Peanut Butter Bars

Well, I started this post yesterday and then realized that my pictures didn't upload to dropbox like they should have. So, now you get two posts in one day. Lucky you!

This weekend I decided that I was going to make some kind of protein breakfast type food to eat before my workouts. Having a little bit of protein before my morning workout is something the nutritionist recommended. So, I searched my pinterest boards and came across peanut butter bars that required three ingredients and about 15 minutes of my time. The best part was that I already had all of the ingredients on hand. Well, I think the recipe called for natural peanut butter, but I have an abundance of regular old Jif in my pantry, so that's what I used.

Here are the ingredients

(I'm pretty sure that my water dispenser is photo bombing my picture!)

I mixed a cup of peanut butter and a cup of the honey together in a large skillet until liquidy. Then stirred in three cups of quick oats.

Finally, press the mixture into a greased 9x9 pan and let sit overnight. I might have left a little on the spoon to try right away. :)

The next morning I sliced them into nine bars and grabbed one on my way out the door. On my way to the Y I drank my Zija and couldn't even attempt to eat the bar. However, as soon as I got back in my car I was able to eat the bar on the way to work. Boy, was that good! It is very thick, so I probably could have used more water. I actually drank most of a bottle of water while eating it. I really like it though. It is nutritious and tasty and helps me want to drink more water. Win, win, and win. :)

Do you have a simple recipe for protein foods/breakfast foods that I should try? Let me know if you have tried this one or a variation of it.

Eating well while traveling

Since I'm still on a work out hiatus, I don't have anything exciting to share. However, I drove to Bloomington and back after work on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this week. To say that I'm tired of being in the car would be an understatement. And since the question has already been asked, no, I could not have combined my trips into one day, or even two for that matter. I really have a hard time eating well when I'm on the road. Certainly I'm not alone.

Tuesday's trip was in the afternoon after a half-day of work rather than after a full day of work, so that wasn't bad. I also ended up getting a cortisone shot. I rewarded myself with a reese cup blizz from Chocolate Moose. Yes, I'm five and need a reward for getting a shot without crying or throwing a fit. But, if you grew up in or around Bloomington, you know that Chocolate Moose cannot be duplicated. And for the record, I did not get eyes. :)

Wednesday's trip down and back did not allow me time to have dinner with my parents and Aiden. Therefore, when I got home at 8pm I had to give Aiden a bath and put him to bed. It was just after 9 before I could even consider dinner. Everything in my house required preparation and I just wanted to go to bed. Unfortunately, Steak N Shake is across the street from my house. So, I headed across the street and got a Chicago hotdog and fries. None of it tasted good, I knew it wasn't a good decision, but I needed food, fast.

Thursday's trip down and back didn't exactly allow for time for dinner either. I ate lunch early (for me) and never got a snack. So, on my way to pick up Aiden I stopped by Subway and got a kids meal turkey sandwich and apple slices. I then had some left over pulled pork at my parent's house, but was still hungry. I headed home and was so tired I didn't want to make anything again. I had two slices of bread with a little bit of butter, Aiden's left over macaroni and cheese from the weekend, and a pumpkin donut that Jay had lovingly saved for me. I forced it all down and passed out.

I hate eating fast food but sometimes it seems like the only option. I know my food choices have not been wonderful the past three days, but I kind of did what I could based on my situation. We are heading to Ft. Wayne this weekend. I will pack fresh fruit and string cheese for Aiden, and probably some extra for me and Jay, but I'm not sure what else travels well. Any suggestions? What do you eat on the road? Where do you go for nutritious meals on the go?

Nutrition

I'm sorry I've been MIA. I hurt my shoulder about a month ago and reinjured it while having a dodge ball fight with beach balls on Labor Day. Yup, I was acting like a kid and hurt myself. Oh well. I'm pretty well used to that at this point in my life. I went to one of my favorite Doctors on Tuesday and he somehow convinced me that a cortisone shot was the way to go. Now, two days later, my shoulder is actually starting to feel better. I guess he knew what he was talking about. :) Thankfully I can return to working out next week. Tuesday is probably the day he wants me to return to working out, but Monday is legs day and I don't do any machines that have pads resting on my shoulders. Of course I will take it easy and not do something if it hurts my shoulder, but I'm looking forward to getting back to the gym!

Tuesday was a big day for me. Not only did I get a cortisone shot, I also met with a nutritionist. I won't tell you where, and I honestly don't remember her name, but I don't feel like I got much out of the meeting. However, in her defense, she doesn't know me at all and could only speak based on her knowledge of nutrition and the very limited amount of questions she asked me. In my defense, I wasn't sure what all to tell her. I certainly didn't try to hide things from her, but really, how much of my life story did this girl really want to hear?

However, I did mention my previous conversation with my friend from high school regarding not consuming enough calories. She asked me my typical diet, which I laid out for her, and she agreed that I am not eating enough. We did not discuss number of calories consumed on a daily basis, but she then proceeded to tell me that I should be aiming for 1300-1400 calories a day. Huh? Did we not just come to an agreement that what I was eating was not enough? So, thinking I misunderstood her, I asked if I should be increasing my caloric intake on days that I work out. She said to only eat more if I'm hungry. So, that seemed like a bit of a conversation that was going nowhere.

We then switched gears and discussed a meal plan for me. Which is identical to what I eat right now. Thanks. Now, she did suggest that I have some protein before I lift first thing in the morning. I don't typically eat before a workout because I feel like my food is sloshing around in my stomach. But I have been drinking my XM+ on my way to the Y and adding a hard-boiled egg or tablespoon of peanut butter shouldn't be that big of a deal. So, there was a benefit to our meeting.

I'm sure this was a difficult meeting for her. Other than my inability to drop desserts, I tend to eat pretty healthy. I guess I wasn't specific enough in my conversation to help her help me. Don't get me wrong, I am certain that she is incredibly knowledgeable and she was very sweet. Like I said before, I'm sure that I didn't do a good job of letting her know what I am looking for. So, I will meet with her again and see how the next meeting goes. I think I can meet with her a handful of times before I have to start paying. I don't want to waste my time and I don't want to waste her time, but I want to give her another chance to help me.

So, in the meantime, and going forward, I want to learn about food. I want to learn about what foods fuel my body and when I should be eating them (before/after workouts, how many times a day, etc.). I realize that there are many different thoughts on these topics, but I know that I have several friends that have significant knowledge in this area. So, what books do you recommend that I check out? Really, anything that you recommend that I check out, books, videos, etc. I'm all ears. :)

Sometimes I think I should have become a physical therapist.

Seriously. I have spent so much time at the orthopedic Doctor's office, at phyical therpay, with athletic trainers, etc. Dr. Weidenbener, one of my two favorite orthopedic Doctors, says that I have the thickest file of anyone else my age. Now that's something to brag about! Ha! Really, who else at 31 has had three knee surgeries after many years of wearing knee braces (I even had one specially made to match my high school cheerleading uniform!), a stress fracture in her back, broken cheekbone, shoulders that partially dislocate on a regular basis, plus an assortment of broken feet and arms, and cesnoiditis (which really means they have no idea why my foot sometimes feels like it is broken even when it isn't)? Am I missing anything? Probably. I am a walking injury waiting to happen! You would think I would give up and sit on the couch. But I don't.

Tomorrow morning I will go to a different Doctor for my foot. Did I mention I thought it was broken six weeks ago? I wore a boot for about a week and then ditched it. I wasn't suppose to run for two weeks but could swim, bike, and do the elliptical. I have run four times in the past six weeks, all of which were after the two week time frame. My foot still hurts, it's still swollen, and still bruised. I don't want to go to someone other than Dr. Weidenbener, but this Doctor is closer, and I already have an appointment scheduled.

Now my shoulder is killing me. The Wednesday before the Warrior Dash I felt a tweak while doing chest flies. It didn't hurt too bad for the Warrior Dash, but there was a little bit of adrenaline during the dash. I've tried to take it somewhat easy, I skipped shoulder day last week, but swam twice last week. Yesterday we ended up playing an impromptu game of "dodge ball" with beach balls. It was a lot of fun, but one throw teeaked my shoulder again. It kept me awake last night. I hurt to do my hair, it hurt to get dressed, etc. Really? My foot isn't enough? Wrap me in bubble wrap now! So, I skipped swimming this morning and will probably have to skip lifting tomorrow morning. Arg! I know that I need to rest in order to heal so that I can continue to do all of the things I love to do, but it's hard. Ya know?

So, what do you do when you have an injury? Change the workout routine or become a bump on a log during recovery?

I completed one trip down the pool!

I started to say that I completed one lap. However, I believe that consistutes one trip down AND back. I most definitely did not do that!

I really wanted to be able to complete one trip down the pool without stopping and gasping for breath or choking on water. So, I made that my goal for today. I thought that if I could do it once I could do it from that point forward. Wrong. I did it once and I almost did it a second time, but then I got tired. Seriously, who would have thought that swimming is so hard! And exhausting! I spent almost an hour in the pool this morning. My arms are already tired, so we will see whether I can life my arms tomorrow or not.

It was one of those mornings that I reset my alarm and had every intention of sleeping in until 5:30 and skipping my workout. I'm so glad I didn't! I accomplished a goal that I had set for myself and made quite a bit of progress in learning how to swim. I still have a long way to go, but I don't feel like I inhaled as much water as usual.



Oh! I almost forgot. I tend to like healthier foods, but I also really, really, like dessert/sweets. I've been trying to eat better and decided to take a picture of my lunch yesterday.

It was tasty! I did pretty well yesterday. I had a candy bar as an afternoon snack, but I ordered a healthier dinner. Well, Jay talked me into the artichoke dip, but my sandwich was a Lo-Cal Cluck Lite from Scotty's with only 230 calories. And, I only had a handfull of the wedge fries. Hmmmm, maybe yesterday wasn't such a good eating day. I need to work on that.

I'm looking for quick and easy breakfast foods. I generally eat once I get to work, so I need something that I can make on Sunday and heat up each day of the week, or something I can make at work with only a microwave, toaster oven, and toaster. I hate fungus (mushrooms) and can do eggs, if I have something with them, but I'm not a huge fan. Any suggestions?

I'm getting there.

Well, I managed to get up on Monday and workout with Dale's group. We did legs. Dale showed me how to use a couple of machines that I hadn't used in the past, so that was good. I also informed Dale that he came in 1st in his group at the Warrior Dash, which he didn't know! They were all teasing him that he was probably the only one in his age group, but he was excited anyway. I also found out that he is only 69. Whoopsy. Have I mentioned that I'm really bad at guessing ages? So, technically he is the same age as my dad. Which is a weird comparison for me. My dad looks younger than he does, but I can promise you that my dad could not have completed the Warrior Dash. It's very interesting how people age. If I had to guess right now, I would say that I will definitely NOT be competing in a Warrior Dash when I am 69! So, way to go Dale!

Oh yeah, and Dale didn't complete the monkey bars either. He has made it his mission to make sure that both he and I make it across the monkey bars next year. We start training this week. That's probably about how long I'm going to need to train in order to cross those things. Why were the monkey bars to easy as a kid and so difficult now?!

Monday evening Jay and I met at the Y and we started the couch to 5k training program. I am signed up for three 5ks between now and mid-October. I'm not even going to try to run Hoosiers Outrun Cancer (I'm just going to outwalk cancer) or Wine at the Line. Both of those are fairly hilly. I can't run a 5k on a treadmill, I'm not delusional to think I can run on those hills! But, the final 5k is Get Your Rear in Gear and it is located in Noblesville (I think). I'm hoping the course is a little flatter than Bloomington terrain. I also have plenty of time between now and then to complete the 5k program.

Yesterday I swam with Dale's group. I did much better than the first time. I still felt like I swallowed a ton of water, but I was much better prepared. I had goggles and a swim cap this time. We were in the outside pool which is olympic length. I could make it about half way down the pool before I would need a break, but I'm getting there. I'm also getting more comfortable in the water and not freaking out at much about water in my ears. The girls really encouraged me and said I was doing well, and Dale gave me some pointers. Then he made me swim all the way down only using one arm, then all the way back only using the other arm. It was rough, but I did it.

Today, I. am. sore. I was supposed to get up and lift upper body, but I could hardly raise my arms, let alone try to lift weight. Aiden got up at three something and only wanted me. I reset my alarm and, of course, got very little sleep until I got up at 5:30. Since I was home this morning Aiden was all out of whack and wouldn't let go of me. It was nice to get the love and hugs and kisses, but it was sad to hear him crying as I left for work. Note to self, get your butt out of bed and go work out, no matter what!

We are going out to dinner tonight with Jay's sister, so we won't get our cardio in tonight, but I hope to get back in the pool tomorrow morning.

So, my goal for today is to stay within my calorie limit and be as active as possible (considering I sit at a desk all day for work). What are your goals for the day?

Colts Preseason 5k

I'm still trying to get into my groove of blogging. I'm trying to figure out what computer to use, whether to post in the morning or at the end of the day, how to post pictures so that people actually want to look at my blog, etc. Thanks for sticking around as I try to feel my way through this new world.

This past weekend I participated in the Colts Preseason 5k with a co-worker/friend of mine. It was early. The race started at 7:30 and I had to be downtown, parked, and ready to go around 6:30. Why on earth I felt that was so early is beyond me because every week day I get up at 4:30, workout, and get to work by 7am. I actually got to sleep in to participate in the 5k. But, as we lined up for the start of the race, I took this picture of the sun rising.

It wasn't until we were lining up that I really realized that the sun hadn't risen.

As we were waiting for our heat to start I took a picture of Lucas Oil Stadium and a selfie of Jamie (my co-worker/friend) and I.

We were both nursing minor injuries and hadn't trained appropriately, so we probably only ran half a mile or so and walked the rest. But, we still managed to finish in 42 minutes. Not the greatest, but we had a good time. I took a couple of pictures along the way.

The Monument on the circle.

Lucas Oil from West Street.

Lucas Oil as we were approaching to make our final 40 yard dash.

The final 40 yards was timed for a 40 yeard dash. Jamie finished about a second before me and I completed my dash in 9.47 seconds. I was by no means near the fastest dasher (is that a word?) but I was please. Plus, it was so much fun to dash across the football field! The ground was cushioned and it was neat to see the stadium from the point of view of a player. Below is a picture of the tunnel we ran through and the finish line.

Me with my finishers medal.

Jamie and I post race.

We had a great time and I can't wait to do it again next year!