Good morning, my friends! It’s another really cold one here in DC, but I’m happy to say I made it out for a run this morning anyway! We’re bracing for another big snow storm tonight/tomorrow, so I figured this might be my last chance to run outside for a few days. Had to take advantage!
My partner in crime for this morning’s running adventure was my friend Heather. As usual, when my alarm went off at 5:51 a.m. (that extra minute makes allllll the difference), I wished I could stay in bed, but, also as usual, once I was out there I was so glad I made the push.
Even though it was REALLY cold (upper teens with a “feels like” 9 degrees due to the wind), I think I’m starting to get used to the cold because it didn’t seem so bad. Either way, Heather and I had fun chatting and enjoying the beautiful sunrise! It was very orange, pink, and purple this morning – lovely.
We ran together until reaching downtown, at which point Heather split off to run home towards northwest DC, and I headed back down towards the monuments. When I arrived at Lincoln, I discovered the November Project workout was in full swing (remember when I hit it up in December? <— more info on Nov Project in that post)! Oh yeah – I totally forgot it was Wednesday morning!
Since I was there, I figured, what the hell – I’ll join in! When in Rome, right? There was only about 10 minutes left of the workout and I was welcomed into the fold for a few rounds of stair runs, squats, and burpees. I was surprised it was such a large group considering how cold it was!
The final bit of the workout was the same as the last time I came – in groups of 5, everyone held a plank, and one at a time everyone in the group ran up the stairs. When one person reached the top, the next one went, so the last person ended up holding plank for quite awhile. Since I joined late, I offered to take one for the team and be the last one up the stairs. Good excuse to work on my plank skills! It was fun to randomly hop in on the workout – the best thing about the November Project is how friendly everyone is. I didn’t feel awkward at all joining in last minute!
I’ll have to come back another day for the full workout – I keep forgetting about the November Project! Apparently they are offering it on Friday mornings now, too. Gotta love a free, friendly, and outdoor workout with beautiful views.
After my random November Project workout crash, I continued on solo over Memorial Bridge, then started the long trek up to Iwo Jima and alllllllll the way up the hill of death back to Courthouse/Clarendon. Rough but I made it! I ended up covering 7 miles total, plus the random 10 minutes of November Project boot camp/stair action. Great workout!
On the eating front, I wanted to share something awesome that I found the other day at Target:
90 second microwave lentils!!! And the ingredients are JUST lentils, nothing added or weird. I love lentils but never want to deal with cooking them, so this is perfect. Call me lazy – but whatever, sometimes shortcuts are worth the extra price tag. I also really like the pre-cooked lentils (lightly seasoned – so good) from Trader Joes – they are sold in the fresh produce area with the bagged veggies!
Another shortcut that’s worth it to me? 90 second brown rice (again – go for the plain, totally unseasoned variety without anything weird added). I always cook quinoa from scratch since it’s quick, but by the time I think to cook brown rice I never want to wait 45 minutes for it to be ready. I picked up the one pictured below at Whole Foods, but I also like the plain 90 second Uncle Ben’s brown rice, too, and you can find that anywhere.
I threw together a really easy lunch on Monday using the 90 second brown rice and lentils as my inspiration, plus this can of beets. I’ve shared my love for canned beets before – so awesome, and once again something I usually just don’t want to spend the time cooking. I think this is pretty much the only fruit/veggie I buy canned, besides pureed pumpkin!
As for the salad, I threw some baby kale on a plate, topped it with half the container of lentils and half the container of brown rice, tossed half the can of beets on there, and added some grated parmesan cheese on top just for fun. I topped it with some salt, pepper, and homemade balsamic vinaigrette (something I do think is worth making yourself – it’s SO easy and way tastier than bottled – just mix equal parts oil & balsamic vinegar + a squirt of Dijon mustard and lemon juice). The only thing I wish I’d had to add to the mix was some avocado! And yes, I forgot to take the random carrot I was snacking on while making this lunch out of the picture. Just keepin’ it real over here, guys.
And now, back to work! Lots of emails to get through, plus some AnneTheRD client work and prepping for teaching tomorrow morning at GW! It’s looking like we might be snowed out tomorrow, but I’m going to prep anyway juuuuust in case.
Also, I can’t end this post without sharing that today is my one year anniversary of taking/passing the Registered Dietitian exam!
I really can’t believe it’s been a whole year since my grad school friends Elle, Maria, and I nervously, after a week’s worth of nonstop studying, headed into Raleigh to the testing center to take the national RD exam. Even crazier is that it’s been well over a year since we’ve been done with grad school! How time flies. It still seems like just yesterday I was starting to research the whole “how to become an RD” process and feeling really overwhelmed and sure I’d never make it through.
I miss those two (and my other grad school friends!) so much – and I’m so proud of how much we’ve all done in the year since getting our RDs (and our Masters of Public Health degrees). Both Maria and I are working in private practice seeing clients for wellness/weight management, and Elle is the dietitian for MyFitnessPal out in San Francisco. We’ve come a long way since we all first met back in August/September 2010 on the first day of grad school at UNC, huh ladies? <3
