Weekly Eats & Weekend Recap

It's a beautiful sunny Monday and I've got a massive mug of coffee in hand so... all is swell!

We had an awesome weekend away visiting with family. We left Sat morning and hit up my favorite shoe shop where the cuteness of Chloe managed to get me 15% off my cherished Fly Londons. Once we arrived, we had lunch and then Mr Swell took Chloe for the afternoon while Nana and I did some home decor shopping. At approx 2pm, I fell in love with this light for our high-ceiling living room:

{please help me convince Mr Swell that this light will add majah value to our life}

After dinner we rented a classic funny - Waiting. You can never go wrong with a little Ryan Reynolds and some inspiration to never eat out again!

The next morning we were up at 5am to eat and then head downtown Toronto for the race. I'll do a separate post on that, but I was so happy to finish in 55 minutes - such a fun experience! Afterwards we went to Cora's for some delicious eats & took a nap before making the drive home.

So, here are our eats for this week. I love not having to think about what to make for dinner when the day rolls around - you should give it a try!

M ~ Tofu & Walnut Rice

T ~ Kashi Quiche & Greek Goddess Salad

W ~ Black Bean Quesadillas & Strawberry Soda Cupcakes

Th ~ Spinach Ricotta Shells

F ~ Coconut Faux Chicken & Quinoa.

Sa ~ Eggplant Parmesan

Su ~ Mother's Day...not sure what's planned :)

Also - Nana surprised with the dehydrator I've been drooling over for a while now and I'm super excited to start making raw treats! I need to purchase a good food processor - could you guys recommend a good one to buy?

10K Spins

Today was such a beauty and I couldn't help but wonder why my race couldn't have been today instead of Sunday...otherwise known as 90% chance of rain day.
But never fear...the gear is packed and the playlist is made. All will be okay. And yes - my playlist is exactly the length of time I expect to finish 10k in with a very specific last song that Chloe & I can be found dancing too on certain afternoons.

Think of me at 853am this Sunday, as I cross the finish with the other 15000 crazy people. And you can probably expect a post on recovering from a run sometime next week. Oh...and Chloe's 10 month post 2 weeks late...cause it's been that kind of a week.
Hope your weekend has a bit of sun or some really cute wellies!

Q: what's your go to song when you need to get your move on?

Run for your Life

Grab a tea bloggies....this post is a wee bit long but hopefully it offers up some ideas & inspiration to those of you looking to kick your health up a notch!

As I'm sure you can tell, I am very passionate about my & my family's health. I've belonged to a gym since I was 18 and have been educating myself on all things nutrition & wellness ever since. I have always been amazed at what the human body can do & endure, and nothing made me more aware of this than the experience of giving birth to Chloe.

My workouts have changed quite a bit over the last few years. I used to do just weights & cardio at the gym, but a few yrs ago I began practicing yoga and it really helped to balance out my training.

Now running, is not something that I ever used to enjoy. In fact, my mom loves to remind me that I had 2 lead feet growing up...but I insist on reminding her that this was because I never wanted to take the time to come inside from playing to go to the bathroom....and therefore, I couldn't move very fast. Duh!

I digress. I started running about 3 years ago and it did not come naturally to me. I would run for 10 minutes, walk for 2 min. Gradually I built up my endurance to be able to run 20 min straight.

One of my goals was to enter a race shortly after having Chloe, so I was really pumped to complete my first 5K race on Sept 2oth (3 months after having her)

I had only completed 2 practice 5K runs before the race so I wasn't sure what to expect. Well, after finishing, I couldn't wait to sign up for a 10K! If you happen to be in Toronto on May 2nd you will find me at the Sporting Life 10K. Training for this has been a great challenge, and so without further babble, here are the steps I've taken to prepare for this and keep the junk out of my trunk the rest of the time!

PLANNING: The first and most important thing I do, is plan in my workouts for the month. When I do this, I first look at what opportunities I will have to myself (where Chloe is with Mr Swell or grandparents). On days when I know I'll be home with her all day - I plan to jump on our spin bike in the basement or I do a P90x or Yoga DVD. With my current focus being on training for a 10K - the majority of my workouts are obviously running. Each week, I do 3-4 runs that include: 1 easy run, 1 long run, 1 interval/sprint run & 1 negative split run (run faster for the 2nd half). The other days I do power yoga or circuit weight training. Here is a copy of what my workouts for April will look like. {Click to enlarge}

GET INSPIRED: I live in a constant state of needing inspiration - hence my deep appreciation for the blog world! Here are a few resources that I go to for my daily fix:
Blogs: The Fitnessista, A Foodie Stays Fit, Nourished Fitness, Oh She Glows
Podcasts: Ben Greenfield Fitness, The Nutrition Diva, The Because Show. These are great for long runs!

CLOTHING & GADGETS:
Nike plus running system. Although it may not be as accuate as higher end Garmin model, I love my Nike sportband. It communicates with the Nike sensor chip I have velcro'd onto my runners to tell me my time, distance and that I'm having a good hair day.

I love my Nike NZ Shox. I may or may not own about 10 pairs so that I can coordinate the colors of my shoes with my shorts. Serious runners mock my choice of shoe, but I find them very comfortable and have no blisters except on the days I forget to pack socks.

Lululemon All Sport Bra: If you are a BF Mama or just really blessed in the upper chest area, this is hands down the most supportive bra out there....and I've tried about 542 different bras that didn't make the cut.

Tunes: I use my Shuffle for most runs, but for longer runs I like to use my Ipod Touch so that I can listen to podcasts. They really help make the run go by fast and it's nice to get 2 birds stoned at once.

And the music doesn't stop when I swim laps...for this, I pop my shuffle into my H20 audio case!

MORE PLANNING: Every night, I take a few minutes to set out my gym clothes for the next day & prep the coffee pot to start brewing at 7am. Some nights I also prepare my oats for the morning so that I just have to reheat them. I find that having these things done, really helps my morning go smoother and ensures I stick to the plan!

NUTRITION: I'll end with this one. What you eat is going to be 80% of your result. It's so important to start your day off properly and so I eat the same thing for breakfast every morning and then I follow my workout with a protein shake to rebuild & refuel. Try this tomorrow for breakfast and then come back here and give me a hug:

RECIPE FOR MORNING OATS:
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1 cup steel cut oats
- 1 tsp agave, maple syrup or honey
- 2 tsp slivered almonds
- 1 tsp chia seeds
Method: bring water & milk to a boil and then add oats and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the rest and serve with a little cold almond milk. This makes 2 servings and is very customizable!

Question: What are you challenging yourself with this year to lead a more healthy life?

32 degrees. Feels like -132 degrees.

Chloe & I flew back into Florida a few days ago...a bit ahead of our original schedule because there was a big storm blowing in at home and we didn't want to risk getting stuck at the airport. We booked a 3hr direct flight....haven't flown direct in a long time and I'm not certain it's the best way to go with a 6 month old. About 20 minutes into the flight she had a bit of an explosion in her oh-so-cute travel outfit. And of course the woman sitting next to me clearly was never a child once herself.

Anyways...here we are in sunny Florida. The forecast for today is 32 degrees with a hazardous condition warning. Not sure where the best place is to go and buy a snowsuit around here but I'll look around.

So, today sounds like a good day to do this:

• Bake these yummy protein bars:
• Knit pink armwarmers
• watch a few movies & download a few podcasts
• Go for a run while wearing 100 layers. My nike sensor chip already conked out on me after only a few months so I had to buy another one yesterday. I don't feel like my runs are legit if I don't have this thing tied to my laces

I'm pretty sure the weather is just as miserable in most of your world's too...how are you spending today?

Run a 5K race...check!

I've been wanting to enter a race for a long time so I decided to pick one that would give me enough time to heal from my Csection but would allow me enough time to train for. After I received the go ahead to begin exercising at my 6-week followup appt, I couldn't wait to get moving again! I went for a 20 min run the next day and felt a little sore in the legs but that's to be expected. I then started running 3x/week and added in yoga & weight training. I have honestly never felt better in my life...I have a whole new respect for what our bodies can handle after having Chloe and I feel like my health played a huge role in my recovery. I am very lucky that Chris has such a great work schedule and is home 5 days/wk so I am able to have my gym time most mornings. It definitely helps clear my head and gives me the energy to get through the day.

Back to the race....Chris & I both ran it on Sept 20th and finished the 5k at 29:04. It was a beautiful fall day and my mom watched Chloe for the morning. It was so great to do it together & I'm already looking forward to the next one!