceworks red chili chips for crunch. It was delicious!

And now some cute kitty pix!

Cooper stretched out on the floor, you can see the tip of Jada's ear along the bottom, she was trying to get all up in my bidness. :)


I guess what goes around comes around, Cooper stuck his tail in Jada's pic.

Wednesday

I'd like to say I was too busy to post today, but really just too lazy. I more or less eat the same stuff every day until dinner time, I'd like to say I mix it up but really I find stuff I like and eat it until I get tired of it. Fortunately since I started blogging I noticed that a lot of people are the same way. I think it is the convenience factor. Anyways...I started my day off with two cups of coffee and then made a sludge monster.

• 1 scoop of ON vanilla whey protein powder
• 1 cup of vanilla unsweetened Almond Breeze
• 4 sliced strawberries
• 4 cups of spinach (the spinach I bought at Costco is going bad FAST this week)
• 1/2c of frozen blueberries
• 1 TB almond butter
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 1.5c crushed ice

My morning snack was 1/2c 0% Fage, 6 sliced strawberries.

LUNCH, I was really craving sweet potato fries but we are out of sweet potatoes (cry). Fortunately I had bought a bag of organic red potatoes for DH so I sliced one of those up and baked it with some cayenne pepper. Pretty good, but still not a sweet potato. I also made a wrap today: 1 morningstar burger, hummus, spinach (gotta use it fast), 1/4 'cado, 1/4 tomato. I even grilled it today. Fancy pants!

Hopefully you all have noticed that the quality of my pictures is improving, I started to use my digital camera instead of my craptastic cell camera. Of course this also contributes to the laziness of my posts, see my desktop computer that I use most of the day has no reader for the memory card...so I'm posting now with my laptop since it has the little reader built in. Yeah, I'm lazy.

I grazed a bit for my afternoon snack, I had 6 cubes of fresh pineapple, a few TJ's chocolatey cats (whatever was left in the tub, like 6). Right as I left for the gym I had a Kashi trail mix bar (no pic).

Here is my workout today. I did Gina's summer shape up day 2.

Warmup: 1 mile @ 8:02 + 3 minutes cooldown.

split squats 1x10 @ 20lb dumbbells. 2x10 @ 15lb dbs.
Pilates side leg lift 1x30 each side
Pike up with the ball 3x10 - these are HARD
Seated calf raise 3x12 @ 100lbs

Cardio: Hill intervals
0-1:00 7.0mph 0.0 incline
1:00-2:00 7mph 3.0 incline
2:00 - 3:00 7.0mph 0.0 incline
3:00 - 4:00 7mph 4.0 incline
4:00 - 5:00 7.0mph 0.0 incline
5:00 - 6:00 6.5mph 6.0 incline
6:00 - 7:00 7.0mph 0.0 incline
7:00 - 8:00 7.0mph 6.0 incline
3 minute cooldown

leg extension 3x10 @ 75lbs (legs were TIIIRED after hills)
stability ball hamstring curl 3x12 (I love doing these, I hold for a few seconds at the top)
Weighted plie with calf raise 3x12 with a 30lb db

Cardio: 14 minutes on the elliptical at varying resistence (7-13) and varying crossramp (between 6-13). 5 minute cooldown and stretch.

After that I made dinner. I was totally wanting a big ol taco salad. I poached a few chix breasts early in the day so that all I had to do was shred and cook in seasonings at dinner time.


In my salad: 1 shredded chix breast, 2 cups of mixed greens, 1/2 tomato, handful of corn, a lot of salsa, a little plain yogurt, a little shredded pepper jack cheese, and 1/2 c of black beans...oh and a handful of riceworks sweet chili chips for a little crunch.

And with this I leave you with some random pics that I found on my camera!

Jada!

Cooper! This picture was actually on the local news, they have a morning "pet walk" forecast, and I submitted this picture for Apple Cup petwalk last year. I still have the clip saved on our DVR, such a proud kitty mommy.

And a pic from our last trip to Maui (February 2009), this is at the Ho'okipa Lookout on the North shore of Maui. This is a big windsurfing spot, though none where there the day we stopped in.

Aloha!

Once Upon a Mattress...

Okay so it was a really odd musical, one I played in the band in high school...but I digress. Our new mattress was delivered today and I caught the tail end of DH's nap this afternoon. It is pretty amazing, I can't wait to sleep tonight!

Onto my eats for today, I made something somewhat new for dinner tonight and it came out pretty well.

Lunch:

Hugh Jass salad (baby spinach, 1/4 red bell pepper, 1/4 cucumber, tomato, 1 MorningStar tomato basil pizza burger, 1 TB Sabra's sun dried tomato hummus)
Crack Wrap (total Sarah lunch apparently) 1 FlatOut wrap, 1TB hummus, 1 slice 2% Swiss cheese

Afternoon snack was kinda all over the place because the guys came to deliver the mattress...1/2c pineapple, 1 serving of riceworks Sweet Chili "chips"

I got the idea of Turkey and Spinach meatballs from Jess' creation.

Estimated recipe, Serves 4

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1.25 lbs ground turkey breast
• 1 package of frozen, chopped spinach
• 1/4 cup of quick oats
  
• 1 jar marinara sauce of choice
• 2 zucchini, quartered and diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1/4 sweet onion VERY fine dice
  
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 7 mushrooms, sliced
• 10 spicy kalamata olives, diced

Thaw spinach according to directions, make sure to place the spinach in a CLEAN kitchen towel and wring all of the water out, you want it dry. Combine with turkey, oats, finely diced onion, and seasoning (I used crushed red pepper, oregano, poultry seasoning, and some black pepper). I was able to form 22 golf ball sized meatballs out of this.

Sautee zucchini, red pepper, onion, and mushrooms in a little bit of extra virgin olive oil (1 turn of pan). Set aside.

I put half the meatballs in my large skillet and browned them in two batches, I'm ADHD in the kitchen and get side tracked easily, so working in smaller groups is good so I don't burn them. Once the second set of balls (lol, I'm also 13) is browned put all of the veggies back in and the rest of the balls. Top with the marinara sauce of choice (I used a roasted tomato and garlic one). Simmer.

At this point I start the quinoa, I think the time it takes to cook a batch of quinoa is perfect to simmer the 'balls in the sauce and veggies. Since I wanted this to also feed us tomorrow night (Tuesdays are DH softball night) I only made quinoa to serve two (I'll make the quinoa for tomorrow night when it's time to eat). Place 1/2c quinoa in a pot with 1 cup of water (or broth), bring to boil and cover. It usually takes 10 minutes for my quinoa to be done (you know it's done when the liquid is done and the quinoa gets that 'ring' around the outside).

Place 1/2 quinoa on a plate, 5 meatballs and some sauce/veggies on top, and some of the olives. I also topped mine with shredded cheese, since there is very little fat in this meal I knew it needed some more.

And a Cooper & Jada pic to end the evening....I think it is funny that her tail is wrapped around his shoulders. Please ignore the ugly futon they are sleeping on...it needs to be burned.


Peace out!

I Have a Love/Hate Relationship with Sundays

So I have a love/hate relationship with Sundays, I love them because I love the relaxing feel of the day but I hate them because I know that I have to work the next day. Fortunately it is a short week with Friday off for the 4th.

Yesterday was pretty fun, I need to actually take pictures but I never remember my camera (and you already have evidence of how crappy my cell phone's camera is). Enjoyed a relaxing afternoon with the fam to celebrate the nephew's 7th birthday. Hopefully he had a good day and enjoys all of his gifts. I was pretty good on the eats, I shared half a cheeseburger with the hubs and ate a lot of veggies and fruit.

After that we went to a wedding of a former customer of the husband, it was a very interesting wedding. Backyard BBQ style, very laid back...with a Seahawks theme. I'm talking full on, people in jerseys and such. When Tim and I got married I knew I wanted to incorporate my love of the Huskies into our wedding but I really didn't want it to be super noticeable. I'm not a fan of yellow flowers and yellow isn't a Husky color...Gold is, so I went with Purple and light green. I really only went with green because I LOVE LOVE LOVE green cymbidium orchids. :) So other than that I really only had one other symbol of my love for my team and school....

Anyways, I hope they enjoyed their wedding because that is all that matters!

This morning the hubs went golfing with his friend, they had a 6am tee time. I slept for a super long time (for me, 9.5 hours) and got up around 7:30am. I knew my mom would be up so I called to see what she was up to (nothing, yay). So we made plans to meet for coffee around 9 to talk and so I could get my present from her.

In the meantime, I made a little breakfast. We were super thin on the groceries (no spinach :(). So I had 1/2 cup of 0% Fage with 3/4 cup of PB Puffins, and then a bowl of cantaloupe on the side. I watched a little of Kendra Wilkinson's new show (saved on the DVR) while I ate, she cracks me the eff up.

I met up with my mom at Starbucks and had an iced grande, non-fat, sugar free vanilla latte. For some reason I really hate that they call them 'skinny' lattes. I hate the word skinny for some reason. I really don't know why, just do. It's up there with the words 'moist' and 'panties' hate 'em all. After that I did the first two stops of the grocery round-robin. Trader Joe's was up first, then Costco. Met up with Tim back at home and snacked on some red grapes and watched old 90210 on the Soap Network. I also setup my new Garmin and have it ready for my run tomorrow, I'm so excited to use it!

After that we went to Azul for some lunch. I dug into the chips and salsa because I freaking love their salsa. I had chicken soft tacos (minus the sour cream) and the hubs had the chicken burrito. During lunch I put my cell phone on the table, where I conveniently left it when we left. Fortunately as we were going to the 3rd grocery stop (Safeway) I remembered so we ran back to get it. Doh! You'd think I'd learn my lesson, always forgetting the damn thing.

Came home and took a little nap, and just finished up dinner and the evening chores (cleaning kitchen, making coffee for the am, and making Tim's lunch).

Dinner consisted of a delicious choice top sirloin, broccoli, cauliflower, and a piece of fresh baked sourdough. YUM. In Tim's lunch I packed the following: turkey, avocado, tomato, and hummus on a flat out, cantaloupe, grapes, Kashi TLC trail mix bar, TJ's chocolatey cats cookies, banana, and a protein bar for his breakfast. Whew!

So I think we're going to watch the last 20 minutes of Superbad and relax some more (I have a Jada on my lap right now lol).

Today was another day off from working out, I tend to bounce between 1 rest day and 2 rest days a week. My quads were super sore (in a good way) this morning so I decided to rest again.

Sunny Tuesday!

So the sun was finally out this morning when I woke up, which is obviously a good thing! Too bad I am stuck inside working, I need to run to Cooper & Jada's vet at lunch and pickup some food for them so no lunch time run today. :(

Here's Jada enjoying the sun in my office today. Sorry for my crappy pics, my camera phone isn't so great but it's easier than using the digital camera (lazy for the win).


Today's eats so far...

Breakfast: Green Monster
1 scoop ON vanilla whey powder
1 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze
Strawberries
1/2 frozen banana
4 cups spinach
1tbsp almond butter

It was a light green monster lol

2 cups of coffee....I love the bottom of my cup, it makes me happy to see the heart so I happily drain my cup. I am obviously easily amused.


Snack:
Approx. 1/2 cup of Fage 0%
Raspberries
Strawberries


Make sure to head over to Hangry Pants, Heather and Mark are giving away some yummy looking Musselman’s Healthy Picks Apple Sauce to three lucky readers!

Let Me Introduce Myself...

My name isn't Humpty...and it doesn't rhyme with Umpty. I'm Danielle, I'm 30 years old. I like cats, running, healthy and delicious eats, and cuddling with my husband. I do not like raw onions, rush hour traffic, and mean people.

Ok for real, I've been lurking in the blog world now for about a month. I've jumped on the Green Monster bandwagon. I'm klassy enough that I like to drink mine out of a Coors Light glass. Nothing screams nutrition like a frosty Green Monster in a football shaped beer glass. Puh-lease!



So I tried to come up with a cute name for this blog but all that came to mind was my love of running. Growing up, and in high school I despised running. I never thought I could do it. In 2002 I was diagnosed with high blood pressure, which honestly didn't come as a shock since everyone on my mother's side of the family has it. But I was carrying about 50 extra pounds at that point. I started walking every day, and eventually decided to try running. I was hooked... but I couldn't seem to shed more than 15lbs.

One day in 2006 I was lunching with a friend, I was working at a Seattle area fitness company at the time (a company that 'coined' the elliptical trainer so popular in gyms). It finally really hit home that my weight loss obstacles weren't fitness related but food related. My portions were too big mostly. I cut my food back and started really watching what I ate. My boyfriend of six years also proposed to me late that year so I had extra incentive to lose the lbs. I reached my goal weight in mid-2007.

We were married in November of 2007 on the island of Maui. Wow, it was amazing. I wouldn't have done it any other way. Here is a pic of me with my true loves! My husband, Tim, and the cake. Let me tell you, the Vanilla Macadamia Nut mousse filling was OUT OF THIS WORLD!


Over the last few years my fitness level has grown so far, I adore running and average around 25 miles a week. I also lift weights like it is my religion.

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to the other players!

Here is me, with my husband Tim, in January of 2009. He was the Best Man in his bff's wedding!








My most handsome boy kitty, Cooper (aka Cooper Pooper, Coop, Coop A Loop).


And last, but never least is Miss Jada.


So let's kick this off in style...I hope someone will actually read the 'ish I write! So let me know if you are out there (*crickets*)...

Question of the day (comments plz): Do you have any pets? What kind? Any fun facts about them?