In the dark of night

The sky was black, the air was cool. Rain fell from the sky in a steady fashion – too hard for it to be drizzling and too lightly to be called pouring.

As Mark and I bathed Miles, I waffled as to whether I should go out into the night for my run once the lil man was in bed. I had let other circumstances (sleep and shower) win out over a run twice that morning but it could be dangerous. It could be scary.

Or … it could be awesome.

So after rocking Miles to sleep to the lullabies of Kanye West, I threw on my capris, Brooks Nightlife half-zip and white cap and took Denali out for our scheduled 3-miler using a 5:1 interval. Even though I chose a route along busy, well-lit streets, I realized quickly that following my planned interval would be difficult. I had two options: constantly turn on the back light to the Garmin or go by feel, using landmarks as needed.

So I chose the third option: To run. Run until I couldn’t any more, walk to catch my breath and run some more.

A funny thing happened when I took off the limits of my arbitrarily planned schedule: I didn’t have to stop and walk. I might have had to slow down – either to catch my breath or to maintain my footing on wet ground – but I didn’t have to stop. It was as if my mind, body and spirit connected, remembering what it used to be like to run. Really run. It was incredibly freeing. And gratifying. I felt like I found myself again.

Of course, after I rounded home grinning with pride, I nearly found my dinner again. Let’s just say I won’t be fueling up for a long run with a Cuban sandwich (homemade) with extra jalapenos any time soon. Or a 3-mile run at a 10-minute/mile pace, for that matter.

Have you had a good run/workout lately?

What I Ate Wednesday: Comfort foods

I always knew I would be a working mom. Not just because of finances but because I wanted to. It didn’t make sense to me to spend four years in school, rack up student loan debt and slowly work toward my career goals only to give it up when I had a baby.

Even still, it didn’t make yesterday any easier, and it was definitely reflected in my eats. I ate for comfort, and comfort equals carbs. I know it’s not good to eat your emotions but I am not going to beat myself up over it. I acknowledged it. I controlled it. I got back on track.

So onto the food …

Breakfast

Everything bagel with reduced-fat veggie cream cheese

Decaf coffee and munchkin … times two.

Lunch

Lean Cuisine … at my desk. Awesome, I know. I don’t like to eat these things but I have a really short week and it didn’t make sense to prepare a dish that I could eat all week.

1 ounce mixed nuts

Apple … yeah, I sort of ate my afternoon snacks with my lunch instead of my soup (see below).

Snacks

1 cup soup

Ugly @ss carrots and Wheat Thins (unpictured)

Dinner

Cuban Braised Beef with rice. I seriously will make any recipe that calls for cilantro and avocado.

Blackberry Cabernet sorbet. Mark picked this up from Fresh Market last week (along with a dozen red roses :) ), and it is ahhmazing.

What are your tips to avoid emotional eating?

Work it, girl

Move that body: 2.45-mile walk

After eight weeks of sleepless nights, dancing to the toddler radio station on Pandora and being ruled by a hungry baby and boobs, I am back to work. It sort of feels like the first day of school … except for the guilt and 5 million messages in my inbox offering me something in Russian.

Thank goodness, I bribed myself with Dunkin’ Donuts to make it through dropping off Miles at day care and a full day of work. Hey – a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.

And now, like the first day of school, I present to you:

What I Did on My Summer Vacation Maternity Leave

◊ Delivered one baby

Goodness, he was teeny

◊ Watched four seasons of “House”



◊ Watched three seasons of “Mad Men”



I think this summer must have been the summer of handsome men :)

◊ Read 100 pages of a library book and returned it three weeks late



I know there are nursing moms out there who can read and feed but I can barely manage to play Angry Birds read blogs on my phone.

◊ Ran 37 miles



◊ Went to six Weight Watchers meetings

◊ Lost 5-point-something pounds

◊ Cried uncontrollably in the hallway

◊ Fell in love … again … and again




What did you do this summer?

Let us eat cake

Carrot Cake Bread, that is.

I’ve been itching to make this since I made zucchini bread the other week. I’m not sure why – it just sounded good.

And good it was. It’s not overly sweet and the spice is definitely there. I enjoyed mine with some non-dairy spread but it might make an excellent French toast. Just sayin’.

Carrot Cake Bread

Adapted from Eating Well 

3/4 cup low-fat soy milk

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups shredded carrot

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup raisins, or more to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

Whisk milk, eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla in medium bowl. Stir in carrots. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt in a large bowl. Add the wet ingredients and raisins to dry ingredients; stir until just combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan.

Bake until golden brown and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Let cool for at least 1 hour before slicing.

Body of evidence

Move that body: 4.06-mile run (4:2 interval)

I realized something this morning as I got ready to run.

The last time I wore this outfit …

I was 31 weeks pregnant.

While neither photo is particularly flattering, they do show how things change. And today was the first day I noticed that change – while wearing that outfit. It was the first time I could be OK with the way I looked. I noticed a waist, slightly slimmer legs and, maybe, a smaller backside.

I’m aware that I have a ways to go to get to my pre-baby self – 15 pounds to be exact – but it was nice to see some improvement. My ego needed it.

***

I was thinking of documenting my post-baby weight loss. Would you want to read about that? If so, on the blog or on a post-baby page (I’ll notify you when it’s updated)?