Category Archives: Open Sky Project

Sm’oats!

I slept in some today! Yay! I woke up around 7 am, which is pretty late for me. Had a pre workout snack of half a sandwich thin spread with some Nuttzo. That’s unsweetened nut butter that is crunchy with seeds!

It was almost 50 degrees, so I laced up and went down to the track to run. No school this week, so I could run without feeling like a stalker. While the track can be boring, I do like it because I can just go on autopilot and think. No worries about traffic or crossing the street or getting too far from home. Just me, my tunes, and the early sun. I did 4 easy miles. I really need to do speed work (note how I keep saying that…), but I am just kind of lazy about not doing it.

It started to cloud up as I finished up and now it is raining! I have been thinking s’mores a lot lately, so I had to find some way to incorporate that into breakfast without going overload. So I present the sm’oats!

40 g of Multigrain hot cereal (130 cal)
5 g of dark cocoa powder (10 cal)
1 small banana mashed (90 cal)
2 egg whites (30 cal)
12 g of Fluff (40 cal)
1 square of crumbled graham cracker (35 cal)

I mixed the cereal and cocoa powder and added to boiling water with the mashed nana. Cooked until almost done and tempered in the egg whites. Then topped with fluff and graham cracker! Total calories for the bowl is 335 calories. I carefully measured everything, because it would be so easy to go overboard and pack on the calories. That’s pretty much why I weigh things, because if I go by teaspoons and tablespoons, I get a bit generous and still call it the lower number. Not sure who I think I’m fooling that way 😉

Lunch time included some more leftovers.

Stuffed shells – I hadn’t had those in years, but they were on the Easter menu and I forgot how good they were. I don’t eat a lot of pasta anymore (being a volume eater and all), but I do like it.

And this was the tartest kiwi ever! Dang I think they crossed the tree with a lemon or something. Hope the other 2 aren’t quite so tart.

Update on the downward scale movement. I lost a net of 1 pound in March. The turtle is back! I don’t know why I sometimes put myself at odds with myself by working heavier weights and then expecting the scale to go down. Some of my snacking isn’t all that conducive, either LOL! Working muscles harder and I get so hungry, so I eat. I’ll just keep trucking along. If I lost a pound a month for 6 months, I would be happy.

Snacky time! John made me a protein latte, which I paired up with some dark chocolate.

Lattes, chocolate and rainy days are made for each other, don’t you think?

This morning, I pulled out what I thought was chicken to drop in the crockpot and found out it was pork. I decided just to do that anyway. I added some homemade salsa (from one of our customers) to the cooker and dropped in the pork loin.

Delicious! Paired with the usual 😉

Tidbit: On yesterday’s post, I mentioned doing lower weights and higher reps. The reason for that is periodization. I did 4 weeks with lower reps and heavier weights, now I am doing at least 1 week at higher reps and lower weights to help with endurance (slow twitch muscle fibers) to help with my bike riding. Now that warm weather is here, likely to change up some routines! It’s so hard to do all I want to do in a week of workouts. I need to focus more on what I need to do to reach certain goals (i.e. 100 mile bike ride.)

John and I went out for a little together time tonight. He wanted to go to the library, and you know I won’t turn that down or the coffee afterwards.

I was going t to get the 2nd Twilight book out. I finished the first one. I am not totally sure I liked it, but I can certainly see why they are popular. All of the others were checked out, so I got a Stephen King short story book instead 😀

Snack while updating this post:

I love butter snap pretzels. They are even better when paired with chocolate chips, although I restrained myself 😀

Have a great night!

I want to ride my bicycle!

Technically, it’s still winter, but you would never know it by the temperature! In the 60s today! I slept in this morning until a little after 7 and got up to make something you have not seen in a while:

Triple stack! Didn’t make waffles out of this mix! So good. Still seems like less than when I put the same amount in the waffle iron. Go figure.

** Of note for those that like pancakes – Kodiak Cakes at a sale price of $14.95 in my Open Sky shop for the next couple days, which includes 2 boxes of pancake/waffle mix and a bottle of natural raspberry syrup. You can also save 10% with the code THANKS at checkout!

Working my last day of the week today. Yay! It’s going to be a glorious next couple of days, too 😀

Lunch break was greek yogurt, protein powder, 1/4 cup of pumpkin, spice, and the rest of my choco protein granola.

Interesting combo, I have to say. Not sure chocolate and pumpkin go together all that well…

John made me a latte snack today paired with a couple squares of Extra Dark with pomegranate!

Then it was hooky time! It was 61 degrees, so we got on the bikes and took a nice ride. Did about 15 miles in a little over an hour. The bike trail is clear now, so we got on that today!

No snow! Another sign of spring is this along the bike path:

All the seasonal shops are opening in a couple weeks. Also, our favorite spot on the bike path has yogurt again! They stop selling it in winter. That might be on the agenda for Saturday! We are going to bike to Lake George that day. 30 miles… hope I am ready.

Today’s ride was an average speed of 12.4 mph and a top speed of 19.4! Woo Hoo! My thighs were burning a little bit, though. Good workout.

Got home just in time to start dinner I made a shrimp and broccoli stir fry using a sesame ginger sauce. It’s the organic store brand at Price Chopper, and it is very, very good.

Zoom in….

Very, very good. That’s a pear dusted with cinnamon. As I said before, I put cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice in pretty much everything! I just love the taste. Here are some interesting facts about cinnamon to tie into National Nutrition Month:

Cinnamon has been shown to help regulate blood sugar levels.
Cinnamon also may be linked to lowering cholesterol.
Cinnamon is naturally antimicrobial.
Cinnamon may help with digestion.

Pretty good for a sweet little spice!

Question: What do you put cinnamon on (or in)?

4-miler and snack change-up

Tuesday and it is midweek for me! Hope you had a chance to read my running post from earlier.

Speaking of running, that was on the agenda for today! I almost ran outside, as it was 29 degrees, but there was frost on the car and I decided just to go to the gym. Feeling a little cold wussy today. I was a little sore from yesterday’s strength session, but not what I was expecting (thinking steam-rolled was going to happen). My glutes are the most sore (thank you dead lift). I hopped on the treadmill and did 4 miles. It felt pretty standard, although a little stiff at first. No speed work or anything fancy today, just a sweaty run.

Came home thinking bananas for some potassium! I was needing to replace that:

Banana custard oats to be exact! I felt like being different and put my oats in a mug!

I am such a rebel…..

I had a little trouble concentrating at work today. Not sure if it is the mid week hump day for me or what. We all have days like that, I guess. I did find out that our favorite coffee shop had closed as of yesterday, though! The place where we went each Wednesday. I am so bummed. It was very sudden. There aren’t that many places to get a good bagel around here. (Please don’t make me open up a bagel shop….).

I was wanting a sandwich for lunch, so I decided to make a batch of protein waffles to use as bread! (I have a waffle iron in my Open Sky shop, too 😀 )

This was 3 egg whites cooked in the microwave (they get nice and puffy) with some laughing cow and topped with hot sauce. Egg whites are boring, let’s face it, so the hot sauce was a welcome addition. Needs to be hotter, though….

I still have a few more FAQ questions, so after looking at a bunch of my races while compiling the running post, it got me thinking about this one:

What has been your greatest health/fitness achievement to date?

I have to say there are 2 moments that stick in my mind. The first one was my triathlon last July. It almost seemed like the culmination of so much work (which it was) combined with rising so far above any expectations I could have had of myself a few years ago. I cried when I finished, which was not the reaction John was expecting LOL! The close second was the duathlon. That cemented to me the fact that I can challenge myself and push myself and *love* it!

You know how I was saying my snack of ricotta and protein powder had some potential? I tried this mix: ricotta, vanilla protein powder, pumpkin pie spice, heaping tbsp of pumpkin.

This was quite good and really hit the spot. Think you might see this around a lot.

I have been playing around with snack times this week, and it seems to be working pretty well. I added another one into the day between breakfast and lunch, so I could push lunch a little later. That way I won’t be tempted to snack between latte time and dinner or lunch time and latte time (or both, as I have been doing 😳 ). So far, so good. I’ve been making it a protein snack as well rather than too carby.

Dinner time… ding, ding, ding! I cooked a huge amount of broccoli in some coconut oil. I just used the rest of the bag, so there is probably almost 2 cups there!

This is a frozen crab cake that I cooked in the toaster oven. Too many peppers in this for a traditional crab cake, but pretty good. Yum. I probably could have used a bigger plate.

I am now proud to say that I have not had a protein bar for over a week now! Not one Balance Bar has crossed my lips (or any Zone or Luna) since Feb 28th. This was a major hurdle for me, so I think I will try to make it my goal for March to be store-bought bar free. I might make some at home, but that’s a different story.

Now if I could get control of these:

You’ll have to stay tuned to find out where we will be having our bagel day tomorrow – we don’t even know yet!

Open Sky dinner party

Open Sky has grouped together 8 shopkeepers (including yours truly) to take part in putting together an guide for hosting a fabulous dinner party! I actually love cooking dinners for family, as shown for our Mardi Gras feast! (guess we need to do that more often)

They have created a guide entitled: Dinner Parties: The Complete Expert Guide.

They are offering this guide free to anyone who purchases a listed dinner party item from any of the shopkeepers involved, which are:

and myself. We have all contributed recipes (mine is a vegetarian Sundried Tomato and Feta Frittata), which are included in the guide, as well as tips on table settings, menu planning, and the like!

Train Like an Olympian

Open Sky is working with several of the shopkeepers (including myself) to offer a 15% discount on fitness items to help you Train Like an Olympian! In my store are the essential lifting gloves! The more you lift, the more you need these to protect your hands. Not only do they keep your hands from getting sore, they also help your grip on the weights (and they are also good for biking, too). I never lift without gloves on, ever.

With the Olympics in full swing this week, I thought I would give some tips on strength training. Doesn’t watching these athletes motivate you to hit the gym and get in better shape? I know it does to me!

Regular readers of my blog know how I *love* lifting. It makes you stronger, leaner, and more confident! Don’t be afraid to lift heavy, either.

One thing that I have learned, particularly from the New Rules of Lifting book, is that you can maximize your time in the gym with combination exercises. This means that you are working multiple groups of muscles at the same time (the squat) versus isolation exercises (biceps curls). There isn’t anything wrong with isolation exercises, but if you have limited time at the gym (like most of us), you want to get the most out of your time there.

The dead lift/row is one of my very favorite combination exercises. This works the entire body: lower body and abs with the dead lift and then the upper body with the row portion:

The key is not to lock your knees and to keep your abs tight. You can start with dumbbells for this exercise and work your way up to the barbell.

What comprises a good strength workout? Other than warm up and then stretching when finished, you need to think about your goal and how you plan to train. You can basically perform full body workouts 2 to 3 times a week. Or if you really love lifting, you can do it every day as long as you just work one body part/section each day and rest it in between. For example, do chest and back on Monday, legs on Tuesday, arms and shoulders on Wed. That way you can ensure that you are properly resting your muscles between workouts. I personally do 3 full body workouts per week, although I have done splits in the past.

Also, start with the exercises that use the large muscles groups first and work your way down to the smaller muscles. For example, when doing legs, start with leg presses or squats, then move to doing quadriceps, hamstrings, and then calves. That will allow you to have the strength to get the most out of the power moves.

And don’t forget to rest! Did you know that you actually build your strength on your *rest* days? That is when the body repairs and strengthens them from the stresses you put on the muscle during the actual workout.

Visit Open Sky to see the other shopkeepers that are participating in the Train Like an Olympian 15% off sale!

Hope you enjoyed the tips 😀

Question: What is your favorite Olympic sport?

Liftin and return to normalcy?

Okay now – how long has it been since you have seen a post like this? A few weeks? It has been a crazy ride, and it’s not quite over yet. You’ll have to stay tuned to see what is up next week I swear I need another vacation. Thank you all so very much for your comments the last few days. They mean the world to me!

I got right down to business at the gym this morning with a great strength training workout:

Chin ups: 2 sets of 2, 1 set of 1.
Stiff-legged deadlifts: 3 sets of 8 with 70 pound barbell
Cable squat to row: 3 sets of 8 at 50 pounds
Barbell chest press: 3 sets of 8 at 55 pounds
YTWL: 3 sets with 10 pound DBs
Reverse lunge with bar: 3 sets of 8 with 35# bar
Overhead french press: 3 sets of 10 with 10# DBs

The chin ups were harder today as I am now starting from a lower box, so my arms are now pretty much straight and I am having to a full pull up. I feel this through my sides big time! Also note I did an isolation exercise today for the triceps just for the heck of it! Hit the treadmill for a little walk/run combo after that and came home.

I was hungry and ready for custard oats!

This bowl had:

40 grams oats
1 small mashed banana
1/4 cup egg whites
1 tbsp almond butter
cinnamon
1 tablespoon Polaner all fruit (blackberry)

Tasty. This is my new bowl I bought for myself in Mexico! The bottom is stamped “lead free.” Isn’t that comforting…..

Normally Friday’s are the start of my weekend, but I didn’t work on Wednesday (obviously) and rather than take more PTO, I switched days to work today. Hard to motivate myself, though!

Lunch was a sandwich made with John’s homemade oat bread. He is quite the baker! I used cooked chicken, some laughing cow cheese, and BBQ sauce.

Open-faced or half sandwiches when using homemade bread. The breads are really, really good – but the real deal, so to cut down on some calories – I just have 1 slice.

Afternoon snacking may have included some of this:

John won the Superbowl fantasy picks, so I had to buy the last dinner of the season. He chose Panera Bread. I tried 2 new items today:

The pesto vegetable soup and the mozzarella and tomato panini. The soup was good, although it was really chock full of veggies, so I couldn’t quite finish it (not fond of wax beans). The sammie was really, really good. Fresh basil and a mix of sundried and regular tomatoes.

Panini sandwiches are so good! Not much on tap for tomorrow. John and I don’t really do much for Valentine’s Day and hardly ever exchange gifts. As long as we tell each other “I love you” everyday, that’s enough for me (along with an occasional flower bouquet!)

OpenSky is offering free shipping on orders over $25 for a limited time, so you can pick up a panini press there if you want!

Question: Any Valentine plans?

Follow me to Open Sky!

Hi everyone! I have some exciting news to share. I was contacted recently by The Open Sky Project to work with them as a shopkeeper! It’s thanks to you and all the interaction we have at Finding Radiance, so thank you! I was thrilled to be contacted and have the opportunity to be working with them. 😀

The Open Sky Project is basically a place designed to make online shopping a more friendly place with interaction between shopkeepers and consumers and manufacturers.

What I hope to focus on with my shop is being environmentally conscious, health and fitness conscious, and incorporate my love of the outdoors (and food – you know there is a wafflemaker up there!). This will be an evolving project for me, so if you want to bookmark the site, please feel free! Open Sky is working with us to find really neat things to add all the time!

Open Sky is also going to donate their proceeds during January to benefit the Haiti earthquake victims, so this is the perfect time to be introduced to Open Sky if you have not seen it before.

Please visit my piece of Open Sky here: http://findingradiance.theopenskyproject.com/ and let me know what you think!