Category Archives: attune bars

Bagels and brussels.

It’s the new bagel day! Slept in until about 7, which was really nice. Fueled up with a bubbly protein drink and biked to Cool Beans.

It was a very nice morning for a ride. I do have to say that my legs were actually sore after my workout yesterday.  I hardly ever get sore anymore. Must be the deadlifts.

Debby brought up a point about wondering the difference between a squat and a deadlift. If you use dumbbells, there really is no difference. When you move to the bar, you have the barbell on your shoulder shelf behind your back for a squat versus in front of you with the deadlift. When you use a barbell, those 2 moves feel very, very different from each other.

Ze bagel!

I totally refined it today with a sesame seed bagel.  It was really good.  I haven’t had one of those in years!  I got it because the other bagels looked really dinky.

Nice tailwind for the ride home afterwards.  I didn’t push or anything because of the sore legs.  I have a race on Saturday, so I am completely resting tomorrow.

Last day of the work week for job #1.  Yay!  The day went slow on that front though.  Plodded through files today.

Lunch break included something sent to me by Attune Foods!

I guess Uncle Sam is a brand by US Mills, which also has the Attune brand.  Didn’t know that!

This cereal is good.  It is not sweet at all (1 g of sugar per serving), so I think it would be good used as a breading for chicken or other savory dishes.  Might have to try that.  It’s got 10 grams of fiber per serving, too 😯

I also had the last of the blueberry muffins I made the other day.  This meal kind of looked like a breakfast LOL.

Watched more of the Tour in and out while working.  I wish Andy had been able to shake Contador, but no dice.  They both worked so hard.  It’s actually good to see no hard feelings between them. Think Contador has it pretty much wrapped up unless something drastic happens.  Now it’s back to watching Cavendish and Petaki (sp??).

Afternoon break of a latte and a Luna bar.

I was really hungry.  I must have jinxed myself saying I wasn’t feeling snacky lately.

I spent the next couple hours trying not to snack.  I was not hungry, but I think I was just wanting to avoid work.  I kept saying to myself to go ahead and eat, but then I somehow got a handle on it and waited until dinner.  (Who is this lady?)

Dinner was something different.  I wanted a BBQ chicken wrap, but decided to put it in the waffle iron to heat it up.  Sort of panini style.

Very tasty.  This pile of brussel sprouts was only 4 sprouts (is that what a single one is called??).  They were ginormous! Sliced thin and sauteed in coconut oil, salt, and pepper.  My favorite way to eat them.

I just finished up work for job #1 for the whole week, so I only have job #2 tomorrow.  Yay!  I will work some on Friday, but Saturday is my no work day ever.  The one day I have to spend with John, so nobody gets to interrupt it unless I say so.

Evening snack will be some bread with nut butter.  I just made up a loaf of maple oatmeal bread.  Yummers.

Be back tomorrow with some more garden blooms.  Couple new things popped open this week!

Question:  Have you ever tried Uncle Sam’s?

Lucky fridge find.

Happy Monday! I was up a little early today for my workout. I ate a Balance bar while getting my bag ready for the gym.

Probably not very mindfully, but oh well.

Biked to the gym for a good lifting session:

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Barbell split squats 3 sets of 8 with 75# bar Lower body
Seated lat row Pyramid with 12 reps at 40#
10 reps at 55#
8 reps at 70#
6 reps at 85# (hard!!)		 Back
Incline DB chest fly 3 sets of 10 with 20# DBs (40# total) Chest
Pliet squat 3 sets of 10 with 35# DB Legs
Horizontal cable woodchop 3 sets 10 (each side) at 30# Abs
Front Raise 3 sets with 10 with 8# DBs (16# total) Shoulders
Good Mornings 3 sets of 10 with 55# bar Lower back and hammies

I left out any arm work as I really felt like I got enough in, particularly with the rows. Then I hopped on the treadmill for 3 miles. Steady 5.5 mph pace, then in the last mile, I did a 5-minute interval at 6.5 mph (9:31 mile). Felt pretty good. I was good and sweaty then to bike home. Sort of a tiny brick biking home after running. Maybe just a paver….

Whipped up some protein waffles for brekkie!

Topped with a nanner mashed with 1 tbsp maple syrup and 5 toasted pecans.  I don’t like to have to measure out nuts, but I will easily eat an ounce plus if I don’t.

Job #1 was slow, so I was able to log in to job #2 and do my work there this morning.  Yay!  It’s actually kind of nice because the one account I do for them currently only has 4 doctors on it, so I am learning them very fast.  Although, this particular account is probably temporary.  My other job account has 400+ doctors as it is a multispecialty clinic.   That meant the morning went fast and it was lunchtime before I knew it!

Mmmm… cool yogurt and granola on a hot day.

The temps are warm again, but the humidity is not there, so the AC works pretty well at keeping the rooms cool.  We don’t have central air, but a window AC in our bedroom and a big one in the downstairs, which is pretty open.  I was ready for a lovely beverage, though, iced this time:

With a slice of bread and cashew butter.  I’s a hungry girl today.

Did really well on the no snacking front while preparing dinner, thanks again to the Altoids.  The urge to snack is really strong, though, and I struggled with it tonight.  It is definitely going to be a challenging habit to break.  The automatic reaching for nibbles kept wanting to happen and I had to be super conscious of it.

Dinner all ready to be eaten:

Baked clam strips and brussels.  That is a peach on the side there (covered in cinnamon, because that is how I roll around here).  This peach was okay.  Just a supermarket peach and not the most flavorful.  I am not fond of the fuzzy skin on peaches and much prefer nectarines.  We are on blueberry rationing right now because there is just a tiny bit left and I have to wait until Friday to get more.

I was mixing up a batch of bread dough and was looking for the other container of yeast in the fridge

and totally scored – I found an Attune bar!

Sweet!  It’s nice that little things make me happy 😀  This is my snack for tonight as I finish up work (booo).

Question:  Iced coffee or iced tea in summer?

Liftin’ love

Chilly night last night, but I think we avoided the frost. Cold May so far! I biked to the gym after bundling up… brrrrr….. The gym was surprisingly busy today. I was unable to do my chin ups because somebody camped out in the squat cage and by the time he finished, I was near the end and couldn’t do any 😀

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Barbell  deadlift 3 sets of 10 at 55# Lower body
Dumbbell flat chest fly 3 sets of 10 with 20# DBs (40# total) Chest
Straight arm pull down 3 sets of 15 at 40# Back
Horizontal Wood chop 3 sets of 10 (each side) 20# Abs
Stationary Lunges 3 sets of 8 each leg (body weight) Legs
Upright row 3 sets of 10 with 30# bar Shoulders
Kickbacks 3 sets of 15 with 12# DBs (24# total) Triceps
Incline Hammer Curl 3 sets of 6 with 15# DBs (30# total) Biceps
Seated calf raise 3 sets of 15 with 15# DBs (30# total) Calves
Close grip lat pulldown 3 sets of 12 at 50# Back

I just added an extra upper body move to replace the chin ups. Not happy with the stationary lunges. I could do one side fine, the other side I needed to support my weight because of leg weakness. Think I will still leave the split leg stuff for a while still.  Good strength workout today.

Then I biked home.  Took it easy on cardio today with 60 miles of biking under my belt from the weekend.  Trying to listen to my body!

Fall inspired breakfast, for whatever reason!  Cream of wheat cooked with 1.5 tsp of molasses, pumpkin pie spice, 1/2 cup of pumpkin.  Topped with 5 toasted pecans and crystalized ginger.

Very tasty.

This week starts MT appreciation week.  I received this from my employer:

I think I would rather have a raise :D.  I sort of got a kick out of this, because it almost is like saying we will work for peanuts with the little elephant.  I doubt anybody in management thought this way, but it is how my mind works…..  Sometimes I really wish I could talk more about my job because there is a lot of interesting stuff that goes on, but HIPPA regulations prohibit that, and I am not into that fine that would be levied.

Lunch break!

The last can of tuna for a while.  I mean it this time. LOL!  I’ll have to get omega 3s elsewhere….

Then there was snack time with my latte.  More of these on sale.

For as cold as it started today, we sure warmed up in a hurry to the upper 70s!  I finished up work and took a walk.  Then came back to John getting the grill hot.  He cooked up chicken for me – yay!  I sauteed brussel sprouts and cut up some left over sweet potato in there.  Pretty good.

A fairly uneventful day.  Evening snack while watching more of the Tour of California tonight, rain and all.  Plus a snack!

Tomorrow is a giveway – so stay tuned!  Looks kinda like this:

I might attempt some running tomorrow if the outlook seems good….

Women’s Health Week and feathered friends.

If you missed John’s maintenance post, here it is! Thanks again, John!

I woke up tres early this morning.  It was darn cold, too!  I did not bike to the gym, so you know it was really cold – as in frost on the car and the scrapers were put away somewhere. Sigh… at least my protein shake had time to digest some.

At the gym, I biked for 20 minutes and the lifting:

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Dumbbell chest press 3 sets of 10 with 25# DB Back
Stiff leg deadlift 3 sets of 10 with 55# bar Lower body
Chin ups 1 set of 2, 3 sets of 1 Upper body
Push ups 3 sets of 10 Chest
Reverse crunches 3 sets of 12 Abs
Dumbbell Pliet squat 1 sets of 8 with 25# DB, 1 set with body weight Legs
Reverse fly 3 sets of 15 with 10# DBs Shoulders
Seated French Press 3 sets of 15 with 10# DBs Triceps
EZ Curls 3 sets of 15 with 25# bar Biceps

Then 10 minutes of walking to cool down. I got the treadmill up to 3 mph today!  The pliet squats hurt, so I dropped the weight on the last set.  Funny how some moves really just don’t feel good yet.  Do you like this table thing?  Janetha and Susan use it and it looks nice and clean, so I thought I would try it.

Breakfast brought back and old favorite – Cream of Wheat!  This is the whole grain kind.

This bowl had a mashed banana, 5 grams of cocoa powder, and 2 egg whites cooked in.  Topped with fluff and toasted almonds.  It was yummy!

Somewhat frustrating day at work to start.  They upgraded our software, so there were lots of issues, and then doctors dictating wrong on top of it.  I worry when doctors cannot select the correct type of report for their patients.  Makes you go, hmmmm….  I can understand doing it once accidentally, but repeatedly??

It’s National Women’s Health Week.

Here are some things to concentrate on – not just this week, but for the rest of your life!

  • Getting at least 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate physical activity, 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous physical activity, or a combination of both each week
  • Eating a nutritious diet
  • Visiting a health care professional to receive regular checkups and preventive screenings
  • Avoiding risky behaviors, such as smoking and not wearing a seatbelt
  • Paying attention to mental health, including getting enough sleep and managing stress

Lunch time!  Except I had an accident while cooking.

This is the counter (I know it looks like a floor). Here’s a tip to help clean up broken glass.  After getting the big pieces, wipe the area down with a damp paper towel to pick up the tiny glass shards.

What is up with me and hot sauce lately?

I moved back to my old rocker seat finally.  I had been working from the couch in order to slouch a bit, per doctor’s orders to keep from pressing on my disk.  Well, after a month, I am tired of that.  Besides, I wanted to sit close to my feeder!  Here are a couple of feathered friends I saw today:

This is the woodpecker!  I don’t know why he doesn’t go to the suet feeder, but whatever.

Then the titmouse was back.  He is so cute!

Note I refilled the feeder, little piggies 😀

Who needs chocolate? I do!

Worked a little past dinner just so I could be finished up for the night since I had a slow start.  John had made some mac and cheese with chicken, and I just added sauteed broccoli to it.  I can’t believe how it bulked up that portion. 😳

With more hot sauce.  I think I have a problem…..

Tonight is coffee roasting (I did make a video, btw, just not sure if it is worthy of posting), cleaning and getting out and covering the plants again.  Hard freeze tonight.  I hope I don’t lose anything.

Plus a snack of some cashews and chocolate.

Question:  What are you doing to highlight your health this week?

Clean eats and no running.

Okay, I promised myself that I would eat much cleaner today, so here goes!

I woke up not too early this morning.  For the last couple days, I have been able to sleep on my stomach again!  For whatever reason, my herniated disk made it very painful to try sleep any way but on my back, which is my least favorite sleeping position.  So, that hasn’t meant the greatest of sleep for the past month.  The last couple of nights I have been able to be on my stomach, although not with a bent leg yet.  Funny how little things like that can make me so happy :mrgreen:

I needed some good super foods for brekkie, so that meant protein waffles!  I added some extra oat fiber to them, too.

Then hit the ground running with work.  Since I actually ate early – I was hungry for a morning snack, but I told myself it had to be clean!  So I made a mini green smoothie.

1 cup of spinach, 15 g of chocolate protein powder, 1/2 a banana, cinnamon, ice, and water.  It was pretty good, but I think raw spinach may not agree with my tummy.  I get rumbles whenever I have a green smoothie anymore.

Lunch time was a baked crabcake and a pear, which I ate while working.

That actually slows down my eating because I work by typing, so that means I have to put the fork down to work LOL!  The good side to a bad habit.

I filled up all the bird feeders the other day.  So many different birds on this one today from sparrows to gold finches to chickadees and a woodpecker (surprising!).  All day this was going on – but when I sat there with a camera to take a picture, all I get is this.

Had the usual latte for a snack, just as I finished up work for the week (early to boot – woo hoo!).

Plus an Attune.

After finishing this and a little goofing around, I went out for a walk.  Went to the high school track, and John followed to run.  I would say I am probably about 90% healed from the herniated disk at this point, but the last 10% is  the weakness/numbness.  I still am unable to run.  I can kind of shuffle for about 5 yards, but my leg just gives out, so I can’t do it.  Same reason why I can’t do split leg lifting of any type.  Walking is okay, but my thigh feels so tight when I walk.  Not sure why that is – I stretch and foam roll every day.  It’s funny how what seems to be the easiest form of exercise (walking) is the slowest to come back when I can bike pretty well and do most of lifting exercises.  I actually yelled at my leg to wake up last night LOL!

Anyway, I came back and had a nibble before cooking dinner:

I was in the mood for sweet potatoes tonight.  Going with more superfoods on my clean eating day.  I sliced one up, sprayed with nonstick spray and salt and pepper, then popped in the toaster oven on 400 for about 25 minutes.  Golden brown and delicious!

Those are shredded brussel sprouts on the side.  Funny that it looks like cauliflower in there.

I made up my dessert for later.  This is a pseudo protein cheesecake.

  • 32 g of fat free ricotta
  • 15 grams of strawberry protein powder (soy)
  • enough water to make it creamy
  • 2 chopped strawberries
  • cinnamon

This is chilling in the fridge now for during the movie.  About 100 calories and 14 grams of protein!

I think I will make it eating clean today!  I am reminding John not to let me snack other than this pseudo cheesecake.

Question:  What is your favorite sleeping position?

More lifting progress.

Boy howdy it was hot last night!  We didn’t think to put in the window AC unit and it was 85 yesterday, which meant the bedroom was stifling hot.  Ugh.  So, not the best night’s sleep.  Humid this morning, too.  After quaffing my protein drink, I headed out to the gym.

15 minutes on the stationary (3 miles).  Then the iron:

  • Deadlift/row combo:  3 sets of 10 with 45# bar
  • Dumbbell squats:  3 sets of 8 with 10# DBs
  • Chin ups:  4 sets of 1
  • Barbell chest press:  3 sets of 10 at 55#
  • Face pulls:  3 sets of 15 with 20#
  • Crunches:  3 sets of 15
  • Hammer curls:  3 sets of 15 with 12# DBs
  • Good mornings:  3 sets of 10 with 30# bar
  • Overhead triceps press:  3 sets of 15 with 10# DBs.

Assessment:  Couple exciting things – I did squats with weights for the first time in about a month.  I do find that I tend to lean to the right because of the weakness in my left leg, so I have to be really careful not to do that or I will end up with a huge right thigh LOL.  I actually tried the 15# dumbbells, but couldn’t quite do it.  I also did full chin ups for the first time in a month.  I lost a wee bit of strength on these, as evidenced by the single sets, but I am pleased that these do not hurt to do now!  Yay!

Even though it was pretty warm and humid this morning, I decided to have oats for breakfast.  When John shopped without me a few weeks ago, he got quick cook oats instead of rolled ones, so this bowl looks funny.  Pumpkin oats topped with nutzzo and the last of the maple cream.

In my new bowl!  I don’t know why clear dishes and cups are so appealing to me, but they are.

I have to tell you, my leg is driving me crazy today.  I am having phantom itching now.  I still have the numb spots on my knee and my inner calf.  Those spots itch now, but when I scratch them, I can’t feel that – so the itch never goes away.  I had this some yesterday, and more today.  Maybe this means the feeling will come back soon.  I have been rubbing my leg, because I can’t tell how hard I am scratching those spots and I don’t want to break the skin.  This is fun – I told John it’s like spinning the sciatica symptom wheel to see what comes up for the day :mrgreen:  It’s always something different.  I do like variety at any rate…..

Lunch time with its lame accompanying photo:

Lunch eaten at the computer  – guilty as charged.  Tuna wrap hidden in there.  We didn’t really buy enough fresh fruit for me this week (we kind of shopped in a hurry yesterday), so I went with applesauce.

Who’s ready for chocolate??

As much fun as I had working Storm yesterday, I am a cat person at heart.

Dinner time.  John cooked up pork and chicken for the week, so I had trouble choosing, but ended up with pork 😀

I love anjou pears.  I decided I don’t like the green pears as much.

Done with work and will be going out to work in the garden a little bit.  Or possibly out for coffee as John got the scooter running for the year, vroom, vroom!

Question:  Do you ever eat at the computer (or somewhere not at the table)?

Bagel day and improvements.

Bagel day!  I slept back in my own bed last night, which felt pretty good.  I was very stiff and painful this morning, though. Mornings seem to be the hardest time for me pain-wise.  After taking forever showering and such, we headed on out for breakfast at Panera.  I was hoping to not have to use the crutches, but I needed them.  I decided on a chocolate chip bagel.

Chomp!

Yum!  Plus about 3 cups of coffee.  I was babbling away at breakfast, I think it was the Vicodin talking or something.  I think John finds it amusing…

Got to work, and luckily there was some to get started with.  Sunday mornings usually are slow, so I was glad to see there was work available.  I have been getting up every hour to walk around, and I was able to ambulate without the crutches by lunch, so either I loosened up, or the pain pills are really working better today.

It feels good to be doing more for myself now, and I made my lunch today.  John went grocery shopping by himself while I was working (can’t imagine how long it would have taken me hobbling along with him in the store).  He brought back some amazing looking strawberries – and they were delicious!

Tuna salad and brussels as well.

My appetite really does seemed to have adjusted to my lower activity.  I was worried because on my regular rest days, I am usually a bottomless pit – so I thought it would be days and days like that with me being inactive.  I still have the mind desire to snack, but not so bad that I can’t control it.

I have found there has been a little return of the fear of food, though, which bothers me.   John wanted to take me out to eat last night, and I got thinking about where I could go that would be healthy enough and low calorie enough for me where I would actually enjoy it.  I couldn’t think of anything, so we stayed home (plus it is just exhausting to move around so much).  I don’t like thinking about food that way.  Those are my old ways of thinking.  It’s only temporary, I know, but it’s hard to draw that line between being sensible and being neurotic about it.   I am also fighting a bit of the pity eating.  You know how you want to pamper yourself with chocolate because you can’t do stuff?

However, I satisfied that with a sensible snack of a latte and an Attune bar!

I am glad the cheap person in me keeps me from scarfing these down :mrgreen:

Dinner time was a veggie dinner.  No meat thawed out, so I made do with what was on hand.  1/2 a sweet potato topped with laughing cow and sauteed broccoli and 1/4 cup of chickpeas in coconut oil.

Quite good.  I don’t need to load up the protein right now like usual since I am not moving a lot.  I did go for a very slow walk for about a block tonight with the crutches.  I did not take anymore Vicodin today – I switched over to the diclofenac, because I don’t want to really like the narcotics, know what I mean?  The pain is tolerable.  Might use it for sleep, though.

I am hoping I’ll be biking again by next weekend!  This is driving me nuts.

I have a fun idea for oats tomorrow and I hope it turns out good!

Anyone do anything fun and exciting this weekend?

Attune chocolate bars giveaway!

I am kicking of National Nutrition Month with a giveaway!  You all know how much I love Attune bars and talk about them a *lot* like a lovelorn teenager.  Well, the nice folks at Attune noticed my bloggy love and sent me some bars and the opportunity for one of my readers to win some!  Was I going to turn that down??  Thank you Attune!

What are Attune bars? They are probiotic chocolate bars. From their website:  Each bar contains –

  • Only 3-8 grams of sugar
  • Excellent source of calcium
  • Only 80-90 calories
  • 3 grams of fiber
  • Attune probiotics are proven to survive in the digestive tract, where they can provide optimal health benefits.
  • The probiotics in Attune have been clinically tested to support a healthy digestive system and a strong immune system.
  • Attune wellness bars also include prebiotics (inulin), which support healthy digestive function and work in harmony with probiotics.

Attunes are found in the yogurt section of the refrigerated case.  Or, in the natural foods refrigerated case (where they are in my store).  There are several different flavors to choose from.  The milk chocolate flavors (plain and almond) and the white chocolate blueberry are good, but my favorites are the dark chocolate ones.  The straight up dark chocolate bar is great for that portioned chocolate fix in the mid afternoon 🙂

The coffee bar has bits of crunchy coffee beans in them and a nice coffee flavor.  The raspberry (which you all know I love) has chewy bits of real raspberry in there, giving the bars a tart and sweet taste.

Then I think the mint chocolate is #2 for me, as it has a cool minty flavor along with some rice crisp crunch.  Guess I like the textural thing….

Now, I will be honest here, I don’t buy these so much for the probiotic part.  What I like is that they are the perfect portion size, which is probably one my favorite things about them.   Dark chocolate belongs in everybody’s healthy diet, and this is a great way to get it in there.

Now for your favorite part!  Attune is offering a week pack (7 bars) of dark chocolate Attune bars to one of my readers:

Da rules:

As these have to be shipped cold pack from Attune, the drawing is for US residents only.

You have 3 chances to win.

1. Visit the Attune website and leave a comment on this post of what product you would most like to try.

2. Become a fan of Attune on Facebook and post a separate comment here that you have done so.

3.  Post a link to this contest on your blog and let me know in a separate comment that you have done so.

Entries will be accepted until Thursday 3/4/2010 at 11 a.m. EST.  I will then use random.org to draw a number to choose the winner.

Note to self – unwrap before eating….

Balanced day and bring on the questions!

Thanks for all your input on my to goal or not to goal post from yesterday!  I am always looking for ways to challenge myself, and without any specific events or anything to train for right now, it seems as good a time as any to see what I can do with the scale.  Nothing may happen, but I am willing to give it a try.  I do know that if it doesn’t really want to move, or I find it too hard – I am okay with where I am.  😀

Started off the day with a pre-run snack!

I need to make my own and quit with the bars.  (Yeah, I know I keep saying that…).   Today was run day at the gym.  I am glad I lifted light yesterday, because my legs felt nice and fresh today.  The goal was 5 miles or whatever I felt like doing after that, which turned into 6!  I had covered up the electronics after mile 1 and just listened to my tunes (Hot Club of Detroit).  When I uncovered, it was just about 6 miles, so I finished it out.  Going at a slower pace (for me) really helps the longer runs.  I do between 5.5 and 5.8 mph for the longer runs.

Schweaty:

I was totally ready for breakfast!  Banana custard oats and cafe au lait:

Topped with PB&J!

Got right to work this morning.  Busy, busy.  And watching the snow start to fall.  We are predicted to get a good amount of snow over the next couple of days of 8 to 16 inches (could they maybe have narrowed that down a bit??).  Regardless, there will be some shoveling happening tomorrow.  Not sure if that will affect bagel Wednesday or not 👿

Lunch break of greek yogurt, hemp plus granola and strawberries!

Yum! Today was really a yummy food day.  Or maybe it was the long run that made everything taste extra good.

My own personal barista made me  latte, which I paired with an Attune bar.  I really think the raspberry ones are my favorite.

I finished up work right at dinner time, which was nice.  Most evenings I have about 1/2 hour or so left by dinner time, so this was a happy thing.  Needing to eat up those potatoes!  I also had thawed out some ground beef.  We purchase our meat from a local smokehouse, and they do not have any lean mixes, just straight up 80/20.  So, ground beef is a little rare (hardeehar) around here.   I cooked it up and mixed it with some barbeque sauce (addiction alert!) and topped a baked potato with it.  Really, really good:

Overall, I did quite well with the eating today.  I had extra calories because of the run x2:

and I balanced my meals and snacks pretty well.  And fairly clean. Tonight will be some stretching and working on a strength training workout for tomorrow (if I can make it to the gym!)

FAQ time: Okay – I am going to do another round of FAQs as there are a lot of new readers.  So please, ask me anything in the comments or email me at javaqueen01 (at) yahoo.com.  I am going to use these to compile an FAQ page, along with the ones I did before.  Long overdue for that….

Don’t forget about the 15% off coupon at OpenSky for the Olympics promotion!  It expires on the 23rd.  I have some new nut butter in my shop, too.

Question:  Are you seeing any snow?

Lifting and drizzly!

Slept quite well last night.  I started taking 5-HTP before bed, which is like serotonin.  If I remember to take it every night, I should be able to see if this helps me sleep!

Monday morning at the gym.  It was not too busy for whatever reason.  Monday’s are usually pretty crowded.  Lifting workout:

  • Dumbbell pliet squats:  3 sets of 10 with 35# dumbbell
  • Wide grip lat pulldown:  3 sets of 10 at 60 pounds
  • Alternating lunges with bar:  3 sets of 10 with 35# bar
  • Horizontal cable wood chop:  3 sets of 10 at 30#
  • YTWL:  3 sets of 10 with 10# dumbbells
  • Chin ups:  3 sets of 2

Note I did the chinups last because someone parked themselves on the squat cage for quite a while.  It was hard doing these last!  I also banged my knees on the bar on the first chin up, because I forgot to move it back onto the pegs as the person using it did not do that.   Ouchie!

Then I treadmilled for a while.  I walked a mile and jogged for 2 miles.

I was thinking pumpkin during the last part of the workout 😀  Decided to do quick cook steel cut oats with 1/2 cup of pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice and egg whites stirred in:

Topped with jam and toasted pecans.  It was so good on a day like today:

Rainy and dreary!  Blech.  It’s pretty warm, though – at least the upper 40s.  The ground is frozen though, so there is no where for the rain to go!

I had cooked chicken ready to go for lunch and decided on a curry chicken pita:

  • 2 oz of chicken chopped
  • 1/2 of a small granny smith apple chopped
  • 1 tablespoon of sliced almonds
  • 1 tablespoon of light mayo
  • curry powder.

Mixed all up and placed in a Josef’s pita with some lettuce.  Tasty!

Work has been very busy!  It makes me even more ready for vacation.  I will talk tomorrow about what my strategy is for eating and the cruise tomorrow.  Was going to do that today, but got swamped and I still have to go run errands tonight!

Break time was more wonderful things for a chilly rainy day:

Dark chocolate mint Attune bar:

90 calories of dark chocolate goodness.

John got called for jury duty today, and he ended up sitting on the the jury!  Last one picked, too.  He decided to go ahead and do it because the case is only supposed to be 3 days long and won’t interfere with our vacay!  It’s been weird to be alone all day with him gone.

I made a quick stirfry of broccoli, a small potato, 1 egg, feta cheese and some coconut oil with seasoning.  It was pretty good!

One of those messy dinners 😀

Off to run errands!

Question:  What is your dreary day comfort?