“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” ~ Aristotle

Isn’t that cool?  Practice happy, be happy!  Keep working and become fit.

Got an early start to my workday today, as the weather [...]]]> I wanted to start this day off with a quote for you all:

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” ~ Aristotle

Isn’t that cool?  Practice happy, be happy!  Keep working and become fit.

Got an early start to my workday today, as the weather is nice outside for today warmth wise and I wanted to take advantage of that. Let me tell you, my butt is sore from those walking lunges yesterday. (drop seating, anyone?) Definitely keeping those in rotation. Also my shoulder on top from the military presses. I cannot remember the last time my shoulders were sore.

Made up a yummer breakfast of banana oats topped with the new Naturally Nutty PB!

So good.  There are too many flavors they have that I want to try!  I need to be very careful to keep the spoon out of this jar

Started work early while waiting for it to warm up some. I had a mid morning protein snack of strawberry protein powder and a tsp of nutbutter.

John asked me if I wanted to bike today – of course!! However, just in case it rains earlier than predicted, I went out for a quick 2-mile jog before lunch.  That was to ensure the rain stayed away.

Worked a little more, then lunch time! Something different today:

This was 2 oz of ground beef cooked with 3 egg whites and topped with some 50% reduced fat Cabot cheese (the only low fat brand I like) on top of a corn tortilla. And the requisite hot sauce! Brussels as my lunch veggie today. This was pretty filling, think it was the fat in the meat that did it (80% lean).

A note on the chin ups, because I have gotten some questions about them. There is a difference between chin ups and pull ups.  With chin ups you grasp the bar with your palms facing you. Pull ups use the overhand grip. Pull ups are much, much harder than chins. It took me months to build up strength to do these, and I started with negative chins, where you start with your chin over the bar (standing on a box or bench, obviously), then bend your legs so you are hanging and slowly lower yourself down. Rinse and repeat. I did those for a while before trying the real thing. Then I started with partially bent arms before going to a full hang.  Practice, practice, practice.  Strength building takes time.  It would be easier if I were lighter, too

Pre ride snack of latte and some chocolate!

We then took the back path around.  We don’t take this one often because we usually have a destination to do, and this loops back behind where we normally go to.  It starts with a big downhill, and then it is up, up, up!  Here is a shot from the top of the hill:

Those mountains way off in the distance? That’s actually Vermont!  The Green Mountains, although they don’t look very green now.  We went out for a little more than 8 miles today.

Came back for some dinner.  I decided to have a different veggie for dinner:

(John even commented about the lack of broccoli). This is a baked crab cake (from frozen).

Done with work for the week. Yay!     I decided to hang out in the kitchen tonight and make up some protein cookies for a snack using oat bran and strawberry protein powder.

They came out pretty good.  I topped mine with a couple tsp of cream cheese, as they are pretty sweet.  I’ll post the recipe tomorrow.

Produce challenge:

F: 1 banana, 1 kiwi, strawberries

V: brussel sprouts, carrots

Question: What is your most excellent habit that you practice?

I was just going to hit the treadmill today, but then I decided to dink around with weights.  I missed my lifting and it’s been 10 days, so that is long [...]]]> Thanks again for all of you offering to send me pumpkin LOL!  We have 5 4 cans left.  No worries, we find more

I was just going to hit the treadmill today, but then I decided to dink around with weights.  I missed my lifting and it’s been 10 days, so that is long enough of a break!

I decided to start with a chin up.  Funny thing is, I have never actually tried one to see if I could do it.  I just did the negative ones in the NROLW book.  It was so hard to lower myself slowly that I never thought to just try pulling myself up.     So, I grabbed the bar and gave it a try.  I actually did it!  I was shocked!  I tried another one, and it was successful, but I had to swing my body and use momentum to get up there, so I won’t count that one.  Yes!! 1 chin up

Then I did the following:

• Barbell deadlift/row combo:  3 sets of 8 at 65 pounds
• Pliet squat with dumbbell:  3 sets of 10 at 35 pounds
• Horizontal wood chop:  3 sets of 8 at 50 pounds
• Seated lat row:  3 sets of 8 at 70 pounds
• YTWL:  3 sets of 8 with 10 pound dumbbells

40 minutes on the treadmill later and it was home to lunch!  I opened one of said pumpkin cans and made some pumpkin oats with cranberry sauce!

Plus cafe au lait….. yum…..

Lots more paperwork for my refinance.  The appraisal didn’t come in quite where we wanted it on the rental property, so we have to bring some money to closing to cover costs.   I was hoping it would appraise high enough to roll those costs in. You need a 75% LTV ratio for investment properties.  That’s okay, though – the amount we will be saving in interest will  recoup that in 10 months.   I just wish they would all get on the same page, you know?  If you have a tandem group working on the application, don’t each person call me with the same questions! 

Lunch was protein packed with some plain FF greek yogurt, vanilla protein powder, strawberries and some of my cranapple spice granola

This was a cold lunch, though – and it’s cold and drizzly here!  I had a chill all afternoon.

I have a sweet tooth today, so I satisfied it with some dark chocolate and Fiber Select Wheat Thins with my latte:

I so love sweet/salty combinations.

We had dinner cooking all day in the crockpot.  I put some boneless pork chops and BBQ sauce in the crockpot and cooked on low all day.  The meat was quite good and tender.  Maybe a touch dry.

Nothing a little extra sauce can’t take care of.  The comice pear was soo good today, too!   Some pears are really good and some aren’t, and you never know until you bite into it.

Working a little later tonight as we are just getting files back up to speed after the holiday.  Then it is watching MNF – Go Saints!!!  New Orleans is my 2nd favorite football team, cause I love N’awlins so (2 months until we are there, too!!).

This is how dedicated a kitty mom I am – do I have the cat move? No – I sit on the edge of the chair so I don’t bother her:

John took this pic as I am writing this post!

Question:  Those of you with pets, do you hate to disturb them?