Tag Archives: coffee

Friday 5K

Can I just say how nice it is to see the sunshine?  While still a bit chilly, the sun is very welcome around here.

John told me yesterday that there were 2 weeks until Thanksgiving. 2 weeks!!  Time keeps going by faster and faster.

I went harvest for breakfast today.  The 1 minute ‘muffle‘ with apple topping.  Today is grain free, but not necessarily lower carb.

Interesting note – the recipe page for the 1-minute muffin is the most viewed page on my website. It got linked to by a few bigger websites (even though I am not the originator of the recipe).  There was a bit of time a month or two ago where that single page had 1500 hits on it in 1 day.  Crazy.  It’s weird when you get a ton of people come to your blog like that, especially if they never comment even once because it sort of feels like  having a stranger peeping in an open window or something LOL!

Today was the usual Fridayitis, especially with the sun out.  I needed some good protein for lunch, so I made a pumpkin protein shake.    1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 30 grams isolated whey protein (unflavored), 1 teaspoon honey, and cinnamon.

The nuts were for some fat since the protein shake doesn’t have much.

After lunch, I went out for a run.  I decided to go ahead and try a whole 5K today and see how it felt.  I finished in 38 and change, keeping my pace slow and steady.

Done!  This is the first 5K I have run in about 1-1/2 years, I think.

I am now going to show you my running shoes.

Think I need new ones?  Blowing out the sides.  I haven’t bought new ones because I wasn’t sure if I could keep with the running.  I might buy a new pair.  I hate spending money on shoes, honestly.  I am very, very hard on my shoes  and go through them pretty fast, which is annoying because any kind of athletic shoe is expensive!  I may be needing to replace my bike cleats as well fairly soon.

John and I played hooky this afternoon!  I do love Friday when we do this.  It means I shift my work around, but it is worth it! We stopped at Coffee Planet for some Vitamin C.  I love the attention to detail they give on their lattes.

So good, too.  I wish they were open late.  They close at 8 pm, which is too early when we want to do a coffee at night.  That’s why we end up at Starbucks when we would much, much rather be here.

I managed to do some work when I got back until dinner.  I had the most awesome dinner!  I sauteed up some broccoli in coconut oil, added some raw jumbo shrimp and and some of this sauce:

Then just as the cooking was finished, I tossed in some fresh cut pineapple.

This was soooo good!  Easy, too.  The thing that took the longest was cutting up the pineapple  :mrgreen:

It’s now Friday night and I have to get back to work some.  That’s the breaks for hooky time.   John has gone out and Pixie will have to do for my company while I work.

Why did you just wake me up?

FYI – evening snack is ricotta cheese with warmed blueberry sauce.  Definitely one of those good eatin’ type of days!

 

Biking on the agenda for this weekend – temps in the mid 50s on Sunday! Can you tell I am excited??

Non bagel Wednesday and why no grains again?

Well, the first real challenge day arrived.  No grains means no bagel! I woke up and waited for John to wake up to ride to breakfast.  Normally he doesn’t sleep too late, but he did today and I was getting cranky and antsy.  I should have just eaten breakfast.  You know how that goes.  I did have a protein drink and a date before he got up, but I was bonking by the time we got to the cafe. Ugh.

I had packed some strawberries with a couple of the ricotta puffs (which weren’t so puffy 2 days later…).  Note John’s grain-filled goodness 😀

I also had a big Ethiopian Harrar coffee.

It was a nice ride home, although I felt a little fatigued.  No flat tires, though, and that is always a good thing.  12 miles for breakfast today.

I think I have to clarify the no-grain challenge a bit as the comments from the other day brought up some questions.  Funny how everything is clear as a bell in my mind, but I apparently didn’t explain well.  That happens with John and I a lot.  I will be talking and kind of skip ahead because I am assuming his thought processes are going in step with mine (thank goodness they don’t).  Then I look up and see his face and can tell he is totally scrambling in his brain trying to figure out what I am talking about.

The biggest reason for doing this is to give myself a shot in the arm. I am pretty good at maintaining.  A few higher days, a few lower days.  But to get rid of the little extra something, I need to have more lower days in a row.  For some reason, this has been really hard for me to do more than a couple days in a row.  So, I wanted something that would really focus my mind on eating choices.  It isn’t really about the weight loss because let’s face it – I am and always have been a turtle in that department.  I just want something that will give me that little spark, and I think this challenge will do that.  I am hoping to turtle on, though, with this challenge. :mrgreen:

I am not worried about giving up grains and what it will do to my body per se.  You don’t need grains to function.  I get plenty of fiber.  Yesterday I got 35 grams of fiber in without a single bit of grain.  My carbs are about 40% of my calories, which actually is much better for *my* body (hate to admit it, but it’s true) especially now that I am not doing the huge rides.  When I bring grains back in, I don’t think much will happen except my cravings for sweets will increase.

Regarding ‘substitutes’ like socca bread or the coconut biscuits.  I just like those things.  They aren’t necessarily a substitute for bread because I would eat them anyway, but I do like the texture of a baked good and these suffice as their own entities rather than a substitute.  There is no substitute cupcake or bagel out there – and no, Arnold Bagel thins are *not* even close to a bagel.  They are just sandwich thins with a hole. 🙄   I’ll just have to wait to have them.

So, hope that clears up why I chose this challenge – and on to lunch!

Quick one – just some pork with broccoli and a plum.  Plums were on sale this week – yay!

I also had some pistachios after lunch.

Afternoon snack was a big bowl of blueberries and an almond milk iced coffee.

Don’t you want some? Cooler weather is coming in, and it is because I got my hair cut.  Guaranteed to bring cold weather.

I was trying to cram work in with the late start and all. I dislike days like that.  At least leftovers make a good quick dinner!

Palak chole on some socco bread (lots o’ chickpeas in this dinner).

I hurried with work because Wednesday is mom time!  I met her out at the cafe.  Don’t you love a latte?

I know I do.  Yes, it is decaf, but 2% milk, cause a girl loves her fats 😀

Caffeine free week review

Happy new week!  I am glad to restart caffeine today, but more on that later.  I was up bright and early and it was so nice outside.  Mid 60s and perfect for a morning walk.  I decided I need to make sure I cross train more and don’t bike all the time.  I have already met my goal of 400 miles this month a few days early with yesterday’s ride.  Yay!

After my walk, I made up some brekkie.

Cream of wheat with egg whites whisked in topped with a sauteed banana and coconut butter.  I sauteed the nana in some butter-flavored cooking spray and cinnamon.

I really liked this a lot.  Not overly sweet, but just right for me.  Plus a few cups of coffee!  I received some coffee from the a foodbuzz tastermaker program.

Oh cruel fate for this to have arrived on Thursday of my no caffeine week. I need to make an iced coffee drink with this on the blog, but today was straight up!  I brewed up the chocolate truffle flavor and it was a strong flavor!

Speaking of caffeine, the week without was not really what I was expecting.  I thought I was going to get ferocious headaches, but I did not even get a single one. Pretty amazing, eh?  I did find myself really tired the first few days, actually needing a nap on Monday.  Thank goodness I work at home or I would have had to do under-the-desk napping.

I was not cranky at all, which was good.  I also found my sleep to be pretty much the same at night.  I think the magnesium does much, much more for me than doing without caffeine.

I will try to stick with a decaf regimen for evening coffee and with afternoon as well if I can.  Since I roast my own coffee, it is good quality decaf that I buy and it is really fresh.  I guess that is one reason my week went so well other than my lame Panera Bread decaf yesterday.

I worked fast and furious this morning and was ready for my lunch break. When in doubt – have eggs!  Scrambled with a cubed laughing cow wedge.

These blueberries are so good.  I picked them almost a week and a half ago and they are still super fresh. Only about 1.5 pounds remaining.  I keep meaning to make something with them, but they just end up going straight into my mouth!

We got some needed rain today, which ushered in cooler temps.  It just feels so good to breath real air with a real breeze.  Not fake AC air with a fan.  Know what I mean?

John made me up an almond milk latte today and I noshed on a GF chocolate chip cookie.

I was sent this recipe  by reader (hi Katy!) made with coconut flour and I tried it out.  I will share on Thursday.  They are not low calorie, but very satisfying little bites as full fat items often are.

Time for dinner!

We had these Nature’s Place apple chicken sausages along with some sauteed brussel sprouts.  Well, I had sprouts, John did not. :mrgreen:

We went out shopping for a bit.  I was in the mood to shop, but couldn’t find anything I wanted.  Funny how it always works out that way.  However, we did stop for a quick coffee.

Yep – decaf!  I am noshing on some dried pineapple right now.  It’s hard to stick to a serving of those things.

John is leaving tomorrow for a few days, so Pixie and I get to cut loose and par-tay!  Except for having to keep an eye on the business *and* work my own job.  Maybe just getting through the next few days is enough.  At least I have my caffeine back 😀

It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity

I am melting in this heat.  Actually, it is the humidity that does me in.  I was so tired yesterday that I started to fall asleep in the afternoon.  Then last night I could hardly keep my eyes open and I just gave in and went to bed at 10, turning off the light at 10:30.  I usually go to be around 11:30.

I started my no caffeinated coffee week this week.  😯  I am questioning what I was thinking with my goals this month, but I will persevere.   I roasted up some good decaf yesterday so at least what I drink is good stuff.  I took my first walk around the block while that brewed up and I tried to clear my fuzzy head this morning.

I came back to make some protein waffles and made blueberry sauce from fresh blueberries that I picked on Saturday.  5 pounds of blueberries.  Yum.

I was really tired in the morning.  If it hadn’t been for me being tired yesterday too, I would have put it on the no caffeine, but not so sure now.  Pixie is super hot as well.

Always the lady. 🙄

I took a break for lunch and decided to have some fish.  I have not had tuna for a while since it went back on the ‘dislike’ list, but I do still like these!

These are organic strawberries.  We don’t buy organic on things because of cost.  With the way I go through berries, we just can’t afford the organic.  Of course, who knows what pesticides I am eating.  Oh well.

I really had trouble staying awake after lunch and decided to take my laptop to work in the bedroom with some AC on and take a nap.  I fell asleep for half an hour and it felt really good!  Naps are pretty unusual for me, but I must have really needed it.

I stopped downstairs to get a snack a little later.

Decaf coffee with almond milk and a dried pineapple ring with peanuts.  That was an interesting combo.

I also felt hungry again a little later.  What is up with that?  Heat usually dampens my appetite, but not the last couple of days. I have been snacking like it’s my job.

I had one of my very favorite  snacks:

Medjool dates only for me.  I am totally spoiled.  They are only $4.99 a pound here, so not too bad. It is the one snack I won’t eat too many of because they have such a rich flavor (to me).

We had bought fresh pineapple and I decided I wanted teriyaki chicken with pineapple.  So I commenced to grilling for dinner:

Note I am cooking an extra chicken breast for this week – planning ahead!

John ate his on a plate.  Me, I put mine on a bed of lettuce:

Refreshing.

It is a rest day on the Tour, so no TV tonight.  Can I tell you my geeky happiness?  On Saturday night’s tour recap show, there is a segment called “Ask Bobke” about the tour.  I posted a question to them on Facebook and looked what came on the TV screen!

And he answered it!  Eeeeeee!!!!  I love how they put  MSU on there under my name.  Must have pulled that off my Facebook profile, but I graduated from there with my masters in 1992. (OMG, I just really thought about how long ago that was…).

There is more hot weather coming up in the low 90s (that is really hot for us up here).  And humid.  We had rain today, which just made the humidity worse.  Sometimes it is refreshing after rain, but not so today.  Just need to make it through the next few days.

Question:  Have you ever had grilled pineapple?

Lifting and latte primer

I am glad you liked my recap of the 1500 calorie week. I am tired of talking calories now, though LOL! Back to eating 😀
After fueling up this morning, I headed out to see what trouble I could get into at the gym.

After a treadmill warm up:

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Barbell Squats 1 set of 10 at 65#

1 set of 10 at 75#

1 set of 8 at 85#

1 set of 6 at 95#

1 set of 3 at 100# !!!!!

 Lower body
Dumbbell Pull Over 3 sets of 10 at 30# Back
Pushups 3 sets of 10 Chest
Decline Sit Ups 3 sets of 10 Core
Seated Calf Raise 3 sets of 10 at 140# Calves
Prone Cuban Snatch 3 sets of 8 with 10# DBs (20# total) Shoulders
Nosebreaker 3 sets of 12 at 25# Triceps
1-leg deadlifts 3 sets of 10 each leg with 15# DBs (30# total) Hammies and balance

Did you see that? I full squatted 100 pounds! 95 is tough, and I added 5 more pounds. You wouldn’t think it is that much heavier, but it sure is. I did 2 and then a 3rd. I got to the bottom of the 3rd and said “Uh-oh, I have to get back up!” I had to really power it back up, so I did not attempt any more. I re-racked, pumped my fist and said “Yes!!” LOL. Goober.  Hopefully I can do 3 more by the end of the month. I have to say that I already feel the squats setting in. My quads are toast. Tomorrow ought to feel pretty good…

Then it was home for a well-deserved brekkie! Pumpkin custard cream of wheat topped with honey fluff, cranberry sauce, and toasted almonds.

Does that not look good? It was.

Slow start to work, so I actually went upstairs and got on the bike trainer for 30 minutes for my cardio.  I usually will do that at night, but I will have to work tonight since the morning was slow.   Love my trainer 😀

Lunchtime and we are using up the food in preparation for a trip this weekend.  I made a yummy BBQ chicken sammie with laughing cow on a pita.  And some rare applesauce.

This was a really good sandwich (pitawich?).

I have gotten a question or 2 on the lattes.  Here is what we do.  We have a cheapie machine – It’s a Mr. Coffee.  It does a great job on the milk steaming, but the espresso could be better.  Until we buy a new one, this will have to do:

First, the coffee filter gets filled and packed with coffee.

Then inserted into the machine.

The reservoir is filled with water and then you turn the machine to the brew portion.  Espresso with crema coming out.

There is a mark on the coffee container that tells you when to start steaming the milk.  Each mug has 8 oz of milk in it (and mine has 7 g of protein powder as well, those squats, you know).  Place the mug with the tip of the steam wand just below the surface and turn to ‘steam’.

The steam will heat and froth the milk.  You don’t want lots of big bubbles, so keep the tip below the surface of the milk.  This isn’t like blowing bathwater bubbles.

Note how the steaming will aerate the milk and make it seem like more!

I love having my own personal barista.

Once the espresso is done, pour it into the steamed milk.  If we got better crema, I would try latte art, but again – cheap machine.

Time for the ‘drizz’ as we call it.  This is raw honey on mine.

That’s my usual afternoon snack!

With some of these:

If I could have one expensive kitchen gadget – it would be a really nice espresso machine.  Best start playing Power Ball!

I actually ate fish for dinner tonight – this is Gorton’s Fish cake.  It doesn’t taste very fishy, so I am okay with eating it (with hot sauce).

Even though I am eating more today, I seem to be doing well with keeping snacking in check.  Yay!  Now it is back to work with said snack and hopefully some football watching when I am finished.

Question:  If you drink coffee, what is your favorite drink?

Laboring on Labor Day

I took a day off blogging yesterday! I didn’t have anything interesting to say, really, and I worked,so figured I would just not post. Today is also work day for me, but I get paid a little extra 😀
My gym was open today, but open later.   I, however, was up at my usual time.  So I decided to eat breakfast before my workout instead of moving everything up an hour.

Banana custard cream of wheat!  Topped with honey fluff. I promise the recipe will be posted on Tuesday.

I biked off to the gym in some chilly weather today. Full tummy, which was a little weird, too.

I went for a massive (for me) lifting session since it is the last one until after my Charity Ride (6 days!!)

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Barbell Squats 3 sets of 10 at 45# Lower body
Dumbbell Pull Over 3 set of 15 with 20# DB Back
Barbell Deadlift 3 sets of 10 at 65# Lower body
Incline chest fly 3 sets of 15 with 15# DBs (30# total) Chest
Seated Calf Raise 3 sets of 10 at 110# Calves
Captain’s Chair 3 sets of 12 Core
Face Pull 3 sets of 12 at 30# Shoulders
Straight Arm Lat Pull Down 3 sets of 12 at 50# Back
Alternating Side Lunge 3 sets of 10 (each leg) with 15# DBs (30 total) Lower body
Good Mornings 3 sets of 12 with 35# bar Low back and hammies
Triceps kickback 3 sets of 12 with 15# DBs (30 total) Triceps
Push ups 3 sets of 10 Chest

** Note to self. Do not do push ups at the end of the workout.**

I was. wiped. out. after this workout.  I came home and had some cafe au lait, showered, and got to work!

Other people laboring on the holiday are window people.  They did not quite finish up the capping on the outside of our house, and they arrived bright and early this holiday morning to get it done!  Now that is dedication to the job, don’t you think?

Lunch time was some of my yogurt/berry/cereal mash.  I keep wondering if I will tire of this, but I never do.

The strawberries taste excellent as well.

Work ran out for a while, so I was able to do some garden work.  Removed a couple plants I decided I didn’t want anymore and figured it was a good place for my new rose bush!  (I also need to divide sedum later this fall).

This bush is going to do a late bloom, too, and I am pretty excited about that.  I can’t wait until it appears in the Friday What’s Blooming!

I have been toying with the idea of going through the Master Gardener program for the county.   I just need to make sure I have time to do the volunteer work the position requires (like being at the county fair, community gardens, schools, etc).  Not to mention sitting through the training courses.

Time for snacks!

Check this out.  The rumor is that we are going to have early fall color around here and it will be super bright.  The tree across the street has already flipped over!

No other tree is like that around here.  Isn’t that weird?

Dinner time arrived.  I have been super hungry the last couple days.  Not sure what is up with that.  Annoying, though.  I did eat an apple while waiting for dinner to cook.  I mixed up some ground turkey with minced onion and seasoning.   Then put it in muffin cups and topped with BBQ sauce.  Baked for about 30 minutes and I had little turkey muffins!

Tasty.  I wanted to go the whole meatloaf route with bread crumbs and egg, but I got going on it too late because of work.

After dinner was some coffee roasting (Guatemalan):

Now we are going to do some coffee drinking!  Hope you are having (had) a relaxing holiday!

Lifting Move of The Week – Squat to Row

Happy Hump Day! Sort of. When you work 6 days, where is the hump exactly? Guess that would be tonight. Anyhoo, I decided to chance the gray skies and bike to the gym. First I quaffed a protein beverage:

Then headed out.

The air in the gym was all wavy from the amount of testosterone today. It was kind of funny as there was a group of 8 young men and one was obviously the ‘leader’ as they all followed him around the gym like chicks after a mother hen. I was not going to let them intimdate me out of free weight area, either. I made sure to scrub down everything really well that I used before I touched it. There was so much testosterone around that I didn’t want to grow anything unwanted…

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Barbell split squats 3 sets of 10 with 65# bar Lower body
Dumbbell Chest Press 3 set of 12 with 20# DBs (40# total) Chest
Seated Lat Row 3 sets of 10 at 55# Back
YTWL 3 sets of 4 (each letter) with 8# DBs Shoulders
Cable Squat-to-Row 3 sets of 12 at 50# Full body
Horizontal Wood Chop 3 sets of 12 at 20# Core
Seated calf raise 3 sets of 10 at 110# Calves
Arnold Press 3 sets of 12 with 10# DBs (20# total) Shoulders

I notice I did 2 shoulder exercises today. Ooops. That’s what happens when there are so many people in the gym that you forget where you were.

I biked home to brekkie and some protein waffles!

Topped with a little honey fluff. I’ll get a recipe post of this up. It’s life changingly good. I put it in the recipe book, too (which is almost done).

Lifting Move of the Week: Cable Squat-to-Row. I have posted this before a long time ago, but I do love this move. Short on time? Work the entire body with this. You could also do it at home with a resistance band around a door knob (or something to that effect).

I love how the weight on the cable allows me to get all the way down for the squat. Today I did lighter weights and more reps and it got my heart rate up. It’s sort of like doing the rowing machine only standing.  Obviously an older video with the longer hair 😀

Workie, workie!  I am getting much faster with job #2 as I get more and more familiar with the doctors.  That makes the days a little shorter that way.  It’s a good thing.

Took a lunch break for some greek yogurt and cereal!

One serving of Newman’s Own Sweet Enough cereal on the bottom of this bowl. Dang a single portion size is so tiny.  This is why I don’t have cereal with just milk as the serving is too dinky.  I like to bulk it up with yogurt and fruit.

Payday for one of my jobs was today, so I socked that right towards the new bike.  Just a little more craziness and I might make it.  I had a latte for a snack, plus a couple of these.

Think I am going a little crazy?  You wouldn’t be incorrect.

One thing I have noticed in all of this is that I am really not stress snacking.  I would say I am proud of that, but to be honest I just hadn’t noticed I was not snacking and was not consciously trying to avoid it.  Maybe that is pride worthy in itself…

Another fast dinner.

The baked crab cakes I use are Smart Option brand, which I believe is a store brand for Hannaford.  This is one of those things that I kind of close my eyes on the ingredients.  The nutritional stats aren’t bad, and they are inexpensive – hence they enter the house for quick meals.  Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.

I am posting from Starbies tonight.  Needed a break, so after I got most of my work done, we are here now and I can internet and catch up on emails and blog stuff.

This bush is outside.  Does anyone know what it is?

Decaf!

Plus I snagged half of one of John’s chocolate grahams.  Most times he doesn’t mind me taking some of his dessert, as long as it is too many bites :mrgreen:

Working for the weekend.

Rainy overnight and the morning was humid, but cloudy, so I decided to run at the track.  Pixie and I were messing around with photos this morning while I waited for my snack to settle a little bit.  Best of all the pics below 😀

Pixie looks like she is saying “You didn’t shower yet, did you?”

I also could not believe my hair looked like this when I got up.

Normally you see me in a hat for a reason….  Can I also say that I am loving my shoulders right now??  It’s taken a couple years of dedicated lifting, but I am really starting to see good things.

I wasn’t really sure how far I wanted to go, I was thinking just 2 miles, but then after 2 miles I just decided to go one more.  I was in a groove with my tunes.  Listening to Hot Club of Detroit.  I need to get their new album!  I love running with music.  I never, ever bike with headphones on for safety reasons, but I love to run that way.

I was all waffle ready when I got home.  I actually added crystallized ginger chips to the waffle batter and it was yum!

Topped with the banana maple mash.  *Snort* and it was gone.

Showered and right to work.  I worked a long day yesterday.  Too long.  Can’t wait for the weekend.  So, regarding the trip – we are headed up to Montreal for the weekend!  It’s only about 3 hours away.  We are going to stay at a B&B (with WiFi) and bring the bikes along.  Hopefully the weather will be nice for riding.  On a side note, if there are any Montreal readers (do I have any?) who want to meet up for a bagel or something please shoot me an email!

Lunch time.  Since it is hot and humid, I decided on a cool and refreshing lunch:

I actually sat and ate this while *not* working.   I wanted to enjoy it.

Also – I see that Shape Magazine has my story from the May issue on their website now!  Yippee!!  😀  Fame without the fortune, gotta love it…

I had a couple snacks today.  Running makes me hungry!

Balance Bare bar:

Delicious – have you had these?  Sweet and salty and protein!

Dark chocolate snack:

No latte today as we are going out later, plus I was feeling a little too warm to want one.

Mr. and Ms. Goldfinch were snacking today as well.

I was beat by the time dinner came around.  My brain gets really tired from transcription.  When tired, go for the standard for dinner:

Beverage tonight was seltzer mixed with a little POM juice.  Yum!

I had to work more after dinner.  I am so glad I don’t have a commute because I would be working 12 hour days with it.  It’s already long enough right now.

John and I needed a date night tonight for coffee when I finished.  Both of us working very hard right now.  I am posting from Starbies.

Skim latte, but not decaf.   Oops.  Will see what happens later.  Lifting move of the week coming up tomorrow!

Question:  Music while you run or no?

Lucky fridge find.

Happy Monday! I was up a little early today for my workout. I ate a Balance bar while getting my bag ready for the gym.

Probably not very mindfully, but oh well.

Biked to the gym for a good lifting session:

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Barbell split squats 3 sets of 8 with 75# bar Lower body
Seated lat row Pyramid with 12 reps at 40#
10 reps at 55#
8 reps at 70#
6 reps at 85# (hard!!)		 Back
Incline DB chest fly 3 sets of 10 with 20# DBs (40# total) Chest
Pliet squat 3 sets of 10 with 35# DB Legs
Horizontal cable woodchop 3 sets 10 (each side) at 30# Abs
Front Raise 3 sets with 10 with 8# DBs (16# total) Shoulders
Good Mornings 3 sets of 10 with 55# bar Lower back and hammies

I left out any arm work as I really felt like I got enough in, particularly with the rows. Then I hopped on the treadmill for 3 miles. Steady 5.5 mph pace, then in the last mile, I did a 5-minute interval at 6.5 mph (9:31 mile). Felt pretty good. I was good and sweaty then to bike home. Sort of a tiny brick biking home after running. Maybe just a paver….

Whipped up some protein waffles for brekkie!

Topped with a nanner mashed with 1 tbsp maple syrup and 5 toasted pecans.  I don’t like to have to measure out nuts, but I will easily eat an ounce plus if I don’t.

Job #1 was slow, so I was able to log in to job #2 and do my work there this morning.  Yay!  It’s actually kind of nice because the one account I do for them currently only has 4 doctors on it, so I am learning them very fast.  Although, this particular account is probably temporary.  My other job account has 400+ doctors as it is a multispecialty clinic.   That meant the morning went fast and it was lunchtime before I knew it!

Mmmm… cool yogurt and granola on a hot day.

The temps are warm again, but the humidity is not there, so the AC works pretty well at keeping the rooms cool.  We don’t have central air, but a window AC in our bedroom and a big one in the downstairs, which is pretty open.  I was ready for a lovely beverage, though, iced this time:

With a slice of bread and cashew butter.  I’s a hungry girl today.

Did really well on the no snacking front while preparing dinner, thanks again to the Altoids.  The urge to snack is really strong, though, and I struggled with it tonight.  It is definitely going to be a challenging habit to break.  The automatic reaching for nibbles kept wanting to happen and I had to be super conscious of it.

Dinner all ready to be eaten:

Baked clam strips and brussels.  That is a peach on the side there (covered in cinnamon, because that is how I roll around here).  This peach was okay.  Just a supermarket peach and not the most flavorful.  I am not fond of the fuzzy skin on peaches and much prefer nectarines.  We are on blueberry rationing right now because there is just a tiny bit left and I have to wait until Friday to get more.

I was mixing up a batch of bread dough and was looking for the other container of yeast in the fridge

and totally scored – I found an Attune bar!

Sweet!  It’s nice that little things make me happy 😀  This is my snack for tonight as I finish up work (booo).

Question:  Iced coffee or iced tea in summer?

July goals and being mindful

Wow was it cold overnight!  It was 48 degrees 😯   What a way to start July!  I decided to try to sleep in as much as I was able to and got up around 7.  I was going to go for a run, but with a high of 70 or so, I figured I would go later and enjoy.  That meant brekkie time!

Custard style banana cream of wheat topped with almond butter and preserves.

Since it was so cold, this bowl was extra yummy!   I then got an early start with work as I like to do on Thursdays.

Pubsgal asked yesterday how long it takes me to do my strength workouts.  While you all know how much I love my lifting, I don’t want to spend all day at the gym.  My strength workouts generally run between 35-45 minutes.  Yesterday was 45 because of the planks.  Those just add time to workouts because of the long hold times.  I rest for about a minute between sets and don’t dillydally around too much.

Lunch break was tuna with lemon pepper and a veggie egg roll (Kahiki brand and only 70 calories!).

And a golden kiwi!

I’ve never had one of these before.  It was sweet and almost tasted like a banana.  The texture was softer as well.  I definitely prefer the regular old kiwi, but this was fun.

Yesterday I did my wrapup for June and did pretty well for the month.  Here is what I have on tap for July:

  • Continue with at least 1 no-added sugar day a week.  This actually isn’t that hard, I have to say.
  • An 80-mile bike ride.  Gonna do at least that one, and likely finish out the 100 as well.  Kind of need to get that done so we can get back to normal biking 😀  Eeeep!!
  • Big challenge – I am not going to step on the scale for 30 days.  I weighed myself this morning and that is it for the month.  This goes along with the next item.
  • Really practice mindful eating and mindful being.  Funny how I like that term better than intuitive eating, and I listened to the 2 fit chicks podcast today and they called it the same thing!  Of course, I need my Lori rules for it, and I will explore those over the course of the month.  I am going to track calories, but more from the ‘what I ate’ standpoint than planning it out.

I have this book out to read as well:

So, those should be fun 😀  I am going to do a separate post on the whole IE/ mindful eating thing.  I started writing it in this post, but it really needs its own (and then people who are just here for food pics can skip that one!).

Snack time!  I had a latte and a couple dates:

After finishing up work, I decided to go out for a run.  I had half of a Luna bar to get a little extra fuel.

Even though I wasn’t hungry, I knew that I would need something to have enough energy for the run.  Still not sure how that really fits in with honoring one’s hunger, but that’s another post.

My run was really good.  This is about the most comfortable I have felt since before I hurt my back.  I don’t know why, but I’ll take it.  I did 3 miles and have no idea of the pace because I had walked to the post office before hitting the track and didn’t bring a watch.

Pretty happy when finished.  It was so breezy that my hair didn’t get totally matted with sweat, which is always a bonus.

I was hungry at that point, so I finished the other half of the Luna bar while fixing dinner:

In a mindful eating mode, I decided to only start with half a pear, as I thought a whole one might be too much since I had a sweet potato (topped with chicken and BBQ sauce).  I was correct about that – so go me!

It’s a chilly evening.  I am blogging from the front porch and John made cafe au lait for us.  We both have jackets on.  Is it really July??

More what’s blooming tomorrow, and probably an extra post on IE/ME.

Question:  Have you ever stepped away from the scale?