This was a tiny nanner!

Then I hit the road. It was colder than I [...]]]> The last day of my work week – yay!  I woke up this morning and decided I could not do the treadmill when the sidewalks were clear.  I had a banana and walnut butter for a pre run snack.

This was a tiny nanner!

Then I hit the road. It was colder than I was expecting outside.  I keep forgetting that the daily high for the day does not occur at 7 a.m. (duh).  It was about 25 when I went out.  Nice thing about the cold is that I don’t sweat as much as indoors.  I did a 5K loop twice around, so it ended up about 6.4 miles.  I was doing fine until the last 1/2 mile or so, and I really had to slog it out to finish.  I was tired by that point.  Not used to running outside anymore!  And no more bananas for a workout.  They make me burp!  What is up with that?

Since it was so cold out, I felt kind of fall inspired with my oats and brought out a can of pumpkin from the stash, plus another freezer stash item!

Cooked these up into pumpkin custard oats.  Topped with 1 tbsp of walnut butter.  I was so happy eating this breakfast.  I love food!

Confession time – remember how I said we had an embarrassing amount of oat products?  Here is the shelf!

I have had a chill all day.  Can’t seem to get rid of it even after a warm breakfast, hot shower, and being dressed in a sweatshirt and turtleneck today!

I experimented with lunch.  I wanted warmth – so a wrap was out.  I decided to put some broccoli in the magic bullet with an egg and some egg whites and blend it up.  Then I used the GT express to make omelets out of it, with some laughing cow tucked inside.  Check it out – green eggs!

Should have saved this for St. Patty’s Day……

So, the cereal box in the house experiment has turned into a big fail.  I snacked on that a lot today.  And it was Kashi, so my tummy is paying me back for that.  I was okay with the box in the house until I actually opened it.  D’oh!

Another FAQ, since this ingredient is in Kashi:

I saw flax seeds in your store and know I can sprinkle them on oatmeal and just about everything else. I take it you are supposed to grind them first? What’s the difference between golden and brown flax seeds (and others)? Do you have any recommendations for a newbie just starting out with flax?

Flax really needs to be ground for your body to digest it, otherwise it just passes on through.  There seems to be conflicting views on whether there really is much difference between golden and brown flax, but brown is the most easy to find in stores.  Both kinds will give you Omega 3 and alpha linoleic acid.  Just buy it whole and grind it in a coffee grinder.  Once ground, it is best to store in the fridge.  Flax is the basis for the 1-minute muffin, too!

Dinner time was more experimenting.  I cooked up a sweet potato (and saved half for another day).  Topped it with some cooked chicken, BBQ sauce, and cabot reduced fat cheddar.

This was good!  Sounds funny, but it was a nice mix of flavors.  I have gotten in some good superfoods today.

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News around the internets:

Interesting post on good food versus bad at Healthy Foodie

Added some handmade soap to my Open Sky store.

** Important Food Recall – If you eat vegetarian meat analogs or use dip mixes, please check the FDA website here for product recalls on these products**

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Question: Are you ready for spring?

Started off the morning with a good run.  While I truly miss my biking since it is winter, I am actually enjoying just concentrating on running.  Over the [...]]]> Finished up my work week! Yes!  Now it’s relaxing time.  Sort of.  Lots to do this weekend.  Don’t forget to enter the book giveaway if you haven’t!

Started off the morning with a good run.  While I truly miss my biking since it is winter, I am actually enjoying just concentrating on running.  Over the summer and fall I was doing NROLW, and training for a triathlon and duathlon, so I couldn’t focus on just one thing.  So this has been fun.  I did my speedwork yesterday, so today I put on something from jogtunes and went to town (or rather went on the hamster wheel….  I varied the speed a little according to the music, but pretty much averaged 5.5 to 5.7 mph.  I did 6 miles today.  It really felt good.  I’m not sure if the runner’s high is real or not, maybe it is just feeling good running that far LOL!  Put me in a really good mood all day long.

Came home and had some steel cut oats cooked with a nana, and topped with those itty bitty mini chips.  I love how 1 serving looks like a billion chips (hello bulk eater).

Plus some delicious cafe au lait:

Everything was so hot.  I was practically dancing around waiting for it to be cool enough to eat or drink

One of the reasons I love  working from home is because I get to work like this:

At least I was showered and dressed, though

Lunch was a hughjass salad with bbq chicken and feta cheese.  I am addicted to this mixture.  This picture doesn’t even show how big the bowl of salad mix was.  Probably 3 cups or more.

This is such a pretty and colorful lunch.  I used the 50/50 spring salad mix from Salad Express.  Gotta love salad in a bag!

Had an interesting phone conference today.  It involves the blog, so I hope some good things come out of it.   Only time will tell.

Afternoon caffeinated necessity:

Breezed through the afternoon of work.  I won the football picks this week, and almost thought about dinner out tonight, but I am leaning more towards breakfast or possibly lunch!  Go me!    So instead, I kind of wanted some extra carbs (6 mile run will do that, I guess….  I wanted a sweet potato, laughing cow,and some brussel sprouts, but also needed protein.  I decided on some lentils.  The idea was to put everything on the potato, but it was too small to hold the sprouts.  Ooops!

The lighting isn’t great, but the plate was very colorful while I was eating it   I love laughing cow on a sweet potato!  Who knew.  Funny thing during dinner.  John was kind of looking at my plate a little funny.  He then said that this plate was representative of how much I have changed.  Almost like we were in an alternate reality LOL!  Tastes really can change.

Think I might go out and buy some new walking shoes with a gift certificate I got from work (Christmas bonus).  Mine are pretty  much the worse for wear and I need something to walk around N’awlins and during the cruise!

Question:  What is one thing that you ate now that you would never have imagined you would eat?

Lots of new goodies to blog about today, but first I must write about my workout! 

The gym was pretty crowded this morning (for my gym, anyway).  I [...]]]> Thanks for the comments on my 2009 wrap up post!  Funny how the year looked better on paper than it felt sometimes, know what I mean?

Lots of new goodies to blog about today, but first I must write about my workout! 

The gym was pretty crowded this morning (for my gym, anyway).  I think a lot of people must have today off.   Hit the weights today:

• Chin up:  2 sets of 2
• Barbell squats:  3 sets of 8 at 85 pounds

• Widegrip lat pull down:  3 sets of 8 at 60 pounds
• Pushups:  3 sets of 10

• Static lunge:  3 sets of 10 with 25 pound plate
• Prone Cuban snatch:  3 sets of 10 with 10 pound dumbbells.
• Incline reverse crunch: 3 sets of 10.

I challenged again with 30 second rest periods.  That’s kind of hard, but in a good way.  Then it was 40 minutes walking on the t-mill.  All during the walk, I was thinking about breakfast!  We got a new toy with one of our gift cards:

A waffle maker!  Woo Hoo!  Take that Kellogs and your waffle shortage!  I was dying to try my protein pancake recipe to see how they came out:

Worked pretty well!  I think I am going to try the heat on high to see if I can get them to crisp up a bit.  I am never buying a waffle again, although I do have a few to use up

Snow today.  It was just starting to snow when I left for the gym this morning, and by late morning it looked like this outside:

Sloppy wet stuff.  So, I bundled up for work in the Broncos snuggie my parents got for me for Christmas

Too bad my team stinks this year….  This is my usual work spot, too.  I like it because I can look out the window at the birdfeeder.

Yearly HIPAA training this morning, then break time for lunch, where I tried another new item:

My stocking starfruit!  It turned a nice yellow shade over the last couple days, so it was time to eat.  Served with some tuna salad and FSTG chips:

The starfruit was not really sweet.  It was kind of a cross between a grape and a cucumber.  Quite interesting and quite juicy.  It was a fun food, though.

After more work and a latte snack, it was time for the last blood donation of the year.

It was incredibly crowded.  We were very surprised at the long line waiting.  It actually took almost 2 hours from start to finish, which is double the normal time.  I was pleased that my iron levels were 14.1, again higher than John’s LOL!  Go broccoli!  The tech had a little trouble with my vein, which was annoying because it is very large and visible, but I am pretty sure he was new.  We got a nice t-shirt and I decided on another iron powerhouse for my post donation snack – raisins.

I decided against Lorna Doones today because I got into the Christmas cookies yesterday in a big way.

It was well past dinner time, and I was so hungry, even after the raisins.  I wanted a quick dinner that was warm and came up with a grilled wrap made with chicken, laughing cow cheese, and cranberry sauce – plus the standby broccoli and a clementine.  T’was yummy.

I had to flex hours to donate blood, so I have to get back to work tonight.  Hope the receiver of my blood appreciates that    Picture me in the snuggie again with the laptop and a cup of tea and you’ll have the right image for my evening.

Question:  Do you waffle – be it frozen or homemade?

Sore legs? check

Sore butt?  check

Sore arms, sides and chest?  Check, check, and check.

My back injury [...]]]> I took a Tylenol PM last night both for the back and the pain at the Broncos loss last night.    I slept really well for almost 8 hours (go me!!).  Opened my eyes and took inventory:

Sore legs? check

Sore butt?  check

Sore arms, sides and chest?  Check, check, and check.

My back injury actually felt pretty much gone, just a tiny twinge.  I was slow getting out of bed and John commented on how weird it was to see me moving so slow.   I guess it does happen on occasion LOL!

Only went for a walk today as I decided to let my body rest up since I have NROLW on Wednesday to do.  I also decided to stock up on protein for repair.

Protein pancakes for breakfast!

Along with cafe au lait (I use 1 cup of milk to make 2 drinks for breakfast).

Without a workout, I got right down to typing and worked steadily.  Sometimes I can get distracted by things, and I had some trouble focusing today watching my squirrel buddy right outside my window.

Pixie was really enamored of him, too!  She chatters, which is so funny!

I made a fabulous protein packed superfood  lunch!

• 1 container of french vanilla Oikos
• 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1/2 cup pumpkin
• cinnamon
• cranberry sauce
• 1 packet of teddy grahams (into the pool!)

It was so delicious.

John made lattes and brought me a little treat with it.

Candy corn kisses!  These actually remind me more of a canned frosting than candy corn, but I love the look of them.  Another thing hidden up high.  I should take a picture of what is hidden away from me – it is quite a lot of stuff LOL.

Took a walk before dinner.  It feels so funny just to walk.  I hardly ever do that anymore since I normally run or bike.  I kept catching myself wanting to start jogging.  Come on Lori – gotta relax!!

Dinner was more protein in the form of chicken.  I brushed some mustard on the chicken breast and coated it with almond meal and sauteed in a pan.

Super tasty, although the coating fell off.  Yummy.  And roasted brussel sprouts for a change.

Done with work, so that means the evening is free for something, although not sure what yet

Tomorrow we are going to attempt a morning ride to bagels.  Upper 30s, so at least it will be above freezing!

Question:  What is your favorite way to get protein?