One of the nicest perks of our new house would be the regular running group that came built right in to our neighborhood. They run Monday, Thursday and Saturday mornings and as luck would have it, today is Monday!

I found out about the group from a friend who lives in this neighborhood. He’s been running with them for a while and invited me to join them on a Saturday morning run back in October. I accepted the invite and by the end of the run I was already contemplating what it might take to get our closing date bumped up to that very afternoon.

I emailed my neighborly friend last night to confirm the days and times were still the same and that they were still meeting over the holiday week. When I got the thumbs up that running this morning would be a go, I got my running stuff all set out and ready. The group meets at 6 AM and while I am no stranger to getting up in the 5 o’clock hour – getting OUT before the clock strikes 6 is a whole new ball game.

Yesterday’s journey through my neighborhood streets, to the campus of a large university, through the cemetery and back over the river to make my way home again was great. It was sunny, not too cold and almost all the snow was gone. But when I peeled myself out of bed at 5:40 this morning, I found 6 inches of the white stuff on the ground. The street in front of my house was not plowed and there was one set of tire tracks through the road that showed me just how deep the snow was.

Ankle deep. And it’s still snowing.

So now what? Are they still going to run this morning in this crazy mess? If I was at at the old house, today would definitely be a treadmill day. Do I change out of my toasty purple socks and sexy sweat pants and get in to cold running tights and an adorable pink hat that I knit myself only to find that I’m the only fool that came out this morning? If that were the case, the next step would be to turn around and go home because I’m not running alone in the dark through city streets. Even though the roads are well lit, I don’t know the area well enough to head off by myself when the sky is still black. Well, orange-ish yellowy is more accurate than black really. We’re in the city now after all.

But I digress.

OK, fine. It’s worth the risk. I suited up and off I went, into the orange-ish yellowy snow filled sky, down a tire carved path on the otherwise empty and silent street to make the trek to the meeting location two blocks over. Sure enough, I was greeted by three smiling faces and we were joined by three more folks shortly there after.

Wait. A group of happy, smiling people wearing sneakers and face masks at 6 AM on a cold and snowy Monday morning? Really? Is this a drug run?

I don’t know what it is about running with a group of people, especially considering I barely know anyone besides my friend – but this morning’s cold, wet, orange, snowy and blowy run that was filled with conversation and laughs made today’s run just as good as any sunny and dry Monday morning solo run through my suburban streets or a random treadmill run at an old decrepit gym.

I kept coming back to the fact that if I hadn’t had plans to meet with this group today, I never would have run this morning. I’ve no longer got a gym membership to speak of, so without these plans I surely would have been home this morning wondering what I could do to avoid unpacking or putting away more stuff. There’s no doubt that making plans with a work out buddy can be a powerful tool to keep you on track and motivated and will get your butt out the door when you would otherwise eschew your pink hat in lieu of sweat pants with a large hole in the crotch. (I told you they were sexy.)

Our run took about 45 minutes and when all was said and done I was gone about an hour. Given our somewhat leisurely pace through the ankle deep snow I’m guessing we went about 4 and a half or 5 miles this morning.

My post run breakfast would be an old favorite, fruit cereal.

1 diced banana and 1 diced gala apple tossed and coated in ground flax seed and unsweetened cocoa powder, topped with sliced almonds and chocolate unsweetened almond milk. Who needs grains when there’s fruit to eat?

I enjoyed my fruit cereal while Maxine and her toys enjoyed our generously sized forced air ducts and the big blast of hot air from it this morning.

Looks like I’m not the only one who has found some fun perks that came with our new house.

• Scary Spoon
• A Day of Calorie Counting
• When the Garmin Strikes Midnight

I have declared this Saturday
To be a day filled with treats!
Let’s get started with breakfast
and some yummy morning eats.

Enjoyed first thing
came Treat #1!
Fruit Cereal in peace
Well son of a gun!

A diced sweet banana and a peeled D’Anjour pear
Tossed in ground flax seed with such ease and such care
Topped with a tablespoon of shriveled grapes and pumpkin seeds
Add a half cup of unsweetened almond milk, that’s what this needs!

Post breakfast I was off
on a solo shopping trip
Treat #2 would be from Starbucks
for a hot beverage drip

Treat Three stemmed from
Regular coffee and half and half
A great caffeine buzz
Oh like a fool I did laugh!

It’s amazing at how quickly
I move through the store
At Wegmans by myself?
Call this Treat #4!

Treat #5 began
At the library, you see
To take time browsing books
For them and for me.

Treat Number Six
Is a book on reserve
Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen
Raw goodness will be served!

Treat 7
Is for you, my dear and sweet friends
You’re welcome, at last
My post has reached its end

• Warm Fruit Cereal
• Signs
• Scary Spoon

Given that yesterday was our Stay At Home day, I decided to take the girls car seats out of the car to wash the covers. Upon removing the Britax Beasts, I discovered they were harboring a small community of broken crayons, cheerios and Kashi granola bar crumb fugitives.

So this morning instead of running past the car wash like I do day after day, I thought my carseat-less vehicle could use a little quality time with the vacuum before I spent a half hour reinstalling the seats.

But without car seats in the car, I couldn’t take the kids with me. Therefore, morning run time was swapped out to pay for serious suction while Zak was around to stay home with the girls.

I could have been that neighbor who’s running her vacuum outside at 7:30 in the morning, but instead I thought we’d just go Fresh’N Up! Doesn’t that sound lovely?

I mean, come on. Who needs to work out when you can play “Beat the Clock” with the car wash vacuum?

I totally used to be that person who’s car was always clean. But then I had kids. While I still always empty the car of items after each car adventure – regular vacuuming has fallen to the way side.

I did find some friends hiding under the seats though.

And I got a little wash woman pay for my services.

Even some GREEN! You mean to tell me there’s been a dollar bill under my seat all this time?

But then I hit the jackpot!

Time to celebrate! I put my car back together and ran off with my winnings to the little store near the car wash to score some bananas. Thank goodness bananas are cheap, I don’t think my rinky dink corner store is able to make change for a $500 bill.

I returned home with a nice and neat car, and very ready for some fruit cereal.

1 diced banana
2 Tbsp ground flax
1/8 c raisins
1 Tbsp raw pumpkin seeds
1/2 c unsweetened almond milk

Not only is my car NEAT, my morning activity was N E A T too! NEAT as in Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. NEAT is basically all the ways you burn calories that doesn’t have anything to do with a “real” work out, or the energy you expend to make your heart beat, digest food, sleep and remember to return library books on time.

From taking the stairs, doing housework, raking leaves for some yardio to secretly hauling things out of the house to donate – you burn calories doing all of these sorts of things and it can definitely add up.

Knowing this can actually make a difference in how many calories you burn. A few years ago there was this remarkable study done by Harvard University where researchers studied 84 female housekeepers at seven different hotels for four weeks. About half of the group of women were told that their housekeeping work can be considered exercise, and the other half were told nothing.

Of the women who were told that their day to day work is part of an active lifestyle, the researchers found that

the informed group had lost an average of 2 pounds, lowered their blood pressure by almost 10 percent, and were significantly healthier as measured by body-fat percentage, body mass index, and waist-to-hip ratio.

The women in the control group had very few changes in body composition in comparison.

So you see, your mindset matters! You can bet your waist-to-hip ratio that I was thinking about how running to and fro between open car doors, flinging car mats around, ducking between seats to dig out pennies, $500 dollar bills and pink ponies was burning calories.

Isn’t that NEAT?

• A Real Rest Day
• When the Garmin Strikes Midnight
• Stay at Home

I declared Monday a rest day and then went and proceeded to rake and haul leaves for more than three hours, making Monday anything but a rest day.

Today though, is really going to be a rest day. After two days of non-stop action, this house is most definitely showing signs of neglect and lots of comings and goings… why do I feel so stressed when the house is a mess? Is it because stress and mess rhyme? Probably.

It must have been a sign from above that the Garmin 405 was picked up with a dead battery and needs to be recharged.

So this morning with my bowl of chocolate fruit cereal, I had a side of Garmin battery charging.

1 diced banana
1 diced gala apple
2 Tbsp ground flax
1 Tbsp raw cacao nibs
2 Tbsp sliced almonds
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 c unsweetened chocolate almond milk

The Daily Plate says: 427 Calories.

I’m going to take a cue from the Garmin today:

Time for Mama to recharge her batteries too. Looks like that Garmin is taking a deep, cleansing breath, doesn’t it? I need to do that as well.

• A NEAT Morning
• When the Garmin Strikes Midnight
• Stay at Home

Today’s day of calorie counting began with a freezing bike ride to the gym. Well, actually it was 33 degrees so I guess it wasn’t exactly freezing. I’m such an exaggerator sometimes.

30 minutes on the treadmill with some speed work intervals (4 two minute sets at 9.3) thrown in to keep things interesting – a total of about 4 miles. I noted today what the calorie total said and it was about 450.

Treadmill dues paid, followed by a Very Cold (but this time welcome!) ride home for my first calories of the day.

Green juice for two! My serving: 131 calories (based on my numbers from yesterday)

About an hour and a half later I was ready for My Real Breakfast.

Fruit Cereal:

1 1/2 bananas (158 cals), 2 Tbsp ground flax (60), 2 Tbsp sliced almonds (85), 1/2 unsweetened vanilla hemp milk (30) = 333

We had to leave early this morning (“early” as in 9:30!) to meet up with some homeschooling friends for a nature walk.

We were on a leaf hunt! Maxine was cold and cranky and refused to walk. Carrying an extra 30 lbs for a 30 minute walk. As if I didn’t already run for 30 minutes this morning, kid? Thanks for doing your part Maxine to help these final 10 lbs come off that much faster.

Moments after this picture was taken the 3 older girls shrieked in utter delight when they spotted “poison cherries” on a tree about 50 yards to the left.

Before we left we hit up the nature center and did a little research for my new Taxidermy blog. I just need some help coming up with a new name. Any ideas?

The Flying Squirrel?

Hug a Nut?

Play Dead?

I’ve Got Beaver Fever? (I wonder how many calories are in the leaf?)

Meh. I’m still working on ideas.

We had some errands to run after our leaf picking poison cherry stuffed carcass adventures. I packed some snacks to hold us over until we could get home for a proper lunch.

Carrots and jicama sticks anyone? Yours for a mere 70 calories! Yes please!

And how about half a MamaBar at a whopping 111 calories? Sold to the lady with that crazy look in her eye!

My Proper Lunch would be a salad as big as my head (150 cals – for the salad, not my head) and homemade balsamic dressing.

1 Tbsp EVOO 130 cals
2 Tbsp balsamic 30 cals
1/2 Tbsp agave nectar 30
+ s&p

Lunch! 340 calories!

The Snack: Round 2

2 Tbsp chia seeds 138
1 tsp agave nectar 20
1/2 c hemp milk 30
Dash of cinnamon

Soaked in all it’s 188 calorie glory for about 4 hours to be called chia pudding.

Orange you glad I did the dishes after my snack? 70 calories of citrus goodness.

For dinner tonight I made a tomato bean soup.

28 oz can of tomatoes: 175 calories
1 Tbsp EVOO: 130
1 can of garbonzo beans, rinsed and drained: 350
2 carrots, peeled and sliced:70
1 onion, diced: 30
2 cloves of garlic: 10
A couple shakes of parsley, salt and pepper: .002568999 calories

Recipe total? 695 calories

It made about 5 cups.

695 / 5 = 139 calories per cup

I sauteed diced onion and garlic in olive oil until soft. Added all vegetables, salt and pepper + parsley and simmered on medium heat until carrots were soft, probably about 40 minutes. Stir occassionally and subtract 1 calorie for every spoon revolution in the pan.

1 1/2 cups = 215 calories

+ a grilled (in Misto’d olive oil) hummus (75) and tomato (10) sandwich on 2 slices of sesame Ezekiel bread (160) for a dinner tally of 460.

Today’s day of calorie counting? 1783.

I’ve had a couple of revelations today. I know what you’re thinking… already? Yes! Already!

1. I’ve been a little too friendly with the nuts in my life. No, I’m not talking about my husband and children, but the kind that good old Hug a Nut is hugging up there. Me and almond butter have become more than just good friends, we are lovers. Nuts are good for you, but I’ve been a little too eager to be a nutty overachiever. A handful of raw cashews for a pre-dinner snack? And after breakfast? And before lunch? Hello lady I just figured out your problem. Well, at least your nut problem. Now let’s get to work on your sense of humor.

2. Intuitive Eating, Thrive and the Raw Food Detox Diet have made things a lot easier for me. First, as I’ve said many times before, if I don’t eat stimulating foods, I don’t crave them, so eating like I did today and most every day is pretty effortless. I don’t feel like I’m deprived of anything. But most importantly, if I’m hungry, I’m going to eat! When calorie counting in the past I would often make myself wait just a little bit longer before finally getting something to eat. None of that now. If I reach for fruits and vegetables instead of dates with almond butter or a handful of raisins and cashews every time I feel the need for a little something, I think I’ll easily obtain a calorie deficit. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to eat nuts – I’m not crazy! I’m just going to stop slathering nut butter on dates or anything and everything without a pulse like it’s going out of style.

3. Thanks for all the recommendations for The Daily Plate! It’s easy, I like it! I entered in all of my data for today and I especially like being able to see the fat, carb and protein totals, fiber too.

Thanks to everyone for your supportive comments. Like a number of you said, I’m using calorie counting as a tool to reach a goal, not an excuse to obsess over food and go nutty with. I’ve already had quite a few clues as to where I’ve been going wrong and this is exactly what I needed. A wake up call! And thankfully not one that involves a horse head in my bed.

• Scary Spoon
• Two Lefts Don't Make a Right
• Terribly Tired Tooth Fairy

Dark, dark, DARK. The mornings are so dark! Come on daylight savings time – Mama’s ready to set the clocks back!

On my bike first thing this morning to ride – in the dark yet again – to the gym to pay my respects to the treadmill. I even dug out my reflective vest to wear on the way there today too.

Flash photography: Friend or Foe?

Foe. Definitely foe.

If I’m going to run on the treadmill and be a rat on the wheel for 30 minutes, I feel like I have no choice but to run sprint intervals to keep things interesting.

Today I did 4 sets of intervals, holding on to a speed of 9.3 to 9.5 for 4 sets – 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 minutes and 2 minutes, respectively. I don’t know about you but 9.3 is pretty damn fast for me. I’ll admit though, the more I do it, the easier it becomes, but still. That’s faster than a 6:30 pace and I swear that the treadmill makes this easier than it is out on the open road.

I also swear that I was a little concerned about the possibility of vomiting at the end of that 3 minute set. Take note that it was the only 3 minute set I did.

By the time I was done, the sun had finally dragged itself up over the horizon. I enjoyed the mild air and daylight on the long way home, making my round trip this morning about 20 minutes.

Speaking of round, who wants Pumpkin Fruit Cereal for breakfast today?  (Pumpkins are round people, please don’t make me spell it out. Oh great, I just did.)

Oh me!  I want pumpkin fruit cereal!  I do!

1 diced banana tossed in 2 Tbsp or so of pumpkin puree and a 1/4 cup ground flax seed.  Sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg and last but not least some sliced almonds stirred in for crunch.

I know it’s not Halloween yet but we’ve got a homeschool Halloween party to go to today so it’s feeling like a Halloween-y kind of day to me.

I thought using this Halloween magnet from our Melissa and Doug calendar was pretty cute and clever.  But suddenly I’m thinking about the millions of times I’ve picked these magnets up off the floor, fetched them out from under the couch, the stove, the litter box (kidding! I think.) and wondering if putting it on my spoon was really the best move I could have made?

Of course I didn’t really think about this until I saw the picture just now and that amazing bowl of pumpkin fruit cereal is long gone – spoon licked clean. Twice.

Bah.  Halloween is supposed to be scary, right?

—-

New today on Health Blog Helper! Quick Tip: Guest Posts!

• A Day of Calorie Counting
• Stay at Home
• New House Perks

Thanks to a surprisingly warm morning, I rode my bike to the gym today.

5 minutes ride there + 10 minute elliptical + 30 minute treadmill + 14 minute long-way ride home = an hour work out that only felt like 40 minutes. That’s just the way I like it.

Juice that is the same color as my counter top is the way I like it too. Aren’t hidden pictures fun?

Zak made juice while I was at the gym and was waiting for me to return. I haven’t made juice in a few days and I guess he had to take matters into his own hands. Oh good! Make me some too while you’re at it!

When I asked him what went into it he said “The Usual”. Apparently that means romaine lettuce, carrots, beets, apple, lemon and ginger.

A real breakfast conundrum this morning: I don’t want oats but I wanted something warm. Fruit cereal sounds good but of course – it’s cold, not warm.

Hmmm… think, think, think…

How about warm fruit cereal? Why I think I just might!

A peeled, sliced gala apple simmer in unsweetened vanilla hemp milk for about 10 minutes to soften up.

After the apples were soft I added diced banana and cooked for about 3 or 4 more minutes.

Remove from heat, stirred in about a half cup of ground flax seed and poured the whole warm fruity glop into a bowl and topped it with a small handful of sliced almonds.

Warm fruit cereal? Fall breakfast of champions!

This is still a conundrum though because the point of fruit cereal is two fold:

1. It’s mostly raw (would be all raw but hemp milk isn’t raw)
2. It’s gluten free

So warm fruit cereal furiously scribbles out point number 1 like a toddler writing on your walls with a sharpie, but oh well. It was worth it.

• Scary Spoon
• Orange You Glad It’s Sunday?
• Knights of the Cardio Round Table

Instead of working out this morning, I worked on my to-do list. I think I’m addicted to giving myself too much to do. I can’t seem to stop signing on for things. I’m always volunteering to help, offering to do something for someone, raising my hand when no one else does. I think I always do this because my brain always comes back to – Sure, why not! I’m a stay at home mom. What else have I got to do? Well dummy, you’ve actually got a ton of stuff do.

OK let’s get to work. But hmmm I think I want some fresh juice to get the day started off right. That sure sounds delightful, doesn’t it? Fresh squeezed orange juice? Oh! Magnificent! I’m a stay at home mom! What else have I got to do with my time but make fresh squeezed orange juice for everyone?

OK shut up and get over yourself. Eat the damn orange like a normal person, save yourself from having to add “clean juicer” to your to-do list and get back to work.

Geez man what a slave driver.

On the do list this morning – get the mortgage ball rolling so we move forward with a very large item on the to do list: “Move into the city”. I had a phone appointment this morning a Mortgage Originator at 9:00. Of course at 8:45 I realized I was hungry. Do I have enough time to add “whip something up for breakfast before I have everyone’s favorite conversation with the bank” to the to-do list? Let’s do it.

Fast fruit cereal. Diced banana covered in cocoa powder and flax, topped with sliced almonds and chocolate unsweetened almond milk. Done.

Time check!

Quick! Add “Eat breakfast in 7 minutes” to the to-do list!

I scarfed ate at my desk and waited for the call from my new mortgage friend Jim.

I’m not sure how Jim feels about his picture showing up on my blog considering we just met this morning, but you can probably pick out his bank mug shot on my monitor in the background. The photo release form is in the mail, and will likely pass our mortgage pre-approval letter like two ships passing in the night!

Thanks Jim! I think I love you. Quick! Add “Hunt for dream home” to the to do list! I’m a stay at home mom! What else have I got to do?

• Warm Fruit Cereal
• Seven Saturday Treats
• Scary Spoon

Pineapple, I have someone I’d like you meet. This is my new friend, Breville.

Now that my mom has gotten into juicing she’s become my juice muse. She’s turning me on to all sorts of juice books and has inspired me to think outside the romaine bag.

I bought a pineapple a few days ago with intent to ring it out in the juicer. Today was the day my conifer seed shaped fruit had a juice date with some carrots, an apple and ginger.

And to think as a kid pineapple was my mortal enemy. I use to play dodge ball with the pineapple in fruit cocktail, aiming instead for peaches, pears and cherries. Now it’s the star of the show.

I selected my running ensemble with care, to match my juice. Donning an orange shirt to celebrate the wonder of carrots in vegetable juice.

A crisp, cool 5 some odd miles and 40 some odd minutes later I was home to put together some fruit cereal.

Two diced bananas, two diced dates tossed in flax with some hand crushed walnuts. Topped post-photo shoot with some unsweetened vanilla hemp milk.

One of the best features of fruit cereal? It doesn’t get soggy. Not like regular cereal anyway. It is of course soft and mushy given it’s made of FRUIT after all, but nuts aren’t losing their crunch while you get up four times to fetch more yogurt, toast, dropped spoons and extra napkins for your dining companions.

Orange you glad it’s Sunday? Me too.

• Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
• Warm Fruit Cereal
• Scary Spoon