Chipotle Fake Out

And we're back! I posted a picture earlier tonight on Facebook of my dinner (yep, I'm one of those people who posts pictures of their food...no judging). It was my homemade version of the Burrito Bowl I usually get at Chipotle and it looked like this:

I'm not a foody photographer, so an iPhone photo will have to do :)

According to Chipotle's website, the nutrition breakdown of the restaurant chain's equivalent looks a little something like this:

Holy Frijoles, 920 calories?!? I'm taking on water just looking at that. Granted, the portions are much too large and I'm never able to finish an entire bowl, but still, that's a load of food for one person. And we all know those portion sizes listed above are nowhere near what they actually throw into your bowl. "Can I get just a little bit of cheese and a tiny bit of sour cream?" 5 minutes later and my cheese bowl is swimming in a lake of sour cream. Glad we have our listening ears on today. So, while it's fun to splurge every now and then (not to mention if I had to go the rest of my life living off their salty-lime chips and guacamole I wouldn't hate it), I wanted to see if I could health-ify this 920 calorie monster. Health-ify is a word. Here's the run down.

So, yes, the portions are significantly smaller than they are at Chipotle and adding the avocado as pictured above kicks the calories up to 485. But, in all honesty, I stepped away from the kitchen table full and satisfied and not even thinking about dessert. The sodium levels are still not the greatest considering most of the ingredients aren't completely fresh and raw, but that just leaves room for me to tweek this recipe and further health-ify it! Let me know if you have any questions!

Happy eating :)

When did 27 become "old?"

Whew, it's been a busy, busy week! Sorry it's been so quiet here lately. My teaching schedule was packed this week and I felt like I didn't have a second to breathe. But I'm back with a few updates and a quick review of an athletic conditioning class I was able to take this week at my local YMCA. Jeff and I also celebrated my birthday this past weekend and it was a blast! 

The morning started off with me literally jumping on the bed at 8:30am announcing that it was my birthday and it was time to get up! Willie got the memo and promptly bounced out of bed, Jeff not so much. Once we were all up and ready to go, we headed out for a morning birthday run which quickly turned into a birthday jog and then eventually a feeble birthday walk. I was still getting over my holiday sickness, but I was bound and determined to celebrate my birthday with a great run. And you know how I always say that it's important to listen to your body? Well, about a mile into the run my internal monologue was getting a little out of hand and I was all like, "Woah, body. That was rude. No need to get hostile." But I listened, and stopped, and it was definitely the right thing to do. (Side note: I'm feeling much better today and was able to get 3 miles in this morning with no problem, woop!)

So after our attempt at a run, we made a quick stop at Bruegger's for breakfast and then the rest of the day was filled with birthday presents, birthday cake and a pretty stellar birthday dinner at 131 Main in Dilworth. Yum!

So, as I mentioned above, I had the chance to take an amazing athletic conditioning class at the Y this week, and by amazing I mean it kicked my butt. As in I thought about crying at least twice during the course of the hour. I had to excuse myself from class about halfway through to go to the bathroom and have a come to Jesus meeting with myself (which is huge for me because I have a very strict rule that I never, ever, under any circumstances, quit anything). In full awkward disclosure, I stared my reflection down in the bathroom mirror and instructed myself to "GET IT TOGETHER, KAREN!" and then made my way back to the gym to finish out the class.

The class was a mixture of extreme cardio, agility training and weight lifting. To give you a good picture of why my body feels like jello, here's a run down of what our warm up was. Mind you, this was just the warm up. 

ROUND 1

30 seconds jumping rope 

5 burpees

5 BOSU Ball sit ups

5 BOSU Ball supermans

5 BOSU Ball push ups 

Run up 2 flights of stairs

Run 1 lap around the gym

Run down 2 flights of stairs

ROUND 2

1 minute jumping rope 

10 burpees

10 BOSU Ball sit ups

10 BOSU Ball supermans

10 BOSU Ball push ups 

Run up 2 flights of stairs

Run 2 laps around the gym

Run down 2 flights of stairs

ROUND 3

1:30 jumping rope 

15 burpees

15 BOSU Ball sit ups

15 BOSU Ball supermans

15 BOSU Ball push ups 

Run up 2 flights of stairs

Run 3 laps around the gym

Run down 2 flights of stairs

ROUND 4

2 minutes jumping rope 

20 burpees

20 BOSU Ball sit ups

20 BOSU Ball supermans

20 BOSU Ball push ups 

Run up 2 flights of stairs

Run 4 laps around the gym

Run down 2 flights of stairs

Go ahead and give it a try! Make sure you don't take any rest between rounds and you have to finish all 4 rounds in 20 minutes. Ready, set, ugh. I died. And it certainly didn't help that all of the super skinny new moms in the class were running circles around me. No joke, they had a human inside of them 2 months ago and yet if I ran into them in a dark alley, they could most certainly kick my butt.

No one told me that being 27 would hurt this much!

Pre and Post Run Fuel

Nothing can hurt or help a good run more than what you choose to eat before and after. I'm still on the hunt for the perfect pre and post run fuel and there are a lot of factors to take into consideration when planning out the right menu for you. Time of day, length of run, how hydrated your body already is, prior meals consumed, specific dietary needs, etc. And not everyone will like the same things, obviously. Case in point, when I run early in the morning I always have a small banana, a small cup of water and a few sips of coffee 30 minutes before I head out. Jeff on the other hand would rather eat dirt before touching a banana or drinking coffee. So, in the morning, he usually sticks to water and dry cereal or crackers before hitting the road. After being diagnosed with Crohn's Disease, he found that bland foods work best for him on a regular basis, and that was especially important for him before a run. 

Regardless, it's incredibly important to fuel your body before and after a strenuous run or workout in order to help rebuild your muscles and reduce post exercise soreness. And the key to this is GLYCOGEN. Glycogen is the form in which carbohydrate glucose is stored in your body (primarily in the skeletal muscles) and as you exercise, this storage is heavily depleted. Within 1-2 hours after a good workout, choosing correct foods will help replenish the carbohydrates burned and rebuild your broken down muscles. Here's a list of my top 3 go-to food choices after a good workout in the morning, afternoon or evening. 

MORNING WORKOUT

Omelette with spinach, mushrooms and feta cheese

Photo Source: Closet Cooking

AFTERNOON WORKOUT

Large spinach salad with chicken breast, strawberries, avocado, walnuts and feta cheese.

Photo Source: Closet Cooking

EVENING WORKOUT

Chicken breast, brown rice, black bean, tomato and avocado bowl

Photo Source: Crumbly Cookie

I supplement these meals with some type of sports drink as well and then continue to drink plenty of water throughout the rest of the day/night to promote good hydration. 

I hope everyone has a great Friday and that you've enjoyed the short work week! I'm very excited for this weekend. Tomorrow is my 27th birthday and Jeff has been VERY sneaky this week planning for it. One thing he did clue me in on is that he will be baking my birthday cake this year and it just so happens to include the greatest invention in the world:

Photo Source: Sally's Baking Addiction

Funfetti. Nom nom nom. Good lord yes.

Wardrobe Wednesday: Compression Obsession

Happy Wednesday guys! I hope you're all successfully recovering from your New Year's celebrations and starting 2013 with a bang. I'm always a bit sluggish after the holiday season, but I've noticed that running has significantly helped with speeding up the recovery process this year, so that's a win for me. I hope you all enjoyed the Couch to 10K post earlier and that it offered you some inspiration to tackle your fitness resolutions for 2013! Today's Wardrobe Wednesday will be a quick feature, but it's a staple that I keep in my wardrobe rotation because I really consider it a nice little indulgence. I'm talking about socks. Not just any socks; compression socks. I haven't crossed over into the world of the full length compression sock yet, but I'm currently loving the Feetures performance socks seen below.

Photo Source: Feetures.com

These little guys are awesome and they do a great job of offering the perfect amount of compression and support to make your running or workout experience more enjoyable and comfortable. Since wearing them, I have less blisters which I credit to the breathability of and comfort of the material they use. The fabric is super soft and there is virtually no toe seam...I repeat, NO toe seam. It lays completely flat. This is basically best news ever territory for me because I have a strange OCD affliction with disorderly and uncomfortable toe seams when wearing shoes. I pretty much lose my mind, but these socks help me find it again. Crisis averted. I would highly suggest picking up a pair of these socks for your next run or workout!

2013 NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

Celebrate Friends and Family: They're so important to me and should be recognized, loved and supported on a regular basis! I really need to do a better job of keeping in touch whether it be simply picking up the phone to call, emailing or sending a card. My friends and family are always there for me and they most certainly deserve to be celebrated for how wonderful they are.

Love Myself: I'm very guilty of being way too hard on myself, but I think it's human nature to be our own worst critic. However, in 2013, I'm determined to trust myself more and be more confident. I sometimes shy away from being bold, and I believe there really is a fine line between the right amount of confidence and being too confident. I always remind myself that I would rather be surprised by my accomplishments rather than humbled by my failures and this leads me to my final resolution...

Consistently Stay Present and Thankful: I have a problem with living in the past and worrying about the future. Jeff does such a wonderful job of reminding me that worrying does me absolutely no good especially when I'm fretting over things I cannot control. This year, I really hope that I can work on consistently taking the time to be thankful for the blessings I currently have. It doesn't matter what happened yesterday, last week, last month, or last year. Tomorrow is not always guaranteed, but today certainly is and that is something for which to be truly thankful! 

So what are your New Year's resolutions for 2013? I'd love to hear them!

Get Moving Monday: Couch to 10K

Happy New Year’s Eve friends!! It’s the last day of the year and I cannot believe how quickly the year has flown. This has certainly been a year of ups and downs, highs and lows, but I am so blessed to be able to close out another year with a thankful heart. I hope you all can look back on your past year with a smile and that you’re gearing up for an amazing 2013! I have already started my list of New Year’s resolutions…most of which I hope to keep. A friend of mine reached out a few days ago asking me to feature a Couch to 10K training program at some point on the blog and I figured what better time to do that then the last Get Moving Monday of 2012. So, lets jump right into it.

Before we get to the actual program, lets start with a few housekeeping items that I’d suggest taking care of before you take on your first run.

1. Go ahead and treat yourself to a good pair of running shoes. Go get fitted properly at your local running store and find a pair that you’re really satisfied with and that supports your running style well. Trust me, you’ll be happy that you did. No one likes to be sidelined with shin splints or other injuries due to improperly fitting shoes.

2. Next, invest in a few comfortable running outfits. Like I’ve said before, if you look good working out, you’re going to feel amazing! Don’t feel like you have to spend a lot of money though! Target has a great line of workout clothes that I personally love and that is very affordable.

3. And finally, as we all know, I am not a doctor; not even close. So, it’s always safe and important to consult with your primary care physician before jumping into a strenuous new routine of any kind. Safety first!

All right, now that that’s out of the way, lets get into the fun part!

PRE-TRAINING

It’s very important that you’re able to work your way up to running at least 30 minutes at one time before starting any long-term training program. I would advise spending your first 4 weeks before officially beginning training working towards that goal. Here’s what it could look like:

XT (cross training) can be anything you’d like it to be: walking, swimming, Zumba classes, biking, etc. Anything outside of running that still gets your heart rate up and muscles working is great. Be sure to utilize your stretch days, they’re very important! And if you need to replace a XT day with a stretch day, that’s fine and I highly encourage it.

If you have a heart rate monitor, this would be a great time to start keeping track of your heart rate. Don’t over exert yourself and try to keep your running pace at a level where you can carry on a conversation with someone else in a comfortable manner. Use this time to get to know how your body works while running; what feels good and what doesn’t. You know your body better than anyone else, so listen to it! If something doesn’t feel right scale back. This is the time to build your stamina and your running confidence as well. And please, don’t pressure yourself to work through this in 4 weeks, if you need more time, that is perfectly fine. As long as you’re out there working, you’ll always be lapping everyone that’s still on the couch!

OFFICIAL TRAINING

Once you have worked your way up to running for 30 continuous minutes comfortably, you’re ready to move on to your official training regimen. However, first, you should pat yourself on the back because you’re awesome! So, here’s what your program could look like:

As mentioned above, your stretch days and XT days can be switched or replaced if need be depending on what your needs are for the week.

I’m so excited for those of you that are thinking about tackling this big goal! A 10K is quite the accomplishment and you should be incredibly proud of yourselves. Please feel free to reach out to me or leave a comment if you have any questions or would like other options/scenarios for a couch to 10K training regimen (or even a couch to 5K!) I’m always happy to help!

Happy New Year’s everyone. Thank you for taking the time to stop by Queen City Runner and I wish you health and happiness for the new year!

Holiday Hangover

Annnnd we're back! Apologies for the week long hiatus; I was enjoying some fun family time and decided to go sans technology for a little while. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too! I'm currently nursing a mean upper respiratory infection which is also doctor talk for "you have a virus, we can't give you an antibiotic, so take a Dayquil and drink hot fluids. Oh, that'll also be $200." But that's OK! The weather is pretty nasty here today so that provides me with a welcome excuse to curl up on the couch with a mug of hot green tea, snuggle with Willie and get back on the blogging train. Let's start with an Operation: Best Christmas Ever update; we're making some progress!

PICK OUT OUR PERFECT CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS TREE

I had to fudge this one a little bit. Jeff crushed my dreams decided that it wouldn't be practical for us to get a Christmas tree this year since we would be out of town leading up to Christmas. I tried to negotiate with him by offering to get the tiniest of tiny trees on the lot, but there was no budging with him. I was a little sad, but we got a Yankee Candle that made the apartment smell just like a Christmas tree instead and that made up for it a little bit. My parent's and in-law's always have such beautiful trees in the house, so that's really fun to come home to.

LACE UP THE SKATES AND GO ICE SKATING

Oh, we nailed this one. While out in San Francisco, my sister Anna, brother-in-law Randy and I headed down to Union Square one night to get our skate on. We predicted we'd be terrible, and we were unbelievably right, but that didn't matter. We only ate it a couple of times which was a win in our book. We didn't so much as glide down the ice, it was more like a clumsy walk. See for yourself, laughing is encouraged. My sister and I are at the tail end of the video and we're wearing red and white coats. Apologies for the blurry video. iPhone + night time = no good.

BAKE COOKIES WITH MY SISTER AND STAY UP ALL NIGHT WATCHING 

CHRISTMAS MOVIES

We headed up to Lake Tahoe for a few days this past weekend before heading back to the east coast for the holidays. We stayed in a cozy little cabin and made ourselves right at home baking cookies and making hot chocolate. The late night movie session was replaced with several competitive games of Scategories and lots of fun was had by all.

Sassy Sister

PLAY IN THE SNOW

It looked like this the entire time we were in Tahoe.....

How beautiful is that? The snow was perfect and we got several feet of fresh powder during our visit which made for awesome skiing conditions and general snow playing debauchery. We spent the majority of our time in Tahoe outside and it was awesome. Check it out. 

A wintery walk in the snow.

Randy crushing Anna with a giant icicle. 

The kids at play.

Our cute cabin. Check out the size of the icicles!

Jeff and I on the mountain. A blizzard came through that day, so goggles and masks were way necessary!

Anna tearing it up on the downhill.

...I'm a terrible skier. 

WAKE UP EARLY AND COOK A DELICIOUS CHRISTMAS MORNING BREAKFAST

Well, due to a late Christmas Eve arrival back to the east coast, Christmas morning breakfast turned into Christmas morning brunch (which might as well have been lunch). But it was still delicious! Anna made Creme Brulee french toast and you can find the recipe here! No pictures here, we were looking pretty jet-lagged rough Christmas morning :)

SURPRISE JEFF WITH A SUPER SECRET CHRISTMAS PRESENT

One of my proudest moments was seeing Jeff cross the finish line at his first half-marathon this year. He had come a long way since his diagnosis and surgery and I'm just so happy that he's doing so well. He's really gotten into running and we're going to continue tackling races as they come along. So, for Christmas I wanted to give Jeff something that he could proudly display his well earned race bibs and medals on as he receives them at each of his races. I started googling and came across some pretty awesome do-it-yourself projects that totally fit the bill like the ones below.

Jeff and I originally decided not to give each other Christmas presents this year since we're saving up to buy a house, but I still wanted to surprise him even if it was just a small gift. I don't have a picture of the finished product yet, I still need to put the finishing glaze on it and then add his bib and medal. I'm also making one for myself too, so once the pair of them are complete, I'll be sure to post pics!

SPEND REAL QUALITY TIME WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS

And this one really doesn't come with pictures. It has been so nice being around so many family and friends this past week. I feel like sometimes I get caught up in taking as many pictures as possible to chronicle our time together that I miss out on the true happiness of the moment. So this year, I took a break from the constant picture taking and just relaxed, ate, drank, talked and genuinely enjoyed my time with everyone. 

I hope you all had a great holiday as well and that you have a wonderful new year!! I'll be back later with some more fun updates.

Wardrobe Wednesday: Running Shorts 101

The weather has been gorgeous in San Francisco this week; we really did pick a great week to come visit. Even though it hasn't exactly been the running shorts kind of running weather, that's still what we're going to talk about today: Running Shorts 101.

I used to shy away from running shorts. Every time I tried them on something about them just looked off. They were either too long, too short, too baggy, or too tight and I was convinced that maybe running shorts just weren't my thing. But as the temperatures started climbing while I was training for my first half-marathon, something was going to have to give. My Nike Capris Pants weren't cutting it anymore. I started to take notice of the running clothes other people were wearing along our Central Park loop, and the shorts I saw ranged from conservatively colored:

Photo Source: Nike.com

To boldly printed.

Photo Source: Underarmour.com

From super teeny

Photo Source: AmericanApparel.com

To flirty and skirty.

Photo Source: Nike.com

The possibilities were endless and I knew I had to give them another try. There had to be at least one style that would fit me properly. So, I headed over to our local running store in Columbus Circle and started grabbing any style of shorts that were appealing to me. 30 minutes later, I had 15 pairs of shorts lined up in a dressing with a 6-item apparel limit. Woops. I started trying them on and learning what I did and did not like about each pair. Pockets vs. no pockets. The cut of the material. The feel of the material. Long vs. short. The list could go on, but I finally narrowed my choice down to a pair of Nike Tempo Track shorts (the same black and white ones pictured above in fact). I know, me choosing Nike apparel is not shocking in the slightest. But, let me tell you why they ended up stealing my heart over the other competitors.

MATERIAL

Light, airy and soft. A comfortable polyester material that doesn't chafe or rub uncomfortably and moves with you while you run. Which, if I'm going to be completely honest, all running shorts feel like this, so this category wasn't the biggest deciding factor.

FIT

With a 3.5 inch inseam, these guys were the perfect length for my legs. Not too long, not too short. They offer plenty of coverage while still allowing for breathability while you run. The adjustable waistband is roughly an inch tall and stays put while you run so you don't have to worry about your shorts riding up (also known as one of the most annoying things ever). They also fit true to size. 

POCKETS

I'm huge on pockets and these shorts deliver. When I lived in New York, I would usually use the time that I would go for a run to also go to the grocery store or run any other errands that might pop up. I found it really important to have enough pocket space available to store my apartment key, ID, and credit card so that when I finished my run I could stop by the market and grab dinner if I needed to. These shorts have a large enough pocket to house all 3 necessities and it's stitched comfortably in the lining on your back right hip.

I'm really pleased with these shorts and rotate 3 different pairs of them through my wardrobe. However, at $30 a pop, they're not the most affordable option out there so I supplement my running short obsession with Soffe's own line of shorts, the Team Shorty Short:

Photo Source: Soffe.com

The name always makes me laugh, but they are from their Juniors line of clothing. They're comfy, come in a wide variety of colors (and fun prints!), and are a tad bit shorter with a 2.5 inch inseam. They also don't have any pockets which is a bit of a let down, but at $13.00 a piece, I think I can let that one slide. They get the job done without destroying my bank account and I would definitely recommend them!

Question of the Day: What's your favorite brand of running shorts?