Bring On the Rain

"Another day has almost come and gone
Can't imagine what else could wrong
Sometimes I'd like to hide away somewhere and lock the door
A single battle lost but not the war ('cause)

Tomorrow's another day
And I'm thirsty anyway
So bring on the rain..." ~Jo Dee Messina/Tim McGraw

Today did not begin well. I have been sick the past few days (a rare and unwelcome occurrence in itself), so I was sniffling through my classes, all while trying not to completely gross out those unfortunate enough to be sitting next to me. Then, once my classes had ended for the day, I get ready to trek across campus for the gym--and it starts to rain. I did not bring my umbrella to campus today of course, so I sucked it up (snot and all) and walked through the rain to the indoor track. I had been looking forward to my run today, so I was determined to make it there.

Once I changed into my gym clothes and finished stretching, I got into the groove. In my experience, running always provides a temporary hiatus from cold symptoms, and today was no exception. My sniffles ceased, and my head was clear. Then "Bring on the Rain" came on my iPod. My mood improved by about 1000% at that point. I probably looked like a big dork running, because I was grinning and mouthing the words as I went along. For the rest of the day, I have been in a fantastic mood. The music and lyrics of that song definitely crashed my pity party.

Despite my morning glumness, my food was fortunately excluded from my temporary funk.

Monday
After I left you in my last post, I scampered off to a busy evening of activities. Free BBQ was provided at the dining committee meeting; I sampled their vegan option (simply grilled veggies in a spinach wrap), but it did nothing for my grumbling tummy. Plus, I wanted to get some mega-vitamins to fight off my developing cold. I grabbed a salad in between meetings, and it contained: mixed greens, snap peas, chickpeas, steamed broccoli, tomatoes, sunflower seeds, mushrooms, plus some pineapple. I chomped this down in about 10 minutes. Yeah. I definitely sprained a jaw muscle.
Smoothie was a repeat: strawberries. I need my Living Harvest!!!
Tuesday
Quite frankly this breakfast was amazing. I made a mango-soymilk smoothie in the MB and topped with wheat germ and a bit of shredded coconut. Continuing with the tropical theme, I also had a whole wheat mini bagel with cashew butter.
My pre-run snack consisted of a banana and half of a Oatmeal Raisin Walnut Clif bar. Check out my clever halfsies packaging. Thank you, Scotch tape.
Lunch was a simple campus salad (Romaine, carrots, tomatoes, dried cranberries, and walnuts) that I topped with leftover white beans. White beans, walnuts, and cranberries are meant to be together.
For dinner, I made Sloppy Joes! I used Boca crumbles and the sauce recipe from PPK as a rough guide; I didn't have all the ingredients on hand so I improvised a bit. Nevertheless, it was quite tasty. I also had cantaloupe, haricot verts, and a few of those Snacktrition smoked almonds.
Another boring smoothie last night: cherries. FYI: Cherries are not a significant source of vitamin C. One cup provides a measly 2% of the 60mg we need each day. I was hoping for more so that I could alleviate some of my cold symptoms. I still wanted cherries though, so cherries I had.
Wednesday
GORP (Good Ol' Raisins and Peanuts) Overnight Oats today! I soaked oats and soymilk with cinnamon and stevia last night and added the GORP component this morning. I also had a sliced apple.
The pre-run fuel today was pretty awesome today. I had a banana and half of a waffle-wich: a toasted GoLean waffle with blackberry jam. My emotions might have had something to do with it, but I had quite the athletic performance on my run this afternoon.
When I came home, all I wanted was some soothing soup. I added spinach, white beans, and oregano to that Imagine tomato soup I bought last week. More smoked almonds on the side. This totally hit the spot, physiologically and emotionally.
More good news for this afternoon: my Living Harvest came! That's also a box of stevia packets for my tea.The folks at iHerb also threw in some complimentary vitamins and a packet of goji berry hand lotion. Cool.
I had a great snack today. Taking a cue from my fellow bloggers, I broke up a snack bar into plain yogurt. I opted for a chocolate brownie mini Clif, plus I added raw cashews. It tasted like a fabulous nutty brownie! On a side note, I never noticed how small these mini Clifs are. I find that they're just a little too small to support my running (when I go in the middle of the day--great for morning runs). It's almost the exact size of Nestor the Nano!
My dinner this evening was close to perfect. I whipped up a single serving batch of ED&BV's Peanut Passion Sauce and used some homemade baked tofu cubes for dipping. Couscous, haricot verts, and salad (with orange bell pepper and local tomatoes!) topped it off.
With that, I draw this epic post to a close. Happy Hump Day!