run ON! Bayou City Classic 10k '13

pre-race breakfast was 2 egg whites and a big bowl of expanding oats (1/2 cup rolled oats cooked in 1 cup water and 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk) topped with frozen blueberries, banana chunks and cinnamon!  i normally don't eat THAT much before a long run, but i woke up so hungry that i had to put something in my system that would stick.

walking to the start line  with no rain this time!  last year it rained the entire race AND during the post-race party, boooo.

 traditional feet pic :lol:

52-53 min and some change later,

DONEZO! the route was a tad bit different this year and there were hills, hill, and mo hills, whew.  that Allen Parkway is a beast.

oh how i wish i could have taken pics of all the inspirational and funny things i saw:

1. i had just made it to the halfway point when a woman on a bike heading the opposite way yelled out 'it's fit foodie!!!' are you kidding me!? if you could have SEEN my face light the heck UP as i cheesed, waved, and yelled hello back! i could not see you very well at ALL but THANK YOU FOR MAKING MY YEAR, LADY!!  XOXO!

2.  spectator sign: 'don't stop! ain't nobody got time fo dat!'

3.  people often run in teams or 'centipedes' and are linked together by a rope of some sort so that they can finish together. teamwork at its finest!   i passed a team with a gentleman running alongside his IV.  i did a double take for sure!  yes, the stand with the wheels, the fluid bag, the WHOLE NINE.  he was out there doing his thing.  if he can....

4. one thing i did NOT witness was someone biting the dust, hard.  happens every year.  people, you gotta watch where you are going, especially running in the streets of downtown Houston. *knocks on wood*

ran into a college buddy of mine just before hitting up the post-race party.  amazing run, Warren!

first things first, had to get my t-shirt before the line got too crazy. this was nothin.

i tucked it away in my bag cause i needed two free hands for all the samples i was about to acquire!! here we go:

could it be?  yep, Blue Bell ice cream sandwiches and fruit pops.

stopped by the Clif Bar sample station,

peanut butter chocolate something!

the My Fit Foods associate called this mixture 'Morning Glory'.  it's brown rice, eggs, lean ground turkey, and cheese all mixed together. it was good and something i'd throw together at home for sure.

fresh fruit (bananas and oranges), cereal bars, and scones were provided by Whole Foods,

and Fuel Kitchen supplied the breakfast tacos this year, not HEB.  they were delicious though- i had eggs and chorizo in mine.  a friend has been raving about the Philadelphia location to me and i can finally go experience the food for myself, sweet! great turn out again this year!  always a pleasure and honor to participate in helping preserve Houston's bayous, trees, and the environment :)

goodie bag, food, coupons, t-shirt. it's a wrap. time for a nap.

there were tons more sponsors there, check out the ones i didn't mention.

4 years running and counting!

Q: have you eaten at Fuel Kitchen & Health Bar? is there one in your city?

le

WFM KATY <3

feast your eyes on the awesomeness that is Whole Foods Market............. KATY, TX.

i pulled up like 3 minutes before go time and hopped my butt right on in line.

they had some great grand opening deals, and fresh wild salmon was one of them!  they were selling like hot cakes under that tent up there for 5.99 a lb.

as i neared the door, i heard....music?  there was a live orchestra back there, even though you can't tell at all from this pic.  that's how WFM does it!  it didn't make the weather any warmer, but it was a nice touch.

this is the very first pic of the madness once i stepped foot in the store.  this is NOTHIN!  there were still a ton of peeps behind me.

:shock: the freshest produce ever in life :shock:

beautiful berries!

how can you not want one of everything?

so i was caught on camera using my own camera. (l)  #awkward!   i have no idea what station he was affiliated with but i do hope it was a major network LOL

beans, beans, the musical fruit!

the beloved bulk bins.  i couldn't pass up getting a couple scoops of pumpkin flax granola.

this is THE cleanest this area will ever be in life. lol

ok i have a confession.  my phone straight DIED a few minutes after i took this pic and i was devastated. seriously.  i went to bed with a full battery and did not put it on the charger and because i have soooooo much crap on my phone these days and have yet to order an SD card.  which means my battery is toast in a matter of hours. soooooo, i sped through the store and came back a few hours later with my bro for lunch.  hey i had a dr's appointment and was out anyway ;)

 i'll pick back up where i left off-

fresh

meat!

would i like a sample?  do you know who i am?

'air chilled' is a new term i said i'd google later. the tender was super juicy!

right, Matt?

and wow, that camera man was still there.

 these were so cute. and true.

we rounded a corner of the store and walked past the gourmet grilled cheese and specialty beer station.

it was a little after lunch time here and the store was CRACKIN'.

and then we saw a walking banana and had to get a pic!  and yes...i've officially been #photobombed by the lovely shopper behind us.

twice, smh!!!! who does these types of things!? i thought you only photobombed people you know!

we kept going and passed the delectable desserts...

just looking!

they had pizza samples left and right, mmmmm.

next up was the prepared foods section.

man...food presentation at its finest. *DROOLING*

this was matt's incentive for coming with me. free lunch!  he got a sammich at the sammich station.

gettin' mo samples...sushi samples.

it was a shrimp, avocado,  multigrain rice roll; lovely combo!

we turned around and saw several fresh food bars like the olive one above,

and this multicultural one.  variety is something WF never lacks!

so many overwhelming options to choose from.

 and uuuuuuuuweeeeeeee that 8.49 per lb. hurts my HEART!  especially when i remember when it was 2.99.........

last thing on this side of the store was the cool coffee bar.

more samples on the way to checkout- this tasted like kombaucha soda. not bad!

i meant to get some canned tuna while i was there so i cut through the frozen foods aisle and ran into this thing-  i thought it just rotated commercials and advertisements all day long, but nope, i touched the screen and was wowed immediately!

'touch a produce item for recipes and information.'

um, OK!!!

recipes, ideas, and tips galore! what a fantastic tool!

wait, how did i end up here?  focus!!!

got the tuna and headed to checkout, but not before passing up the to-go bakery case.... YUMMERS

seating area was CRAY-CRAY so we went home to eat.

i'm sure this area will be boomin' once Houston weather warms back up.

more samples outside!? of course! just some grilled fillet mignon, no big deal.

they even have their very own food truck(s).  i'm not surprised!

smelled amazing...

i'll save it for the next trip.

OH, a lady was standing at the door on our way out with a basket FULL of free grocery bags!  i loved this pattern the second i saw it.

juuuust expanding my grocery bag collection.

see, i didn't do too bad at all! this was nothin.

tuna, kettlecorn, bell peppers (5 for 5 dollar deal), pumpkin flax granola, and a loaf of seeduction bread for my mama.

aaaand the very last #foodie shot- half of Matt's reuben flat bread wrap. delish!

i think ALL but like one of my friends can stand grocery shopping lol!

Q: have you ever attended a store's grand opening? any store!

le

@ my desk

no more start/stop- catching up NOW.

good monday that is almost over to you!!

this will be crazy random but just stay with me.

i hope you guys are using and being creative the IG food pics- that's definitely some of my motivation for posting.

this was lunch @ my desk last Friday:

100 calorie multi-grain english muffin, grilled chicken breast, avocado, spicy mustard, and a crispy red bell pepper.  since my job is waaaaaaaaay closer to Trader Joe's than my house, i stopped by there to get a few specialty items on my lunch break that day.

more eggplant humus wish it came in a big TUB.

i can pronounce everything. that's the kind of ingredient list i like to see and the kind you should look for as often as possible.  also, natural, no additives or preservatives means eat it sooner than later! won't last but a few days.

also got some sweet sugar snap peas for dipping! in the car.

 i walked into TJ's with intent to restock my fig butter, but as soon as those double entrance doors parted, i walked straight up to a tower of pumpkin butter.  clever is that seasonal marketing. they also had honey apple butter and i couldn't leave without it.  i did leave the mango butter for next time though.

i hit up HEB, Whole Foods, and Sams this weekend to do my real shopping.  i got my sample on of course,

  *high five*, HEB.  but zero points for presentation.  steak pizzaiola, italian chicken sausage soup, and creamy potato casserole was served at one of their live sample stations. oh God, those potatoes though :shock: . i always grab a recipe card to see just what they put in those samples and they never fail to freak me out.  full-fat heavy cream and cream cheese is what made those potatoes so darn good!  but they were sample size sooooo i proceeded to enjoy.

i got outta there with my usual stuff plus a few specialty items.

my kitchen island stays just like this for the most part.  i like to keep my produce out where i can see it cause i'll forget about it in the fridge and it's more likely to spoil.  gonna go ahead and add 'personal grocery shopper' to my resume, seriously!!! i could do this every day.

i've been using the sesame Ezekiel bread for the past few weeks, so i picked up the cinnamon raisin loaf this time.

i have sweet and savory dishes in mind for this puppy.

fat-free feta and goat cheese are still two dairy cheeses i won't be giving up (will expand on that shortly), but i was inspired to try almond cheese from a fellow health and fitness IGer.  i figure i love almond milk, so i'd prolly like the cheese too. uh, yeah! it melts, grates, and tastes just like dairy cheese and nutritional stats are awesome.  i'm impressed and sold.  gonna try some rice cheese too.

i've been a fan of Blue Diamond brand almond milk since Hungry-Girl introduced me to it a few years ago, but decided to try the Silk brand because of the lower calorie count.

it is so much more creamier than i was expecting! i may have been converted indefinitely...

I picked up some of Sonny's fav granola from Whole Foods - pumpkin flax.  it's the best granola (nutrtion-wise) in the bulk aisle line up.  140 cals and 5g of sugar per serving. read your labels- granola is more like a treat/dessert as the sugar content can be super high for some of them.  a few spoonfuls over some cottage cheese or yogurt or a small serving of it is just enough.

 granola + almond milk = one great bed time snack.  if only i could stop eating bowl after bowl.

lunch today @ my desk:

seeing red today for meal 2-  grilled chicken breast, avocado, red bell pepper, tomato, spicy mustard and honey apple butter.  wrapped all up in a La Tortilla Factory white-wheat soft wrap with some strawberries on the side.

i snuck in some sugar snap peas and eggplant humus too.

we had some GORGEOUS weather in Houston today!! Sonny hates the cold and is already griping about having to stop his outside runs.  he still has time to take advantage though cause it will be hot again like tomorrow.

cajun crusted tilapia recipe coming up next.

le

Trader Joe's H-O-U-S-T-O-N!!!

the cardio horse is back in her saddle! after a week off from teaching my Lifetime classes, it's great to be BACK.  burnout is a lose-lose for the instructor and the members... breaks always re-energize and re-fuel me to teach the best class i possibly can. especially at 530am.

after 1 hr of Total Conditioning, i jumped on my fav elliptical machine and did 45 minutes of fat-burning cardio and called it a day. no more gym for me until tomorrow...maybe even thursday!! no more two a days. for now!  until i decide to compete again (i'm sure i will) i'm focusing on maintaining my current weight, give or take a few pounds.

all i could think about was breakfast on my way home as usual.

so i'm back on the clean eating train. as of yesterday.  for the most part.  i've been adding extra things (for example, the tomatoes and asparagus ) to my meals that i normally couldn't when i was preparing for my show.  usually what i add doesn't really affect the total calorie count of the meal anyway.  extra veggies is nothing compared to an extra egg or some meat or something, you know?!

second shot of meal 1,

and here's meal 2 so far.  i'm sticking with 5-6 small meals a day.  my body responds so well to this routine so i'm keeping it going.  try it out and see how your body responds!

so, Houston has just become that much cooler.

Sonny and i made it back in time from Jamaica to attend the grand opening extravaganza of Trader Joe's this past Friday, Sept. 21st.

If you are familiar with H-town, then you know that this historic building was once a theater, then a book store for 25 years, and finally the home of our very 1st TJ's! we didn't even go home first- it was that important.  to me.

taking pics to pass the time while Sonny finished his phone call.

8 days later and my 'show' hair is already in a pony tail.

walking up- i love that they kept and used the old school marquee.

getting started. the store is not as big as i anticipated, but it was still jam-packed with a ton of cool items. it was lunch time AND the grand opening so space got a little tight.  i didn't mind.

Joe's O's for Chiso.

saying a prayer and thanking God for these low sodium rice cakes!!! i used to get the popular Lundberg brown rice cakes, but why have one of those when i can have TWO of Joe's for a 10 cal difference?!

sampling some kinda fresh squeezed juice. and  yep, that's my tummy.  i left my abs in Jamaica.

i definitely grabbed something off of every isle.

ok people are going absolutely nuts over this stuff and i completely understand.  i passed a tower of it on the way to checkout and thought to myself  'man i wonder what that tastes like!!'. i literally looked up and walked right into a store associate shoving a sampling spoon of it right in my face!!  of course i'll take some! our cashier told us it's their top-selling item right now and that they will be coming out with a crunchy version for the Christmas holidays.  Lord have mercy.

turkey jerky!!!!!!! haven't had this stuff since my Cali trip back in 2010.  great high protein, low-fat snack.

what i ended up with- roasted seaweed snacks, popping corn, unsalted pb filled pretzels, unsalted rice cakes, turkey jerky, lite coconut milk, unsweetened apple sauce, Joe's O's (whole grain cereal), lobster rolls, black mission figs, organic pizza sauce, lactose-free milk, fresh sugar snap peas, coconut oil, goat cheese, fat-free feta, egg-plant humus, egg whites, spicy mustard, fig butter,  and some fresh fruit.  no cookie butter yet!!!

i was expecting to go well over 100, maybe even 150. but i did NOT break the bank.  gotta love those reasonable prices for organic, natural, fresh foods.  i'm THRILLED that TJ's is finally here and will gladly make the drive to visit.

after buying all that delicious food, what does Sonny want for lunch? Mission Tortilla.  because he was a great sport and even came grocery shopping with me i shut my trap right up :shock:

i waited til we got home to fix my lunch.  here are some of the items up close for you to look for on your TJ's trip.

the fig butter is AWESOME- and no, there isn't a drop of butter in it.  it even says that on the package. "To be a butter, a spread must contain more fruit than sugar.."

whole wheat pita pockets and eggplant humus - only 35 cals per 2 tbsp. serving!

there was no cooked meat (ok fresh cooked meat) in our house since we had been gone for a week, so i made some fig and feta tuna and grilled a whole wheat pita to go with it.

my seasonings for the tuna. i almost ALWAYS add boiled eggs to my tuna, but i was too hungry to wait!

i also spread some of the fig butter and eggplant humus on the pita bread-

DELICIOUS.

what else can you put fig butter on? it's great in wraps too- i made a grilled chicken, kale, tomato, avocado wrap on a whole wheat tortilla for my next meal.  the spicy salty mustard and the sweet fig go great together. try it.

what are your favorite must have Trader Joe's items?? and have you tried the cookie butter :lol:

le