Salad Fever

Guess what? The sun finally came out! After over a week of non-stop rain and temps in the 40s, its finally starting to act a little like spring. When its cold and rainy all I crave is hot meals (usually covered in some kind of cheese)...and when its hot I constantly want salads. After a hot and humid run last night the only thing I wanted was a big salad.

Organic baby spinach, orange wedges, red bell peppers, boiled beets (hot, I don't really care for them cold), goat cheese, and toasted walnuts, drizzled with some balsamic vinaigrette. Toasting walnuts is easy, just bake them for about 5 minutes at 350 degrees - it really brings out the flavor a lot more.

With my salad I had some tofu. And some popcorn. Yes, I'm random.

I woke up to another warm day today, and after running and going to the gym I wanted another salad. I had salad for breakfast a few weeks ago, and I really enjoyed it. I guess I didn't stick with it because it takes a lot longer to prepare a salad in the morning than a quick bowl of oatmeal or a smoothie. Since I work from home on Wednesdays, I had time to make myself a big breakfast salad. 

Organic baby spinach, red bell peppers, and avocado. I squeezed some fresh lemon on top, sprinkled with cayenne pepper for a kick, and topped with some scrambled egg whites. I had a bowl of mango on the side and a glass of skim milk for extra protein.

Some of my friends have told me its weird that I like salad for breakfast. I would have said the same thing, too. Give it a try and then let me know if you still think its weird! It is very satisfying to fill up on something other than carbs (and this is coming from the carb queen) and it gives me more energy throughout the day.

Its been one week since I started my 30 day challenge (to run at least one mile per day). Here's how I've done so far:

Day 1 - 3 mile run; Bikram yoga class

Day 2 - 3 mile run; Bikram yoga class

Day 3 - 2.25 mile run

Day 4 - 3 mile run

Day 5 - 1 mile run

Day 6 - 1 mile run

Day 7 - 5 mile run; abs and legs strength training

Day 8 (today) - 2.6 mile run, back and bis strength training

As you can see, a few of those days I only ran the minimum 1 mile. Those were super busy days that I normally would not have done anything. My excuse would always be that I didn't have time, or that doing something as short as just one mile wouldn't make any difference. Since following this challenge, I've found a way to squeeze in a mile even in my busiest days, whether waking up a little early to get it done or quickly doing it when I got home late at night. Those mornings that I forced myself out of bed at 5am to fit in a quick mile were some of the best mornings - I love working out early in the day because it gives me such a boost of energy. If I didn't have to leave before 6am for work, I'd definitely do all of my work outs in the morning. 

I printed out a free calendar template I found online and have been marking down my mileage. Its a good way to keep track of what I've done and motivate myself to keep going. Even better is that I've heard from a few of my friends who are doing the challenge, too! I'm glad that other people are participating, and I think talking to each other about it helps keep us on track. If you can't run the miles, choose something else. My friend Chrissy has several injuries left over from college basketball, so running can be uncomfortable for her, but she's decided to do the challenge by biking and other forms of cross training! 

In terms of my other challenge, the 100 push ups challenge, that was a little bit later in getting off the ground. I actually just started it this morning. I did the initial test to see how many push ups I could do (to see where my training should begin) and I did 12. Not on my knees, either! I contemplated first doing this challenge with knee push ups and then doing it with standard push ups, but decided to try the real deal. I'm sure I'll be regretting this in a few days.

Anyone else want to join us in the 30 day challenge?

What are your favorite foods of summer?

Mine are salads and tons of fresh fruit. Oh and ice cream, that's pretty important, too!