Tag Archives: bagels

Lifting Move of the Week – Front Raise

I woke up this morning and had a quick Luna Bar before biking to the gym. It was just getting light out.

I thought them temp was supposed to be in the 30s, so I layered up and biked. Turns out it was 29 😯

Quiet gym today. I think it will get less and less crowded as the year finishes out.

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Stiff-legged deadlifts 3 sets of 10 at 80# Lower body
Seated Lat Row Reverse pyramid of 1 set of 4 at 85#

1 set of 6 at 70#

1 set of 8 at 55#

1 set of 12 at 40#

 Back
Pliet Squat 3 sets of 10 with 40# DB Lower body
Front Raise 3 sets of 12 with 8# DBs (16# total) Shoulders
Horizontal Wood Chop 3 sets of 10 (each side) at 30# Core
Good Mornings 3 sets of 10 at 45# Low back and hammies
Biceps curls 3 sets of 10 with 30# EZ curl bar Biceps
Bench Dips 3 sets of 10 Triceps
Seated Calf Raise 3 sets of 10 at 110# Calves

John texted me that he got a late start, so I filmed a video today. I keep trying to get the good morning, but it is really hard to find a place to put the camera and get everything. Once John got to the gym, we headed out to Cool Beans. Chilly ride, I have to say!

My wheat bagel:

Good company while reading the paper:

The sun was shining, which was nice, but it was still a cold ride home. Probably not too many breakfast rides left for the year.

Lifting Move of the Week: The Front Raise. This is a shoulder move, and more specifically, an isolation move for the front (or anterior deltoid for those that want to know).  It is important not to use a heavy weight for this one.  Other than it being really hard – you certainly don’t want to hurt yourself.  Raise the weights straight up in front of you to 90 degrees and lower down.  Don’t push off or use your back to lift the weights.  If you are doing that, the weights are too heavy.  I am using 5# DBs in the video and usually use 8#, but not much more.

The face in the video is probably why not many people talk to me when I am lifting.  I look pretty serious :mrgreen:

Lunch time today included baked clam strips.  They were toasty warm, which was nice after trying to warm up from that bike ride this morning!

Did you know that today is Love Your Body Day?  I will shout out now that I love my thighs!  They do everything I ask of them and more.  They are strong and carry me through life.

Snack time:

John made up brownies last night from a mix.  I was doing a no-added sugar day and boy was it tough not to eat one!  But, I knew they would still be there for today.

I kind of was snacky today.  I had some cereal:

I spied my pink picture of the day while John was doing laundry!  This is his basket:

It looks more pink in person.  Must have been the lighting.

The Breast Cancer Site
Cooked up some chicken for dinner.  I found out that the chicken sold at our local smokehouse comes from Georgia.  WTF?? Not all of the meat is local from there, so it will be on to plan B (one of the other smoke houses).

Question:  What part of your body are you loving today?

Lifting Move of the Week: Straight Arm Pull Down

Okay – you guys totally crack me up with the comments yesterday!  Not sure I am going to eat any more Brazil nuts…

It was dark and rainy when I got up. I drank a protein drink before going to the gym, which was just plain whey isolate in milk. No flavor or sweetener. The isolate is the only type I can do this with. I decided today was a no-added sugar day, so I drank it straight up. Yep – I am hard core!

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Barbell Deadlift 3 sets of 10 at 75# Lower body
Straight Arm Pull Down 3 sets of 12 at 50# Back
Barbell Chest Press 3 sets of 8 at 55# Chest
Planks 2 holds of 75 seconds

1 hold of 1 minute

 Core
Standing 1-leg calf raise 3 sets of 10 each leg with 15# DBs (30# total) Calves and balance!
Prone Cuban Snatch 3 sets of 10 with 10# DBs (20# total) Shoulders
Lower Back Extension 3 sets of 10 at 100# Back
Overhead Press 3 sets of 12 with 12# DBs (24# total) Triceps

It was pouring when I finished. Good thing I didn’t bike. I went home and picked up John and we had bagels! Off to Panera Bread. It was freezing there, as per usual. What is up with that?? I needed a non sweet bagel, so I decided on a sesame today.

Lifting Move of the Week: The Straight Arm Pull Down:

This is just a nice break from the seated lat pull down. The real trick is to keep the movement happening in your back and not your arms. Practice with just holding your arms out in front of you (go ahead and do it now) and lift and raise and notice the feeling in your back. It helps to draw your shoulder blades back. That is the feeling you are looking for (feeling for?).

Break from work for lunch time!  When you do a no sugar day, it really makes you have to pause and think about what you are eating more than usual.  No yogurt with cereal today!  I decided on a nice omelet with a laughing cow wedge and sauteed broccoli.  Plus a baby macintosh apple.  These are small apples!

I was talking to John about how good it was and he just made a funny face.  He doesn’t like the laughing cow or broccoli.  What is wrong with him, anyway?

I totally got absorbed in work until John brought out my afternoon latte.  He actually had forgotten my no sugar today and put pumpkin drizzle on top of it, but then scraped it off.  Now that is thoughtful.    He also puts some whey isolate in it as well for that protein boost.

Caffeine Power!  Good thing caffeine is not an illegal drug or I would have quite the problem.

Yesterday, Shelley asked when the duathlon is.  It is the 17th, so about a week and a half away.  We actually have not signed up for it yet because it is totally weather dependent on us doing it.  I will not do it if it is raining, as the bike event is scary in the rain (not to mention totally miserable).   I decided if the actual race day doesn’t happen, I will go ahead and do it on my own on a nicer day since I have been training.

John also made dinner tonight.  Not only do we have a plethora of apples, we have a platoon of potatoes!  I don’t know what he was thinking when he shopped over the weekend.  So, he made a low fat bacon potato soup.

It was pretty good.  Think I got enough cinnamon on that pear?  I have probably had 2 tsp today :mrgreen:

My evening task?  Coffee roasting.  This is my set up.

I wish I could hook up my 1 kilogram roaster, but it needs 3 phase 200 amp power, which would be about $800 to do.  So it languishes in the garage.

This is decaf I am roasting to have tonight.  I wish I could have some of that apple cobbler tonight, but it will still be there tomorrow (I hope).  I will likely have some more fruit.

Gratuitous Pixie.

For some reason, Pixie likes the umbrella.  She always gets under it when we dry one out.

Pink item of the day!  My camera case, which also doubles as my wallet.  A food/fitness blogger must always be prepared 😀

The Breast Cancer Site

Question:  Do you go back and read comments on blogs or do you forget?

Lifting Move of the Week – Plie Squat!

Thank you all for the kind anniversary wishes! I know I have said this before, but even though I don’t have tons of material things and wealth and all that, I am very rich in other ways, family being one of them.

I headed up to the gym today and it was somewhat warm. That good fall kind of warm.

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Stiff-leg deadlift 3 sets of 10 at 75# Lower body
Dumbbell Chest Press 3 sets of 12 with 20# DBs (40# total) Chest
Seated Lat Row Pyramid of 1 set of 12 at 40#

1 set of 10 at 55#

1 set of 8 at 70#

1 set of 6 at 85# – D’oh!

 Back
Plie squats 3 sets of 12 with 35# DB Lower body
Horizontal Wood Chop 3 sets of 10 (each side) at 30# Core
Nosebreakers 3 sets of 10 at 30# Triceps
Reverse fly on bench 3 sets of 8 with 12# DBs (24# total) Shoulders
Lower Back Extension 3 sets of 10 at 100# Low Back
Seated Calf Raise 3 sets of 10 at 110# Calves

We flipped bagel day this week to be on Wednesday, so John met me at the gym and we biked the rest of the way to Cool Beans.

I was happy to have bagels a day early!

Sesame seed deliciousness!

I was tired biking to and from bagels after the strength workout. I even had a protein drink beforehand, but it still is just tiring to do cardio on those days, but what are you going to do?

Lifting Move of the Week: Plie Squat! Yes, I did a squat move last week, but this is a fun and non-intimidating exercise. It is like a dumbbell squat, only your feet are pointed out and you have 1 dumbbell between your legs that you lift. Make sure your knees and toes are pointed in the same direction. Same other rules as the squat apply.

I like this move because I can feel my inner thighs working a lot more.  This is one move where I can still feel the difference in leg strength due to my herniated disk (6 months later, thank you).

Got right to work when we got back from the gym.  I need to play a bit of catch-up because I knocked off early last night so we could have an evening together with dinner and coffee out.

Lunch time:

4-day-old leftover pizza.  Very gourmand, I must say…  I really felt protein deficient from this, so I had one of these:

Today has been a calorie creep kind of day.  Know what I am talking about?

I had a bit of dark chocolate:

And then a latte.  I’ll have to do a little picture demo of our cheapo machine for these.  😀

Just so darn hungry.  All this will show on the scale for the monthly wrap up tomorrow, but these things happen.

John grilled up some boneless pork chops for dinner.  Yum!  It’s a nice change from chicken :mrgreen:

Must get this posted and get back to work!

I have a brick scheduled for tomorrow, but we are supposed to get inundated with Irene rain, so it may be at the gym again.  Sigh… better change the batteries in my mp3 player for that.

**Attune Munch Granola Giveaway ends on Thursday!**

Snack attack.

One of those snack kind of days.  It was bound to be that way right from the start.  I had a poor night’s sleep and woke up at 4:30 am unable to get to sleep.  I finally got up at 5 to at least go do some work instead of staring into the dark.  Proof that Pixie really does sleep all.the.time is that she was sleeping when I got up.  So much for thinking she plays all night :mrgreen:

There was work to do, so I started right on that.  My stomach was really rumbling, so I had a Luna bar while I worked (not pictured).

John got up a couple hours later and we headed on out to bagels.  Decided on Panera Bread today instead of the other place.  It was cold bike ride! 39 degrees.  😯  Brrrrr……  I swear we hit every red light on the way there, too.  I put on my technical turtleneck and fleece,so I was toasty warm for the ride.  I was totally ready for coffee, though!

It really felt like Sunday because of being at Panera, complete with grounds in my coffee…  Nothing like getting really out of whack for the day, right?

Blueberry bagel.

Got home and settled back into work.  My stomach was rumbling more not long after.  This always happens when I don’t get enough sleep (thanks ghrelin).  I munched on granola, then took shower.  I decided to eat lunch, as it was noon by then.

This is a piece of the bread leftover from last night’s dinner under my egg.  Lots of hot sauce, which meant eating sammie with fork.  What do you call a sandwich that you eat with a fork, anyway??

After lunch I felt bottomless *again* and had some nuts and chocolate.

By this time, I had that sinking feeling I was going to be battling this all day.  I had more of this mix with my latte, too.  Along with some other nibbles.

I actually closed my eyes and dozed off sitting up, which is really weird for me.  I usually cannot do that.  I think I will have trouble staying up tonight to watch Project Runway!

John cooked dinner tonight while I was working.  Love my hubby.  He did chicken marinated in Mojito Lime from McCormick Grillmates.  He also made up brown rice on the side.

The broccoli was my contribution.  😀

Now I am sitting here kind of full.  Maybe that will last me the rest of the night?

Definitely need to have a good clean eating day tomorrow – and a good night’s sleep!
Ending on a fun note – here is Pixie chasing her tail. She gets a lot of enjoyment out of it. Yet another cheap toy 😀

Mums a bloomin’ for the garden pics tomorrow!

What’s blooming and bagels!

Friday! I have trouble keeping track of the days when the schedule gets a little out of order, don’t you? I had a protein drink and went to the gym at the usual time.

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Straight leg deadlifts 3 sets of 10 at 65# Lower body
Close grip lat pulldown 3 set of 12 at 50# Back
Cable squat to row 3 sets of 15 at 50# Full body
Dumbbell chest press 3 sets of 15 with 20# DBs (40# total) Chest
Reverse Crunches 3 sets of 12 Core
YTWL 3 sets of 4 (each letter) with 8# DBs (16# total) Shoulders

John arrived at the gym, so we headed on out for breakfast! It was pretty warm already, I have to say. Today is more humid than the last couple of days.

Sunflower bagel and coffee!! I how I missed the bagel.   This was an awesome bagel today. I was pretty hungry.

It was nice to relax and eat, since I don’t have a set work time for my 1/2 day today.  13 mile ride this morning.  Trying to figure out if we will be able to bike tomorrow or if Earl will send too much wind our way. Supposed to be windy with rain possible tomorrow….

The garden had a couple surprised in it for me today.  It still is looking quite good for this time of year.  A little tired in spots, but still weeks of color left!  As requested, here is an outside shot of the house.

Victorian style.  Note the front yard?  This is the only yard we have.   Not kidding.  There is no back yard (it is totally covered by our shop) and no real side yards (just strips).  Makes for easy mowing, though 😀

Impatiens with a weed sticking in there.

Butterfly bush is going like crazy:

This bloom was at nose level:

My multi-blue clematis has a bloom on it.  I saw this while watering today and was so pleased!  I thought it was done.

Milkweeds.

This is a volunteer.  Actually, I cut it down earlier in the summer and 4 came up in its place.  Kind of like the Sorcerer’s Apprentice.    I am leaving these up for a bit and checking for monarch eggs, since that one has been hanging around.

Red geranium.

Lunch time!  I did find the heel of the bread left, so I made a PBJ sammie.  Yum.

After a little more work, I decided to go out and have a little fun.  Am I the only one that enjoys shopping here?

I practically lived here when I did my flip houses.  Checking out curtains and paint swatches.  I have the  renovation itch again (as does John).  Too bad I don’t have money LOL!

Since it is so close, I had to stop for a snack.  I really looked hard at the pumpkin scones.  Really hard, but I just couldn’t justify getting one.  So I got a pumpkin muffin instead.

I don’t know if that was really a wiser choice LOL.  It was pretty tasty and seemed fatty.  I just love pumpkin anything.

Speaking up pumpkins – now it seems like fall!

I cannot believe that I bought another rose bush!  They were on sale for $6 each, so I could not pass one up.  It met all my criteria for roses:  Easy care, hardy, reblooming, fragrant, and not a tea rose.    I just need to find somewhere to put it.  Side of the house is going to get a makeover, I think!

Dinner time included a baked crab cake and some baked fries (OreIda)!

Hot sauce was sprinkled liberally. :mrgreen:

Need to do a little more work tonight and some chillaxin’ – like this:

Any fun plans on tap?

Sunday this ‘n that

I slept great last night!  Probably because  I took a Tylenol PM since my back was bothering me a touch.  I think my disk will probably bother me forever, I guess.  Interesting note,  5 months after herniating my disk and I still have skin numbness in my knee.  I am beginning to think that is permanent as well, although it does not seem to affect anything I do, it just feels really weird.

We were up for biking to bagels this morning albeit a little slow 😀  I was hangry, too!  Day after long bike ride usually = very hungry Lori.

Yum.  Plus my 3 cups of coffee… yes indeed.

More relaxed work day today.  I have officially moved down to part time with job #1 so that will get me more on an even keel.  My life has been so backloaded with work for the last couple of months that I have felt a little out of whack.  I hope to get some blog stuff updated as well.  Another gentle reminder from John that I need to change my age to 42 in the sidebar…. 🙄

Lunch break on the porch.  I held this up by the giant clematis 😀

I have pretty much finished the recipe compilation booklet.  I will get a donate button on my site (amount will be up to the donor).  All monies collected from it will go to my charity ride (and I will forward a copy to those that have donated already!).  That took a while to do, I have to say.  Compiling took forever.  I cannot imagine writing a book from scratch unless that is all you did.

My butterfly visitor was back today:

Snack time (unpictured are some crackers I had):

Spent some time today moving furniture and removing window coverings in preparation for the installment of our new windows this week.  It almost feels like we are moving.  Thank goodness we aren’t.  Don’t want to move again for a long time.

I cannot believe we are coming to the end of August already.  School doesn’t start around here until after Labor Day, but people are gearing up.  And do you know what we saw in the grocery store last night?  Halloween candy!  I picked up a bag of candy corn and just inhaled that sweet, sweet scent… Didn’t buy, though.

Dinner time! Went for extra protein.

Plus awesome baked sweet potato “chips”.  These are great in the new convection toaster oven.

Flexing in work tonight and the Broncos are on prime time!  While I still love my Broncos, the Saints keep stealing their way up in my heart.

Snacks:

We have been going through a ton of fruit lately.  In fact we ran out as I didn’t have any pear to eat with yesterday’s ride! I guess I just eat a lot of it.  I may as well do one of those fruit fasts LOL!

Don’t forget to comment on this post if you want an entry to win the book I’m With Fatty!  And with that I will end this mish mash of a post 😀

Question:  Does school start before or after Labor Day for your area?

A trip down snack lane

I am officially beat.  Not to mention my brain is like an egg scramble.  I woke up super hungry.  I had a Luna Bar as a pre-ride snack while I waited for John to get up.

I also did some work.  It seems like I am always working.  Oh wait, I am!

We headed out for the first bagel ride on the new bikes.  Last week John had the flat tire and it rained on Sunday, so this was the first official bagel trip.

Wheat bagel enjoyed on the patio:

(My bike in the background within arm’s reach thankyouverymuch)

This actually seemed really small and I was somewhat unsatisfied, so we split a berry muffin.

Then it was home.  13 miles today.  My chain was having some problems.  Guess this is stuff that happens when you get a new bike and it breaks in, so to speak.  Didn’t stop me from cursing the thief from Montreal.  John said I couldn’t blame him for everything that went wrong, but I say “why not?” 😀

Settled in to work more.  I am moving to part time with job #1 after I get some paperwork stuff out of the way.  I have to cancel my benefits, and need to do that first before working less – as I don’t want all that money coming out of a smaller paycheck.    I’ll be getting set up with new insurance in a few months through the chamber of commerce and our business.  I went without insurance for years, so it doesn’t bother me all that much.

Lunch time!  I was feeling PB and J, so that is what I had.

I actually went back for another slice of bread.  I feel some snackiness coming on.

I was a bottomless pit today.  Midweek really seems to do that to me.  I have come to realize that it is okay.  If you eat well 90% of the time, the other 10% isn’t the end of the world.  I had some cereal and mini chips:

Then after I while I had some ice cream:

A quick visit from my sister and niece right near dinner time.  Devon wanted to learn the foam roller:

She needs to work a little on upper body strength, but she has the flexibility! 😀

John grilled chicken and we had a quick dinner, but I didn’t cook any veggies.  Sort of a mash up:

More work to be done and I was feeling the urge for more snackage.  We walked down to the ice cream place (this is becoming a habit on Thursday) and I had a malt with the world’s biggest straw.

I was talking to John about the big difference now in having a day like this is that I don’t beat myself up or feel bad about it.  I really think that allows me to just move on tomorrow without feeling guilty or have it send me into a multi-day spiral of eating.  Maybe I am getting the hang of this thing.

I have to work more tonight….sigh….
Stay tuned tomorrow for a book review/giveaway and what’s blooming!

Bagel day and more biking.

Lovely sunny morning to bike to bagels.  Too bad we didn’t quite make it!  We took a chance at not having a tire changing kit and wouldn’t you know it, John got a nail stuck in his tire and it went flat.  He hasn’t even had his bike for 24 hours!  This was about 3.5 miles from home, so I just biked back home, got the car, and picked him and his bike up.  If somebody has a voodoo doll on us, they need to quit it.  :mrgreen:

My bagel was super, duper tasty.  I forgot how tasty toasted sesame seeds are!  The wheat bagels looked anemic, so I got this one.

Almost a bit over toasted, but not quite.  Delicious!

Poor John, I spend a good portion of breakfast grouching about our luck.  I know it is pretty small potatoes in truth, but when it all piles up at once it gets frustrating.  I am usually very positive and optimistic, but lately have been less so.  Must be hormones….

Lunch break and I was inspired to have some of my rye bread!

I had egg salad made with one egg.  Seems like a lot for one egg, doesn’t it?  I think it is because the bread slice is small.  Plus a mango tango pluot.  Pluots are super duper juicy.  John gave me the idea to cut these up.  Now no juice dribbles down my chin.  Not sure why I didn’t think of that before.

I was up really early this morning, so I had that hungry feeling most of the day.  I had some snacks:

And some cereal.  We really need to fix the bedroom door so it doesn’t rattle when Pixie pushes on it.  I have got to get more sleep.

*guilty as charged*

Of course, I would have Pixie in the bedroom which would eliminate the problem, but I do like to keep John around for some things :mrgreen:

Latte made with coffee we purchased in Montreal at the market on Sunday morning.  They roast their own coffee:

Love those big roasters!

It was dinner time and John had fixed his flat tire, so we decided to take another spin out for a cheap dinner.  We went to East End Eatery.  I had a side salad:

And  a wheat pizza wrap with hot peppers in it!

I believe they were peperoncini- not too hot, but very, very tasty.

Getting a little more comfortable on the bike.  I’ve put about 30 miles on it so far. The tire is a little more narrow that I was wanting to get, so I am a little nervous on parts of the path where the gravel is more soft.  I also am getting a little chafing, which I believe is just due to the new seat hitting me in places my old one didn’t.  Hope I get that callused up by the charity ride in a few weeks!  Good thing I have some anti-chafing gel.  Or maybe I should go commando under my bike shorts?? 😯

What’s blooming on tap for tomorrow!

Bagel day and vacay!

Thursday is finally here!  I woke up way too early, so I headed downstairs and had a protein drink and started on work while waiting for John to get up.  I did manage to get a good amount of work in, which is good.  No wasting time around here!

We got on the bikes and headed out at a nice clip for bagels.

Whole wheat bagel along side the new issue of Adirondack Fitness!  This is the paper that lists all local races and events coming up so we can find things to do.  It was hard to leave the patio to bike home and get back to work.

This little squirrel has been hanging around lately.  I call him Stubby.  Not sure if the got hit by a car or nipped by a dog, but he has  a tiny stub of a tail.  Makes him a little more rat-like 😯

Trying to use up stuff before we leave for the weekend, so I had the rest of the Greek yogurt for lunch.

This combo never gets old (at least to me LOL).

Regarding the barbell press from yesterday, that bar is not actually all that heavy when unloaded.  The olympic bar is 45 pounds, and once you work up to 20# dumbells, you really can move to the bar.  The real advantage to doing the chest press with DBs or a barbell rather than a machine is that it will make both sides work at the same level.  On a chest press machine, the machine will actually compensate for any weakness that one side may have, so you are really building the same degree of strength per each arm, rather than the same level of strength combined (make sense?). Machines do have their place, but I would love to see women people get on the free weights more.

John made me a latte – think I was happy to get it?

Indeed.

With which I paired with the last bit of bread in the house. I almost forgot to take a picture, hence the bite.

I made everything on this plate from the bread to the nut butter to the jam.  Domestic goddess – I am she.

I slogged my way through work today.  So determined to finish up without having to work really late.  4 days a week I am working 9 hours when both jobs overlap and I am not liking that, so much discussion will be had (over coffee) on our trip.  My brain is completely fried from all this work.

Dinner time!  Another case of the ‘last of’ – last of chicken, last of broccoli, last green pear.

Knocking them down like bowling pins!  Fridge is pretty empty of fresh stuff now.  You would think we were going away forever and not just 2 days, but we would be nearing the end of stuff anyway as we shop on the weekend.

I finished up work at 6:30 tonight!  Yes!! My weekend starts now!  Except I need to finish laundry, pack, and clean the house.  My mom is coming over tonight for a briefing as she is house/Pixie sitting for us.  My mom is the best 😀

But first was my prevacation treat:

Not yogurt, but blueberry soft serve from the place down the street.  When you get the kiddie cone it comes with eyes.  😀

Tomorrow morning is workout, breakfast and then leaving. I’ll be posting from Montreal tomorrow. Yippee!

I will leave you with the view of the sunset as I post this from the front porch.  It’s gorgeous.

Biking butt and scale manifesto

Woke up and wiggled the legs, which felt pretty good.  We decided to bike to breakfast!  I had a protein drink for some fuel.

Then we hit the path.  The bike path is a little bit longer and a little slower than the roads (due to rough surface), but so beautiful and quiet on Sunday mornings.  We got to Panera Bread and had an interesting exchange with someone while locking up the bikes. This man was sitting on the patio.  He was quite a large man, as well.

Man:  How far did you guys bike today?

Me:  It will be 17 miles total, 8.5 here, then home after breakfast.

Man:  Wow. That’s great.  Then you can eat whatever you want.

That is such a common misconception.  Burning an extra  few hundred calories does not give one license to eat whatever.  Too many people think this. I actually mentioned that this ride would not do that, but said how we had done 45 yesterday and could eat more because of that, but you can’t go crazy.  He was then saying how he did some walking and was trying to do more, which we encouraged.  I kind of wanted to tell him that I had lost 100 pounds and was now able to ride a lot, but sometimes it feels like bragging or being preachy, you know?

I was hungry by this time!  That protein drink lasted me about 2 miles.  Holdover from yesterday’s ride, I think.  My delicious bagel.

Nom, nom!  I really have kind of backslid on the types of bagels I eat.  I am eating less of the whole grain ones and more regular ones.  Part of that is that I dislike Panera’s whole grain bagel.  It has a strange fishy aftertaste to me (blargh).  Not sure what that is, but me no likey.

Then it was biking home and getting to what little work there was to do.

Couple of bike things.  Tish asked:

How did you learn about how to repair your bike? Did you take a class?

No. I actually can’t really do a lot of repairs on my bike, but I can do the basics. There is a good book out there by Susan Weaver called “A Woman’s Guide to Cycling.” I found it at my library. It helps to get to know your bike. Understand how the chain works. Most problems with bikes are either flat tires or chain problems. Anybody can learn to fix those. Other stuff can go to the bike shop. You really should have working knowledge of how to change a flat tire, cause it is going to happen.  Or at the very least, make sure you have your phone with you to call for a pick up.  😀

Ish also commented:

You must either have an amazingly plush bike seat or buns (literally) of steel.

It’s really the 2nd part of that. It just takes time. When I first got this bike about 5 years ago, I could only ride a few miles and man did my fanny hurt! It hurt just sitting in a normal chair after biking. Then I started getting used to it. I don’t have a gel seat or anything special; it is just the seat that came with the bike. In fact, I need to replace it soon and I am afraid to because it is so comfie. You need to ride consistently to get rid of the soreness. That means going out every other day. Yes, it will hurt at first, but that does go away. I promise. After the first summer biking I was fine, and then the next spring my butt hurt again, but not as bad. This year it didn’t hurt at all getting back on the bike. I have really built up whatever bone strength/callus I needed by consistent training. I now own padded bike shorts this year and can go even longer comfortably.   I did find my threshold for soreness, though, and that was at 95 miles.   Then I started to hurt.  Just like with anything in life, your body adjusts the more you do. You just need to be patient and consistent. (How many times can I use the word ‘consistent’ in a paragraph??)

Lunch break! Tried a new cereal with yogurt and strawberries. It’s Total Omega 3. Had a coupon, so gave it a shot.

Tasty! A little sweet, but very good.

Slow work day, so I got more work done on the cookbook and some outside stuff.  I am trying to patch our driveway, but it is really more crack and hole than asphalt left, so it might be a lost cause.

I was ready for snack time!

Then an hour later I was still hungry, so I had the last of the picked blueberries.  Wahhh!

Sometimes I really like what I write.   Things every once in a while come out sounding just like I think them.  For those that didn’t read yesterday’s post (gasp!) , I said this:

The scale is just a box with a number on it.  It does not tell me that I am strong and beautiful.  It does not know that I can bike 100 miles in a day.  It does not know that I can squat and deadlift in the weight room with the guys.  And I don’t care what it doesn’t know about me – because *I* know it.

Shelley called it my scale manifesto, and I fell in love with that term! (Thanks, Shelley!).  I need to put it on a t-shirt or a coffee mug or something.  Definitely going to put in the sidebar at some point when I have time to fiddle with the blog (I also note I need to change my age to *ahem* 42…).

Smokehouse run today, so we finally have meat!  John grilled up some awesome boneless pork chops.  Side of brussels and a mango tango pluot.

I really like the pluots.  So juicy and a mix of sweet and tart.  Yum!

I am also so excited – the drought is over because tonight is some football!!! Are you ready??  I  am!  I don’t care if it is preseason, I’ll take whatever 😀