Layers

Its a bit chillier then usual tonight, so I must layer up before going to Booty Camp!

You may recall this post I did a while back, that outlines what I wear running during the winter months.

With the white stuff rapidly approaching, I'm sure there are some new runners out there who may be curious about what to wear as the temperatures get cooler.

Here are some other articles regarding winter running.

1) About.com

2) Runners World this is a cool little chart thingy - check it out!!

3) Cool Running

Happy trails!

I caved…

and bought Twilight today. After finishing the Sookie books I guess I realized I don’t really hate vampires as much as I thought I did.

Food has been great today, it looked a little like this:

B- Whipped cottage cheese, FF yogurt, and a pear

S- banana

L- leftover soup, apple

S- FF yogurt/kiwi

AP: INTENSE spinning class. I was a sweaty beast after.

S- granola bar (not core)

D- chicken stir fry with couscous, 1 slice of WWer bread (not core)

I made the stir fry sauce using fish sauce, soy sauce, chilis and a little honey. Totally hit the spot.

Its amazing what a couple days of clean eating can do for the soul. I’m feeling A LOT better after just a few days.

Curry Pumpkin/Squash Soup

Ok, I’ve said this in the past and I feel I need to reiterate it once again. I SUCK AT WRITING RECIPES, so please bare with me.

I had a can of pumpkin to use up, and was craving a curry flavour so I came up with this amazing soup!

Ingredients:

• 1 can pumpkin
• 1 butternut squash
• 1 acorn squash
• spritz of olive oil
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 2 tbsp curry
• 1 tsp ginger
• cinnamon
• cumin*
• nutmeg*
• 2 cans condensed reduced sodium chicken broth
• 1 can of pure pumpkin
• 1 can lite coconut milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Cut both squash in half, spritz with EVOO, sprinkle with S&P and a little cinnamon. Bake until soft.
3. Sautee onion until soft in a little EVOO. Add curry, ginger, cinnamon, cumin and nutmeg to allow the flavor to come out in the heat.
4. Add chicken broth, squash meat and canned pumpkin to the onion.
5. Use an immersion blender to puree the mixture.
6. Once smooth add coconut milk and heat through.

* I added these spices after the fact, as I found my combination a little bland. The addition of cumin and nutmeg made the flavours POP!

I had a serving tonight with a little steamed broccoli and leftover salmon from last night. Soooo good! I reused my lunch container, hence the ugly bowl.

Smooth, delicious and a perfect way to warm up on a chilly evening!

Pre-workout Fuel

I have Booty Camp tonight at 7h30 – Providing there isn’t a thunderstorm.

With my new commitment to Core, I whipped up this little snack. FF cottage cheese blended with FF yogurt, topped with strawberries, banana and a few Fibre One worms.

Pretty for the picture:

Mixed up for enjoying.

 

I can’t stand the texture of cottage, so a give it a whirl in the blender. Today I actually used my immersion blender since my real blender has been packed away. Worked great!

Feeling grrrrrrrreat!

I ended up going to the gymbo today. I chose to kill two birds with one stone and hit up a Goodlife that is in a Loblaws.

I ran on the hamster wheel for 50 mins, then did Body Pump. I haven’t done a Pump class in forever, so it felt great!

It had been a while since we did groceries, and I did a HUGE haul. $100 worth of fresh eats.

Dinner tonight was: Salmon, broccoli, corn and salad. YUM.

 

I’ve said this a MILLION times… but I’m going to be following the old Weight Watchers Core program again. It get a little to hopped up on sugar and carbs, so I think its best for me to detox for a little while. I’m not in super duper running mode, so I can afford to minimize the carb intake without killing myself.

It was a damp afternoon, so Andrew and I spent some time snuggled on the couch. Usually Sam joins us, but today Andrew left Jersey up first. (Grrr… No dogs on the furniture!!) Much to my surprise, Sam joined her!! All four of us were on the couch at the same time… here was the view from my end:

Sometimes I think I might be the ‘fun police’ of dog owners. We have Jersey trained not to go upstairs -I don’t think dogs belong in the bedroom, and I hate dog hair near my clothing etc. I also don’t let her on the furniture. I’m a softy when it comes to the cats though…. Samuel sleeps at the end of our bed every night. Lewis is anti-social and sleeps on the steps. Weirdo.

 What are your rules for your pets?

Sleeeeep

I slept until 11h3o this morning. That NEVER happens! I was shocked.

I woke up feeling completely rested. I suppose that is a good thing.

Its a cool damp morning, which screamed oatmeal. With the Fall season upon us, it also screamed PUMPKIN oats.

I present my first bowl of pumpkin oats of the season, with a homemade non fat americano misto with some cinnamon dolce sugar free syrup. YUM.

My weekend hasn’t exactly been a prime example of a healthy living lifestyle. The complete opposite actually. Friday night, my beautiful old roomie and her husband came for a visit from Toronto.

Katie and Amy after too many gins.

Katie and I had big plans to hit up Body Attack on Saturday morning. Our wine turned into gin, and that was all she wrote. No exercise yesterday.  Katie and Mark had a wedding to attend, so Andrew and I went to see the new Trailer Park Boys movie (boring) with some other friends. We went out for dinner first. I had the Stacked Sandwich with a side salad. At 840 calories it certainly wasn’t my best choice, but it wasn’t the worst either. It was actually totally tasty and I enjoyed every bit.

 

Grilled seasoned chicken breast, crisp panko-breaded Cheddar
cheese, bacon, tomatoes, Granny Smith apple slices and orange
poppy seed slaw stacked on a fresh ciabatta bun. $12.99

Not much on the agenda for today. I NEED to get in a good workout. I’m thinking of doing the Booty Camp Fitness DVD and maybe a run outdoors. Its cold and rainy, but they are my favorite running conditions. My other option is to hit up the gymbo, as I have to go out for groceries anyways.

I have a can of pure pumpkin to use up. Thinking of making some soup…. anyone have a healthy/tasty pumpkin soup recipe they’d like to share?

Good Things Are Happening!

I've had a crazy busy day. Its 10:52, and I'm only just sitting down for some relaxation. I zoomed home after work to perfect the house a little for a viewing. I had French lessons at 7h30 all the way across the city, and I stopped at Bouclair Home on the way to check out their bedding selection.

FYI: French was pretty rough.

I stopped at Subway on my way home from French, as I was craving the Buffalo Chicken sub.

I found out the hard way they are no longer carrying it. NOOOOOOOOO!! I told the charming young guy at the counter that this warranted a letter of some sort to the big whigs at Subway. It was the BEST sub ever!!

With the hectic evening, there was no workout tonight. Booo. I sense this may be becoming a trend with our house being listed. Selling our maison takes priority over sweat sessions unfortunately.

Seems as though good things are happening to many of my fellow bloggers of late... TV interviews, book deals, magazine appearances, new jobs! Makes me all warm in fuzzy inside.

Its a constant reminder of what an amazing community this really is.

In light of warm and fuzzy feelings, I leave you with my favorite fuzzy beast.

Sweat Fest 2009

If Booty Camp were to have a festival name this evening, I would have dubbed it Sweat Fest 2009. I found it ridculously hot and humid this evening, which made the workout EXTRA challenging. I think the motivation was lacking all around, but somehow we all channeled our energy and made it through the workout in one (albeit broken) piece.

One set that I found particularly challenging was the following:
10 squats feet together
10 squats feet shoulder width apart
10 wide squats
10 plié squats.

If that wasn't bad enough, then we went back through the moves and held each squats for 30 seconds. It was uhhh, EFFECTIVE (read: TORTURE!)

I had prepped some spaghetti before leaving, but the intense workout zapped my appetite so I had a bowl of Fibre One, with banana and yogurt to refuel.

I don't have any food pictures today, but I will leave you with this... just because he is the cutest thing ever.

I was planning on posting a picture of my cat Samuel, whom I missed dearly whilst gorging myself on food and wine last night. However, I'm on Andrew's computer and apparently he's installed the new Windows and I have NO idea where he stores his pictures now. He has about 27 hard drives on his computer... and I don't have the patience to search!

Girls just wanna have fun!

When the boys are away, the girls get to play!

I must preface this post by telling you that I woke up early today to sneak in a 45 min run with Jersey, knowing that tonight will be a little high on the calorie side. It was actually a great workout. We ran 10 mins to the soccer field close to my house. At that point, I let Jersey off leash and let her a) chase seagulls b) chase me c) roll around like a crazy lady. Whilst my dog was having the time of her life, I ran sprints up and down the length of the field. There is also a huge tobaggon hill at the park, so I ran up and down it 10 times too. End result = sweaty mess.

My friend Amie's husband is away on business, so she invited me over an old school mid-week sleepover! She picked me up after work, and we headed back to her house to prepare a feast.

On the menu:

Shrimp cocktail, smoked salmon, brie and pepper jelly

PC Dim sum = delcious AND steamed (read: partially healthy)

Naan and PC Onion and Cheddar Dip

And my personal favorite was the Warm Bok Choy and Oyster Mushroom salad. Delicious and healthy!

There MAY have been some Mike Weir Chardonnay (I figure if he's good at golf, he should be able to do wine?) and a little ice cream for dessert.

Now, I'm going to chug some water and watch some TV. Its like being on a little vacation here. I love it. Thanks for being such a great host Amie!

On a side note, I'd like to say hi to my fellow Booty Campers who may be stopping by my blog tonight. See you tomorrow night... don't forget to smile for the camera!! :)

Mish Mosh Post

My girlfriend turned 30 this weekend. All of her family lives out East… her parents and her in-laws came for a visit to mark this momentous occasion.

We rented a pontoon boat at Mt. Tremblant, QC and cruised the waters. It was absolutely freeeeezing, but after a while it warmed up and we all had a wonderful time.

My handsome husband, and the b-day girl’s adorable dog Jasper.

 

Picturesque Mt. Tremblant. It was the first time I’ve been there without snow. Beautiful!

 

I was freezing. I stayed wrapped in a blanket the whole time pretty much!

   

My future home? :)

Best part of the day: the amazing cake. How cool is that cake?!

All in all, it was pretty much a weekend of sloth but I did wake up extra early to fit in the Booty Camp Fitness exercise DVD. It was a great little workout!

Speaking of Booty Camp Fitness, I’m heading there shortly. Here is my snack prior to leaving. Probably classified as a little large for a “snack” but I’ll have something similar when I get home for supper as I won’t home until after 9pm.

 

Looking forward to a good sweat session. I’m craving exercise!

Wow

Making your house look like a museum is HARD work.

I am craving an intense workout.

I feel puffy and gross.

Gotta get back on track, despite the crazy situation/chaos that is my life.

Scary Stuff

We have an accepted offer in on our dream house.

Now, we just have to sell ours.

Meeting our agent tonight to list our home.

(side note: I’m watching Y&R for the first time in months. Apparently Victor has been shot? NOOO)

I came home early to tidy up, but we still have a TON of decluttering to do. I’ve come to the conclusion, if I didn’t have any clothing I would be a neat and tidy person.

I think my plan will be to procure some big plastic bins and store everything in our shed. Thoughts?

Any tips on how to live in a house that’s listed? Particularly a house that we share with 2 felines and a pootchie?

Perhaps this is an option?

Its a good thing they’re cute!

 

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Frig

I just wrote a novel length post in Live Writer and when I went to hit submit, I got the blue screen of death.

Thus you get the point form summary:

• Buying and selling houses at the same time is tough
• I’m really enjoy the variety of different workouts I’m getting at Booty Camp
• I think its pretty shameless that a handful of bloggers are plugging their own blogs for Food Buzz awards.
• My workout clothes smell like crotch sweat.
• Without getting into too many details… please keep my Dad in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow. I love that man to bits… and he really is all I’ve got.
• I’m really happy I put a chicken in the slow cooker this morning so that I could easily whip up this for supper:

open faced hot chicken sammich with fresh local carrots and green beans. YUM!

 

Night! :)

Baked Falafel?

Booty Camp Fitness sends out a recipe of the day. Today I received one that peaked my interest: Baked Falafel.

I have to admit, I’ve never had a ‘real’ falafel, but based on the ingredients… I knew I’d like it.

15 1/2 oz canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup parsley, or cilantro, fresh, chopped
1 medium garlic clove, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp tahini
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp water
4 whole wheat pitas
lettuce
Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Combine chickpeas, onion, parsley, garlic, cumin, coriander, salt and baking soda in a food processor or blender. Process until mixture is coarsely pureed and transfer to large bowl. Stir in flour; shape mixture into 4 patties and let stand for 15 minutes.
Spray a large ovenproof skillet with cooking spray and place over medium-high heat (if you don't have an ovenproof skillet, make sure to cover the handle of your skillet with aluminum foil before heating). Add patties and cook until golden brown, flipping once, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer pan to oven and bake 10 minutes.
Whisk together tahini, lemon juice, and water.
To assemble sandwiches, place 2 lettuce leaves inside each pita, add 1 falafel patty and drizzle with 1 tablespoon tahini dressing. Serves 4.

I didn’t exactly read the directions properly when I did the prep. I ended up putting everything into the food processor. My patties were more like a hummus texture, so I added some more ground chickpeas to firm it up a little bit! The flavour was spot on though!

I didn’t really care for the tahini dressing though. Next time I think I’d add some tzatziki instead. All in all though, a great meal!

The end result: 

I did well today. Food was spot on.

Exercise was low intensity, but better then sitting on the couch. My good running shoes were still soaked from last nights workout so I used a pair of my old runners and hit the streets with Jersey in tow for 1.5 hours. Weee!

Have a great night!

Amy's Twice Baked Sweet Taters

Ingredients:
2 sweet potatoes
2-3 tbsp ff/light cream cheese
1 tbsp brown sugar
splash of vanilla
1-2 tsp of margarine/butter*
toasted almond slivers or walnuts
salt and pepper to taste

*this can likely be removed if you want, but lets be honest. EVERYTHING tastes better with a little buttah!

Directions:

1. Cook potatoes in microwave until 90% cooked.
2. Slice in half and scoop out 'meat'. I like to leave a little border of potato meat in the skin to help it maintain its shape.
3. Mash potatoes with all the ingredients except the nuts.
4. Spoon mixture back into the shells
5. Top with nuts and bake at 400 for 5-10 mins. I bbqed mine, and they also turned out great!

I just kind of invented this recipe, so I apologize for my lack of recipe writing skills! I assure you, they are super tasty and would be a great side dish at Thanksgiving!

Soaked to the BONE!

Its raining in Ottawa. Like teaming rain.

Guess who has Booty Camp from 7h30-8h30?

Guess who's class wasn't cancelled?!

All it all it wasn't THAT bad aside from the fact that my shirt, although made of wicking material, weighed about 300 pound by the end of the class! I felt pretty hardcore to tell you the truth. I run in the rain all the time, but there was something that made it even more harcore doing cardio drills, squats, lunges, planks and wall sits with the rain pouring down!

I have some pretty excellent news regarding the 15 week challenge.

A beautiful/wonderful/AMAZING reader Allison and I are teaming up (read: she's doing all the work) to make the reporting SUPER easy and low maintenance. I'm pretty pumped. Stay tuned for more details.

Sunday Evening

The home renos continued this weekend. New carpet on our 4 flights of stairs. Home Depot quoted us almost $2000, and we found a local handyman, and he installed it and bought the carpet for $900!

Not bad eh? I love love love it!

Before: Ugly ass pink

After: Neutral Berber

Supper tonight was pretty fantastic. Ribs, twice baked sweet potato cauliflower.

It was a good day. Andrew chilled at home while the carpet dude was there and let me run the roads. I hit up Body Combat, took Jersey to the park and cooked dinner. I love weekends with zero plans.

Back to work tomorrow, but thats ok. Have a great evening.

Hair addict?

The lovely Jaime called me a hair addict via Twitter the other day.

I have to admit, I do get my hair done every 6 weeks but this is out of necessity. My hair grows like a weed.

With the cooler months approaching, its time to darken down  a little for fall.

This time last year, I did a full color to darken down.

You may or may not know, that I went pretty blond this summer. After 2 attempts, I loved then end result.

I have grown quite fond of my lighter hair, but its really high maintenence because my hair grows so fast.

I wasn’t quite ready to go totally dark yet, so my superstar hair dresser added low-lights and toner to get this:

Please excuse the quality, I took it using my blackberry at work yesterday.

You know what? Looking through my pictures folder, maybe I am a hair addict… or maybe I’m obessed with taking pictures of myself and my new hair?

A look at some of the ‘dos over the last couple of years

   

    

Okay Jaime… I am obsessed! :)