Worker Bee

So glad Monday is over and we can move on with the rest of the week.  I have jury duty this Friday so after today I’ll be halfway through my work week! I know most people don’t enjoy jury duty but I’ve never done it before so I’m kind of looking forward to finding out what it’s all about. 

Backing up to yesterday, I started the day with 45 minutes on the TM (treadmill).  Here’s my breakfast:

In the bowl:

• Kashi Heart to Heart (Honey Toasted)
• Kefir
• Apple
• AB
• Pumpkin Butter

Kefir is sort of a weird texture between milk and yogurt.  I used to think it was really only good in smoothies but it’s growing on me for oats and cereal.

I was a busy bee at work all morning.  I can’t give much info but times they are a changin’.  I broke for lunch around 1:00.

In the salad:

• Mixed greens
• Tomato
• Red bell pepper
• Cucumber
• Kalmata olives
• Feta
• Three mounds of hummus

I also had a side of Mary’s Crack:

Cranked through the afternoon and had a few snacks along the way. Mixed nuts, sliced apple and a cheese stick.

I left work at 6 and was pretty famished when I got home close to 7.  Dinner was asparagus (one of my fave veggies) and chicken breast topped with marinara and shredded mozzarella.

The remainder of the evening was spent watching the Bachelor Women Tell All.  Not surprisingly I fell asleep during the show.  Those women are ridiculous.

Running Is A Metaphor For Life

I’m sure it’s been said before but as I was enduring a particularly challenging part of my run yesterday thinking about how difficult it was I began to tell myself it may be hard now but I know that later in the run it will get easier.  At this point I thought to myself hmmm…that’s sort of like life.  Sometimes it’s hard, but it gets easier; sometimes we want to quit, others we feel like we could go on forever and so on.  Thinking about it this way made it much easier for me to keep going because I knew it was going to get better. 

My pre-run breakfast was very brown.  Oat bran, vanilla, a few carob chips, PB and some Kashi Heart to Heart for crunch.

After my run I met a friend at Starbucks for coffee.  But I had tea.  We chatted it up for about an hour and then it was off to run errands.  On my way home I decided I needed to have Chipotle for lunch.

I added some Food Should Taste Good Jalepeno Chips and there was also some guac involved. 

I spent the first part of the afternoon researching a few things on the internet, wishing a friend a happy birthday and of course taking a nap.  It was glorious. 

After napping I did some food prep for the coming week. Then I ate a snack–protein cake, oikos, AB and some berries.

Some housecleaning ensued and then a nice long shower.  A little while later I was ready for some dinner.

That steamy goodness is some shrimp stir fry with asparagus, green beans, zucchini, bell peppers, mushrooms, garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes.

My dessert was a Swiss Miss Diet Hot Chocolate and two squares of TJs dark chocolate but I was still hungry later so I ate half a tortilla with a piece of reduced fat cheddar and an egg.  I don’t know why but for some reason I like to eat eggs at night.

Wrapped that baby up and ate it while watching Amazing Race.  I love Jeff and Jordan from Big Brother.  My evening concluded with Undercover Boss.  Such a good show.

The Price of Beauty….

What a fabulous day.  After my breakfast settled I headed to Weir Rd for a workout.  I don’t even know how to convey the monstrosity of a hill that is Weir Rd.  Obviously I should take some pictures.  Next time.  Lunch was basically a repeat of yesterday.

After eating I let rested a bit and then went for a workout with Trainer Chris.  He usually changes up my workouts about every three weeks and today was the start of a new one.  After my workout I had two errands on my list:

1) Buy shampoo & conditioner

2) Get gas

Here’s what I took home from the “beauty store”:

I’m not even going to tell you how much all that cost.  All I gotta say is my hair better be looking damn good in the near future.  I spend a lot on hair products.  Sue me.

I hit up the gas station and once at home prepared three salads for my upcoming very long short work week. 

Dinner was another veggie feast.  Let’s see I had some asparagus, green beans, edamame, bell peppers, mushrooms, butternut squash, garlic, red pepper flakes, TJs Gyoza Dipping sauce and a nice piece of baked salmon. It was quite delicious.

Off to make some tea, read some magazines and get my Bachelor fix!

Mmm Pancakes….

Since I’m off today I had more time to prepare breakfast.  I decided on pancakes.  I had mixed feelings on what I wanted for toppers so one had an egg and the other almond butter, cinammon apples (microwave style) and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Mmm pancakes….

My belly was quite full and happy after breakfast.

After I digest I’m going to try and get outside for today’s cardio activity.  I have an afternoon appointment with Trainer Chris and will spend some time meal planning and prepping for my very short work week!

Valentine Afternoon

Yesterday afternoon was so productive.  I managed to get just about everything done on my To Do list.  I spent the morning doing laundry, vacuuming, cleaning my room and the kitchen.  By the time I was done I was more than ready for lunch and had a delicious salad made up with mixed greens, red onion, tomato, cucumber, chicken breast, hummus, a few kalmata olives and feta.

I also had some Mary’s Crackers for dipping.

While I ate my salad I watched Blue Crush.  After a nice nap I decided it was time to hang out with Mandy Ingber.

Mandy does not kid around!  Mostly, I think it has to do with the fact that I don’t regularly do yoga.  I think if I do it more I’ll adapt fairly quickly.  I did one of the 30 minute workouts and she actually does a pose then a strength/toning move like lunges, squats and push ups.  Since it was my first time doing the DVD I chose the “coached” video.  Honestly, I didn’t particularly care for her commentary aside from the general instruction.  She joked around a lot which I’m all about having a sense of humor but not when I’m doing yoga.  I did enjoy the workout itself and will just choose the “Silent” option from now on.

After all that I needed a snack.  Apple with melted cheddar.

Then I was off to get a haircut.  Just a trim nothing drastic or exciting.  I actually recently broke up with my long time stylist (we’re talking 10 years) and this was my first time visiting the person I went to today.  She did a nice job but she didn’t necessarily win me over so I think I’ll still be searching for someone new. 

I was hungry again when I got back so I had a bowl of Barbara’s Cinammon Puffins and USAB.  No picture.

I had planned to make salmon for dinner but again I just got lazy and made some eggs. 

Bad picture.  My evening ended with unpictured hot chocolate and dark chocolate.  I couldn’t let Valentine’s pass me by without some. 

Now, I’m watching Good Morning America and trying to figure out what to have for breakfast.  Guess you’ll find out later!

Sunday Mornings

Another great workout this morning. 

On Sunday morning I like to go to Starbucks as soon as it opens and spend some time writing in my journal while I drink my latte. I like being there in the quiet of the morning before it gets massively busy.  It’s a nice time to reflect on the week I just put behind me.

I cut that ad out of my Runner’s World and pasted it my journal.  It’s for New Balance I believe.

Breakfast was delicous.  I had two waffles, greek yogurt mixed with cinnamon and PB and topped with berries.

Today’s To Dos:

1. Vacuum, laundry, clean bedroom

2. Haircut-yay

3. Yoga!

4. Meal plan

5. Call hotel to adjust reservation for this summer and a family member

6. Manicure

7. Update my iTunes

Hopefully, I can fit a nap in there somewhere too! I love naps on weekends and I actually didn’t sleep very well from about 2:30 on last night.

Saturdates

I had a couple of “dates” today.  First, a friend and I went grocery shopping.  She asked me for some help with developing healthier eating and lifestyle habits so we hit up Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods.  It was super fun cause there’s nothin I love more than spending a couple hours in the grocery store.  Anyway, no pics really because she doesn’t know about the blog.  I did get a picture of lunch because I told her I’m keeping a photo journal of what I eat.  We ate at a local restaurant called Pastini’s. I had the artichoke chicken salad.

This is what I get every time I go there and today I was rather disappointed.  They used to put sliced grilled chicken on it and now it’s a blob of shredded chicken which I’m sure was canned.  It wasn’t that great.  They do have some great pasta dishes though.

After lunch I headed home and took a short nap.  I woke up and had a snack.

These are so good.

Then, I was off to Vancouver to meet Jaime for coffee.  Jaime does know about the blog.  Actually, Jaime and Trainer Chris are the only two people I’ve told about it.  Anyway, Jaime and I went to Starbucks where I had a tall nonfat latte.  Sorry no pictures.  You’ve seen a Starbucks cup before, right?

Dinner was one of my favorites from TJs.  Goat cheese pizza.

I was going to make a green salad on the side but I was just too lazy and I had enough lettuce at lunch. 

I’m going to spend the rest of my Saturday nigth watching COPS.  You know, it is filmed on location with the men and women of law enforcement. Actually, I love this show because they catch the bad guys.  Did you ever watch the show Unsolved Mysteries?  That show would FREAK.ME.OUT. when I was growing up.  I’m a total scaredy cat.  I’m pretty sure there’ll be some magazine reading in the near future as well.

I made a sweet new playlist for my morning workout tomorrow! Night.

Sweat-tastic

I love getting up early on a Saturday morning and getting in a good workout.  Today was no different.  Here’s what I did on the treadmill:

• 5 minute warm-up
• 2 minutes @ 5.5 mph
• 3 minutes @ 6.5 mph
• 2 minutes @ 5.0 mph
• 4 minutes @ 6.5 mph
• 2 minutes @ 5.0 mph
• 5 minutes @ 6.5 mph
• 2 minutes @ 5.0 mph
• 6 minutes @ 6.5 mph
• 2 minutes @ 4.0 mph
• 1 minute at 4.0 mph, incline 2%–then, increase incline 2% each minute until you reach 12%. Stay there for 5 minutes.
• 2 minutes @ 5.5 mph, incline 1%
• 10 minutes @ 6.5 mph, incline 1%
• 5 minutes @ 5.0 mph, incline 1%

THE END

After the workout I listened to Pursuit of Happiness by Kid Cudi with MGMT and Ratatat.  Loving Kid Cudi right now!

Breaksfast was a voluminous bowl of oats.

That was 1/4 cup oat bran, 1/4 cup oats, 1/4 cup egg whites, 1/8 cup pumpkin, 1 Tbsp Justin’s Maple Almond Butter, 1/2 Tbsp Crofter’s Superfruit Spread, cinammon and pumpkin pie spice.

My To Do list is just ridiculous this weekend.  Right now I’m off to meet a friend for some grocery shopping and lunch.  See ya later.

What’s On Your Fridge?

As I was standing in the kitchen eating breakfast yesterday (I know standing while eating usually = bad) I decided to take a picture of what’s on my fridge:

I have the usual pictures of friends and family and a calendar but mainly I put up something that is motivating me at the moment.  Right now, it’s an ASICS ad that says running cleanses the mind and body and the Lululemon ad on the right.

What do you put on your fridge?

Breakfast was full of melted cheese:

That’s an Oroweat Sandwich Thin (I think their called Arnold’s out east) with a slice of reduced fat swiss cheese, 1/2 cup egg whites, red onion and avocado.  I also had a tall nonfat latte from Starbucks.

I actually went out to lunch yesterday which I almost never do.  I would say once a month tops.  Anyway, I decided to go to Paradise Bakery.  I had 1/2 the vegetarian sandwich which had roasted red pepper, cucumber, tomato and lettuce.  Instead of their “pesto mayonnaise” I opted for plain old mustard.  I also had some fire roasted tomato soup. 

I ate the whole sandwich and half the soup.

You can’t go to Paradise Bakery and not get a cookie…..they’re famous for their cookies.  Actually, it comes with the meal.  I had a chocolate chip after lunch.  Delicious.

On Thursday night Trainer Chris and I were discussing what kind of dogs we’d like to have.  I told him I want a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and that’s what’s on my calendar at work.  Who wouldn’t want to come home to this face every night:

I was rather full after lunch and really didn’t think I’d want my afternoon snack but right on cue my stomach showed signs of a mini rumble around 4:30 so I ate some TJs Almond Butter with Roasted Flax Seeds and Mary’s Crackers.

Dinner was super fast and simple.  Some chicken tortilla soup with shredded cheese.

My evening came to a close with a cup of Swiss Miss Diet Hot Chocolate and the latest issue of US Weekly.  You know you love Bachelor gossip.

Valentine Coffee and Tea

I enjoyed a Starbucks grande nonfat latte yesterday in one of their new heart cups.  Sweet!

Lunch was mixed greens, red onion, celery, sliced turkey, cottage cheese and some unpictured Mary’s Crackers.  Boring, I know.

Throughout the afternoon I enjoyed green tea in my Valentine mug.

After plugging away for a few afternoon hours I snacked on some yogurt, apple and dark chocolate PB while gazing out the window at work.

Honestly, I really wasn’t into work yesterday and I left early.  When I got home I took a shower and made another veggie filled dinner.  It consisted of a Dr. Praeger’s veggie burger, sweet potato, slice of swiss cheese and green beans.  It was really good!

I’m really hoping today goes by quickly.  In fact, I’ll be really happy at about 6 PM tomorrow night when I’ll be starting a three day weekend that will lead up to a three day work week because I have next Monday and Friday off.  Gotta go make myself presentable.  Bye for now.