Happy Saturday!

Hey hey hey!! How is everyone this fine Saturday? No complaints from me! Last night Keith and I were total homebodies!! We watched rounds 2 and 3 of the NFL draft and just chilled! Boxer shorts, a tank top and glasses…boy was I sexy!! For dinner we did Rosemary Chicken! Easy, healthy and delicious! 

  

ROSEMARY CHICKEN WITH ZUCCHINI

 

1 pound new potatoes
2 carrots
2 small zucchini
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
1 bunch of fresh rosemary
4 (6-ounce) boneless skinless chicken breasts
Salt and Pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Quarter the potatoes. Peel the carrots. Cut the carrots and zucchini into 2-inch sticks. 

Mix them in a bowl with olive oil, mustard, rosemary, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Season the chicken with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. 

Place everything in a 9X13 baking dish. Roast for 25 minutes. Toss the vegetables, turn the chicken and continue roasting until chicken is cooked through, 20-25 minutes more. 

Yields: 4 servings

CALORIES 345; FAT 11g fat (2g saturated fat); CHOLESTEROL 94mg; SODIUM 933mg; CARBOHYDRATE 23g; FIBER 4g; SUGAR 4g; PROTEIN 37g

Oh slap me silly...this is good!

 

 

Today there isn’t much on the agenda. I slept in…SO needed it and I am about to head out for a run. It stormed so bad last night but today is absolutely gorgeous. Sunshine and not a cloud to be seen!!! Yay! 

Oh and if you missed it, go meet my mama and hear her amazing story here! With that, HAPPY SATURDAY!! 

Do you have a fun day planned?   

Let Me Introduce You To…

My mama, Cheryl. Hi Mom! This is one of my favorite pictures of her. She is so happy and she is with my amazing stepdad, Jim. Plus I think she looks SO pretty…here…relaxed, at ease and happy. 

My mom and stepdad, Jim

 

My mom is pretty amazing. I absolutely admire her for a ton of reasons. She has been a great mom and even if it might have taken me a long time to see it she has always been there for me and has always been my biggest fan. Even when I made poor choices or said hurtful things or when we didn’t agree with one another’s decisions…she never left me and I know she never will.  

What I want to talk about it how I believe that my mom is a FIGHTER and how she is a living testament to what a healthy lifestyle can do. When I was 18 my mom was diagnosed with Smoldering Multiple Myeloma. What is it, you ask? To put it simply it is cancer of the plasma cells in the bone marrow. Currently there is no cure. 

How it started: My mom went in for her regular yearly physical and her blood testing revealed she was extremely anemic. Her doctor was concerned by how anemic she was and referred her to a hematologist (blood specialist) for further testing. Further testing found an unusal protein in her urine and the hematoloist wanted to do a bone marrow biopsy. This also showed the same foreign protein in her marrow. This led my mom to the Mayo Clinic for more extensive testing. After more blood and bone marrow testing it was determined she had smoldering multiple myeloma. 

What is Smoldering Multiple Myeloma? In the simplest of terms it meant that there was not enough of this foreign protein in her body for it to be considered full-blown myeloma but it was well determined that it would eventually develop into that. There was no treatment available, or protocol established, she was basically told to wait. Wait for it to develop into cancer. So home she came with her life (our lives) turned upside down. 

What did she do? My mom is a strong woman and so she FOUGHT! She researched alternative medicines and started eating organic fruits, vegetables, and meats. She started taking natural herbs and really listening to herself. She turned away from processed foods, started removing gluten  and exercising. She completely changed her lifestyle and tried to be as natural as possible. My mom has never been overweight or even what most would consider unhealthy but now she was determined to be the healthiest she could be! She went in every month for blood and urine testing, and eventually started going every 3 months and now (and for about the past 5 years) she goes in once a every 6 months. 

The verdict? For the first time in 10 years her blood work is the best it has ever been! She still has this funky protein in her blood, bone marrow and urine but the protein levels are actually stabilizing and even some months decreasing! Her doctors are amazed and claim this is unprecedented! I can only say it is because my mom is amazing and she is strong. I love her so much and to me it shows that without a doubt a healthy lifestyle can literally SAVE YOUR LIFE! 

Do you have a healthy inspiration?

Give Me An F…

For FRIDAY!!! Woot! We made it guys! [Inset a loud WOO HOO!] I had a fantastic run today…after yesterday’s speedy run I needed to chill today. I ran 7 miles (using even splits) holding 8:30/pace. It felt nice and I actually got so zoned out and just allowed my mind to wander. I didn’t really focus on form or my body but more just on enjoying the run! It was nice. Now I am caffenating myself and getting ready to tackle the day!

Side note: I get emails asking about how much coffee I drink everyday! haha! I am actually not nearly as addicted as I think I portray. I drink extremely weak coffee…about 1/4 scoop per cup and I normally brew about 4-5 cups every morning and usually drink 2. Keith does joke that really I am just drinking coffee flavored water!

Dinner last night was flipping awesome!! Again, another recipe ala my cookbook…Honey Orange Chicken (page 39)! This is so good guys…it would seriously give Pei Wei a run for its money.

HONEY ORANGE CHICKEN

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
• 1 Tbsp. grapeseed oil
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 3 Tbsp. honey
• 4 Tbsp.orange juice concentrate
• 1 orange, peeled and segmented
• 2 Tbsp. soy sauce (I use wheat-free tamari)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place chicken in a baking dish; set aside.

Heat oil in a small skillet and saute garlic and onions until soft but not browned, about 2 minutes. Add honey, orange juice, orange segments, and soy sauce, stirring evenly until honey is completely dissolved.

Pour sauce over chicken. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes, basting once or twice, until chicken is cooked through. Serve over 1/2 cup brown rice and steamed broccoli, then drizzle extra sauce on top! Makes 4 servings.

Calories 211.8; Fat 4.0g (0.3g saturated fat); 55mg Cholesterol; 681.1mg Sodium; 20.8g Carbohydrate; 1.2g Fiber; 13.1g Sugar; 24.2g Protein (nutritional information does not include rice and broccoli)

Right out of the oven

Homemade Chinese Food!!! YUM!

Last night Keith and I stayed up way too late watching the first round of the NFL draft. I was amazed at watching these kids (yes kids) being drafted for millions of dollars to play a professional sport. I must admit, part of me was a tad jealous! I would LOVE to be a professional athlete and get paid to play a sport that I was good at…how cool!! So that got me thinking, if I could be a professional athlete which sport would I pick? (oh…and I made myself exclude running because that would be too obvious) I didn’t have to think long before deciding that I would love to play on the AVP Tour (AVP = association of volleyball professionals). Keith and I love to watch the AVP tour and we have even been live when they came to Austin. Those players are off the hook amazing! I debated a half second between that and tennis because I just know me and Venus Williams would be great friends! haha!

If you could be a professional athlete, which sport would you chose?

Be NEGATIVE!

People constantly ask me how I train and what secrets I have to improve my running speed and endurance. One thing I am a BIG believer in is always running even and negative splits. An even split means you run the same pace for your entire run and a negative split means that throughout your run you continue to get faster. If you look  at world records; nearly every long distance running world record has been set while running even or negative splits. It sounds like a no brainer, yet most runners don’t do it. Instead, they start in a near sprint, hang on through the middle and resort to a survivor’s shuffle at the end. In contrast, those who opt for negative splits patiently run a bit slower for the first third of a run, pick up the pace in the middle and finish with strength and speed. Our bodies will race like we train so by incorporating negative splits into training runs; it makes it a lot easier to do it in a race! 

So, training via negative splits means you condition your body to be able to perform while tired and give it more energy during the back half of the race. You learn to pace yourself and not go all out in the beginning, and your body learns to give that extra kick in the second half while your energy levels begin to wane. In every workout I do, I try to always finish with more effort than I begin. I slowly increase my effort and speed throughout a workout and then by the end I am all out moving! (I feel like I am sprinting!) It’s a tough workout, but over time your body gets used to it. And come race day you’ll be thankful for training this way. 

Jeff Galloway wrote an article for Runner’s World on learning to run negative splits. To check it out; go here! It is filled with some awesome tips to help the new runner learn how to incorporate this valuable training method! And this does not only apply to running, but can be used in biking and swimming! 

So there you have it…one of my BEST running tips! Sometimes being NEGATIVE is truly the best POSITIVE!  

San Antonio Half Marathon, November 2009

 Do you run negative splits when training? 
 

“Extraordinary” Thursday

Holler homies…it is Earth Day! Be sure to be GREEN today! Does it seem like the week is flying by? I think so! I just rocked out 10 miles…yup you know it! I averaged 8:11 pace! I also did a light 30 minute elliptical cool down…my legs needed some winding down after that run. And the elliptical while watching ESPN’s Mike & Mike In The Morning (yes I absolutely LOVE that show) was the perfect ending to a great workout morning! And I will give you one guess as to what I am doing now…coffee you say? How well you know me!

Moving along…dinner last night!!! Stuffed Bell Peppers anyone? For all you “Kelly Cookbook” owners out there the recipe can be found on page 28. I made Keith’s with lean ground beef and mine with Boca crumbles. Yum! Happy tummies here!

Keith's happy plate!

Oh heck yes!

In other news, I have added new products to my Opensky store. Under my tab above “How I SHOP” you can find all the information on my store. For my new readers,  it is a store that is filled with tried and true products by me and Keith! These are products that I use and recommend! And if you are looking for something that isn’t there…just ask me and I bet I can get it!!

Want to hear the song I jammed to on mile 10 today? Since I was on the treadmill (at home) I was belting it out like no one’s business! I thought how funny the picture looked…me on mile 10 @ 7.4 singing this at the top of my lungs…haha! But it pumped me up totally!

What do you do when you are totally alone and no is watching?

I’m A Drinker…

I drink a lot….of water that is! (What were you thinking?!) I easily drink 2 -3 liters everyday. So yeah I also pee a lot! And yes…during the night too but it is something I just get used to and I don’t even notice it any more. Keith and I are frequent potty passers around 2:00am. So basically a good rule of thumb is to take your body weight, divide by 2 and that is how many ounces you get each day! For me that would be 115/2 = 57.5 ounces…obviously if I am packing in almost 100 ounces a day but I sweat A LOT of water during my morning 10+ mile runs so I NEED it!!

Do you get enough water everyday?

So why is water so important? Water makes up more than two thirds of the weight of the human body, and without it, we would die in a few days. The human brain is made up of 95% water, blood is 82% and lungs 90%. A mere 2% drop in our body’s water supply can trigger signs of dehydration: fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on smaller print, such as a computer screen. (Are you having trouble reading this? Drink up!) Mild dehydration is also one of the most common causes of daytime fatigue. An estimated seventy-five percent of Americans have mild, chronic dehydration. Pretty scary statistic for a developed country where water is readily available through the tap or bottle.

Water is important to the mechanics of the human body. The body cannot work without it, just as a car cannot run without gas and oil. In fact, all the cell and organ functions made up in our entire anatomy and physiology depend on water for their functioning.

• Water serves as a lubricant
• Water forms the base for saliva
• Water forms the fluids that surround the joints.
• Water regulates the body temperature, as the cooling and heating is distributed through perspiration.
• Water helps to alleviate constipation by moving food through the intestinal tract and thereby eliminating waste- the best detox agent.
• Regulates metabolism

In addition to the daily maintenance of our bodies, water also plays a key role in the prevention of disease. Drinking eight glasses of water daily can decrease the risk of colon cancer by 45%, bladder cancer by 50% and it can potentially even reduce the risk of breast cancer. And those are just a few examples!

Are you [water] drinker?

Wednesday Words

Humph…Wednesday. You ALL know how I feel about Wednesdays. If not, well I feel about Wednesdays like the rest of the world feels about Mondays. I don’t know what it is..but I hate the halfway point…of anything! There is just something about getting OVER the halfway point as opposed getting to the halfway point that makes me feel better!

But with all that said…Wednesday you can kiss my butt because I am going to SMILE all day long today! bahaha! So this morning has been baller! I rocked a recovery 10 miles (8:40 pace) and it went by so fast because I used a new playlist (Thanks Lindz) and it was like I was on a whole new run!

Does listening to a new playlist make your workouts go by faster?

Now, as usual, I have a one track mind of coffee and fuel. Yes, in that order. Clearly I have an addiction. Don’t judge!

Dinner last night was spaghetti squash pasta! I love making pasta from that stuff! I topped with sauteed spinach, summer squash, tomato sauce and some eggplant meatballs! So so so good!!

Now tell me that doesn't look good?!

What is your favorite color? The reason I ask is because I found a cool website that tells you what your favorite color says about your personality. My favorite color is RED! Which means: “Bright and dramatic, red is the color of love, joy and bravery. Rooms that are painted red are often warm and cheery while people who wear red are often energetic, optimistc indivuals who love attention and being in the spotlight. Those who love red live life to the fullest and are tenacious and determined in their endeavors.”  SOUNDS LIKE ME!

Do you agree with what it says about you and your favorite color?

I Live in a FAT State!

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) complies data on obesity rates throughout America. Obesity is determined by using height and weight information to calculate a number called the “body mass index” (BMI). An adult who has a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese. The following states have the highest percentage of the adult population who are obese with the percent in parentheses. 

The fattest states in America:

1. Mississippi (32% of adults are obese)
2. Alabama (30.3%)
3. Tennessee (30.1%)
4. Louisiana (29.8%)
5. West Virginia (29.5%)
6. Arkansas (28.7%)
7. South Carolina (28.4%)
8. Georgia (28.2%)
9. Oklahoma (28.1%)
10. Texas (28.1%) MY STATE!

The thinnest states in America:

1. Colorado (16.9%)
2. Hawaii (18.2%)
3. Massachusetts (18.6%)
4. Rhode Island (19.5%)
5. Vermont (19.5%)
6. Connecticut (19.6%)
7. Montana (19.9%)
8. Arizona (20.8%)
9. Utah (20.8%)
10. Nevada (21.0 %)

Is it surprising that most of the “fat” states are in the South? This TIME article, Why are Southerners So Fat?, might answer that question. Here are the basics: 

• With a poverty rate of 14%, the South is easily the most impoverished region in the country. When you’re poor, you tend to eat more calorie-dense foods because they’re cheaper than fruits and vegetables.
• Maybe it’s the culture. Southerners definitely enjoy their fried chicken (not to mention fried steak, fried onions, fried green tomatoes, fried pickles and fried corn bread).
• Public transportation is paltry, and for most people, the best way to get around is by car.
• Weather! The South is really hot and humid and not many people want to exercise when it’s 100+ degrees outside.

1. Tell me what state you live in?

2. Do you agree with the comments in the TIME article about the South?

Textbook Tuesday

Good morning my good readers! How is Tuesday going for YOU? Mine is going brilliantly…and yes I do realize it is only 7:45am but still! I rocked out an 11 mile run holding about 8:17/pace. Feels nice! Thank you legs! And later this morning I have a date with Physique 57 Arms and Abs…oh how I hate you! But first, right now my one track mind says Coffee Please! Or more like Coffee NOW! Far be it for me to deny my body what it wants!

Dinner last night was good! We had some random leftovers from the weekend that Keith was more than happy to polish off and I made myself a flatout pizza. I used tomato sauce, low-fat mozzarella, spinach, mushrooms and some turkey pepperoni. Twas deelish! Who says you can’t have your pizza AND eat it too?

So interesting question for you guys. Rick Perry, our Texas Governor, is proposing that Texas (in the next four years) abandon using traditional textbooks in public schools and replace them with computer technology. He argues that textbooks get out of date quickly and by using computer software to teach students it allows the curriculum to be updated almost instantly. Issues on how to get this technology to children without computer access at home is still being discussed. But the with new developments like Kindles and IPAD’s, it may be easier than originally thought. It has yet to be determined whether or not this would be cost-effective.

What do all you teachers think out there? I tend to think there is still a place for hardcover books in our society but that could be just because I grew up with them and can’t really imagine schools without books. But I do realize times are changing. Do I need to catch up with the times…am I being archaic?

What do you think? Would it be more beneficial to stop using textbooks in public schools?

What Motivates You?

I get a lot of comments and emails asking how I motivate myself to run everyday and still love it. I guess I take it for granted that I love running and working out. I don’t see it as a chore, or a task, but more like something I get to do not something I have to do. I think that is an important distinction. I have always been really active and it helps that my husband is extremely active too. I grew up, thankfully, in a safe neighborhood that allowed my brother and I to be outside and active little kiddos. I guess it just spilled over into my adult life! But here are some tips that help motivate me and maybe they will help you too!

1. Know your body! I know that I NEED to workout first thing in the morning. So I plan accordingly. I wake up early and do my workout first thing. It sets the tone for my day, gives me energy, grounds me and makes me feel AWESOME! I also know what kind of exercise I like! I like running!!! But if you don’t then that’s okay. Let me repeat that: IT IS OKAY TO HATE RUNNING! I feel like a lot of people run because they think they should, or because other people do and not because they want to. There are thousands and thousands of types of exercise! Find what works for you and do that! It might be swimming, spinning, kickball, aerobics, softball, golf, etc. You are much apt to stick with exercise if you are doing something you truly enjoy!

2. Get a Quote! Or find a mantra! Something that will motivate you! It should be something that you can draw on to help you through a tough workout and make you feel like a champion! My favorite quote is: “One day I will not be able to do this, Today is NOT that day!” And my running mantra is simply the word “fight”. When I get tired I will just sync the word fight with my footsteps and I just repeat it. It makes me feel strong and reminds me that I am a fighter!

3. Write down your goals! Write your goals down and re-evaluate them often. Actually seeing what you want to accomplish is a great motivator. When you reach one goal make a new one. Then periodically go back and look at the goals you set and achieved! It will show you what your hard work can accomplish! I write down my daily workouts and then go back and look to see how much I have improved. It is really fun to go back and look a past years and see how much stronger I have become!

4. Tell People Your Plan! Share your goals or your plan. If someone else knows what you are working towards you are a lot less likely to skip a workout. Tell your husband, your friend, or write it on your blog what you plan to do and then you will be more accountable to actually do it!

5. Believe In Yourself! This is most important! I always believe in myself! I don’t second guess…I just do. I set my mind and I go. If my goal was too lofty then I back off but I don’t quit and I always finish what I start. Take failure off the radar! If you say you are going to run 4 miles then do it! If you have to walk, then walk, but always finish what you start. Once you start quitting on workouts because you are tired, or your legs are sore, then you will be much apt to quit again.

I hope some of these help. I realize that I can sound harsh but really I am just extremely passionate about exercise and although I know not everyone is as “crazy” about it as I am…I think all of these tips can help! Now tell me yours!

What are things that help motivate you to work out?