Not Jimmy John’s!?!?

Whenever Ryan meets me downtown for lunch we go to Jimmy John’s.

I love it. Ryan loves it. It works.

Today, however, I just wasn’t feeling The John’s.

I met Ryan in the lobby of my office building and informed him of my odd change in cravings.

Shock set in.

Then Ryan said he was also craving something other than a Jimmy John’s sub, and randomly brought a gift card for a sushi restaurant with him.

Anytime someone suggests sushi, I’m game!

We headed to Bento, a quick, casual Asian and sushi restaurant, to grab some tasty rolls.

We ended up ordering two sushi rolls and a teriyaki chicken bowl that came with chicken, egg noodles, green beans and asparagus, and split everything between us.

Chicken + Noodles + Veggies

Sushi

All of our food was fresh and flavorful.

I really like how Bento offers a handful of sushi rolls without rice.

I was a little skeptical about the riceless rolls until I tried a piece that one of my coworkers ordered. I was amazed at how I didn’t even miss the rice! I’ve asked about riceless sushi rolls at other restaurants before and chefs will often try to accommodate my requests, which is great.

Of course I still like rice in my rolls, but ordering a roll sans rice is a great option for me when I’m ordering other things and want to enjoy a lighter sushi roll as well.

Dessert

Once we were finished eating, we headed next door to Mochi for frozen yogurt.

We enjoyed the combination we created the last time we visited Mochi so much that we decided to replicate it this afternoon.

Fro Yo Melts My Heart

Peanut butter frozen yogurt + Butterfinger pieces… and we added some chocolate-covered toffee pieced and cheesecake bits for good measure.

I loved having a little lunch date to break up the monotony of the work day. What a nice lil’ treat!

I am actually feeling quite sleepy (food coma, maybe?), and am looking forward to curling up on the couch and watching a movie when I get off work today.

Later tonight I have plans to meet up with some bloggers you may recognize (Woo!) and I can’t wait!

See ya later, alligators.

I Go Big

It seems that whenever I eat a meal I always end up with crumbs on my clothes, a smear of food on my face or chocolate on my arm. Yes, chocolate on my arm. This has happened multiple times. I don’t know how.

Today as I was eating my ham unwich at Jimmy John’s with Ryan, he motioned to the side of his mouth, signaling that I, yet again, had food stuck to the side of my mouth.

Pre Food-On-My-Face

Ham Unwich

“Why do I always do that?” I asked. “I always seem to ‘save some food for later’ when I eat!  This is ridiculous!”

Ryan said, “Don’t worry about it. When you eat, you just go big.”

I agreed. Mealtime isn’t for quitters in my book. 😉 Go big, or go home.

Ryan Goes Big at Mealtime, Too. One of the Many Reasons I Love Him.

Once we were done eating at Jimmy John’s, we headed over to Mochi for some soft serve.

I filled a cup with peanut butter soft serve and topped it off with Butterfinger pieces and shredded coconut.

PB + Butterfingers + Coconut

This combination was winner, winner, chicken dinner.

So good!

After finishing our soft serve Ryan and I talked about making tonight a “fro yo for dinner” night. We have yet to visit Menchie’s, a new soft serve place in Winter Park and tonight we may change this.

I also feel like being a little experimental in the kitchen this evening, so we’ll see how things end up!

Totally Random

I know this is totally random, but I am seriously loving the song “Dynamite” by Taio Cruz.

I can’t get enough of it. It came on while Ryan and I were eating our frozen yogurt and I wanted to drop my fro yo and break into a dance party on the spot. (Okay, maybe not drop the fro yo… More like place it to the side to enjoy after the song concluded.)

I wanted this song played on repeat during my bachelorette party last weekend and whenever it came on, it was like Christmas morning. I actually looked over at my sister dancing when it was playing and I felt like I was looking at myself dancing.

Turns out all the Bream girls dance the same: Not sexy, but with utter abandon.

At one point Leslie even busted out the cross your arms over your legs move.

A Classic

Obviously I had to join in.

We’re more of the “spin me around” and do the “Carlton” kinda girls than the “drop it like it’s hoooot” type.

Question of the Afternoon

What is your dancin’ style?

Plantar Fasciitis

Lunch!

Friday Lunch

Lunch today was a simple spread.

I enjoyed homemade tuna salad on top of a toasted bagel with green peppers and smoked almonds on the side.

Tuna Salad

Fishy Bagelwich

Good-for-Me Fats

I followed this yummy lunch up with a quick trip to Mochi.

Ryan was downtown visiting the DMV and when I received his text requesting a Mochi meet up, I jumped at the chance to join him for a quick 15-minute fro yo date!

I opted for cake batter/cheesecake swirl frozen yogurt, topped with mango, strawberries, rainbow sprinkles and cheesecake bits.

Mooooochi

Ryan and I also swung by Starbucks to share a grande Tazo Chai Créme Frappuccino because we’re sweet-tooth soul mates.

Chai Tea Frapp

Those of you non-coffee lovers should give this lil’ baby a try. It’s delish!

I enjoyed most all of the whipped cream and about a third of the Frapp.

Yum!

Now on to some less-than-exciting news…

Plantar Fasciitis

This just in: I may have plantar fasciitis. 😦

Yesterday around noon, I started to experience pain in my left heel.

I thought it was kind of odd and figured it would probably dissipate by the evening.

Unfortunately that was not the case.

I went to bed thinking it might feel better in the morning… Not so.

It doesn’t hurt at all when I am sitting, and the pain is pretty dull when I’m standing, but when I walk or run, the pain becomes fairly intense.

After BodyPump this morning, I approached the instructor (who is a personal trainer, marathon runner and knowledgeable about muscles and sports-related injuries) to ask for her insight about my pain.

After explaining where I felt pain and when the pain started (several hours after my morning run), she said it sounded a lot like plantar fasciitis, a condition characterized by inflammation of the band of tissue that connects the heel to the toes.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the condition is “particularly common in runners.”

• The good news: Ninety percent of people recover from plantar fasciitis.
• The bad news: Recovery usually takes several months.

This doesn’t exactly mesh well with my half marathon training plan.

I am really, really bummed. I am supposed to do a long run (10 miles) in the morning and I don’t see how that’s going to be possible if my heel still feels this pained.

I really want to run the half marathon in Chicago on August 1. I am hoping with all of my heart that the pain will be a passing pain that goes away soon. Cross your fingers!

In the mean time, I plan to ice my heel, stretch it and massage it.

I want to keep my cardiovascular strength up just in case the pain goes away in time for the half, so I will follow the advice of several orthopedic and running articles I read and supplement my running with cross training (swimming, biking, elliptical) until I feel like my heel is healed (Gotta love a good pun!).

I am trying not to be too dramatic about this injury, but I cannot help but remember when I had bursitis in my hip and literally couldn’t walk without pain for an entire summer. It was miserable and I was so upset. I don’t like not being able to walk without discomfort since walking is such a huge part of daily life and poor Sadie needs her morning walks!

"What am I supposed to do? Walk MYSELF!?"

I’m trying my best to look at this as simply an obstacle I must overcome.

It’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, though it’s really upsetting to me right now. I’m mostly upset because I’m supposed to be running the half marathon with my girlfriends at the conclusion of my bachelorette party in Chicago and I was really looking forward to doing something so neat with all of them.

Bummer!

I am injured, injured bad. 😉 (<– Click that link for a flippin’ adorable video that you’ve probably seen 5 billion times already.)

Question of the Afternoon?

Have you ever been sidelined from a sport or athletic training plan due to an injury? How did you cope?

(If any of you out there have experienced plantar fasciitis, please, please let me know how long it took for you to heal and how you recovered!)

Remember How Healthy…

Remember how healthy my breakfast and lunch were today?

Well, please reflect on those healthy meals as I show you what followed:

Cake!

Fro Yo

I just had to take a quick trip to Mochi when I learned they had cake batter and piña colada flavors on tap today.

When I texted Ryan with this news, I received a text that said he’d be there in30 minutes in response.

Clearly he was excited as well. 😀

Mochi Monster

Heaven on a Spoon

Sometimes we need a little sweet treat to kick off the weekend on the right foot!

What sweet treat have you enjoyed (or will you enjoy) today?

From Cardio Queen to Strength-Training Machine

Well look who it is!!!

Mah Date!

This afternoon Ryan met me downtown for a lunch date at Jimmy John’s, followed by dessert at Mochi.

I love lunch dates! They help break up the monotony of the work day and I get to enjoy lunch away from my desk which is a treat.

As usual, I ordered a turkey unwich for my meal while Ryan stuck to his beloved bootlegger club.

Unwich

Bootlegger Club

Though I adore Jimmy John’s, this is the second visit in a row where they’ve messed up my order. Last time they added peppers to my unwich (too spicy for me!) and this time they forgot to include the turkey! Luckily they remade my sandwich both times, but I’m beginning to feel like I should write my order down for them!

After inhaling our main meals, it was time for some frozen yogurt.

Mochi, here we come!!!

We knew we’d be making a stop for the cold ‘n’ creamy dessert when I heard that Mochi had red velvet soft serve (*my favorite*) on tap.

The Best

Red Velvet + Sprinkles + Chocolate Caramels

I’m convinced I could eat my body weight in this stuff.

Though we stuck to the red velvet flavor, we both really enjoyed our free samples of the Lovers flavor, a new combination of strawberry + mango.

Lovers!

Of course we had to take a picture with my lover in front of the lovers sign. (This was actually Ryan’s idea. He’s becoming a blog genius. 😉 )

Krema & Crazy Richards Peanut Butter Giveaway Winners

Congratulations to the following winners of the Krema & Crazy Richards peanut butter giveaway:

• coffeeismycarrot: “My favorite use for PB is a good ole PB&J. Classic! Or smeared on a banana…or on oatmeal. I can’t choose!”
• Angela: Peanut butter blondies! Everyone goes for the pb and chocolate combo, but pb and vanilla is where its at. Just use half peanut butter in the recipe and add some peanut butter chips. So so good. But peanut butter is good every way.”
• Wheeda: “I love peanut butter! Any way is good for me …but usually it’s on celery or on a piece of whole wheat toast with a little honey drizzled on top. Yum!”

Please email me at pbfingers@gmail.com with your mailing address so you can receive your two jars of pb ASAP! 🙂

***

Now, onto some fun fitness talk!

From Cardio Queen to Strength-Training Machine

I used to be a cardio queen.

During my first two years of college, my weekly workouts looked like this:

• M: 50 min. elliptical
• Tu: Spinning class
• W: 20 min. run, 20 min. swim
• Th: Kickboxing class
• F: 50 min. elliptical
• Sa: Spinning class
• Su: Off

Do you see something missing? Um, yes. How ’bout some weights? Maybe a little strength training?

My former-self thought “strength training is for boys.” Taking a peek into the weight room at my university’s gym only reaffirmed that prejudice.

Big, beefy guys dominated the squat racks. The five pound weights on the free-weight rack seemed to be collecting dust since the manly men who were busy flexing in front of the mirror wouldn’t dare touch such “girly weights.”

As my interest in health and fitness grew, I began to read more and more about the importance of strength training. I knew in my heart I was missing something by only incorporating cardio into my workout regimen, but I’m a creature of habit and felt apprehensive about changing my routine.

Eventually I decided to suck it up and add some weights to my workouts. I am now a firm believer that weight training (coupled with healthy eating!) is what can truly form and shape your body into the toned and athletic look many women strive to achieve.

• Will someone mistake me for the Hulk?

If you are a cardio queen and have not included weights in your workout because you think you’ll begin to look manly and overly buff, please abandon that thought immediately. Cross my fingers, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye, you won’t look like the Hulk by incorporating weight training into your routine. I strength-train three times a week and I feel strong, but I don’t think anyone would mistake me for Arnold (Lord, I hope not).

• How do I begin to incorporate strength training into my routine?

I’m no expert (at all!!!), but here’s what worked for me:

• Take a group exercise class that focuses on strength training to learn basic moves and proper form. (You know I love BodyPump!)
• Start out slow! Select a body part or two to focus on (like back and biceps) and complete three sets of 15 repetitions at a weight that feels challenging.
• Do the strength training workout that’s right for you. I love total-body strength training (training all of my muscles during one workout), but many people prefer splitting up strength training into multiple workouts.
• Don’t be afraid of heavy weights. Once you begin to progress in your strength-training routine, don’t be afraid to reach for heavier weights to continue to challenge your muscles.
• Print out sample workouts to bring with you to the gym so you don’t feel lost or intimidated.

For examples of some of my total-body strength training workouts, click here and here. You may also enjoy this article about strength training for beginners from Fitness magazine.

Questions of the Afternoon

• Do you incorporate strength training into your workout routine?
• How many times do you strength train during the week?