Category Archives: POM Wonderful

5-miler and more crepes!

Gorgeous fall day today.  I wanted to do a run outside and it was in the mid 40s.  Perfect for running.  I wanted to do 5 miles, so I set out for that and fueled up with some POM nectarine that the Pom Wonderful people sent me.  This is really good!  I am not a big juice drinker, even though I really like juice.  As I have said before, I don’t like to drink my calories.  This was for prerun fuel and is tasty.  Much sweeter than regular POM juice – it almost tastes peachy!

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I was going on the 2nd loop of running and almost thought about doing 6 miles instead of  5, but my thighs were complaining a little.  It really can take a while to fully recover from big events, I guess.

Had a fabulous bowl of cream of wheat this morning after I got back inside:

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With pumpkin butter, cranberry sauce, cinnamon and white chocolate chips!

Busy with work again.  They weren’t kidding when they told us October is a busy month.  It’s nice to have work.  It was a little sad today, though.  One file was a very long one where the doctors were having discussions with the parents about removing life support on their 11 year old son, and they did not want to do it.  Sometimes the job is tough at times.

I am in waffle sandwich mode again.  This time it was chicken with cheddar cheese, apples and cranberry sauce.

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Warm and toasty!  I am liking the waffles for bread.

John made some scrumptious bars yesterday from Megan’s Munchies:

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Only he used white chocolate chips instead of regular (hence why they made their presence in my breakfast!)  This made a good snack with my afternoon latte.

So, now I am done with the duathlon, and the season of outdoor fitness events is winding down.  It sort of leaves me at loose ends, as I do like to have some sort of goal in mind.  I do have NROLW to finish by the end of the year and then it will have to be more indoor gym stuff.  I do run outside in winter when the sidewalks are clear of snow, but I do have limits 😀

I’m thinking I might try to be serious about knocking off at least 5 more pounds (10 would be super).  I am just not really sure if I want to do the work it will take to do that.  Know what I mean?  I have become pretty complacent here, and with my activity goals I have been pursuing since March – weight loss has not been a primary focus (and was not as feasible with hard training, even though that seems like it would help).  We have just booked a cruise for the beginning of February, and maybe that would be a good goal.

Pink item of the day!

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(This is soap colorant, btw).

I won the football picks last weekend (Yeah!!) – so it was my choice for dinner.  A new crepe place opened up in Glens Falls just last week, so I wanted to go there.  It’s a very tiny place, and tucked out of the way.  Everything is made from scratch.

I chose a fall-inspired crepe:

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Pork tenderloin with mashed sweet potatoes and a blackberry sauce.  It was a little on the sweet side, but quite good.

John had the mexican crepe with black beans, cheese, and chicken.

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We split a dessert crepe, since the meals were light.  This had whipped cream, praline nuts and cranberry sauce:

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Thumbs up for this place, and quite affordable.  Okay, I have had cranberries at 3 meals today :O   Somebody smack me LOL!

We are totally inspired to try to make crepes at home.  Maybe this weekend!

Jeez – this post was all over the place, sorry about that!  I swear my mind feels like this right now.  I really have to focus!

NROLW and POM iced coffee!

Thank you all so much for the nice comments on my running story.   I didn’t think it would be so much of an inspiration.  Now – go get those sneaks on!  😀 Woke up to maybe a little less humid today?  Hope the humidity breaks soon.

Preworkout snack of Ezekiel bread with apricot jam and PB.

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1 piece of Ezekiel left.  Doubt I will buy it again.  It rained last night, but the morning was clear so I biked to my gym (love being able to bike there!).  I am getting more used to the gym, although still disliking the music.  Guess there are more people that want it than don’t 🙁

Anyhoo, did Stage 4a of NROLW today.

  • Barbell squat/push press:  3 x 8 45#  (can’t seem to progress more than this)
  • Step ups:  3 x 8  30# dumbbells.
  • Dumbbell 1-point row:  3 x 8  25# dumbbells
  • Push ups:  3 x 8
  • Stationary lunge:  3 x 8  35# plate
  • Planks – 3 x 2 minute holds
  • Horizontal wood chop:  3 x 8  40#

I was able to hold the plank all 3 times for 2 minutes without having to touch my knees down!  First plank easy.  2nd plank a bit harder. I thought I was going to die on the 3rd one. Serious breath hissing going on.  I probably got some looks, but I don’t care LOL!  Let them try it!  I am not sure why I can’t increase the weight on the push press – I have been at the empty bar for 2 stages now.  That one is very difficult for me, and I think it is the transition in grip between the squat and the press that is the problem. It’s just awkward.

Got on the treadmill for 20 minutes before biking home, and all I could think of was pancakes while I was walking!  So that is what I had for breakfast:

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When we went shopping the other day, it was at a different store so I was able to get my Cedars Lemon Hummus!  Yum!  It was part of lunch today mixed with tuna and FSTG sweet potato chips.

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A package from POM Wonderful came for me today to sample.  POM iced coffee! This has my name written all over it!  Yay!  There were 2 flavors in the box, Cafe au Lait and Chocolate.  Thank you POM Wonderful!

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I had the Cafe au lait for my afternoon snack.  It was very good and tasted a lot like one of those Starbucks frappucinos you can buy in the grocery store, only better.  Nutritionally a little shaky with a lot of sugar, but the Cafe au lait has 7 grams of protein, plus some pomegranate antixodant extract (patent pending 😀  ). I like that they use Rainforest Alliance certified coffee.  Nice touch.  This was a fun treat, but I don’t like to drink my calories, and don’t drink my coffee sweetened hardly ever.    It is nice to know that if I am out and that is in the cooler at a convenience store, I can get a bit of energy with protein without resorting to soda.  Hmmmmm….. I bet this would be good running fuel.  John said the chocolate one was really chocolately, so he was quite happy.

You know how I love those quick dinners!  We like to keep jars of different sauces in the house for things like this.  Kitchens of India has some nice jar sauces.  I have a mild curry one (for John…. wimp), which I used tonight.  This dinner took about 15 minutes to whip up.

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And yes – strawberries are back!  How I missed them during my blueberry (purple?) haze.

John bought a plantain the other day, and he decided to cook it with dinner.

It smelled very much like a banana here:

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He sliced it up and pan fried it in coconut oil:

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I snagged one to try.

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mmmm….. GBD.  The verdict?  Interesting.  It did not taste like banana at all.  It was very starchy tasting and similar to a sweet potato in consistency.  It almost had a tiny hint of sweetness.  Not at all what I was expecting.  I don’t know if this is considered a fruit or veggie.

Question:  Have you ever tried plantain?  If so, how do you eat it?

POM Wonderful and giant salad!

Had a great workout today.  I was sweating buckets – so at least it felt like a great workout LOL!

30 minutes of jogging, then NROLW Stage 2:

    • Barbell squat/push press:  1 x 10 22 pounds,  2 x 10 45 pounds (my balance is much better going up to my toes now)
    • Step ups: 2 x 10 with 30 pound dumbbells
    • Dumbbell 1 point rows: 2 x 10 with 25 pound dumbbells  (balance getting better with these, too!)
    • Static lunge with rear foot elevated: 2 x 10 25 pound dumbbells
    • Pushups: 2 x 10
    • Plank: 2 x 60 second holds
    • Cable woodchop: 2 x 10 50 pounds.

This is the last week of stage 2!  Then no lifting for at least a week before my tri.  We went for a bike ride tonight, so there was another 13 miles of biking.  Wasn’t really planning on that, but John wanted to ride and I love to bike 😀

The generous people at POM Wonderful sent me some bottles of their pomegranate juice to sample.  Pomegranate juice has the highest amount of antioxidants of any kind of juice or wine.  I should make John drink more because studies have shown it is good for the prostate.

pomI was thinking the juice would be more tart like cranberry, but it isn’t.  It is not overly sweet and I actually think it is quite tasty!  We tried it plain and I put a splash in some seltzer for a fun drink.

The highlight of today was making a pomegranate vinaigrette for a wonderful dinner salad!  This is a super antioxidant salad!

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Vinaigrette:

  • 1 ounce of POM Wonderful juice
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon of light oil
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • several grinds of black pepper

Combine everything in a covered container and shake to blend.   It took 2 minutes to do! I poured this over a mixture of salad greens, along with grilled chopped chicken (love that precooking!!).  The dressing has a sweet flavor, and I thought blueberries would be awesome on the salad and they were!  Plus a sprinkling of pine nuts.  Welcome to Bistro de Lori!

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YUM!!!