Pumping Protein

Last night, I tallied up the total # of miles I ran in February and it came out to….drum roll….

120 miles!

That’s 20 more than January’s total. Coincidentally, I ran the same number of days both months (13 days). By the way, how cool is this Nike ad?

It may seem like all my workouts are runs, but that’s because I don’t talk about my gym workouts (I only run ~3 days/week). I usually spend 20 min/day weight lifting, alternating between upper body and lower body workouts each day.

I love the way it makes makes me feel…strong!

I’ve started to keep a mental tally of my protein intake just to make sure I get in enough for my muscles. I prefer not to have to count anything I’m eating, but I realized a few weeks ago that I was barely consuming the recommended amount of protein for the average sedentary person. Yikes.

I know protein recommendations are inflated and people in this country [in general] consume too much protein, but I know I was falling short for my activity level and had to start pumping some protein.

The thing is, I’m a carb queen and I tend to gravitate towards foods high in carbs. If I don’t make a conscious effort to consume protein, it’ll be granola, bread and waffles ALL the live long day.

What’s strange is that lately I’ve been craving meat/protein. Like, seriously craving it…and I’m not a huge meat eater. I’m a big believer in the fact that my body craves what it needs and I think my recent protein cravings are a result of my increased strength workouts.

This week, I’ve been eating turkey breast like it’s going out of fashion. I went through an entire pouch of turkey in one day and I’m not gonna lie, I felt a little like Taylor Lautner (the guy had to eat meat patties every 2 hours while training for his role in Twilight).

It hasn’t been a total meat fest over here though. Actually, my meat intake is still fairly low/moderate. I’ve been going through tubs of Greek yogurt and cartons of eggs.

I’ve also been putting Sunwarrior Protein Powder into my smoothies. I know I’m late on the Sunwarrior bandwagon. I finally found it on sale from Open Sky last week and snatched it up (I had a $12 credit for President’s Day, too. They totally got me!).

Though I’ve heard wonderful things about this protein powder, I was a little bummed to find it tasted rather chalky. The nutritional stats are superb, so a little chalkiness is fine with me. I definitely think the Vega protein powder is better taste wise.

On the days following my runs, I crave carbs like a crazy person. Yesterday, we said farewell to this bag of granola. RIP Cocoa Goodness. You didn’t stand a chance against my appetite.

You lived a short yet fulfilling life though. Thank you for getting me through all those miles!

I’ve also been enjoying 2 3 4+ Lucy’s Cookies every night with decaf coffee for dessert. The assistant director of marketing at Lucy’s reads my blog and made a comment when she saw that I got a box at Homegoods last week. She offered to send over some samples of their new flavors.

I enjoyed the box of Chocolate Chip I bought so much that I responded with an enthusiastic YES, PLEASE! After asking if she eats cookies all day long in the office, of course.

These cookies are light, crispy and just melt in your mouth. I really love them and have to exercise some serious self control not to devour the entire box. Chocolate and Maple Bliss are divine, but my favorite is still Chocolate Chip.

Okay, it’s time for me to put the cookies down (seriously, this morning’s pre-run breakfast) and get March started on the right FEET!

…MARCH!!

Tell me: Your favorite protein snacks.

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