Recently in pictures

A few weeks have passed since the end of the triathlon season and I started settling into a new routine, where exercising is becoming once more a battle of the brains vs the legs. One thing is for sure, the less I work out and sit without stretching, the more my knees hurt. But anyway, this is a reminder that I should not get too comfortable in my laziness. My hubby made me a plan for my next race, The Egg Nog Jog, some time mid-December. It's a local race, 10.6km long, hilly and most likely cold, and if my asthma won't have killed me by then, I may even enjoy. So I will be trying to get a little more running in until then, but most likely not going over 15k at most. My plan is based loosely on the "Run Less Run Faster" formula, but tailored to my current abilities. It also helps to know that once I wake up I can just ask hubbs "what should I do today?" and he can just look at me and adjust the plan on the fly.

Knowing how fluid my physical and mental health can be, a structure helps, but having someone understand and witness first hand the challenges that I am facing, can be a life saver. And without going into too many details, my plan looks something like this:

Monday: rest or Yoga (optional)

Tuesday: Swim or Bike + Physio routine

Wednesday: Speed/Hills Work

Thursday: Swim or Bike + Physio routine

Friday: Long Tempo

Saturday: Long Bike

Sunday: Long Run + Swim (optional)

I will also continue to do my physio and go to the gym for some hot Yoga every once in a while, depending on how much stretching and zen time I need. I am currently in week 4, and I cannot say that everything has been perfect until now, but I will let the pictures below speak for themselves. Here's a visual update with everything that made my life exciting since the Barrelman.

Tough morning. Sad face. Where's that emoticon when I need it?

Stress. Tiredness. Days when work makes me feel super shitty about myself. Which leads to insomnia. And more tiredness. And more stress. Too many mornings waking up and seeing the struggle on my face. And still waiting to take some real time off this year. But deadlines come first, so I wait.

Working my way up through those

I started reading again. After finishing Ronda Rousey's book "My Fight/Your Fight"(I'm such a fan!), I decided to tackle the other dozen books that I once started but never finished. There are more on my iPad too. Currently reading Chris Hadfield's "An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth". Can you tell that I like non fiction?

Romantic sunset

And selfie. With sunset glow as a bonus.

Zin spoiled me with concert tickets and we saw Stromae in Toronto. A beautiful sunset, quality time with hubbs, and music that I love - it made it all better, at least temporarily. It was such a treat!!

Speaking of which...

I managed to squeeze in a lunch with Nicole at my favorite Pho place near my office. That was pretty special too. 

But then I fell sick. And stayed sick for a while... A nasty cold, with lots of coughing and head congestion and pills for 10 days straight. The cough remained, everything else got better. Asthma took over and it sidelined me for almost a week. I could not exercise without coughing my lungs out. I still can't. If it's too cold, windy or my heart beats too hard, I get coughing fits that leave me feeling like death ran me over. Needless to say, I am quite fed up with this illness and asthmatic episode.

I had enough ups and downs in the last 3 weeks, but one of the highlights has been to pace a friend in her first ever race, the Collingwood 10K.

Let my friend own the finish line

Best feeling ever!

We had an amazing race, executed a perfect negative split and my friend finished 4 min faster than she had anticipated in 1h02. Mission accomplished, and I got my first running medal in over a year.

The following week I skipped all workouts for 5 days in the hope of seeing my cough go away. It didn't. Eventually I gave in and went out for a run, which I took easy so I didn't start another coughing fit. The next day I also did an easy trainer ride, in which I had to maintain my HR under 125bpm, or I would cough again and again. It was really not fun at all. 

The long weekend came and we had 3 splendid days in a row with lots of sunshine and warmth. Just perfect for being outside. My hubby went on a very long bike ride (165km!) on Saturday with a few friends and at the last minute I decided to be their support vehicle and follow them with water, Gatorade, bananas and gummy bears to help them replenish their reserves. I knew from experience how daunting such a long ride can become after a few hours on the saddle. Apparently they loved it because they're going for 200km next (cuckoo!).

Someone will have to explain this tree to me

I hope nobody died here

Foliage porn

I also ate the most perfect French Toast that day, when we went to a diner after the ride with the group.

So much yum. Go eat this in Georgetown.

The next day we met with friends from the tri club again, but this time for a run, which I was apprehending a little because it was going to be my longest and hilliest run this year. But the weather was once more spectacular and the company lovely, so I could not have asked for a better day to tackle this new challenge. We met at the Inglewood Arena in Caledon and ran up to the Forks of the Credit and back, for a total of 11.2km.

We run after boys

I finished the run wanting more. Yes, I was really craving a bike ride then, but thankfully the weekend wasn't over yet. The following day was pretty much carbon copy of this one, just that we spent the morning on our bikes. We went back to the Forks of the Credit with a stop in Belfountain for coffee (mocha for me) and a cookie. It was glorious.

I love following the Sky line

Look at that! Smiles two days in a row. Now only if I didn't have to go back to work the next day. But before that... one more thing I had to do because it's a duty and a privilege: voting in the federal election.

And that's it my friends. I'd rather leave this blog post with a smile because soon enough another frown will take its place. One last piece of news though, because it did take me a week to finish this post, we have now booked our stay in Mt Tremblant for 2016 and our first ever vacation in the Carribean in January, which has been 20 years in the making. Yep, in a few weeks we'll be celebrating 20 years of dating (and 18 of marriage). There is so much to look forward to in the next year, this smile better last a few more days.

IMMT Training Week 13: Lucky legs

The last two weeks have been pretty brutal. So brutal that I have this feeling that my arms and legs are barely connected to the rest of my body and my mind is in a semi-permanent zombie-like state. I know, I know... I still have 17 weeks to go and I better get used to it, but do I dare to say, where is my recovery week, dammit?! Must be coming soon, it better be!! Even with a shortened bike and a run missed this week, I still banked in over 12h of workouts. Does it mean that I should have reached 14h? Jeebus! Here's a visual recap for those who are curious to peek into my Training Peaks.

This was meant to put the current week in perspective because I'm not going to go back to the previous one. I will just direct you to my 10K race which I did on Sunday and where I smashed my PR because my legs decided to. It affected how I felt at the beginning of the week, so you'll understand better why I skipped workouts.

Swim

Nothing new on this front. Got all my workouts in, more or less the particular ones that were on the schedule. Because of Easter weekend, the pool was closed today, so I did my swim yesterday instead. Right after a 4h bike + 3km run brick. Like, literally, 10min later. And I had no legs left, which made me go with the pull only option (with flip turns for entertainment). One of my butt cheeks cramped after 45min from squeezing the pull buoy between my legs. I cannot win. But I got 2200m in, which was better than skipping it.

I should give a special mention to the group swim on Thursday though, because it was "bands-special". How cute. I didn't puke. It must have helped that I had the lane to myself and nobody to keep the pace with. But I did not cheat the wall clock!

Bike

Oh the bike... Grrrrrr the bike. Argghhhhhh the bike. It's all about sweet spot and threshold these days. And long hours on the trainer watching TV.

On Monday I was supposed to do 1h15 of sweet spot and given that I just upped my FTP the week before, I was still going to flirt with the threshold. However, on Monday my legs were so toast that I could barely stand up. Below, my friends, is the definition of #fail. A lesson in giving up. Take notice, but do not try this at home.

I managed to last 22 minutes at sweet spot. Look ma, no Viagra!

Thankfully the feeling of being totally damaged after the race did not last. I took a break from running the next day and did a swim instead. Best decision ever. By Wednesday, all engines were A-OK! This time, it was threshold madness, 3 glorious 15min intervals in Z4.

Beat another 15min record. I love it when the numbers go up! Indeed, coach, there is a reason to this madness.
By Saturday I was feeling a bit apprehensive contemplating my longest trainer ride to date. 4h. I don't know any movies that last 4h. How was I going to kill the time? But with a marathon of The Killing, of course. I lost track how many episodes I watched, but if my math is correct, about 4 or 5. And I did not stop pedaling, not even for a second. I think I am ready for a flat 70.3.
I present you Vogelsang.

Yeah, I'm pretty proud of this one, even if I didn't break any records. It did not break me, and it's the most important.

Run

Tuesday, skipped. Thursday I returned to the treadmill for 10k of fartleks. Saturday was a 3k brick run and today, Sunday - 19k to Etobicoke Trail and back. The bad news is that tomorrow isn't rest day. But it is another day... In other news, I signed up for the Mississauga Half Marathon to do my long 20km+ run in. Because it's more fun with the adrenalin rush and I don't want to miss giving Nicole a hug on her BQ attempt.

In a nutshell

A great week of training following another great week of training AND racing! I think we're finally done with the snow and freezing rains and the sun is doing a decent job at keeping us warm. I may be able to go outside more and more for my runs and maybe, just maybe, for a bike ride as well.

Strength wise, zero time spent lifting, pushing or holding planks. Bad, bad Irina.

As for nutrition, I finally made the famous salty balls. Can I say AMAZEBALLS? Seriously, folks, I could not shove these in my mouth fast enough (the hits to this blog are going to get interesting). I ate 6 of them during my 4h bike ride and along with a bottle of Endura, they lasted long enough for a run and a swim as well. I need to make them a little smaller next time, but I could not recommend them enough. I made mine with rolled oats, almond butter, maple syrup and vanilla protein powder, but I'd like to try the chocolate protein powder next time. I also sprinkled mine with Kosher salt. Yum.

I also joined another "community" thanks to the app TwoGrand. You post all your meals and workouts as photographs. It doesn't actually count calories, but it gives you a visual and so far I've been in good company. Got a few ideas, kept myself accountable to others and took my food pictures outside of Instagram. There is an app for everything! Join me if you want to share. I go by Ririnette. ;-)

Over and out.

Racing Weight Recipes

It is no secret that I love food. A little too much, maybe. But over the past few years I've tried to cook leaner, healthier, and without sacrificing the taste. When I came across the Racing Weight Cookbook, thanks to a review by Phaedra, I knew that I had to buy it. And it the past month or so, I've made quite a few recipes that became an instant hit. After countless online requests, I've decided to share my favorites here on the blog. Since all the recipes were modified slightly anyway, I kinda made them my own. I cannot recommend the book more though. Seriously, you don't even have to read the lean theory, just jump in, cook and eat. And what other book organizes the recipes by cooking skill? This one does, from "Recipes for the athlete who doesn't cook" to "Recipes for the athlete who loves to cook".

1. Quinoa and Chickpea Salad / Tabbouleh

1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained. I like to use PC Golden and Black Quinoa, one box of 225g is perfect and it gives the salad more color.
1 15 ounces can of chickpeas, rinsed, drained and shelled (skinned?). I use 1 can of PC Organics Chickpeas, it's the perfect size (540ml).
2 cups water
2 tablespoons extra virgin oil - my favorite is PC New World EVOO
1/2 tablespoon salt
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 cup red onion, chopped - I use more like 1/2-2/3 of a cup
1 pint 10oz grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped

Bring water to a boil, then add quinoa and let simmer for 15 min or until water is absorbed. Set aside to cool.
In a large mixing bowl stir together cooled quinoa, chickpeas, onion, parsley, tomatoes. Add olive oil, lemon juice and salt.
Refrigerate for at least 1h (I prefer to leave it overnight).

Tadaaaaa...

2. Apple raisin bars

Cooking spray
1 1/2 cups quick oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 servings vanilla protein powder
1 cup sugar (I used brown sugar)
3 tablespoons ground flaxseed
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup non fat plain yoghurt - my favorite is Oikos 0%
1/2 cup (4 egg whites) or egg substitute
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons canola or macadamia-nut oil (I didn't have any of these and I used sunflower oil)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 medium apples, shredded
1/2 cup raisins, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, flour, protein powder, sugar, flaxseed, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt. Stir to blend.
In a separate mixing bowl, combine yoghurt, egg whites, water, oil, and vanilla. Stir in shredded apples and raisins. Add wet ingredients to bowl containing dry ingredients. Stir to blend until uniformly moistened. Spread batter in pan.
Bake for 15-17 min until center is solid (mine took 25 min). Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars. Wrap individually in plastic bags and store in the fridge or freezer.

I cut into 12 bars, they were big enough for snack or breakfast. Very yummy and not that sweet.

It looks a bit complicated, but aside from shredding the applies and chopping the raisins (mine were gigantic), there is no preparation needed. Just mix and bake.

3. Blueberry spelt quick bread

Cooking spray
1 1/4 cups whole grain spelt flour (or whole wheat flour) - I didn't have spelt flour, I used the whole wheat version.
1/2 cup sugar - I used brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon coconut oil or canola oil
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 eggs
1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat over to 325 degrees F. Lightly coat a loaf pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and mix well.
In a second bowl, mix oil, applesauce and eggs. Add the dry mix to the liquid ingredients and stir until everything is moistened. Fold in blueberries. Pour batter into loaf pan.
Bake for 30-35min, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool completely before slicing.
Store leftover slices in plastic bags in the fridge or the freezer.

Bon appetit!

Yeah, I know - that's still a lot of carbs, but they are good carbs. Eat moderately and think that they will make you lean(er). Maybe... I'm doing the experiment for you :-)

I promise to talk only greens next time!!

Adventures in food

So it's been exactly 3 weeks since I've started making changes to my diet. As a reminder, the exercise was to restrict the sugar, carbs, grains and dairy I would eat after lunch, while still not going overboard in these categories with the rest of the meals. The end goal was to increase my intake of daily fruits, veggies and protein and reduce the rest because I'd have less options for snacks and dinner. I've kept a strict diary of everything that went into my mouth during these three weeks, you can see it here if you're curious. I haven't gone Paleo overnight, far from it, but I tried to inspire my cooking from it. I even bought a book of Paleo recipes and started collecting ideas from websites I've come across and that have been recommended by friends who are in the process of doing the Whole30 challenge, more or less ad infinitum.

And it's been challenging, not only because it made me go out of my comfort zone and forced me to learn how to cook, but because it removed some of my coping mechanisms. It is no secret that I've been having quite an emotional attachment to food, because it's been making me feel good. I love everything about comfort food, but I am convinced that in quantities larger than my body can handle, all this "comfort" ends up making me sick. It's a vicious circle and it's been interesting to see how I can cope without giving into little daily cravings. And the answer is, I'm not so sure. If you haven't read my previous post, it looks like I'm struggling with short episodes of depression that keep poking at me every so often. I am thinking that reducing both exercise and comfort food, my most trusted therapies, I let some of that depression coming back to haunt me. But don't be alarmed, it's really not that bad. I feel that as soon as I'll go back to my 10h+ of training, all these issues are going to take care of themselves.

Now, weight wise, I don't think I've lost much, maybe 3lb so far. I would need to lose 2 more lb in order to win my Diet Bet, but I won't make a scene if I don't. I think I have given myself a good routine and eventually the weight is going to come off, especially if I increase the amount of exercise. Anyway - 3 weeks later, I don't feel magically "better", I didn't get any epiphany related to food either, but I feel stronger with regards to cravings and I am happy that I've started to cook more and make better choices at least half of the day. It's a move in the right direction for sure.

Below is a compilation of meals I had in the last 20 days:

I am going to keep on eating this way, I don't see a reason to stop - it's totally manageable and I believe that health wise, it can only be good for me. And once a month, just like I did today, I will allow myself to indulge in a favorite dessert. This month, it was chocolate mint ice cream at Demetre's. But of course. It was as awesome as I could remember it.

And now, reset. Bring it on, December!!

It's time for a change

It's that time of the year when I like to reflect on my diet and see what changes I could/should make going forward. Not only I can see the numbers on the scale going up as the workout volume is going down, but just like the previous times that I gave myself challenges, I know what my issues are and once more, I need to get the upper hand on them. I have talked about my sugar and carbs intake before, and while it's nothing too alarming, I know that these two don't play nice with my body. Besides, even though I may be in the best shape of my life (fitness wise), it's not an excuse for filling my body with empty calories and this is the one trend that I am trying to reverse. I have friends on every diet spectrum possible and while their efforts in sticking with a method are really inspiring, I do not believe that I could make such drastic changes without making it so much harder for my family. We also have no medical reasons for changing anything that we're doing right now (but neither should we wait for them), plus I do not believe that one particular diet is better than other (I am talking in terms of lifestyle changes, not weight loss). We have a fairly clean diet, varied and devoid of fast food, pop, processed foods, artificial sweeteners, colorants and other chemicals. We try to buy as much local/organic food as possible and limit our eating out. Despite my sweet tooth, I have been able to maintain a stable weight throughout the year and I even saw my fat mass decrease.

As you can see, nothing wild happened over the past 12 months. I am exactly at the same weight as a year ago. So now that's out of the way, let's talk action plan. I need to make some changes in order to eat at least 5-7 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, while reducing my carbohydrate intake (Tim Hortons, I am looking at you). I checked out the Paleo diet and I know that it is not feasible for me, because I have no desire to completely remove wheat, dairy and grains forever (everything but the cheese, please!!). There are enough populations out there that live to a hundred years (Okinawa Island, Crete etc.) on diets that are very different from Paleo to convince me that this is not the only answer out there. If I had a chronic illness that would justify it, why not, but I am healthy as I've ever been and it's not for having eaten Paleo everything. However, the fact that this diet forces you to eat more veggies and be more creative with your cooking, it is a good enough reason to try following its principles at least half a day, each day.

So this is what I decided -
From breakfast to lunch included, I can eat like before (including bread, homemade banana bread, french crepes, croissants, toast etc), but in moderate quantities. I will not eat my cheesecake or pizza for breakfast, rest assured. Bottom line, I will not move meals around just to justify eating junk.
Lunch can have carbs/starch or not, but I will try to have more often veggies than mashed potatoes or rice.
After lunch, I will stop eating:
-sugar/sweets
-dairy
-grains
-legumes
-carbs (as in bread, pasta, rice, quinoa, baked goods, pizza etc.)
-alcohol (only one a week, in the weekend)
-other sweet drinks

The idea that I can fight a craving until the next morning instead of the next month is much, much more appealing to me. Plus, most likely the craving would be gone by next day = win!

To keep me motivated, since these changes should also lead to some weight loss eventually (I put on 5lb just in the last 2 weeks, mostly due to marathon carb loading), I signed up for Michael's Diet Bet challenge. This will be my second attempt and I hope to be successful, unlike the first time when I plateau'd after losing 3lb.
I find the off season to be the perfect time to experiment with dietary changes. There is less pressure to eat enough calories to sustain a high intensity workout volume and I have more time to improve my cooking skills. I think this way of eating would benefit me from many points of view. But most important, it feels right for me.

After a weekend of binging on desserts (the Moulin de Provence bakery in Ottawa is deadly!!), it is now time to stop the madness. Not only I got really sick and bloated from eating all these sweets, but I also questioned my motives. I had none other than "gourmandise" (greed sounds like such a bad word). I started making changes right away, on my way back home when we stopped for dinner.

This was my plate at Swiss Chalet. No more chicken noodle soup, mashed potatoes or bread bun. An hour later I was hungry again, but I ate a fruit cup. I am on my third day and I feel that I already ate more fruits and veggies than in an entire week.
At lunch yesterday, despite not bringing anything with me, I went to the cafeteria and bought this:

I had beef with cauliflower and carrots in teriyaki sauce, and I asked for double the broccoli and zero the rice on the side. I also bought a cup of pineapple and put together a small salad (cucumber, tomato, egg, no dressing) for snack. It took me through the day alright, although I felt my stomach asking for food sooner than usual. In the evening, I made myself an egg white omelet with spinach, chicken and red peppers.

I went for a run and ate a banana afterwards.
So it's now the third day, I even went swimming this morning and I see no change in my energy levels and I had no cravings. This feels very doable in the long term and I believe that it can only be good for my health. I made those changes the first step in my "40 Steps to 40" (OMG I'm turning 40!!!) set of challenges over the next year. Now I only need to come up with the other 39.

Easy recipes: Egg whites omelet

You know, I was overweight for a while. And then one day, I decided to take the bull by the horns, as they say, and do something about it, because running alone was not cutting it. So I found my coach on Fitorbit (still have him, hi Dave!) and one of the first things he taught me was to eat right. So I discovered egg whites and they became my de facto breakfast food, as they are easy to prepare, they are tasty and you can make as many variations with them as you can dream about. Below is one of my favorite combo and I am happy to share the recipe with you because I know a few people who struggle with finding ideas for quick and easy breakfast food. Just as an FYI, I wake up at 7am, by 7:30pm I am ready to have breakfast with the boys and usually by 8:15am I leave the house for work. This literally leaves me 15 minutes to prepare and eat my breakfast, so those who think it takes a lot of time, they couldn't be more wrong.

There we go:

Egg whites, turkey and spinach omelet

• 1/2 cup egg whites (I buy the free run or organic kind)
• 2 thick slices of turkey breast (my favorite is Cuddy Spicy Turkey (low fat), found at Metro/Fortinos/Superstore) 75-100g, sliced in thin stripes (roll the slices and cut them across)
• organic baby spinach - 2-3 handfulls of leaves to fill up the pan - they "melt" right away, so go ahead and put in a lot
• red pepper, diced (1/4th of a pepper)
• mushrooms (1/2 portobello or 4-5 small white mushrooms, sliced)
• low fat shredded cheddar cheese (I use this triple mix from PC in the Blue Menu line)

Put some olive oil in the pan, throw in the turkey, pepper and mushrooms and mix for about 3 minutes. Make sure the spinach is cooked so that no "raw" leaves remain. Pour the egg whites on top, wait for a minute, making sure that they are cooking evenly. Add the cheese and a pinch of salt, wait for another minute for the eggs and cheese to continue cooking nicely, then try to flip half of the omlet over the other half (don't worry if you end up with a messy omlet that looks more like scrambled eggs, the taste is the same). Put in a plate, enjoy with a piece of 12 grain toast (no butter) and a glass of 100% fruit juice (or coffee), no sugar added.

Variants:
Greek omlet (replace cheddar by feta cheese, add diced tomato and olives, the rest stays)
Simple egg and cheese omlet (just the egg whites and the cheese)
Ham and cheese (replace turkey by ham, keep the egg whites and cheddar cheese)
Fancy italiano (use prosciutto instead of turkey, green peppers instead of red, feta instead of cheddar)

... the possibilities are endless! I am usually throwing in what I feel like, or what remains in the fridge.

The whole meal is usually not more than 400cal for a great amount of protein and fiber that will keep you full until your first healthy snack, about 2-3 h later). I have 3 meals and 2 snacks a day religiously, so I never feel hungry. If eggs are not part of your breakfast, you should definitely give them a try. I have significantly lowered my cholesterol in the past year and I have been eating egg whites 3 times a week. Don't be afraid, they are good for you. I may not be a specialist, but I talk from personal experience and results, I lost 30lb in 6 months by learning to eat healthy and balancing the necessary nutrients needed in an athlete's lifestyle. I kept a food diary and even had a cheat day.

It's not easy, but you can do it!! After a little while you will start craving the healthy foods and get turned off by the fast food. I know that I can't even step into a McDonald's anymore, even if I still think that a Big Mac and French fries are the tastiest foods on the planet. Just try going back after 6 months of eating healthy foods and I guarantee that your stomach will NOT like it, that's how you realize how bad these are for you.

Good luck and hope you'll love omelets as much as I do!

PSA: Quinoa is good for you

You're welcome.

Food for thought

For the first time since we crossed the Atlantic to live on the North American continent, we made CUPCAKES! We have been no strangers to the fake muffin concept, but taking that extra step in buying fake icing and coloring it with more fake stuff was that one last step to take to cross to the "dark side" as one of my friends said. We are now totally assimilated.

I don't plan on making those very often, but once in a while, they are worthwhile the smiles.

How does this post fit in a health and fitness blog? Well, I counted 185cal for each cupcake, so that equals to either one of the activities below:

• 15min of running at 6mph
• 20min of cycling 12-14mph
• 25min of jogging
• 30min of moderate swimming
• 50min of intercourse

Food for thought. I ate 2 so far. Off to do some math :-D

Indulgence

Today's meals were too yummy not to share.

French crepes for breakfast (no photo, they were eaten too fast)
Pizza for lunch
Ice cream sherbet for dessert
Egg whites with turkey and spinach omelet and home potatoes for dinner

Too bad those are only reserved for after 2h long runs.

I LOVE Burrito Boyz

Today I went for a vascular test to see what's going on with my Raynaud's. Actually I have no clue why the doc sent me there, whether it's for confirming his diagnostic or ruling something else out. Anyway, on my way there I drove by Burrito Boyz and promised myself that I'd have one on my way back to work. See, this is pretty much the only place in the GTA where they toast your burrito and where you can find fish stuffed burritos. I remember asking for a "Hali" but I ended up with a "Haddie", whatever, tastes just the same. HOLY YUM.

Don't judge. I only go there twice a year.

Meal snap

Today's meals:

Cheese and ham omelet (with egg whites)
Trail Mix snack
Turkey sandwich
Cranberry/almond Thin Addictives cookies
Salmon and broccoli

Total cals: 1308
Protein: 113g
Carbs: 103g
Fat: 51g
Fiber: 16g

Two new recipes

This week I took a few days off work because my physician thinks I need to relax. And what better way to relax than cooking a few meals? Although I don't like spending too much time in the kitchen in general, I am always eager to try something new. Today I came across this link for DYI Dried Apples. Since I love apples and I had a few sitting pretty in the fridge, I put myself to work and peeled, soaked, baked and ... voila!! 4h later in the oven at 175F (my oven wouldn't want to go lower than that), with a flip at half time, I have two dozens of apple chips. They are delish!

But this was just the warm-up. While I was preparing dinner, I told myself - why not make that quiche that I saved in my Training Peaks library for so long? Those baby spinach leaves are going to turn mushy before I schedule them for a meal! So I took out all the ingredients and prepared it as following:

In a pan, cooked 10oz of spinach with 1.5 portobello mushroom and some butter until they all melted nicely. Set aside in a bowl and added half a red bellpepper, diced. Added a cup of 0% Greek Yogurt (Liberte), 1 cup of egg whites, shredded cheese (I used the light 4 cheese blend) and grated parmesan. Mixed everything and baked at 350F for 45min. Result below. My hubby approved, so it shouldn't be bad at all. Apparently it tastes like cheese, no kidding!

There you go. Hungry much? Stop by anytime.