Running Playlist–Need Suggestions!

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

When I trained for my first marathon in college, I made a kick-butt playlist that I listened to on all my long runs. To this day, those songs (plus the taste of strawberry-lime Gatorade) remind me of the early morning in Harrisonburg, VA. I don’t typically listen to music while I run, but there’s no question that it helps me stay motivated and keep pace during a run.

As we move toward cooler weather, I am tentatively planning to run another marathon in December (“tentatively” because I haven’t signed up yet, but I am putting in the runs.) The time has come for another kick-butt playlist to get me through those 18 and 20-milers. I want a fresh batch of songs that will pump me up and years later remind of this time in my life.

I need your suggestions: What are some great songs for my running playlist that are:

a. clean
b. relatively current
c. make no mention of “bein’ in da club”?

I’m open to any genre.

Thanks!!

Trampolines, a Brave Birthday, and Family

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

Happy Monday, everyone! We had a full weekend in North Carolina celebrating our niece Lauren’s 4th birthday. My dad, aunt, and uncle drove up from Georgia for the weekend, and my mom and brother drove down from Richmond Saturday. I know there will come a time that the entire family can’t gather for the nieces’ parties, but for now I love the tradition. 🙂

We drove down early Friday evening and met my sister, brother-in-law, nieces and friend Jeanine at Defy Gravity–Raleigh’s indoor trampoline gym. If you have never been to a place like this, find the one closest to you and go. Today. Jumping in a room full of trampolines makes you feel like a kid… and also gives you a fantastic workout!

Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible to get a non-blurry, mid-jump iphone photo. 😉

Saturday morning, before the party prepping picked up for the day, my aunt Ann and I went for a run through the Capital Area Greenway–a beautiful park with lots of trails (paved and unpaved) and wildlife.

I took these photos as the end of the run, but I wish I’d run with my phone to capture some of the beauty of this place. We ran around a lake, jumped across streams, high-stepped over roots, and ran within feet of a bunch of deer, who were obviously accustomed to having people around. It was fantastic!

After the run, it was party prep time. I’ve mentioned this before (see Kendall’s birthday party back in March), but Whitney and Jeanine go all out for birthdays. Lauren’s party was “Brave” themed (the movie, not the adjective ;-)). Here are a few of the details:

Plus the Highland Games in the backyard:

Beanbag toss (board painted by Jeanine), log toss, and archery

Everyone had a great time at the party, and we were all pretty wiped out afterwards! For the rest of the evening we relaxed, made tacos for dinner, and just enjoyed time with family. Most of the crew hit the road early Sunday morning, but Andrew and I hung around to have brunch with the birthday girl (her actual birthday was Sunday.) Finally, with full bellies, we said goodbye and drove back home.

The first thing we did when we arrived home was crawl into bed and take a 45-minute power nap; between the travel and the excitement of the weekend, neither one of us were going to be functional without a nap :). Afterwards we made a trip to the grocery store, and when we arrived back home, Andrew mowed the grass, and I started dinner: salmon, roasted acorn squash, and a brown rice/quinoa mixture (we had about 1/2 c left of each that we needed to use!)

Delicious.

What was the highlight of your weekend?
Have you ever been to an indoor trampoline gym? What did you think??

New Favorite Breakfast: Overnight Oats

Posted on August 9, 2013 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

For years I was a faithful Kashi Go Lean cereal eater. This week I decided to try something new–something with fewer ingredients and less fiber–for the most important meal of the day, and I am pleased with the switch.

I don’t know who stumbled upon or coined the term “Overnight Oats,” but they must be brilliant. I love oatmeal, but I never want to take the time to make it in the morning–we don’t have a microwave, and who wants to dirty a pot on a weekday before they’ve had coffee? Not this girl. Enter overnight oats. Put the ingredients in a bowl before you go to bed, and it’s ready when you wake up.

In my bowl this week: 1/2 c oats (not instant), 1/2 c + splash soy milk, frozen blueberries, sprinkle of cinnamon, pinch of salt. In the morning I stir in a spoonful of peanut butter. And, of course, coffee with soy milk to wash it all down.

It’s easy, delicious, and keeps me full for hours! I think I’m in love.

What’s your go-to breakfast?

Post Food Poisoning Meals

Posted on August 8, 2013 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

It’s been a week of funny dinners around the Storey house. On Sunday night after a dinner out, Andrew got a bad case of the pukes that lasted through the night. We decided it was food poisoning based on the timing and the fact that I never caught it. He was pretty miserable.

On Monday he was still in pretty bad shape–managing to muscle down plain toast, chicken and rice soup, and Gatorade–and on Tuesday he was ready for a real, but bland dinner. Here’s what I came up with:

Skillet Chicken
Steamed Green Beans
Brown Rice

We cooked the chicken tenderloins in a skillet with a little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper. The green beans (from the garden) spent some time in the ~~vegetable sauna~~ steamer, and we made the rice in the rice cooker with chicken broth. Really easy to make and surprisingly good, despite the lack of creativity (a little bit of salt makes a big difference!) Most importantly, Andrew’s recovering stomach approved. 🙂

Last night, however, we had a dinner issue. When I went to the grocery store Monday, not knowing what Andrew would feel up to eating, I bought two boxes of Applegate Farms chicken nuggets–one gluten-free for him, one regular (because I am sympathetic; if he had to eat chicken nuggets, I guess I would too… you know, to support him ;-)) He didn’t want them Monday, but when I came home last night, he was working his way through a plate of nuggets.

“Those are the gluten-free nuggets, right?”

(A slight look of panic on his face) “There were two kinds?”

“Yes, I bought one GF and one regular so that you could have the whole GF box to yourself…”

“I didn’t check! You said you bought GF chicken nuggets so I just grabbed a box out of the freezer!”

We went to the freezer to check, and, sure enough, he had broken into the NON gluten-free box. He said he’d eaten four before I walked in, which may seem like a lot, but considering he had eight additional nuggets on his plate, I’m glad I walked in when I did. I was nervous all night about what effect the gluten might have on him, but it seems that it was a small enough amount to not upset his stomach beyond the “off” feeling he already had. (If he’d eaten all 12 nuggets though… seriously, who eats 12 chicken nuggets?) Crisis averted, lessons learned. Andrew continues to be on the mend!

If you have a food intolerance, have you ever accidentally eaten something you weren’t supposed to? What happened?

When was the last time you had the upchucks? What foods can you tolerate/do you recommend during the recovery?

Atonement Workouts (I’m not for ’em)

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

On Saturday night while Andrew and I were chowing down on chips and salsa, we ~~eavesdropped~~ overheard a conversation between two women at the table next to us. One of the women appeared very fit–thin and toned–and was giving nutrition advice to her friend. At first glance you’d think she had it all together, but after listening for a few minutes (unintentionally, of course; Andrew and I couldn’t really talk because it would have required us to take breaths between bites ;-)), I thought, Whoa, this lady is way off base.

“Women need at least an hour of heavy cardio every single day.”

“I generally eat 1500 calories a day, but things carry over day to day; I’ll make up for this indulgence [motioning to her small cocktail] tomorrow by only eating 1000 calories.”

In immediate response to that I said to Andrew, “That sucks. I won’t.”

I witnessed a similar event a couple of months ago; I overheard a woman in the gym locker room say this to another woman after they’d just taken a group fitness class together:

“Well, I’m going to go do the Elliptical now because I decided to eat Girl Scout cookies last night!”

In addition to what sounded like a grueling class, this woman completed a full workout on an Elliptical machine in order to make up for something she’d eaten the day before.

I call this an “atonement workout” or “atonement eating,” in the case of the sad 1000 calories–in which a person thinks they must work off a food debt they’ve created or make right the horrendous wrong of, say, eating a few Girl Scout cookies–and I think this attitude is all wrong.

While there’s obviously a connection between our weight and the calories we eat and burn, this attitude misses the big picture… and can drive a person nuts. Food is not something to be punished for, but is, along with physical activity, a means to care for our bodies. I like to think of physical wellness not in terms of the “bad” things we “shouldn’t” have (“I can’t eat carbs/fat/cookies/chips…”) but rather the sum of the kind things we do for our bodies. I feel well not because I didn’t eat dessert yesterday (I did,) but because I ate a lot of fruits, vegetables, and lean protein and took a walk–The sum of the good stuff rather than the absence of the bad stuff. And I am not working out for longer today because I ate a delicious, homemade cupcake yesterday.

Health is about more than hitting a certain calorie goal each day. And by the way, if I completed an hour of hard cardio daily and only ate 1500 calories, I’d be a very unpleasant person; don’t even get me started on the 1000 calories (which, for the record, is below what is considered starvation.)

Be good to yourself!

What kind things will you do for your body today?

The Day I Ate Almost No Produce

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

Oh, Monday; you have arrived again. I am definitely dragging a little bit today!

As I mentioned yesterday, on Saturday morning we spent some time in the garden. Sadly, we picked and sliced our first cantaloupe before it was fully ripe.

So sad.

We also, sadly, had to pull out the cucumber plants. After doing research, we determined they had some kind of mildew that had infected the entire plant. Not a particularly satisfying day in the garden.

As I also wrote yesterday, we then hiked the Buttermilk Trail. Allow me to backtrack, though. If I were to name this particular Saturday, it would be, “The Day I Ate Almost No Produce.” It wasn’t intentional, but at the end of the day I looked back and thought, I ate horribly today. Hah! In this case, I define “eating horribly” as lacking nutrient-dense foods, like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Here’s what the day looked like in terms of food:

Breakfast: 2 Gluten-free pancakes with honey, 2 scrambled eggs
Breakfast afterthought: Peach (Oh, I guess I should eat some fruit…)
Lunch: 3-4 oz leftover steak, GF cupcake
Dinner: 1/2 chicken burrito, an obscene amount of chips and salsa, 1 frozen margarita

We woke up late and had a later-than-usual breakfast. When lunchtime rolled around, I wasn’t especially hungry (but yes, hungry enough to eat a cupcake… just not hungry enough to muscle down carrots ;-)). I didn’t pack any snacks for the hike which never happens, but I was so full from a late breakfast and lunch that I didn’t think about it. Fast-forward a few hours and five miles into the hike. I. Was. Starving. It was hot and humid, and Andrew said, “I want a margarita.” I agreed, and we decided to drive straight to Nacho Mamas for an early dinner (like 5:30 PM) as soon as we arrived back at the car.

What do you do when you have been exercising for hours with no snacks and someone puts a basket of chips and salsa in front of you? You eat the entire basket almost before the waitress can take your drink order, of course.

The veggies were there; I just didn’t touch them.

Before our dinners arrived, the two of us finished almost two baskets of chips and salsa (at least salsa is made up of veggies and I ate a lot of it?) plus our delicious frozen beverages (Andrew had two!) As I finally cut into my burrito, the fullness started to set in, and it set in fast and hard. After eating half, I put the silverware down, sat back from the table, and said, “Oh, I ate way too much.” I didn’t feel particularly well for a few hours after that.

Aside from overeating in one sitting at dinner, I didn’t eat too much food throughout the day; I just didn’t eat particularly well. At the end of the day I thought, I’m not going to eat “perfectly” every day, and that’s okay. I’m human. My Sunday contained a few more vegetables. 😉

When you don’t have a “perfectly healthy” eating day, cut yourself some slack. We’re only human!

Have you ever let yourself get too hungry and then overeaten?
How do you squeeze more produce into your day?

Buttermilk Trail Hike

Posted on August 4, 2013 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

Marriage requires many compromises. Saturday morning, I wanted to drive to the mountains to hike, and Andrew wanted to watch TV for a few hours, then complete some projects around the house (anything to not drive anywhere.) Our compromise: a quick garden clean-up and harvest, followed by a local hike in the afternoon.

The Buttermilk Trail runs along the James River from the Boulevard Bridge to Belle Isle (I know that probably means nothing to non-Richmonders…sorry), and despite being within the city limits, the hike definitely gives you the I’m-miles-away-from-civilization feeling. We started on the north bank of the river (by Maymont,) crossed the foot bridge, and headed east.

Soon we were in the woods and letting out our wild sides:

After about three miles, we arrived at Belle Isle. Well, we arrived at the large rocks beside Belle Isle; we had to do some rock-hopping to reach the island.

From there we crossed the river on the pedestrian bridge…

I ❤ the River City.

…and began walking back on the North Bank Trail. We enjoyed some pretty nice views of the river, Hollywood Cemetery, and fields of ivy. We also picked and snacked on a few blackberries. 😀

While not the mountains, the Buttermilk and North Bank Trails were a surprisingly pleasant local substitute. They satisfied my desire to be outside in the woods with a serious layer of back sweat. Hiking is also my favorite active date, and I loved the quality time Andrew and I had while creating the aforementioned back sweat. 😀 According to Hiking Upward, we covered about 6.3 miles. Not bad!

Have you ever hiked or biked the Buttermilk Trail?
What’s your favorite active date?

A Two Storey Home

Where Marriage and Healthy Living Meet

Monthly Archives: August 2013