Night of the endless desserts

The day of a long run is always a munchfest. I try to recover by eating fresh foods for lunch, then letting my tastebuds rule my head for dinner.

Hence today's healthy salad lunch

which included the last of the faux fried chicken, romaine leaves, tomatoes and raspberries, tossed in balsamic vinegar. PS. raspberries in chicken salad = amazing chicken salad. From now on, these two things are best friend in my kitchen.

For dinner, I headed out to a local pub called West 4 & Jane with my friend Jenn for some simple carby bar food. I was jonesin for sweet potato fries, but was disappointed to hear they'd discontinued their calamari salad wraps (had before, loved). To make up for it, I ordered the carbiest meal on the menu I could find - 'vittles' chicken with brown rice, sweet potatoes and coleslaw (not pictured).

Under normal circumstance, this might have got a thumbs down for being a touch bland, but as it was, on the ravenous carb train, this pretty much hit the spot.

Didn't mean that I wasn't automatically jealous of Jenn's fresh looking seafood cobb salad. She gave it a 'meh' review.

After dinner, we wandered over to Pinkberry, which has recently introduced an 'as many toppings as we can fit' policy, without charging you separately. This was good news for the kiwis, raspberries, granola flakes and chocolate shavings which got to join my frozen yogurt party.

We decided to go to the movies to catch 'Whip It', the roller derby comedy, and here's where the night took a turn for dessert madness.

Late night saturday movies without candy are just wrong. Enter the pick and mix store.

So easy to get carried away here (I want one of EVERYTHING), and pack a massive bag that is way too much and costs a bomb. I tried to stick to the non-sugar section where I could and just get a few select things.

My bag ended up costing only $2.50, and I was very proud of self for the restraint.

Needless to say, it was all gone by the middle of the cute but forgettable movie. I will be taking this to the treadmill tomorrow in penance, but for tonight I ride the sugar high! Yeehaa!

Sweet Sixteen

I was up with the birds this morning for a 16 mile run with my running group, the LA Leggers. This was a bit of a nerve racking one, as it was a) my first long run since the Long Beach marathon and b) my first long run with my new, faster group.

Loaded up on breakfast in the dark before heading out to prevent 10 mile rumbly belly. Round one was my usual cereal fruity potion:

Followed by an Arnolds sandwich thin, slathered in my two favorite guys:

To my complete surprise, the 16 mile run went very smoothly. It felt wonderful to run at a challenging pace and watch the miles melt away - I've been running below my natural pace now for a few months, and always felt cooped up and sluggish. We averaged around a 9:30 mile pace with fewer walk breaks, and it was one of my most pleasant long runs. I packed a Clif bar for extra energy on the run, but didn't even need to break into it (although I did snag an Oreo and a couple of orange slices from our volunteer water stations on the way)

Looking at your completed distance on the Garmin is the best. I'll never get tired of it.

A 16 mile run really makes you appreciate your recovery meal. I snagged a delicious bagel half from the LA Leggers HQ for the walk home, and decided to stick with the almond butter and jelly theme for round II.

Add a banana, and you have Joe's new favorite breakfast - the waffle sandwich. Yum!

For the rest of the day, couch, it's just you and me. Get ready for some hardcore lounging.

A Los Angeles classic...and Heart!

Joe and I timed our trip to the Greek Theater to see the legendary Heart in concert so that we could visit a favorite classic sandwich joint in downtown LA.

Philippes has the most AMAZING French dip sandwiches and so we went hungry, prepared for a feast. Before you even order your food, one of the coolest things about the visit is seeing the interior, which doesn't seem to have changed much since the early century.

Philippe's sandwiches use fresh French bread, dipped in homemade au jus from all the delicious roasting meats cooked onsite. You can order your bread single or double dipped for extra flavor and it's the most moist and delicious deli sandwich you can get in LA.

I ordered my favorite, lamb with a single dip, no cheese, and Joe went for a double dipped pork with swiss cheese. As a treat, we both ordered a slice of their homemade banana cream pie. None of these photographed too well, but trust me, they are incredible.

Best sandwich in downtown:

The full tray:

Close-up of the lamb (drool)

My philosophy on desserts is pretty simple. I was never much of a sweets girl, and while I'm trying to lose or maintain my weight, I rarely indulge. It's pretty obvious though that there are some times when it's acceptable, even vital to order pie. Or a brownie. Or ice cream. Usually when they are amazing/homemade/free and you would be a stupid person to turn them down. On these rare occasions, I go for it, and make a real effort not to beat myself up for it later.

Glamour shot of the pie:

(I had a glass of wine too, but NO moral issues there whatsoever. Bottoms up!)

We didn't leave a scrap of food.

Then it was on to Heart at the Greek for an amazing show. Ann Wilson's voice never fails to amaze me, even after all these years.

Our seats were pretty high up, but we managed some reasonable shots of Nancy and Ann. Rock on, ladies, rock on.

Then home and to bed in preparation for the 16 miler in the morning. Out like a light!

Three course gourmet

Today marked my return to the 30 Day Shred. The sheer effort meant that my meals were thrown all out of whack, and breakfast/lunch became a spread out, three course masterpiece.

Starting off with my regular fruity bowl of goodness and the last of the free gym wholewheat Cheerios:

Moving on to Breakfast II for two - scrambled eggs on an Arnold sandwich thin with chopped garlic chives from the Farmer's Market.

Portions for two modelled by Joe and his lovely feet. I always like to splash my scrambled eggs with balsamic vinegar to give it a little extra kick - admittedly, I like vinegar on almost anything, but this is a definite high spot.

As we were now hitting lunchtime, I threw together a small salad to fuel my gym trip - this included iceberg lettuce, the last of Joe's shredded prime rib, cherry tomatoes and a pinch of granola for some crunch. Simple and filling.

Off to the gym for an easy 3 miles ahead of tomorrow's long run, and already drooling in anticipation of tonight's sandwich.

A mighty mighty run

After some troubles in the gym this week, I was nervous about attempting the 8 miles I had in mind for today. I'd planned to give it a go, but stashed a magazine in my bag for when I had to retire to the elliptical with my tail between my legs.

Out of nowhere, though, the running gods smiled, and today's 8 miler felt like a breeze. The gym was nice and empty, so I whiled away the time watching Oprah chat it up with a new vegan chef, and didn't have to stop once. Jolly good!

Once home, Joe and I visited Ralphs to stock up on food for the week, and decided on a simple and quick meal of seabass.

The portions at the fish counter were huge, so we picked out a large and split it. Here it is, all naked and vulnerable pre-oven.

Used my favorite recipe, which makes a simple rub for the seabass using olive oil, garlic, lots of pepper and salt. Splash the seabass with wine and it's ready for the oven. After 15 minutes in the oven, take out and add parsley, then roast for another 5 minutes, and voila!

SO yummy. Tastes buttery and delicious, even though it's not served with any, and is very low fat. Served with rice for Joe the Carb King, and salad for Miss Goody Two-Shoes, and veg for all.

Tomorrow we continue our week of music with Heart at the Greek. Very excitingly, we're also planning to stop off at Philippe's in downtown LA for sandwiches first. Philippe's is the legendary birthplace of the french dip sandwich - it's been serving them since 1918, so it's an incredible slice of history as well as an amazing meal. Full report to come.

Oh Jillian

Jillian, Jillian Jillian. While Level 3 of the 30 Day Shred may be 30 minutes of good gutbusting cardio, it is also pretty damn difficult. I've been sweating my eyeballs out on the highest level all week, and woke up this morning with a frozen hip and sexy limping walk.

You can smile all your want, but this is not kosher. If I'm out of commission for my 16 mile training run this Saturday, I will not be impressed. HEAR ME?

With the pressure of the DVD lifted for at least a day, my hunger returned with a vengeance. My usual breakfast of Cheerios, berries and granola didn't quite tide me over, so I broke into my stash of the new kid on the block, cereal bar wise.

I'm a big fan of the Fiber One cereal for faux-frying, so was excited to try out an oats and caramel flavored bar. Took a bit of getting used to - it was a little dryer than I was expecting - but I'm totally prepared to give it another whirl later this week.

Lunch, on the other hand, was awesome.

Take one of my beloved Farmer's Market squash, all tidily chopped up:

Add a little brush of marinade:

And some booze (boozy kitchen = happy kitchen, right Rachel Ray?)

And pan fry in a little Pam for 5 minutes. Total yum. Add the last of the salad (must. food. shop. today), some sliced cherry tomatoes and a sandwich using some of Joe's prime rib leftovers from last night, and that's a pretty nifty lunch you've got yourself.

Later, I'm taking my sore hip back to the gym to get a feel for just how much I can still move. Ibuprofen seems to have taken a bit of the soreness away, but I want to make sure I'm still in shape for Saturday's training run with the LA Leggers.

If you could read my mind

Tonight Joe and I ventured out to Agoura Hills to see one of my favorite singer-songwriters Gordon Lightfoot play at the Canyon Club.

Agoura Hills is a hike (about 30 miles away from home in Santa Monica), so we got there a little early and grabbed a table for dinner. Aim 1) Snag a good table for a great view of the old boy (you have to eat dinner to get a coveted spot). Aim 2) fill up on steak and avoid concert growly belly.

Nice scenic drive on the way there

Unfortunately, the food was a bit of a letdown. We planned to share a main course but were told it would be an extra $25 charge to split a meal. Yowza. We ended up each picking from a pricey set menu.

Same starters all round - small green salad, pre-dressed with balsamic vinagrette. Nice enough, but very simple and plain. I also had a small glass of wine.

For my entree, I picked on the cheaper side of the menu and went for a lemon-caper chicken, which came with garlic mash and vegetables. The chicken was tasty and moist, but it was a pretty basic lemon cream recipe I could probably have made at home.

Joe ordered the prime rib and was left disappointed. It arrived lukewarm (although after waiting 40 minutes for it, we didn't want to send back) and the meat was a little tough, even for medium well done. Boo. Personally, I am never a big fan of prime rib (not much of a steak girl), but we can all appreciate a nice cut of meat. Sadly, this was not.

Dessert was included, but it was chocolate cake or nothing (as Eddie Izzard would say, literally cake or death). We chose cake. A nice chocolately end to the meal!

Luckily, Gordon Lightfoot put on a great show and saved me from being a sourpuss blogger who hates everything. Nice one, fella!