My Shoe Obsession and... Eating Puppy Chow?!?

So, remember my lovely philosophy on enjoying the little things? Well, I have learned to keep the "little things" in check as well. Let me paint you a picture of two things I am reining in by the weekend...

First... I never really had a shoe obsession. Shoes were shoes, and I kid you not, I am still wearing my Birkenstocks that I've had since the 10th grade. Don't judge me.... I'm afraid the mere presence of my Birks is the bane of my mother's existence. I'm pretty sure she would burn them if she could get her hands on them.

But I digress...

I have discovered a love for running shoes. Now, I'm betting many of you can relate. Since I have started running (which was only about a year ago, mind you), I have already acquired and/or gone througth five pairs of running shoes. I am now hopelessly devoted to my 1) Asics Kayanos for walking/everyday wear/regular activities, 2) Brooks Adrenaline GTS for running long distances, and 3) Brooks Cascadia 6 for trail running. I would swear by any of these shoes, ESPECIALLY the Brooks Cascadias. And I don't know why, but I just feel cool wearing BRIGHT green shoes on a trail.

You can't miss me in these!

Well, Brooks has dropped another gem... The Pure Project. In case you have not heard of these shoes, check them out HERE. I have always felt torn about barefoot running... I have always wanted to try it in order to work on my form, but I have been warned against it so many times that I started wishing for a way to have the support but still have a flexible, lightweight shoe. Well, the PureCadence seems to be the answer. Brooks has put a lot of research and work into this line, and I'm excited to try it out. I'm hoping I can sucker ask my dad for a pair for Christmas. That is the beauty of being 24, unmarried, no kids... I still get to have a Christmas list for the parents! :-)

I give you... Brooks PureCadence!

You can't miss me in these either! I'm starting to think my feet just like the attention...

Any opinions about the minimalist movement? Or about running shoes in general?

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Now, the other "little thing" I need to get a handle on... COMFORT FOOD.

Muscle Man introduced me to a very beautiful thing this past week: Firehouse Subs. I told him no because it was just like Subway and I was burned out on Subway. He looked at me like I was crazy, said it was nothing like Subway, and then we were on our way (what can I say, I'm a pushover). What I instead found was a mecca of sandwichy-goodness and flavored sodas.

The Steak and Cheese. Pretty much heaven on a bun.

This is the space-age contraption inside of every Firehouse Subs restaurant. You hit a touchscreen to choose your base soda, and then a selection of a ton of different flavors pops up for that soda. Peach Sprite?!? Yes please!! Once you choose, a PUSH button starts blinking. Gee, you think it might want you to "push"? Well, I had never seen anything like it, so I was very amazed by this.

So where lies the problem? On top of having Thanksgiving last week, I had Firehouse Subs TWICE, and that's not all ladies and gentleman... For the work potluck I had to come up with a quick, cheap, easy finger food. What did I come up with? Puppy Chow!!

I'm not posting a recipe, because I refuse to be an accomplice to poor eating habits. So ha. But let's just say it is a heavenly mixture of butter, peanut butter, chocolate, and powdered sugar that decided to gang up and attack a box of Rice Chex. Most of it made it to the potluck. Some may be still sitting in a tupperware container at home.

I'm making the puppy chow the stopping point until Christmas. I'm participating in HBBC from RuntotheFinish for extra motivation, but I also know from experience that I just feel better whenever I eat better. Pure and simple fact. So, thanks to some advice and recipes from Amanda and a few other random sources, I'm also hoping to start experimenting with green smoothies and incorporating those into my diet on a regular basis. I will keep you guys updated on that, and how the smoothies turn out.

So, moral of the story: Never forget to enjoy the little things in life, but always remember everything is best in moderation.

Treats always taste better when you know it's a rare and special occasion, and shoes (or other indulgence) are always more highly valued when they are a treat versus an obsession.

That's all for my pearls of wisdom today. Enjoy the rest of your week!

The Runner's 90/10 Rule...

After a lot of research into "dieting" vs eating healthy, the eating lifestyles of athletes, reading several blogs, and other such time killers, I decided the best way to maintain a healthy lifestyle versus dieting would be to maintain a 90/10 rule... That is, healthy eating 90% of the time, and indulge 10% of the time. I suppose that rule is going to by my excuse for last night's dinner........

I decided to make an awesome salad for me and my muscle man. It turned out amazing, and we both were full afterwards. It had:

• Spinach
• Carrots
• Mushrooms
• Garlic & Herb Feta Cheese (Amazing by the way!)
• Sliced Almonds (Never had these on a salad, and now I don't think I'll have one without them!)
• Sliced Avocado
• Grilled Chicken

It didn't turn out as colorful as I would've liked, but ta daa!! Still packed with healthy stuff. :-)



So, great dinner, right? Score one for Beth, she succeeded at making an awesome salad. Well, then the dessert that was supposed to be a baked apple or a pumpkin smoothie... You know, something equally healthy? Well, instead became this....

Yes, I know, bad Beth... But I'm slowly learning. The salad was a start! Besides, I have to learn to find a healthy affordable medium between organic and regular groceries... I don't know how some people sleep at night buy organic everything, knowing how much they're sinking into it. So far I've been going by the "Dirty Dozen" rule for buying fruits and vegetables, and looking at the ingredients list on things I normally buy and comparing it to the organic version. If the regular version has 542365426 ingredients in it, I'm more prone to buy the organic version as long as it's not too outrageously priced. I bought organic apple butter yesterday after seeing that regular had 30-letter-long ingredients in it, and I also buy organic almond butter and peanut butter.

By the way, random thought... Have you ever tried to buy saffron?? OMGSWEETMOTHEROFJOSEPH it was $15 for a sprig of saffron. Say what?!? I think I'll find an alternative spice thank you...

Oh, and another random thought... If you ever shop at Kroger (or heck, maybe other grocery stores have it, I don't know...), I would suggest checking out this cheese...

It's pretty much amazing. Just take my word for it.


So, does anyone else have a suggestion on finding a healthy and affordable medium between organic and regular foods?

That is all for today... Ciao!