Category Archives: strength training

Being busy!

Yesterday was such a good day.  John and I had a nice bagel,  a good time at the corn maze, squeezed in a bike ride, the Broncos won (finally) and I won the football picks this week! Good day indeed. If only Monday could be so good.

It is so dark out before 7 am now! Eeek! And cold, too. I had to scrape frost off the windshield to go to the gym this morning. Why do I have a suspicion this is going to be another winter like last year?  🙁

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Alternating Lunges 3 sets of 10 with 20# DBs (40# total) Lower body
Standing cable low row 3 sets of 10 at 40# Back
Incline Dumbbell Chest Press 3 sets of 10 with 20# DBs (40# total) Chest
Front Raise 3 sets of 10 with 8# DBs (16# total) Shoulders
Rope Crunch 3 sets of 15 at 30# Core
Kickbacks 3 sets of 10 with 15# DBs (30# total) Triceps
Seated Hamstring Curl 3 sets of 10 at 50# Hamstrings
Alternating Bird Dog 3 sets of 10 Balance and low back
Standing Calf Raise 3 sets of 10 at 80# Calves

Then I walked a mile on the treadmill.
Nice workout today. I used a machine for the hamstring curl, but I won’t use it much. It felt too awkward. My gym was quiet this morning except the music. I don’t really know why gyms have to play music at all. When I was at the Y, they didn’t play music and I could use my own headphones. Much better.

I was ready for a nice warm brekkie today!  I made some oats and topped with the apple cranberry topping.

Then I proceeded to burn my mouth!  Oops.  Hasty eating and I get payback.

I am feeling really busy right now.  I have a lot of stuff to get done in the next couple of days and I am starting to get the overwhelmed feeling.  John is so smart.  He says “Just do one thing at a time.”  He is my calming influence.

I took a break from work for lunch.  I got some Pacific Foods organic red pepper and tomato soup, which I actually blended in the bullet blender because I don’t like chunky veggie soups.  I added some red lentils to this to get more protein.

I have to say that I like this soup!  Normally I don’t like canned soup, but maybe because this was in one of those tetrapak boxes that it tasted good.  I will get more of this.  Easy cold weather dish.

John made up my latte and brought to me today because I had feline disease.  Check out this look of death as I was trying to get a picture of my coffee.

😀  This is how I have to work,  too, since I am such a sucker.

I took a break in the afternoon to get started on a soap order that I am making.  I made up a list of all the things I needed to get done today and began crossing things off, which feels better.

John actually offered to take me out to eat tonight (not football dinner, either) because how busy and stressed I was feeling.  We love to comfort with food around here. I actually turned him down because I don’t feel like I had time!  It will be much better by Wednesday.  I did ask him to fix the chicken for dinner, though.

He cooked up chicken  while I did the brussel sprouts.

I sauteed them in coconut oil with a little salt and pepper.  Simple, but tasty!

We took a walk after dinner (it was on my list so I wouldn’t forget to do it).  Already dark before we finished the walk.  Doesn’t it make you feel like hibernating?

I need to finish up work tonight and practice guitar.  I told myself no football until I practice my guitar.  I sound like such a parent! LOL.

I will be having a snack with some warm blueberries and whipped cream later, which I am really looking forward to!  For now, it is back to work!  This post is all over the place because that is kind of how my brain is right now.

Pink item of the day:  My gloves!  Note the dark in the evening.

The Breast Cancer Site

Lifting and liquor

I was up and ready to take my body that I love so much to the gym!  There actually was no one in the free weights section – Squeeee!!! Privacy!  I even took a picture.

To the left is what is called the cardio deck.  It is a raised area in the center of the gym with the treadmills, bikes and other cardio machines.  You can look down on everyone in the other 2 sections while you get your sweat on.

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Deadlift 3 sets of 10 with 65# bar Lower body
Dumbbell Pull Over 3 sets of 10 with 25# DB Back
Barbell Chest Press 3 sets of 10 with 55# bar Chest
Reverse Crunches 3 sets of 12 Core
Nosebreakers 3 sets of 10 with 25# bar Triceps
Good Mornings 3 sets of 10 with 55# bar Low back and hamstrings
Bent Lateral Raise 3 sets of 10 with 15# DBs (30# total) Shoulders
Standing Calf Raise 3 sets of 10 at 80# Calves

This workout took about 35 minutes.  I am surrounded by iron here!

It was very fall today with wind, bright colors and dark clouds. This was taken from my bank drive through on the way home 😀

I got home to cook up breakfast.  Pumpkin Brown Rice pudding:

In a pot, mix

  • 1 cup cooked brown rice
  • 1 cup 2% milk (or whatever milk)
  • 1 tablespoon of maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon of butter (you can omit, not sure it added anything)
  • 1 tsp of cinnamon
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 tablespoons of Craisins
Cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes.  Then add 1/2 cup canned pumpkin.  Temper in an egg and cook for another couple minutes.  Divide between 2 bowls. Top each with 10 grams of toasted pecans.

 

This was very good, although I *really* don’t like waiting that long for breakfast.  I like 10 minutes tops for cooking.  It’s  easier to do pumpkin oats, but a nice change.

 

Busy work day.  It’s a nice steady time of year now until the holidays.

 

When it was time for lunch, I went with the standard on a dinner-out night:
Feta and broccoli omelet.

John made up lattes today, this one was 2% milk:
Which I paired with some dried pineapple.
I told myself no candy corn today.  Because I can quit any time, really I can.

So, this was the week John won the football picks.  My long streak finally ended.  His choice?  Moe’s.

I got a rice bowl with pork underneath all those jalapenos!
This bowl was minus the beans.  I also realize I had rice twice in one day.

Congratulations John.  May this be the first of many winning meals.  (Did I mention yet that it was National Sarcasm Month?)

After dinner, I got John his dessert at Panera Bread.  Where I might have picked up this cookie:

 I might have eaten it, too.  Just sayin’…

We also did a stock up of our liquor cabinet since it was payday and all.  We have been out of a few things.  We don’t drink a lot, but there are a couple things we like to have on hand.

Amarula is an unusual vanilla cream liqueur with hints of spice and fruit.  It’s good in coffee!  We also got bourbon because eggnog season is coming up.  And the pumpkin pie liqueur just sounded good because I am in pumpkin overload mode about now.  The honey whiskey? Trial bottle.  Good for what ails you 😀  This stuff will last us a couple years.

Pink item of the day was spotted at Panera Bread.  Very appropriate, I might add:

The Breast Cancer Site

Lifting and the simple life.

Hello brand new week – nice to meet you!  I miss the light in the mornings.  It feels much earlier than it really is when I get up.  I decided to hit the gym on a Monday this week.  I have been very flexible with my workouts pending the weather since I joined this gym.  I also like the 7 to 8 a.m. hour at this gym as it is not very crowded.  Yay!

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Lying Leg Press 3 sets of 10 at 100# Lower body
Straight Arm Lat Pulldown 3 sets of 10 at 45# Back
Pushups 3 sets of 10 Chest
Captain Chair 3 sets of 10 Core
Single Leg Straight Leg Deadlift 3 sets of 10 each leg with 15# DBs (30# total) Hamstrings and balance
Prone Cobra 3 sets of 30 second holds Low back
Standing Calf Raise 3 sets of 10 at 70# Calves
Triceps Push Down 3 sets 10 at 30# Triceps

Looking at this, I forgot to do a shoulder move. Funny, because I wrote this out last night to do and still forgot something. D’oh!

Pixie was waiting for me in the window when I got home.

She’s secretly plotting to get some hair in my breakfast…

I made up some pumpkin oats and topped it with coconut butter and a sprinkle of the pumpkin granola I made yesterday.  I am not sold on the recipe for this granola, so I don’t know if I will post it or not.  It’s needs to be sweeter.

Calories for this bowl – about 360, all full of deliciousness!

Work was surprisingly busy this morning.  I ended up transcribing the same 2 doctors all day.  All day.  That is a little tiring on the brain not having any variety.  At least one of them was my favorite  :mrgreen:

Lunch break.  During all my meal prep yesterday, I also cooked up eggs because  I had a hankering for egg salad.  Straight up egg salad for me.  Just mayo, mustard and a pinch of salt.  No pickle, no celery, no pimentos.

Paired with  a cucumber and some Nut Thins.

I am in love with these crackers!  Gluten free and made from almonds.  Yep, processed, but I don’t have the time to make my own crackers, although I would like to give it a whirl.

It was a gray and cloudy afternoon.  Okay, that sounds like the opening of a really bad book...  I was ready for the lattes today!

Say cheese!

After I finished up work, I headed up to practice the guitar before dinner.

I have to say that I am quite enjoying learning the guitar.  I need to write a post on that one of these days.  I have learned a lot from it about not expecting perfection.

I came down to make up some dinner.  I used some of the brown rice that I made up yesterday (our fridge is jammed with food now).  I cooked up some ground beef, added the brown rice and some salsa.

This was actually pretty decent for cooking on a whim.  It reminds me of the filling to stuffed peppers without the peppers!  Next time, I will add some cheese and sour cream – that would be awesome!

We took a walk after dinner and it was darkening up so fast.  The clocks get turned back in another week, right? Then it will be dark before dinner.  Sigh…

Football night tonight and I have a date with one of my pumpkin scones!  I will post the recipe tomorrow.  Just a nice simple day today.  I like those days.

Pink picture of the day.  The wardrobe stylist must have left these here during the photo shoot as I found them when I went to get Pixie’s catnip off of the filing cabinet.

The Breast Cancer Site

Question:  Egg salad lover? And do you like it with ‘stuff’ in it?

YTWL and victory meal!

Thanks for all your thoughts on hunger yesterday.  It’s quite interesting how we all deal with it (or not LOL).

Lifting day.  We should make some kind of theme song for lifting day, don’t you think? I drank a protein drink (15 g of protein) and headed out. It was somewhat dark when I left for the gym. Bye-bye daylight  🙁

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Barbell Squat 1 sets of 10 with 50# bar

2 sets of 10 with 60# bar

 Lower body
Seated cable row 3 sets of 10 at 50# Back
Lying Flat Chest Fly 3 sets of 10 with 15# DBs (30# total) Chest
Decline Sit ups 3 sets of 10 Core
Lying Triceps extension 3 sets of 10 with 10# DBs (20# total) Triceps
Hammer Curls 3 sets of 8 with 15# DBs (30# total) Biceps
YTWL 3 sets of 4 with 8# DBs (16# total) Shoulders
Good Morning 3 sets 10 with 55# bar Low back and hammies

This was tiring! I need to work my squat weight back up again. Then I hopped on the treadmill for a bit.

Since I have quite a few new readers and it has been a while since I have posted it, here is the video for the YTWL.  I learned this move while doing the New Rules of Lifting for Women and kept this in my rotation.

Always light weights on this one. Shoulder muscles are delicate!

When I got home, it was time for breakfast. Yesterday John and I both said we would eat eggs for breakfast today for something different.  I made up a little frittata for myself, which I finished up in the toaster oven.  Don’t you love this little cast iron skillet?  6 inches. Perfect for a single frittata.

Mine had some sauteed green and red peppers and was topped with sharp cheddar cheese.

This was good, but I am not sure I liked the peppers with breakfast.

Sharon asked a question yesterday about my plate sizes.  Most of you know I eat off of smaller plates so the volume of food looks like more and also to help with portion control.  The plate above is 7.5 inches.  My eyes like to see a lot of food, so the smaller plates help keep me from heaping food on my plate – because I am a plate cleaner!

I ended up sort of swapping breakfast and lunch.  We have bananas on the edge of over ripe, so I made a coconut flour banana bread pudding for lunch.

Topped with some peanut flour for protein.  It’s a lifting day, so I try to get in extra.

Today went by fast.  Not sure why, but it did.  I had an almond milk latte while Pixie snored on all day.

If she isn’t on my lap, she is always in that spot.  Ah, the life of a cat.

Tonight was the night for John to eat his crow  – or rather buy my football dinner.  I had decided on a small downtown place. The Chocolate Mill.  Then we got there and they stopped serving dinner as of October 1st and just had desserts.  Ooops.  Plan B:

Restaurant 99.  This was at the mall.  I actually like it here because the service is always fast and the food is usually pretty good.  Popcorn appetizer!

We barely got the popcorn and our meals came out.  I don’t even think it was much more than 10 minutes from the time we ordered!

I decided on the Shrimp Bruscetta.  It was grilled shrimp with a warm tomato topping served on rice with a balsamic glaze.  With steamed broccoli!

Closer?

I ate all but a few of the tomatoes.  I can’t believe I even ate the tomatoes because that is a veggie I don’t normally like all that much.  After John paid (hahahaha!!!), we shopped around the mall.  I picked up a workout shirt for $10!  JC Penny has some awesome prices at times.

Plus we went to Target where I stocked up on more pumpkin.  I could have rolled around naked in this aisle:

Look at all of that candy corn!  Yum!  Didn’t buy any, though. And neither did I roll around naked 😀

Now it’s time for Project Runway and a snack tonight.

Pink item of the day: Knockout Rose.

The Breast Cancer Site

My new gym and the taste of victory

We had such a nice weekend. Again, it went by too fast. I am still celebrating with my football gloating. I am making John take me out to dinner this evening because this week is jammed full of stuff.

This morning did bring a change in routine for me. Meet my new gym!


Lookie what’s back! The lifting routines. I guess you all missed them?

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Barbell Chest Press 3 sets of 10 with 45# bar (empty) Chest
Dumbbell Pull Over 3 sets of 10 with 20# DB Back
Dumbbell Squats 3 sets of 10 with 20# DBs (40# total) Chest
Captain Chair 3 sets of 10 Core
Standing Calf Raise 3 sets of 10 at 70# Calves
Face Pull 3 sets of 10 at 25# Shoulders
Triceps Pull Down 3 sets of 12 at 25# Triceps
Good Mornings 3 sets of 10 at 45# Low Back and hammies

I did a light workout to get back into the swing of the gym, get used to the new equipment there and start trying to fit in. This was a good start.  I missed the cable machine at home! Sorry Bowflex, you just didn’t do it for me. Here is a link to me doing the face pull if you want to see it.

This gym had a 1 year membership for $99.  There are no classes or anything at this gym, but that is okay because my old gym didn’t have them either and I am not inclined to take them. The only thing I don’t like is that it is 5.5 miles from home versus 2 like my old gym, but saving $175 a year is worth it.

I came home to make up some brekkie. Even though it was somewhat warm, I felt like oats.  These were cooked with some egg white at the end and topped with peanut flour and jam.

In my new bowl from the weekend! Yay! It’s the little things that please me. John is so lucky.

Today was just like a summer day. Almost 80 degrees! With this warmth and the moisture lately, going outside lately is like starring in an episode of Attack of the Mosquitoes.  They even bit at my face, which is weird. I’ll probably be anemic for next week’s blood donation.  🙄

Lunchtime! I had an open faced egg sammie on a gluten free bread I made this weekend from this recipe.  It actually came out really good and I think I will play with it.

It was a very steady work day today.  One of these days I will talk about my job and what it entails. I get a lot of emails about.

Snack break of some chocolate:

And a latte!

Even with it almost 80 degrees out, I wanted a hot latte.  Why yes, I am a creature of habit, thank you.

And speaking about creature of habit:

She was sleeping, but opened her eyes when I had the camera about 2 inches from her face.  I just can’t resist taking pictures of her, sleeping or not.

I was ready for my football dinner  😈  I actually decided to take it a little easy on John as we have our anniversary dinner on Wednesday and then my mom’s birthday on Friday. Not to mention my niece’s birthday also on Wednesday. Did I already say this was a busy week coming up? So, I picked a BBQ joint – Dickey’s.

Kind of corny decor and the music left a lot to be desired from an Iamnotacountrymusic fan perspective.

I decided on a baker with BBQ chicken that had some cheese, sour cream and bacon on it.  This was huge and I left probably a third of the potato behind.

I do like their chicken there. Better than the brisket, I do say. Not so crazy about the lighting. Don’t they understand bloggers need good lighting??

They also offer this:

I realized that I had been gluten free all day, so I forewent the cone and had a little dish to keep the GF thing going.

Yum.  Victory tastes delicious!

I am going to go back to work tonight.  Just getting in some extra lines to cushion in case all the doin’s this week make it hard to get in all my work.

Question: If you belong to a gym, does it offer classes?

Flag day and face pulls

Verdict on the sleep mask? Still out. At first, I kept wiping at it because my sleepy self thought it was the sheet over my face (d’uh). It did block out light, which was really good. However, I got super hot last night and that kept waking me up. So, I can’t really judge the mask yet. Ugh! There are several things that bother my sleep. First, I am a somewhat light sleeper and we live on a main road (new windows help immensely with this). I also periodically get restless legs. Then there are the night sweats and the issues with light. Funny – caffeine seems to have no effect whatsoever on my sleep. The one thing you think would matter does not.

Anyway, I was not feeling very refreshed this morning. It was a little misty/drizzly, so I drove to the gym. Then I realized I forgot my gloves since they were in my bike helmet 🙄

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Stiff-legged Deadlift 3 sets of 10 at 65# Lower Body
Underhand grip pull down 3 sets of 10 at 50# Back
Horizontal Wood Chop 3 sets of 10 (each side) at 30# Core
Face Pulls 3 sets of 10 at 30# Shoulders
Calf Raise 3 sets of 12 at 110# Calves
Hammer Curls 3 sets of 12 with 12# DBs (24# totatl) Biceps
Low Back Extension 3 sets of 12 at 80# Low Back
Triceps Pulldown 3 sets of 12 at 30# Triceps
Pliet Squat 3 sets of 10 with 40# DB Lower Body
Lying Chest Fly 3 sets of 10 with 12# DBs (24# total) Chest

My poor little hands hurt after this workout. Barbells and dumbbells have those rough surfaces and they hurt my hands.  I am such a delicate flower.

Here is the Face Pull.  I like this exercise for my shoulders, just be careful not to use too much weight on it.

Breakfast time! I made the 1-minute muffle and made a different topping today.  I am being all kinds of different this week 😉

Mashed banana with a spoon of peach jam.  I really liked this breakfast, but then I pretty much like all my brekkies.

I worked straight through to lunch sitting on the exercise ball.  Finally got caught up to yesterday’s files, but they need to add other people to my account.  Not sure what happened to the others that were on it, but I can’t do it all by myself.  It can feel a bit stressful.

I made up a refreshing lunch.  Plain greek yogurt, Kashi GoLean and strawberries.  One of my go-to lunches.

I have to let the Kashi sit for a while in the yogurt is this cereal hurts my gums!  Does that happen to anyone else?

Today is Flag Day.

In 1777, the US adopted the flag with its 13 stars and stripes.  Flag Day was officially deemed to be on June 14th by Woodrow Wilson in 1916.  Whether or not Betsy Ross really made that first flag is questionable, but she certainly is the symbol for it.  And why shouldn’t a woman be a symbol of freedom??

John made up some lattes for the afternoon break.  I really think it might be time to spring for a new machine soon.

He also made up some of those no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies last week.  You know the ones that only take 5 minutes to make?  One of my most very favorite cookies in the world.  They were supposed to be out of the house and to a poker game, but they did not set up in time.  So they are in the house.  I did not have any yesterday and it is a Herculean effort not to snarf these down.  They are a binge trigger for me, for whatever reason.  Like M&Ms.

John grilled up chicken tonight and I sauteed the green beans in a bit of coconut oil for dinner.

This was sooo good.  I love the barbie!  Not such a big fan of the beans, though.  Please just give me broccoli…

I am posting early tonight because I am going to attempt something involving these tonight:

John and I are going to do a bit of running.  It is really windy out, and I whine about that too much when biking, so I figured why not try a run.  I haven’t run since February, I think?  We are going to go to the new coffee shop. That is incentive reward, right?  Decaf calling my name.  Should be a total of 2.5 miles with a long break at the halfway point.  May not run the whole thing, and it will be pretty slow.  So why am I nervous?

Biking, lifting, and new coffee shop

Nice to see all the Journey fans out there!  I never said my favorite songs, but they are Wheel in the Sky, Lights, and Open Arms.  Okay, more than that, but a few!

I officially have biking fever. As I biked this morning, I had to really talk myself into stopping at the gym instead of just riding on past  for a long ride instead. Must not neglect the strength!

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Lying Leg Press 3 sets of 10 at 100# Lower Body
Dumbbell Pull Over 3 sets of 10 with 20# DB Back
Push Ups 3 sets of 10 Chest
Calf Raise 3 sets of 12 at 110# Calves
Low Back Extension 3 sets of 12 at 80# Low Back
Arnold Press 3 sets of 10 with 10# DBs (20# total) Shoulders
Reverse Crunches 3 sets of 12 Core
Biceps Curls 3 sets of 10 with 25# bar Biceps
Single leg Stiff-legged deadlift 3 sets of 10 with 35# bar Hammies and balance
Triceps Kickback 3 sets of 10 with 12# DBs (24# total) Triceps

I rode home and saw the new little coffee shop had opened up finally.  It’s about 1-1/4 miles from my house, so I am excited to see that!  I stopped in to get a menu to take home and say ‘welcome’.  They just do coffee drinks and pastries/bagels right now.  Plan was to go back in the evening to check them out.

Again with the new mini blender today!  I made up a batch of protein waffles.  I used half for breakfast.

Topped with a banana sauteed in butter and cinnamon and half a serving of peanut flour mixed up.  This was really good.  I think next time I might thin out the PB a little more to make more of a sauce.

Hot day on tap today!  I really love our new windows.  Somehow that just sounds so adult to say that I love windows, but it’s true! We just close them up to keep the cool air in.  Since they are e-glass, the light comes in, but not the heat.  We have not put in the window AC downstairs, although we did do the one upstairs.

John and I ate lunch on the porch today.  I used the other half of the protein waffles for sandwich bread!

Blueberries were on sale so we got 2 containers.  Maybe now John will actually get some….. maybe….

Afternoon snack time of a latte:

and some peanut munching (but controlled!).

Pixie slept next to me while working for most of the day. I wish I could learn how she sleeps so well as maybe it would help me.  I guess not having a care in the world really helps with that.

It was sunny and hot out, so I got my grill on for dinner!  My turn to woman the flame.

BBQ chicken thighs.  I actually really like dark meat.  It is so much more moist. I was tempted to put my brussels on the grill, but then decided against it in case I burned them.

John and I have started our no TV week as well as of yesterday.  The strangest time is no TV during dinner.  We eat in the dining room, but can see the TV and usually have it on.  Otherwise, I haven’t missed it at all.  I have my internet, after all :mrgreen:

John and I went for a short ride tonight (double dip riding today) and then to check out the new coffee shop!  It is so cute!

The owner is very nice.  They get their coffee and bagels from Uncommon Grounds in Saratoga – squeeeeee!  I love their bagels!  The owner believes in supporting local businesses.  Today was their first day open, too.

I had an iced coffee and a tiny little brownie bite.

I made myself eat this in several bites, otherwise it could go down the hatch in one :mrgreen:

Love perfect Lori-size desserts!

It sounds like the owners want to make a real community place.  He said they are going to have a trivia night and open mic (ick), plus an art contest for young artists.  I really hope they make it.  Not sure if our town has the clientelle for it, but there have to be more than just John and I wanting an evening Starbucks alternative.

In fact, we are going there for Bagel Wednesday!

Question: Do you like dark meat or light meat or both?

May Wrap Up and curse of the tires.

Can you believe May is over already? We also seemed to have leaped right into July with this weather! Since I had no bike tube, I had to drive to the gym this morning. The bike stores were closed yesterday and places like Target don’t sell the type of tire I need (presta valve).

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Barbell squats 3 sets of 10 at 65# Lower Body
Straight Arm Lat Pull down 3 set of 10 at 50# Back
Horizontal Wood Chop 3 sets of 12 (each side) at 20# Core
Calf Raise 3 sets of 12 at 110# Calves
Low Back Extension 3 sets of 12 at 80# Low Back
Barbell Bench Press 3 sets of 8 at 55# Chest
Nose Breakers 3 sets of 12 with 20# bar Triceps
Good Mornings 3 sets of 10 at 55# Hammies and low back
Biceps Curl 3 sets of 10 with 25# EZ Curl bar Biceps
Bent Lateral Raise 3 sets of 10 with 12# DBs (24# total) Shoulders

Nice workout today.  I am seriously thinking of bringing the workouts home.  I looked at some stuff at Dick’s yesterday to price that versus being in the gym. Then it was to home. Already warm out, too!

Breakfast was 30 grams of oats cooked with a small banana.

Topped with peanut flour, which I got a little too liquidy.  Ooops.

I thought today would be slow the day after a holiday, but it was busy right out of the gate.  Yay!  That meant I wouldn’t work at night and could sneak in a yogurt ride (provided I got a replacement tire).

So, as per tradition around here, here is a roundup of my May goals and how I did:

1.  Weight loss/fat loss. I gained a couple pounds.  Not good.  That was after 2 months of not using a scale.  I will be weighing myself more often now.  Not every day, but more often.  I think I still need that tool, which is okay.

2. Go vegetarian for 1 week!  Success! I made it through the week pretty easily.  Much easier than going wheat free.  I made some yummy dishes like cheese souffle, too.  Not interested in being a full-time veggie, though.

3. Finish our half bath/pantry. Yay!  Done and we are happily using it now.  We need to have a renovation party now.

4. Scrub down the house.  Been cleaning the house, particularly in the last week.  Feels so much better and no more renovation dust on everything.  I even scrubbed the kitchen floor on my hands and knees which I don’t think I have done since we moved here 4+ years ago. It looks like new.

5. Do another round of 28-day Body Shapeover.  I have the book out, but I have not started it yet.  I realized with dropping down to 2 days a week and all the biking that I can’t do the program officially.  Not sure what to do here.

6.  Bring back some no-added sugar days once or twice a week. I did these periodically, although I could have done more.

Decent month, although I will say the weight thing bothers me.  Using pants for me doesn’t quite work.  I think I have a wide span of weight before I actually notice it in my clothing.  Guess what is going to be on June’s list of goals tomorrow? :mrgreen:

Hot weather means cool lunch today.  I used up some of the BBQ chicken from last night for my usual salad meal.

This chicken was sooo good! We got thighs and I do love the dark meat.  It just has so much more flavor.

While I was working, John biked to the bike store and picked up new tubes and spares for us.  Hooray!  While he was gone, I had an iced latte:

Plus half of a new Zone bar flavor.

Cashew pretzel flavor.  I got a free sample bar in the mail.  It is quite tasty. I don’t eat the bars as much as I used to, but John is pretty much an addict still. 😀

Dinner time included some wonderful blueberries!  Plus shrimp and broccoli sauteed in coconut oil.

I seriously wonder if I could do an all fruit diet for a few days.  It would be so refreshing in the hot weather!

I was all excited because my tube was replaced on my bike and that meant a yogurt ride!  Got the tube in and pumped up the tire.  All looked great!  I went out before John because I wanted to get some extra miles in and meet him for yogurt.  He gave me a half hour start.

I was so happy to be riding again.  It felt great and I was making good time.  Then at 3.5 miles into the ride, I started to feel that funny shimmy and then I could feel every bump again.  Seriously? Yes – the tire was flat – AGAIN!!!!  This is the third flat in 2 days.  WTF????

I texted John and let him know.  I was going to replace the tube with my spare and keep going, but something is obviously wrong with the tire for there to be this many issues.  Maybe a piece of glass is stuck in the well or something.  I was then getting eaten alive my mosquitoes, so I told John just to come get me.  I was a little pissed, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from getting yogurt!

This is oriental ginger flavor.  It reminds me of 7-Up a little bit.  I kind of like it.  I am so not happy about this tire situation.  Going to get a new wheel cover tomorrow at the shop and see what happens then.  I so need a cupcake ride this weekend – with no flat tires!

Pampered with protein muffins!

I took a chance and biked to the gym today. The roads were wet and it was cloudy, but I say “heck with it!” and biked. I knew the rain was supposed to end this morning anyway – And it didn’t rain!

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Stiff-legged Deadlifts 3 sets of 10 at 65# Lower Body
Cable Squat to Row * 3 set of 10 at 50# Full Body
Dumbbell Pull Over 3 set of 10 with 20# DB Back
Horizontal Wood Chop * 3 sets of 12 each side at 20# Core
Calf Raise 3 sets of 12 at 110# Calves
Barbell Bench Press 3 sets of 8 at 55# Chest
Triceps Pull Down * 3 sets of 12 at 30# Triceps
Hammer Curl 3 sets of 10 with 12# DBs (24# total) Biceps
Upright Row 3 sets of 10 at 30# Shoulders

It was pretty humid in the gym with the doors open. The * is all the exercises I did on the cable machine. Going on T/TH means the cable machine hog usually isn’t there, so I could get on there and do my thing!  I am thinking of actually getting some more weights and moving my workouts to home in August and not dealing with the gym anymore.  I may as well become a hermit.

I biked home to a yummy aroma in the house and John said “There are fresh protein muffins if you want one.”  Did I? Oh yes!  They are lemon poppyseed flavored.

I made some blueberry sauce and slathered a muffin with it.  Nom, nom, nom!  I loves my hubby.

Here is the recipe in full so you don’t have to click.

Basic Muffin
1 c. white flour
2/3 c. whole wheat flour
2 scoops (1/3 cup) protein powder (unsweetened)- this batch had pea protein
3/4 c. sugar
1 Tblsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1 c. milk (1%)
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
1  egg

Add in Options
Zest of 1 lemon, 1/4 tsp of lemon extract, 1.5 Tbsp of poppyseeds

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl, and mix liquid ingredients in a separate bowl. Pour liquids into dry and gently fold together until mostly mixed. Then fold in add ins. Spoon into 12 standard muffin cups or 6 jumbo muffin cups. Bake at 400 for 20 mins (std.) or 30 mins (jumbo) or until golden brown.

Approximate nutritional info of basic muffin Jumbo size:

Cal: 270, Fat: 2 gram, Carbs: 37 grams, Fiber: 3 grams, Protein: 14 grams

The calories would be half that if you did the regular normal people muffin size and not the jumbo Lori size 😀

My life is good right now.  I am so appreciative of that.  10 pounds be damned.

After a busy morning of work, I had some lunch.  A burger with laughing cow and some caramelized onions.

I make up the onions and freeze them so I can pull out a couple tablespoons at a time when desired.  The only way I eat onions ever is caramelized.  Maybe an onion ring, but I am more likely to pull the coating off and leave the onion behind.  (there, I said it).

John also made me my latte today.  I really am a lucky girl.

With a date!  I am really trying to control the snacking today.  That habit really made an appearance again lately.  I lot of people complain about food in the office, but it can be just as bad working at home because there is all kinds of food available because we live here.  Not even junk food, but you can easily make a piece of toast or grab some nuts, etc.

Dinner time!  More popcorn fish.  Hello little nuggets.  I really am liking these.  Wonder if I could make these with a firm mild white fish.

An evening of house cleaning on tap.  The renovation project is pretty much done – yay!  I will get some pictures and post this week.  Now there is a lot of time in the evenings available to us :mrgreen:

See you all for Bagel Wednesday!

Surprise sunny day

It is spring! Here is some evidence:

Aren’t they beautiful? These are from my parents’ lilac bush.

They make the house smell so nice.

The roads were wet this morning, but the sun came out. I didn’t trust it to last, though. I headed out to the gym for a nice lifting session:

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Low Back Extension 3 sets of 15 at 80# Low back
Dumbbell Pull Over 3 set of 10 with 20# DB Back
Biceps Curls 3 sets of 10 with 30# bar Biceps
Pushups 3 sets of 10 Chest
Calf Raise 3 sets of 12 at 110# Calves
Nosebreakers 3 sets of 10 with 25# bar Triceps
Pliet Squat 3 sets of 10 with 35# DB Lower Body
Reverse Crunch 3 sets of 15 Core
Bent Lateral Raise 3 sets of 10 with 10# DBs (20# total) Shoulders

While I was there (and feeling chubby, I might add), a woman said to me “Lori, you look like have you lost weight” I was uncomfortable with that for some reason. I think because of my own feeling at that point. I told her I didn’t think so, but maybe it was all the biking.  Then I thanked her for the compliment, which is what I should have just done in the first place.

Of course, I really do *not* know what I weigh  since I have not stepped on a scale since March 31st.  I have days where I feel thinner and days where I feel heavier.  I think once May is up, I am going to weigh myself again.  I think the nebulousness of just going by clothing isn’t helping my psyche. I am starting to second guess myself.

Headed on home hungry.  I made up a 1 minute muffin/waffle, topped with some peanut flour and homemade strawberry jam.

I made the PB flour a little more liquidy so it would be a bit runny.  Raise your hand if you think I wolfed this down.  Come on – I want to see all of them up!

Today turned out to be a really nice day.  We were expecting rain all week and the sun decided to come out and play all day!

I took advantage of that and took a break from work to mow the lawn. It felt so good to get outside!

Lunch time salad today:

I had a packet of this dressing.

This packet will last me for 3 salads, even though it is a ‘single’ serving packet.

John made up some lattes today, which I enjoyed with a dark chocolate mint cup.  The last one.

Then I was a little hungry, so I had a ramekin of cereal.

I stopped at this, though, which is a victory for me.

When dinner time rolled around, I fell back on a standard.

Using my perfect omelet technique *patent pending*

We watched some of the Tour of California during dinner, which got us both hankering for a bike ride!  We checked the radar and saw the all clear for at least a couple hours, so we hit the trails for some of this:

This is tiramisu cheesecake yogurt.  Yes indeed – it was tasty!  It felt wonderful to be outside again!  Too bad tomorrow is back to rain.

Question: Do you have a fall back meal you rely on?