Category Archives: walking

A wee bit of walking

I so badly wanted to bike this weekend. I am getting crabby with the no biking thing. It was just too windy, though. Also a bit cold. 40 degrees and wind is no bueno for biking, even for me.

So, we decided instead to do a little walking at Saratoga Spa Park. We drove down the way we normally bike. I don’t know if I have ever been on this road in a car and it was really weird.

There are lots of nice paths going through Spa Park. They were paved and mostly clear.

Can you believe it is spring? 😯

We trucked around for a while and then stopped by the Gideon Putnam Resort and Spa in the park for a pit stop. This is a beautiful old hotel.

It’s 75 years old and so beautiful.

Lovely old wood work, too.

John and I thought it might be really nice to stay one night down here and bring the bikes down to bike around the park for a local get away.

After looking around, it was back outside. Along with SPAC, there is also another theater.

I wish the sun had come out because it was somewhat chilly. Amazing without the sun and I still needed the sunglasses because of the bright snow.

Of course, the big thing is the mineral springs. There are several places around Saratoga where you can collect water to drink at the springs.

Look at all the people filling up jugs. It’s free.

It continuously runs from these spigots.

The water is not to my taste. It is somewhat salty tasting. Sort of like Gatorade, but not sweet. I would much rather bathe in it at the spa than drink it.

After our cold hike (approximately 3.5 miles), we headed out for a beverage more to my liking.

Love the latte!

No biking, but a nice outdoor day. Next weekend. Biking. No matter what.

Walking, walking, walking

Bagel day today. No biking, however. It was very cloudy and radar showed heavy rain coming in. So, we decided to walk to the new cafe. It’s only about 1.3 miles from our house, so a good walking exercise there and back. Our town put up new little flags. How charming.

Note the saucy French beret signifying the French-Indian war. Our area is actually very history filled. Birth of the nation and all that. 😀

I had Bagel Wednesday, which I kept in the French theme by the Eiffel Tower!

It rained quite a bit while we were in the cafe. The ground needs it, though. My bike does not.

It was kind of nice to walk somewhere for a change, although it felt so darn slow compared to being on a bike. I think that is a sign I bike a lot.

Kind of a dreary day all around.

I did eat lunch on the porch, though.

I made tuna salad on some sourdough I made yesterday. I still am on the search for the perfect sourdough recipe. The boule I made on first try was the best, but I am going for some kind of sandwich bread.

I was hungry for something other than my latte today, so I had a Balance Bar.

I do like these, as does John, but I don’t eat them very much anymore. I suppose they are a better choice than straight up chocolate!

Plus my latte.

John-made latte today, so it is extra special!

Note the dreary quality to today’s photos from the rain. I never use a flash unless I can absolutely help it and didn’t feel like getting up and using my white board for lighting <——- lazy photographer.

I made up a light dinner after I munched on some potato chips. Ever get those nights where nothing really appeals? I decided on a potato with laughing cow, ground beef and BBQ sauce.

Actually ended up being a pretty tasty dinner!

Went out for some mother/daughter time tonight. I met her at the new coffee shop! That meant another walk in the rain, but I got in 5 miles of walking today!

So I had a perfect Lori-sized raspberry tartlette and a nice visit with my mom! We are imaging how fun it will be on a cold winter night at the caffe with warm coffee and watching the snow come down.

Wait a minute… no snow. I can’t believe I said that after the winter we just had!!

Walking of sorts

Hey y’all! Ha ha, can a yankee girl say ‘y’all’?? Just to let you know I am feeling fine today. I got over my annoyance from yesterday and just am going with the flow. Still unsure as to the actual closing on the house, but it will happen. I didn’t stress eat yesterday. I had a piece of toast with nutbutter and jam for a snack last night and that was it. Phew! Sometimes I actually have some control 😀

The morning didn’t start off on the right foot, though:

Overflow!! That’s what happens when you try to make coffee before you have had any coffee! It took all my self control not to lick the counter.

Breakfast was protein waffles topped with a mixture of plain greek yogurt, raspberries, and honey. It was good!

I got right to work and finished up early today, seeing as I started early. Lunch time was wrap time. This is a egg/egg white combo with laughing cow and hot sauce!

Mmmmm…. lots of hot sauce:

It’s cold (38 degrees) and rainy today. It actually snowed a little bit 😯 Doesn’t mother nature know it is almost May? I took a walk this afternoon and listened to the latest 2 Fit Chicks and a Microphone podcast. While the rest of me is progressing really well, the walking front is still difficult. It is kind of painful and I don’t have any speed yet. I think running is still at least many days away. When I try a couple jog steps, my knee does not support me at all. No hurry, though. I want to make sure I am fully ready. Here is a beautiful crabapple tree I saw on my walk!

I was feeling the stirfry for dinner tonight. We used a Kikomann ginger teriyaki sauce. Loves the proteiny shrimps!

I cut my pear different, too – just to be a rebel.

Pixie was singing in the rain. See – she does open her eyes!

Sometimes I have some concerns about how well I am going to heal from the sciatica. I know the doctor said 6 to 8 weeks and I am halfway there, so there is time. The numbness of half my knee coupled with the burning pain it gets is just so weird, especially since the injury is actually in my back and not my knee. There is nothing to do but wait and see what happens. The day I can run will be the day I know I am back to normal (or what passes for that around here!).

Off to get some coffee and chillax tonight!

Question: If I do a video blog, what would you like me to talk about?

Chasing away the blues.

Getting better bit by bit. I am just hoping to be walking pain free very soon. That would be a giant step forward. I was feeling pretty blue this morning about the whole thing. I just wish I had a timeline, you know?

Very sad clown here…. I made a comforting bowl of banana oats this morning, topped with some Nuttzo and jam.

I don’t know if I will ever go back to not adding egg whites to my oatmeal anymore! I am hooked.

I am looking into getting a foam roller. I want to make sure I keep my back and leg muscles stretched out, and there is a specific roller exercise for sciatica, so that will be on the list. I just need to find the right size roller, I guess.

Lunch was cobbled together with the last of the baby carrots, and a super unripe kiwi!

Dang, that was even more tart than the one I had last week. No wonder they were on sale. I need to let the other sit for a few days before eating.

One bonus to not working out in the morning is that I can start work early and be done early. I was finished by 3!

Afternoon snack time:

One of John’s brownies. I was going to ask for the recipe, but they really are a bit dry and not as good as they look (sorry J!).

I waddled outside afterward to try and take a walk. I made it this far:

Our house is the 2nd one down. I had to turn back and come home because of the pain. I should have gotten the crutches out for the walk, but I hadn’t needed them walking around the house.

Dinner time was some chicken topped with a laughing cow wedge and salsa – you must try this because it was soo good!

Yum! John asked me if I wanted to go out for coffee this evening to cheer me up. Of course I won’t say no that, as you well know. It worked:

That’s my favorite travel mug – see how beat up it is? I just can’t find one to replace it that is just right. John on the other hand,has a ton of travel mugs. Not pictured is the muffin I had with this….

Had to cover up the rose bushes tonight. Temps are supposed to drop to 27! Hope they make it.

Question: Do any of you use a foam roller?

Bagels and settling the mind.

I had a great night’s sleep – yay! I wanted to stay up and watch the short track, but couldn’t make it past the semi-finals. We headed on out to breakfast at Panera Bread. I had a french toast bagel. So good.

The coffee had grounds in it again, though. What is up with that?? Only in my cup (twice), but not in John’s. Still trying to figure that one out.

Slow work day this morning, so I got some much needed things done around the house. I have a monster paper pile I am trying to tame, mostly junk mail, but other things as well.

We went grocery shopping today, and strawberries were on sale for $2 a pound! You know who bought 3 boxes 😀 I had to incorporate into lunch today:

This is one of my very favorite combos – greek yogurt, strawberries, and hemp plus granola. I have had cereal out of the house for quite a while, so I let a little back in. I buy it from the bulk bin, so I can get as little as I want. As you all know, I have a cereal snackage problem at times.
I need to see how well I do with this in the house. If I am okay, we might buy a box of Kashi next week. Baby steps.

Now that things have settled down, I have myself into a good routine again. However, I am finding my mind still all over the place and racing around. Meditation doesn’t seem to work as I can’t stop thinking about stuff. Things that happened, things that are happening, things that could/are going to happen. I guess I am just an inherent spazz, I don’t know. Maybe it will just take longer to settle down my head and the longer I am in my physical routine, the better that will get? I have decided it’s time to make some decisions on goal weight and all that and what I want to do. After I finish work tonight, I am going to sit down and write out the pros and cons of what that will take and share them tomorrow. I at least need to outline my goals for the week.

Went out for a chilly walk (not as warm out as yesterday!) then came back to a snack of this (x2):

And a latte. I am so spoiled having my own barista in John, as he makes these pretty much every day for me since I started my job a year ago.

I also got some Cedar’s Lemon Hummus at the store today. Gosh I love that stuff! I used it for dinner in wrap with chicken.

Brussels and a very juicy bit of cantaloupe on the side. I love fruit so much. I swear that if fruit contained protein, that is all I would eat other than bagels

After signing off, I am going to have a snack of crustless pumpkin pie. John stole a can from my pumpkin stash 😯 and made this, so I am darn well going to eat some! It’s yummy, though. Who says pumpkin is just for Thanksgiving??

And because you all seem to like her pictures, Pixie posed for you doing what she does best:

Question: Do you ever put a food ‘on hiatus’?

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…

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And here is proof that I actually eat these things:

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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:

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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:

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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?

Weekend is here!

Yippee! Done with work today and my weekend begins! Any of you who missed it earlier, John hit his goal weight today! That makes it a good day all around for both of us. I’ll just keep plugging along LOL! His reward is new clothes this weekend!

Tomorrow is my last NROLW workout, so I eased up on the exercise today so that I can really give it my all tomorrow.

I was up at 6 am, though, for whatever reason. I made some delicious oats today:

oats1119

40 grams of oats
1 ripe banana
3 dates chopped up
1 tbsp cashew butter.

I don’t know why I have never thought to put dates in my oatmeal before. They were fun! This bowl needed a little crunch, though. Maybe with some nuts or toasted coconuts.

Work went by really fast today, even though I had to take a break and go to my rental property for an appraisal. My tenant was there with his big goofy dog:

dog1119

I like dogs, but I am not a fan of slobber….. friendly, though.

Lunch was an egg and feta scramble in a wrap. Quick and easy, if not exciting blog fodder.

lunch1119

I am hungry today. Or maybe it’s *hangry*. I think it’s because I did not get enough sleep last night. I am craving salty stuff, too.

I finished up with work at 3:30 today! That means my weekend starts! I did a 3 mile walk to start the weekend. It takes so much longer to walk 3 miles than run 3 miles

Passed this sign during the walk:

nogsign

I have not had eggnog yet this season except for a couple sips of John’s eggnog latte. My vow is to wait until Thanksgiving! Gonna make it 😀

We threw together a stir fry tonight using some leftovers in the fridge. Pork, brown rice, peppers, onions and some soy sauce. Requesit broccoli for me! The pear was not as good as yesterday’s, though.

din1119

So, the weekend before Thanksgiving and it is very important to eat well. You can already feel a holiday mood around. This is not an excuse to overeat the day’s leading up to the actual holiday! I need to remind myself of that.

Last workout tomorrow. It’s like I am graduating!

Sore and protein power!

I took a Tylenol PM last night both for the back and the pain at the Broncos loss last night. 😡 I slept really well for almost 8 hours (go me!!). Opened my eyes and took inventory:

Sore legs? check

Sore butt? check

Sore arms, sides and chest? Check, check, and check.

My back injury actually felt pretty much gone, just a tiny twinge. I was slow getting out of bed and John commented on how weird it was to see me moving so slow. I guess it does happen on occasion LOL!

Only went for a walk today as I decided to let my body rest up since I have NROLW on Wednesday to do. I also decided to stock up on protein for repair.

Protein pancakes for breakfast!

cakes

Along with cafe au lait (I use 1 cup of milk to make 2 drinks for breakfast).

Without a workout, I got right down to typing and worked steadily. Sometimes I can get distracted by things, and I had some trouble focusing today watching my squirrel buddy right outside my window.

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Pixie was really enamored of him, too! She chatters, which is so funny!

I made a fabulous protein packed superfood lunch!

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1 container of french vanilla Oikos
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
1/2 cup pumpkin
cinnamon
cranberry sauce
1 packet of teddy grahams (into the pool!)

It was so delicious.

John made lattes and brought me a little treat with it.

latte

Candy corn kisses! These actually remind me more of a canned frosting than candy corn, but I love the look of them. Another thing hidden up high. I should take a picture of what is hidden away from me – it is quite a lot of stuff LOL.

Took a walk before dinner. It feels so funny just to walk. I hardly ever do that anymore since I normally run or bike. I kept catching myself wanting to start jogging. Come on Lori – gotta relax!!

Dinner was more protein in the form of chicken. I brushed some mustard on the chicken breast and coated it with almond meal and sauteed in a pan.

dinner1110

Super tasty, although the coating fell off. Yummy. And roasted brussel sprouts for a change.

Done with work, so that means the evening is free for something, although not sure what yet 😀

Tomorrow we are going to attempt a morning ride to bagels. Upper 30s, so at least it will be above freezing!

Question: What is your favorite way to get protein?

Crazy busy day

You know those days where you have some things planned, and you end up doing everything but those things? The plan was for DH and I to go on a long bike ride, have some frozen yogurt and go to the library.
Instead, we got groceries, then my parents found a house they really liked, and needed us to take them to the realtor’s office to put in the offer. So then we went out to lunch (Panera bread, where I had healthy choices), and by the time all was said and done – it was 5PM.
Now it is stormy, so no bike ride. And no frozen yogurt either! Oh well, there is always tomorrow.
Just a brisk walk today, and probably a bowflex workout that I didn’t get in yesterday.

Panera bread looks scary on the surface, but they really have some excellent choices to get for a meal. For around 500 calories, you can have 1/2 a sandwich and 1/2 salad with a side of fruit. I got the cafe turkey sandwich (mustard only, no mayo), and a 1/2 fandango salad. Yum!

Finding Radiance

Trying to live a fit life loving food, cycling, gardening and everything in between!