Save Some Room For Dessert

Today was a successful swimming day. Well, successful in that I swam 30 laps in a row, all freestyle. I still got a massively dirty look from the guy who's lane I joined. I don't know what it is about these swimmers, but newsflash- the pool is not yours!!! If I ever have the luxury of having a lane to myself and someone wants to join I am going to shoot them an amazingly happy smile like I couldn't be any happier they have graced me with their presence. Maybe that will make up for all the rudeness. Anyway, my knees hurt a lot after. I really don't get what the deal with my knees are. They feel better tonight though and tomorrow is my off day so I hopefully the rest will be good. Of course as soon as I do a lot again they will get worse again. The oddest part is that swimming and biking are supposed to be easier ont eh legs. I see all the people who take a break from running in order to help their knees, shin splints etc- they bike and swim! Why is that making my pain worse? I seem to do best with running!

On a happier note, I love dessert. I am including some recommendations for yummy, low-calorie, dairy-free desserts (I still recommend them even if you can have as much dairy as you want). The first I discovered about a year ago. They are raspberry and vanilla popsicles and only 80 calories :)
At one horrible point I thought these were discontinued (they disappeared from Stop and Shop & Whole Foods!), but it turns out they are on. On my quest for another possible dessert, I found these amazing pudding cups. I tried the only chocolate and the only vanilla versions as well and they were fine but I find the chocolate and vanilla mix to be the best.
I am basically completely addicted to these. I could easily eat ice cream every single night but these stop me from doing so because they taste just as great (but are better for me because I will only eat one of these as opposed to ice cream which I may just continue to eat forever haha). One warning about these two fabulous desserts is they are not cheap. However, they are delicious and you don't really need them every day (well I do haha but normal people may not) so it won't add up too quickly. Besides, you should never skimp on dessert!

I need a new book...

I am absolutely exhausted today and I don't know if it's because I am fighting whatever illness has kept half of my work out this week or if the kindergartners are just pushing me over the edge...probably both. I am so ready for this year to be over! I can't handle the immaturity anymore. I was literally about two seconds away from searching for a new job (yeah right, like I could find anything in this economy) when I did have something sweet happen that made me (SORT OF) remember the "perks" of my job. We have this "Secret Reader" in my classroom where someone comes in to read to my class, but I don't tell them who. Today the Secret Reader was the mom of one of my students. Her daughter just learned to speak English this year, but she does not know it well (and by that I mean she is still WAY better than I ever was at Spanish after 8 years of class so I'm still impressed...). She came in today and brought a book with her. Apparently it was a traditional Korean tale about a wood cutter and it has a moral about the importance of telling the truth (which a few of my kids could use to learn!). This was really exciting for my class because two other students are also from Korea and knew the story already. Anyway, the mom read the story and then she asked the kids a couple of questions about it. She also gave the kids little pencils she bought in Korea when she went to visit a few weeks ago. The kids were so exciting and her daughter was smiling ear to ear. When she left she told me she had been nervous for two weeks about this because she knows she is not great at speaking English. She kept telling me how her daughter really wanted her to come and she was really scared and didn't want to. I think she had rehearsed reading the story and asking the questions! This got me thinking about all that mom's do for their kids. How they are willing to do things every day they are scared of, just to make their kids happy. Of course, I was so uplifted about this for awhile until I realized that none of my bratty children will come close to appreciating all of these things but hey! That's not fair though because this woman in particular has a wonderful, appreciative daughter who I am sure will be excited about what her mom did for her for a long time to come :)
In other news, since I can't eat cheese (although at this point I eat ice cream and greek yogurt, so I should probably just start eating cheese too and see what happens), I haven't eaten pizza in almost two years. Today I finally decided to make my own pizza, inspired by Meghan. I took a pizza crust, put on tomato sauce, black beans, summer squash, mushrooms and zucchini.
It was actually delicious. Of course it's been so long since I ate real pizza, I may not have a lot to compare it to. I liked it though. I was thinking of putting mango on my next one to make it like Kelly's version of a Hawaiian pizza, but who knows if that would be gross. I was too scared to risk it this time around, but maybe next time.
I also went for a 30 minute bike ride today. I was proud of myself for getting off my butt when I am this exhausted, however I also realized I am the slowest biker alive. I really have to work on that. Training for a triathlon is weird because you only do each sport twice a week. It doesn't feel like enough to really improve in any of the sports. But it also seems impossible to do more than that. It's very strange.
Lastly, I finished my book last night- The Red Tent. It was really good, nothing like what I usually read (as mindless as possible), but it was much better than I expected. I need a new book, anyone have any recommendations?

Conquered the Hill!

This morning I went for a run outside. It was a bit chilly but it still beats the treadmill. However, I think I need to turn around my attitude towards the treadmill because I think my knees and shins definitely prefer it. My run in itself was pretty uneventful. For some reason I seem to be a lot better on weekends and really struggled through a 2.5 mile run today. However, the major accomplishment for this run was that I made it up my HILL!!! If you haven't been reading my blog for now, I basically live on one giant hill. It is a real problem with working out because I cannot run or bike up it. For the past few months I've been thinking that I have to do flat running courses only because I stink at hills. When I found out my 5k had some small hills I was SO scared. Turns out, normal hills I can handle- my hill is not horrible. It's crazy. The same is true with biking. I can bike up the hill my parents live on and other normal hills, but my hill I can't do (partly because it begins at a really busy intersection so there is almost no way to get any momentum going). Today since my run wasn't going amazingly and I had to stop to walk after about 2 miles I decided my goal would be to make it up my hill running the whole time. I DID IT! Although I think I have probably strengthened my leg muscles in the past few months, I think a lot of it (like running always is) was very mental. Even though I was breathing REALLY heavy, I was determined. Luckily at the end of it I get to stop, I have no idea how people do Heartbreak Hill!
Last night for night I made a nice mix of haddock, Trader Joe's Harvest Grain Mix, carrots, zucchini, and Teriyaki sauce. It tastes delicious. It doesn't look so fancy because I just stick it in a bowl and mix it all together but this meal wasn't about presentation (most of mine are not actually haha).
Speaking of yummy food, I tried something new today for the first time. I have been into Almond Butter for the past couple of years but today I tried Trader Joe's Raw Almond Butter for the first time.
I really enjoyed it actually. It tasted pretty different from regular almond butter, but I think for some odd reason my stomach may have liked it better, which in itself is a reason to never have regular almond butter again (if it continues to be true). For those of you who have never tasted any kind of almond butter, you really should! I got into it like I got into it like almost everything else in the past few years, looking for something easier on my stomach than peanut butter (of course peanut butter is a major obsession of mine- like if I could eat nothing else for my entire life I would eat bread with peanut butter, that big of an obsession). I've found that I really love it and it's a welcome change from peanut butter sometimes. If you just want to try it, you can buy fresh almond butter in small quantities at Whole Foods. It's a bit pricey so just buy a small amount to try it. Yum.
I am trying to motivate myself to go to a yoga class at the gym tonight. I want to give yoga at the gym at least one more chance before I swear it off forever. However, American Idol is on tonight so it's definitely possible that I will end up lounging around instead. Plus I think I might be getting a cold. I think I need a break from kids so I don't have to work so hard at fighting all the germs!

Good Intentions

I'm not sure if it's the Irish in me, but I love potatoes. I love potato in every possible form, mashed, baked, french fries, potato chips etc. However, my all time favorite is definitely mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes are the first thing I learned to cook and they are always what I am in charge of when we make dinner at my parents house. When I started having problems with my stomach, I had a slight dilemma with my mashed potatoes. Potatoes are 100 percent fine for my stomach, but the HUGE amount of butter I liked to add to help mash it all up, was not as good. That's when I began making Kelly's Famous Healthy Mashed Potatoes. Okay fine, they are ridiculously easy to make and I am talking them up, but I am quite proud of myself for finding a creative solution to this problem. I now pour warm chicken broth (just heat it up in the microwave) onto my potatoes before I mash them. This serves the same purpose as the milk and butter and allows the potatoes to whip up nicely. It adds some nice flavor too. I admit it's not QUITE the same as all that yummy butter, but especially if you are eating a meat with some flavor (such as chicken teriyaki) it's definitely okay! I've even got my family eating it this way and my mom claims it's better (I don't know about that, but definitely healthier!). Here is a picture of my wonderful creation.
Some day when you are feeling healthy, try it out. And then, like me you can ruin all your good intentions with some yummy Purple Cow frozen yogurt (black raspberry with chocolate and white chocolate chips) YUMMM! I was going to say I don't normally eat this much ice cream (since I just posted a picture two days ago) but that would probably be a lie :)
I hope everyone had a great weekend. Thanks for the info about the random number generator for my next giveaway, I will definitely do that next time :)

Yummy Yogurt, Amazing Rolls and Giveaway Winner!

Happy Mother's Day everyone! I am not a mother (though I get called "Mom" and feel like a mom at work all the time!) but I have a fantastic one so I enjoy this day. Especially when it is so gorgeous out. In spirit of this beautiful Mother's Day, these are my favorite flowers in my garden this year, especially because the guy who lived here before us planted them so I just get to enjoy them. I love tulips.
This morning I woke up bright and early to go the gym to do my swimming. Every Sunday my training schedule tell me to swim and bike, but I have yet to actually bike on a Sunday so far, oops. I woke up this morning completely determined to both swim and bike. Swimming went okay, my arms felt a lot better than the other day. The pool was completely packed though, and one lady got SO pissed at me for joining her lane I thought she would drown me on the spot. Clearly, she owns the pool.
I then decided to bike to my parents. My sister and I were going to make my mom pancakes, but she had already eaten so we just hung out for awhile. When my Dad came home he was confused to see me over because he didn't see my car in the driveway and then he said, "Oh yeah, I forgot new Kelly doesn't bring a car" haha...I'm developing a reputation! Eric and I are going over there tonight though so I'm pretty sure I'll take a car later. My bike ride went really well today. The bike path was really clear so I guess all the moms didn't want to exercise this morning :) Plus I moved my bike seat up a bit and it made me slightly faster and I think it will hurt my knee less. In my defense though, I can see why I had it lower before because now I definitely feel like I have a bike seat up my bum. But hopefully that sensation will disapear soon.
I came home today and decided I was absolutely sick of my previous go-to for lunch. I've been eating a rice/quinoa mix with black beans and mango every day for lunch. It's amazing but I'm ready for a little bit of change. I decided to jump on the bandwagon with all the bloggers who are obsessed with Greek yogurt. Usually I try to stay away from dairy because it bothers my stomach (except for when I eat ice cream) but I thought I'd give this a try. I mixed it with a few strawberries and some sliced almonds. It was nice and pink so obviously I was loving it. Plus it tasted yummy.
Also, the other day Eric ordered pizza from Bertuccis and got some rolls. If you don't have Bertuccis near you let me just say these are pretty much the best rolls ever. They are made out of pizza dough and they are basically like heaven in bread form. They have been calling my name for the past two days so today I decided to make a turkey sandwich on one of them. It's probably not exciting enough for warrant a picture but just so you can say you have seen the best rolls in the universe, here is it:

Finally this morning I had time to pick the giveaway winner! I know it only takes 1 second to actually PICK the winner, the process was a bit more complicated. I had to write everyone's name on a piece of paper, then I had to figure out how many times each person entered so I could write their name the correct number of times to put in the bag. For those of you who also do giveaways is that how you do it or is their an easier way that I did not think of? So after I did it and double checked everything was right I put them all in the a bag and then had Eric pick out a winner!
So the winner is............DRUMROLLLL......Kristen! Yay!
Kristen, please e-mail me your address so that I can send you your new torture device- oops I mean Jillian dvd :) Thanks to everyone who participated. If you didn't win, don't worry- I am already plotting my next giveaway and I think it's going to have to do with food. But seriously if you know a better way to pick a winner rather than writing everyone's names several times, please do share!
I hope everyone has a great Mother's Day!!!

How do you know when to rest?

So last night we had some friends over. Eric was in charge of dinner but I did make some chocolate dipped strawberries and bananas, yum.


Looking at the pictures again I kind of wish some were left this morning. But nope, we ate them all last night :)
Anyways, I ended up not getting a lot of sleep and I have that miserable teacher test this afternoon so I hope I don't fall asleep during it. This morning I woke up and I debated for awhile about whether I was going to go for a run or not. On one hand, I had only 4 hours of sleep and it seems smart to conserve my energy for the test. On the other hand, I am training so I really need to keep on top of things. Back on the first hand, my legs are absolutely killing me. But on the second hand, I took a day off yesterday so I probably do not deserve another one. I finally decided to run around the reservoir because at least it is dirt instead of hard pavement. As I was running around I started to realize how I maybe should've waited until a little later in the morning. There was literally not a single other person there, which kind of freaks me out since I clearly watch way too many kidnapping shows. Then I thought, maybe I'll see Tiff (my best friend from high school who happens to live on the other side of the res) because she often walks her dog around there in the mornings. Two minutes later, who do I see? TIFF! Yay! This made my run significantly better (and not just because I got to stop to talk to her haha). In the end I think I ran about 2 miles, which is not great but considering it's better than nothing. According to the pedometer that Eric brought me from his work it was only 1.5 miles but I don't get how that is possible since the res has marks all over that say it is .9 miles around and I ran around it twice.
My problem right now is I really don't understand why my legs hurt so much. Even during this training I have rarely worked out for more than 30 minutes, which I would say is bordering on EASIER than what I was doing before. So what is the DEAL? I am all for a little, "it's sore but it feels good" but most of this does not feel good. Also, I am probably reading too much and everything is like, "don't do too much too soon!", "rest if it gets too hard!" etc. That makes sense and all, but at some point you have to push yourself or it's not a triathlon! Hopefully once I get some sleep I'll be able to do some serious training tomorrow and feel better about it. My legs will get some rest this afternoon while I tell the crazy MTEL company all that I know about being a Reading Specialist.
By the way, I am going to draw the winner of the giveaway when Eric is awake because I want him to take pictures of the process haha so we will either do it when I get back from my test tonight or tomorrow at some point. If you still want to enter, I'll continue to take entries until I actually draw the winner so go for it!

Yoga: A Love/Hate Relationship

So it's 8:20 in the morning, my kindergarten kids will be arrive in 20 minutes and I decided instead of getting ready for the day I am going to blog. Hopefully I will not make this a habit. I just really had to tell everyone about my newfound yoga love.
The thing about yoga is, I have a love/hate relationship with it. I love it because it's one of the only times my body gets properly stretched. It makes me feel good, and strong (if it's a good class). Also, I have a secret (well not so secret) desire to be one of those people who loves yoga and is really good at it. Except for one problem, I usually don't love it and I am absolutely horrible at it. I hate it because I am horrible at it and if it's not a good class I leave feeling like I wasted an hour of my life (and no, I do not ever attempt hour and a half classes!). Now when I say I am horrible at it, I don't mean because I am not flexible...though that is true. I don't mean it's because I don't have great balance, my balance is okay. What I am mostly horrible at is the whole "clear your mind" aspect. The only way I can clear my mind is to be productive or doing something fun. The best way to get myself thinking about everything I SHOULD be doing is to get me in a room, sitting on a yoga mat, and telling me NOT to think. So this presents a problem for yoga. The only yoga I have ever found that I really really really loved was at a place called Prana. It is hot yoga and it's really hard!!! However, it actually did help me clear my mind a bit because I was focused so much on trying to do the poses and get stronger. I was always sore after it and I felt like I really didn't have to do anything else (work out wise) that day because I went to yoga. The only problem with that place is that it is also $15 every time you go. This might be okay if you go very occasionally, but if you want to take up a serious yoga practice, this could start to get in the way of your mortgage payment. So I always go back to doing yoga at the gym, hating it and then giving up.
Yesterday I happened to come across this link on a couple of different blogs I was looking at: Yoga for Runners. I tried it out this morning and I loved it. It's only 10 minutes, but it definitely did stretch the areas that felt really tight. Plus I love most anything that is only 10 minutes. The same lady also does Yoga for Healthy Shins and Knees which I am also going to try out because those seem to be major problem areas for me. Kind of similar to yoga, I cannot decide if I love or hate the lady who does the yoga on these videos. She is very peppy and happy. I am going to choose to love her though, because someone has to get me to do some serious stretching after all of this training! Let me know what you think if you try them out.

PS. Thanks for all the encouragement after I posted last night. I decided even if I do come in last, at least I still finish right? Don't worry though, I have no plans to give up just because I stink at biking and swimming. That's all part of the challenge.