Quinoa for Breakfast, Two Ways & No Running

Last week a tweet between nutritionist Joy Bauer and Bob Harper gave me an idea..

My breakfast playlist consists of three songs – yogurt mess w/ banana and granola, smoothie plus corncakes with peanut butter or avocado and eggs w/ veggies and fruit. While I like not having to think very much about breakfast, it’s getting a little boring.

I love quinoa and have heard of people eating it for breakfast, but I’ve never done it myself and wasn’t sure if I’d like it for breakfast. Friday after I returned home from my day of wondering the city (I had the day off!) I made a pot of quinoa so we could have some with dinner and also for breakfast Saturday. The pot turned out perfectly, so I was thrilled and was looking forward to breakfast.

This is what I came up with on my first try -

1. 3/4c quinoa
2. 3 spoonful's of Greek yogurt
3. 1/3c blueberries
4. 1tsp chia seeds
5. 1tsp peanut butter

Looking pretty

All mixed up

It was really tasty but it didn’t keep me feeling full as long as my usual breakfasts. So, Sunday morning I added half a banana to the mix and it stuck with me longer.  Obviously, you can add any fruit to the mix and sub almonds or walnuts for the PB if you want a little crunch. This breakfast takes a bit more advance planning, but it’s a great new option to add to the mix. I’ll be having this again soon!

Now, about not running

The truth is after my run last Sunday I noticed my right leg, between my hip and knee, was hurting a bit. It didn’t feel like a muscle pull, it felt different. More like how my left leg felt in April when I was diagnosed with a stress reaction. This freaked me out a bit. I can’t have another injury ruin another half marathon dream of mine. Monday and Tuesday came and went and it still didn’t feel right. Wednesday morning I went for a slow run, it didn’t hurt during or after, but it did in the evening. Woody and I talked about it Wednesday night when I kind of broke down (poor guy). The thought of having another injury frightens me on many levels and things had been going well. While it wasn’t what I wanted to hear, it was the truth, Woody said that if I was injured again I would have to stop running. For a good amount of time. I decided then that I wouldn’t run for a week and see what happens. So, while I’ve been going to the gym I’ve been keeping to the elliptical and stationary bike and my workouts have been really good (ie lots of sweat)! As hard as it was, while Woody banged out 8 miles running Summer Streets Saturday, I had to skip it. But I knew it was the smart thing to do. I haven’t felt any pain (or more than a twinge) since Friday morning, but I'm still being cautious and waiting a bit longer. If there’s no pain through Wednesday I’ll run on Thursday morning, only missing one more run. I hate messing with my training schedule like this, but if it keeps me healthy, then that’s what I need to do.

On a better note, I got to the post office on Friday to send in my passport to change my name so I can cross the border finish the race.

• What was the highlight of your weekend?
• What’s your favorite thing to have for breakfast?
• Have you ever thought of eating quinoa at breakfast?

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Saturday’s workout -

• 45min elliptical
• 10min stationary bike
• 2x20 squat
• 2x20 weighted side bends
• 2x15 back extensions
• 100 ab exercises
• stretching

Sunday’s workout -

• 50min elliptical
• 15min stationary bike
• 4x10 monsterwalk
• 2x20 lat pulldown
• 1x40sec plank
• 2x18 overhead tricep extension
• 100 ab exercises
• stretching

Today’s workout -

• 45min elliptical
• 100 ab exercises
• 2x20 cable pull push-down
• 2x15 lat arm raise
• 2x18 seated row
• 2x22 bicep curl
• stretching