Off to run my first race ever!!

Expect a full report (featuring last night too), later this afternoon!

Wish me luck!

Ah!

Sorry, sorry, sorry for the blog hiatus!

Due to a bunch of family events, I wasn’t able to blog - or even take pictures of my meals!  There were so many gaps in photography that it would just be a mess to try to sort through it all (and totally confusing to you guys!) - so I’m just going to chalk it up to a loss.  I’m sorry guys!  I can tell you that I got as much workouts and unscheduled walking, running, swimming, etc in as possible - and I made the best choices I could - focusing on veggies and fruits, and whole wheat grains.  Taking it easy on the bread basket and alcohol.  I would rate this trip a B-, health wise.  Could have been better, could have been way worse.Here are some pictures of trip highlights:

Beach!

Palm trees!

Cool girl in shades:

Beautiful!

Huntington Library in the Chinese Garden:

Japanese Garden at the Huntington Library:

Bendy tree in Huntington Library:

I’ll be back tomorrow with your regularly scheduled blogging - during one of the craziest weeks of this year!  I’m trying to keep the stress low so I can make it through.  I have a ton of personal and work projects coming to a head at the same time - so it should be interesting.

Happy Labor Day!

I’ve had a super busy day at work, and I’ve got to run now to make it to the airport - if I can, I’ll blog at the airport - if not, I’ll see you in Cali!

Hey guys!

You’ll notice that I’ve added a new page to the blog, entitled ‘Big Salads’. In the new page, I will start exploring some longer format writing pieces. Writing has been a passion of mine since I was a kid and I hope to make it my livelihood one day. I hope you like the first one - it’s called ‘Picture Perfect’. Please comment and let me know your thoughts!

All my best,

Kate

Hello,

I have a special treat for you guys today! But more on that later.

P and I spent the rest of Sunday relaxing on the porch with our respective reading material - he actually started reading Fitness when he ran out of his stuff! Haha - it was funny to see him read about how to beat that belly bloat.

For lunch, we had our leftovers from dinner the other night. I had my delicious steamed scallops with veggies:

Yum! I also had a blondie that I got at the Book and Bake sale.

Very good - nothing like homemade baked goods!

A little later in the afternoon, Peter was begging me to split a piece of homemade Maine fudge. It really is phenomenal - how could I say no?

Sweet picture on the front porch, courtesy of Peter.

After some more R&R, we decided to go to a local lobster pound for dinner. Here was our view as we ate:

and

At the lobster pound, you order your food and enjoy the beautiful scenery until they buzz your little buzzer and you collect your food. Here’s our buzzer:

Too cute right???

This menu was the same fried/mayo-laden business I’ve seen, so I tried a new tact. Maybe a haddock burger would do the trick. Sounds harmless right?

Of course it’s fried. And on white bread (cake) bun. But oh my goodness was it delicious. It was light and flaky and soooooo tasty. I’m a sucker for cornbread, so I had to try theirs when I saw it on the menu:

It did not disappoint - both P and I thought it was the best piece of cornbread we ever had.

Back at home, we had to finish the day with fudge (the last of it, thank goodness). I had 1/2 a piece of peanut butter - by far the best type we got. Saving the best for last!

The next morning, we woke at 10 AM to another beautiful Maine day. We had decided the night before to go to Acadia National Park today. As a kid, my dad made us hike there once a summer and I hated every second of it. I thought that with my new-found zest for fitness, it might not be so bad. Although, I have to admit, I was dreading it on the drive over.

I made myself a protein-rich breakfast to get through the big workout today:

1 egg, 1 egg white sandwich on Flax and Fiber bread, with 0% fage and blueberries:

We drove over to Acadia, and after consulting a Park Ranger and some maps, we decided to hike Dorr Mountain, which was the first mountain my dad every made me climb - and a personal milestone for me that marked my lack of fitness. I always dreaded these hikes because they reminded me how out of shape I was. I was terrified that I would feel just as worn out this time around - despite all the progress I’ve made!

Here’s me at the bottom of the mountain:

The first 30 minutes were the toughest part of the hike - both P and I were pouring sweat the whole way. I was really starting to doubt whether I could do it! It was basically completely vertical stairs, with little breaks or bends in the path. Really tough. Once we got over that first part, the rest of the hike started to come alot easier. Here’s me, 30 min in the climb up:

And the view:

Here’s me up at the top, after another 35 min of climbing:

And the view:

At the summit, we had lunch. I made us Fluffer-Nutters, a Maine specialty: PB& Fluff on Flax and Fiber bread:

I also got us these SnackSalad  SnapeaCrisps to try. Looking at the bag, I thought they were roasted peas, like roasted garbanzo beans. This is what they actually are:

They’re green Fritos! What the h?? Hey, Calbee SnackSalad people, if you’re selling chips, that’s fine, sell chips. But don’t package a product with a picture that looks like snap peas (a picture that looks completely different than the actual product inside the bag), list the first ingredient as Snap Peas, and then sell me chips. Boo, Calbee, Boo.

I also had a couple plantain chips:

and a Nectar bar:

After lunch, we hiked down the mountain, which wasn’t nearly as difficult, but it was more dangerous. The rocks were really steep and slippery so you had to be extra careful about where you stepped. But we made it, and here’s me at the bottom:

Overall, it was a really positive experience - both for myself personally and Peter and I as a couple. It means so much to me that we’re able to have these active experiences together. I think he had alot of fun too.

When I was a kid, we always stopped at this one place for food/ice cream after Acadia, and Peter insisted we follow tradition. Same fried/mayo menu - this time I went for a BLT. I know Keri and I had that whole bacon discussion, but this was the best option at the time, and hey - they had wheat:

I also got a small raspberry chip ice cream with rainbow jimmies, or ’sprinkles’ for you non-Mainers.

Back at home, I had a hot chocolate and little sliver of banana bread, along with 2 pieces of taffy and a couple chocolate covered blueberries. Mentioned for accountability, but unpictured because I am EXHAUSTED.

Now for the treat! Those of you who are Facebook friends with me know that I am currently obsessed with the video feature on my camera…….so, without further adieu, I present the first Winning Friends with Salad VIDEO, Hiking Dorr Mountain:

I’ve been tagged by Miss Becca at Bites of the Day. Here are the rules!

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names, linking to them.
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

My Five Facts:

1. I am the middle child of five girls. My older sisters are two years apart and went to the same high school and college together, and were in the same sorority together. My little sisters are twins. It was tough growing up in the middle of two sets of best friends! The first thing people say when they find out I have 4 sisters is ‘Your poor father!’ I think he’s okay with it.
2. I spent every summer from age 6 to 19 in Maine: in either Hancock Point, ME, Poland, ME, or Lamoine, ME.
3. I have taken lessons for tennis, swimming, diving, gymnastics, dance, sailing and piano and have excelled at none of them.
4. I was the pitcher of my junior high softball team for 3 years because I was the only kid who could get the ball over the plate. When we were losing, I would cry on the mound.
5. I told my parents at age 6 that I was going to move to New York City while we were here on a trip. The next time I was in NYC was 2 weeks after college graduation when I moved here with a 3 month sublet, no job, no money, and no friends. This June in my second anniversary as a city girl.

*BONUS* When I was 15 I went to Austria for six weeks by myself. I stayed with friends of friends of friends who didn’t speak much English. I was passably fluent in German when I returned but cannot speak a word of it now.

Okay, so I’m sure these people have already been tagged, but maybe not: On the Move Again, Mon’s Appetit, Simple and Divine, Down Home Dieting, and Lighter Portions.

In the past six months~plus of my avid food blog reading, there are (in my opinion) three qualities that the most enjoyable ones all contain:

1) Consistency. You have to post. Often. This is especially tough for a food blog, seeing as there are 3 meals in a day. 3 meals=3 posts a day=21 posts a week=84 posts a month…you get my point. It’s alot of work - and a lot of dedication. Not to mention you have to make sure the posts are interesting, so you can’t eat the same foods every day. This requires recipies, new ingredients, and broadening your horizons - and who likes that?

2) Responsiveness. If you can manage to keep up the consistency and people begin to read, they begin to ask questions. Which is great, but you need to answer them. So for those 3 meals a day, say you have 5 comments to respond to for each post, 15 responses a day=105 responses a week=420 responses a month. Again, tons of commitment.

Now you may say, well, hold on just a minute there! If blogs are so much work - why are you starting one??

Which brings me to the third quality of successful food blogs:

3) Positivity. This is the reason why I’m starting Winning Friends with Salad. Because a good blog can be an amazing source of information, inspiration, and community. I’ve definitely found this on other blogs and I feel like starting my own is the next logical step in my journey for health.

So, with that being said, so begins Winning Friends with Salad. I promise to do my best to be consistent, responsive and positive.  Thanks for visiting, and come back soon!