WIAW – Post-Race Appetite

You know you ran your best half marathon when your legs are still sore three days later. I am slowly getting back to normal although my appetite really hasn’t kicked in just yet. I am not exactly complaining considering I hate those relentless hungry days but by now, it’s a little bit weird for me!

I usually experience a bit of a suppressed appetite after a race but then my post-race appetite kicks in like crazy. Right now, it’s just been a few days of feeling hungry but not really in the mood for anything in particular to eat. There isn’t much that sounds overly appealing to me so I just keep eating my usuals, trying to find a craving somewhere in there but right now, I’ve got none to speak of!

I much prefer to crave the foods I choose to eat, you know? Makes my meals seem that much more satisfying.

Breakfast:

Oatmeal is always for breakfast.

I had this beautiful bowl of oatmeal the other morning in the city. It came with lots of fun toppings including fresh berries. I would say that this bowl of steel-cut oatmeal was equally as good as steel-cut oatmeal I make at home — I make a mean pot of oatmeal, just so you know.

Lunch:

Egg sandwiches are certainly one of my go-to lunches lately. Sometimes I crave them (like this one the day before the race on a french toast bagel) and then sometimes, I just eat them because I don’t know what else to eat.

This particular egg sandwich is omelette-style served open-faced on toasted cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread with mashed avocado and a side of roasted frozen broccoli.

Dinner:

I had made a nice big pot of black bean and quinoa vegan chili a week or so ago. I really do need to share this super easy and satisfying chili recipe with you shortly!

I usually freeze most of the chili that I make so that I can reheat it for those nights when I don’t know what to eat and really don’t feel like cooking.

I used the chili more as a topping for my roasted veggies and brown rice combination. Avocado added on top too after taking the picture.

Dessert:

I haven’t really felt like dessert. I know. Weird. But it happens after a race. I don’t skip dessert (I don’t know how to do such a thing) but I can’t say I really care much for the usual apple with peanut butter and/or dark chocolate that I have been eating on autopilot this week.

After Sunday’s half though, we did go to Cold Stone Creamery after dinner for my latest favorite creation: chocolate frozen yogurt mixed with a big chunk of cookie dough, chocolate chips and hot fudge. Of course it was good but I didn’t care either way if I had it or not — I know, weird!

I am hoping to get outside for a few really easy miles this morning. Today is the best I have felt so far since Sunday so I think I am ready to give running slowly a try! This really excites me 🙂 Have a great day!

[bctt tweet=”WIAW Post Race Appetite #WIAW #running #halfmarathon #recenteats #oatmeal #fitfluential” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Don’t forget to check out what everyone else is eating today on this What I Ate Wednesday!

How many days does it take for your appetite to return to normal after a race?

What have you been eating for lunch lately?

What’s on the workout agenda for today?

WIAW- A Day Of Eats

 

 

I love to view the search engine terms each day in my blog analytics because what leads readers to my site is really amusing.

Just yesterday, someone googled the following and found my blog:

Is eating cake for lunch bad?

If you were interested in my opinion, eating cake for lunch is not bad. Not bad at all.

Sometimes I think about not having oatmeal before I run but I quickly realize that would be just wrong so I proceed as usual.

Oatmeal with mashed banana, a few blueberries, cinnamon and a small amount of peanut butter mixed in, served slightly warm. I wasn’t in the mood for piping hot.

The last time I ate something other than oatmeal before I ran (I think it was Ezekiel toast with peanut butter) I wasn’t as satisfied and got hungry during my run.

Oatmeal just works for me, pre and post run…

More oatmeal mixed with berries, banana, Skoop B-Strong and peanut butter.

Lately for lunch, at least when I eat at home, I keep things really sweet and simple.

PB & J on English muffins or smoothies have been the trend but the other day I actually wanted a salad.

I thought about it carefully, making sure it was really what I wanted and then I quickly threw some stuff together.

Spinach, cucumbers, my favorite steamfresh veggie mix (broccoli, snow peas, water chestnuts and carrots), chick peas, hummus, brown rice and avocado.

Of course then I needed something sweet.

Diced pink lady apple with Trader Joe’s Crunchy Flax & Chia Peanut Butter.

I ate my “lunch dessert” while baking my famous oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies.

I had a shiva call to attend (so sad) and I knew bringing my cookies would help to brighten the day as best as possible.

While I chug water all day long, sometimes I am extra thirsty and water isn’t enough so I go for hydrating fruits or vegetables, like cucumbers.

So this is interesting. When I bake, I don’t sample the cookies as they bake or eat the raw dough but when I cook dinner? I nibble away.

Zero control.

Roasted sweet potatoes and roasted frozen broccoli pretty much became my dinner straight from the oven. I meant to plate it up with black beans and avocado but, um, yeah < – real life on display right here.

Really simple yet satisfying dessert:

Just try not to eat the whole bag of chocolate chips or the entire jar of peanut butter, okay?

It’s pouring out this morning which means gym day over running outside. Elliptical maybe? We will see!

Be sure to check out what everyone else is eating today 🙂

[bctt tweet=”WIAW- A Day Of Eats #wiaw #oatmeal #peanutbutter #eats”]

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Are you known for any of your recipes? Which one?

Do you like to have something sweet after lunch?

Do you get a lot of random (and funny) search engine terms to your blog?

 

How To Roast Frozen Vegetables

 

You had to figure, after reading yesterday’s post, that at some point this week I was going to take my son to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner.

It was a last minute decision yesterday, as in, I picked him up from school with the intention of turning left to go home but at the traffic light, he quickly convinced me to turn right to go to The Cheesecake Factory instead.

I didn’t mind of course since I rarely turn down the opportunity for my favorite salad and I hadn’t really prepared dinner for us anyway.

I did plan on cooking us something for dinner but I don’t need much advanced prep because I am real good at throwing together home cooked meals in a flash. Lately, the last-minute, maybe we are eating home but maybe we aren’t thing has been working even better for me since I stopped buying as many fresh vegetables in favor of frozen.

How to roast frozen vegetables. This might be the easiest, quickest and most importantly, delicious vegetable “recipe” ever.

I don’t even know if we can call roasting frozen vegetables a recipe since it involves doing so very little so instead, let’s refer to it as a technique.

 

Why roast frozen vegetables instead of fresh?

Frozen vegetables tend to be easier on the stomach. Fresh veggies are awesome but will often tie my stomach up in knots (and bloat me beyond belief) while my body goes through the breaking down and digesting process. Frozen vegetables when steamed, sautéed or roasted on the other hand do not cause me any discomfort.

Frozen = longer shelf life. You can have frozen vegetables on hand and use them when you feel like it/at the last minute without worrying about spoilage as you might when you have fresh produce waiting to be used in your fridge.

Cheaper. For the most part, you can grab bags of frozen veggies any time of the year for a really good price. Fresh produce is a bit more finicky. You gotta go with what’s in the season to get the best deal or at the very least, monitor your store circulars for the sale.

Nutrients. They say that frozen vegetables may contain higher concentrations of the ever important vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants because they are frozen at peak ripeness which locks in the nutritional value. True or not, let’s just go with it.

I absolutely love the texture and flavor of roasted frozen vegetables, especially broccoli.

The broccoli gets all crisp, just like fresh roasted broccoli with a tender bite minus any form of frozen mush texture which you may equate with frozen vegetables.

Besides broccoli, try roasting the following frozen vegetables:

• String beans
• Asparagus
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Brussels sprouts

The How To Roast Frozen Vegetables Technique:

Simply place your frozen vegetables on a lightly greased oven-safe pan, spritz with coconut oil cooking spray (add seasonings if you desire but I honestly add nothing!) and roast in a 450-degree oven for twenty minutes.

You can switch it over to broil for a few minutes to add some extra crispness and voila, roasted vegetables.

I find it so interesting that I add nothing but the coconut oil cooking spray but I truly love the flavor and do not feel the need for extra spices and seasonings.

Let me know if you try this roasted frozen vegetable technique and which frozen veggies you find you like the best when roasted, okay?

[bctt tweet=”How to roast your frozen vegetables! #veggies #frozenfoods #recipe”]

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Do you need to limit the number of fresh vegetables you eat too?

What did you have for dinner last night?

How many miles are you planning to run this weekend for your long run or are you running in a race?