Yay!

It feels so good when I manage to pleasantly surprise myself.

I've been running on the treadmill to get my cardio endurance built up. I've never really been much of an outdoor runner for whatever reason. But between an article on treadmill vs. outdoor running this week on SparkPeople and knowing that I'm going to have to run outside for my state police test, I did a lot of thinking this week about doing some outdoor running. Hearing my dad complain about not being able to run outside when it's snowy and cold in Indiana didn't hurt, either. And really, the weather in Phoenix has been perfect for running recently.

I wasn't expecting it to be a good experience. I usually have a lot of trouble pacing myself when I run outside, and I end up completely out of breath and cramped up halfway through my workout. But I came up with a route through downtown Phoenix and took off at around 7pm. Unfortunately, I forgot to check the time when I left, but I did check it slightly after I started. When I got home and used mapmyrun.com to track my distance, I found out that I ran 1.42 miles in 16 minutes (and 1.72 miles overall).

For some people that might not sound like much, but it was so much better than I expected!

Of course, that time also includes waiting at stoplights, but right now I really appreciate that opportunity to stop and catch my breath during a run. I figure that I'll stay with my current route until it gets too easy, and then I'll try to find a track or a more unobstructed route. Where I live makes it kind of hard to choose between a busy road with lots of traffic/stoplights or a quiet street that might be more dangerous.

I ran outside again today and remembered to set my iPod's stopwatch as soon as I set off, so I ended up running the whole 1.72 miles in 21:21. Not too shabby, considering that the preliminary fitness test requires one to run 1.5 miles in 22 minutes. It was also really windy today, so that definitely didn't help my time. I also had to dodge a bunch of cosplayers downtown (I don't even know...).

I'm thinking that I'll stick to running outside on days when I plan on doing a short run, and stick to the treadmill when I'm going to do interval training. I also found two sites that I'm really excited about: One Hundred Pushups and Two Hundred Situps. Both of these are kind of like Couch-to-5k programs for their respective exercises. I'm thinking that this is exactly the kind of incremental step-by-step program I need to prepare for my fitness test. They seem pretty straightforward, so I should be able to stick with it.

Getting that Workout In

UGH. Things are getting downright hectic at school, as midterms loom ahead, along with a visit from my parents. They're coming to Arizona to take in at least one Chicago Cubs spring training game (and to see me, of course). I have a TON to do between now and then, though.

I'm starting to understand why my friend questioned my sanity for taking three classes on top of three credits of research and my duties as a teaching assistant. But I'm trying to stay on top of everything, including my eating/workout goals. Unfortunately, there are only so many hours in the day, and I find my workout getting pushed back and left undone more often than not.

Good thing I've just received some news that should give me that extra motivation to keep working out. I originally thought I was going to graduate next May, then I thought it would happen this coming December. Now, as it turns out, I can actually graduate in August. And, as luck would have it, the police agency that I interned with this past summer is currently taking applications for its upcoming recruit class.

Luckily I had my application all filled out and ready to go! Where I'm not so prepared, though, is in the physical fitness realm. I've been working on running for a long time, and I've definitely made a lot of headway from where I started, but I just feel like I still have so much farther to go. I've added weight training (especially with my arms) to my workout regimen, to try to get ready for those push-ups.

I just know that everything I have to do for my fitness test (1.5 mile run, 300m sprint, vertical jump, sit-ups, push-ups) would be so much easier if I weighed about 50 pounds less! I am pretty muscular, all in all, but it's damn difficult to do a push-up when you weigh 185 pounds. So I'm definitely keeping that idea in mind.

ANYWAY. The real point of this post was to say that I'm trying to put together an actual workout plan, which is something I don't currently have. Right now, I'm more like, "Well, I'll aim to run three times this week and lift weights twice." And...that generally doesn't happen. I need to sit down and say: Monday I'm doing this, Tuesday I'm doing this, Wednesday...so on and so forth. That way, even if I'm going crazy with school, I know that I have to take a timeout to get my workout in.

Any suggestions?

Cooking Improv

I consider myself lucky to have been raised by an improv cook. My mom is one of those people who can take a recipe for which she only has half of the ingredients and end up with an edible (and usually delicious) dish. Cooking improvisationally is all about knowing which ingredients match up well with one another and having the creativity to use what you have to end up with something worth eating.

I've been meaning to broaden my tofu horizons. As a vegetarian, I know that tofu is a great source of plant-based protein. As a foodie, I see preparing tofu in new and creative ways as a challenge. I've been making General Tso's tofu on a regular basis for several months now, but I switched from breading and frying the tofu to marinating and baking it. Then I tried to marinate, bread, and bake it...with undesireable results.

I bought two cartons of tofu during my last trek to the store, meaning to try something new. I made General Tso's last week, and the other lonely carton was sitting in my refrigerator begging for attention yesterday. So I looked up some recipes. There are definitely a lot of options out there. I marked a couple (Thai tofu curry, tofu bahn mi), and made notes to consider braising my next batch.

I finally came across a recipe for barbecued tofu, followed shortly by a recipe for Southern-style barbecued tofu with a rub. A rub? On tofu? Color me intrigued. Of course, I didn't have any BBQ sauce, and I didn't really have all of the ingredients for the rub.

But I was also in the mood for stir-fry. So I decided to combine the two ideas into one meal. I mixed up a spice rub with cajun seasoning, seasoned salt, lemon pepper, white pepper, and cilantro. I cut my block of extra-firm tofu in half, lengthwise, twice; and rubbed the seasoning on. To make an Asian-inspired BBQ sauce I mixed brown sugar, lemon, tamari, sriracha, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, and a little bit of water. Then I chopped up some veggies and boiled up some pasta.

After the tofu sat with the rub on for about 30 minutes, it went on the grill. The sauce went on the stovetop until it thickened. The veggies and pasta got a quick stir-fry, then everything was combined. It was delish, and the leftovers were even better when I ate them cold for lunch today.

It's a good thing I kind-of wrote down the recipe. :)

Ohemgee

...I have been accidentally neglecting this blog.

It really is an accident, as funny as that sounds. You ever have a time when you feel like your brain is going in about ten different directions at once? Yeah, that's been me over the last two weeks.

Plus I'm still having car issues, so yesterday was the first day in about two weeks that I was able to go grocery shopping. Sad, I know. Luckily I have lots of good recipes involving canned beans and/or eggs. I also had a handy stockpile of corn tortillas.

But yes, I went grocery shopping yesterday and it made me very happy. Plus my car issue is hopefully thisclose to being taken care of (yay), I got a nagging academic problem taken care of, and my team is playing in the Super Bowl this Sunday (GO COLTS!).

Since I'm now officially re-stockpiled on the food front, I thought today would be as good a day as any to photograph everything I eat. I love photography, it ranks right up there with cooking as a Serious Hobby of mine (capital letters necessary). So don't be surprised if similar posts show up in the future.

So what, exactly, did I photograph?

- Cinnamon skim milk latte

- Parfait with frozen strawberries, pineapple, and mango; honey; strained yogurt (I would call it Greek yogurt, but my grocery doesn't carry large containers so I strain it myself. Maybe I should call that German-American yogurt or something.); and homemade granola.

- Ridiculous sandwich with whole-wheat bread, tomato, onion, hot sauce, dijon mustard, roasted broccoli, egg, bruschetta Boca burger, and mozzarella cheese.

- Iced chai tea with skim milk, caramelized onion soup, roasted brussels sprouts with balsamic-blue cheese reduction, and a panini with whole-wheat bread, goat cheese, tomato, onion, hot sauce, spinach, and provolone.

And now I'm enjoying a nice, juicy orange. :)

Crazy Week was CRAZY

*Waves*

I got back to Phoenix about a week ago, and things have been crazy since then. On top of the usual rush of starting classes, hunting down books, and starting TA duties, my car decided to make my life difficult. Specifically, I've had to deal with a completely dead battery, and a suspended registration due to an insurance mix-up. YAY!

...At least I got to go grocery shopping (even if my car ended up stranded at the store overnight) and stock up my refrigerator and pantry with healthy food. I made a huge batch of my Italian Chickpea Soup to have on hand, and I modified my favorite recipe for General Tso's Tofu to include baked tofu instead of fried. It was a success.

My goals are going fairly well so far. I've been drinking a lot more water, eating less cheese, and eating three meals a day. I went running twice last week. I haven't had any beer since I've been back in Phoenix, though I did have quite a bit while I was visiting Chicago. And I did go to Starbucks twice last week, but I'm slowly getting the hang of using my espresso maker, so hopefully I'll have fewer visits this week.

I'm hoping to make a little more progress on my goals this week, but I'm happy with the steps I took during my first week back.

I love gadgets.

So.

I splurged and bought myself a GoWear Fit (a.k.a. BodyBugg, the little gadget used by contestants on The Biggest Loser).

My confession: I am a total gadget fiend. What can I say? On any given day, my backpack is weighed down with my laptop, mp3 player, and my cell phone (of course, I can't go anywhere without that). I do research using online journals. I compute statistics on my computer. I log my food online using SparkPeople.

(I feel kind of nerdy right now...)

Anyway, now I'll be tracking the number of calories I burn, the number of steps I take, and the amount of sleep I get using one little piece of technology. I think that knowing a concrete number of calories burned each day will be SO helpful on the weight loss front. Even with strictly tracking my food, it's so easy to fudge it and say, "Oh, well I can have this ice cream because I bet I burned a lot of calories today while shopping!"

Yesterday was the first full day of wearing it, and it turns out I totally overindulged at dinner (my last night at home, had dinner and beer with my parents and brother, not regretting it a bit). But it's all good because I fully expect this to be a learning process. Eventually I'll know how to balance things out.

I leave for Chicago this afternoon, then back to Phoenix on Sunday, so my posting over this next week might be sparse. But I'll definitely be checking my steps and calories while I'm in Chicago (and especially on my travel day Sunday) to see how the spike in activity registers on my new toy!

BLAAAAH (Or: Why is it So Cold Outside?)

I can't say that I'm excited about leaving home to go back to Phoenix, but I will certainly be happy about leaving winter behind. We got four inches of snow yesterday, on top of the four inches we already had on the ground. Plus, it's only 21 degrees right now (with a windchill of 12). I'm pretty much hibernating over here.

Whenever I come home for a while, I'm struck by the many differences between city and rural/suburban life. I lived in Chicago for four years before I moved to Phoenix. I didn't have a car there, so my transportation depended on the CTA and my own two feet. It's easy to get a lot of physical activity when you're living in the city, simply because it's seamlessly integrated into your life: if you want to go somewhere in Chicago, you're probably going to have to walk to get there.

In Phoenix, I have a car but don't use it very often. I walk to work/school and I generally prefer to go out downtown, where I can walk to and from my destination. Here in Indiana, though, everyone drives everywhere. It's just a completely different mindset than you find in the city. It's not odd to see people walking for recreation in the spring/summer/fall, but it's seen as odd if you walk from your house to the library, drug store, wherever.

Anyway, this is just a long-winded way to say that I haven't been getting as much exercise as I'm used to since I've been home. Our treadmill is still stored from the Christmas festivities, and the aforementioned eight inches of snow makes it difficult to walk outside. It will be great to be able to spend time outside again and have access to my apartment complex's fitness room.

And, in the meantime, I'll be spending some time in Chicago next week. If it's anything like when I visited in mid-December, I'll be walking a lot. It'll be great (if I don't freeze to death)!