Sunday, March 29, 2009

Not so Healthy Weekend...

Especially for the last week of my department's biggest loser competition. I don't think I'm going to lose tons of weight in one week so I'm going to set a personal goal. By July I would like to be 126. I think that gives me plenty of time. So Dave and I went to New York City this weekend. We left early Friday morning after a VERY busy work week. I worked until 8:30 every night this week so taking Friday off was well deserved at least in my opinion. Thursday evening, the president of our company came down to check out a video I've been working on for the MSPCC foundation. She kept saying it was "perfect" so I am really excited about that. And I really felt like she knew who I was which was exciting!! So going into this week, I have one new project to start and finish, two projects I've been working on that need to get done and a project that I am taking over for the freelancer that has been working here the last couple weeks. I'm excited for the last project- its something different and I think it will be a lot of fun! Here's to an exciting week. One in which running is part of EVERY DAY no matter what! Needless to say, I wasn't able to run Wed due to work and Thurs was such a crazy day that I was only able to get two miles in before going back to work. And I ran FAST!


Date3 /26/2009
RouteTreadmill
Distance2.00 mi
Time15:30
Pace07:45/mile


Wednesday and Thursday, I didn't eat my lunch (wrap with turkey, spinach and cheese) until almost 5. Wednesday night, I didn't get home until almost 10 and when I'm not home to cook, Dave somehow reverts back into a little boy who has never cooked before so Wed night he had eggs and I didn't want to leave him with no food for Thursday incase I worked late (which I did). I decided to make Veggie and Rice Stir-Fry. I cooked up Vegetable Rice (you buy it frozen from Trader Joes). I microwaved it and then sauteed vegetables in Peanut Oil- spinach, onions and frozen corn as well as diced chicken I pulled out and thawed (already cooked) from the freezer. I then added the rice to saute pan and added soy sauce and sesame oil. Here's how it turned out:



We ate this Thurs night and I also put a scoop of the guacomole I made (I know random- but what can I say? I love avocado!)

Friday morning, we left for NYC at 7am and we drove straight to New Jersey and parked on the New Jersey side to take a ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. I haven't been there since I was like eight so it was nice to go there again. We were there for around 3 hours and then we drove to our hotel in Times Square. We stayed at the Renaissance Hotel on Marriott points so we didn't pay a dime! Except parking. Our hotel was pretty funky and the artwork and design of the place was very VERY sexual. It was kinda funny actually. Check out these pics:







Once Dave and I got settled at the hotel, we went for a walk and ended up at ESPN Zone to get a quick drink and salad. We had dinner reservations at Good in the West Village with my friend Meghan and her boyfriend but not until 8:30- which is late for Lizzy!! After our quick bite, we got ready to go meet up at Meghan's apartment. We got there around 8 and enjoyed some wine and then walked to the restuarant Good. It was GOOD! haha. I had a couple drinks there and fish tacos that were amazing!!! I forgot to take pictures tho. After dinner, we walked to a local bar and watched some college basketball. I'm not doing so well in my bracket. I ordered another drink there- Pear Vodka with Tonic Water and Cranberry. It was so tasty!! I was definitely starting to feel it by that point. My best friend from college, Debbie met us around 11 and we hung out for one more drink and then walked to another bar that was 4 avenues away (that's kinda a lot in NYC!) The bar was super crowded so we didn't stay very long.


Debs, Dave and I said goodbye and we went home around 1:30. Kinda early for NYC but late for me! Saturday was a CRAZY busy day!! We first met Debs on her side of NYC in the Upper East at a place called Vinyl. And it was David from the first season on Top Chef's restuarant! It was good! I got an egg-white omlette with goat cheese, spinach and bacon. Totally an oxy-moron- bacon and eggwhites but you gotta cut calories somehow! Debs also gave me half her whole wheat bagel with cream cheese. God, I love bagels and wish I could eat them everyday!!!



After brunch, Dave and I walked to Central Park. It was a gorgeous New York day. High 60's and just beautiful. Central Park was so crowded and there were so many runners! Made me want to get out there! After our walk, we went to the Met and viewed pretty much every exhibit they had there. I think Dave could live there. I got bored at hour 2. Then we took the subway to 34th street to be extreme tourist and go to the top of the Empire State Building. We got there around 3 and didn't leave until 5:30. The lines were INSANE. But the view was pretty incredible from the top.

After we left there, we grabbed some nachos at the local brewery and then we headed to the Top of the Rock.


Dave bought tickets for us to view the city from Rockefeller Center and it was really nice. We watched the sunset and saw views from all over the city. Then we went back to our hotel and got ready to go to dinner at Blue Fin at the W Hotel. I got the Blue Fin Martini which was blue with a floated Swedish Fish. DELICIOUS!

We also shared an appetizer roll of sushi made of pineapple, fillet mignon and veggies with a teriakki sauce.
For dinner, I got salmon with brussel sprouts, pearl onions and bacon with a grainy mustard sauce. The server asked me how I wanted my salmon cooked and I wasn't sure what to say so I said "medium?" If this ever happens to you, say WELL DONE. Parts of my salmon were raw and I couldn't eat it but it was okay because it was a huge piece and I probably wouldn't have been able to finish anyway.

On Sunday, we met Debbie across town at a Scandinavian Brunch spot. I got the salmon egg-white omlette with goat cheese and toast and lots of coffee. It was tasty and really good to see Debbie again!
After we did a tour of NBC Studios which was really cool. We got to see where they shoot the Nightly News and Saturday Night Live. The SNL studios is really small and they said is virtually impossible to get tickets too. You have to get in the raffle and I am totally going to apply for it this year!! After the studio tour, we walked to the Carnegie Deli to get some really good hot pastrami! I got a bagel with cream cheese and Dave got the hot pastrami sandwhich which we shared. It was ENORMOUS, you couldn't fit it all in your mouth!!



Sooo good though. After the deli, we went to get our car and drive home. There was a bunch of traffic, but we got to metrowest around 6:30, did some quick grocery shopping and then went home and now here I am! I'm about to unpack and get ready for a busy day tomorrow. I hope to make it to the gym in the AM and get in a REALLY long run. Good night everyone!!!!!!!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Fast Run

So another busy day at the office. Dave and I woke up late yet again so I got ready in 20 minutes but still made the express train and got into work by 8:30. Not too shabby. Before I left, I had toast with my fake butter and coffee with creamer. Oops, I might have taken a bite before I took the picture.

Around 10:30 I had a mid morning snack of Oatmeal and a spoonful of White Chocolate Wonderful Peanut Butter.


At around 11:30, I was off to the gym. I had a lot of work to do today so my goal was to run 6 miles but had a feeling I would only be able to do 5 due to time. I ran 5 in 40:50. I ran the first 2.5 miles at 6.8MPH and then went up to 7.2 for the next two. The final mile I went from 7.5 to 9.5MPH. It was fun sprinting on the treadmill. Here are the stats:


Date3 /24/2009
RouteTreadmill
Distance5.00 mi
Time40:50
Pace08:10/mile

This basically means that I will have to run 6 and 10 Wednesday and Thursday. My goal is to run in the AM tomorrow. Hopefully ten miles. I have a meeting with a client at 2 tomorrow and don't want to be running from the gym. So lets hope I can wake up at 5AM!

I got back to work and ate lunch which was the same as yesterday with the addition of a Dannon Yogurt drink. So this week at the grocery store, I couldn't find my normal drink that I get and the closest one I could find was a kids drink. But I didn't want to get the smoothies they make because they are loaded in calories. I think the one I found was pretty funny. And Carissa, my lunch friend, had High School Musical string cheese. We are such dorks!

Okay, now off to finish my last hour at work and then sushi time in the suburbs with Dana. I'm excited to spend time with her : )!

Monday, March 23, 2009

Blogging in Bed

So David is at the Celtics game and I just got home and decided to go straight to bed to watch TV so why not blog in bed? Today was a really busy day but I was so tired and unmotivated. I worked on three projects today and one I got finished and completely off my plate! yay!! For breakfast, I ate oatmeal and for a mid-morning snack, I had a new flavor Fiber One Bar. It was so tasty!



At lunch, I went to the gym and ran 4 miles on the treadmill. I'm still pretty sore from yesterday. Here's the stats:


Date3 /23/2009
RouteTreadmill
Distance4.00 mi
Time34:00
Pace08:30/mile

I'm going away this weekend, and most likely won't be able to run, which means I will have to run pretty hard this week in four days. This is my goal: Mon- 4 miles- check, Tues- 6 miles, Wed- 5 miles, Thurs- 10 miles. That would be 25 miles for the week. Hopefully I can do it!

For lunch, I ate a Lavish Roll Wrap with Cracked Pepper Turkey, Spicy Cheese, Spinach and leftover of the vegetable salad I made the other day. I usually like to melt the cheese in the microwave but the microwaves were taken over by 50 girls heating up their Lean Cuisines. So annoying! Here's what half my wrap looked like. I was starving and had already ate the other half by the time I got around to take a picture.

Around 4, I got hungry again so I bought pretzels from the Vending Machine with Laughing Cow Cheese I had in the fridge. I love these Laughing Cow commercials- they are so funny. The woman reminds me so much of myself. I could totally see myself taking the train home and then remember I drove to work. haha. Here is a picture of my snack:



After work, I took the T to meet my mom at Mass Pharmacy where she teaches and then we drove down Route 9 to the Atrium Mall and we went to Cheesecake. Mom and I shared a Spicy Chicken Salad and Salmon Rolls. Here's my plate:


It's 10 and I'm going to call it a night. Tomorrow night I am going to hang out with my friend Dana and most likely get sushi. We might even have sleepover party. Dave want be happy about that but I miss Dana and she finally has the day off! Just finished watching Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill. xoxo- Lizzygirl!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Sunday Funday Cont.

Hi again! Just got back from dinner at my in-laws. It was delicious. But first, here is my excitement from the gym. I'm BACK! I was able to run 8 miles and felt pretty good! I guess I didn't lose too much of my endurance while I was sick. I'm still not 100% but I can't sit around any longer! I NEED to run!


Date3 /22/2009
RouteTreadmill
Distance8.00 mi
Time1:09:00
Pace0:08:37/mile

I ran out of water at mile 7, that wasn't fun. I ran the first 6 miles at 6.8 pace and then ran the 6th-7th mile at 7.0 pace. The final mile, I went up every minute and finished running the last quarter mile at 8.5. It definitely helped that a girl got on the treadmill next to me at 7.5 pace. I'm so competitive! I finished running and lifted just a bit then got home and had a quick snack, made lunches for the week and got ready to go to Saugus all in under 20 minutes. I'm not very high-maintance when it comes to getting ready. Here's my afternoon snack:

It was basically a wrap filled with the Vegetable Salad I made yesterday and some of the leftover steak. YUM! I think that recipe is a keeper. Then I made lunches for the week. I made Dave Turkey and Cheese Sandwiches on the Arnold English Muffin thingies and I made myself wraps. Here they are in the fridge:

And while I was at taking pictures, here's our stocked fridge full of healthy yummy food!


It took us about 40 minutes to get up to Saugus and when we walked in the door at 5:30, dinner was waiting for us. Dave's mom made Pork with a home-made apple sauce, carrots and potatoes, a fresh salad and bisquits. Oh there were also baked clams. Here is my plate:

We just got home and I am starting to get tired. Dave and I are going to discuss our Europe trip that we may take at the end of the year and then it's Celebrity Apprentice time. It's a pretty painful show but the creative side of the challenges is always fun for me. This is a four-day week for me because I am going to NYC with Dave on Friday for the weekend. Goodnight!

Sunday Funday

We woke up late today- 10:30! I think that is the first time I slept that late in a year. Seriously. Here's what I made for breakfast:
Arnold makes these new bread sandwiches that are only 100 calories and 6 grams of fiber. They are kind of like English Muffins. My omelette had Mexican Blend Lite Cheese, Spinach, Green Onions and Cracked Pepper Turkey. Usually I make an omelette this size and split it in two for both Dave and I but I was hungry this morning. I had this with my coffee and Coffeemate Hazelnut Creamer. Yum. Now I'm gearing up to go to the gym. But first let me tell you about yesterdays workout and food. Yesterday, I woke up and had coffee and this omelette:
The Omlette was made with Cheese and Green Onions with Wheat Toast and "I Can't Believe its not Butter." I didn't have much food left in the fridge to put in this omelet. After breakfast, Dave and I went to the eye doctor to order new glasses and contacts, then I went grocery shopping. We are having a dinner party tonight with our friends Jane and Brian so I bought tons. Check out the groceries:

After grocery shopping, I hung out with my friend Dana for a few hours. She works at NESN so her hours are 2:30-11:30pm so I don't get to see her very often anymore. She helped me prep my dinner menu and we ate lunch. I basically heated up leftovers from the last two nites. Here's what my plate looked like:


Some meat loaf, Asparagus and some Mashies. After lunch, I continued to prep dinner. I marinated the Steak Tips in an Asian Teriaki sauce and marinaded the chicken in honey mustard garlic sauce. Then I sliced my vegetables thinly to prepare to grill them for my Vegetable Salad I made. These vegetables were, 2 Red Peppers, 1 Red Onion, 2 Zucchini's, and 1 Eggplant. Dana helped me peel the potatoes for my mashed potatoes and I made a giant salad. I also diced my 2 avocados with tomatoes, jalepenos, lime juice and lots of S&P. Once the prepping was done, Dana and I hung out for a bit more, then she left for work and I went to the gym. On Thursday and Friday, I did three miles and I knew I had to get over 5 to stay on my training schedule. I ended up running 6 miles. It certainly wasn't easy, but I got threw it in 53 minutes. My friend from high school, actually my senior prom date, walked next to me for the remaining two miles and we chatted the whole time. I swear if he wasn't there, I probably wouldn't have been able to finish! Its so much easier for me to talk while I run than just watch TV or read magazines or listen to music. I'm prepping myself now to go to the gym and hopefully going to do 7-8 miles. Here's my stats from the past three days:

Date3 /19/2009
RouteTreadmill
Distance3.00 mi
Time27:00
Pace09:00/mile



Date



3 /20/2009
RouteTreadmill
Distance3.00 mi
Time27:00
Pace09:00/mile


Date


3 /21/2009
RouteTreadmill
Distance6.00 mi
Time53:00
Pace08:50/mile


When I got home from the gym, I was starving! So I took a half Lavish Roll (50 calories) and melted mexican blend cheese and put some of the avocado dip in it.


Okay now on to my dinner last night. Once I got home from the gym, I took the sliced vegetables out of the fridge and brushed them with EVOO and S&P and handed them off to David to grill on our outside grill. Oh yes, it's out again along with our outdoor furniture and we DO NOT plan on putting it away again due to snow. Snow Snow don't come back again! Then I put the water on to boil for my potatoes. Then I got cleaned up and came back down to finish the cooking before our guests arrived. Dave finished grilling the vegetables and I let them cool a few minutes and then I started dicing them! I diced the onion, peppers, zucchini, and eggplant and threw it in a serving bowl along with oour cut in half- grape tomatoes. I then took half a block of fat free feta cheese and crumbled it into the bowl. I also made a dressing combining EVOO, Red Wine Vinegar, Oregano and Salt and Pepper and I poured it over the top and then mixed it all together. I saw this recipe for the Veggie Salad on Ellie Kriegers Healthy Eating show. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

  • 1 red bell pepper cored and cut into 4 pieces
  • 1 eggplant (about 1 pound), cut across into 1/4-inch rounds
  • 1 medium onion, cut into 1/4-inch slices
  • 2 medium zucchini (about 8 ounces each), cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices
  • Olive oil cooking spray
  • 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions

Arrange the vegetables in a single layer on a tray or work surface. Lightly spray both sides with olive oil cooking spray. Preheat a grill or grill pan over a medium-high heat. Grill the vegetables in batches until both sides are nicely charred and the vegetables are just tender, about 10 minutes for the pepper, about 8 minutes for the eggplant and onion, and about 6 minutes for the zucchini. When the vegetables are cool enough to handle, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and transfer to a large bowl. Crumble Feta Cheese over the vegetables.
In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar and oregano. Pour over the vegetables and toss. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Here's how it turned out:

Then I finished the Creamy Mashed Potatoes. I strained them, put them in back in the bowl with light cream and Herb and garlic Cheese spread and lots of Salt and Pepper. Here's how it turned out:

At the same time, Dave was grilling the chicken and steaks with Brian outside. I also finished the salad.
Once everything was cooked, it was time to eat:

Our guests were excited!


Here's the platter of the chicken:

And the steak:

And my plate:

I think I ate the world biggest piece of Steak. But I didn't eat the chicken because I was so full.

Because I'm not a huge baker- not into exact measurements, I decided to buy an Angel Food Cake and make a simple topping with Frozen Berries and Sugar on the stovetop and of course, a little Whipped Topping. Here's my helping:

I also had three glasses of Prosecco and I'm telling you, I was kinda drunk! It was a delicious day of food! Now I'm off to work it off! Let's hope I can do 8!


Friday, March 20, 2009

Not Your Grandmother's Meatloaf!

So I'm going to start this blog from right now (9pm) and work back to this morning. Dave and I just finished the dishes after I cooked a very modernized version of Meatloaf. To tell you the truth, I don't think I've ever eaten Meatloaf- it's always scared me. But after reading several recipes, I decided to give it a try. Here is my version of Healthy Turkey Meatloaf:

1lb of 93% Lean Ground Turkey
1 Onion
1 Tablespoon of Garlic
3 Large Roasted Red Peppers
2 Cups of Spinach
1/4 Cup of Parsley
2 Egg Whites
1 Cup of Bread Crumbs
Thyme
Bay Leaves
1 Cup of Ketchup
1/4 Cup of Catalina Dressing
3 Tablespoons of a mix of Mozzarella and Parmesian Cheese

Heat some EVOO in a Skillet and add a diced onion and minced garlic. After 5-10 minutes, add the diced Roasted red Peppers. Add the spices. When cooked through, add the mix to a large mixing bowl with the Ground Turkey. Add Spinach to the skillet and let wilt down. It takes only minutes. Add the spinach to the bowl and add the Ketchup, Egg Whites, Dressing and Breadcrumbs and Grated Cheese. Here's how it looks in the bowl:

Then take off your rings and get ready to mix it all together!!! Once mixed through, form into a loaf on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Like this:


Add a bit more ketchup to the top and bake at 400• for 35-50 minutes.

Here's how it turned out:




God I love Spinach!!! We just watched BC lose : ( and now Dave is watching the Celtics. KG is back in the lineup!!!

Okay so the day was pretty good. This morning I went to Soundtrack- the place where we mix our commercials and videos and record Voice Over Talent. I don't usually go, but decided to get out of the office and plus there was some music challenges I wanted to explain to the sound engineer about my cut. It was a Brand Essence Video for one of our existing clients. Which basically means, its a video for the employees at the company to explain the new campaign/direction our new commercials are going in. So I was there until about 12:30, then I went over to the gym for my run. I was supposed to 4 but I kept feeling like I had to be back in the office, so I only did 3. Tomorrow and Sunday I am going to have to 12-14 miles. My plan is to run as long as I can tomorrow on the treadmill and then try to run outside on Sunday. I'm not completely healthy but I can't sit around waiting.

I got lunch at Cosi- Signature Light Salad with Feta Cheese and Whole Wheat Bread:



Oh my other exciting news of the day is that I lost a pound this week for the Biggest Loser Competition! We only have two weeks left! We'll see how I do. I would like to end at 128ish because then I will have lost 10 pounds which is 7.24%. We'll see if I can do it. I ceretainly won't win, but I would feel pretty good!

Okay, I am off to bed.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Not a Crazy Day YAY!!!

I just looked up a training schedule for a Half-Marathon. However in 3 weeks, I am running a 15K and in 10 weeks I am running a Half. So I am going to modify this schedule a bit. Starting today, I am going to run every chance I can and follow this schedule as much as possible. I'm still pretty sick but I ran today on the treadmill and felt fine. I just did 3 miles but I was able to do it at my normal pace- maybe a little slower. For the training for my 15K, I am going to start on week 5 and today I did Wednesdays run. This will be fun to have something to follow! Okay, I am going home now. Going to eat leftovers and hang out with Courtney! Dave is going snowboarding.


Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Long Day X4

Forth day in a week I've been at work longer than 10 hours. I'm getting exhausted! But I love being busy. I think I've gotten pretty good at multitasking and juggling multiple projects at once. I worked on six different clients today and 8 different projects. For breakfast, I had a piece of toast with "I can't Believe it's not butter" and some coffee with my hazelnut coffee creamer. Around 11, I ate one of those trader Joe's bars. For lunch, a few of us were taken out for sushi to thank us for a video project we did back in December. The project was fun, but had a tight turn around that ended up making us work on days between Christmas and New Years that other employees had off. It was really nice that we were invited to lunch! We went to Sakurbana in the Financial District. We shared a bunch of sushi and I got a salad to start. I had eaten most of it before I remembered to take the picture!


Here is the sushi!


Stayed at work until 7ish and then took the T to meet Dave at school so we could drive home together. We got home around 8 and I was very excited to make a real dinner. I haven't cooked since Saturday! I decided to make Chicken Tenders coated in Walnuts that I chopped up in my food processor. So I drenched the chicken in flour, then in egg-whites and then in chopped walnuts mixed with salt and pepper and Italian Seasoning. Here's the assembly line:


I then cooked the chicken in a saute pan before transferring them into the oven to finish cooking.

While the chicken was cooking, I made aspargus. I sauteed it in a pan with a tiny bit of Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper and Lemon Juice. I also boiled some water and peeled my Yukon Potatoes to make Mashed Potatoes. When my pototoes were done cooking and ready to mash, I drained them and put them back in the same pot. I added a little light cream, spinach, soy mozerella cheese, parmasian cheese and salt and pepper and I mashed the potatoes which is by far one of my favorite activities in the kitchen! I also made Pea Puree. I saw this side/sauce in my Women's Health magazine and since Dave LOVES peas, I thought it sounded interesting. I used frozen peas and steamed them. Once slightly cool, I added them to the food processor with a little bit of ginger and a lot of water. This was a nice addition to the dish. Here's how the whole thing turned out on the plate!

After dinner, I started laundry and dreaded the dishes. Here's how bad they were after cooking this meal:

At half-time of the Celtics game (we DVR'd it), Dave and I did the dishes together. He washed, I dried. And now its about that time! Either I watch Damages or go to bed. I should go to bed but I have a feeling I'll be up for awhile.

Happy Almost Thursday!

...ooo and no workout today again. I am going tomorrow during lunch no matter what.