Still kickin' and in need of book suggestions!

Well, it's been about 2 weeks since my last post, but life has been crazy with little time for blogging.  Last week Thursday, I finished teaching my summer class and then headed out of town to be in a wedding this past weekend (congrats Anna and Joel!).  After the last month+ of craziness, I have been keeping pretty quiet these last few days. 

The nice thing about my job is that, even though I have to go months of working a heck of a lot, I have large chunks of time off.  I have just started my summer "break" (by break, I mean that I will be prepping for my fall classes and writing proposals, abstracts, articles, etc., but I can do it on my own time and wherever I want to) and it extends until the beginning of September.  This also means that I will be using this time to focus on my health and getting fit. 

During the last week of my summer class, I only had a chance to work out once.  That's right.  Once.  And I felt like crap (read: crabby, flabby, and tired)!  Since I came home on Sunday, I've worked out three times (with plans to work out yet today).  I ran/walked 2 miles on Sunday and lifted weights for 45 mins, walked 5 miles on Monday and lifted for 30 mins, and ran/walked 5 miles on Tuesday.  Not too shabby!  I am enjoying being able to get out and enjoy summer!

Food-wise, things have been okay.  Not perfect, but okay.  I find that when I'm crazy-busy, I eat better because I have no choice but to plan healthy options and I am too busy to snack in the afternoon.  When I'm home and off, I have a lot more time to do whatever so eating healthfully sometimes falls by the wayside.  I'm working on this though.  The last few days, I have mostly been going for quick fixes, such as mushroom pizzas (mushroom caps stuffed with marinara and turkey pepperoni, topped with fresh mozzarella) and salads.  I am really hoping to develop new recipes during break though.  I've been hearing about awesome cauliflower soups, which I may try to make tonight.  Stay tuned for healthy, gluten-free recipes, I will try to take more photos now that I have more time!

Finally, the best part of my summer break is catching up on my reading.  I actually got through quite a few books during the last academic year, but there are always more that I want to read.  I finished reading everything by Michael Pollan and Wallace Stegner (my two favorite authors) in May and am now stuck without a new author to get addicted to. 

I am taking suggestions on healthy living or nature/eco books!  Or just awesome novels!  If you've read a great book lately, please let me know!