Monday morning started off with some decaf coffee. Eh, don’t think I’m ready to go sans caffeine just yet. I was dragging on my commute to work!
Breakfast was a strawberry chobani greek yogurt, chopped bosc pear, and an apple berry vita top smeared with a little peanut butter. I cropped my head out of this photo. Decaf Megan was not looking cute.
After a few hours of work, I was ready for a fun snack: Clif z-bar Spooky S’mores flavor. I’ve had this flavor in the past and wasn’t super impressed, but I LOVED it this time. Tasted just like s’mores.
It was sunny, so around noon I went for a little walk. Nothin’ exciting to report, just stretched my legs a bit. And then it was time for LUNCH. I really need to go grocery shopping, so I bought my lunch instead of packing it. My salad contained lots of little tastes – I think I tried nearly everything on the salad bar! I especially loved the roasted purple potatoes 
I thought about buying some sunchips, but decided to have a few handfuls of Kashi Honey Sunshine instead. I keep this box in my desk drawer for snack attacks. It’s a healthier (and cheaper) alternative to chips.
[source]
Later on in the afternoon, I was craving something s-w-e-e-t. I whipped up a cup of hot chocolate (using half skim milk, half water) and had a few dark chocolate bites along with it.
I hit up the gym after work (hooray for finally getting good use out of my health club membership!). I started off with 50 minutes on the elliptical. To keep from getting too bored, I alternated speeds every few minutes. For example: I would pedal easily for 5 minutes, sprint for 2 minutes, and then slow back down again. I still had a lot of energy after my elliptical sesh, so I headed over to the treadmill and ran 4 miles in about 35 minutes. By the time I made it home and sat down to dinner, it was after 9pm. Where did the day go?!
I had already begun to devour my plate by the time I took this photo – I was HUNGRY!
Black bean veggie burger with laughing cow cheese, arugula salad with a dollop of hummus, and some quinoa with hot sauce. A little rando, but I think I hit most of the food groups!
Dessert was the last slice of caramel apple walnut pie. So good.
And then a little while later I popped up some stove-top popcorn and sprinkled it with chili powder. I had plans to get up wayyy early on Tuesday (spin class!), so I wanted to be well fueled.
And Tuesday morning was, indeed, an early one. I’m really loving the 7:15am cycling classes at my gym – I always feel so accomplished for the rest of the day!
I started off with some coffee (half decaf, half regular) and a few prunes. Yes, it’s a bold move, but I have a stomach of steele!
Spin class was fun, today we did a lot of out-of-the-saddle hill climbs. I like those! However, my cycling shorts are nearing HAZ-MAT status. I need to wash them ASAP. Laundry tonight!
I finished up my a.m. workout with 3 miles on the treadmill. Today’s run was very, very promising. For the last 10 months or so, I haven’t really been able to run on the treadmill because it seemed to excacerbate my hamstring injury. Yesterday’s 4-miler and today’s 3-miler felt (almost) perfect! I’m sure some of you are wondering why I’m doing all this doubling: spin class + running, elliptical + running, etc. Answer: I’ve found that by mixing cross-training and running, I’m able to get in high-volume training without aggravating my hamstring and IT band. Now that I’m feeling a little better, I’m trying to be very careful not to re-injure myself. Hopefully I’ll be able to get back to near 100% running mileage, but until then, show me the spin bike!
Next up on my racing agenda: The 8-mile Run for the Diamonds on Thanksgiving Day
Breakfast was a lot more prunes, blueberry chobani greek yogurt (those 14 grams of protein were appreciated!) and a banana walnut vita top. I’d never had this particular flavor before and I really liked the little walnut pieces. Vita tops have pretty stellar nutritional stats, but sometimes the chocolate varieties taste a little…well, dry. I think the regular muffin flavors are better.
 And a decaf cappuccino because my office is freezing.
Around 12:30pm I put my jacket on to go for a walk (it’s 63 degrees and sunny!) and then I realized instead I needed to eat something right.this.second. Ok, stomach. You win. I heated up some leftover pumpkin macaroni and cheese (I swear you cannot taste the vegetable in this).
With a honey crisp apple and some straight-outta-the-box Kashi honey sunshine to fill me up.
Ok, lunch time is over, back to work. Or in search of a diet coke. One of the two.
But tonight, I might make chili. Yay! Does anyone have advice for adding beer to chili? Do I just dump it in while it’s cooking? I have some Sam Adam’s Oktoberfest that I would like to use…
In the News:
My fav pay-what-you-can yoga studio gets some love. Last week someone gave homemade lentil soup as their donation!
Pumpkin 101: The Best Picks for Carving and Cooking!
Digitally distorted models, should they come with warning labels? BTW, Ralph Lauren. I think your ads are creepy.
