Thursday, January 27, 2011

Trying Tempeh!

Hallelujah, Thursday night. That means it's almost Friday. duh.

Back in my college years at Michigan State (GO GREEN), the weekends always started on Thursday, because lots of people didn't have classes on Fridays. I think I've transitioned nicely into the real world, still imagining that the weekends start on Thursday. I mean, I stay up a little later on Thursday nights...I sleep in a little later on Friday mornings...we can wear jeans on Fridays to school...I just FEEL better on Thursday nights, knowing the weekend is so close! Ahhhh weekend. :)

Yesterday I had my first running experience at the gym since 2010! And hooooo BOY it was rough. I did some increasing-speed intervals for 3 miles, and then walked a mile. I did:
.5 mile @ 5.5 speed
.25 mile @ 5.7
.25 mile @ 5.9
.25 mile @ 6.1
.25 mile @ 6.3
and then went back down to 5.5mph for the last 1.5 miles...and then walked on a 4.5 incline at 4mph for the last however long. It was a sweaty 54 minutes, but felt SO good.
PHEW.
sweaty self-portrait
**I'm sorry, friends, that my pictures are so small. The issue is that I don't know where my real camera is...so I use my phone to take pictures. It takes decent pictures for sending in texts and such, but obviously not great pictures for blogging. I'm going to try to find my digital camera this weekend and power that baby up.Stick with me, it'll get better...I promise!**

So, I haven't been to the gym (besides the few times this week) since before Christmas....which is disgusting...especially considering how much $$ I'm paying to NOT use the gym. Yesterday after I ran, I had to shower and get re-dressed for tutoring from 6:30-7:30. Well, thank goodness I've kept my gym bag up-to-date with toiletries. I still had shampoo and soap and all those good things ready for me, and what a nice surprise when I found my favorite John Frieda Root Awakening shampoo and conditioner waiting for me! My hair has been so BLAH lately, I think it needed a pick-me-up with some moderately expensive shampoo and conditioner. It feels much better now. :)

Dinner last night was quick and simple...and I am so proud of it. I was gone from 6:30am-7:30pm, and so by the time I got home, I was FAMISHED. I used to stop at a fast food restaurant for a quick dinner to bring home, or I would make a frozen dinner/hot pocket/packaged SOMETHING. Let me just tell you, the thought didn't even cross my mind to stop for take-out on the way home from tutoring. Instead, I kept thinking "what should I make with my veggies?!"
I ended up making a simple stir-fry: asparagus, zucchini, and tofu, with a little Mediterranean seasonings, served on top of whole wheat rotini pasta. And a half a grapefruit, for a little sweet ending. :) My dinner was SO good! And FILLING!
umm...rotate? gosh.
My meals have been pretty similar these days...breakfast = quick smoothie made of: 1 cup of frozen strawberries and bananas, 1/2 cup of organic plain greek yogurt, 1 scoop of vanilla whey protein powder, 1 cup of cold water. Served up in my "Blender Bottle" from GNC. Delicious and keeps me full until 10am snack time. :)
Lunch has been leftover rice and beans topped with salsa...OMG so good! It tastes like a simple chili when warmed up! Best week-long crockpot dish, EVER.
(No picture...because I'm not quite at the point where I can take pictures of my lunch while I'm eating with my co-workers. Soon...maybe.)

Dinner today was (sort of) julie golean SALAD BEAST. Romaine lettuce topped with: feta cheese, walnuts, shredded carrots and radishes, Ken's Lite Northern Italian dressing, and the highlight: pan-fried tempeh! I really liked the tempeh! It tastes like a bean cake! Which is what it is! :) I pan fried the tempeh strips in a little olive oil and the Ken's dressing to sort of "marinate" it. I gave Ben a taste, and he said it didn't have any flavor...which was sort of true. Next time I will actually marinate the tempeh for a bit before I cook it!
mmmmmmmmm!
Finally, the highlight of my entire day/week continues to be these shoes:
 SO COMFY! I got several compliments on them too...they really snazzed up my cords and cardigan. :)

Happy Thursday night to you all! TGIF in a few hours! :)

1 comment:

  1. I like tempeh a lot! I had a phase where i ate it in my sandwich every single day for lunch over the summer, you may remember....
    So proud of you for getting back to the gym and NOT stopping for fast food... ALL those little things add up.. and your shoes look EVEN cuter with those pants if that was EVEN possible!

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