Good morning and happy Thursday! Two more days until the weekend….
Wednesday started off pretty well with the usual coffee and 1/2 a cool mint chocoalte clif bar. After a few minutes for digestion, Alma and I headed out for an easy morning run in Central Park. I ended up running 7 miles in about 1 hour and 8 minutes. My right hamstring started bugging me about 40 minutes in, but I stretched it well and now (24 hours later) it feels good.
Breakfast was a cup of plain, non fat yogurt with some PB2 , a sliced banana, and generous serving of  flax plus pumpkin granola mixed in.
I took a little walk around 1pm to stretch my legs and then settled down for some lunch. I timed my break perfectly – the sun peeked out of the clouds just as I started eating my salad. Yay!
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mixed greens, onions, mushrooms, carrots
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whole grain croutons, balsamic vinaigrette, feta, cranberries
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Chickpeas and edamame
Afternoon snack – Garden Salsa Sunchips. I didn’t think I would like this flavor, but surprisingly I did! The color and flavor sort of reminded me of doritios…
My plan to cut back on afternoon caffeine: FAIL
I was feeling headache-y and blah around 4pm and made myself a yummy cappuccino with the new office coffee/espresso machine. Sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. Yum!
I left the office at 5:30pm and was home by 6pm (love my new, shorter commute!). I immediately gathered up my dirty laundry and got down to business. I had SO much laundry! Now it’s all clean and mostly folded. I had planned on ironing some work clothes, but the season premiere of Glee took precidence.
Mid-laundry snack: apple slices with peanut butter
Lame-ish dinner (I need to cook something real soon): 2 slice of Ezekiel sprouted wheat topped with laughing cow cheese wedge, jalapeno hummus, and a black bean veggie burger. This was actually really delicious and ready in about 3 minutes! Also I gave those Kashi crackers another chance.  Not as good as triscuits, just not as good.
After Glee, I cuddled up under the blankets in my bedroom and watched another episode of Gossip Girl. Almost caught up on season 2! I also had the remainder of my chocolate-peanut butter cake. The portion was pretty small, but it made the perfect bedtime snack.
1/2 of this:
Those peanut butter cups and hershey kiss on top were ahhh-mazing! 
I’m on day 10 of the vegetarian challenge and so far it’s been a breeze. My appetite has been bigger than usual lately (I’m running more), but I’m feeling good and haven’t had any meat cravings. Also, the second week of September is Vegetarian Awareness Week. How fitting!
Also, in the news: Bento boxes rise in popularity.
Finally, did you watch the President’s speech on healthcare last night?
Michael Pollan on the disconnect between healthcare reform and agrobusiness subsidies:
But so far, food system reform has not figured in the national conversation about health care reform. And so the government is poised to go on encouraging America’s fast-food diet with its farm policies even as it takes on added responsibilities for covering the medical costs of that diet. To put it more bluntly, the government is putting itself in the uncomfortable position of subsidizing both the costs of treating Type 2 diabetes and the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup.
Question: What are your thoughts on regulation in the food industry? Should french fries and soda be banned from schools? Should food made with trans fats and high fructose corn syrup come with warning labels? Or should Americans be allowed to make their own choices?
