Archive for July, 2009
Tasty, tasty
I FINALLY did it. I made a smoothie that wasn’t just tolerable, it was just tasty, it was FRYCN delicious. It was something I would drink even if I wasn’t trying to be healthy. I mixed a whole banana, soy milk, peanut butter, and a scoop of chocolate super food. My “chocolate peanut butter banana smoothie” came out fantastic, and was the perfect way to start my morning
In other exciting food news, I made another super salad for lunch. I love having my dad’s garden where I can currently get fresh lettuce and fresh peas. I also added some tomatoes, cucumbers, and cheese to the salad to round it out.
One thing that I’m finding difficult about the blogging is remembering to take pictuers of all of my food. I either remember half way through eating something or ten minutes after I’m done. So besides the pics above, I also ate a whole wheat quesadilla as an afternoon snack and then a lean cuisine chicken and garlic pizza. Not the most “natural” thing I could have eaten, but I was running low on time.
Besides all of my daytime television watching, I also got a really great speed work out in today. I spent about 40 minutes doing drills and running hills (all on grass) to mix things up from my normal runs (slow rolling hills on pavement). After a post work out shower, Kelly and I had another date night tonight! We went to see the Hangover. First off, the Hangover was hysterical. Kelly and I were both laughing our butts off the whole time. It was the perfect mix of slapstick comedy and bromance. Not quite Apatowian, but still really really good. Also, the movie reminded me just how much of a crush I have on Bradley Cooper. Oh man, he was looking good 
In other exciting news, while I was at the theater I ran into an old friend form high school. I found out he was going to law school in the fall! I’m so happy for him. Congrats Dave!
Looking on to tomorrow, I need to be a little more productive. I’m starting to feel a little stir crazy just sitting around watching daytime tv. So my goal for tomorrow are as follows:
- Easy 5k run
- Thank you cards
- Clean my room for Michele’s visit this weekend (Yay! )
- Send out my health forms for school
We’ll see how that goes. Goodnight everyone!
And the thunder rolls
So much like the rest of the world, I spent my afternoon watching the Michael Jackson memorial service. It was all very touching and when his daughter spoke, absolutely gut-wrenching. The whole thing was done in good taste, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to watch. Throughout much of the service, we had thunderstorms here in upstate NY. At one point, the storm knocked out the cable for a few minutes. Luckily, Time Warner some how fixed itself.
On a much lighter note, I had a dinner date with Kelly tonight. Kelly is one of my oldest and closest friends, so it’s always a treat to spend time with her. One of the best parts of moving home this sumer is having the chance to hang out more. Kelly and I have had many crazy adventures together (Hawaii, Florida etc) but some of my favorite memories are just sitting and chatting at the Buckhorn or some other fine Fonda-Fultonville establishment
Tonight, we met up at this cute little place in Broadalbin, NY, called Vandaline’s. The restaurant serves Italian-American cuisine, and is decorated with a woodsy, camping type feel. I live in the Adirondacks so it’s a common choice of decorating style in the area. I couldn’t take too many pics, as I was getting weird looks and embarrassing Kelly, but I managed to snap these two.
My second favorite animal, the moose! Second only to English Bulldogs of course!
Who doesn’t love two stuffed bears in a canoe overhead when you’re dining on Italian food? 
I started dinner off with a small side salad. Even though I’m dining in the Fulton-Montgomery area, I still want to eat right.
I had a grilled chicken breast with tomato and lettuce on toasted whole wheat bread. It was simple but surprisingly delicous.
I treated myself to my favorite dessert, tiramisu. It was so good I forgot to take a picture before I started eating
Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
The best thing I could have done with the summer before I started med school is exactly what I’m doing right now. Relaxing. I know I’ll have to face reality eventually, but for right now I’m enjoying my free time. I’m watching a ton of daytime tv, I’m sitting outside reading books that have nothing to do with science, and I’m working out. I haven’t completely let go of my old slightly OCD ways. I do have a to-do list that I’m currently working on. I’ve just taken some of the pressure off myself when it comes to get everything done as soon as possible. This new attitude is paying off. Not only on my reduced stress level, but my running has improved. After doing an 8 mile run on Saturday, I followed it up on Sunday with fast 5K clocking in my best mile time during this 15 K training. The only downside to all this relaxation time is my lack of things to talk about in my blog
I started the morning off with a bowl of Special K adding my own fresh blueberries.
For a mid morning snack, I munched on some fresh pineapple.
Around lunch time I decided to lay out in the sun for a bit. Have no fear, I slathered on the SPF 50. I’m super super careful about the sun, always putting on a ton of sunblock, but it feels so nice to be outside . I love summer and sunshine. Unfortunately, my parents decided to get rid of the pool we had in the backyard. This is the first summer I’m home to actually miss it . A quick dip would have felt amazing after my sun time, but no such luck. Instead I cooled off with a “Green Mango Monster“. I switched up my daily smoothie by replacing the blueberries with mango. It worked great and tasted wonderful. Lesson of the day: I know realize why sliced mango is so pricey in the supermarket. Mangoes are a pain to cut up!
After spending another quality 20 minutes with Jillian doing my Shred session for the day, I decided to make a Mediterranean Couscous salad for dinner. I had had something similar at Tara and Derek’s, and it was a cool summer salad dinner type day. Although I have eaten a ton of couscous, this was my first experience cooking it. I opted for a box of the Trader Joes brand and followed the instructions exaxtly on the box.
Although I followed the instructions exactly, there was a slight issue. Who knew it was possible to burn pasta? Under the layer of perfectly cooked couscous, I discovered a hard crunchy layer that was black ridiculously difficult to get out of the pan. I managed to salvage as much as possible, but some had to be trashed.
While the couscous was cooling off, I went to the garden and picked some fresh basil. It smelled amazing.
I also added carrots, chickpeas, tomatoes, onions, cucumber, black olives, green beans, feta, olive oil and lemon juice.
All and all, it was a wonderful relaxing day, but I admit, a little uneventful. Tomorrow’s post should be a bit more exciting. I have a date night planned with Kelly, one of my best friends. I’m excited!
It’s Independence Day
The 4th of the July in the Fryc house was pretty low key this year. Mom, dad and I had our own little mini BBQ. Dad used his brand spanking new smoker to cook ribs and chicken breasts. It was all very delicious and worth the 9 hours it took to cook.
The smoker
Pork about half way through 4 hours in.
Dad got some organic BBQ sauce (sweetened with agave nectar) and some of his favorite Emeril rubs to flavor the meat.
Mmm…chicken, a baked sweet potato, and green beans.
She’s got legs, she knows how to use them
Happy 4th of July everyone!
I did it! I ran all 8 miles:) I even went a little farther than planned (8.32 miles according to my Nike+ chip). This time around I made sure to hydrate.
I woke up a little on the late side, so immediately made myself my “Berry Amazing Smoothie”. It consisted of nonfat vanilla yogurt, blueberries, soy milk, ice and a scoop of Berry Green Super food.
The smoothie was awesome. It was so much easier getting the greens down when they’re mixed this way. The scoop of greens makes the consistency of the smoothie slightly different, but it’s barely noticeable. The greens give you a nice boost of energy. Almost like you had something with a little caffeine.
I also ate a whole wheat English muffin with peanut butter to keep me energized.
The run went really well. Minus the wind, the weather was good. No rain and little to no humidity. It took me right around 1:35 do do the full 8 miles. Not the best time ever, but considering I took a few walk breaks, it wasn’t all that bad. I’m feeling better about the boilermaker. If I can do 8.3, one more mile won’t kill me:)
After the 8 miles, I was starving. My stomach was about to eat itself. I made up a salad with lettuce and peas from the garden, chickpeas, olives, tomatoes, cucumber, feta cheese, and oil/vinegar. I also added some of the leftover rice dish from last night, and had a lovely lunch enjoying the sunshine.
Long, long day
Other than the title, the song “Long, long day” really has nothing to do with today’s post. Yet, I still love me some Paul Simon, and it’s one of my favorites. Apparently the muppets agree!
Paul simon jamming with the muppets
Anyway, I was up and on the road towards Boston this morning by 8 am. Why returning so soon, you ask? To make a very long story short, I ordered a dress for Nicola and Matt’s wedding a few weeks ago, and because of some shipping issues, I had to pick it up in Natick. I decided to make a day of it, do some shopping with mom and meet up with Hanley. Because I oversleept bit, I didn’t have a chance to make myself breakfast pre-drive. I opted for a Larabar because those little rolls of goodness keep me full forever, and the cinnamon roll flavor pictured below is definitely one of my favorites.
We made it to David’s Bridal around 11:30, and I saw the dress. Even cuter than I remembered it! Because the dress is strapless, I needed to get a new strapless bra that could stay in place even if I was doing a ton of dancing (as I often do when I get around my Colgate friends). Who knew it was going to be one of the most difficult shopping tasks ever. I tried 4 on at the store with no luck. The cup was either too big or too small or the bra showed in the dress (have I mentioned how much I HATE bra shopping?). Han tried on a few wedding gowns and (fingers crossed) we may have a winner. I’m not going to give too many details, as it’s not my story to share, but I will say this. She looked beautiful and the dress is perfect for the beach.
We took a break from the shopping to have lunch at the Olive Garden, where I had the Venetian Apricot chicken again (what can I say, it’s tasty!). It was so good to see Hanley. She truly is one of my favorite parts of Boston. If I never moved to the city, we would have never met. She’s one of my favorite people on earth and one of my best friends. Here’s an oldie but a goodie, a pic of Han and I from her 21st birthday party. I can’t believe it’s been almost 3 years since we first moved in together. I love you Hannie!
After I said goodbye to Han, my mom and I began our marathon shopping trip. While in the Natick area we visited the Container store, Victoria’s Secret, Banana Republic, Bath and Body works, LB’s bra shop (where I tried on 4 more unsuccessful bras) AND whole foods. We then drove 2 hours to the Lee outlets for Jcrew, Hanes, Maidenform (yup, more bra shopping), Aeropostale, and some random shoe outlets. Forty-five minutes after Lee we ended up at Crossgates Mall in Albany where, after 4 more bras, we FINALLY had some success (I got all four). The trip was eventful to say the least. At one point we were driving in 10 of the scariest pike minutes of my life. It DOWN POURED for about 5 minutes to the point where our wipers wouldn’t keep up with the rain. There was almost no visibility and people were just coming to a complete stop…on the Pike! We made it through that ok, but next encountered lots of flooding on the road. Thank god we had the SUV. It was really great to spend time with my mom, but it was exhausting! I didn’t get a chance to work out (we didn’t get home until 10:30 pm) but with all the walking, I’m sure I burnt a few extra calories:)
Luckily when we got home, dad had dinner waiting for us. He whipped up some bean, brown rice, tomato, chicken dish. I honestly was too hungry to ask what exactly was in it, but it was delicious! Lot’s of protein and some good carbs for my long run tomorrow (8 miler…yikes).
During our trip to whole foods I also picked up a jar of Amazing Grass Berry Flavored Super food. Attempt number 2 at being hardcore with this stuff and drinking it straight.
I’m not going to lie, after mixing 1 scoop with water, it looked like I was about to drink pond scum.
I was pleasantly surprised. I would not describe the taste as “Awesome” but it wasn’t all that bad. It tasted like I was drinking a health shake, but it wasn’t horrible. The berry flavor definitely covered up some of that “green” taste that makes people weary of drinking wheat grass. I did end up doubling the suggested amount of water to dilute it down. I’m finding it’s really not the taste that bothers me, but the consistency can be kinda gross. If I increase the liquid to powder ratio, it makes for a much more pleasant drinking experience. Now that I know what the powder actually tastes like, I think I’m going to try one of the website suggested recipes online for smoothies. That way, I can get all the benefits of drinking greens, without tasting it. We’ll see how that goes tomorrow.
Running with the devil
Hello hello friends!
I decided a while back that I wanted to take some time off between work and school. For the next 5 weeks or so I’ll be hanging at my house…alot. I’ve been somewhat preoccupied by my dad (he’s had the past few days off), but pretty soon it’s just going to be me home alone all day. Today was a preview for more to come. I ate, i watched some tv, I did my work out, and that’s it. I’m sure it’s going to get old really quick, but this whole being lazy business feels pretty good
Anyway, I started off my lazy day with some yogurt, blueberries and cinnamon chex. I really can’t say enough about this combo, and it keeps me surprisingly full for quite a bit of time.
A little later, I snacked on my favorite flavor of Lara Bars, chocolate coconut chew. If you haven’t tried one of these treats, I highly recommend them. Each bar is made with just a few ingredients smooshed together. They’re soy and gluten free and each is completely organic. The combo of fruits and nuts is delicious, and because there are tons of healthy fat, it keeps you full longer.
For lunch, I munched on a Trader Joes Chili Chicken Lime Burger (have I mentioned just how much I’m going to miss TJs). I used a whole wheat bun and added some Cabot cheddar cheese, lettuce from my dad’s garden and salsa. 
I went on my 5 mile run around 4:30 pm today. I’m not going to lie, the run sucked. About 1.5 miles in, I realized it was not going to be a good time. It was one of those runs when you just feel off the whole time. The suckiness was totally due to my own stupidity. First off, I was not hydrating. Prior to my run, I only had about 2 glasses of water over the course of the whole day. Second, I munched on some pita chips JUST before I walked out the door to head over to the college. I cramped up around mile 2. Third, I decided to run at the worst possible time, just before a thunderstorm was going to roll through. It was so muggy out that I was literally dripping sweat the whole time. I hate feeling uncomfortable when I run. Regardless of feeling awful the whole time, I did manage to finish. I got my sweaty self back into the car and returned home to do day 2 of the Shred. I can’t tell you how excited I was to hop in the shower after that 1.5 hour sauna-like work out.
Post work out/shower I was craving watermelon like never before. I’m assuming because I was dehydrated. I ate a GIANT bowl of watermelon and then this whole wheat pasta salad I whipped up. I mixed whole wheat pasta with 1/2 cup cup chickpeas, a few baby carrots, black olives , feta cheese and olive oil. I couldn’t bring myself to eat anything hot, so the chilled salad was the perfect way to finish off the day.
My Dixieland Delight
It’s my first post on the new blog! I’m still trying to work out some of the kinks with this new system, but so far so good.
Anyway today was a pretty exciting day. As many of you know, I’ll be moving to Syracuse to attend Upstate Medical University in August to get my MD. My dad and I decided to take a mini road trip to check out the new apartment and make sure everything was in order.
I started out the morning with my own fruit and yogurt parfait. I mixed strawberries, blueberries, stonyfield vanilla yogurt, and some cinnamon chex. It was surprisingly AWESOME. The cinnamon definitely was a nice touch. I also had a english muffin with peanut butter but I eat so many of those, it would start to get redundant if I posted a picture every time.
Next up, Syracuse! After handing in the lease and some other administrative forms, I finally got to check out the new apartment. They initially took me in to see the currently occupied apartment that will be mine on August 7th. Holy messiness Batman! The current resident is a third year law student studying for the Bar. I can understand how she maybe a little tight on time, but this place was beyond cluttered. It was as if someone took a box of her stuff and just started firing it around the room. I literally tripped over dishes when I was trying to make my way through the living room. Luckily, they then took me down a floor to see the same model apartment, just in the condition that I will be getting it in. I snapped a few photos.
Living Room
Dad in the kitchen
The bedroom
The pics don’t do the apartment justice. It’s HUGE. I’m getting so excited to move in. After the mini tour of my new digs, dad and I took a quick drive around the medical campus to check out the new addition to University Hospital. I LOVE the new colorful windows. It totally adds a little something to the plain hospital facade that the main portion of the hospital has/
Anyone who is familiar with the central New York region, has heard of the following restaurant…Dinosaur BBQ. I haven’t been since college, and dad had never been. A late lunch was definitely in order. The restaurant was originally created by a group of biker’s who loved good BBQ. The current restaurant still tries to stay true to their original vision, biker bar with delicious southern style food. Needless to say, I knew it was going to be hard to eat healthy. I had a bite of the appetizer my dad ordered (fried green tomatoes) and took all the skin off my chicken. I also ordered a fruit salad and soup on the side, as opposed to some of the less nutritious options (potato salad, mac and cheese etc). We finished the meal off with a southern classic dessert, sweet potato pecan pie. Oh My God! It was so delightfully, delicious. Definitely the high point of my trip.
Fried Green Tomatoes
All those tasty sauces
1/2 bbq chicken, fruit salad, corn bread, and bean and lettuce soup
I was so excited for the pie I forgot to take a picture until we were half way through.
The view from our table.
All and all it was a great day. Unfortunately, by the time we made it home from Syracuse, it was raining pretty heavily. I didn’t have a chance to do my 5 mile run 
It’s somewhat frustrating, especially because the boilermaker is a week from Sunday. Hopefully I can make up some mileage on Friday. Since I moved home, my work out routine has been a little screwed up. Tomorrow I plan on buckling down, and getting a good work out in. Five mile run in the morning, 20 minutes of shred, and a trip to the gym to do some extra arm work. We’ll see how it goes!
