Tennis Tuesdays

Hi Guys - long time no talk!

My best friend got married over the weekend so things have been just short of crazy. I'd really, really love to say that things are finally slowing down for the summer, but I've got another friend getting married in the next 3 weeks, and somewhere in between all of those wedding events, I need to move out of my apartment and into a new one (duh)

Oh, and I left my camera cord at my parent's house in Cincinnati... so I'm mildly upset that I don't have any pictures to accompany this blog post, but the show must go on with or without pictures of my sister's picture perfect backhand...

So a few months ago my little sister graduated from college and got a big girl job here in Columbus.... she seems quite busy during the day (so she says) but it's during the evening, starting around 6:00, that I get constant text messages on how she is "sooooooo bored."

While I can't help her out on Mondays and Wednesdays, I decided to take the situation into my own hands, and establish Tuesday evenings for tennis. We both played in high school and since both of us are free on Tuesdays, AND have free courts just a short walk away from my apartment, it only made sense. Plus, after complaining to me that she was sore from dancing at the wedding reception on Saturday, I figured this girl could use some sort of regular physical activity in her life.

What I love about tennis is that basically anyone can play - I've seen 2 year old tennis prodigies playing and I've seen 85 year old tennis veterans playing. I recently read an article online that describes 5 benefits to playing tennis:

5 Health Benefits of Playing Tennis 

• Decreases Risk of Heart Disease
• Enhance Flexibility, Coordination and Balance
• Boost Brain Power
• Improve Bone Health
• Lose Weight

You can read each benefit in detail on the link above, but I'm sure if you go out and play, you can experience the benefits without having to read them. Don't worry about being good or what you look like while playing - it's usually the people who are terrible that get the best workout (running all over the court getting balls). 

I played in college for 4 years, and we weren't by any stretch of imagination .... good .....at all, however, it was a great stress reliever, I got to spend a lot of time with some great people and while I didn't necessarily lose weight, it did keep my beer gut from reaching obnoxious proportions. 

It's a great week for evening tennis... go out and hit a few balls!

Stay Healthy, 

A Morning in the Life of Erin

Hello! 

Ever since I retired from my '08 Capital University Flip Cup team and traded in nati light cans for 8 cups of water a day, I've always wanted to be a full time food blogger and get a bunch of free t-shirts and gear from companies like Larabar and Oikos. But since that desire of mine belongs in the same category as my desire to marry Ryan Lochte, I decided to play pretend and try out the whole full-time food blogger gig part time for a day. 

So here we go... my Friday morning...

After watching Ryan Seacrest takeover the Today Show, I filled up my belly with a wholesome breakfast of peanut butter banana oatmeal and a cup two cups of coffee:

Yes, that coffee mug does say Mrs. Jacob Black. 

I made my oatmeal with half a banana and topped my oatmeal with some Uncle Sam cereal for a little added bonus crunch. I've seen this cereal on blogs everywhere, but finally found it at my Kroger (and on sale!)

 I love it because it has good flavor and an easy and short ingredient list:

I followed up breakfast with some water and my current supplements of the day:

Ligaplex for the ankle and Catalyn for my multivitamin.

I later headed out for my Day 1 of the Walk to Run program. Technically, since I just started it today, I should be only be walking for 30 minutes.... but I think I'm past that, actually, I know I'm past that, so I started my Day 1 with the Day 1 of Week 2. Confused yet?!
On schedule this morning was a 5.5. minute walk followed by a 30 second run, repeated 5 times.
This turned out to be exactly 30 minutes of activity and 2 miles covered.

It was hard to stop running only after 30 seconds. Very hard.

Since my 2 mile "workout" just wasn't quite doing it for me, I decided to take the bike for a spin - if I'm going to be serious about this whole triathlon business, I better get into the habit of handling a bike NOT bolted to the ground. My mode of transportation was this bad boy:

My mom's Murray All-Terrain Street Cycle. Oh yeah. Big Leagues.  

I'm pretty confident this bike used to have a baby seat on the back....which makes it..... old.

I got home and threw together a smoothie in a bowl for lunch. (Again, topped with some crunch that I apparently need in all my meals). This smoothie had spinach, greek yogurt, SP Complete powder, blubes, other half of my banana from breakfast and a few rogue strawberries.

There were also some behind the scene carrots and hummus. Whoops. Full-time food blogger fail already.

Stay tuned for my dinner post! It should be interesting.... 

Stay Healthy, 

Walk to Run?

It's hard to believe that after completing 2 full marathons, I'm sitting here planning out a walk-to-run program. While it's disappointing that my level of fitness has dropped so significantly, it's also very exciting to think of the challenge I have in front of me.

I got the okay from my doctor last week to start doing whatever I feel comfortable doing - within reason. I even got the okay to paint the town red in my favorite heels if I wanted to.... but considering my track record with heels (which is zero) I think my main focus is to paint the town red in my running shoes.

Once I got clearance to start gradually running, I hit the pavement within hours. I mixed up walking with running every so many blocks and realized that it is much harder to take it easy on running than not running at all. It was then that I pondered the idea of having a set plan and schedule in place so I don't go and do anything crazy, like sign up for a 5k this weekend.... a few days later that tentative idea I was casually pondering was quickly made into reality when my boss forced presented me an actual walk to run program.

So here I am... 26.2 mile veteran, planning out when I'm going to walk for 30 minutes....

But in all seriousness, this is the best thing for my grandiose-goal mind.
Here is the plan, taken from a local Columbus Running store - FRONTRUNNER.

I might jump ahead to week 2... just a thought though :)

Stay Healthy,

Anyone training for a 5k? Let me know if you use this program and how it goes!

Motivation Boards

[ insert apology for being MIA ]

Hello, hello!

I got the privilege of going home to Cincinnati over the Memorial Day weekend. I use the word privilege because that's exactly what it was: 3 days of expensive good coffee, laundry service and free HBO. (What can I say? I'm a one-legged, single 25-year old...I'll take what I can get!)

Anyway, I came home Tuesday morning to my apartment in Columbus and discovered this in my kitchen:

Okay, so it just dawned on me that none of you have been in my kitchen before, and this above picture of my refrigerator most likely means nothing to you whatsoever, BUT, let's pretend, for a minute, that you have been in my kitchen and you would have remembered the front of my refrigerator being scattered with random Save the Date Wedding cards, expired coupons, homemade flower magnants from an ages 4 and up craft box (thanks Mom) and probably some over-due bills.

So now, when you see this picture:

You'll notice that all the clutter that once decorated my roommate's and I's fridge is now replaced with .... positive words and phrases... a MOTIVATION BOARD, er MOTIVATION FRIDGE!

My roommate got busy over the weekend and put this all together for us. She is getting married in the fall, and we decided together over the Memorial Day Weekend (more specifically during an oh-so-healthy bar crawl to raise money for cancer) that we were really getting down to business in regards to our health. 

side note - I'm still trying comprehend the whole "lets all drink alcohol to raise money for cancer, but increase our risk of getting cancer along the way" mentality. I will say it was a fun day, but one of those days that is only semi-acceptable every 365 days. 

The pictures are all about exercising and choosing the right foods.

Here are some of my favorite:

Yep, I'm not shy about wanting Carrie Underwood's legs. 

On top of healing my ankle and slowly getting back into running, I've got lots going on with multiple weddings and racing events this summer, and I know I need to be in tip top shape in order to put my best effort and performance forward. Everyone needs a little push in the right direction, even perfect little nutrition angels such as myself :) (HA!)

Do you guys like to use visuals to help reach a goal?

Would you ever consider making a motivational board?

Stay Healthy,

The Dating World

I'll tell ya what, life as a 25 year old is tough...

But life as a single 25 year old in the active dating world is especially tough.
Allow me to elaborate.

I've been on many, many dates in the past couple years, and in effort to keep personal details, well, personal, we're going to keep that little insight into my life at that. I know, I know, juicy gossip is always fun, but this is "Everyday Eating" not "Everyday Dating."

Anyways, getting back to the topic of discussion.

On these dates I've been on, I can confidently say that 95% of those dates involved alcohol and/or food. Whether it's blamed on lack of ideas or the notion that a drink or two will ease any first-date jitters, at some point over the course of the date, calories are typically consumed. And while you all probably know by now that I am definitely, 100% in support of enjoying an occasional alcoholic beverage or two, or succumbing to an ice cream cone should the occasion arise, but what I'm not for is mindlessly "throwing back" multiple cheap beers over the course of a couple hours, multiple times a week, which, let's face it, has high probability of happening.

It goes without saying that everyone would benefit from a change of pace when it comes to dating activities, and this doesn't have to be strictly aimed towards couples. I can recount several occasions when my girlfriends and I wanted something to do and ended up getting drinks and inevitably consuming way more calories than needed. So with that being said, I was more than ecstatic when I opened my email yesterday morning and found this little gem sitting in my inbox:"20 Fun Date Ideas That Burn Calories."

girl power. 

I'll let you guys do most of the in depth investigating,
but here are the Date Ideas:

1. Volunteer
2. Go Dancing
3. Play a Sport
4. Learn How to Rock Climb
5. Go Bowling
6. Be Tourists
7. Have an Active Game Night
8. Visit an Orchard
9. Play Laser Tag
10. Make a Healthy Meal
11. Run or Walk a 5K
12. Take a Workout Class
13. Plan Trees
14. Walk a Dog
15. Go Skating
16. Go Window Shopping
17. Go Fishing
18. Play Bar Games
19. Take a Hike
20. Ride a Bike

And again, these don't have to be specifically for dating... next time you and your buddy are bored, don't always resort to happy hour. Go bowling instead. Play some tennis outside. Volunteer to walk dogs and hit two birds with one stone. The options are endless. 

Do you guys have any more suggestions?

Attend a sporting event. With the newer stadium downtown, the Columbus Clippers is an awesome date idea, and you can usually find special deals on tickets. Just remember to stick to 1 hot dog on Dime-a-Dog nights. 

What is the last active thing you did with a friend or significant other?

The driving range and throwing a football are always my favorite. 

Stay Healthy, (and Active!)

The Easter Weekend

Hi Guys!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter Sunday filled with lots of family and lots of friends - I sure did... and lots of food! Probably too much food now that I think about it, but that's what holiday weekends are for, right? Well, sort of ... but we'll get to that soon.

I spent my Easter weekend back home with my parents in Cincinnati, along with my brother and sister. Growing up it didn't seem like a crowded house, but tack on 10 years to everyone's age, plus a larger dog, and things seemed a bit more tight. Nevertheless, it was a great weekend filled with laughter and jokes, but never without the typical Gilliam kid scuffles over who was going to unload the dishwasher or who got to bring back with them the last box of Girl Scout cookies.

Lately, it's been rare to have all of us home at once, so when we all are home, it always seems like a special occasion, which is why I wasn't the least bit surprised when I woke up Saturday morning to the smell of my mom's crowd-favorite cinnamon coffee cake baking in the oven:

This coffee cake only comes out on special occasions, which is a good thing. I'm sure if my siblings and I grew up eating this everyday we'd be more concerned with looming diabetes as opposed to worrying (and complaining) about nagging allergies.

Over the course of the weekend, I was caught several different times with my camera, sneaking shots of the different food and activities we all my mom, sister and I participated in. While my mom was all worried about me smack talking all of the "holiday food" in the blog, my sister was more concerned with getting face time on the blog...so for kicks and giggles, here she is coloring eggs:

and here are my beautiful masterpieces:

Oh, and here she is with a scowl on her face after I yelled at her for throwing away the most nutritious part of the egg:
Remember what it is?

If you forgot, you can refresh your memory by reading  this post, or take a look at the picture below. My mom got her 5 seconds of fame by showing off a nice sized bite out of that most nutritious part: (hint, it's the yellow part that is hopefully always found in the center of the egg)

To finish up the holiday weekend, my mom prepared a delicious Easter linner (lunch/dinner) that included all of our holiday favorites:

Honey Baked Ham:

Edamame salad:

and of course Cheesy Potatoes and Pretzel Salad:

Definitely not the most healthiest meal, but then again it's nothing to feel guilty about when you only eat meals like this over the holidays.

And just to ease my mom's worry over me not "slamming" her food choices, there was plenty of very healthy options throughout the weekend, like this pretty bowl of fruit:

And also lots of exercise in the form of  walks and some tennis playing. 

So the moral(s) of the story?

• It is A-OK to put healthy choices temporarily aside when choosing what to eat for your holiday dinner. This doesn't mean that you should eat an entire 13X9 pan of cheesy potatoes, or eat 3 chocolate Easter bunnies in one sitting - it means to have a serving of cheesy potatoes and enjoy it. 
• Compliment your holiday meal with lots of fruit, vegetables, and physical activity. 
• Eat your yolk!
• Oh, and watch out for my sister's sudden change of mood.... eeek! (ha ha kiddingggg)

Stay Healthy,

Did any of you guys indulge over the weekend? 

What are you guys doing, if anything, this week to get back on track after the holiday weekend?

Walking... Better Than You Think

Morning!

I think in a past life I was a short story writer, because I always find myself knee deep in a totally unnecessary intro story about a 2- maaaybe 3 minute occurrence that happened to spark an idea for a blogpost. So before I get too deep into this introduction.... I'm going to stop myself and (try to) get to the point....

So Saturday morning I had planned to attend an 8am spinning class at my local gym. I had all intentions of getting there early to start a new weight program my friend at work designed in order to prevent any summer wedding arm flabbiness... everything was going great... woke up early on my own, had some coffee, caught up on what I missed overnight on twitter and pulled into the parking lot with just the right amount of time to throw some weights around before class... only I pulled into the parking lot and noticed a large group of people milling around outside of the gym doors... after noticing some disgruntled faces, and further hearing bits and pieces of members' conversations... my worst fear of the morning was true - the gym was closed.

Something about a fire alarm and the fire department not being able to turn it off and because of this no one could go inside which met no spinning class for me.

No spinning class. No gym. No running.
With all my usual exercise outlets out of the picture I wasn't sure what to do. Initially, I was going to call the day a wash... but what kind of healthy blogger would I be if I did that! So instead of sulking around for the rest of the day, I dug deep and pulled out my inner Cathy Gilliam (that's my mom) and went out for a walk. I did 3 miles at a decent speed. Not only did I feel awesome about getting outside and getting my blood flowing, but surprisingly, I woke up the following morning... sore!

As a die-hard runner, opting to walk over run always seems like a failure... but is it?

The answer is no.
You can reap just as many benefits from *walking as you can from running.

Referring to calories burned... a person walking 5 mph and a person running 5 mph will burn the same amount of calories (given they weigh the same)  Check out this chart:

The thing to remember when exercising is that you will burn more calories at a higher intensity and you will burn more calories during a longer workout. A 45 minute casual walk will not burn as many calories as an intense 45 minute track workout, just as a ten minute walk won't burn as many calories as a 2 hour run. 

8 Benefits of Walking from Rodale.com

• deflects diabetes
• increased sex drive
• saves on gym costs
• decreased use of medication
• can help fade fibromyalgia
• can help beat breast cancer
• reduces your risk of stroke
• better mental health

So, the moral of my long-winded story?

• Walking can be just as effective as running
• Walking is 200 times better than sitting on the couch
• Walking is a great form of exercise

So next time when you are kicked out of the gym, or your spinning class is filled up or you simply hate running... go for a walk.... you're doing more good for your body than you really think. 

Have a great Tuesday guys!

Stay Healthy,

*walking - this is not referring to a brisk pace... not a casual stroll in the park.

Happy Belated St. Patrick's Day!

Good morning all! Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and was able to get outside and enjoy the nice weather! I'd love to say that winter is over, but I'm still afraid of jinxing myself and waking up to 5 inches of snow tomorrow morning... you can never be so sure about central Ohio weather!

I would have loved to get this post up sometime over the weekend... Saturday in particular, but you know how life goes.... so that's why here at Everyday Eating, we're celebrating St. Patrick's day a few days late! 

I had all intentions of getting in a good 10 mile run to start off my weekend, but my physical therapist crushed those dreams early Friday morning. So instead of enjoying a post-run smoothie this past Saturday morning, I enjoyed a post-spinning class smoothie instead:

This smoothie contained:

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• banana
• strawberries
• ice cubes
• almond milk
• lots of spinach for the green!
• and a sprinkle of pumpkin granola for some added crunch 

Ever tried eating a smoothie with a spoon? It's great, if you have the time of course... I strongly suggest you don't try this method while speeding to get to work on time in the morning. 

Here's another shot of my St. Patty's day breakfast: (check out those clovers. pretty skilled with the 10 year old point and shoot if you ask me......)

And because I'm a firm believer in everything in moderation.... here is the obligatory "green beer" picture of the weekend:

Yep. I have absolutely no desire to know how much green dye was used in the making of this St. Patrick's day beverage, hence the reason why I only chose to splurge on one.

I ended my Green weekend with a nice little Sunday afternoon lunch that included this bad guy below:

Looks gross, right? I read about the original recipe here: TwoPeasandTheirPod.

Basically all you do is smash up some avocado along with some chickpeas and some cilantro and spread it between two pieces of bread for a sandwich, or roll it up in a wrap with some spinach, as I did. 

Avocado and Chickpea Salad

the below measurements will yield about 3 or 4 sandwiches. if making for one, you can easily use enough ingredients for one serving

• 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas or garbanzo beans
• 1 large ripe avocado
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onion
• Juice from 1 lime
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Bread of your choice 
• Fresh spinach leaves or other sandwich toppings: lettuce, tomato slices, sprouts, etc. 

How did you guys spend your St. Patrick's Day? Did anyone celebrate?

Stay Healthy,

p.s. how about 4 teams from Ohio making it to the sweet 16?!

Songs that Motivate

Hola and happy Friday!

I'm in a particularly good mood today. I'm not sure if it's the fact that I found out my apartment building is replacing our back patio door and windows next week, or the fact that I can officially throw my hair into a messy bun... but since this is the least of any of your guys' worries... let move onward and talk about what gets you moving or what pumps you up.

As I've said before - eating the right foods is key to a healthy body, but so is exercise. And if you don't have the luxury of a good looking, male personal trainer on a weekly basis to get your butt into gear, the only person who can really get you movin' is yourself. And while there are SO many different ways and methods to do so, only you know what it is you need to work up a good sweat.

How do you motivate yourself to workout?

Music is the one thing that will always fire up my motivation to work out. Whether it be while I run, during a spinning class or even at a gym while doing torture moves to help my ankle... I love it.

I've been listening to my ipod for many, many miles in the past couple years and there are still songs that always seem to make the cut.... here are my
Top 5 Workout / Motivation / Inspiration Songs:

(please take note that you are entering a judgement-free zone

1. Heart of a Champion - Nelly 
2. Firework - Katy Perry
3. Till I Collapse - Eminem 
4. Extraordinary - Liz Phair 
5. Shut Up - Trick Daddy

Fitness Magazine has several different "Best of..." playlists for working out to... here are their top 10 picks for "Best Workout Songs of ALL TIME...."

1. "Get Down Tonight" - KC and the Sunshine Band
2. "Rock and a Hard Place" - The Rolling Stones 
3. "Dancing with Myself" - Billy Idol 
4. "Eye of the Tiger" - Survivor 
5. "Burning Up" - Madonna 
6. "Beat It" - Michael Jackson 
7. "Walk This Way" - Run-DMC 
8. "Strike It Up" - Black Box 
9. "Seven Nation Army" - The White Stripes
10. "Stronger" - Kanye West

Thoughts? Comments? Agree? Disagree? Gettin down tonight?

Or are you so motivated already that you've stopped reading my blog and are already out the door and in your car on the way to the gym?

What are your favorite songs to workout to?


Have an awesome and safe weekend!

and stay healthy,

Alcohol and Exercise

Good Morning! Happy Monday!

So, for the first time in, well, possibly ever, I actually benefited from my terrible Facebooking habit... (stay with me here...)

Yesterday morning, while enjoying my perfectly-healthy-in-moderation cup of coffee, I came across a friend's updated activity on my Facebook newsfeed that grabbed my attention.... "Person I barely know but still stalk on Facebook just read an article on Washington Post Social Reader -  Drinking and Exercise: How Alcohol Affects Your Body."

I debated for a short minute on not reading the article... I thought to myself that this article is for those 21 and 22 year old's who start their weekends on Thursday and end them on Tuesday... definitely not me...but then I flashed back to my week.... 1 beer with dinner on Saturday.... 2 happy hour beers on Friday... glass of wine with friend on Wednesday.... hmmm... maybe I should read this article...

...so I did... and as a die-hard runner and exerciser... not to mention a girl finding it a tad harder to fit into her khaki pants... I'm rethinking this whole post college "I don't drink a lot" mentality.

Here's a brief overview of the article, but I highly suggest you read it in it's entirety.

How Alcohol Affects Your Body:

• Slower Recovery 
• Packed-On Fat
• Disrupted Sleep
• Depleted Water and Nutrients 

Check it out here: Alcohol and Exercise

How much is alcohol a part of your life?

For me, any sort of social situation involves alcohol... it's for sure a challenge that's hard to avoid. 

Stay Healthy,

Endorphins

As of lately, there has been lots and lots of hype surrounding the idea of cleanses and detox programs. Now, while I fully believe in, and support the reasons behind doing a purification cleanse, I'm afraid people are forgetting that when it comes to losing weight and keeping that weight off, the only full proof solution is simply a good diet and adequate exercise. 

I love food and I love the science behind food, but I want to take a quick break from all the antioxidant and vitamin talk and focus on exercise - well endorphins. 

side note: prior to "Everyday Eating" I, admittedly, had another blog. I bring this up because the following text is taken directly from a post I did about a year ago. No since in perfecting perfection, right? Ha - I wish!

Anyway.... enjoy!

endorphin en·dor·phin (ěn-dôr'fĭn)  n. Any of a group of peptide hormones that bind to opiate receptors and are found mainly in the brain. Endorphins reduce the sensation of pain and affect emotions. 

I'm sure many, if not all of you, have either heard of, or know what an endorphin is - whether it was in your mandatory college health class, your new years resolution issue of Glamour or from your personal trainer at the gym... because we all have one of those, right? Suuuure!

But anyway, I bring up the topic of endorphins, because after some serious *daydreaming this morning at work, I realized that this might be the best hormone ever invented secreted. Sure it may take some serious will power and motivation to get those peptide hormones into binding action, but once binded - MAN is the feeling it creates awesome.... allow me to explain...

Yesterday, after a day of constant himming and hawwing on whether or not to attend a spinning class after work, I walked into my apartment with not only a bad attitude, but also with the mindset of sitting on my butt for the rest of the evening, mindlessly eating my freezer stash of dark chocolate kisses.... that is until I walked straight into a fitness circus that was my living room: My roommate was on the floor in midst of the last exercise from Jillian Michael's 30-shred program, music was thumping and her boyfriend Nick was in a knee bent stance, fist pumping Gill (my roommate) through the last of it....

Okay, I'll be honest, that was a TOTAL exaggeration, but I'm going for a theatrical explanation, so please, bear with me... I'm almost done. 

Soon after discovering the madness in front of me, my roommate finished up the last bicycle ab move and  popped her sweaty little head off the floor and, with a total unnecessary and chipper voice, mind you, shouted "Hey Gill!!!" 

....I'm not going to lie, I was annoyed. Here I was all ready to be a total bum the rest of the night, complain about my job, eat chocolate and watch the Biggest Loser - but for some reason I felt like I didn't necessarily need to exercise, but that I should exercise..... ughhhh the pang of guilt! Gets me everytime!

And it did. 15 minutes later I somehow found myself in the spinning room of Urban Active and in the middle of the warm-up to a 45 minute class. How I got the motivation to get there I cannot tell you - but I will tell you that those 45 minutes of intense cycling and loud techno music not only reiterated my hate for Sandstorm, but really got my chemical brain action rockin'. I walked out of that spinning room refreshed, tired and happy - ready for a perfect evening of Biggest Loser and responsible chocolate decisions. Endorphins, you saved my evening. 

So, next time you feel overwhelmed with work or frustrated with stubborn weight gain, please, stop, think and go exercise. Think about endorphins and what they can do for your mood. Run up the stairs a few times, do some jumping jacks, go to a fitness class - anything to get those endorphins flowing and your mood elevated. 

I apologize for the silliness of this post, but I think its paints the perfect picture of just how awesome exercise can make us feel. It doesn't have to be a 10 mile run, or an intense spinning class... it can be as simple as a half hour walk or 20 minute workout video. The goal is to get our bodies moving. 

Stay Healthy,

* this is referring to my old job, haha... just to be clear!