Category Archives: random thoughts

Random thoughts of Monday

Monday already!  This is just a mish mash of things going through my mind today because it was that kind of day!

I have been informed that there has been a lack of Pixie love on the blog lately, so I will remedy this.

Here is Pixie guarding the house.  A customer stopped by for John’s business this morning and Pixie was all up in arms about them parking in her bird viewing spot.

Breakfast was a big change up for me today.  I made a hash with some local breakfast sausage and a potato, topped with an over medium egg.

Probably should have filed this under the “don’t get too close” category of food photography, but it was really good!

We turned on the air conditioning today and Pixie decided it was cold weather and she needed a lap.

She is quite content here after kneading my leg for about 10 minutes getting it just right.  One of those times when I am really glad she doesn’t have claws.

With the heat and all the brushing of Pixie, I have been entertaining picking up a copy of this book.

I guess there really is a book for everything.

Lunch today was also probably in the “don’t get too close” category, but really delicious!

Greek yogurt with apple topping and a few toasted pecans.

I read an interesting nugget today on reported calories.

The survey results from 2009-2010 for calories consumed per day for adults over the age of 20:

  •  Men          2512
  • Women     1778

This is what is self reported to have been eaten on a daily basis.

From Marion Nestle – Note: These are reported figures, and remain well below the 3000 calories a day for men and 2400 for women observed in studies that actually measure calorie balance.

 

That’s almost a 600 calorie difference for both men and women  between what they say they eat and what they are measured to actually eat. Interesting, no?

I do know the calories in my snack.

110 for the latte and about 80 for the pineapple.

Here is another shot of Pixie doing what she does best:

I would say she is a happy and relaxed cat.

John did his duty of cooking the salmon tonight.  I guess Mondays are officially fish night around here as we shop on Sunday and get some.  He glazed it with maple syrup.  The real stuff.

Thanks John!

I am officially addicted to my Kindle.  My Kimble Kindle, as it were.  I have a ton of free books on there, plus I am trialing Amazon Prime and you get a book per month free – so I am reading the 2nd book in the Hunger Games.  I have had that book one day and I am almost a third of the way through it!  I have the hard copy of Game of Thrones from the library out and am having a tough time getting through that one.  I read a preview of it and thought it was fairly good, but not liking it as much as I did.  I might toss that back to the library.  Maybe I would like it better if it was on my Kindle?  😉

Last random thing of the day.  My nightly snack!

Normally I don’t get clementines at this time of year, but they had a shipment on sale, so we took a chance.  Today I am doing my 90/10 eating.  I had an indulgent weekend – or at least Saturday was, so back to business again 😀

Horse and buggy

Man, did yesterday go quick or what?  Aren’t Mondays supposed to drag on and on?  I can’t believe it is Tuesday already (and that is mostly over).

John has agreed to be on video playing the new piano at the end of the year, like the promise I made to have myself playing guitar.  Are you ready for both? :mrgreen:  John is much better at piano than I am at guitar, even with his down time.   Maybe I could get into a red dress and lay across the back of the piano for the video as well.

I chose to get up and eat before exercise this morning.  I love the freedom of that.  I keep half expecting to get an email from my work saying they changed their mind about my raise LOL!

Breakfast was the 1-minute muffin (applesauce version) topped with a serving of peanut flour.

Did I tell you that I found 2# bags of peanut flour online at netrition.com ?  The price is higher per pound than Trader Joes, but the shipping is just $4.95 per order, so if you get other things it can be a good deal.  I also got my coconut flour there.

After a morning of work, then I did an 8-mile bike ride and showered up before lunch.  As much as I love the trainer, I am getting very tired of being inside.  Do you hear me, nature?? I’m calling you out on this supposed spring!

Lunch was a BBQ pork sandwich with 4 strawberries.

That pile is only 4 strawberries.  I think they were grown on Planet Gargantua and shipped here to earth.

Pixie is enjoying the sun.  We moved this bench over to this big window and she has loved it ever since.  It’s her new throne.

Sometimes you never know what you are going to see when you look out the window, such as what clip-clopped by today:

Not sure where he was going, but it looked like a relaxing ride – right down main street!

I relaxed with one of these:

Plus some unpictured cashews 😳

I wanted a bit of a lighter dinner tonight, so I decided on an omelet.  I saute my broccoli in coconut oil before making the omelet because it just won’t get cooked enough for me otherwise.  I hate raw broccoli, but I love it cooked.  Weird, eh?

I forgot to add the laughing cow wedge when I cooked it, so I just spread it on top.  It’s all good.

Tonight the plan is to get some soldering stuff for our plumbing on the half bath.  Which is always an excuse to go out for coffee!  Like I really need an excuse…

Question: Is there a veggie you only eat raw or cooked?

Simple eats

It’s Monday!  I actually had more time off than expected as work was really slow yesterday, so I could spend more time with family instead of at the computer.  Of course, that means I need to work extra during the rest of the week to make up for that unless I use PTO.  It was so good taking a rest day yesterday, too.  My legs needed it.  I was so ready to hit the gym this morning and headed on out to bike and realized it was really cold LOL!  I found out later it was about 35 degrees….  Serves me right for not checking the forecast.

I was cold when I got to the gym, so I had to jog on the treadmill for 1/2 mile before hitting the weights (normally I use the ride as my warmup).

This week’s goal is more reps with less weight to work different muscle fibers:

  • Chin ups: 3 sets of 2
  • Barbell stiff-legged deadlifts:  3 sets of 12 with 65#
  • Push ups:  3 sets of 10
  • 1-point dumbbell row:  3 sets of 10 with 15# DBs
  • Dumbbell french press:  3 sets of 12 with 10# DBs
  • Dumbbell plie squat:  3 sets of 12 with 30# DB
  • Decline sit ups:  3 sets of 10
  • Good mornings: 3 sets of 10 with 45# bar
  • Lateral raise:  3 sets of 10 with 8# DBs

Then I jogged another 1/2 mile on the treadmill before biking, just to even things out LOL!

Breakfast was custard oat bran topped with PB and strawberry jam.  A classic:

Slow start to the work day, so I was able to help John in the morning with the business, since *that* was busy.  If I have freenhours to fill, I will find a way to do something 🙂

Lunch break was a simple leftover reheat of Easter food.  Ham, creamed potatoes and I got a veggie in there of carrots.  I also noted that I somehow did not take a picture of lunch.  Not sure how that happened….

My mom brought over an interesting thing to try that I had with the afternoon latte.

Have you tried these Special K fruit crisps?  They taste just like pop tarts, only crispier.  Kind of fun.  Of course, I love blueberry anything….

Dinner time was more easy simple food of an microwaved egg/egg white puff with feta cheese (takes about 1.5 minutes in the microwave) with broccoli and an anjou pear.

10-minute meals.  Take that Rachael Ray!   It was so nice today.  Started cold, but it got up to about 70, so decided to go for a walk tonight.  I met a new friend on the way:

He was ultra friendly and had extra toes like Pixie!  Maybe they are related.  It wouldn’t surprise me.

You can see all the buds on the trees coming out now:

Also my sedum are coming up.  I love how they look like brussel sprouts in spring and then broccoli by fall :mrgreen:

Looks like someone lost a kite!

I would love to fly a kite.  I don’t know if I ever have.  I have watched people fly them.

I feel like this week is busy already.  I have avoided list making because I don’t want to get overwhelmed (hello avoidance??).  I have a review to do of Gym in a Bag this week, too – neat product!

I need to do more work tonight and try to stay out of the nut butter jar!  While I didn’t eat horribly yesterday, it wasn’t great.  I think I stretched my tummy out a little bit 😳

Question:  Have you flown a kite?

Questions part 1

It’s the first day of my weekend!  The NROLW meeting with my sis did not happen last night after all.  I was getting ready to leave the house and gave her a call.  The power was out in Saratago from the storms that just rolled through and the Y was closed.  So, we have a raincheck.  John and I went out for a run at home instead and I really had to slog through it.  It was hot and humid and my legs were sore.  Not sure why I really bothered to finish, but I did.  I hate workouts like that.  Here I was all soaked in sweat and crabby:

sweaty

I also slept very poorly, so decided to forgo the Y this morning and go later.  Had some blueberry blintzes with blueberry sauce for breakfast.  Different, eh?

blintz

I have decided never to hit the gym between noon and 2.  Too many weight lifters that have no clue how to let others work in sets and just hog the weights.  You would think this guy thought he was the only one who used the squat cage – it was like he set up camp.  And he refused to let me work in, can you believe it?  All because he didn’t want to have to set up his barbell again inbetween his *5* sets.  Weenus.

So, I had to do the workout out of order.

NROLW  Stage 3 Workout B

  • Single leg partial squats  3 x 6
  • Widegrip lat pulldown:  1 x 6 at 50#,  2 x 6 at 60 pounds
  • Back extension:  1 x 6 at 70, 2 x 6 at 80 pounds
  • YTWL:  2 x 6  at 5#,  1 x 6 at 8 pounds
  • Stability ball crunch:  3 x 6
  • Reverse crunch:  3 x  6
  • Lateral flexion:  3 x 6
  • Prone cobra:  3 holds x 90 seconds
  • Romanian deadlift with row:  1 x 6 at 55#, 2 x 6 at 65 #

I am going to split the questions into today and tomorrow, since I don’t want the post to be overly long.

Are you glad you bought the triathlon suit? Yes!! Yes!  I am one of those people who get very distracted by little things, like the way a shirt sticks to me when I get sweaty or if my shoelace flaps funny.  With the trisuit – it was clingy, so I never had to adjust it or even think about it.  No wedgies!  I am going to wear it often for bike rides and runs.

What caused you to decide to do this? What’s your best piece of advice? Are you returning to youthful athleticism or is this an entirely new turn for you? I am not returning to youthful athleticism.  I was pretty much always overweight.   Hitting the number 250 was kind of what really pushed me over the edge.  For whatever reason, that was a concrete number to me. I think my best advice to someone is to not overlook the simple things in living a healthy lifestyle.  It doesn’t have to be fancy.  Eat fresh fruits and veggies, lean proteins, healthy fats, whole grains and move some.  It doesn’t have to be complicated.  Or maybe I think the best piece of advice is to be patient.  I am set up to live this way for the rest of my life, so it makes it easier to look at than hitting a scale number on a certain date.  I don’t do well with time goals.  I see a lot of impatience on blogs, which really can lead to disappointment and beating oneself up (never good).

What work do you do from home? My husband and I actually have a business we run from home, although I have stepped away from that to work as a medical transcriptionist  so that I could get us covered with health insurance.  We are very lucky to both be able to work from home.

Do you ever suffer from body perception issues? I mean, do you ever still think of yourself as a heavier person? Yes, I think I do have body dysmorphia frequently, even though I have been at my current weight for pretty much a year now.  I see the pictures of me from the tri and my mind sees me at 250 pounds, which obviously isn’t true.  I don’t know how long (if ever) it will take for my brain to catch up.  I still get surprised at times by my own reflection in mirrors or windows or seeing a picture of myself.  There are times when I feel “normal-sized” and times when I don’t.  It is very strange.  However, I notice things differently and with joy, like fitting into airline seats or going on an amusement ride and not fearing that I won’t fit.  I don’t take those things for granted at all.

What is NROLW? New Rules of Lifting for Women.

Ideas as to how I can do the twisting exercises and the seated row at home with only barbells and a weight bench? If you can pick up some resistance bands, you can do seated rows and woodchops easily at home.  Otherwise, for the rows, I would just do bent over rows with dumbbells.  Same principle really (check http://trainwithmeonline.com for moves).

I’ll answer more tomorrow!

I will leave you with a picture of dinner.  The wrap has pan sauteed broccoli in coconut oil with chopped chicken breast and 40 spice Tribe Hummus.  It was delicious!  Plus a nectarine that was not as good as last week’s.

dinner6

Answering a few questions.

Random post here with some answers to comments or emails I have gotten recently:

Do you have any tips that you want to share on how to become a runner? Did you follow a certain training plan when you started running? Thanks. I started with the Couch to 5K program. I thought I hated running, turns out I don’t! I just didn’t know how to get started. Even though I was not running a whole 3 miles at the end of 9 weeks, I could run for 30 minutes straight. Then I just worked on speed until I got down to that.

How many servings of protein are in your Zone bar? Zone bars and Balance bars have 15 grams of protein in them. Ratios are approx 40/30/30.

I’d always hoped to avoid the skin problem — some say losing slowly helps? If losing slow prevented loose skin, I would be tight as a drum about now LOL! Loose skin may or may not happen, but don’t ever let that stop you from losing weight. I would much rather have the loose skin I have now than have it filled up with 100 pounds of fat again!

What do you think about the equations that take into account your age, height, and activity level, and calculate how many calories you can consume to maintain your current weight? Accurate or not? Are there other factors they are not considering, like different metabolic rates? Short answer, I think those are generic at best. The more I am reading about weight loss and maintenance, particularly for those that have lost a lot of weight, the more it seems like those numbers need to be tossed out the window. Just was talking with John last night that I seem to be some physical anomaly that I am burning over 2000 calories a day, eating 1500ish and staying the same. Something doesn’t add up there.

What’s up with the Great Vegetable Experiment? I grew up detesting most forms of vegetables. Even through most of my adult life, I only ate a small hand full: broccoli, carrots, potatoes, corn, lettuce, cucumbers. Not an exciting variety to have in the diet. And I really wanted to incorporate more veggies in my diet. Fruit – no problem, but veggies are hard. So, I decided that I would at least try new veggies about once a week and make sure they were fresh. Canned veggies to me are ick. Anyway, it can’t hurt to try, and now that I have preparation methods I enjoy, such as roasting – more vegetables are appealing to me. I have found some I now eat that I would never have believe possible (brussel sprouts, who knew??), and others that shall never cross my lips again (raddichio). It’s been a fun experiment, I have to say.

Does blood donation hurt? Not really. Not that much anyway. Sometimes it depends on the tech. The needle is big; it has to be so the blood cells don’t get all torn up. There are times I have barely even felt the needle go in, and other times where there was more discomfort. It lasts for just a few seconds, then the donation itself doesn’t hurt at all. Plus you get snacks at the snack table (Hooray for Lorna Doones!), and you have an excuse to be lazy for the rest of the day. Only 3% of people donate blood. Scary thought if you ever need any, right?

What kind of exercise do you do? I try to keep my workouts updated here.

So, there are your random thoughts for the day!