Wheatberry Frenzy

For breakfast on Thursday I made some oats to go and put wheatberries in them, along with some peanut butter. Packed in a jar so it would fit in the cup holder of my car – sometimes I have to eat on the run.

Lots of wheatberries:

For lunch I used more wheatberries and the pesto I had made the night before. I put in the left over asparagus and some nutritional yeast:

Friday (yesterday) morning I got up and did a strength training workout! Forty minutes of upper body work (which is my favorite, so that is about all I tend to do – bad me.)

Here is what I did:

Chest
modified push ups
dumbbell chest press – on the stability ball
dumbbell fly – on the stability ball

Upper Back
dumbbell row
rear lateral dumbbell raise
Y raise on the stability ball

Shoulders
front dumbbell raise
side dumbbell raise

Biceps
standing dumbbell curl
twisting standing dumbbell curl

Triceps
dumbbell overhead extension

Shoulder and triceps work hurt because of my bicep tendinitis – so I use lighter weights on the left side and fewer reps. I mostly did 3 sets of 10 for each exercise, varying in weights from 5 to 12 pounds. I watched the Today Show and it went pretty quickly.

Then I had a strawberry smoothie:

I followed Matt Frazier’s formula, using half a frozen banana, strawberries, almond oil, oats, chia seeds, soy milk, vanilla protein powder and ice.

I had a bunch of errands to do and it was getting hot.

The heat index in Washington DC reached 122 degrees yesterday. Luckily I spent the hottest part of the day in air conditioning. While I was out I picked up this great insulated lunch tote:

My other lunchbox is a bit too small, and it’s getting kind of gross – lunch boxes don’t last long when they have food in them all day. This one will hold a lot of food and lots of ice packs.

For lunch I made a salad with wheatberries (yes, more wheatberries) and some pesto (and yes, more pesto) on top:

I also packed a plum and some cherries:

On my way home from work I picked up some tomatoes from a local farm stand. So fresh they still have dirt on them:

I made a cold Moroccan Tomato Soup from the Moosewood cookbook, in the Vitamix.

Yes, it has cumin, sweet paprika and cinnamon (!).

Those little things floating on the top are these:

They have these popping every time I go to Whole Foods. They have something like 16 calories in a whole cake – crazy!

Then I attempted the Black Bean Veggie Burger that everyone is raving about. Mine didn’t exactly come out as great as I had hoped. I cut the recipe in half, used egg beaters instead of the flax egg, and ketchup instead of tomato sauce (I didn’t want to open a whole can of tomato sauce for just 2 tablespoons). I pureed all of the beans instead of half of them, and perhaps that is why mine didn’t hold together too well. It tasted quite good though!

I attempted Kalli’s Cashew Sauce – it was too tart for my taste so I added a little agave nectar and then it was very tasty. Lemony and nutty.

I want to mention the apple cider vinegar. I have seen references to this three times this week – first on Roz’s blog, then in Oxygen Magazine (Tosca talks about stomach problems as a result of eating so many veggies and fruits, so she drinks water with a tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar 20 minutes before each meal), and then walking down the grocery store aisle I see a bottle of Bragg’s apple cider vinegar. I thought fate is trying to tell me something, so I bought it. My stomach is always hurting and gurgling, so maybe the apple cider vinegar will make it feel better. Worth a try!

Normally Saturday is my long run day, but my daughter had the last day of her horse show, so I woke up at 5:45am to drive to TheMiddleOfNowheresville, PA. She was done by 10:30, so I drove back home, making a stop at Potomac River Running to try on the shoes they had special ordered for me – Saucony Kinvaras. Yes, I know I just bought a new pair of shoes last month, but I sold my Nike Lunarglides on ebay (for only $25, boo-hoo), and I like to have 3 pairs of running shoes. I had never tried Saucony until last month and I love the way they fit. Snug in the heel – I have a narrow heel it seems.

I tried them on and ran on the treadmill. The store owner watched me run, and confirmed what two other shoe salespeople have told me at two different stores – I don’t pronate when I run and I am a midfoot striker (I used to be a heel striker, but when I learned more about running and had a few injuries, I changed my running style). He said the Kinvaras would be good for me. They are light as air – I weighed them and they are only 8 ounces each. I’m going to use them on my shorter runs on the trail since it is nice soft dirt.

By the time I got home I was ravenous, so I made a sandwich with Wegman’s bbq turkey, provolone, lettuce and pesto, and a wheatberry (what a surprise) salad with cucumber, feta cheese, olives and hummus.

I felt very Mediterranean.

This afternoon, while it was 99 degrees, I went to the pool to do some laps. The pool water was also about 99 degrees. Ugh. It was warm when I jumped in, and when I put my face in the water it actually felt hot. I managed 500 meters, then sat out for a while, but I couldn’t stand the thought of getting back in there for another 500 meters so I came home. Too hot for swimming! Is it possible to sweat in a pool?

For dinner I made a veggie salad with imitation crab and some of this sauce that I bought at Wegman’s. There was a woman giving samples of it, and it is so good. I am a sucker for people giving out samples.

Tomorrow morning I’ll get up early and do my long run. Ten miles is on the schedule for this week, but the group only did 6 today due to the heat. I don’t think I need to do more than six, my half marathon is still 11 weeks away and according to Matt Frazier’s schedule (I love that guy!) I only have to do 5 this week.

Mr. Lemon has been away since Wednesday, and I have been sleeping so soundly. You don’t realize how badly you sleep until the thing that makes you sleep badly (snoring husband) is not there. I swear I don’t budge until my alarm goes off (well, maybe I get up once or twice to go to the bathroom). I have two more nights of good sleep until he gets back. Anyone have a good solution for a snoring husband? I have slept in other rooms, but I love my own bed. And he won’t sleep anywhere else unfortunately. Ideas are welcome!