What to eat?

Here I was, working away and next thing I know, it's 12:30pm.  With a workout and run coming up in a couple of hours, "I must eat now or else it'll be too close to my workout," I thought.

Note: Eating to close to a workout, unless it's a very light snack, is never a good thing...all sorts of things can go wrong.

I opened the fridge and tried to figure out what quick lunch I could make that was loaded with protein, nutrients, but moderate in carbs and low in fat.  I thought about a tuna sandwich, but I wasn't in the mood for that.  All of my chicken was frozen, so that was not an option.  I looked at the carton of eggs and it stared back at me...I would make an omelet.

I pulled out the eggs and the cheddar cheese.  Then took a look into my vegetable drawer.  I wanted color, so

Green = Broccoli

Yellow = Bell Pepper

Red = Bell Pepper

Orange = Tomato

White = Onion

I started by heating up the skillet while I chopped the veggies.  Once the skillet was hot, I added the vegetables.

Once the vegetables were almost cooked as I like them, I added the egg to the other side of the skillet.  

Note:  If you don't have a double burner skillet, you can just use two different skillets.

 Once the bottom side was cooked, I flipped the egg and added cheddar cheese.

Next came time to top the egg with the veggies.  Place the veggies only one half of the egg.

Fold the egg in half.  Let the egg heat up for 1 minute and then flip.

...and my omelet was done.  Quick and easy.

The picture above doesn't really show the veggie goodness inside, so here's a picture to show you the filling inside this delicious omlet.

DELISH!!!

P.S.  The reason I was looking for something low in carbs is because I had juiced an apple, orange, nectarine, and cucumber.  Obviously, I had the sugar from the juices to help fuel my workout.  The veggies also have complex carbs to help as well.  Carbs are not evil, as long as you have the right ones (complex carbs) and as far as refined or simple sugars go, everything in moderation.  If you are an active person (or not), you should NEVER cut out all the carbs from your diet.  You will run your body down and into exhaustion.

Today is my strength day + 3 miles, so I plan on doing my strength workout at home and then trying a new running route I found on mapmyrun.com. 
Tip for runners:  If you find you are getting bored with your runs, on your next run go on a run with out a route in mind (run aimlessly) or look up common running routes online.  I use mapmyrun.commapmyrun.com.

Hope everyone has a great week.  Thanks for stopping by.

Andi

Food is Fuel

The last couple of days, I've been feeling like I'm fighting a cold.  Luckily, I've been able to keep it away, but I've been doing all I can to make sure a cold and/or flu is not in my future.  I just started training for my ultra marathon and it would be quite demotivating and frustrating if I had to alter my schedule already due to a silly cold.

This week I have been focusing on my diet.  Making sure I'm eating healthy and nutritious foods.  The last day of 2011 I weighed myself and realized I hit my weight loss goal. Actually, I was 1 pound under.  That helped me start the year with a new mind set.  After 3 years, I would no longer focus on weight loss.  I will focus on my fitness, running, and maintaining a healthy diet.  Unfortunately, I lost focus of my healthy diet and using my increase in activity as an excuse.  However, I knew the truth...I wasn't doing all I could do to be a better runner.

My goal isn't to just finish an ultra, but to finish it with grace and in tact.  My miles will start to increase significantly and I want to make sure I'm fueling my body appropriately.  When I say a healthy diet, I'm not talking about diet products.  I'm talking about eating more fruits & vegetables and decreasing my intake of refined sugars and unhealthy fats.  A healthy diet to me equals eating foods that are nutritious and provide me with the vitamins and minerals by body needs to function optimally.  I splurge and encourage the occasional splurge because I feel that it helps people adhere to a life long change to a healthy diet.

Today, for lunch I made myself a turkey burger with a sandwich thin loaded with spinach and tomatoes.  I didn't want to have any sugary drinks, but wasn't in the mood for water either, so I decided to juice some fruits I had.  My friend, Filipe at seasonyourfood.blogspot.com is on day 5 of a 10 day juice fast.  Following his journey has really inspired me to start juicing again.  Juicing is a great way to include veggies and fruits in our diets.  I use to juice once to twice a day, but after moving to Washington I stopped.  Not sure why, but he inspired me to start again.

 Jennie-o turkey burger with cheese, onions, spinach, & tomatoes, along with a fresh fruit juice including strawberries, grapes, & a mango.

After my 6 mile run today I stopped and replenished my stock of veggies and fruits to start juicing.  Tomorrow I have a 10 mile run planned with Wear Blue:Run to Remember and I plan on juicing before my run.  There is a pre-run juice that Filipe recommended, but I don't have any beets, so I will replace it with an orange.  I don't think it will bring any sort of miracle to my run, but I know I'll have those extra nutrients in my body as fuel.

Nutrition doesn't make a runner, but it does help make you a better runner.  When going through those periods of race training, it helps your body stay strong as you increase your mileage.  I love food (healthy food and unhealthy foods) as much as the next person, but if more often than not we see food as fuel, we will make better choices.  Save the splurges for special events and outings.  You won't feel so bad if you eat healthy 85% of the time and trust me, you will feel so much better.

If you have any doubts or questions about nutrition and fitness, feel free to leave me a comment below.

Happy runnings...