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, 

Happy Memorial Day!

Hi Guys!! Hope everyone is having a FANTASTIC holiday weekend!

I wish I could say I had this for breakfast this morning, but unfortunately, this was pulled out of the blog archives from years ago:

(it seemed suitable for today's post). 

How is everyone spending their holiday weekend? Barbeques? Pools? Lakes?

Stay Healthy,

To all those who have served or are serving our country - THANK YOU!!

Oats in a Jar

Morning guys!

Hope everyone is having a fantastic start to their Friday!

I started mine off with a terrible 1 mile run (injuries are THE WORST) but managed to salvage the morning by enjoying this delicious jar of goodness:

Yep. That's a jar of peanut butter. 

Nope. It is not full of peanut butter. 

but it is....

....full of banana oatmeal!

In past years, I've been known to have meltdowns over discovering that my jar of peanut butter was just about gone (slight large exaggeration) but now I do a small victory dance in my kitchen at the thought of having an almost empty jar of peanut butter... why you ask?

Because. Pouring your morning serving of oatmeal into the jar is the perfect way to finish off that last little hard-to-reach bit of peanut butter you always would throw out. It's genius - not only are you getting your money's worth by literally finishing off the entire jar, you are also saving yourself one less dish to clean. 

I topped mine with some amazing strawberries (2 for $4 at Kroger this week) and a little sprinkle of granola.... divine I tell you....just simply divine. 

Now before you go off pouring oatmeal into a half-full jar of peanut butter... watch out for some hidden dangers....

• Yes, peanut butter is the best food ever consumed in history, but do be mindful that it is a high calorie food. When it comes to topping oatmeal with peanut butter, stick to 1 tablespoon for 100 calories (do your best to judge 1 tablespoon when using the empty jar method)
• A lot of peanut butter jars are plastic. Oatmeal is very hot. Do the math. Let your oatmeal cool a bit before pouring it into a plastic jar. 

Are we all on the same page? 

Awesome... now I better not see any almost-empty jars of peanut butter in Columbus' dumpsters... or empty jars with added sugar in the ingredients.....

Stay Healthy,

National Nutrition Month

Happy Friday!

 

March is National Nutrition month....

What is something healthy you plan on doing this weekend?

If I wasn't told today to run 0 miles, I'd probably be out at 7am tomorrow morning knocking out 10 miles, so instead I'm going to go to a morning spinning class at my gym then come home and make a festive bowl of heart-healthy oatmeal....

Stay SAFE this weekend, 

Has everyone gone to THIS WEBSITE.... and more importantly, has everyone signed up for the free detox class we're having March 29th?! 

A Brief Lesson in Twitter

Morning guys!

Per usual, I started my morning off with a cup of coffee and catching up on my social media buzz.

Anyone out there a fellow Twitter user? I have to admit I was very skeptical about the whole concept in the beginning, but after my sister showed me the ropes, I quickly fell in love. Not only is it a great way to spread information (i.e. like a business.... i.e. like Kinetic Nutrition.... i.e. follow me........i.e. now, please.) but it's an endless source of information and news.

So, this morning, in between gulps of hot coffee and laughing hysterically over comments about last night's Final Rose Ceremony on the Bachelor (yes, I watch the bachelor, and yes, I am mildly upset over who was chosen) I caught an interesting tweet from the Columbus Marathon crew:

Hmmm... any guesses as to what the #1 food you should eat for breakfast is?!

Well, I don't want to promote any sort of lazy behavior on the blog, so I'm going to go a head and let you do the clicking and reading... so click on this link that says "CHECK ME OUT": CHECK ME OUT! 

Just for your own personal information, if you are on twitter or you are about to create an account after reading this blog post, some other great sources to follow include:

• Columbus Marathon
• Eat This Not That
• Runner's World
• Kinetic Nutrition (this is the 3rd time the same link has been in this post, if you haven't followed me yet - here is another chance Kinetic Nutrition)
• Whole Foods
• Run Addicts

Also.... definitely check out if your favorite restaurant or store has a twitter account - a lot of times they will tweet special deals and specials... which isn't a bad way to save some money :)

Stay Healthy,

P.S. Do anything and everything within your power (and within legal limits) to spend as much time outside this week as possible:

(my apologies for abusing my screen shot shortcut on my mac... it's just too cool not to use)

P.S.S First 5 people to comment on what the best food to eat for breakfast is will get a virtual fist bump from yours truly. 

Apple Cinnamon Oats

My ideal start to the day is a bowl of oatmeal... er, and coffee, but that should be assumed by now, yes? When it comes to my oats, I typically go down the banana-peanut butter route, but every now and then, I like to throw caution to the wind and really spice things up by going for an apple-peanut butter combination... what can I say... I like to live life on the edge.

So this morning that is exactly what I did... 

Full-Proof Directions:

• Pour 1/3 cup milk of your choice (I'm on a big almond kick) and 1/3 cup water into your pot
• Chop up small apple into pieces and gently toss into pot of liquid
• Oh yeah, turn your stove on...
• Toss in 1/3 cup of oatmeal and let it all boil until your desired consistency 
• Add cinnamon and a small pinch of brown sugar - being mindful of course that we consume, on average 170 pounds of the sweet granules per year .... (for those of you who are bad with averages and numbers: that's a lot)
• Scoop in a scant tablespoon of peanut butter and enjoy!

• Nutritional Breakdown for 1/3 Cup Measurements:
• Small Apple - 80 calories
• 1/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk - 14 calories
• 1/3 cup water - 0 calories
• 1/3 cup Quaker Old Fashioned Oatmeal - 100 calories 
• Cinnamon - 0 calories
• Pinch Brown Sugar - 5-15 calories
• Tablespoon of Peanut Butter - 100 calories
• Total = 310 calories 

So not only is this an excellent breakfast on the nutritional side of things... it is mighty tasty as well. Yep, I said mighty, so go try it!

Stay Healthy,

Heart Healthy Start

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Happy Valentine's Day!
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Valentine's Day has a reputation for sweets, chocolate and more sweets. 

And while I'm all for receiving boxes of chocolates (hint, hint) here is an awesome way to start off your V-Day with a heart healthy bang... and yes, chocolate is involved. 

Valentine's Day Strawberry Banana Oatmeal

In the Mix...

• 1/3 cup vanilla soy milk
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 banana, chopped
• 4 strawberries, chopped
• cinnamon to taste 

On Top...

• 1 tbsp almond butter
• sprinkle of kashi cereal (just for some added crunch)
• Valentine's Day special toppings

I throw my oatmeal, liquids and chopped banana in the saucepan all at once and let it all cook together. This gives the oatmeal a natural sweet taste from the banana without having to add any extra sugar, and also gives it it a creamy texture. 

Okay, now that I have you all wishing you had this for breakfast, here are the heart healthy benefits of this lovely little Valentine's Day treat I enjoyed this morning:

• Oatmeal. Full of omega-3 fatty acids, folate, and potassium. This fiber-rich superfood can lower levels of LDL (or bad) cholesterol and help keep arteries clear. 
• Strawberries. Full of anti-inflammatories, which reduce your risk of heart disease and cancer. 
• Soy. May lower cholesterol, and since it is low in saturated fat, it's still a great source of lean protein in a heart-healthy diet. 
• Almonds. Help lower cholesterol. They pack more fiber and calcium than any other nut, are lower-cal than most other varieties, and are an excellent source of vitamin E.
• **Dark Chocolate. The cocoa ingredient may lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels while preventing diabetes and improving the health of blood vessels.
• Cinnamon. Cinnamon may help stabilize blood sugar by helping insulin work better. 

Oh! And what would breakfast be without an ***appropriate amount of coffee!

I have to give thanks to my mom for my 2011 Valentine's Day mug. Hi Mom!

The caffeine in coffee can speed up metabolism and fat-burning, which helps lower your risk of type 2 diabetes and obesity. And black coffee is one of the lowest-calorie drink choices around.

I'll cheers to that!

Hope everyone has a good, healthy and fun Valentine's Day!

Stay Healthy,

• **Dark Chocolate. As much as I would LOVE to say eat as much dark chocolate as you want to, I can't. Chocolate should be consumed in moderation and infrequently. The little Dove heart seen in my oatmeal above is plenty for the day. Proceed with caution....

• ***Coffee. Limit your intake to 2 cups a day. People with high blood pressure, who are sensitive to caffeine or have high anxiety might want to consider skipping the morning cup of joe. 

blog content taken from health.com