WIAW: Quinoa Pizza Bites

Today, instead of talking about running adventures, I'm sharing my recent food adventure!

At the beginning of the month, mr. C and I went WHEAT FREE! I downloaded a copy of the book Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health and cleaned out the cabinets. We are doing this as an experiment. Neither one of us have a medical issue or health concern. We just want to see if we will really feel better by eliminating all wheat/gluten from our diets.

While tossing all of the food that had wheat in it, I was shocked to see how many bread products we were using at each meal. I was tossing out English muffins, bread, tortillas, buns, and pasta. Then I moved on to reading labels and tossing sauces, soups, cereal, and chips.

Soon, I was thinking, What are we going to eat? My meals have been so programmed to include some sort of wheat product, that I worried we would be starving!

I was wrong.

Over the past four weeks, I have been learning a lot about food and trying some new recipes. In my last WIAW post, I shared some of the smoothie recipes I've been making. Recently, I tried quinoa for the first time.

Lack of planning on my part forced me to modify the recipe I found online because I didn't have the exact ingredients, but I don't think it interfered with the end result at all.

When I make this again, I will definitely use mozzarella cheese and fresh basil as the original recipe lists and a little more pepperoni.

Do you have a favorite quinoa recipe?

You can also find tons of great recipes at Jenn's WIAW link up!

Training Truths: ZOOMA Week 7

It was week #2 on the sidelines despite my best efforts to be a good runner. Do you ever feel like when you start to focus on doing more of the good-for-you stuff, an injury suddenly appears? That is how I have felt this summer.

I spent the month of June adding yoga stretching poses to my daily routine by participating in the Athleta Seize-the-Solstice challenge and working to strengthen my core with a July Ab challenge. I also found an easy hip strengthening routine by Coach Jay called The Myrtl Routine.

It appears that I should have spent more time on my a$$. Seriously, PT Brian told me that my weak glutes make my hamstrings and hip flexors work overtime leading to strains. You'd think I'd have plenty of power packed back there by the looks of it, but no such luck. 

Monday - As much as I wanted to run, I made myself wait until after my chiropractor appointment. So it was another day of more rest except my August challenge core work modified as needed.

Tuesday - I went for my adjustment first thing in the morning where he found my hips out of whack (shocker). I decided to let the adjustment set before attempting a run, so it was more rest and core work only.

Wednesday - It took all of 10 seconds for me to realize that my hip was not ready for me to make my BIG COMEBACK. Following a minor melt-down, mr. C and I took the bikes out for 4+ miles. I followed up with my core work and then went to PT in the afternoon. I've had success in the past with ART, so I'm hoping this time is no different.

Thursday - My morning started with some core work and then I walked 3.61 miles on treadmill. 

Friday - I rode the bike on one of my 5 mile running routes. It has a good sized hill to tackle on the way back. I don't know why I thought it would be easier on a bike!

Saturday - I completed day 24 of my strength challenges, a glute strength routine and a round of Coach Jay's Myrtl before jumping on the treadmill for a 1.5 mile walk.

Sunday - challenge core work and some casual swimming at the lake.

I have another PT session today and then I'm hoping to lace up my Wave Creations. My goal for the week is to continue working on my glute strength and maybe run the 10 Miler on Saturday?!?

Fitness Friday: Treadmill Desk

I first got the idea for a treadmill desk after seeing Al Roker from the Today Show use his. I don't know what kind he has, but there are some really fancy ones that you can buy for A LOT of money. The cheapest one I found was $479! So, I mentioned to mr. C that I would love to have a treadmill desk and BAM! He made it happen.

He said it was a pretty simple process, so I'm going to let him tell you about it!

Hi.  First let me start by stating that this is my first attempt at blogging, as it was in making a treadmill desk.

I researched homemade treadmill desks on the internet, of course, and there were many listings.  I eventually selected a video that was well done.  I wish I could give proper credit to the girl who made that video, but I do not have that info anymore.

Basically, here it is:  Select a proper, desired sized board, get 2 brackets.  Put them together, and Voila!

For the board, I went with a 1inch x 12 inch board approximately 5 feet long, plain pine, straight and smooth as I could find, and of course with the best looking grain.

Now the brackets.  Most brackets would work, and there are many designs to choose from in the home improvement type stores.  As it turns out, the style I found and selected are heavy duty, and rated for far more than I needed for this project.  But they would work.

Some assembly required! (Very little)  Now place the board across the handle / rails of the treadmill and get the table / board to the position you want.  With the brackets loosely in place flush to the underside of the board, and straddling the treadmill handle / rails, simply mark where the brackets are to be attached.  Now, simply remove from the treadmill, and attach the brackets to the underside of the board in the previously determined locations.  Just make sure the screws you use are shorter than the board is thick.  Feel free to sand and paint or stain your desktop.  Not necessary. You should then be the proud owner and designer of a wonderful, practical treadmill desk.

I didn't realize just how much use I would be getting out of the homemade treadmill desk that mr. C made me, but it has been very nice to have while I'm on the sidelines dealing with my hip flexor issues. I can spend hours walking and working and feel little guilt about my blogging activities ;)

Happy Friday everyone!

What homemade fitness gear have you (or your other) made to save money?

Active Accessories Review

First let me say Thank You for all your kind words of encouragement as I deal with being sidelined from running.

My fellow FitFluential Ambassador, Karen, recently started her own company called Active Accessories. She generously shared one of her popular products with me, the On-The-Go Accessory Pouch.

If you're like me, then you understand the stress of carting around your workout gear. During the school year, I sometimes run after work which means I need somewhere to store my watch and jewelry. On weekends and during the summer, if I take a class or drive to my running route, I like to have my ID and some cash, but not my entire purse.

The On-The-Go Accessory Pouch is just the right size to meet my needs. It can easily store hairbands and jewelry in the zipper compartment, cash and IDs in the pocket, and my phone fits in the middle.

With the easy to use clasp, you can attach the pouch to your gear bag, or wear it around your wrist.

The best part about the size of the On-The-Go Accessory Pouch is that it is convenient for those days when you don't want to carry your purse with you while your out & about. There's plenty of room for your basic essentials and it's fashionable.

Before receiving the On-The-Go Accessory Pouch from Active Accessories, I used a small change purse and a small pouch to store all my items. Now I can combine everything into one and attach it to my gear bag or my work bag.

Disclosure: I received my On-The-Go Accessory Pouch at no charge to review, but all opinions are my own.

Training Truths: ZOOMA Week 6

It was not a good week - except for those of you who won some protein from Designer Whey! Check the list of winners at the bottom of this post.

In my last training truths post, I told you my plan to give my cranky hamstring the break it needed to cheer up. No such luck.

My plans for running 3 days instead of 4 last week went out the window on Monday when I found my little hamstring/hip problem had worsened and I could not walk without pain. So instead of logging miles, I was rolling, icing, and popping ibuprofen.

Monday & Tuesday - lots of TLC, and some easy core challenge work. I spent 48 hours thinking that I should not have run 9 miles on Sunday.

Wednesday - finally feeling some improvement, I walked 2.14 miles on the treadmill while working on the computer plus completed my daily dose of core work.

Thursday - rolled & iced before spending about 6+ hours in the car driving to Maine to pick up my step daughter from her summer job.

Friday - walked 2.1 miles on the TM and got caught up on my core challenges. I made the bad decision to do skater jumps which fired the hip pain up again.

Saturday - took a complete rest day from all exercise. (but I really wanted to lace up my Mizunos and go for a run).

Sunday - Early morning core workout for two days and an afternoon walking workout of 3.5 miles on the TM.

As much as I want to run today, I'm forcing myself to wait until I see my chiropractor on Tuesday. I am hoping that I will feel better after my adjustment and can go for a run.

What is the longest break you have taken from your running/sport? The longest for me was after the RnR Providence in 2011.


Congratulations to the Designer Whey giveaway winners!

#31 Katie
#9   Desiree
#15 Amy @Long Drive Journey
#20 Jordan Dunne
#10 Mary Beth Scimemi
#12 Casey

Please email me at by 10AM Wednesday August 21, 2013 with your mailing address so I can forward your information.