Category Archives: attune bars

Let the countdown begin!

Thank you for all the nice comments on the Locks of Love post!

Sunday is the start of my work week – and the official countdown to vacation can begin! WooHoo!! (Can you tell I am excited??) I realized that since we stopped biking on Sundays with the cold weather that I have a very relaxing start to the work week. It’s my rest day, so no gym and I can sleep in. Then we go out for bagels and chit chat. Then I start my work day. That is a *great* way to start the week, I have to say. 🙂 Easing into it.

So speaking of bagels, I decided on a blueberry one today. Haven’t had that one in a while. Nom, nom!

Plus about 3 cups of coffee. Okay, not about 3 cups, definitely 3 cups

We picked up a few groceries. Judicious shopping to get us through the week. Although, I supposed my parents can eat whatever they want out of our fridge (they are house watching and Pixie watching while we are away).

I made a vow that there was to be no intermittent snacking today. I have been noticing lately that there has just been too much of it, which I correlate a little bit to the increase in mileage from running. I really found the snacking habit hard to break! Planned snacks are one thing, but the constant reaching into the peanuts or chip bag without thinking really needs to stop. I think I will shoot to make this a goal in the week leading up to the cruise as well. My pre-vacation challenge!

Lunchtime was a superfood fest! Vanilla greek yogurt, protein powder, canned pumpkin, cinnamon, and ground flax seed.

Note – no cereal!

This week’s run plan will be to decrease mileage. It’s a good idea when you up your mileage to take a week and back down again. Helps prevent injury and over training.

Snack break during the football game (and work break). Latte plus my beloved Attune bars!

I had a coupon for these, so I got some. So good. Portion controlled (unlike chocolate chips!).

Dinner was ring around the hot sauce!

Plus 1/2 a granny smith. I like apples, but I don’t eat them as often because there are other fruits I love more, but it’s getting down to eating up stuff in the house. I had asked John to get me a couple tart apples last week (he likes sweeter ones) and I am just getting around to them. Oops.

Come on on Saints – I’m rooting for you tonight!!

Question: Do you start your week easy, or jump right in with workouts, work and eating right?

Bagels and no more pumpkin!

Thanks for your comments on yesterday’s post. I felt a little silly actually putting that out there, but there it is! I’m back to my usual self today 😎

You know what Sunday morning is! Gingerbread…

pan1122

And here is proof that I actually eat these things:

chomp1122

Chomp!! Still sticking by my Broncos – even though they stink!!

It’s quite a nice day today. Upper 40s and sunny. John hung up the outside lights, although they won’t get turned on until Thanksgiving. Best to do those when the weather is nice, right?

I worked steadily all morning and was very productive. I don’t know how busy this week will be with the holiday coming up, but hospitals don’t close. One of my clinics will be closed, but not the 2 hospitals. I actually am scheduled to work on Thanksgiving (because hospitals don’t close…), but it will likely be very unbusy.

Felt like some good protein for lunch, and made a smoothie:

lunch1122

1 scoop of vanilla protein powder
1 banana
1 serving of chocolate PB2
oat fiber
ice cubes.

This was thick and delicious! I don’t usually drink my lunch, but this kept me full for a long time.

I would have made a pumpkin smoothie, but stores around here are officially out. We shopped last night and there were signs up that there would be no more pumpkin (Libby’s or OnePie brands) until fall of 2010! I have 1 can on my shelf at home, and we have a couple of pie pumpkins to cook up. I know you can’t freeze the canned stuff, but does anyone know if you can freeze the home cooked pumpkin? Not sure I want to waste it LOL! We are going to pick up more pie pumpkins this week. Maybe we will give canning a shot. 😯

Afternoon snack with my latte:

attune1122

I finished up work very early WooHoo!! John and I took a nice 2 mile walk for an active recovery day today before dinner. Chilly, but that makes you walk brisk 😀

Leftovers for dinner:

din1122

Plus a delicious kiwi. This kiwi had a label that it is from the US. Where do kiwis grow in the US, anyone know? This was a little more tart than the NZ kiwis, and I quite liked it. Num, num.

Question: Have you ever canned anything or did your family?

NROLW and art with breakfast

Happy Wednesday! And Happy Veterans Day. Thank you to all veterans and those currently serving our country!

Another New Rule workout this morning. Ate 1/2 a Zone bar, bundled up and biked to the gym as it was 39 degrees

What a routine this was, too:

Barbell incline bench press: 2 sets of 8 at 55 pounds
Seated lat row: 2 sets of 8 at 60 pounds
Dumbbell squats with heel lifted: 4 sets of 15 with 20 pound dumbbells
Overhead shoulder press: 4 sets of 20 with 10 pound dumbbells
Step ups: 4 sets of 15 with 20 pound dumbbells
Underhand grip lat pull down: 4 sets of 15 at 60 pounds

Dang these are hard! The last 4 exercises are done in a circuit with 30 second rests. For the dumbbell squats, I used 2 plates on the floor to put my heels on. John texted me and was not feeling well enough to bike, so he told me to meet him at the coffeehouse and he would drive. I hopped on the bike and hit the path. How things change in a few weeks:

trail1111

Bagel and hot coffee to warm up!

bagel1111

This cafe showcases local artists, and there were some nice pictures by our table:

art1111

My back started bothering me again during the ride there, so I actually am glad John drove because I just put the bike in the car after breakfast and came home with him. It has something to do with the pushing motion on the pedal on my left side. I didn’t want it to feel as bad as it did on Monday, so I was smart for a change and took the ride home.

Another waffle creation for lunch (guess it is Waffle Wednesday!). I love my waffle sandwiches. Plus some homemade cashew butter and a local honeycrisp apple.

lunch1111

I can’t tell you how many times I am transcribing files about the H1N1 vaccine and how it isn’t available. Is it ever going to be around?? There is only 1 company in the US that makes the vaccine and they were unable to meet their promised production. Losers. I don’t want the H1N1 vaccine, but there are a lot of high risk people that need it.

Break time was a latte (not pictured) plus an Attune bar. Dark chocolate bliss…

attune1111

Was feeling the pasta vibe for dinner. Cheese ravioli with a sprinkling of mozzarella. And more broccoli! Think I should have named this blog Finding Broccoli instead of Finding Radiance 😉

din1111

I’ve been doing really well on the snacking front. Or not snacking front, I should say. Keeping cereal out of the house has made a huge difference. It’s funny how just a small change like that and the scale starts to drift downwards.

Hot 100 update:

1. Duathlon. DONE!!!
2. Limit the number of eggnog lattes this year to 2 or 3. Have not had any.
3. Keep a redline of weight in mind to not go over during the holidays. Under redline.
4. Complete the New Rules of Lifting for Women. Started stage 7 (Ow!!!)
5. Enjoy time with family during the holidays. Breakfast with my mom tomorrow

6. Better organization of time to be productive. Maybe a bit better?

7. Do some freelance writing. Pretty lame here this week.

8. Run at least 2 more official 5K races this year. 1 down, 1 to go

Talk to you all tomorrow!

NROLW and soap!

Hello again! Did you guys make a plan yet? I woke up before the sun today, which meant 5:30! Too early. The time change is messing with me 😕 I laid in bed for awhile before getting up. Got dressed and stood outside for several minutes deciding whether to bike or drive to the gym. It was 28 degrees, and I kept trying to talk myself into it, but wimped out and drove.

Last day of NROLW stage 6

Reverse lunge single dumbbell: 4 sets of 4 at 25 pounds
2-point dumbbell row: 3 sets of 4 at 30 pounds, 1 set at 35 pounds
Dumbbell push press: 4 sets of 4 with 20 pound DBs
Back extension (machine): 4 sets of 4 at 100 pounds
Incline revers crunch: 4 sets of 4

Then I walked on the treadmill for 40 minutes. Simple workout today. I am going to dink around on the weights for Wed and Friday before starting the final stage of NROLW next week!

Came home feeling the pumpkin today!

Cream of Wheat with pumpkin, brown sugar, craisins, cinnamon, and toasted almonds. Really good!

cow1102

So, all that soap that I made last week was ready to ship out. Here are the blocks ready to wrap:

soap1102

Each of those blocks weighs 2.5 pounds. So you are looking at 60 pounds of soap right there. Each block yields 10 bars of soap (240 bars). It’s a little dull on the color palate, just due to what this customer ordered. This customer cuts the blocks into bars.

PB020007

Back when I had my shop, I would do this much or more every day! It’s hard to do when you work another full time job LOL! Too bad luxury soap doesn’t sell as well in tough economic times, or I might start doing it again on a regular basis. Makes the house smell wonderful, I have to say – at least until it shipped out this afternoon!

Yesterday was shopping day, so waffles are back in the house and I got to have a waffle sammie for lunch!

lunch1102

Plus a kiwi and strawberries. I’ve gotten on a bit of a kiwi kick lately.

I also had a coupon for more of these:

attune1102

😀

Had to flex some work time to get that order packed and out, so I’ll be working late tonight. Took a break for dinner. Clam strips! Another oldie, but goodie.

din1102

All settled in now with my 10 kernels of candy corn (can you believe how long this bag has lasted??) and a cup of Constant Comment. Hoping the Saints win tonight!

NROLW and bagel day!

Back to the gym today! It was dark when I got up, so I put a reflective band on my leg for biking. Then I realized that I forgot to put my bag rack back on my bike after the race on Sunday. D’oh! So, by the time I got done fumbling that on, it was much lighter out. 😀

I have missed my lifting! I am backing up into stage 6 a little since I took a week off. Workout A:

Negative chin ups: 3 sets of 1 (still just dangling there).
Lat pull down: 10 sets of 2 at 60 pounds (slow release)
Barbell split squats: 2 sets of 10 at 65 pounds
Pushups (the real way!): 2 sets of 10.

John arrived just as I was finishing the pushups and off we biked to bagels! Oh how I missed my bagel. Haven’t had one since last Wednesday!

Come to momma!

bagel1021

And le cafe.

coffee1021

Really nice day for biking. I wasn’t sure if my legs were a little twingy from the workout or a little leftover duathloning, but it was so great to be back on the bike! My favorite sport.

Spied my pink item while at the cafe:

pink1021

I love Wednesday mornings. I don’t have to start work until 10, although sometimes I start early – but not on Wednesdays! I enjoy the time with my hubby and relaxing.

I decided on something way different for lunch:

lunch1021

Microwaved sweet potato topped with pan sauteed broccoli and chick peas with a wedge of laughing cow (plus some cumin seeds thrown into the saute pan). I give this a thumb’s up and it was very different for me. I never used to like sweet potatoes.

I was having so much fun playing with food today that I decided to carry that on for dinner! We had cooked chicken and I had made the cranberry sauce last night. Well, in the spirit of fall, I made a sandwich panini style! I used an Arnold sandwich thin, sliced chicken breast, cranberry sauce, and Cabot light cheddar cheese and smashed between 2 hot pans:

sammie21021

All that was missing was some stuffing and it would have been totally perfect!

And you know a girl needs her chocolate! Love those Attunes!

choc1021

Question: Are you a meal inventor, or do you follow recipes?

Eats and notes on reviews

After today’s workout, I came home to protein pancakes. I left out the protein powder, as I need to be careful with calorie intake this week with the lessening workouts. I usually burn 600 calories or more on hard workout days, and today was only 300. Need to account for that!

brekkie1013

Got right to work and very busy. I certainly can’t complain about lack of work this week! I had a fun lunch combo. I’ve been all about pumpkin lately, so I had it with lunch:

lunch1013

Oikos vanilla yogurt with pumpkin, Grapenuts (just for you Steve!) and Craisins. This bowl had a wonderful texture to it and great flavor contrasts. Yum!

John brought me a latte in the afternoon with a secret ingredient:

latte1013

Creme de menthe! With his homemade chocolate sauce on top. I love my hubby. I continued the chocolate theme with an Attune bar:

attune1013

(Note the laziest cat in the world sleeping in the background). I love the Attunes because they are yummy, for one, and portion controlled. 90 calories in most of the bars. That’s a little easier for me than portioning out dark chocolate chips.

Pink item of the day:

pink1013_edited

It’s that time of year when I start drinking several cups of tea in a day.

Dinner was a ground turkey burger and one of those Steamer bags of veggies. I really love pan sauteed or roasted veggies because of the carmelization that gives them flavor, but these were pretty good. Lightly sauced with cheese (always a good thing).

din1013

A-1 sauce for dippin’!

————————————-

Just taking care of some blog business here. I like to give reviews of products on my site, whether I purchase the product (which is usually the case) or if a company happens to provide me with a sample. I also always try to be very clear when it was a sample provided by a company. That doesn’t always mean the review is going to be positive. I feel that I am honest about all things in my weight loss and fitness, including the times I struggle or fall on my face. I feel the same way about being honest in how I perceive the things that I try. I am not going to say something is great if it isn’t to me. That doesn’t mean others won’t love it. I am just giving my opinion. I certainly am not in any way trying to undermine a company if I don’t like something. I would never be downright mean or bashing about something. It just means it wasn’t right for me and I explain why. I recently received an unpleasant email from a company whose product I was less than favorable on. I really don’t feel that I need to apologize for that. I know that the readers of this blog appreciate me as I am and how I present myself and expect nothing but the truth from me. ‘Nuff said.

Bagel day tomorrow!!

Biking and chinese food

Phew – I am feeling a little overwhelmed and busy lately!

A couple people commented about not seeing my triathlon videos – so here is the link to the post of the recap!

I did really well last night and didn’t eat any carrot cake that was for Mom and niece Devon:

cake I just had tea and snacked on cantaloupe and grapes. Thanks for providing those, Mom!! 😀

I was going to do a brick today, but decided I just need a long nonstop bike ride to the tune of 15 miles. My duathalon is a 16 mile ride, so I need to keep doing the full 15 instead of breaking it into biking to breakfast/coffee, eating, and biking back home 😀

This was along the same road we did Saturday, although not the really hilly part. It was a long and lonely road today since I was by myself.

road

Pretty durn cold, too! It was 40 degrees and cloudy – plus a stiff wind. Check out this flag:

At least the wind was blowing at my back on the way home. Took me 1:21 to do the ride.

I had a Zone bar preride, which was good. They just seem to last me a good while, so even though I want to cut them out of my life, it doesn’t seem too bad to have them in there. I just have to not snack on them, but use them for a purpose.

I couldn’t decide what to have for breakfast and finally decided on warm and filling protein pancakes! My Winney Farm blueberries are gone already, so it’s back to Wyman’s (which I also love).

breakfast

These were so warm and good in my tummy after a cold ride. Plus coffee. And speaking of coffee – Hooray for caffeine! Here is an article on some benefits of caffeine from one of my favorite blogs: Workout911

Spent a good portion of today training on a new account. It’s nice to know they think highly enough of me to keep adding accounts, and it means that I should always have a steady flow of work. Productivity does go down when learning, though.

Have you tried Attune bars?

attune

These are so good! 90 calories and full of probiotics and antioxidants. Found in the refrigerated section. A little spendy, but I had a coupon 😛

Check out the chunks of raspberries in this:

attune2

So, John won the football picks this week, so that meant I had to take him out to dinner. He wanted Chinese, so we hit up a place that has steamed brown rice available! Isn’t that great? Hope more places follow suit. I broke one of my rules of not eating corporate meat because I needed protein. I chose the beef and broccoli bowl with brown rice.

chinese I tried to eyeball about 1/2 cup of brown rice. There was easily 1.5 cups in the bottom of this bowl. It was pretty good!

We were going to bike there, but it started to sprinkle. John still wanted to get a run in this evening, so I decided to join him for a bit. We went to the track and he ran 3 miles while I did a run/walk combo. If only my duathlon could be spread out like that with the bike in the morning and run at night! It was weird running in the dark, though.

Question: When do you like to do your exercise?

Snack day.

Thanks to Pixie, I didn’t get much sleep last night. She decided she wanted to play in the hallway outside our bedroom. Did I mention that she has a collar with a bell on it? I got up several times and finally took her collar off. Then John woke me up a little later because she was still making noise batting something around. Had to close her in the guest bedroom! So, with about 5 hours of sleep, it was bound to be a snacky day.

I didn’t eat before my workout this morning, which turned out to be good because I only got in 1/2 hour on the bike. The pool had 3 people in every lane – so I nixed the swim. With school out, the Y has been really crowded this week with camps and such.

Came home and made protein pancakes with some flax meal in them. Really tasty!

cakes

Tried a different green smoothie for lunch today: Spinach, vanilla protein powder, almond butter, frozen banana, water:

smoothie2

I promise there will be a different lunch tomorrow!

So, after a couple hours, the snack attack began:

attune1

latte1

And…

snack

Dinner was grilled pork with broccoli and strawberries. I have enough strawberries for tomorrow and that’s it! And we got 2 pounds on Sunday… oops.

dinner5

I did a walk/jog combo after dinner since it was breezy and the possibility of rain, so I wanted to hang close to home, otherwise I would have ridden my bike tonight. Needed to work off at least one of those snacks.

Oh, and the most evil snack out there?

cashews

I think these need to be put out of reach. Long time readers know of my love of cashews, which is kicked up a notch with the honey roasting. Evil!!

So, I think I might be buying a triathlon 1 piece outfit. I am a little scared because they are sleeveless. I don’t show my upper arms a whole lot, even though I like my biceps, that is the worst loose skin area for me. Need to shop online tonight!