Hi there. I feel like my head is in the clouds (not the good way) lately. My brain just feels sort of fuzzy. I think it’s the end stages of half marathon training combined with the fact that I haven’t really been sleeping well lately that’s got me sort of drained. Whenever I’m feeling like this, I tend to fall back on my old buddies caffeine and sugar to keep me going. Those two sidekicks give me a quick rush followed by a rotten, not-worth-it crash, so, this time around, I’m really trying to focus on what I eat. I can’t really control my quality of sleep, but I can make sure I’m eating right. Don’t worry, there caff and sugar still made an appearance (or too) And now, here’s What I Ate Wednesday

Yesterday started with a bowl of quick oats (I forgot to make steel cut oats this weekend like I usually do, and they take too long for the morning) with Vanilla Silk and Justin’s Maple Almond Butter. That is seriously yummy stuff.

The picture doesn’t do it justice- it’s hard to make oats look pretty- but it was creamy, nutty and slightly sweet perfection. Served with a side of coffee and a candle.

At work, I decided that maybe my fuzzy head might have something to do with seasonal allergies? I haven’t been too congested, but I usually get hit pretty hard this time of year when everything is in bloom, so I picked up some non-drowsy Claritin and sucked it down with boatloads of water.

Next, I did something I hate. I drank tea.

I don’t like tea. I know this is not fashionable, but I just don’t. It leaves a funky taste on my tongue and usually upsets my stomach, but I wanted something warm and cozy and figured coffee combined with that decongestant would have me bouncing off the walls, so I bought this because it was pink. Turns out it’s green tea which is my least favorite. Fail. I added a whole bunch of agave to sweeten it up though, so it was actually ok.

Lunch was leftover grilled chicken, broccoli rabe and brown rice. There’s some veggies for you!

I know I said I was going to be good, but I did indulge a bit after lunch with the best candy known to humankind

A Cadbury Egg! I love Cadbury Eggs. I only ever eat them on Easter, but I always eat them on Easter (that makes sense in my head). This year, I didn’t have one on Sunday, so I had to eat one yesterday or else spring would never officially start. We can’t have that. It was just as delicious as I remembered.

My afternoon snack was a new to me Chobani flavor

Apple Cinnamon. I had been avoiding eating it because, for some reason, I thought I wouldn’t like it. I don’t ever put apples in my Greek yogurt, so it just seemed kind of off.I sort of really loved it. It reminded me of an old favorite snack of mine.  I used to heat up apple sauce and mix it with some cold vanilla Chobani. It was delicious. I should start doing that again.

After work, I headed out on a 3 mile run with a friend who is much faster than me. I was late, so I was already sort of running as fast as I could go to get to our meeting point, and things didn’t get much easier. She kept pushing the pace under 8 minute miles. I kept dragging it back down to 9s. It felt like spring intervals. Eventually, we settled on 8:30s. It was the hardest run I’ve done in a while. Once we parted ways, I slowed my roll and made it home just before collapsing into a puddle. It was intense, but fun to catch up (though I barely talked as I was busy trying not to die). Chris did 3 miles on his own. I’m proud of him for getting out there by himself, but jealous I missed a run with him. He’s just my all-time favorite running buddy.

Dinner was made in a hurry because I was starving! Luckily, it came together pretty easily. I made a first attempt at Chicken Fried Rice with brown rice, and all that salty goodness totally hit the spot!

The ingredients! Looks like a lot, but it wasn’t so bad. Here’s how it all came together:

• Prior to my run, I made 2 cups of instant brown rice then let it sit. I’ve heard it’s best to do this the night before, so the rice is extra dry, but this turned out fine.
• In one pan, I sautéed 2 cubed chicken breasts until they were fully cooked.
• In a separate (very large) pan I sautéed 1 chopped red pepper, 1/2 bag of carrot chips, and 1 bag of snap peas in a teaspoon of olive oil until the veggies began getting soft.
• Next, I added in the cooke rice and tried not to move it around too much, allowing the rice to brown up. After about 4 minutes, I moved the rice and veggies over to one half of the pan. In the other half, I cracked and scrambled 2 eggs.
• When the eggs began to set up, I mixed them in the rice then added the cooked chicken along with 4 chopped scallions, 2 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of chopped garlic.
• I let all those flavors simmer for about 5 minutes then served

Yum. Tasty, salty, full of protein and packed with veggies. It was delicious.

And now, here we are, halfway through the week. I’ve got a few more meetings and other not so fun things until my birthday weekend, but you better believe in my head, I’m already there!

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What are you go-to feel better foods when you’re not feeling so hot?