Category Archives: breast cancer awareness

NROLW and thoughts of christmas!

It’s the start of my weekend! Fridays still just don’t feel like the weekend, even though I have been working at this job since February with that schedule. Still up early, though! I waited until 7:15 to bike to the gym, just so it was lighter. Pretty durn cold, too! I think we can start counting down the days before the bikes get hung up.
New Rule of Lifting Stage 6 B:

  • Reverse Lunge, one dumbell on shoulder:  3 x 8 at 20 pounds
  • Dumbbell 2-point row:  3 x 8 at 25 pounds
  • Dumbbell push press:  1 x 8 at 15 pounds, 2×8 at 20 pounds
  • Back extension:  2 x 8 at 100 pounds
  • Incline reverse crunch:  2 x 8

Push press increase to 20 pound dumbbells! That is really hard. That little extra push helps with heavier weights. Short and sweet workout with 25 minutes on the treadmill after that.

Pink item at the gym:

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The wallpaper in the women’s locker room :eyeroll: Sorry for the pic, the battery died on my camera just as I took that. Too bad, because I was going to make more videos. Are there any moves you want to see on video that you can think of? Hopefully, I will get the ones I have made compiled onto my workout page at some point 😉

Since the battery was charging on my camera, no pictures of breakfast or lunch! I kept myself busy making peanut butter and some blueberry jam.

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I cannot wait to get back onto my  regular computer.  This old one is really giving me fits trying to do posts and pictures.  Grrr… Cord hopefully will be here tomorrow.

Anyway, I made a Halloween inspired latte today, complete with spiderweb!

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Pixie likes having me not working, too.  She gets the full lap instead of sharing it with my laptop!

pix1023Finally also taking some time to have fun! I wanted a little more bling on the christmas tree this year, so I am making some sparkle ornaments. Here is the first shot of what will hopefully be a colorful ornament when I get done:orn84

This started as a clear glass globe, and I used gold spray paint and am now doing the glitter. I see that this will probably take me a few weeks to get these done LOL!  Colored glitter to be added tomorrow after this dries.  Good thing I started now.

This computer is frustrating me with this post, so I think I will sign off now. I am going out with my mom to see a bluegrass concert at the revamped train station in town. Should be fun! Admission is a can of food for the food bank 😀
Question: Are you crafty?

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 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!

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And le cafe.

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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:

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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:

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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:

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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!

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

Tuesday musings and waffle sandwich!

Went to bed a little later last night after watching the Broncos top the Chargers – WooHoo!!  6-0 baby!  I actually fell asleep during part of the game because I was so tired.  What a fan LOL!  I woke up this morning and nixed the gym because my thighs were still feeling sore.  One more day and I’ll hit the gym Wednesday morning.  I miss my weight lifting.

Yummy protein pancakes with banana/maple topping for breakfast.  We got a ton of bananas at the store the other day.  The over ripe ones were on sale, so I peeled and froze probably about 10 bananas for future use.

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Still waiting on the cord for my computer.  It’s so hard to get used to a different one and work efficiently.  It’s like being plopped into a new office and not knowing where anything is, but being expected to hit the ground running.  But at least I am functional!

I was wanting waffles for lunch, and decided to use them as bread for an egg sandwich!  This was sooooo good.  2 waffles are 120 calories, which is less than 2 slices of bread.  With an egg and some laughing cow cheese. And a pear on the side.

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We have a winner!  Loved it.

Trying hard to keep calories down today, since I overate yesterday and am not moving around much.   I have to remember to rest  – the duathlon was a big deal to my body and I need to pamper it.

A few years ago this woman:

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never would have thought she would become this woman:

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There was definitely some radiance to be found at the finish line 😀  It still feels weird to think that I have done a triathlon and a duathlon (and a few 5Ks) this year.  Who is this lady?  I also know that there is plenty of room for improvement and challenging myself, and it is pretty exciting to see what is in store for next year!

Pink item of the day!

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Cranberries are in the store and I finally got around to making the world’s best cranberry sauce.  Served along side chicken and some pan sauteed brussel sprouts.  Delicious!

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Tomorrow is bagel day and hopefully biking!  The weather is supposed to be warmer overnight for a change.  The break has been fun, but I do like being back in routine.

Thank you and duathlon hangover

Thank you to everyone from the bottom of my heart for your comments on my duathlon recap from yesterday!  I am thrilled that it inspires anyone to go out and do something more.  Proof positive that anyone is capable of so much more than one might think.  You just need to get out of the comfort zone and do.

I really am beat today.  My legs are fairly sore and I definitely feel like I really pushed it yesterday.  Certainly did not feel like this after my triathlon.  Isn’t that funny? I am also an eating machine today!  It’s hard not to overeat, but my tummy is just growling all day.  Only a walk outside today and that was it.  Still not sure if I am going to the gym tomorrow or not.  I am also really tired, the kind of tired where I can’t keep my eyes open.  I had taken some Tylenol PM last night and got almost 8 hours (super rare for me), and not sure if I need more or what.  I have to stay awake for the Broncos game tonight, though!  :O

Started off the day with some waffles and pumpkin butter plus craisins.

waf1019This was tasty, but only lasted me about an hour before my tummy was growling, so I had a zone bar.

Then the computer problems started.  My laptop power cord has been acting funny and the computer blinks out.  The battery is so old that it won’t stay charged, so I have to use the power cord adapter.  The adapter itself started beeping (who knew it could do that??) – so now I cannot use that computer.  And it is set up for all of my work stuff.  I am able to hijack John’s computer to do some work, but I am having to do it bare bones without all my medical software on it (so productivity suffers).  Ugh!  New cord is on its way at some point.  Did I not say last week that I have some kind of electromagnetic issue?  (I am writing this post from John’s computer as well)

Needless to say that has made me a bit grumpy today and then more snacking on chocolate chips and peanuts.  I think it is also a little bit of the letdown after yesterday.

I forgot to mention yesterday that even when you do careful planning for race day, things can still go wrong.  We had driven a good chunk of the way and I realized that I forgot my water bottle!  It was full and sitting on the counter waiting to go with.  I was a little upset because I knew I couldn’t go the whole race without hydrating.  I had a carton of coconut water, but that was only 12 ounces.  We hit a McDonalds and bought a bottle of water (yay plastics…), but when I put it in the bottle cage on my bike, it was too small and was flopping around.  One bump and that would have been out of there.  So, I tucked it into my front bag.  Do not ever try to ride and unscrew a bottle at the same time.  I thought I was going to wipe out!  Not sure why it didn’t occur to me to just stop LOL.  But, at least I had some water.  I also learned that cold Balance bars are like rocks.  Halfway through the ride, I grabbed the unwrapped bar out of my bag and bit into it and it hurt my jaw to chew!  Normally they are soft and go down easy, but the weather was so cold that the bar was really firm.  Plus I was trying to chew while out of breath.   Lessons learned for the next time 🙂  Weather can change everything about race day.

Pink picture of the day!

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Limiting the pictures today because of using John’s computer.

Fingers crossed for the Broncos!

Question:  Are you dependent on a computer?

Gearing up for the duathlon!

Don’t you love those days where you actually can sleep in, but can’t actually do it?  I was up before 7 am this morning.  Still dark out and I was all snuggly in the flannel sheets.  So, I just lounged a bit and woke John up to talk to him.  Poor guy.  Normally I pop out of bed and hit the gym while he sleeps in every day.

Nice weather here today, I really wish it would be this way tomorrow, but the forecast is looking dimmer and dimmer.  I won’t cancel the race unless it is snowing, and that’s just for safety of biking on snowy roads.  I might whine a lot, though!

I took a little more time for breakfast primping after being inspired by Susan doing that yesterday.  Plus the banana was a larger one, so I saved some to put on top.

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We went to a museum today to view a Degas exhibit.

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I really wish I could have taken pictures in there.  The great thing is that it did not focus on the ballerina pictures that he is most famous for, but all the music background shots.  Pretty neat!

I also  tried my hand at making pumpkin butter from Danica’s site, and substituted honey for the agave.  Simple and delicious.

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Spread some warm on a gingersnap (these are now hidden up high, thank you).

Pink item for the day spotted at Lowe’s!

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Then we stopped for coffee where I did a little carb loading  😉  (right??)

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Apple cinnamon scone.

So, check list for Sunday’s transition bag:

  • coconut water
  • balance bar
  • water bottle
  • bike gloves and stretch gloves
  • running hat
  • cell phone
  • tissues (runny nose from cold, I’m sure)
  • spare bike tire tube and CO2 filler and wrenches (hope I don’t need!)

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This is all going into my front bike bag (except I will be wearing the gloves.)

Planned outfit will be compression shorts and my long workout pants, technical turtleneck, workout jacket and fleece jacket.  I probably won’t wear the fleece for the run, but will need it for the bike.  I will be totally mismatched, but hopefully warm.  Colors include black, light blue, bright red, pink, and dark blue-grey.

Bike tires are all filled up and checked, and chain lubed up.

Here is a link to the race course

I am pretty excited, although starting to get panicky about the weather.  It’s going to be a smaller field.  About 80 preregistered.  Not sure how many will show up tomorrow and register with crappy and cold weather forecasted.  I am okay with coming in near the bottom.  I think the field will be more hardcore than the triathlon was.

Okay everyone!  I will post an update after the duathlon tomorrow when I get thawed out and back home after we go out for something warm and yummy when I am finished!

See you on the flip side…..

Out of the comfort zone

First day of the 3-day weekend!  I decided to get up and run in the cold.  It actually wasn’t bad.  There was no wind, it was just 31 degrees.  With gloves and my turtleneck on, I was fine.  Actually a little sweaty after 2.5 miles.  Funny how I realized that I could have just gone to the gym and run on the treadmill  (that’s what happens pre-coffee, though!).  However, I wanted to get prepped for Sunday’s conditions and be in the cold and out of my comfort zone.

Had some layered blueberry cream of wheat for brekkie when I got back in:

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My parents have a new addition at their house as of today!

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This is Lizzie – the new lab puppy!  She was pretty sleepy.  My mom bought Lizzie a bankie that she said would be perfect for a pink picture!

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Regarding the comfort zone:

The comfort zone is a great place to be, isn’t it?  We feel safe and secure and know what’s coming up.  But the only way to progress in anything is to step outside of those boundaries.  Otherwise it is just treading water.  You don’t need to take a flying leap, but step outside and stay there for a little while.  The interesting thing is, you can expand your comfort zone.  Back in the day (last year…), the thought of running for more than 15 minutes during my C25K training sent me into worry and nervousness, but I also knew that the only way to be able to run that far was to do it and do it again.  Now I can do 15 minutes without even batting an eyelash!

The end result of where I am today was a series of steps outside my comfort zone.  These were steps like the Great Veggie Experiment, which has helped expand my horizon of healthy eating; or buying clothes that fit properly and actually wearing them out in public and getting used to being looked at (this is still a little hard); or deciding on a triathlon.  The duathlon this weekend is another event that is outside of my comfort zone, but I am looking forward to seeing what I can do.  So go out there and challenge yourself a little bit – you are probably capable of way more than you think!

Mom and I did a little consignment shopping today.  I dropped some things off, and had to come home with a couple items – then it was off to the cafe!

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Plus this raspberry goodness:

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Dinner was one of those fun experiments that turned out good!  I picked up some chicken at the smokehouse today, and we had some andouille sausage.  I also had cubed up a sweet potato, and we ended up sauteeing it all with some cajun spice and added a bit of broth.  Cooked until it thickened up into a stew and it was soooo good!

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It’s like fall in a bowl 😀

I am enjoying my weekend so far.  Might see if I can twist John’s arm to do some raspberry picking tomorrow!

Question:  How often do you step outside your comfort zone?

3-day weekend and bleeping cold!

It’s so cold out!  I wanted an outside bike ride, but again, this morning it was 30 degrees when I woke up.  So, I waited until later.  I am going to put flannel sheets on the bed tonight (I am such a dork to get excited about that…).

It was definitely a morning for warm oats.  I made banana PB&J oats:

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This was with the Silver Palate oats.  This bowl kept me full from 8 until noon!  I am shocked.  I did supplement with mid morning tea:

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This is good tea.  My very favorite tea is good old fashioned Constant Comment, though!

I will spare you my boring lunch of tuna sandwich today.  I had it toasted to keep warm.  It stayed cloudy and I knew it wouldn’t get much warmer, so a bit after lunch I put on a long sleeve technical shirt, my workout jacket and a fleece jacket and headed out for a ride.  It was so cold!  Windy, too.   I just did a 9-10 mile easy pace ride.  My legs feel pretty good.  Another couple easy days and they should be fresh for the duathlon!  I had some company on the canal for my ride:

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There were about a dozen ducks swimming in the same direction I was going.   Coming back the wind was at my back, so it went quicker.  I did not even get the least bit sweaty on this ride.  I have to remember that I did a run last December when it was 15 degrees out, so I can do it in the mid 30s.

I was thoroughly chilled to the bone (bicycle-sicle!) when I got back and John made me a latte and I bundled back up in a sweatshirt.  I was happy to get this!  (This is my work station).

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Last day of work for the week.  I am taking Sunday off to chillax (to quote Lynn) after my duathlon.  I am going to freeze that day!  I am more worried about the weather than the actual duathlon.  Overnight temps are supposed to be 30 degrees and a high in the mid 40s.   The duathlon starts at 9 am, so it will be around 35 by my best guestimation. I need to revamp my clothing ideas for that day and just layer up.  I think my technical turtleneck is in order.  I just worry about getting too hot with that on, since it is really hard to get off (it’s tight) I would have to wear it the whole time.

Pink item for the day!

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Ice cream is so unappealing right now LOL!  Guess that’s a good thing.

If you like pumpkin like I do, Fat Fighter TV has posted links to 10 healthy pumpkin recipes (including one of mine!).  Pumpkin butter is on my agenda.

Dinner was a happy accident.  We had a bit of ground turkey and I just sauteed it and then dumped in the rest of the steamer veggies with cheese sauce that we had leftover from the other day.  It came out yummy!  Plus, John made some jalapeno corn bread.  I am all about the warm stuff today.

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Having a little problem with snacking since this afternoon, though.  Not sure if it is lack of sleep or the cold (a little from column A, a little from column B).  Dark chocolate chips and wheat thins make a great sweet/salty combo, but not in large quantities :O

Tonight is blanket time and writing time.  Feels great to be on the eve of 3 days off!

Question:  What is your favorite tea?

Bagel day and Fiber One coupon!

You know it! One of my favorite days 😀 We had decided last night that we wouldn’t bike since the temp was supposed to be 30 degrees this morning. I was actually 32, and I think I would have biked if I was by myself, but John didn’t want to. I was not at the gym this morning since I am done lifting until after the duathlon. Just easy stuff the rest of the week.  So, bundled up with the first wearing of a turtleneck this season!

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I look pretty chipper here for not having had coffee yet….. What’s up with that?

New mugs at the coffee house!

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Plus carby goodness. Yum, yum.

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Spied my pink item for the day while there.  I am not totally sure what this is, I think it is a dinosaur?

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Worked hard today, although I had a case of feline disease, which makes it a little hard to type. I just don’t have the heart to make her get up.

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(Yes, I still have the word ‘sucker’ tattooed to my forehead thankyouverymuch).  If I could bottle this cuteness, I would be a millionaire.

Lunch was a Fiber One banana chocolate chip muffin crumbled over some greek yogurt with a little peanut butter.  It’s in a gigantic bowl because it was time to run the dishwasher 😀

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Nice combo, but I would have liked more!

Had a Larabar as an afternoon snack.  Last week’s bar wasn’t this small.  I wasn’t sure if it was the kind (peanut butter) or if they just are getting smaller?

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Maybe it is just thicker.

Took a brisk walk after this.  All the while I was thinking that it’s going to be pretty cold Sunday morning!  I wonder how many layers I should wear?

Lucked out with dinner tonight.  John’s choice was to go to Long John Silver (ick), so I grudgingly went with wallet in hand and found out they are discontinuing the healthy grill items.  So, we left (yay!) and went to O’tooles instead.

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This place is fun with a sports bar atmosphere and perfect fire for today!

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I didn’t think I got that guy in my shot, and is he picking his nose???

I was wanting something warm and saw a baked potato on the menu, so that is what I had.  It was yummy!

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Only $5.99 for this.  What a bargain!

Hoping to be productive tonight and get some writing done.

Here is a coupon for $1 off Fiber yogurt.  At least I hope it works.


$1 off Fiber One yogurt by Yoplait

Question:  Do you get enough fiber?

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!

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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:

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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:

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

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(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:

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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).

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A-1 sauce for dippin’!

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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!!