• Going Out
    • Phx Restaurants
    • How To Order At Starbucks
  • Running
    • My Running Story
    • Race Calendar
    • Race Recaps & Results
  • Blogroll
  • Bucket List
  • Video

Ari's Menu

Little changes making a big difference.

  • Home
  • Recipes
  • Weight Loss
    • My Story
    • Common Swaps
  • Who’s Who
  • Contact
    • Policies & Disclosure
  • Press

Work It Out 5/28-6/3

June 4, 2012 · by Ari ·

What a tough week! Oyyyyy! Lots of great work outs, and new challenges, so without further adieu, here’s how I worked it out last week:

Monday: 100k bike ride. That’s right. 62 miles. 100k. My butt HURT! I have since bought the diaper bike shorts. They feel like cycling on a cloud in comparison. Steve, Dan and I set out for a long ride. I wanted to accomplish a good 50 miler (my previous cycling PDR was around 30), but Steve has been wanting to do a metric century for a long time, and about 20 miles in decided that would be the day. I’m not gonna lie, 4 and a half hours is a long time to be on a bike, there were several bumps along the road, and I was definitely tired by the end, but it was absolutely worth it, and can’t wait to do it again!

Tuesday: Linda’s Spin. I was tired from Monday, so I took it easy, kept my flat road around 9-10, and got in a good 21.5 miles.

Wednesday: Track love + 4 min plank. 4x400s @ 5k pace with 400 recovery jogs + 1 mile @ HMGP. My legs still felt tired when I woke up, but of course I was stoked to get to the track! I spent half the time actually at the pace I was supposed to be at, and the other half being competitive. Shocking I know. My pace for the 400s was 7:58, 8:10, 7:51, 8:14. I was aiming for around 8:15. Whoops. It was hard. Also, my working pace is the same as many of the other runners’ recovery. It’s okay, one day I won’t be painfully slow, I promise. My last mile clocked in at 8:41, which is definitely too fast for me, but Doug started running with me the last half, and brought out my competitive side. Okay, let’s be real, I don’t have a noncompetitive side. Also, that plank was hard. I did one for 2 minutes and gave up, then later got pissed about my giving up, and muscled through for 4 painful minutes. Spoiler alert: that is no longer my longest plank 😉

Thursday: Dance!!! I was planning on spinning, but woke up with sore legs, took the morning off, then went to summer of dance for my friend Molly’s awesome musical theatre class, and a contemporary class. I haven’t actually danced since, ohhhh….summer of dance last year. It was rough. I felt out of shape, and just plain bad, but it was still fun, and I’m glad I went.

Friday: Rest. This was like the week where I just kept getting more and more sore! I woke up, and I was so sore from dancing that walking, and sitting were not fun. I took it as a cue, and gave myself the day off.

Saturday: Long Run. Woke up more sore! You know that delayed soreness? Yikes. It was soooooo rough. I was hobbling just to walk around, and it took me about a year to sit and stand, but I made a plan to run with speedy Ashley, and I don’t cancel running plans. Plus, I knew with some unexpected circumstances that have come up lately, I needed to run while I could. I had planned to do 13, and for the first time I think ever, I cut it short to 10. When I woke up feeling run down, I told myself 10 was the minimum, but I was still gonna shoot for 13. I did okay for the first 6 or so, then I just could not keep it up, and I crashed and burned. Steve picked us up at mile 10. Best husband ever.

Sunday: Easy bike ride. 9 miles: coffee, breakfast, and relaxing muscle loosening. Lovely.

Bringing my total to 106.87 miles for the week, which is my highest weekly mileage ever!! It was a really tough week, and my body could definitely use some recover, but this week will be mostly off (wahhhh), so I’m glad I got it in while I could! I’ll explain more about the time off stuff soon. For now, I’m off to bake cookies to distract myself 🙂

How did you work it out this week? And what the heck do I do with myself for the next few days while I can’t????

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: cycling, dance, fitness, half marathon training, plank, running, work it out

Super Hero Thursday

September 8, 2011 · by Ari ·

Happy Super Hero Thursday everyone! Didn’t know today was a holiday? Well, don’t worry–I celebrate every Thursday, so you are free to join in at any time. Just buy some sort of super hero clothing item and wear it on a Thursday. Tada. Instant holiday. It started this summer because at my summer job “Thurthdayth are hard!” Yes, we say it in a lisp. We’re theatre people.

Today was an other crazy morning of spin–>dance–>meeting, followed by prep work and work work. But it started out on the right foot with my attire

Sorry it’s blurry. I’m not brave enough yet to ask gym strangers to take my picture haha. Spin class was killer today. Half way through I was D-U-N. It was the first time I actually felt like I had given so much so early in the class that I couldn’t continue to give 100%. That’s okay though, I just focused on getting through it for the rest of the time. Today’s ride was so hill-y and challenging in other ways that I’m not sure how to explain in words haha that I only wound up riding 20 mi today. It was good though,  and I’m taking tomorrow off so I’m glad I worked it out today! Dance class was hard again, but so good. I LOVE this teacher. She reminds me of what classes were like back in the Studio One days!

My lunch meeting happened at Sacks–YUM. If you live in Phoenix and you haven’t been to Sacks, what are you waiting for?! I almost always get whatever the hot special is on 12 grain bread. Today it was chicken and lots of spicy deliciousness. The second best thing about Sacks (the hot specials are the first best) is that with your sandwich, you get a perfectly sized chocolate chip cookie. Not like a huge cookie that constitutes about 4 servings, but a legit cookie serving of deliciousness. I would have taken a picture, but I got camera shy 🙂

When I got home from work, I was huuunnnggrrryyy and had a big craving for a box of Kraft mac n cheese. I remember when that stuff was a staple in my diet. I would eat pretty much an entire box to myself. Gross. You can judge me. I judge myself a little.

I decided to raid my pantry and fridge and figure out a way to satisfy my craving. The most amazing thing about this meal? From the moment I said to Steve “I want macaroni and cheese” to the moment the deliciousness hit my mouth was about 10 minutes–the same amount of time it would take to make the box filled with processed cheese powder!

I immediately grabbed a pretty random assortment of ingredients

And hoped for the best!

I boiled some pasta, sauteed some garlic and veggies

Added in a some goat cheese, cream cheese and skim milk. Mixed in some imitation crab.

And then despite Steve’s disapproval, added some green! And of course the pasta.

Clementine approved and wanted some in her food bowl

Ari’s Crabby Mac

yield 4 servings

  • 1 cup whole grain pasta (whole wheat, brown rice, etc.)
  • 4 oz reduced fat cream cheese
  • 4 oz herb goat cheese
  • 1/3-1/2 cup skim milk (we were out of almond milk, or I would have used that)
  • 2/3 cup crab meat (regular or imitation)
  • handful spinach leaves
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1/2 red pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
  • 1/2 tbs light whipped butter
  • a couple shakes Chalulah
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • chopped tomato for topping (optional)
  • extra spinach for topping (aptional)

Directions

1) Follow directions on the box to cook your pasta

2) Saute onion, pepper and garlic with butter over medium heat for approx 7 minutes

3) When veggies are tender, reduce heat to medium low. Add cheeses, milk, chalulah, and s&p. Whisk together until smooth.

4) Crumble in imitation crab and spinach

5) Add pasta and stir

6) Plate and top with extra spinach and tomato if desired

It totally fulfilled my craving and I had to stop myself from going back for seconds…because I had to save room for desert!

 

I’m Ari, and I am addicted to fro yo. No other dessert cuts it anymore. I just love fro yo and I crave it all the time.

Alright, I have a loooonnng day of teaching tomorrow followed by prep work to teach more Saturday. I plan on spending the rest of the night with the puppies, the husband and Project Runway! Goodnight all!


Filed Under: Entree, Gluten-free, Pasta · Tagged: clementine, dance, food, mac and cheese, project runway, recipe, spin, winston

Happy Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Day!!

September 6, 2011 · by Ari ·

Hooray!! Fall is coming! Pumpkin spice is BACK! Am I a huge nerd for being so excited about this? Don’t answer that…

Today was the craziest day, but it has actually been awesome in every way. It started out with 9:15 spin. Side note: it is time to invest in bike shorts. Anyway, in the middle of peddling my little heart out I realized that the dance class my friend Carson and I decided to take over at MCC started TODAY @ 10:20–OY! So I decided I would skip the cool down, be a couple minutes late to class and everything would be okay. I made it 26 miles in an hour, and I definitely feel like I’m getting stronger. I wanted to get a picture of myself completely soaked in my own sweat, but this home girl was in a hurry!

I sped over to MCC (still covered in sweat–yeah, I’m gross like that), got to the dance class at about 10:30 and realized all I’d eaten was a slice of ezekiel bread with a light spread of peanut butter. Whoops. Class was hard. Like, I kind of wanted to quit. All these 18 year old girls can drop on the floor and roll like it’s nothing. I felt old. But it’s good for me, and I wasn’t the absolute worst one, so I know I’m in the right place. I need to push myself, I just haven’t really danced since graduation and I was expecting to ease back into it, but looks like I took a giant leap.

So class ends at 11:55, and I teach at 12:45 on Tuesdays. I was planning on Tuesdays to just peace out a few minutes early, but today I had to stay to the end to get the ad slip signed. Then I got stuck at the parking lot, and didn’t make it home til 12:10–starving, sweaty, and without my morning iced coffee–EEK! I knew I had to leave by 12:20. On my way home, I called Steve (I knew he was home on lunch) and begged him to get me coffee and being the world’s best husband, he obliged.

Okay, are you ready for the amazing part? I showered, got dressed, made a smoothie to go (and it was like the best smoothie EVER) and left my house in 11 minutes. I am magical.

Got to work, had a great class with my kiddos, then met up with Bethy for a trip to the most dreaded spot ever: The DMV. Gross. I even tried to be nice and funny with the employees and all of my funniness was lost on them. Thankfully, I had Bethy to keep me company. Once we were done, I took her for coffee to say thank you and I finally got to experience what I’ve been dreaming of all day long–PUMPKIN SPICE!!!

I usually try to avoid the sugary syrups, or if I do get them, not to get the full amount. I got a tall iced coffee with 1 pump pumpkin spice, 2 pumps sugar-free caramel, soy milk and light ice. Yes, my coffee is complicated. I usually get a sugar-free caramel iced coffee with soy, light ice. If you don’t say light ice, you get all ice, no coffee–no bueno!

Finally, I came home and made a big, delicious salad out of Sunday dinner’s left over’s (Steve made a sandwich with his half of the left overs and loved it), and went out for some fro yo for a perfect end to a crazy, but awesome day.

Happy Pumpkin Spice Day!!!

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: coffee, dance, food, pumpkin, spin

Image Map

Popular Posts

Tart Cherry Margaritas: The perfect, refreshing margarita--lightly sweet with a punch of tequila

Tart Cherry Margaritas

90+ Healthy Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Dessert

90+ Healthy Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Dessert

The Ultimate Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Cookies: Rich, fudgy, brownie-like chocolate cookies stuffed with melty peanut butter cups!

Ultimate Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Cookies

Drink & Dish: Cafe Au Lait Cupcakes

Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Soup

Subscribe via Email:

Enter your email address:

Save an additional $30 on Blendtec Factory Recertified Blenders + Free Shipping

Featured Here

recipe redux
Certified Yummly Recipes on Yummly.com

Member Of…

FitFluential Is Fitness Found
AZ Bloggers Network
az 150 photo az150_zpsfb093d32.gif

Archives


Image Map

Copyright © 2025 | Innovative Child Theme by The Pixelista | Built on the Genesis Framework

 

Loading Comments...