Hi, I'm Allie. This is the fitness blog of a geeky, klutzy, food-loving non athlete trying to figure it all out.
High-res
NSV: hiked 15km through the mountains, and wore a bikini today, in public, for the first time since I was 18. That it was in Italy helps too.
High-res
So cute!
(Source: nonexistingdream, via strongerthanexcuses)
High-res
Today’s lunch, travel edition! I packed a salad for the flight to Italy, instead of the in-flight meal. Romaine, avocado, tomato, white beans and olive oil.
Blog updates
Just so you know, I’ve updated some of the pages on the blog. Should be easy to find, based on the top navigation bar.
- Healthy Recipes page
- Today’s Lunch - simply just photos of my workday salads and some other things, because they’re fab
- My bio - a bit of backstory on why I started this, why thinspo is the worst and how I don’t ever want to starve myself again
- Races- results, upcoming races and recap posts
- Ask - Any me anything.
- Legal - Info on creative commons licenses, disclaimers and permissions relating to this blog…a necessary listing in order to protect my stuff, after my own before-and-after photo was stolen by a crappy commercial site and used for profit (lame x 100!). Unless otherwise noted, all the photos on this blog were taken by me. That includes — ahem — photos of my own body. So no stealing. Please read through it, thx bye.
And if you’re interested you can also follow me on Twitter at @navelgazingblog or my personal account @allieharch (warning, I talk too much).
As always, feel free to comment on any posts using the Disqus commenting system below, or Tumblr’s less cool reply function. Thanks! <3
Sono Italiano
Sweet and savory bliss awaits me this week. From now until the following Saturday, I’ll be in Italy, traveling from Rome up the western coast with my cousin as we sample wines, visit churches and explore our family’s history. Our great grandfather was a famous Italian sculptor from Carrara, so we will be visiting distant distant relatives there.
And don’t worry — we’ve both packed our running shoes and plan to get a few miles in along the way. Casey is a beast when it comes to running and she always makes me go must faster than I intend to.
The last time I was in Italy, I was much younger, thinner and more naive…but also more at peace, especially there among the olive trees. I’m looking forward to being back.
See you next week! I have queued up a few posts, but will resume regular updating when I return.
High-res
Today’s lunch: 1/2 cups romaine lettuce, one roma tomato cut in quarters, half an avocado, half a red pepper, a bunch of flax seeds sprinkled over top.
Going to try to keep this “Today’s Lunch” feature alive on the blog! (There’s even a designated page for it now)
Least exciting salad of the week, though I’m sure it will taste fine. Not much protein at all in this (only about 2 grams (!!) from the avocado and flax), so I’ll need to make up for it at dinner. I was playing clean-up on all the vegetables in my boyfriend’s fridge before I leave for Italy tomorrow, so I just threw everything I could find into a container before it went bad.
It’s predictable and slightly fascinating how quickly my body seems to burn through food if it doesn’t have enough protein, leaving me hungry again soon after; for example, my breakfast this morning on the way to work an hour early was a whole grain bagel, but by 11:30 a.m. I had already eaten a packet of instant oatmeal (with flax, my fave). Lunch is typically eaten at 3 p.m. because I get wrapped up in my work, so that “snack” will tide me over. Maybe I just eat too much. WHATEVER DUDES. After a decade of starving myself and denying my body nutrients, I’m slightly obsessed with food now and when it’s next going to be in my belly.
Pleased to have kept up the habit of packing myself a healthy salad for lunch every day this week and drank plenty of water. Improving my diet and making mindful healthy choices, even though I’m stuck in an office for 8-10 hours a day, is my next goal.
High-res
Ran 2.53 miles last night from my boyfriend’s apartment up to this big evening street festival with food trucks and beer. Felt good and improved my pace a little bit from Tuesday’s run and managed to go a tiny bit further.
Really wanted to meet up with the Fishtown Beer Runners, but I was stuck in traffic after work and ended up just going on my own. Enjoyed a free Yards pale ale and had a balsamic-marinated chicken sandwich with broccoli rabe, and a scoop of peanut butter tarragon ice cream while walking around with friends.
Finally feeling back in the groove after Broad Street and am back up to my usual pace…but distance-wise, I’m just not up for anything more than three miles. But that’s always been that way: there’s something mental about the specific distance of three miles. It’s a decent chunk of mileage but once I hit that point I’m mentally ready to just stop. My body and mind anticipates it so that around 2.5 miles my brain just goes “ok ok ok ok ok OKAY you can STOP NOW.”
How I made it through 10 miles three weeks ago is a mystery. I’m happy to just keep running a few miles at a time and doing 5ks a few times a week throughout the summer before picking up for marathon training. Is this normal? Is it normal to just take a big step backwards after a race?
Sidenote: I really love the way my new tech tights make me feel! They’re structured, but not too heavy.
Today’s lunch: leftover quinoa from yesterday, topped with romaine lettuce, four halved cherry tomatoes, 1/4 avocado, whole pecans and mixed raisins. Water, coffee and a diet soda for “dessert” because I can’t help myself. Spare me the lecture on how bad that is for your body, I’m already aware. Someday I’ll be able to banish this sweet tooth, but for now I’m going to just make do.
Just wanted to note that I’ve been eating salads every day this week for lunch and it feels grrrrrreat. I’m wearing a pretty dress today that didn’t fit previously, and the scale said 142.5 this morning. Not too shabby, certainly room for improvement.
This morning I even had time to make a decent breakfast before hitting the road for an assignment. Just one egg cooked with a bit of leftover shredded chicken, a few cherry tomatoes and a bit of fresh mozzarella on top of a slice of whole grain toast. Much more enjoyable than my at-my-desk eating-while-typing morning meal of oatmeal with flax seeds.
High-res
This salad is one of my favorite meals ever! I first made it last November for our annual “Friendsgiving” party, and have since had it published in a few places.
Figured it was time to whip it out again. I particularly like this salad in the colder months, because it’s hearty and breaks through all the baked goods, cheesy casseroles and heavy holiday food. But it’s not just for winter! Kale is in season right now across the country, along with strawberries, rhubarb and asparagus, and garlic scapes if you’re in the Northeast.
The great majority of my home state’s kale is grown nearby, and thrives in Southern New Jersey’s sandy soil and many farms.
So please, stop by your local farmers’ market this weekend and pick up some fresh produce! Then make your own version of this salad or a big bowl of kale chips.
Kale, Apple and Pecan Salad
Raw green kale (I’m not putting measurements in this, because you can adjust based on how many you’re feeding)
1 crisp apple
Sharp garlic cheddar
1 lemon
1/2 carrot, shredded
For dressing:
2 tbsp Honey or thick maple syrup
1/2 cup Olive Oil
1/4 cup Cider vinegar
Sprinkling of flax seeds
Fresh tarragon
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp Vegetable broth (Or chicken broth, if you prefer. It adds a richness to the dressing that is just beautiful)
Salt and pepper
For pecans:
1/4 cup pecans
sugar
ground cinnamon
cayenne pepper
To Prepare: Squeeze the juice of a whole lemon over the kale and let marinate for 30 minutes to an hour. Using a vegetable peeler, shave the block of cheddar over the salad. Thinly cut a crisp apple into very thin slices. Add cheddar, apples and shredded carrot to the kale leaves and toss. (If you care about presentation, save some of the apple slices to top the salad once you’re assembled everything)
Next, make the dressing by whisking together the syrup or honey, olive oil, vinegar, flax seeds, fresh tarragon leaves (no need to chop them) and mustard. Whisk vigorously until blended, then add the vegetable broth and salt and pepper to taste. The dressing should be slightly sweet and tangy. Pour over the kale.
For the pecans, add sugar (about 1/8 cup) and water (enough to wet everything) in a small saute pan and cook over medium heat until the sugar melts and starts bubbling. Add the pecans to the sugar mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until coated. Add a dash of cinnamon and cayenne pepper, stir to coat. Continue cooking until the sugar is browned and reduced, and the nuts are thoroughly coated with caramel. Remove from heat and tip out onto parchment paper. Let cool, then briefly chop to separate any nuts that stuck together.
To assemble, sprinkle the caramelized pecans across the kale and toss with salad spoons. Add extra apple slices if desired.
Running for Beer
Above: Beers and bone marrow in Center City, photo credit moi from two years ago
I signed up for the Dock Street Philly Beer Run, a 5k race on June 10 through University City during the annual Philly Beer Week. It’s a chip-timed race that culminates in — surprise — beer and a music festival (featuring one of my favorite local bands, Hoots and Hellmouth).
This will be my first race since Broad Street and I’m looking forward to the shorter distance. My goal is to finish in under 28 minutes, but that’s going to be quite a stretch. Registration is still open, if you’re interested!
Tonight is a fun outdoor food festival in my new neighborhood (where I’m moving in five weeks with the dude and our cat). While searching for the 5k registration, I stumbled upon a group called Fishtown Beer Runners, which meets every week to combine “responsible running with responsible drinking,” with a bit of scientific research about hydration thrown in for good measure.
Tonight they’re doing a run that’s somewhere between 3-5 miles and ends right at the festival. I’m going to drive up to the run’s starting point, about two miles north of the event, and run with a bunch of strangers! Will report back my findings tomorrow.
High-res
Today’s lunch: salad with romaine lettuce, quinoa cooked with curry spices, dried edamame, halved cherry tomatoes and 1/4 of an avocado. A strange assortment I threw together this morning but it was very good and had decent protein from the grains.
Would have liked something crunchy in there too (walnuts, perhaps?) and some baby spinach in addition to the lettuce. I love cooking quinoa in curry, but can’t quite figure out what should accompany it in a salad.
I almost never put dressing or oils on my salads and prefer to just let the vegetables act as their own dressing. Occasionally I will put fresh salt and pepper on a salad, but it has to be a specific kind and that’s only to bring out the flavors.
High-res
Impossible is nothing.
This woman is amazing. Formerly 230 pounds, she set out to get healthy through running and a healthy diet. She’s lost 100 pounds, kept it off for two years and just finished her first marathon the day I ran Broad Street.
All I have to say:
Everyone has good days and bad days.
After such a great day of healthy eating and a nice little trail run, I ended up impulsively devouring two cupcakes and a glass of milk while doing a freelance project and getting lost in my self-sabotaging thoughts. Bad Allie!
Hoping to have a more positive rest of the week and work to improve my diet. That’s probably the most difficult thing right now, because I love to eat but have serious trouble with emotional eating and a wicked sweet tooth. I’m not particularly interested in a “diet” but I’m tempted to try a modified South Beach plan after my trip to Italy, if only to give myself an excuse to cut out sweets and carbs for a week…my two favorites.
High-res
Quick little trail run behind my house. So humid out! Was aiming for a 5k but it was just too sticky. Luckily, this was all I needed to put my bad mood and worries behind me.
Today’s lunch from Whole Foods:
Kale and red quinoa salad with chickpeas, slivered almonds, red onion, raisins, red peppers and edamame; a side of Hawaiian pulled pork (roughly 1/2 cup). 1/2 cup fresh pineapple and mango for dessert. A liter of raspberry lime sparkling water to drink throughout the day.
I forgot my iPhone at home, so you’ll just have to visualize how delicious and colorful that looks. Yum.
