Sunday, December 20, 2009

High up in Sky

Who knew one could still get excited about free WiFi in this day and age? But, it's the truth! I'm a few thousand feet up on Virgin Atlantic, heading across the country for a little R&R this week, and I have free em-effin WiFi. On an airplane! That is cool, if you ask me.

So, at the risk of sounding redundant... that was a lot of snow. Phew. I have to admit, I didn't appreciate it to its fullest, unlike those who partook in the critical mass snowball/gun fight on 14th Street. Brian and I hibernated, for the most part. But that was still pretty enjoyable. Once, we went to Kavanaugh's. We went to Starbucks. I made a huge omelet and Brian made a "Hawaiian Plate" for breakfast. Lots of rice, fried eggs, veggies and some garbanzo beans. It tasted delish. Not to mention, I spent 2 hours and 45 minutes on my trusty trainer yesterday, which sets some sort of personal record. It wasn't so bad. Chad had me doing some fast cadence drills, which helped break it up a bit. Plus, I watched Julie & Julia, which is a great little flick (and book).

Because I have free WiFi on said Virgin Atlantic flight (google is giving it away for free for the holidays, how glorious is that?), I have been doing a lot of internet browsing. Just for kicks. I've now spent a truly inordinate amount of time on Mark's Daily Apple. This site offers an incredible wealth of knowledge on nutrition. A former marathoner and Ironman triathlete (he came in 4th at Kona one year! not too shabby), he has since eschewed "chronic cardio" and ice cream for a Primal existence. It all makes a whole lotta sense. Granted, I want to win bike races next year, which means I must ride lots... so I won't be going fully Primal anytime soon. However, I have definitely adopted many of his suggestions in my non-processed food eating quest. He's all about lots of good healthy fats, protein and tons of veggies, some fruit (berries are best). It's good stuff. Just beware - you could get sucked in (there literally is a link for everything on there, it's phenomenal) and suddenly find yourself deep into a post about intermittent fasting. Then you're really in for it.

I'm excited for vacay this week. No Super Six until I arrive in Cherry Valley, NY ...which won't be until Friday. But lots of outdoor activities are in store. The brother is training for a half Ironman, so we'll get some good high intensity workouts in for sure. Hiking, some mtb, rock climbing and such. Looking forward to it. It's been a friggin stressful week.

Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Le Trainer

Up until this past weekend, I have absolutely hated getting on my trainer. Generally, this is how a cold/rainy/snowy day will unfold:

1. Wake up. Think about how much better I will feel if I do trainer session in the morning.

2. Get out of bed. Affirm that I will complete trainer session in the morning.

3. Stare at trainer, give it evil eye. It returns my glare with a similarly daunting stink eye.

4. Eat breakfast.

5. Do everything humanly possible that does not require getting on trainer.

6. Suddenly, it is dark out. EFF. Still have not gotten on trainer.

7. Call cyclist boyfriend and ask him to remind me why I have to get on the trainer. He replies, "do you want to upgrade to a Cat 3 next year or not?"

8. Finally get on trainer. Hate most minutes spent on it.

9. Get off trainer. Feel like I am better than everyone else, at least for a few hours.

10. Think about how I should have done trainer session when I got up that morning.

11. Eat, sleep. Repeat.

Or something like that.

But the good news is...I no longer hate the trainer. As it turns out, somehow I wasn't putting my bike on properly, thus it felt like crap every time I got on it. Brian finally showed me how to do it, and I'm still not sure what the difference is...but the bottom line is that it feels about 9,000 times better. Now I actually don't mind it, not even a bit.

I mean, I still put it off for as long as humanly possible, but at least now I don't hate it anymore.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Two more!

Today, I made two things that were the bomb. So I need to post about 'em.

1. Almond butter banana pancakes, thank you Mark's Daily Apple and people who have gone "Primal." It sounds a tad over the top, but these pancakes are definitely the bomb. They are super easy to make, and taste shocking fabulous. But then again, it's eggs, almond butter and mashed bananers - how could that possibly be bad?
















2. Secondly, as an accompaniment for my dindin, I made kale. I have bad memories of kale, unfortunately. While my mom has become a phenomenal cook, she used to make my brothers and me eat only slightly boiled (raw) kale seasoned with a little salt. It was generally paired with liver & onions (which she said was steak) - and altogether, I could not chew a single bite without gagging. Literally. Love ya moms, but MAN. Anywho, tonight I braved kale as an adult, and it is a wondrous veggie. Lots of protein and other goodies, and when you boil it until it is SOFT, it tastes just like any other leafy green. I then stuck it in a sautee pan and cooked it for a few minutes with some tomatos, onions, galirc and some oil & vinegar. Very enjoyable.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Cold/Dark/Snow/Etc. but also Things that are the Bomb

Right, so it's now officially cold. Sigh. It would be a lie if I said I liked it. Because the truth is, I kind of hate it. For some reason my nose is particularly sensitive to the cold, and the second I step outside into sub 40 degree temperatures, my nose freaks out, gets all red and uncomfortably prickly when I attempt to breathe in. I hate walking out of warm places, like my house or a restaurant, and feeling like I've been slapped by a really large hand across my entire body. Not to mention biking in said temperatures. The nose issues escalate, I never really get warm, and my lobster mittens are the only thing that work...but work so well that my hands sweat profusely. Sigh.

On a lighter note, it was nice that the weather gods gave us one more wondrous day to play outside on Thursday .

A few things to point out today:

1. Rice cookers are the bomb. Brian got me one for my birthday, and I now cook my gluten free oatmeal in it every morning and steam a banana at the same time in the same contraption - and then mix 'em together and it tastes glorious. My trainer also told me I need 80g of protein per day, so I've been adding egg whites. It makes the texture of the oatmeal just a touch thicker and adds a nice flavor. Delish. It goes without saying that rice & quinoa are also made perfectly in this thing.

2. SAD lamps are also the bomb. Brian got me one for my birthday (he done real good on my Bday...good work B!) and I use it every day. I don't know that I officially have SAD (seasonal affect disorder...or something like that), but I definitely get a little down/lethargic when the sun only stays out for a few mini hours over the winter. So I turn this thing on at my desk while I'm working, and it is almost like hanging out on my balcony in the sun. Almost. It's still a weird looking light on my desk, after all.

3. Eating non-processed foods is the bomb. I started seeing a new homeopathic doctor (thank you Michelle for the recommendation, Dr. Safayan is tops) and we're on a mission to figure out what the heck is wrong with my stomach all the time. I officially do not have Celiac disease, but there are strong possibilities that I have a gluten intolerance, lactose intolerance and possibly an intolerance to soy. So that's super fun and not limiting at all. The good news is that I am now making much better choices about what I put in my stomach. I am pretty much eliminating all processed foods (except for my GF oatmeal, I think it is okay on the tumtum - although the trainer says to limit it to just around my workouts) - so that means primarily fruits, veggies, meats/fish. I eat a lot of sweet potatoes, have tons of frozen cauliflower and broccoli around, spaghetti and acorn squash, quinoa, chicken on the Forman, and so on. While my stomach still retaliates against me from time to time, things have gotten better. The problem is that I am still super addicted to Yogenfruz (even though sometimes they randomly close for no apparent reason as they did last night and made me highly crabby) or Iceberry frozen yogurt and crave it once a week at least. I think it might just be the mochi topping that is the real addiction. I LOVE that stuff. And none of it meshes well with my innards.

4. Dino in Cleveland Park is the bomb. I've eaten there a few times in the past, but it's been a few years. They do a great job with their menu - it's now primarily local foods with some extremely creative combinations. I had the tuna, which came seared with sweet potatoes and some kind of grapefruit slaw. It was friggin delicious, all of it! I have quite a few places on my list these days, however, so sometimes I feel like I shouldn't be returning to places I've already been. This joint made me forget about that concern.

I finished the Help, which was a great read. Highly recommend it. Probably not going to give it the bomb status, but still really worthwhile.

I think that might be all for now. It is still cold and and I am supposed to ride for 3 hours today. Probs not going to happen, as I am a wuss. Going to be a busy week! I like being busy. I hate being lazy. Lazy is definitely not the bomb. The activenetwork posted this on Twitter today: "Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired." - Jules Renard. Truth!