Saturday's Hiking Adventure

Saturday morning me and Sean went and hiked up Wasson Peak in Saguaro National Park. It was a beautiful morning and the saguaros were blooming. We hiked the King Canyon trail and it was about 7 miles total. It took us 4 hours. It was the first time I've ever hiked to the top of anything.

Here's a picture of a saguaro in bloom:


Here's a close-up of one of the saguaro flowers:


Here's me on the trail:

The little purple thing around my neck is this thing that you soak in water and it keeps you cool for hours. It's awesome. You want one, don't you?

Here's a few pictures of the view:



Here's me at the top:


Here's me and Sean practicing our self-portrait skills:


It was a great hike! We definitely learned a few things. We both need some better hiking boots and Sean needs to bring more water (he ran out and I ended up sharing mine.) We also need to make sure we bring snacks for a hike that long. We were really, really hungry when we got back to the car. We're not quite ready to hike the Grand Canyon yet (and we WILL be hiking the Grand Canyon at some point.)

In other news...
I smashed my toe in the bathroom door yesterday. It bled like crazy. I'll probably lose my toenail, which is disappointing since I just got a pedicure last week.

Here's my diet and exercise log for the past few days:

Monday:
B: leftover tofu scrambles with whole wheat toast
S: banana & 2 rice cakes
L: Amy's frozen enchilada meal
S: Pear
D: Pizza with soy cheese and mushrooms

Workout: 30 minutes on a treadmill (I actually ran the whole time.)

Sunday:
B: toast with earth balance and apple butter
L: We went to this little asian place and I got the vietnamese vegetarian bun. It's rice noodles with lots of raw veggies and fried tofu with this awesome sweet chile dressing
D: Tofu breakfast burritoes with mushrooms, potatoes, salsa and avocado slices

Workout: Total Sculpt

Saturday:
B: toast with earth balance and apple butter
L: 6" veggie sandwich at subway and half a baggy of chips
D: Whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce, mushrooms, veggie sausage and soy cheese

Workout: 7 mile hike up a mountain

I'm so sore!

So I worked out two days in a row. Wednesday was my first weight workout in a long time. I swear every part of my body is sore. Last night I did Step Blast which is always fun. I'd like to go running after work today but it's supposed to rain so I might have to do something indoors instead. I'll figure it out.

I think tomorrow we're going to try to do some hiking. It's getting hot outside so we'll have to leave early enough in the morning so we can be done before it gets too hot. Or maybe we'll drive up Mt. Lemmon and hike there.

In other news, my little garden I planted last saturday is still alive (even though the sprinkler system stopped working - we're going to try to fix it tomorrow). Hopefully before too long I'll have some tomatoes, red bell peppers, anaheim chiles, japanese eggplant, and zucchini to eat and some nice basil and rosemary to cook with.

Here's my food and exercise log for Wednesday:

B: oatmeal with blueberries, walnuts and soymilk
S: apple
L: Amy's frozen veggie and tofu rice bowl
S: banana
D: Veggie pizza

Workout: Muscle Endurance

Here's my food and exercise log for Thursday:

B: oatmeal with blueberries, flaxseed and soymilk
S: banana
L: veggie pizza leftovers
S: apple
D: tofu breakfast burrito (tofu scrambles with mushrooms, salsa and avocado), roasted potatoes and fat-free refried beans

I'm not going to beat myself up

I didn't work out last night like I planned. I was on the phone with Sean for like, two hours. I don't think I mentioned that he's in Chicago this week getting training for his job. It's okay, I'll just work out on Sunday. It's not a big deal.

Last night we had BBQ Tofu stir-fry with biscuits and a spinach salad. For the tofu I used the recipe from the 5-Ingredient Vegetarian Cookbook (by Nava Atlas) only I seared the tofu first and also added mushrooms. It was delicious! BBQ Sauce + Tofu = Awesome! The biscuits turned out a little dry. I haven't quite mastered whole wheat biscuits. I probably should've made cornbread instead.

So here's my Food & Exercise Log for yesterday:
B: oatmeal with soymilk, blueberries & Flax seed
S: banana
S: Apple
L: Frozen Tofu & Black Bean Enchiladas meal from Safeway (it was amazingly delish! I need to check out their other vegan frozen meals)
S: baby carrots
D: BBQ Tofu Stirfry (Tofu with mushrooms, onions & BBQ sauce), whole wheat biscuit and a spinach salad

Workout: Nothing

I've been a bit negative lately

I went back and read my most recent blogs and I was like, "Wow! I've been really negative lately!" So I think it's time for a happier blog. The good news is that I did actually work out last night. I did a 30 minute video and used my Bosu ball instead of the step to make it a little more challenging. Using the Bosu brought me back to when I first started exercising and it was everything I could do to keep from falling off the step. The Bosu is pretty fun. I should work it into my routine more often. The bad news is that I ate french fries yesterday. I had to get the kids to two concerts at two different schools at the exact same time so I was a little rushed for dinner. We wound up at Burger King. I've got tonight's dinner all planned out so it won't happen again.

In other news.....


You know what I realized I haven't blogged about? For Sean's birthday a few weeks ago, we took a little trip and explored the National Parks of Northern Arizona. It was a blast and a half! Our San Diego friends, Dan and Tracy came out and rented a mini-van so we could all ride together. Friday morning we went to Tonto National Monument. It's really cool because you can hike right up to the cliff dwellings.



After Tonto, we had lunch in Payson, Arizona at the nastiest, grossest, dirtiest Burger King ever.

This sign was on the door:



Yeah, when I think "healthy dining", Burger King is the first place that comes to mind.

That afternoon, we drove out to Petrified Forest National Park. We all did the little Junior Ranger activity books so we could get Petrified Forest Junior Ranger patches and then we drove and hiked all over the park.

Here's a picture of Newspaper Rock:



Here's Emily on a giant petrified log:



Here's Nick:



Here's one of the Pronghorn Antelope we saw:



This petroglyph of a mountain lion was in one of the visitor centers:



We stayed at the park until it closed and one of the rangers started shooing us out. After a fabulous dinner at Taco Bell, we stayed the night in beautiful Holbrook, Arizona.

The next morning, we got up early and drove out to Hubbell Trading Post. It's the oldest continously operating trading post in the United States.

It's right next to this dinky little mormon church:



The picture really doesn't do it justice. It's seriously tiny.

Here's the actual Trading Post:



After that we hopped in the car and drove to Canyon de Chelly. It kind of sucked that you couldn't hike up to the ruins without hiring a Navajo guide but the canyon itself was amazing.



We grabbed some delicious sandwiches at Subway and consumed them in the car while we drove out to Navajo National Monument. We didn't get to hike out to the ruins there either. They do a guided hike with a ranger but they only do it in the morning so we missed out. They looked pretty cool through binoculars though.



That night we drove down to Flagstaff and stayed the night. We had dinner at the Coco's across the street from the hotel and when I sat down in the booth, there was a loose staple under the seat and it cut my leg. Then it took forever to get our food and most of it was cold. And they took forever to get me a bandaid. And then after all of that, the manager was surprised that we didn't think we should pay for our meal. But everything was all better the next morning because we spent it in the Grand Canyon! If you've never been to the Grand Canyon, you seriously need to go, because it's amazing. It doesn't even look real. You're standing there at the edge and you can't even wrap your brain around the sheer vastness of it. It looks like a painting. We did another group Junior Ranger adventure so we could earn patches. Emily now wants to hop a mule and go down to Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the canyon so she can get the special Junior Ranger patch just for kids who make it down there. We're already planning our next trip so we can spend more time there.

We found this sign amusing:



Pictures don't even do this place justice:



We saw like, four California Condors.



I remember when there were only four on the planet and the took them out of the wild and bred them at the San Diego Zoo. Now they're doing so well in the wild that they're considering taking them off the endangered species list. How awesome is that?

After the Grand Canyon (it was sad to leave, we could've stayed there for weeks), we went to Wupatki National Monument. It was totally cool. You get to explore the ruins there so that was cool. One of the really cool things there is this natural blow hole. There's this hole in the ground that has cold air blowing out of it. So the people who lived there (Emily called them "Wikipedians") built a little hut around it and it was like they had air conditioning. The blow hole was totally wild. It was one of the craziest things I've ever seen. It's basically this cavern underground and air gets sucked into it and then cools off and blows back out. It's totally freaky. You put your hand over it and there's seriously cold air blasting out.

Here's a picture of the ruins:



After Wupatki, we went to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. It wasn't as amazing as Mt. Saint Helens in Washington or Newberry Volcano in Oregon. But it was pretty neat.

Here's a picture we took:



Last we went to Walnut Canyon National Monument. Unfortunately, the trail to the cliff dwellings was closed. Back in December some giant boulders fell right at the entrance to the trail. They said they won't have it open again until at least September. So we had to be content with looking at them through binoculars. It was kind of a bummer.

Here's a picture:



After that we drove home. Even with Walnut Canyon mostly closed, we had an amazing weekend. It was only three days but it was one of the most fun vacations we've ever had. For our next adventure, we're going to San Diego over Memorial Day weekend.

Okay, here's my food and exercise log for yesterday:

B: oatmeal with blueberries, soymilk and flax seed
S: banana
L: Amy's frozen veggie loaf meal
S: apple
S: 1 slice of whole wheat bread with some leftover chickpea salad on it (chickpea salad was made with mashed chickpeas, onions, shredded carrots, chopped yellow bell peppers, kelp powder, veganaise and mustard, sounds weird but it's delish!)
D: Veggie burger & fries

Workout: Express Cardio using the Bosu Ball

Gotta get my mojo back

I've really been slacking on the exercise front. My eating has been great but I haven't been working out. The scale said 163 this morning. It was horrifying. As of today I absolutely have to start working out at least five days a week, without fail (unless I'm sick or injured or on vacation.) If I'm short on time, I'll just do something for 30 minutes. A 30 minute workout is a lot better than no workout at all. I think I'm going to start watching all my television from the Tivo. If I want to watch something, I'll Tivo it and zip through the commercials. Imagine how much of my time that'll free up! I also need to start logging my meals and workouts again. I've been a total slacker since moving to arizona. Sure, I've gone hiking nearly every weekend for the past few months but walking 3-4 miles a week just isn't gonna cut it, even if it is mostly uphill.

So, here's my workout plan for the week. If I don't stick to it, someone please kick my ass.

Monday: Express Cardio - It's short but I do have to take two kids to two different band performances at two different schools at the exact same time tonight
Tuesday: Muscle Endurance
Wednesday: Step Blast
Thursday: Complete Aerobic & Weight Training
Friday: Running
Saturday: Hiking with the family
Sunday: Rest

Okay, so here's my diet and exercise log for yesterday:
B: 2 slices of whole wheat toast with earth balance spread and honey
L: Boca chik'n patty with a whole wheat bun and tomato slices and a banana
S: 1 apple, 1 veggie sausage and a slice of whole wheat bread
D: Veggie lasagne (made with squished up seasoned tofu, mushrooms, spinach, veggie sausage and soy cheese)
S: 1 semi-healthy brownie

Workout: Nothing

Yeah, I said earlier that my eating's been great but now that I've written it down, I see that there's a serious lack of veggies. In my defense, I'm overdue for a trip to a grocery store, but that's a lousy excuse.