Category Archives: Hot 100 challenge

Hot 100 update

Hooray for Friday! Had a lot to do today, that is for sure. I started with my workout this morning. The furnace was out at the gym and it was very cold in there! It was probably 55 degrees. I don’t mind it being a little cooler because I get sweaty, but my nose was running!

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Barbell Dead Lifts 3 set of 10 at 70# Lower body
Underhand Lat Pulldown 3 sets of 10 at 60# Back
Calf Raise 3 sets of 10 at 140# Calves
Plank 3 sets 1-minute holds Core
Pushups 3 sets of 10 Chest
Face Pulls 3 sets of 12 at 30# Shoulders
Triceps Pull down 3 sets of 15 at 30# Shoulders
Single leg deadlifts 3 sets of 10 each leg with 15# DBs (30# total) Hammies and balance
Low Back Extension 3 sets of 10 at 100# Low back

My legs are still a little sore from the squats the other day.  Working up to the 100 pounds really fries them.  I was so ready for a hot breakfast after this! I had a coupon and tried a new breakfast cereal – Wheatena. Ever had it?

I did it banana custard style, topped with PB and some nog honey.

It was good. Kind of tasted like a cross between oat bran and cream of wheat with more of a nutty taste. Very filling, too.

This week’s Hot 100 Update.  I can’t believe there are only a couple weeks left in 2010!

  1. Maintain my weight. I am up 1 pound after the Colorado visit today, but down from when I first got back. Must concentrate this week…
  2. No eggnog lattes until Thanksgiving day!   This goal is done.
  3. Do the duathlon and at least 1 more 5K race before the end of the year. This goal is also done for the year.
  4. Do stretching exercises 4 days a week at least.  Did 5 days.
  5. Visit one new blog each week that is participating in the Hot 100 Challenge and cheer them on.  I need to catch up on blog reading after my trip.
  6. Do one no-added sugar day each week.  Fail.  I was supposed to do it yesterday, but at a Balance bar right when I got up.

An okay week.  Will do better the week prior to Xmas.

I did some work and ate a bit of an early lunch because I had shopping/errands to run.  It’s the return of the BBQ chicken salad!  I didn’t have feta, so I had some sharp cheddar on it.

Loaded that up with 4 oz of chicken, too, cause of the lifting

I hit the library and finally found this book:

We shall see if it holds my interest.

I had texted John on my way home so that he would have lattes ready when I got back. Don’t you love how I order him around?? :mrgreen:

Paired with a Luna Bar.  I really like the toasted nuts and cranberry one.

Little more work and I almost forgot about dinner!  John hadn’t started cooking anything and I didn’t note the time.  I wasn’t starving either.  Maybe the Wheatena?

Hot sauce making its appearance today 😀

Today has gone by really fast, I have to say.    I will have a wee bit of chocolate for a snack while working.  I have about an hour of work left, then tomorrow is off!

Need to find something holiday to do – and have John take me out for my football meal.  Yes – after 5 weeks, I finally won the picks!

Question:  Have you read Women, Food, and God?

New gloves and Hot 100 update

We enjoyed the concerts last night.  Here is a pic of the drums they played:

Last lifting day of the week. Wahhh…. Maybe I will think about doing a split body routine next year for some variety. I had half a S’mores Balance bar before heading out.   I started with a 1/2 mile jog on the treadmill, then set to work.

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Stiff-legged Deadlifts 3 set of 10 at 75# Lower body
Underhand grip lat pull down 1 sets of 10 at 50#

2 sets of 10 at 60#

 Back
Pliet Squat 3 sets of 10 with 40# DB Lower Body
Reverse Crunch 3 sets of 15 Core
Barbell Bench Press 3 sets of 10 at 60# Chest
Calf Raise 3 sets of 10 at 140# Calves
Face Pull 3 sets of 15 at 30# Shoulders
Kickbacks 3 sets of 15 with 15# DBs (30# total) Triceps
Lower Back Extension 3 sets of 10 at 100# Low Back

By the way, here are my new gloves I got in a giveaway on Jody’s site.

I needed them, too, as my others ones were ripped (and not in a good way). They are Harbinger gloves.  They have a nice stretchy mesh, and at first I thought they felt tight (size M), but the leather loosened up after a couple wearings, and they are quite comfortable.

Here is the palm side.

I like that these are washable leather – yay!  The only thing I wish the gloves had is an absorbent pad over the top of the thumb/first finger area.  My old gloves had that and I would wipe sweat with it.  That doesn’t work so well with these gloves.   I have had a couple comments on my new gloves, too.  The black looks pretty badass at the gym. :mrgreen:

Still having some shoulder issues.  I can do pushups and bench presses now, but still no fly or incline presses yet.  Ah well.  That’s what happens in your 40s, I guess.

I then popped on the treadmill to jog another mile and then I was so ready for breakfast!  I made waffles with the apple cranberry topping, but using fresh cranberries instead of dried.

A little fluff sneaked on there after I took the picture.  Love!!

Now it is Friday and Hot 100 Update time!

  1. Maintain my weight. Scale starting to drop Tday weight.  Funny how watching portions will do that…
  2. No eggnog lattes until Thanksgiving day!   This goal is done, so I will remove it now.
  3. Do the duathlon and at least 1 more 5K race before the end of the year. This goal is also done for the year.
  4. Do stretching exercises 4 days a week at least.  Did 5 days.  I really think this makes a difference for me.
  5. Visit one new blog each week that is participating in the Hot 100 Challenge and cheer them on.  Doing.
  6. Do one no-added sugar day each week.  Completed

Doing pretty good now.  Just need to ride it out for the next few weeks.

Lunch time!  This was so good yesterday that I had it again today.  1/2 cup of cooked quinoa mixed with sauteed broccoli and a wedge of chile con queso Laughing Cow.

Easy and delicious!  That’s my kind of cooking 😀

I was supposed to meet a friend for coffee today, but that got canceled, so I went with John instead.  I had a skim latte and about 1/3 of this piece of coffee cake.

Tasty.  The cafe is all festive right now.  It’s feeling mighty Christmasy around here.

Aren’t these chairs fun?

I was spacing my work all day today, which is not a bad way to work!  Soon enough it was dinner time and I had popcorn shrimp.

With hot sauce!  I opened this bottle of sauce on 11/29.  I marked the bottle because I want to see how long it takes me to go through it.

There will be dates for a snack later.

All in all a very good food day for me.  Fridays have been tough for me lately, so it was good to continue the good eating.  We shall see what the weekend has in store…

Calorie Tally:  Preworkout: 105,  Breakfast:  520,  Lunch: 337, Afternoon snack: 226,  Dinner:  328, Evening Snack:  60  Total: 1575

Hot 100 update #6 and craving the soup.

Half work day today, so I could doodle around a little more at the gym this morning. Next week it will be light in the morning again and maybe I can sneak in some more biking there before bringing the bike inside.

Warmed up on the stationary and then lifted.

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Full Deadlift 1 set of 10 at 65#

1 set of 10 at 75#

1 set of 8 at 85#

1 set of 6 at 90# <—– Yeah!

 Lower body
Barbell Chest Press 3 sets of 10 at 55# Chest
Seated Lat Row 1 set of 10 at 45#

1 set of 8 at 55#

1 set of 7 at 70#

1 set of 5 at 85#

 Back
Planks (they’re back!) 1 hold at 75 seconds

2 holds at 60 seconds

 Core
Pliet squat 3 sets of 10 with 40# DB Lower Body
Triceps Kickback 3 sets of 15 at with 15# DBs (30# total) Triceps
YTWL 3 sets of 4 each letter with 8# DBs (16# total) Shoulders
Calf raise 3 sets of 10 at 140# Calves
Lower Back Extension 3 sets of 10 at 100# Low back

I was doing a bit of grunting today – would have gotten kicked out of Planet Fitness LOL! I was feeling kind of kickass today, I have to say.

Then I walked on the treadmill for 20 minutes before heading home, all the while thinking of these!

Haven’t had the protein waffles in a while.   There are just so many good choices for breakfast, you know?

I thought my blog might break from all the traffic yesterday and today!  Not only from the AOL That’s Fit article, but another site linked to my chai granola recipe.  Ya’ll can say ‘hi’ – I won’t bite too hard, I promise…

This week’s Hot 100 Update:

  1. Maintain my weight. Been back to losing mode and the scale is eking downwards.
  2. No eggnog lattes until Thanksgiving day!  They are available now, but I have resisted.
  3. Do the duathlon and at least 1 more 5K race before the end of the year. Did the home duathlon.  5k done on October 30th
  4. Do stretching exercises 4 days a week at least.  Did 5 days!!
  5. Visit one new blog each week that is participating in the Hot 100 Challenge and cheer them on.  Been visiting.
  6. Do one no-added sugar day each week.  Done.

I totally rocked the challenge this week!  That felt damn good, too.  Just a good feeling week all around, I have to say, rain and all.

I made up a quick lunch of open-faced BBQ chicken and a pear.  Tasty!

I wanted a quick lunch so I could go out and do a few errands and then go to Starbucks to finish up work.

I got a decaf skim latte (aka the ‘why bother’) ).  Drizzled with a bit of honey. I love having a mobile job, even though the pay stinks…

Then it was home to get John and head out for dinner.  I won the football picks  again this week.  I am a rockstar, I tell you!

We went to Rock Hill Bakehouse as I have been craving soup and bread.  Colder weather just makes me want to warm up from the inside out.  I had the Jamaican Jerk chicken soup (spicy!) with an assortment of house made breads:

John got the NE clam chowder, which was also excellent.  You can tell when soup is made from scratch.  Then we walked around downtown a little bit and saw a new coffee shop that is opening up next week.  Yay!  They have bagels on the menu, so will have to check it out for bagel day once they open.

I need to keep any snacking under control tonight.  The weekend can be hard for me and I hope to get off on good footing tonight!

I’ll be running tomorrow morning in the cold…. brrrr….

Question:  What is your favorite soup?

What’s Blooming and Hot 100 update

Okay, I guess I am a complete dork with the sandals and socks 😳   (along with Jan LOL).

It’s Friday!  That means only half a day of work for me, yippee!  I also did not go to the gym this morning as I am running a race tomorrow, which means no lifting the day before.  So, I started right in on work to get it done for the day.  Then made some Fall breakfast.  Pumpkin cream of wheat topped with fluff and pecans!

Gotta use that candy corn dish 😀

When I was poking in the garden the other day, I saw some new blooms, can you believe it?

Expected:  The burning bush.

We planted this 3 years ago as a tiny bush and it now looks lovely!  We tried growing them in IL, but the bunnies kept eating them to nubs, so I am happy now.  Don’t those daylilies look like some kind of squid next to it?

Of course, the mums just give a hand to the frost and keep going:

The knockout rose bush is *still* going.  If you have a black thumb, get the knockout.  You cannot kill it.

Surprise gaillarda:

And a hidden doppleganger ecchinacea.  This is sheltered amongst other plants and actually has 2 buds on it.

My personal truffula tree:

And the pink item of the day – snapdragons!

The Breast Cancer Site

You wouldn’t think it was almost Halloween, would you?

Lunch tine and I had a hankering for peanut butter.  Homemade blueberry jam on top.

I am glad I only got 2 of these plums…

Okay – here is this week’s Hot 100 Update:

  1. Maintain my weight. I really need to work on this big time.
  2. No eggnog lattes until Thanksgiving day!  Not in stores yet.
  3. Do the duathlon and at least 1 more 5K race before the end of the year. Did the home duathlon.  5K coming up tomorrow!
  4. Do stretching exercises 4 days a week at least.  Did 6 days!!
  5. Visit one new blog each week that is participating in the Hot 100 Challenge and cheer them on.  Been visiting.
  6. Do one no-added sugar day each week.  Done.

I am doing fine on all but the eating.  I really am struggling with the snacking.  It’s the evening stuff that is the problem.  I am having a tough time regulating the less exercise with eating less.

So, with that update said, this is the snack I had.  Remember last night I said John had out the puff pastry?  He made apple strudel.

Yeah – it’s good.  At least he made a small one LOL!

I finished up work and did some retail therapy at TJMaxx.  I picked up some Philosophy shower gel!  Yay!

Dinner time had some extra carbs in it in the form a potato!

I want to also say good job to the people involved who intercepted those explosive devices.  Scary stuff…

Tonight is keeping warm, as the temps at race time tomorrow will be 37!  That is a chilly race.  I plan on being a bumblebee, but I may nix that in favor of warmth 😀

Hot 100 update and duathlon decision

Check out my little profile on Attune Foods blog!

Well – we have the Nor’easter coming through.  Not as bad as those further east, but windy, cold and rainy today.  That meant doing a run at the gym.  Nothing like a quick workout!  I had 2 miles scheduled and banged out 2.2.  I looked longingly at the free weight section while I was running, too.

I was home before I knew it and actually showered before breakfast since I had a protein shake before the run and didn’t feel I needed to snarf food right away since this was a short workout, which was a novel feeling for me.

Then it was coffee time and some fall protein waffle time!

I tossed some craisins into the waffle batter and then topped with 1/4 cup lowfat vanilla yogurt and 1/4 cup of pumpkin mixed together.  And 5 crumbled pecans.  I liked it.  😀

Only 1 job to work today.  Yippee!  I had one doctor all morning and he was a good dictator so I was ultra productive.  I love those days.

Lunch time was some veggie egg rolls.  We got these at Super K-mart of all places.  They are only 70 calories a piece, so 2 makes for an entree (for me).

I can’t believe another week has gone by.  My Hot 100 Update:

  1. Maintain my weight. Need to work harder on this.
  2. No eggnog lattes until Thanksgiving day!  Not in stores yet.
  3. Do the duathlon and at least 1 more 5K race before the end of the year. Training for.  See below on duathlon.
  4. Do stretching exercises 4 days a week at least.  3 days again.  Why is this so hard for me to do?
  5. Visit one new blog each week that is participating in the Hot 100 Challenge and cheer them on.  Been visiting.
  6. Do one no-added sugar day each week.  Done.

Overall okay.  I really need to rein in the eating some, particularly with the holiday season.  I am not sure why I have so much trouble getting in the stretching.  This really only takes 15 minutes outside of what I do after a workout.  I think because I don’t do it every day, it is hard to make it a habit.  I might consider adding in some Pilates DVDs during the week (I consider that stretching and flexibility).

Snackers:

Then I decided to go out to a consignment shop and look at some stuff.  I took some older clothes just for donation, so that gave me room in my closet!  I spied the pink item of the day in the dressing room.

The Breast Cancer Site

I liked this shirt, so I bought it.

You can almost see see the pattern on it. It’s more like a texture than a pattern.

Plus this little jacket:

It has a hood on it, but I think it is really only for indoor wear.  I spent $18, so happy about that!

Once back home it was dinner time!  Do you ever have those days where you just don’t want to eat veggies?  I was having that today.  Unless you count pumpkin that I had this morning.

This was cooked ground pork with some BBQ sauce with Cabot 50% pepper jack cheese on top of a potato.

So, John and I discussed the duathlon.  We ended up deciding to do it on our own.  I feel a little bit bummed, but not terribly.  The positives of not going down are that we don’t have to get up before the crack of dawn to get down there (which would be even earlier due to race day registration); we can save $60;  we can wait until it is a little warmer in the day to do it ourselves (temps will be in the upper 30s that early); and it puts less pressure on me.   Sometimes these events really give me some pressure and anxiety about them.  This stuff is supposed to be challenging and fun, right?

I am trying not to feel like I failed or something, but since we are doing it on our own – I guess there is no need to feel that way.  So, we are planning our route to do (with hills) and are going to treat it like the real deal with transitions and all that (no cupcake break).  That way I won’t have had a taper week to nowhere 😀

I will do the 5Ks, though.

Cold and blustery out, so just staying in and keeping warm.  Maybe a little game playing, plus some snack of cinnamon chips and some of these:

What’s Blooming and Hot 100 update!

Wow – lots of great thoughts from yesterday’s post!  Don’t worry, I hope I did not give the impression I was giving up blogging.  I will be jabbering on for a while 😀

It was a beautiful morning, albeit a bit chilly (39 degrees).  I biked to the gym and did a lighter workout (weight wise).

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Barbell Squat 4 sets of 10 at 45# Lower body
Close-grip lat Pull Down 3 sets of 12 at 50# Back
Incline push ups 3 sets of 10 Chest
Single-leg deadlifts 3 sets of 10 each leg with 15# DBs (30# total) Hamstrings and balance
Horizontal Wood Chop 3 sets of 10 each side at 20# Core
Seated calf raise 3 sets of 10 at 110# Calves
Nose breakers 3 sets of 15 with 25# bar Triceps
Front Raise 3 sets of 12 with 8# DBs (16# total) Shoulders
Good Mornings 3 sets of 10 at 45# Low back and hammies

John met me there and we biked to Maude’s for breakfast.  I won the football picks last week – so that meant my choice for a meal!  Yay!

I love Maude’s.  It was really busy and noisy, though – just like you expect a diner would be.

I ordered the usual cheese omelet and homefries.

Not pictured is my wheat toast, which came a couple minutes later.  I was hangry and ate every little bit of this!  Yum.  It had warmed up a  bit for the ride home.  Maude’s is 10 miles round trip, which makes it a nice little ride.

I got a chunk of work done this morning and worked up an appetite for lunch. I was really struggling to think of what to eat when my body was wanting an oaty-type meal. I decided to go ahead and honor that and had some pumpkin cream of wheat.

My body knew what it wanted! This bowl filled up my tummy and kept me satisfied for a couple of hours. Imagine that.

I got out into the beautiful weather and worked on the side garden bed some. I just have a small patch of grass left to lift up and it will be ready to amend for the winter. I am only doing about a 10-foot span of it this year. It’s going to be a long project. Still have a few blooms. A surprise dahlia:

My mums are now filling out (the ones that were in ground).

Plus the knockout rose bush. Note how dark the sedum has gotten!

Then I found the World’s Tiniest Mum!

That is my finger there for reference. How cute!

That cream of wheat kept me satisfied enough that I didn’t have anything with my latte:

Worked a little more (nothing like dragging it out… ) then got dinner on. I was craving hot sauce, so I made an open-faced buffalo chicken sammie. I do like the blue cheese laughing cow, but only on some things. Think I prefer the regular swiss.

It was so beautiful out today. Took advantage of a warm evening and I got the rest of the tulip and daffodil bulbs planted – hooray!

Okay- time for the Hot 100 Update:

  1. 1. Maintain my weight. I actually am in losing mode right now from September and the scale is drifting down again. Yay!!
  2. No eggnog lattes until Thanksgiving day!  Not in stores yet.
  3. Do the duathlon and at least 1 more 5K race before the end of the year. Training for.
  4. Do stretching exercises 4 days a week at least.  I think I did 3 days.  I really need to work harder on this.
  5. Visit one new blog each week that is participating in the Hot 100 Challenge and cheer them on. I visited several.
  6. Do one no-added sugar day each week.  Done.

Tonight is finishing up work (just 45 minutes or so to do) with some of the cobbler that John made the other day.  It’s quite tasty.

Pink item of the day: My mom’s Vera Bradley bag. I am not cool enough to own a Vera Bradley, but that’s okay.

Don’t forget to click!

The Breast Cancer Site

More brick and Hot 100 Challenge

I’m glad you liked the squat post from yesterday.  That seems to be an exercise that a lot of people have a strong opinion on.  Not quite sure why exactly, but nothing heats up a weight room like talking about squats.

Normally we bike to bagels on Thursday now.  I was up a little early and doing work (as per usual) with a protein drink waiting for John to get up.

We got all dressed and ready to go when John noted that his tire had gone flat.  This was the same tire that had gone flat from a nail the day after he got his bike.  He patched it and we have rode a lot on it, so maybe the patch wore out or something.  I wasn’t about to let that stop me from a bagel, no sir!  We drove there in our biking clothes :mrgreen:

Seasonal coffee is here:

I drink my flavored coffee with just milk and no sweetener. Am I weird?

Plus a sunflower bagel.  Nom, nom!

I said to John that this actually gave me a chance to get in a brick later in the day.  I was wondering when I would fit in another this week, as I didn’t want to do it on Friday with lifting, so today was the perfect opportunity!

That meant I stayed in my bike clothes for the first half of the day and unshowered.  Gotta love working at home! Pixie is my only coworker and since she licks her own butt, I doubt she has a problem with me not showering.

Lunch time!  I realized I needed to use up some brussels that were in the fridge, so I quick sauteed them and added the heel of the bread for a PB&J.

Quick lunch.  I am trying not to get stressed as it got pretty busy for me this week.  I received a large soap order request, so I am working on that in the evenings after working the 2 jobs.  Plus my TV vice of Project Runway is on tonight!

After working more, it was time to take a break in the early afternoon for the brick.  I realize that some people may not know what I am referring to with the brick.  This is basically doing 2 different workouts back to back.  That’s how you train for multi-sport events like triathlons, decathlons, etc.  So, for me this means bike and run training back to back. Temps were around 70.  I had a quick snack:

Then set up my transition outside.  I did bike/run today.

And yes, I do need a reminder to remove my helmet.  There is always somebody who forgets to take theirs off in an event.  That’s okay at that time, but I didn’t want to go running down the street with my helmet on today 😀

First up was the bike.  I did 13.5 miles at a decent clip, but not super fast.  I had to stop a lot for traffic.  Afternoon rides are much different than early morning rides.

Came home and drank half the coconut water and remembered to take off my helmet!  Then I ran 2.2 miles.  I forgot how much harder the bike/run transition is.  Boy howdy.  It was a good mile before I felt semi normal.  The pace just seems so slow, even though I typically start faster than normal, and you can really feel the impact of running.  Yep – that feeling is coming back from last year doing the triathlon and duathlon training.

I was feeling pretty good when I finished, but covered in gnats! What’s up with that??

Then I had to shower and get back to work.  There are more perks to working at home, which is the ability to flex my time like this.

Popped some chocolate chips as a post workout snack x2

It was such a beautiful day that I put some chicken on the grill.  You know what cooked chicken usually means –

The classic BBQ chicken salad!  Yay!  It was quite tasty, if I do say so myself.

So the Hot 100 Challenge starts today.  I had to think some about the goals I want to achieve for the last 1/3 of the year. They are:

1.  Maintain my weight.  I am not going for any loss right now anyway, so I want to stay below my red line.

2. No eggnog lattes until Thanksgiving day!

3.  Do the duathlon and at least 1 more 5K race before the end of the year.

4.  Do stretching exercises 4 days a week at least.  I am remiss about stretching.

5.  Visit one new blog each week that is participating in the Hot 100 Challenge and cheer them on.

6.  Do one no-added sugar day each week.

Let’s rock challengers!!

The solstice, nutmeg logs, and hot 100 update!

Happy Winter solstice everyone!  Today is the first official day of winter and the shortest day of the year.  From now on, days get longer, although colder (well, it already has been pretty cold).    The busy week wraps up with Christmas on Friday and then I will take some time for reflection on how I did on my goals for the year and what I plan for next year.  How did you do?

There were  great comments on the slim hope video I posted yesterday.  Check them out and join in, if you want!

Up for some strength training today since I haven’t lifted since Wednesday!

  • Chinups:  2
  • Romanian barbell deadlift:  3 sets of 8 at 75 pounds

Alternating sets:

  • Barbell bench press:  3 sets of 8 at 55 pounds
  • Seated lat row:  3 sets of 8 at 55 pounds

Alternating sets:

  • Reverse lunges with 1 dumbell on shoulder: 3 sets at 20 pounds
  • Arnold press: 3 sets of 10 with 10 pound dumbbells
  • Horizontal wood chop:  3 sets  of 8 at 50 pounds.

I was slated for planks today, but I forgot my stopwatch, which makes it hard to know how long you have been holding the plank! 🙄   See what happens pre-coffee???  Then I walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes.

Came home to protein pancakes!

I almost would have put some of the cream cheese between them that we brought home yesterday, but it wasn’t that much of a workout today LOL!  John did that, though.

Lunch was more a waffle sammie!  We found more lowfat nutrigrain, so it’s warm sammie time for lunch.

Um, yum.  Lauging cow and 1 egg + 2 egg whites.  Ultra-juicy clementine, too!

John brought me a special latte today.  He wrote my name on the top in cursive with a little dulce de leche, although it got a little messy:

He’s so sweet! 😳 You all are probably tired of hearing me say that!

Leftovers for dinner tonight, the venison chili from yesterday.  It’s chock full of tomatoes and peppers, so I declined my usual broccoli.

I have started to cookie making tonight.  I did a WATP 2-mile walk while the cookies cooled and then frosted them.  I allowed myself 1 cookie tonight (gotta taste test, right??).  I did awesome on this batch with not nibbling on the dough or licking the frosting bowl!  I really had to concentrate not to do that.  Bowl licking and dough eating are almost second nature to me 😯   So this was a big victory.  Don’t worry, I will eat enough of these on Christmas 😀

Tonight’s cookie was nutmeg logs!

I think these could be called eggnog cookies, too – they taste like it with rum extract and a ton of fresh nutmeg.  One of my very favorite cookies!  I have been making these for several years now.

Ornament of the day:

This one came out really well.  I am getting the hang of this pattern now!

—————————————————————————

Hot 100 update:

1. Duathlon.  DONE!!! (Oct)
2. Limit the number of eggnog lattes this year to 2 or 3.   I have had 2 so far.  Doing good.
3. Keep a redline of weight in mind to not go over during the holidays.  I am back below redline YES!!!!!!!.
4. Complete the New Rules of Lifting for Women.  DONE!!!! (Nov)

5. Enjoy time with family during the holidays.  Went to a concert with my mom last week.  Hosting Christmas dinner.


6.  Better organization of time to be productive.  Not bad.  I have been increasing my work productivity again (it happens in spurts as I get used to new doctors).

7.  Do some freelance writing.  Sort of.  I have a guest post coming up on another blog.

8.  Run at least 2 more official 5K races this year.  DONE!  Last race.

Overall doing well.  I would have liked to have seen a lower scale number, as I am about 4 pounds heavier than a year ago, but I am lower than I was this summer during triathlon training! I need to focus this week on staying strong during cookie making

Hot 100 update

Quickie update:

hot100-small

Hot 100 update:

1. Duathlon.  DONE!!!
2. Limit the number of eggnog lattes this year to 2 or 3.   I have had 1 so far.  Doing good.
3. Keep a redline of weight in mind to not go over during the holidays.  I am 1 pound above redline, likely due to Chinese food, but annoying, none the less.
4. Complete the New Rules of Lifting for Women.  DONE!!!!

5. Enjoy time with family during the holidays.  Did shopping with my mom last weekend.  Planning Christmas dinner.


6.  Better organization of time to be productive.  Not bad.  I am trying to make a goal to clean for 15 minutes a day (by timer).

7.  Do some freelance writing.  Lame, lame.  No extra time

8.  Run at least 2 more official 5K races this year.  DONE!  Last race.

Overall not too bad on the goals.  Athletic goals have been awesome! My weight is bothering me, though.  I really have to tighten things up.  Little snacks of chocolate chips and crackers are what are doing me in.   I am doing pretty well with time management and working a little extra (for extra $$).  The writing has really gone by the wayside.  It’s hard enough to just do blog posts, let alone extra.

Will be back later with the daily recap!

5-miler and kitty in the catnip.

Okay, it’s too cold even for me to run outside at below 30 degrees!  I feel silly going to the gym just to run, but I wanted to have it over and done with.  Had a snacky of dates and almond butter that I made the other day.

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Hit the treadmill for 5.2 miles today!  I did a sprint (for me) of the last 1/2 mile at 6.7 mph!  Go me!

I was sta-harving when I came home!  Made another ‘crepe’ with thinned out bisquick.  It worked out really well.  For the filling, I mixed some vanilla greek yogurt with canned pumpkin and spices.  I really could have only used half of the filling, but I was hungry LOL!  Topped with some cranberry sauce.

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I proclaim it delicious!

I found this on the washer today:

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It’s Pixie’s catnip.  Normally this pot is out of reach for her and we dole out her treat, but I had watered it yesterday and set the pot on the washer so it wouldn’t drip all over everything.  I forgot about it, and someone found it.  I don’t know if it will ever recover.  Pixie even tore some of the roots out of the soil – she is such an addict!

A surprise box arrived for me today from Mezzetta! It had some fixin’s in it for easy holiday entertaining.  One of the jars was this:

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I decided to incorporate it into lunch with some savory oats!

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Bottom layer of cooked oats, then topped with an egg, some Cabot cheddar and chopped sundried tomatoes.  I stuck it under the broiler.  My first time with savory oats and they were really good!  I liked the seasoning of the tomatoes, too, with garlic, herbs, and spices.

Here is the first ornament feature from our tree:

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It’s a french horn, which is the instrument I used to play (and have college degrees in).  I began collecting horn ornaments I think since high school maybe?  This one combines my love of all things sparkly and glass.  Amazing that is hasn’t broken over all these years.

We futzed around trying to decide what to have for dinner.  No protein thawed out.  John wanted to go out for his football dinner tonight, but he either wanted Chinese or the fish fry cafe.  I really, really did not want either of those 2 things for dinner, so we stayed home and will try again later in the week LOL!  So, I microwaved a sweet potato and topped it with pan fried broccoli and a bit of cheese.  It was pretty tasty, and quite a departure for me.

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Kind of missed more protein, though.  Today ended up being an accidental vegetarian day 😀

Hot 100 update:

1. Duathlon.  DONE!!!
2. Limit the number of eggnog lattes this year to 2 or 3.   I have had 1 so far.  Doing good.
3. Keep a redline of weight in mind to not go over during the holidays.  I am at redline now, which is down from last update.
4. Complete the New Rules of Lifting for Women.  DONE!!!!

5. Enjoy time with family during the holidays.  Spent Thanksgiving with family
6.  Better organization of time to be productive.  Not so great here.

7.  Do some freelance writing.  Lame

8.  Run at least 2 more official 5K races this year.  1 down, 1 to go – it’s December 5th or bust!