before i go to bed

clearly i have a 10k to run in 11 hours!!! i met up with a friend of mine at Cafe Adobe for an early dinner after work tonight.  mexican food is one of my weaknesses, but i did a pretty darn good job of keeping my cool. i don't want no tummy trouble (nor do the runners behind me) tomorrow.   the chip basket did NOT phase me tonight like it usually does! i'm so proud.  didn't eat any.  not a one.  normally i'd order a quesadilla or something cheesy, but i kept it light and went with a cup of tortilla soup and a dinner salad.

pretty good.  nice sized chicken chunks, fresh avocado, tomato, and tortilla strips made the soup hearty and filling. the salad was fresh and crisp.  i also had some tangy avocado ranch dressing on the side.   my friend's plate looked and smelled scrumptious.

it was sizzling beef something..i can't remember. looks like fajitas with peppers and onions and a side of cilantro rice. the portion sizes were just right and  that creamy green stuff was delicious! tasted like avocado mousse.

 i'm up reading my newest mag and snacking on sweet & salty check mix....

i'm gonna pick out a celebratory dessert to make for after tomorrow's run, ha.  ipod is charging and i'm hitting the sack, NOW. g'nite!

le

90 mins in the saddle

my hat goes off to MS150 (150 mile bike ride from houston to austin, tx) participants and pretty much cyclist EVERYWHERE as i barely got through the 1.5 hr. spinning class i took this afternoon.  and don't even let me get started on that bike seat, my goodness.  once you get past that (it really shouldn't bother you anymore after the first few times) the positives totally outweigh the negatives and the benefits of cycling are pretty awesome.  i don't own a performance bike yet, but i do a cycle class (also referred to as spin) 3 or 4 times a month to shock my body, change up my workout, and to keep from plateauing.  also, it's:

i don't know any unicyclers, but i love how this chart shows various body weights and different types of cycling. the more detail, the better.

Activity (1 hour)
130 lb
155 lb
180 lb
205 lb
Cycling, mountain bike, bmx
502
598
695
791
Cycling, <10 mph, leisure bicycling
236
281
327
372
Cycling, >20 mph, racing
944
1126
1308
1489
Cycling, 10-11.9 mph, light
354
422
490
558
Cycling, 12-13.9 mph, moderate
472
563
654
745
Cycling, 14-15.9 mph, vigorous
590
704
817
931
Cycling, 16-19 mph, very fast, racing
708
844
981
1117
Unicycling
295
352
409
465
Stationary cycling, very light
177
211
245
279
Stationary cycling, light
325
387
449
512
Stationary cycling, moderate
413
493
572
651
Stationary cycling, vigorous
620
739
858
977
Stationary cycling, very vigorous
738
880
1022
1163

looking to slim down overall?  mix up your workouts and try spinning as your cardio component sometimes.  don't worry, you don't have to go buy those special cycling shoes if you don't want to.

 most gyms have the bikes with the dual pedal, so you can't use that excuse.  just go try the class!

i went grocery shopping with my mom and aunt yesterday (hey, it's what we do) so i have a fridge full of goodies.  this morning before church i had a small bowl of yogurt with some blackberries, almonds, pumpkin flax granola from WF, and my prenatal vitamin.  didn't need any honey as the granola was sweet enough.

but back to our grocery shopping trip yesterday-  HEB had this awesome soup we sampled and i snagged the recipe card for it:

it was so, so good. creamy, cheesy, all that.  after actually reading the recipe card tho, i see why. velveeta cheese and 1 WHOLE pint of heavy cream!!! i love you regardless, but really HEB?   since they didn't supply the nutritional stats, i did them myself.

8oz of velveeta - 672 cals

1 jar of tortilla soup - 280 cals

1 can black beans - 300 cals

1 pint heavy cream - 1642 <----WOW

i haven't even added the darn chicken yet and we are already at 2894 calories.  i knew i could do better, so you know i did. i used just two chicken breasts instead of an entire bag of fajita chicken thighs (284 cals vs. 720).  i threw them in the crock pot and sprinkled them with just a little of my ranch dressing mix.  they were cooking while i was suffering in that cycle class.  after about 4 hours or so on high they were good to go as white meat normally cooks faster than dark.

 i took them out and let them cool before shredding. please know you can also pop them in a 350 deg. oven for about 45 mins or even grill them until they are cooked through evenly if you are short on time.

there's the jar of soup (280 cals), the sodium-less black beans (about 300 cals), and the half and half (71 cals for 1/2 cup).

pay no attention to that expiration date- i tasted it first L O L. i discarded all the leftover liquid from the chicken breasts, but i didn't wipe the crock pot clean. no need, as those flavor bits help to enhance the soup. i added all the ingredients back in, including the 5 laughing cow cheese wedges (175 cals total) i forgot to include in the pic.  then, i dumped in green onion and fresh cilantro.

i let it cook on high for just 1 hour so the wedges could melt- turned out as creamy and as fabulous as HEB's version, and i saved us over 600 calories a bowl. 903 vs. 277 to be exact.

topped it with some tortilla strips and pow.  (you get a free bag of strips when you buy the jarred soup.)

this will be our lunch for tomorrow- if we don't finish it all tonight!

le