Lessons and a Last Meal

Attention folks,  I have an important announcement to make. 
There is a new love in my life.

Yes, my new running shoes.
The Asics GEL-Noosa Tri 6s.  Yes.

Guess who I have to thank for these babies... my brand-new best friend/RUNNING COACH.  Yesterday, I mentioned that I was meeting up with the owner of this running store who happens to know everything there is about running.  He's a pro and he's worked with Team In Training, as well as some olympic runners!

Anyways, long story short.  He offered to train me via emails and Skype sessions, with personalized training plans and workouts!

Fun things I learned:

1. I should fuel properly on all my "long" runs, taking in about 100-200 calories every 45 minutes.  This can be in the form of milk duds and m&ms too.

2. I should let go of any silly diet rules that girls are often plagued by - I should eat whatever I want and make sure I get enough calories and carbs into my diet.  any guy who tells me this is my hero.

3. You should run from "hip to nip and don't unzip." Meaning your arms should be slightly bent when you run, and your fingertips should swing from your hip to your "nip" and should never cross your body.

4. I should lessen the miles right now and focus on "pre-season" training, like hill workouts, speed intervals, and cross-training.

WOOHOOOOO! I'm already in love with this guy.
I have so much to tell you guys, so I'll be filling you in more as we go!

Dinner: 


Last night was my going away dinner of sorts :( I hopped on a plane to San Diego this morning.
We headed to a delicious Indian restaurant - my favorite!

Indian food is my weakness.
There is just something magical about carbs and curry... gets me every time. 


Our waitress brought us over Papadum as soon as we were seated.  It this light and crispy cracker that you top with all sorts of yummy chutneys and spicy cilantro sauces.

We munched on that as we placed an order for a Sampler Appetizer that basically included an assortment of fried finger foods.  There was a Veggie Samosa, some sort of fried potato pancake, a fried jalapeño/cheese thing, another fried cheese and spinach dish.... fried food heaven!

We all selected an entree, but it turned into family style.
NO OBJECTIONS THERE!  Especially since Dad and Nelly always order dishes that I end up nibbling off of anyways :)

Chicken Tandoori with Onions and Spices.  That wasn't the official name, but that's basically what it was.  I love the tandoori chicken is always juicy and perfectly cooked - I hate dry chicken!  The plate was still sizzling when it landed on our table.

I ordered Aloo Gobi - big surprise there.  It's cauliflower and potatoes simmered with hot spices! I get this dish every single time I get indian food...

We got some Bhindi Masala for the table -- a spicy okra dish!  This was my first time trying it out and I was definitely a fan.  I love the veggie dishes that focus on spices rather than creamy sauces.

We got Assorted Naan breads that included onion naan, some garlic naan, plain naan, and stuffed naan... I was in carb heaven.  I listened to my coach and ate myself silly.

Dad got a Stewed Lamb dish that was heavenly..  The lamb was so soft, it fell apart when you picked it up with a fork.  Dad's all about the meat... ya know.

I need to figure out a way to stop eating before I explode.. it's a bad habit of mine.  But that basket of naan was just sitting next to me... and everything is so delicious!

It was fun to reflect with the parents and get ready to say goodbye :(

Oh... don't worry.  I got dessert.  I'm not crazy.
Mint Chocolate Chip from Baskin Robbins!

Is there a better way to cool off after inhaling curry? I didn't think so.

I headed over to my cousin's - newly engaged Austine! - for some girl time before heading home to pack up my stuffed suitcase.  Back to the west coast for this girl.

By the way....
I HAD AN AMAZING RUN WITH MY NEW BABIES!!!!!! 

THEY GLOW IN THE DARK.
Just so you know.  In case I wasn't obsessed enough as it is..

It's almost the weekend!

14 Miles and a New Best Friend

Happy Humpday!

I'm really bummed to be leaving the beautiful (and cold) East coast tomorrow... I'm returning to San Diego for just a few days and then it's back to the Bay for Spring Semester!  WEIRD. After a month of doing absolutely nothing that involves cognitive thought processes... it's going to be quite a change.

Anyways, I decided to enjoy my last Tuesday in Virginia doing a few things I love the most.

Breakfast
Those of you who are into healthy living blogs have probably heard of Overnight Oats.  It was one of the first "recipes" I stumbled across after I started reading more blogs and it definitely intrigued me.  For some reason, it's taken me 8 months to try!  I think I was obsessed with my warm oats a little too much.

Overnight Oats can be made a bunch of different ways (depending on taste prefs), but I've been doing 1/3 cup of oats, 1/3 cup of almond milk, 1 tbsp of greek yogurt, a dash of cinnamon, a dash of vanilla extract, and a packet of stevia.  You mix it all together and put it in the fridge overnight!  Then you wake up, pull it out, stir it up, and top it with whatever you'd like! Easy, huh?

The result is a cream, thick pudding-like substance and keeps me full for over 4 hours!  Weird.

I've been topping my Overnight Oats with multigrain cheerios, bananas, blueberries, and some PB2 peanut butter powder -- YUM. I've had this breakfast 3 days in a row and I haven't been disappointed yet.  It has some major "staying power" if you know what I mean.

Workout:
After all my carbo loading the night before, I knew I'd be able to tackle a long run.  Since being on winter break, I haven't been able to run more than 10 or 11 miles at a time... Yes, it sounds like a lot, but my long runs are usually upward of 14 miles. So, I laced up my sneaks and just started exploring.

It was fun.  There was powder on the ground from yesterday's snowfall BUT it was warm and sunny outside.  Perfect running weather!! I covered 14.3 miles and it felt good (not forced).

Lunch:
I came home, still not tooooo hungry from my oats -- I told you, it really fills you up.  BUT as soon as I got in the shower, I felt kind of empty.

Long runs make me crave weird and random things.  So, I made PB toast with sliced strawberries on top, a bowl of oatmeal with cheerios and almond milk, and 1/2 of a random custard bun.

Try this fruit and nut butter combo!  It's delicious!
And it's a nice break from the usually banana and pb combo, or the jelly and pb.

After a nap, Nelly and I headed out to do some walking.
It was so gorgeous outside AND the weather was behaving itself (for a change...)

Nice huh??

OH!  So, after our walk,  I had to pee... but instead of doing that, I walked into a running store to look for a fuel belt (to hold water and some sort of fuel for long runs).  I ended up making a new best friend!  The guy that works there has  run 35 marathons, a few triathlons, and 2 iron mans.  UM, cool! So, we started talking about my mileage, my fueling, my lack of cross-training.. etc.

He invited me back today to run around for him so he can correct all my weird bio-mechanics and give me a few running/training tips.  I'm kind of excited.  I don't know if he's married... If not, I'm all over that.

Dinner:
I wasn't necessarily starving, I just felt really empty.  Meaning, I needed food - fast.
I did the most logical thing: grab every sort of leftover from our fridge, heated it up with some chopped red onion, and put it on top of some lettuce.

Butternut squash, lentils, garlic shrimp, swiss chard, bbq pork, hearts of palm, feta cheese, and roasted red peppers on top of mixed lettuce!

Close up of my random char siu - bbq pork - just to prove that I eat my meat :)

Anyways, it was a great, relaxing day.
I just got back from the gym and I have a lunch date (with my parents) + date with my new best friend at the running store this afternoon! SWEET!

Family Outings Always Involve Food

I think that's a law that is pretty much written in stone - at least in my family.

Whenever a family outing is scheduled, you can pretty much assume it involves one fabulous meal or another (sometimes multiple meals... unless that's just my law.. awkward).

Yesterday... I had two family events scheduled!! You can probably guess where this is going: big lunch and bigger dinner!  Kind of a perfect day if you ask me.

I headed to the gym for Body Sculpt - totally unaware that punching, kicking, and stepping around while holding 10 pound weights actually results in jello arms.  The 50+ crowd at our gym is kicking my ass in the weight training department.. I should probably be embarrassed.

Shower. Ran out the door. And headed to Arlington, Virginia to meet up with my very cute and very Asian grandparents for lunch! They're legitimately from Asia... I love it.

Oh, hello there snow.  Nice of you to grace us with your presence.

I'm telling you, this weather is all over the place.  First it's so warm, it feels like spring time.  Then it starts snowing -- for approximately 6 hours.  I don't think I've ever driven in snow... good time my first time involved a lot of traffic and some picture taking :)

LUNCH


Anyways, we headed to DIM SUM for lunch. Dim sum is basically the best invention... ever.  Leave it to the Asians to think of something this amazing.  You sit down and carts full of appetizer-like dishes (think a million different types of meats, veggies, buns, and dumplings) come around to your table and you just point to the ones you want!  They're small portions and they're meant to be shared, family style.

Har Gow: steamed shrimp dumplings - a favorite of Sister's.  She can put away like 4 orders.

Ngau Yuk: Steamed Beef Balls.  Weird that I've consumed more than one meal involving these mystery "beef balls"... I'm not going to complain.  I like meat.  Balls.

Char Siu Bao: Steamed Barbecued Pork Buns - THESE ARE MY FAVORITE.  EVER.  I actually order multiple plates just for myself.  And I take some to go.  I don't know what it is about the bbq pork combo with that perfectly steamed bun.... but it makes me a crazy woman.

"Slurpy Noodles" - Char Siu Chow Fun - basically barbecue pork and green onion inside of a steamed rice noodle.  I've been calling them slurpy noodles since birth.  You try scooping up one of those with chopsticks. Waiters always bring me a fork after watching me attempt it for 10 minutes...

Lo Mai Gai: Sticky Rice wrapped in a Lotus Leaf.  Also a favorite of mine!  It's like the Asian version of a tamale

Custard Buns -- ummm... buns filled with custard?!  It's like a donut!  I like to think of them as healthy donuts because I average about 4.5 of these in one sitting and it makes me feel better.

After dim sum, I made everyone stop and walk (in the snow) to the chinese bakery so I could load up on more buns... they were having a buy 5 get 1 free sale... so I couldn't pass it up!!

Guess who has 6 buns in her belly?

Anyways, after my dim sum coma (it's basically inevitable that you will take a nap after), I woke up and drove 2 hours - in the snow and traffic - to pick up Dad from work.  I was kind of late, but I brought leftovers and half-eaten buns for him :) so all was forgiven.

DINNER


I had 20 minutes at home before I got picked up for DINNER WITH MOM AND ARNIE.  Yeah, if you're wondering what they're doing on the East coast (my mom lives in SD), they kind of followed me here... like stalkers, actually.  But it's okay cause I like 'em.

I was planning on having a "light dinner" - think Panera salad - but then, Arnie conveniently parked next to Passion Fish, this amazing seafood restaurant, so we had to go! I've actually read about it a few times, so I was excited to try it out.

We started off with basic Crostini with Spread. Unsure of what was in that spread concoction - Arnie was guessing something with a slight horseradish taste?  It was creamy, that's all I know.

Passion Fish has an amazing collection of fresh seafood dishes, some of which are Asian inspired.  We decided to go full on Asian and order 3 different sushi rolls for our appetizers: spicy tuna roll, kamikaze roll, spider roll.  One of these babies had tempura soft shelled crab.  Another had lump crab cake in it.  OH MY GOODNESS... best sushi I've ever had, hands down.

We couldn't decide on entrees - not that we needed any - so we narrowed it down to three choices and decided to split them all family style.  Each entree came with a side of your choice.

We went with Mussels in a Red Thai Curry sauce.  Amazing.  I personally like my mussels in a garlic and white wine sauce, but Mom seemed to really love these.

Lobster Clay Pot with Pineapple and a Red Thai Curry - this was my favorite (well, one of them..) the sweet pineapple and the curry sauce were a great combination of flavors.

Red Snapped with Salsa Verde - this was a fresh catch of the day.  We took home leftovers... as Arnie put it: "it's good, but it's just fish."

Our three sides included - Sweet Potato Fries

Mac and Jack - mac and cheese with crab cake (HELLO HEAVEN)

Sauteed Baby Spinach - this was so we would have something green on the table.  Tasty!

I would say my favorite dishes of the night were the sushi, the sweet potato fries, and the mac and cheese (don't worry, we didn't eat it all... there were take-home boxes) however, we haven't discussed dessert yet.

I was born with this natural ability to be able to digest large quantities of sugary substances, even when I'm on the brink of discomfort due to a high intake of rich and fatty foods.  What can I say, it's a gift.

I didn't even have SISTER to split these with me, but Mom and Arnie helped me (with a bite each).

Warm Donut Holes with a Coffee Bavarian Creme for dipping

Chocolate Mousse with a Burnt Orange and Caramel Sauce. 

Crumbly Apple Crisp with a Black Pepper Ice Cream

My top two desserts were the mousse and the warm donut holes.  The apple crisp was nothing spectacular... warm, melt in your mouth donuts on the other hand... I would go to war over.

Seriously.  I bet you every major war was fought over donut holes.

"war on terrorism" = war over deep fried bread dough smothered in sugar.  Betcha.

Anyways, I had a very indulgent day. I indulged in food and. most importantly, I indulged on some great memories that will last a lifetime :) Unfortunately, food makes you fat.  Memories just make you old and happy... poop.

Articles of interest?
FitSugar: Reasons Why Winter is Making You Fat
Cooking Light: Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes

Check in with you later! Just had an awesome run!

Run, Food, Hike, Food!

Sounds like my kind of day, doesn't it?
Well happy Monday to you all!  I hope you enjoyed every last second of you weekend - I know I did!

Plus, let's be honest, any weekend that is filled with family, food, and a little bit of exercise (here and there) is right up my alley.

Yesterday morning, my dad and I suited up for a little jog-o-rama! Dad is signed up to run a half marathon in March (courtesy of Sister as a Christmas present!), so we both agreed it was time to take advantage of the weather and start training.

The thing about running with people?  Time just flies by!  after about 3.5 miles, Dad peeled off to head home and I headed out to finish up with 9 miles.  I actually ran without music for most of the way, which was a different experience.  Who knew I had thoughts to entertain myself?

We showered and zipped out the door to pick up one of my favorite meals: PHO NOODLE SOUP! I don't care how "unseasonable warm" 50 degree weather is... it's still cold.  and I want soup.

We started off with some Summer Rolls which come with this peanut sauce that is basically as good as crack - or any other drug that is equally addicting...

And then I got some Tofu Pho Noodle Soup which was bomb.  It came with two types of tofu, rice noodles, ands delicious light broth. I added some veggies for color and crunch :)

OH and Dad's been on my case about eating more meat (apparently I'm not carnivorous enough for the family...!) so I added some beef balls -- no clue if this is actual meat... but I figured it counts

After lunch, we threw together a snack pack and put on our hiking gear!  It's been super nice (for winter on the East coast) weather, so we headed to Great Falls National Park to get some exercise!

Nelly was the photographer... so you'll see a lot of ass pictures.
What can I say, she likes my behind...

So, funny thing.
We were pretending to hang off a cliff and take "help me I'm falling" pics... and then I actually got stuck.  The thing about posing for these cliff hanger pics?  You should probably make sure there is a ledge beneath your feet, otherwise this happens:

Dad to the rescue!

THE CLIFF HANGER PIC:

After our hike - about 2.7 miles??  - we made pit stops at Harris Teeter's and Trader Joe's to pick up some ingredients for a delish and healthy dinner.

We snacked heavy on freshly baked bread and 4 kinds of cheeses! before relaxing a little and then making dinner.  By "making dinner," I mean Dad and Nelly cooked while I napped on the couch.

On the menu:
Dad's Garlic and Ginger Shrimp with Scallions! sooooooo... soooo good. He's asian so he's got the Wok thing down pat.

Fresh Salmon with Cilantro -- super easy and always tasty.

Swiss Chard with Pancetta and Garlic.  YUM! Instead of boiling the swiss chard, Nelly broke out the Wok and steamed/stir fried it up.

Butternut Squash: we steamed it and then each of us prepared it on our plates the way we like it (they did Tumeric and I did butter and cinnamon)

TJOES Lentils - perfect.  Pick these up for easy, on-the-go dinners!

MY PLATE (one of like 10.. give or take)

Dad also mentioned that Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pie is the best he's ever had...
And so we obviously had to try it out.

They weren't kidding!  THE CRUST ITSELF IS TO DIE FOR!

But the pumpkin pie filing was spot-on!  It was in the freezer section and I'm pretty sure I'll never try another pie again... well maybe I'll try them (I can't discriminate, this is an equal opportunity blog) BUT this is by far my favorite.

That was our fun and fit Sunday!
Hope your weekend was great too :)