Posts Tagged by Broccoli
WIAW & WIWW!
| October 5, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Recipes, What I...Wednesday |
As always, I’m posting my What I Ate Tuesday, so let’s roll!
What I Ate
Weirdly, this morning I was craving simplicity. Normally I LOVE having all sorts of awesome toppings, but today I was feeling like having something plain and simple. It hit the spot!
Vanilla Protein Oatmeal! 1/2 cup oats, 1 cup soy milk, 1 cup water, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, cinammon, and crunchy PB
For lunch, I met up with some family at an Indian buffet. Recently, I’ve been eating so much Indian food it’s practically coming out of my ears! Hey, I’m not complaining, especially when its in buffet form! 
There was PUMPKIN masala, which I OWNED!! I’m also a dal lover, so I went up about 10 more times for that 
Snack time included…
Cereal yoghurt messes with raspberry jam
A banana with Tara’s AMAZING chocolate walnut butter!
And THESE bad boys:
I love snack bars. I take them everywhere because I get hungry approximately every 10 minutes and they are healthy and convenient. Sadly, they are also expensive! So I made my own snack bars!
Protein Granola Bars
These make the perfect snack- high in protein, fibre and with the addition of chocolate chips, they’ll satisfy any sweet tooth!
- 1 cup vanilla protein powder
- 1/2 cup wholegrain spelt flour (any flour should work)
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup oat bran
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2-2/3 cup brown sugar/sweetener (I used 1/4 cup Stevia blend and 1/4 cup brown sugar)
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 cup plain/vanilla soy yogurt
- 1 package silken tofu (mashed well or blended) , or an extra 1 cup of yogurt if preferred
- 1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter, or nut butter/oil of choice
- Preheat oven to 350F/170C. Grease or line a 9×11 tin.
- In a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mix together wet. Add the wet to dry, stirring until combined. It will be VERY thick, like dough, so feel free to use your hands!
- Press evenly with your hands into the pan, then bake for 15 minutes. Remove, cut into bars, place on a baking tray, then bake for a further 10-15 minutes until they reach desired texture. (For extra crispy bars, turn off the oven and leave in for up to 45 mins more).
- ENJOY!!
Nutritional Info per bar: 200 calories, 12g protein, 4g fibre
I love these bars!
They are addictive! I blame the chocolate chips 
What I Worked
Running with the team today!! I can still run on grass a couple of times a week at the moment with my injury, so I’m making the most of it! 
I refuelled as soon as I got home with two favourites- broccoli and chocolate soy milk!
They go together so well…
What is the best thing you’ve eaten recently? Yummy homemade protein bars!
What are your fave recovery foods? Broccoli and choc soy milk!
Do you have a fave snack bar? Clif bars and Luna bars I think! And the Organic Food Bar is my ultimate fave!!
Have a GREAT day friends!! <3
Leaving again!
| July 23, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Uncategorized |
HELLO friends!! I was going to do a tour post today, but I’ve got so much to catch you up on since I’ve been back that I thought I’d save my tour shenanigans for another time 
Although I’ve just come back, I’m actually leaving again tomorrow! At the painful time of 5.30am I should add. I am going to San Francisco for a few days, and then on to Hawaii! I am SO excited!! I’m not taking a laptop, but I’ll try to post when I can nab a computer somewhere to keep y’all up to date 
So the last two days have been crazy, with unpacking, laundry (which is still in the machine aaah!!!!) and packing again! And obviously lots of good food too.
Yesterday’s breakfast: banana oatmeal topped with caramel and chocolate puddings and crunchy PB.
Strawberry oatmeal (I whipped in some ripe strawberries) topped with puddings, White Chocolate Wonderful, and more strawberries
Sweet tater fries, broccoli with nooch, and leftover pasta with courgette.
Borlotti beans cooked in Napolitana-nooch sauce, wholewheat giant couscous (my new fave grain!!) and half a cucumber.
Banana with WCW peanut butter and dark choc chips
There have also been some AMAZING workouts! Yesterday I ran 2 miles before stopping (I had brought my gym shoes and not my running shoes by accident!) and spent 45 mins of ‘tempo’ ellipticalling. Basically, I did a warm-up mile, then 3 miles of around 85% max heart rate, before cooling down. Oh, and I threw in 5 mins of Tabata intervals. If you want a killer workout, try that. It’s 20 secs hard, 10 secs easy, and it is KILLER!! I definitely wouldn’t be able to maintain that for very long!!
Today I did my FIRST SUCCESSFUL SPEED WORKOUT SINCE MY INJURY!! 
There was NO pain before or after, so I was very happy!!
I was also happy because I ran into a friend of mine at the gym, and we were treadmill buddies!
She’s a bit camera shy 
Anyway, she was awesome cos I told her that I was only allowed to do 3 miles of speedwork so she stopped me after that even though I wanted to go on. I think she may need to be a permanent gym buddy of mine! After the short run, I did a NROLFW workout:
LOVING how much stronger I am getting!! It is AWESOME!!
Of course, I’ve also been super-busy avoiding packing/cleaning and all other necessary chores. I’ve busied myself with a lot of shopping (sales are my life) and most importantly…
…going to watch Harry Potter!! I busted out an off-the-shoulder top I bought in the sales to wear to the cinema:
And then I added facial decoration. My friends and I take this very seriously:
Mine was the same, but the glasses were even more wonky! It. Was. Awesome. I will definitely be seeing it again when I get back!
In the meantime, I have to pack. It’s 11pm, and there are about five things in my suitcase right now. I feel like this is the story of my life recently…! And what I want to know friends is what are YOUR recommendations? Anywhere I should go in San Fran, Honolulu or Big Island? AND what are your foodie recommendations? I am definitely looking forward to heading to the Whole Foods Nut Butter Wall! 
What has been your fave workout recently? Definitely my speed run! I’m also LOVING my New Rules workouts, because they are so challenging and the results ROCK!!
Are you a Harry Potter fan? Have you seen the latest movie? I’ve been a huge fan ever since I was a kid. I remember pretending I was Hermione
What are your recommendations? What are your favourite foodie items you think I should buy? I think I will need an extra suitcase to bring it all home in!
Sorry I’ve been a terrible blog commenter+replier lately, and I will be for the next 2 weeks! But after that I’ll be back as usual! LOVE YOU ALL have a great day!!
Yoga and Cravings
| June 18, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Uncategorized |
HAPPY WEEKEND friends!! Man I love the weekend!! Actually, I love weekdays too…anyway, I hope you’re all having an AMAZING time! And don’t forget to enter my GIVEAWAY- last chance!!
Highlight of my day today? My first ever HOT YOGA class!! 
That was on the shower room wall. They have quotes like that on most of the walls in the studio and I am SUCH a sucker for quotes!! Anyway, the class was AMAZING!!
Seriously, EVERYONE looked that sweaty after the first 5 minutes!! A lot of you asked me about hot yoga, so here is the class description from their website:
“The studio is heated to around 42 degrees. Practicing in the heat dramatically increases flexibility which allows the participant to get deeper into the postures, making these classes extremely effective. The heat also provides the student with a cardiovascular workout which promotes detoxification and weight loss (between 600 and 1000 calories per class), without the need to stress the body by vigorous exercise. Students perform a set series of static poses (asanas) designed to increase flexibility, strength, stamina, vitality, detoxification and weight loss.”
It was SO amazing!! I’ve never practised yoga for that long (90 minute class) and never experienced anything like that before! It was tough, but I loved the teacher (always makes the BIGGEST difference to any class in my opinion!) and it really inspired me to practise yoga more seriously! I left literally SOAKING though, and I was wearing sweat-wicking clothes!! But it did force me to shower and wash my hair straight after- achievement of the year! 
And that wasn’t the only time I was soaking today…
I got caught out in a sudden storm in the morning. Once minute it was fine, the next minute there was thunder+lightening and POURING with rain!! And the worst bit? I was eating Marmite rice cakes, and they were getting soggy. PROTECT THE FOOD ABOVE ALL ELSE!!
How dare the rain do that to my food!!
So I’ve been mentioning a lot recently about eating what I crave. And that’s exactly what I do every day! I’ve actually had FIVE questions about this in the past few days, so I thought I’d explain myself. I think it is really important to listen to what you are craving. I think your body (almost) always knows best, and in the past when I’ve tried to ignore those cravings, it never ended well! So I always try to listen and give myself exactly what I want, and it works for me! 
So here’s how I roll…
Every day I wake up, sprint to the bathroom (I drink waaaay too much water, and I like to work on my aerobic capacity as soon as I wake up), then go back and ponder over what to have for breakfast. Biggest and most important decision of the day.
I ask myself “what do I really want?” And whatever it is, I have it!! So today, that was a chocolate-banana pizzert with choc PB drizzle:
And then I do the exact same thing for everything! I usually try to make sure there’s a protein, carb and fat source as well in my meals and snacks. Take lunch for example. I was craving all sorts of things, so I ended up with this:
Cereal, soy yogurt, apricot conserve, apple and a White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter spoon. Hit. The. Spot.
NUTS were what I was really craving in the afternoon. Pecans are my current favourite. They taste like candy.
And then there’s dessert cravings. I followed Amanda’s recommendation and bought this for the first time:
Caramel soya dessert pot thingies. Yes, that is their official name. So I knew I wanted one of those, but I was craving something else too, and I always honour my cravings…
Caramel soya dessert pot thingy with a crumbled peanut butter cookie on top. Best decision EVER!!
And the weirdest thing? About an hour after dessert I wanted this:
A big ol’ bowl of broccoli! Random, but I rolled with it
Hope that answered any questions! Basically, I eat exactly what I want, and that keeps me happy and healthy!
What are your thoughts on food cravings? Do you listen to them no matter what? Actually, I don’t in every situation! I remember on a race morning craving pancakes, but I’d never tried them before running, so I didn’t want to risk it! But in almost every case, YES I’m all for it!!
Have you tried hot yoga? If you haven’t, do you want to? I REALLY recommend it if you haven’t!! It is an AMAZING experience!!
Random Q: What is your favourite nut? Pecans at the moment! Last week it was cashews though, so I change a lot! Pecans just taste like candy to me though, and are SO good dipped in nut butter! Mmmmm….
Hope you all have a great time the rest of this weekend!! LOVE and HUGS!!
P.S. I’m having more technical issues at the moment (namely, my email is down!) so excuse any lack of replies please! Hopefully it’ll be sorted soon!
Wanna see me in a bikini?
| June 9, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Uncategorized |
HEY friends!! Happy *allllmost* Friday/weekend!!
Bet you’re wondering about the post title huh? It’s because I got this question on my Formspring today:
Funniest question EVER!! I Tweeted about it, and I think Amanda hit the nail on the head…
Haha! 
LOVED reading your comments on that post yesterday! There were so many different opinions! Some of you weren’t “body confident” enough (which you should be, cos you’re all STUNNING) but most of you were with me that you didn’t want to be creeped on!
Anyway, today was LITERALLY the best breakfast ever. Disregard what I have said in every post before this one where I’ve said the same thing, and just drool with me…
One of Katie’s amazing pizzerts. A Banana Chocolate Chip one to be precise, drizzled slathered in Dark Chocolate Dreams PB and sliced banana.
I ate the whole thing, and it was AMAZING. Plus it takes a total of 15 mins to make from start to finish. WINNER!!
I’m loving my bananas. I’m also loving my Banana Guard (which many of you also love apparently!! ). It doubles as a weapon.
My maturity astounds me.
I also remembered my top at the gym today, wooo!! But I still forgot something (my water bottle- I had to buy one for £2!! 
) but at least it wasn’t my shirt! Someone commented yesterday to say that at least I didn’t forget capris/shorts! Yeah, well that’s happened before! Anyone remember this incident?
![DSC09595_thumb[1]](http://sweettoothrunner.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC09595_thumb1.jpg "DSC09595_thumb[1]")
That time I ended up having to do my workout in the skinny jeans I wore to the gym! Most uncomfortable experience EVER! Now I always keep a spare pair of shorts in my bag just in case! 
Today’s workout was literally the hardest bike workout ever!! I basically spoke to my future coach about being sidelined with injury and what the best cross-training thingy is that I can do, and he said the bike was the best, and gave me a bunch of workouts that will not only prevent loss of fitness but actually increase it! Today I did this one:
Runner’s Bike Workout
- 5 mins hard (90-95% max heart rate) @ ~90 RPM
- 5 mins easy
- Repeat at least 4 times
Ok, it might look easy, but it’s kinda like the longest HIIT EVER!! 5 mins of pretty much all out sprinting OWNED me!! Thank goodness I had my trusty dry shampoo for afterwards!
![DSC00390_thumb1[1]](http://sweettoothrunner.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC00390_thumb11.jpg "DSC00390_thumb1[1]")
Don’t judge-I promise I’ll wash my hair tomorrow with REAL shampoo, ok?!
I used the time I wasn’t washing my hair in the most productive way possible. Watching Gilmore Girls reruns on TV…
…whilst eating my bodyweight in the cookies I made yesterday. There was a serious Cookie Baby afterwards. I think I ate a few too many! 
See? NOT washing your hair gives you more time to eat cookies and watch quality TV, so I highly recommend it. I’m such a bad influence I know, but I guess if we all have greasy hair it’ll become normal and I won’t look so bad in comparison 
And I know what you’re all really waiting to hear is the daily Shin Update. Well today I tried 5 mins very very easy on the elliptical, and NO PAIN!! I am going back to the physio on Monday, and I hope she’ll give me the ok to run again, and I KNOW she will agree with me that eating dates means you magically heal.
![DSC00211_thumb1[1]](http://sweettoothrunner.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC00211_thumb11.jpg "DSC00211_thumb1[1]")
With some quality nutrients and protein on the side of course…
And PB and chocolate help too. Magic healing powers I tell you, MAGIC!!
Where is your go-to place to buy bikinis/suits? H&M or Topshop cos they are CHEAP but still awesome!
What is your ‘best breakfast ever’? Pancake Sundays rule all generally. Ooh that reminds me, nearly Sunday and PANCAKE time!! I’m excited already!!
Random Q: Team Peanut Butter or Team Almond Butter? Stole a question the Fitnessista asked on Twitter today that sparked some serious debate! At the mo, I’m TEAM ALMOND BUTTAH!! UNLESS we’re talking DCD or WCW in which case they win of course
Have an AMAZING end to the week friends!!
P.S. SO sorry about the bad commenting/replying/emailing! The virus is still there! Apart from post-writing which I can nick my bro’s laptop for, I’m having to do everything else on my iPod, which sure ain’t easy! So if you’ve emailed me or something and I haven’t responded yet, I promise I’ll get to it ASAP! LOVE YOU GUYS!! <3
I am beautiful and totally normal…
| May 26, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Uncategorized |
HEY friends, and Happy Thursday!! I want to thank you all SO MUCH for your kind words and personal experiences that you shared with me in the last post! It meant SO MUCH to me 
First up, FOOD!! Today was a rest day for me, so I just did some yoga to stretch out, and I don’t know about you guys but I am always MUCH more hungry on rest days! I guess it all catches up with me! Bring it onnnn I say! 
Here are a few foodie pics from the last two days…
Banana oatbran pudding with goji berries, apricot jam and cashew-date butter.
A big ol’ salad with brocc, red pepper and sweetcorn, topped with a tofu-cheeze-hummus dressing. I just blended 2/3 block of silken tofu with water, nooch, hummus and salt/spices and it was AWESOME! Enjoyed for lunch with a baked sweet tater on the side
Apple with almond butter.
Apple with PB&Co Crunch Time! Best crunchy PB EVER!!
Red pepper with spicy Sabra hummus.
Angela’s Easy Creamy Tomato Barley Risotto (AMAZING, and so simple to make!) with courgette/zuchinni on the side.
And these x1000 of course! 
Okay, enough food!! I have tons more but this post would be SO long and I don’t want to bore you guys to death! 
Yesterday I also got in an hour long sesh on the indoor bike:
30 mins of High Cadence Speed Intervals and 30 mins HIITs= SWEAT!! Then I hit the weights for an Upper Body workout.
Oh, and the lovely gals Olivia and Ragnhild awarded me this a while back…
The Smiling Award!
The rules:
1. Smile!
2. Write 3 things you like about your looks.
3. Write 3 things you appreciate about your personality.
4. Write about something you find beautiful in other people (looks, personality – whatever)
5. Award as many other people as you like and let them know!
1. SMILE!
The smile had to involve nut butter of course
2. Three things I like about my appearance…
ONE: I like my hair when it’s washed, so maybe I should do that more often…
TWO: I like that my stomach is like a bottomless pit and somehow manages to contain all the food I put in it without me exploding. Don’t ask me how it works.
THREE: I like my huge clown feet. I’m pretty sure if they weren’t big boats then I’d fall over.
3. Three things I appreciate about my personality…
ONE: I like that I don’t care much what people think of me. The only person whose approval I need is God’s, so it’s okay for me to be slightly insane in public and do things like crazy-pose with foam rollers in the gym in front of people.
TWO: I love that I’m a little obsessed about some things/people. Like Paula Radcliffe…
…and nut butter. I’m opening up now you guys, and revealing The Collection…
Those are just the open ones. 10 jars and 1 bucket. PB&Co White Chocolate Wonderful, Tahini butter,PB&Co Crunch Time, Cashew-Date butter, Almond butter, Smooth PB, Cashew butter, Hazelnut butter, PB&Co Dark Chocolate Dreams, Crunchy Sunflower Seed butter and Artisana coconut butter. There are also other unopened ones in my Nut Butter Cupboard, but lets not go there today. Gotta let the crazy out in small doses.
THREE: I love that I’m a hugger.
Bananas…
Trees…
Myself…
…and sometimes other people too…
HAHA don’t you just LOVE my friend’s expression there?! I promise I’m not THAT bad at hugging!
4. Something I find beautiful in other people. Oh gosh this is HARD! I find so many things beautiful in other people! I love people who are genuine, caring, and positive! People who aren’t afraid to be themselves are beautiful too…but I think caring is the most beautiful thing. People who show kindness and selflessness are SO beautiful and you can always tell when someone has a kind heart
I have that stuck in my Bible actually to remind me to try to be more caring and conscientious, and I love it!
5. Tag other people and let them know. This is the bit I can never do!! You are ALL so beautiful to me, and I know this is cliché, but CONSIDER YOURSELF TAGGED! I’d better see this on your bloggies later, or else!!!
Something you like about your appearance? This isn’t being vain, it’s being self-loving, so tell me pleeeease!! If you don’t, I’ll reply with a list of things that I love about your appearance instead
One thing you love about your personality/something you find beautiful in other people?
Do you have a big nut butter collection, or a big stash of something? Aside from my slightly ridiculous nut butter collection, I also have a pretty impressive snack bar stash!
Love you all, have an AMAZING day!!
WIAW+WIWW!
| May 24, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under What I...Wednesday |
HEY friends!! Time for another What I Ate Wednesday Tuesday!! I LOVE these, and seeing everyone else’s contributions is SO FUN! Jen is clearly a genius for thinking this up!!
What I Ate Wednesday Tuesday!
I made the effort to make breakfast super-pretty this morning. I may have had to sacrifice brushing my hair for this, so you’d better appreciate it…
Banana Oatbran Pudding topped with almond butter, strawberry jam and goji berries. I found those berries in the back of my cupboard, and I sure don’t remember buying them! I wonder how long they’ve been there…!
Okay now back to the normal ugly food pics! 
Dates and almond butter on toast and a date stuffed with cashew butter for a pre-workout snack. Dates and nut butter is a match made in HEAVEN 
*Insert lunchtime workout*
I am rejoicing because Sabra hummus has come to the UK!! (Sainsbury’s, FYI) For those of you who haven’t tried this deliciousness, it is THE most creamy and delicious hummus EVER! This is my current fave flavour:
I’m a spicy girl! Blame the Indian momma who carries a bottle of hot sauce in her purse at all times.
I enjoyed a hummus topped salad beast as part of my lunch:
Broccoli, orange pepper, tomatoes and hummus. With…
A bowl of leftover vegan shepherd’s pie that I made for yesterday’s dinner. Leftovers are my life!! I know it looks SO appetising there haha!
Afternoon snackage:
Kashi cereal with oat milk, sliced banana and strawbs.
I also managed to eat not just one but TWO whole punnets of blueberries that I found reduced! What can I say, I love bloobs! 
That x2 
I’ve also been pretty busy in the kitchen…
No-bake Date+Pecan brownies with a chocolate PB topping
Cashew-Date Butter, which I enjoyed off the spoon and Carrie style:
Recipes to come!
What I Worked Wednesday Tuesday
I hit the gym at lunch for a workout, and my gym has just brought in new machines, so now the ellipticals have TVs! WIN!!
So I spent an hour on there whilst watching Criminal Minds of course!
I then did 20 mins of abs because I missed them at yesterday’s BodyPump cos I had to leave early, so I did the abs workout I shared last week.
It burns so good.
And then in the evening, I got a call from my momma asking if I could go to a BodyAttack class with her! Bless her she wanted to go to a class for the first time but didn’t want to go alone! So I agreed, and we hit BodyAttack!
It’s basically high-impact aerobics. I did about 20 minutes of it but was worried that all the jumping around wasn’t good for my shin, so I was doing every move on my non-gimp leg, looking silly, and not getting much of a workout! So I left my momma to it and hit the gym instead until the class finished. 25 mins later of HIITs on the elliptical, and I was a sweaty mess! I stretched out, and found a FOAM ROLLER which really excited me!
Don’t ask me what the other gym users were thinking, but I was too excited to care! Hurt so good
And after all that, I really had no choice. I had to take the plunge.
I WASHED MY HAIR so please feel free to congratulate me in the comments or send me a congratulatory batch of cookies. Actually, if you’ve gotten this far, I think I owe YOU congratulatory cookies for making it to the end of the Longest Post Ever. Mmmm cookies…
Best thing you ate today/yesterday? All of it! No wait, the brownie and Cashew-Date Butter wins!
If you had access to a TV when working out, what would you watch? I used to watch Friends, but I kept laughing aloud and I have a scary laugh so people were understandably afraid.
Random Q: Favourite COOKIE? Man I’m craving them now haha! Um, chocolate chip. Can’t beat it! No wait, PB choc chip…drool…
P.S. Injury talk tomorrow! I’ve gotten a lot of Q’s about it, so if you have any or any questions about anything you can ask anonymously on Formspring.
Have an AMAZING day friends!! Sending you all my love!! <3
What I…Wednesday
| April 27, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under What I...Wednesday |
Howdy chicas!! I LOVED hearing your workout accomplishments and upcoming race plans yesterday! Y’all ROCK! Interesting thoughts on the whole bagel/bagel thin thing too…and I’ve got an email about it actually that I want to share with you guys! I’ll have to check first if the sender doesn’t mind, but prepare for a slightly controversial post coming up…!
Anyway, it’s What I…Wednesday! I LOVE seeing everyone’s posts on this!! Jen you are a genius 
What I Worked:
25 mins upper body weights *cue recycled scary Emma photo*:
…then an hour long spin class. I love spin SO MUCH!! 
And today’s instructor was the BEST!! She’s psychic I swear. Whenever I started to die and let up (SUPER-LONG HILL SPRINTS) she would sense it and yell at me to push harder! Love. Her.
What I Ate:
Just a few highlights for ya!
Breakfast #1 (pre-workout):
Sweet Tater-Raisin oatmeal, with tons of cinnamon
Breakfast #2 (post-workout):
Tropical Banana Bread in a Bowl. 1 cup cereal, 1 frozen banana, 1 cup banana soy milk, 1/2 scoop Tropical protein powder, xanthan gum, 1 tbsp coconut butter + shredded coconut. No kidding people you HAVE to try this recipe of Katie’s!! It is SO YUMMY!
Lunch:
Polenta cooked with vegan butter and nooch, leftover vegan shepherd’s pie (yesterday’s dinner), broccoli and red pepper. This was my first ever time trying polenta…I like!! Especially all buttery and noochey…mmm…
Dinner:
Stuffed peppers (stuffed with brown rice in a spicy sauce+ chopped veggies) served with baked tofu and Brussels sprouts
Foodie highlight:
Finished my dark chocolate Easter Egg! Best way to eat it I discovered is by breaking off bits and dipping it in PB. How normal…! 
What I Got So Excited About I Wanted To Cry:
That isn’t just any copy of Runner’s World my friends. That is the special Paula Radcliffe issue!! (If you don’t know, I am obsessed with her and she is my idol!)
The woman who saw me taking this photo had the FUNNIEST look on her face!! I wanted to take a photo of HER but I think that would’ve pushed her to call the crazy institute to take me away, because judging from her expression she was clearly considering it already.
Anyways, I’m off to spend some quality time with Paula. Well, I’ve already read it (of course!) but I haven’t finished memorising it word-for-word yet, so I’d better get back to it!
Best thing you ate today? Dark chocolate egg dipped in PB…heaven!
What was your Wednesday Workout? Or was it a glorious rest day? Tellll me please!!
What was the most exciting thing to happen to you today/this week? Der, Paula Radcliffe issue of RW!!
Have an AMAZING rest of the week friends!! Love you guys SO much!!
P.S. Almost your last chance to email your Friday Fave (sweet_tooth_runner@hotmail.co.uk) if you want to be featured this Friday! See here for details if you’re interested!! And I’ve been asked this twice and just to let everyone know that you DON’T have to be a blogger! If you’re a reader and want to be featured then I’d love to hear from you too!!
Feelin’ the love
| April 19, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Uncategorized |
HELLOOO friends!! Having a great day I hope!!
Today I was really feelin’ the love from everybody! 
Firstly, from the world- the weather was SO lovely today!! 
And the minute I turned on my computer, I found out I’d been awarded the Bootylicious Award by my gorgeous friend Carrie!! 
THE RULES:
1. Post this award with the picture and name whoever tagged you in it
2. Do the STUFF
3. Award to 7 others and tell them you did so!
THE STUFF:
1. Name 3 things that are lying right next to you
2. Name 2 foods you cannot live without
3. Name 1 thing you did today
1. 3 things that are next to me right now…well today I had a lot of work to do, so I’ve been glued to my desk all day…
A box of cereal:
This means I can munch away endlessly without ever having to leave my desk- WIN!
Water bottles:
Yep, four of them! I drink a LOT of water. Actually, this totally defeats the point of the cereal, since I have to get up every few minutes to go to the loo, but whatever! 
My Garmin:
Instead of studying, I spent time playing around with the settings so I can have a proper recovery run without going too fast! Procrastination gets me every time!!
2. Two foods I can’t live without. To be honest, if you have been read my blog at least twice, I’m sure you can name a few! If you haven’t, I’ll give you a few now: chocolate, dates, peanut butter and oats. Instead, I’ll give you two of my eats today!
Firstly, Chocolate Peanut Butter Overnight Oats:
Perfect after my hot morning run! 1/2 cup oats, 1 cup vanilla soy milk, 1.5 tbsp cocoa powder, 1.5 tbsp chia seeds, 1 tbsp peanut butter all stirred together and put in the fridge for at least an hour. Then I topped with another tbsp peanut butter before eating! DELISH!! And funnily enough, it combines 3 of the foods I never go a day without…!
For lunch, I tried seitan for the first time!
I tried some of it straight up with broccoli and sweet potato mash. 
It is weird how much it looks, smells, and tastes like meat! SO weird, since I haven’t had meat or anything like it in years! Puts me off a bit to be honest, but it does have awesome nutritional stats:
21.3g protein per 100g?! Wowzers! Still I think the expense (almost a fiver for a small jar!!) and the meat thing means I won’t be buying it much, if at all though.
3. One thing I did today: I had a CRACKIN’ pain free run!! Got it in early, and overdressed cos the weatherman told me last night it would feel like 4C. He lied. Hello 20C. Still it was SUCH a beautiful day and I loved it!! (FYI this is my race team T-shirt from Sunday, which has the club name on it, so that weird scribble across my chest is where I’ve blanked it out because I am paranoid about internet safety, cool that I am).
So. Much. Fun!! NOT a good easy/recovery run though! ‘Recovery’ run: 4 miles, 31mins, 7.47min/mile pace. I HAVE worked out now how to set my Garmin to help me do proper easy/recovery runs! Getting injured has taught me more about the importance of them, and Paula Radcliffe talks about how important they are too in becoming a better runner and staying injury free. So I’m gonna do them, and do them properly!! Bring it ON!! (Oh, and I’ll be publishing a post soon on what I’ve learned from my injury and how I’m going to train from now on, i.e., pretty differently!)
So THANKS Carrie for the award! I’m gonna pass this on to the first seven Bootylicious bloggers who commented on yesterday’s post:
- Emily @ Sparkle and Shade, then Carrie (but obviously you’ve already done, it! )
- Ffion @ Chocolate and Raspberries
- Emma @ The Quirky Kitchen
- Jen @Pinches of Jen
- Lauren @ Run Yoga Repeat
- Hollie @ Lolz that swim(and run)
- Christina @ Move Over Celery
I also felt the love today when a package arrived for me…
It was the cookies I bid on at Katie’s Vegan Bake Sale for Japan! Attached was the sweetest note ever!
The lovely Eleanor did this for me! A whole box full of delicious chocolate chip cookies!
Don’t they look AMAZING?!
I polished off two of those bad boys straight away! Dayum they are SO DELICIOUS!!
I swear, you friends know me too well! Not only did the lovely Eleanor bake me a whole box of delicious vegan cookies, BUT threw in CHOCOLATE COVERED DATES too!! 
This was the icing on the cake cookie. Like actual HEAVEN for me:
There are sadly only two left now. Don’t ask me who ate them all, because I’ll just cry when I remember that they’re almost all gone…well at least I’ll have 9 more delicious cookies to eat instead!
Eleanor and Katie, thank you both SO much, and I’m hugging the goodies and pretending it’s you two, in the most non-creepy way possible. Just ignore the manic expression- it’s one of love.
*HUGS* for you all!!
What’s one thing you did today? Tell me you ate your bodyweight in chocolate too and make me feel normal!
Have you tried seitan before? Thoughts? Maybe if I try making it myself it’ll be less meat-like…?
What are you looking forward to tomorrow? Early morning spin! I’d better get to bed now then since I have to be up at 5.45am! That’s early for me, althoug
Have a great day lovelies!!
I. Love. Track.
| March 19, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Uncategorized |
It is official. I love track.
Great photo of me looking like a complete DORK. Not that you don’t see photos like that on this blog on a daily basis anyway! 
Be prepared to see many more in this post…
So I got up, and it was SUNNY!! 
And there were BLUE SKIES!! This is London we’re talking about, so it’s kinda rare! I was a bit disorientated…did I move to Cali in my sleep? But no…the world just loved me today. Actually, that’s a lie. I woke up to this sad sight…
That is my fruit basket. No bananas. WHAT AM I TO DO?!?! My pre-run PB toasts with banana was not to be…but I had something even BETTER instead…. 
PB on toast with dates, and almond butter on toast with sultanas. DELISH. And lets just pretend I haven’t gone through a whole 500g pack of dates in 3 days, k?
So then I put on my fave shoes- my racing flats that I hadn’t worn since the mud incident. I missed you Fire Shoes…
And then after getting a little lost en-route and ending up taking a nice 45 min accidental stroll through a park, I hit the track!!
Track run:
1 mile warm-up
6 x 400 metres at fast pace (avg pace 6.01 min/mile, best pace 5.36 min/mile) with a recovery jog lap inbetween
1 mile cool down
So. Much. Fun. I want to do this EVERY DAY. I’ll never get tired of it. Just as I’ll never get tired of chocolate milk…
…or huge steaming bowls of broccoli…
…or dark chocolate covered brazil nuts, or which I may or may not have eaten almost a whole pack of today…
Track runs are definitely a new fave! 
Okay, so tomorrow I’ll probably do a recovery run instead of my usual Sunday hill run…but other than that it’ll be my usual Sunday thang: hill run, pancakes and church. If that isn’t a winning combo, I don’t know what is!! 
Oh, and I have BIG plans for tomorrow’s pancakes, involving one of my main food groups…! You’ll have to wait and see!
If you’re a runner, what is your favourite type of run? I read a poll in Runner’s World that said that most people prefer long, relaxed runs, but I think track runs are just so much FUN!! So maybe that beats it for me…
What is one thing you’ll never get bored of? I’ve already said running, so chocolate. I am WAY too predictable!!
What was your highlight of your day, or what are you looking forward to tomorrow? Obviously my run was the highlight, and I’m looking forward to everything tomorrow!! I love my Sundays! 
Have a great Sunday friends!!
Friday Faves!!
| March 18, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Friday Favourites |
It’s FRIDAY FAVES time people!! SO many people do this now, and it’s such a great way for us to share our happiness with each other! 
1. Katie’s amazing chocolate fudge.
It is the most delicious thing ever, despite what this picture makes it look like! I’m a talented photographer, dontcha know? 
And is a perfect topping for oatmeal…
2. QUADRUPLE Chocolate Oats. Remember the Triple Chocolate Oats on my last Friday Faves? Well I amped up the chocolateyness even more. Soon, I’ll be at Dectuplet (is that even a word?) Chocolate Oats. But this was good enough for today! 
1/2 cup oat bran and CHOCOLATE milk topped with Dark Chocolate Dreams, Katie’s chocolate fudge and cacao nibs. Oooooh SO good. Went into a slight chocolate-induced coma after this one.
3. Getting started on my rehydration mission! This was one of my March goals, because I know I am lacking in salts because I never replenish them!! So I ordered some Nuun rehydration electrolyte tabs.
Today was my rest day but I’ll test them out tomorrow!
4. Nooch (Nutritional Yeast). This stuff is the BOMB!
(Yes, you caught me, I am holding a square of chocolate in that picture…Lindt is another Friday Fave I had to subtly sneak in! )
I sprinkle it on ANYTHING savoury, and it makes it SO much yummier!! Take today’s dinner for example: sweet tater, tomato lentil stew and broccoli, all sprinkled with nooch…
…and then a ton more after that photo was taken!
I get a LOT of questions about this stuff. Basically, it tastes like cheese, and has around 14g of protein per serving, plus tons of B vits. You can’t beat it!
5. A project I worked on today…my RUNNING JOURNAL! I kept a running journal of sorts before in a tatty old notebook, so I thought it was time I changed things up:
Yes, it is very amateurish, and pretty cheesy/lame, but I love it! It has some of my favourite quotations and some pics too 
Back cover:
“When your legs get tired, run with your heart” is my favourite quotation, and below it is a fave mantra of mine: “Pain is temporary, Pride is forever”.
Inside front cover:
Inside back cover:
I LOVE my new journal!! I am SUCH a sucker for quotations, and I have left a page at the front for some more, so I’d love to hear your favourites to write on it!
6. Looking forward to tomorrow’s run: my first ever real track run!
I have simulated track workouts on the treadmill before, but obviously it’s not the same as the real deal! There isn’t one very near me, which is why I haven’t done one before. But tomorrow morning I’m gonna travel and go hit that track! Can’t wait…400’s methinks…bring it on!!
What are your Friday Favourites? Share with moi pretty please!
Do you have any favourite quotations or mantras? I’d love to hear your favourites and add them to my list!!
Do you have a running journal/exercise log, etc? Do you find it useful? I love having one! I just looked back at my first ever entry: 3 min run, 1 min walk repeated. “It was HARD!”.
Have a great weekend friends!!
P.S. Your comments on yesterday’s post were amazing. You guys are the BEST and such inspirations to me!! You all HAVE to come and visit me and run the London Marathon with me in a couple of years, k? It will be SO MUCH FUN!!
