Ugh

AM coffee with prunes and I ate my oatmeal before I left. It's 1/8 cup dry, cooked.

When I got to work I had my turkey burger with mustard and the half a diet pepsi from yesterday.

Lunch was the same salad and green tea.

I had a tough day at work, got home late, and my husband picked up dinner.

He picked me up 3 chicken tamales and a side of beans.  I ate the tamales with a glass of tea. I didn't touch the beans, I was stuffed.  Ugh.

What can I say? I ate them - I was hungry and tired and I know he meant well.  Moving on.

Monday, the rest of the story

Knowing I was going to the gym and that we'd be eating late, I opted for a small second snack: a bran crispbread with an ounce of chicken salad and a cup of coffee with almond milk, 65 calories:

Then I went to the gym.  After that I came home and made dinner: crab stuffed tilapia, baked sweet potato, and roasted brussel sprouts.  (530 calories).  I know I haven't mentioned it, but I eat corn, sweet potatoes etc. plain.  I genuinely like them that way.

It was a yummy meal, I'm full, and the kitchen is now officially closed for the evening. :-)

Monday so far

This morning I ate breakfast at home before leaving for the office: A homemade ground turkey burger (cooked weight 3.1 oz) smothered in fresh salsa with a small side of the steel cut oats and a diet pepsi: 243 calories.  Then I took a cup of coffee with me and forgot my prunes! 10 calories with my almond milk.

For lunch I had 1/2 cucumber, large tomato, and small grilled chicken thigh over a couple of cups of mixed greens.  For dressing I used nonfat greek yogurt mixed with lemon juice and spices (kinda like tsaziki sauce). 217 calories.

Afternoon snack was 12 raw unsalted almonds, a cup of grapes, and half a bottle of diet pepsi.

That's it so far, more to come - off to the gym!

The rest of Sunday

Had an afternoon snack - a bran crispbread with an ounce of the chicken salad I made and a cup of coffee.

Sorry the picture is out of focus.

Dinner was filet mignon, roasted broccoli and an ear of corn. And unsweet tea.

 Dessert was a popsicle.

Per sparkpeople, my calories for the day are right around 1300.

Sunday food so far

Got up, had coffee and prunes, took the dogs for a walk.

After we got home I made breakfast: 2 eggs with salsa and a slice of tomato, half a graperfuit, a cup of steel cut oats with cinnamon and vanilla, 2 sliced of bacon, and diet pepsi.  If I weren't doing this, that would have been 3 slices of bacon.

After that I did the week's food prep while hub mowed the grass.  I picked the rest of the rotisserie chicken.  If I weren't doing this, I would have simply made it into chicken salad and snacked on it over the next few days.  Today I weighed the chicken, figured up the calories of the batch, weighed it and calculated calories per ounce (43) and when I do eat some I will weigh it so I know the calories.  (I added celery and onion so by weight it now has fewer calories per ounce than just the chicken.)

Sometimes I was eating hunealthy things, but a lot of it was that I had gotten a little too fast & loose with guestimating what I was eating.  So this have been very helpful to me!

After we finished our work, we ran a couple of errnads and went out to lunch.

This is a picture of the shawarm platter I shared with my husband (the diet coke is his).  I ate just under half the shawarma, 2 smal bites of the hummus, and half the salads - chopped cuke and tomato, eggplant, onion relish, red cabbage, and a shredded green cabbage.  The platter comes with 2 fresh pitas, we did get one, which my husband ate.  I had a bottle of water.

Taking care of a few things at the house and then we are off to the gym.

Sunday

I haven't had anything so far today, but I did sit down and put everything I plan to eat into sparkpeople.  For lunch today we are going to Sunrise Pita Grill - an awesome kosher restaurant.  If you are ever in Ft. Lauderdale, I highly recommend it. 

IMO, eating out can be a challenge if you are counting calories (or anything else) at a place like this.  It's not a chain, they have no nutritional data available, so I'm making the best estimates I can.  I know we are having chicken schwarma and it tastes like it has a fair amount of fat.  I looked it up and I'm estimating 400 calories for a small portion.  I know I will have a couple tablespoons of hummus, and I estimated that as  80 calories (I used Hannah restaurant style as a proxy - it has a lot of tahini).  Other than that I will be eating various marinated vegetables, so maybe an extra hundred? I'm eating lighter the rest of the day so I can keep my calories below 1500 (my personal limit).

We are ordering a platter and splitting it.  Last time we did that we still ended up with leftovers!  Seriously, the platter is pretty big and neither of us eat epic portions (anymore).

We have a rule that we don't eat out more than once per week.  When we do eat out, we like it to be someplace special.  So we frequently choose places like this - not a chain, the food is made fresh in the store, and you aren't going to find it just anywhere.

Yesterday we got a notice in the mail that our house insurance won't be renewed unless we either get a new roof (around $10,000) or get a roofer to certify it has at least 3 more years of useful life.  Ah, the joys of liing in a hurricane zone.  Given that we are looking to move very soon, I can't see the exppense of a new roof, so calling a roofer is now added to my list of crap I have to look forward to Monday.  Sigh.

The rest of the day

For dinner I made shrimp spinach enchiladas, with roasted broccoli and unsweet tea.

Sorry my pictures look so unappetizing.  I think part of it is the lighting in our kitchen.  It looks better in real life!

While watching tv, I made air popped popcorn:

And that brings us to the end of the day.  Per sparkpeople, grand total is right around 1500 calories.

Saturday so far

This morning I got up at 6:30 and finished prepping my grocery list.

Then I made myself breakfast: 2 eggs over 2 oz leftover seasoned ground turkey, guacamole also leftover from last night (I estimated 1/4 of an avocado), salsa, and a glass of diet pepsi.

After that I got dressed, grabbed my prunes and coffee, and hit the road.

I don't know how other people shop, but I am a cherry picker: I buy certain things at certain stores, dues to sales, prices, or preference. That means I hit Penn-Dutch (a local store) for meats and vegetables, W-M for non food and certain items they tend to be low priced on.  I came home and dropped groceries and went back out to Costco for gas and other items I buy there (I don't go every week, probably every other week), and then to Aldi for a couple of items (they are on the way home).  I again went home then ran back out to the post office to mail Mother's day packages to my mom, MIL, and great aunt, and lastly to the bank to make a deposit.  Whew!  I don't plan to leave the house again today!

Then lunch: a salad of 1/2 huge cucumber, a large tomato, 5 ounces rotisserie chicken, and a couple of tablespoons salad dressing. And unsweet tea.  I don't put any sweetener in my tea - I like it plain.

 

After that we got in the pool for a bit, then I grabbed a shower and a short nap.  I woke up and had a bran crispbread at 3 for an afternoon snack:

I also had a cup of coffee (with almond milk).

According to sparkpeople, that's right at 780 calories so far for the day.

I eat a lot of salads, but honestly I can't stand store bought salad dressing: I don't like the taste, value, or ingredient list.  I use other things as dressing (hot sauce, avocado, hummus, salsa), or I make my own.  It doesn't take very long, I can use things like greek yogurt, tomato sauce, and almond milk as they base so the calorie value is better, not to mention it lacks the sugar and other indecipherable ingredients.  It lasts a week in the fridge.  I have a lot of recipes so I can make a variety.  My husband eats basically the same way I do and it keeps him from getting bored as well.

This photo challenge has been interesting.  Besides the fact that its got me posting again regularly, its forcing me to stop and consider before I eat something.  Do I really want something enough to get up, take a photo, and post it before I eat?  Also, hub has been getting home later so we are eating dinner later this week, so I haven't been hungry or bored enough for the answer to be yes.

the day in eats

This has been a bit of an odd week.  Generally, I eat the same things over & over, but this week threw me a couple of curveballs.  Oh, well, there is plenty of food in the house so it's not like anyone is going hungry. Semper Gumby.  I figured out 'plan b's.

AM coffee and prunes:

Breakfast was odd.  I cooked 2 eggs and put them over the leftover green beans (I felt it needed something else) and added hot sauce.  Weird but it worked.

Then lunch: 1/2 cucumber, large tomato, grilled chicken breast, 3 Tbsp hummus (thinned to use as dressing) over a couple of cups of raw spinach, and unsweet tea.

Afternoon snack was a cup of grapes and half an ounce of walnuts.

I knew we would be eating a bit late so when I got home I ate a cracker:

Dinner looks gross, but it was good! 3 corn tortillas baked, 1/2 c refried beans, 3 oz. ground turkey, 1/2 avocado, and salsa.  (Meat and avocado were seasoned.)  Homemade nachos. And unsweet tea.

 

Per sparkpeople, the total for the day so far is around 1250, but over 500 were in dinner alone, so I don't plan to eat anything else tonight.  I think I will go have a popsicle and call it a night!

Happy Friday!

Afternoon snack, and dinner

For snack I had the same thing as yesterday, so I used the same picture:

1 cup of grapes and a half ounce of walnuts (and a diet pepsi - must stop 2nd diet pepsi, because honestly its a glass of chemicals). 188 calories.

And dinner:

Sorry for the blurry picture - I didn't realize it until after I had eaten! Dinner was homemade cod chowder (cod was on sale), roasted green beans, and sliced strawberries.  And unsweet tea.

Chowder can be high cal, but I have a couple of strategies: leave out the butter, half the liquids (hub likes it thick anyway) and use almond milk.

This weekend I will break out the camera and try to take some pictures that make my food look appetizing!

I can't remember if I posted it, here is a random pic from vacation last month.

That was at the first hotel where we stayed in Key Largo.  It was early morning and we were headed out for our scuba trip.  I can't believe we live 90 minutes from Key Largo, and don't get there more often!  Priorities!

Lunch, and workouts

First, a bit of back story: every Sunday evening my husband grills up chicken thighs for us to use in our lunch salads.  This week we are running short and I wanted to save them for him, so I decided to use sardines in my salad instead.  Blame Norma, I got the idea from her.  So, lunch was half a large cucumber (chopped), a large tomato, 3 Tbsp hummus (I thin it down with some water and use as dressing), and a can of sardines.  I also had a glass of unsweet tea.  It came to roughly 340 calories.

Since I was at home, I took my lunch outside and ate by the pool.  It poured, for 5 minutes.  Typical south Florida spring weather!  It's been raining on and off all day, which is a bit unusual.

Which brings me to workouts:

Wednesday: 200 kettlebell swings with the 18 lb bell, a few minutes of yoga, chest & back with Jeff (short & light since I also lifted Tuesday and today) and 20 minutes on the elliptical.

Today: 30 minutes of walking and the "B" workout of Phase 1 from NRLFW (New Rules of Lifting for Women).

We got up and took the dogs for a walk this morning and we were at just about halfway when it started to POUR.  Our big shephard/lab/misc. mix happily splashed in the gutter.  Our poor jack russell mix stood in the middle of the road, eyes squinted, with this look of abject misery on her face and refused to walk.  I carried her, then hub carried her, then the rain let up enough that she begrudgingly agreed to walk.  We were soaked!  If the dog hadn't been so miserable, it would'nt have been too bad.  It was kinda funny. :-)

Last night, I was feeling anxious about a work related issue.  I really wanted to nosh on something, and I was a bit hungry, but honestly I was too tired to take a picture and post it, so I guess this is working!

Breakfast, and calories

I forgot to say, with the bran crispbread (as they are called) AM pre breakfast was 60 calories.  I guess that makes it sound like I eat all day, I just like my prunes with my coffee, and that one cup first thing is generally the only coffee I drink.

Breakfast was 2 eggs made into an omelet with 1 c leftover brussel sprouts sliced, 5 large mushrooms sauteed, and about an ounce of mexican style chorizo. If you aren't familiar, its a loose mexican breakfast sausage (think seasoned ground meat).  I tossed that in for some flavor. 

I also had half a grapefruit and a glass of diet pepsi.  I drink water througout the day, but at meals I typically drink unsweetened tea.  Diet pepsi is definitely a vice I am cutting back on, but I do have a glass with breakfast.  I guess I like to frontload my caffeine!

I ususally toss the leftoer dinner veggies into our lunch salads the next day, but I thought the omelet needed something to bulk it up. Per Sparkpeople, total calories was 360.

Another lovely pic, courtesy of my cell phone.

 

AM

Today I am working at home, so I can post my food throughout the day (I can't post from work).  This morning I woke up hungry, so I added a "Scandanavian bran crispbread" to my prunes and coffee.  These things have 12 calories and 5 grams of fiber - they are a bit like eating a cross between that all bran cereal (that looks like mouse poop) smashed together and cardboard.  Yeah, pretty dry on their own, but VERY filling and perfect when you need a little something to tide you over.

I am getting ready to head out and walk the dogs, then walk myself, and then come home & eat breakfast.

So, here ya go:

Be back after breakfast!

Food, part 2

So, dinner.  I included a ruler for a frame of reference.  These dishes belonged to my grandparents.  This is ine of the "luncheon" plates, with a diameter of 8 inches.

The meal is a cod filet baked with panko breadcrumbs, sweet potato fries, and roasted brussel sprouts (which we love).  Per Sparkpeople, 325 calories.

After dinner I had a 15 calorie sugar free popsicle.  That puts me at about 1300 calories for the day.

Food so far

As I left for work: 2 prunes and a cup of coffee with unsweetened plain almond milk and a packet of stevia.  50 calories.

Breakfast: 6 oz (uncooked weight) greek meatloaf, made with 2 parts ground turkey to 1 part ground lamb, chopped spinach, and spices.  And 1/4 of a large cucumber, sliced. 360 calories per Sparkpeople.

Lunch: a salad from the cafeteria.  I watched the lady make it: I am guessing 4 oz grilled chicken, 1/4 cup garbanzo beans, 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, and 3 cups mixed greens.  I asked for the dressing on the side (its a greek vinegarette).  I used 3 about spoons - I estimated 2 tablespoons.  That made it 350 calories.  Oh, and a glass of unsweet green tea.

Finally a cup of green grapes, a half oz walnuts, and diet pepsi. That came to 190 calories.

Clearly, I don't need to quit my day job and become a food stylist!

Lucky girl

I know I've mentioned the fitness center we have at work.  The nutritionist generally arrives between 9 and 10, and the fitness instructor (Jeff) comes in around 10.  They come in later because the center is mainly utilized in the lunch & late afternoon/early evening periods.

I generally go down mid-morning to do by kettlebell swings and/or yoga.  I use the small, back studio.

This is the room I get all to myself, 5 days a week, to work out.  How nice is that?!?

Allan's challenge

Blogger Allan has issued a challenge for any who want to participate: take (and post!) pictures of all the food you eat.

I have to confess, seeing and reading about what other bloggers eat is fascinating.  For one, I have learned a tremendous amount about healthy eating, gotten some fantastic ideas, and gotten some truly terrible ones!  For the record, I also like peeking in other shoppers' carts.  I'm not judging, but I think seeing what someone eats is like a secret glimpse into their life.  Does that make me a nosy parker?

The past 4 weeks I've been suffering from the up 2 pounds down 2 pounds, and its getting old! So hopefully this will be the extra kick in the butt I need to stick with the clean eating.  I would love to drop 20 pounds before we leave for vacation in 11 weeks and posting my food here for a while certainly won't hurt!

I will also be posting my workouts.  For the curious (and in case I didn't mention it already), I am starting the weight lifting routine found in "The New Rules of Lifting for Women" designed by the awesome Alwyn Cosgrove.  I am doing the first workout tonight.

Today

Went to the beach.

Cleaned veggies (excuse the terrible pic).

Neighbors are coming over to grill out later.

Big news: exempting yourself from common sense isn't smart

Yeah.... that whole hundreds of swings day after day?  You'd think I'd be smarter, but clearly not!  I'm back to sanity - luckily that period didn't last long and I didn't injure myself, but I tried.

For the record, I sit at a computer all day.  If I'm not at my computer, I'm in a meeting.  So my intent with my schedule is to move regularly throughout the day.

Exercise these days:

AM walk most days, for 1.5-2 miles. (NOT for exercise per se, I just like to start my day with movement.)

Mid morning every other day I do a couple hundred kettlebell swings and some yoga.  Other days I do just stretching or yoga.

Afternoon: weight lifting and/or elliptical.  Getting in the pool after work for 30-45 minutes.

Evening walk with the dogs 3-4 times per week.  Again, its all about moving throughout the course of the day.

I've been lifting weights with Jeff, but I am planning to start doing the routine in the "New Rules of Lifting for Women" next week.  I need a little more effort in that arena I think.

Boringsville

We are still in south Florida.  The weather is warm enough that we have been getting in the pool daily, which rocks.

Food is the same old boringsville stuff - meat & veg for breakfast, meat & veg for lunch, meat & veg for dinner, fruit & nuts for snack.

I'm trying to increase my swing capacity so I decided that I am exempt from common sense and starting swinging my kettlebell every day.  Given the large capacity of swings I do (over 200), probably not the best idea I've ever had.  I am sticking to 3 days a week of swings, plus other stuff (weights, HIIT, walks, etc).

While I enjoy lifitng weights with Jeff down in the fitness center, I feel like I would benefit from something a bit more regimented.  Must ponder.

I turned a year older a couple of days ago.  I had a nice meal and we split a piece of cake (at the restaurant) for dessert.  It was very good.  A win in that it was special (a lovely piece of bavarian chocolate cake from an awesome german restaurant) and because there were no leftovers to feel guilty over when I tossed them.

Lazy Sunday

Slept "late" (7) this morning, did a manky, sweaty workout then jumped in the pool to cool down.  It was so nice and relaxing.  Now I am doing the food prep for the week.

Because I like variety, I had salad with tuna for lunch instead of grilled chicken. Living on the edge.

A quick thought

"Too much research and data collecting can obstruct the pursuit and achievement of noble goals..." - Dave Draper (former Mr America, Mr Universe, and Mr World.)

At work we call this "analysis paralysis."  I had a boss who used to say "Don't let perfect get in the way of good enough."

I see this in weight loss bloggers who claim to be trying to lose weight but aren't ready. (I've used it myself.)  Get your panties all in a wad about proper pre or post fueling of your workout, or the right macro-nutrients and pretty soon you are like a dog frantically chasing its tail, spinning in circles, expending loads of energy and getting nowhere.

Here's a hint: if you have more that 50 pounds to lose (I just made that number up), don't obsess about the perfect pre or post workout food, just work out.  Don't worry about the right macro balance - get the trash out of your diet and eat your vegetables. THEN worry about the smaller details.

I was tired so I went to bed early.  Now its 2 and I am awake.  Then I'll read Dave's book awhile and hopefully get sleepy. 

Goodnight.

Awesome birthday pressie, if delayed!

A bit of background, courtesy of Tracy Reifkind:

"This past year Pavel Tsatsoline, the man that brought kettlebell training to this country,, and his system of learning how to build strength, parted ways with Dragon Door and "RKC" (formerly Russian Kettlebell Challenge and/or Certification), the first company that published his books, and helped him teach others his methods while leading Instructor courses across the US as well as Internationally for going on a decade now.  Pavel, with the help of CEO Mark Toomey, started his own company, SFG (Strong First Girya) when he realized the direction with his former partnership, Dragon Door, was not in line with what his teaching and training philosophy were about." - Tracy

Tracy attended the first SFG certification course last month.  I have dreamed for years of attending an RKC course, but have not done so - for one I could never find one near me!  That is changing in June, when there will be a SFG kettlebell course in Naples.  Yes, I am going!  Woot!

The forecast is for thunderstorms this afternoon, so I got up and hit 4 grocery stores, Costco, the Costco gas station, post office, and pool store. Came home and had a grilled chicken salad for lunch with hummus for the dressing.

I have plenty of stuff to do around here (hub is working today so I get extra rations of chores!), but at least its all indoors.

Its kinda been that kind of week

Nothing in particular - its just felt like a long week.  Tomorrow I have 8 places to go - 6 of them are grocery stores, which is just nuts really.  Other than that, laundery, food prep, and relaxing I hope!

So Happy Its Thursday

Had a good day at work today.  Jeff wasn't available to work out, so I went downstairs and did kettlebell swings and a leg workout.  Then I did a few minutes of yoga.

Breakfast, lunch, and snack were the same - mid afternoon I really wanted a cookie, but I told myself to STOP IT and ate my grapes. 

Dinner tonight is a salad and some leftover lamb & lentil stew from the freezer.  We have nearly eaten up all the planned left overs from the freezer, not to mention we've run out of a bunch of stuff.  So this weekend is going to be a huge shop and food prep.  That's fine because we gave the house a good deep clean this past weekend.  We may go to the beach Sunday morning. 

I plan to begin restocking by planning meals next week that lend themselves well to doubling and freezing, as well as buying some staples (pork chops, maybe some steaks) and freezing some in marinade - a favorite trick for a quick dinner.  Just grill, add sweet potato and a roasted veg and 5 minutes of prep and 20 minutes of cooking and dinner is done!

Looks like we may get a little rain this afternoon - spring has sprung when we begin to get our afternoon showers.  OTOH, hub is going to have to do some work on the pool chemicals this weekend. 

checking on

Working on getting back into a routine - work, exercise, packing food.  Nothing big to say, I miss the fam but things are pretty much back to the routine.  Did a really great arm & back workout today.

Food: turkey burgers for breakfast.  Lunch is the usual grilled chicken salad.  I think next week I may use hummus for my dressing to change up the flavor.  Dinners are the usual suspects.  I've been taking a baggie with some grapes for snack - I have gotten a little tired of clementines.

I was sick Sunday and didn't get to bed until 5:30 Monday morning.  I was home sick Monday.  I feel like I'm about back to normal with my energy & sleep.

Here's the thing

Family is a big deal to me.  I know southerners havent cornered the market, but its a big deal to me.  I was so happy to have my family here with me and I miss them so much that I just keep tearing up.  I lived thousands of miles away (as in, not on the same continent) for years.  But now that I am older and have a child of my own, being near family is very important to me.

Living so far from them is so hard.  And it was so hard to see them go.  And nothing I can put into my mouth is going to change that hurt.

We're back

We had a wonderful time in the Keys and a wonderful visit.  The family got on the road back to NC this morning and I miss them already.

Five days and nights in hotels and I am up 2 pounds.  Anything the famiily left in the house is going in the trash.  Vacation is over.  I plan to go out to eat on my birthday on the 19th but other than that food will be BAU.

Today I am unapcking, putting away lanudry, cleaning the house, and otherwise getting things back to normal, or what passes for it around here.

Kettlebell fail

I worked at home today, and after I finished decided to do some kettlebell swings.  I left my 18 lb kbell at work, so I used the 26 lb.  After 100 swings, my back was hurting.  It was a little tight before I started, and it clearly was not up to the 26 lb.  Oh well, involuntary day off.

Friday ... finally!

The fam is on the road and I am so excited!  I've bought some groceries, done some laundery, and cleaned to pool and kitchen.

Here is a picture of lunch:

Exciting, right???  I should start collecting dishes to try to make my food look more exciting! Ha ha.

Breakfast was "huevos faux-cheros" aka almost huevos rancheros.  I made 2 eggs, with 1/3 cup refried beans and salsa.  Very good and filling.  Dinner tonight is chicken soup with vegetables and white beans.  When I make soup (generally in the crock pot) I will automatically freeze enough for us to have it for another meal.  After that, leftovers get put in a smaller tupperware so that if I need a quick weekend lunch I can heat up some soup and put it with a salad or wrap.

I had several things in the freezer and it was getting full, so over the past couple of weeks I've been using up what's in the freezer.

This may sound crazy, but its pretty normal for me to go to 2-3 grocery stores every weekend - sometimes more!

I hit W-M for non grocery items as well as canned veg, pickles & condiments - that sort of thing.  They do have low prices on that stuff, but I don't care for their produce or meat.

For produce and meat, I go to a local store- they have a butcher, specific farms they buy from, make their own ground meats, sausages etc. in the store (they started as a bucher shop).  And their produce is generally very nice.

Then for misc. items I sometimes go to: Aldi, Whole Foods, and Publix.

I do my grocery shopping early Saturday morning and do my food prep for the week on Sunday.

I know people who say "I can't imagine planning all my meals in advance!".  I can't imagine NOT.  I had a co-worker a few years ago, every afternoon she & her husband would have this huge conversatin around whether anyone had taken anything out of the freezer, what they needed from the store, what they were going to make, etc.  It sounded like they were planning the D Day invasion!  They had 2 young daughters, so getting a good meal on the table was important, but leaving it to the last minute when you both work is a recipe for disaster in my book.

Sometimes I make a change at the last minute, but its good to have most everything you need and a plan.

I started tracking my food in Sparkpeople.  I was curious.  I have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to eat, but I really didn't know the difference calorie-wise between lamb chops and pork chops.  Is it important?  I don't know.  After tracking for a week, my calories tend to fall into a range of 1300-1450 calories. 

I have no plans to take my computer with me to the Keys, so don't expect any posts next week (that it, if any humans continue to read this).

If I don't post again, have a good Easter!

Nothing ruins a Friday like realizing its Wednesday

This has been one of those weeks where it always seemed like it should be a day or two later than it actuall was.  It was busy and I was dragging, so I am glad the end is in sight!

Anyway, not too much to say.  Another good workout with Jeff today - shoulders and arms.  The family is driving down from NC tomorrow and I am very excited!  The house could be tidier, but who cares?  I'm just glad they are coming down a day earlier than originally planned!

Easter menu

Normally, I don't do a big Easter meal.  This year would be no exception except I picked up a 15 pound turkey for 40 cents a pound after Christmas.  That sucker has been in my freezer ever since.  The family (my mom, son, and his girlfriend) are coming down on Friday and we are headed out of town on Monday.  So Sunday seemed like a good time to use the turkey.

My original plan was turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, and a dessert.  Son asked if I would please make homemade dressing as well, so I am.  It's like a Thanksgiving dinner, but a very streamlined version.

Since we are leaving town the next day I figured leftover turkey would be either frozen or used to make sandwiches for the road (or salad in the case of the hub & I).

Next week we are headed to the Keys for the week as a graduation present to the boy.  Monday is SCUBA diving at John Pennekamp State Park in Key Largo (son and I are the only divers in the family), Tuesday is the Coral Castle (google Coral Castle museum if curious), Wednesday is snorkeling back at JP state park, then Thursday and Friday are doing misc. tourist things down in Key West.  So, loads of being out in the warm sunshine - walking and swimming.

Woork is good these days but I am still looking forward to this trip! 

Had a good but difficult discussion with my boss.  And it was genuinely good, just on a sensitive topic.  I find conversations like that hard, and my immediate response after it was over was to look for something to soothe my feelings.  Picked up a "treat", then put it back.  I don't need it - the conversation is done and went well and yes it was stressful but it's over, so why eat to soothe now?

Food today was pretty much the same as yesterday so I won't bore you.

Exercise was 30 minute walk, 20 minutes yoga, 175 kettlebell swings, and a 30 minute back workout with Jeff the trainer.

Dinner going into the oven

Monday

Exciting title, no?

Today was very quiet at work, which enabled me to get in a couple of 30 minute exercise breaks.  So far today I have:

walked 30 minutes
done 45 minutes of yoga
done 175 kettlebell swings
done 30 minutes of challenging circuiut style lower body weight training with Jeff.

I appreciate having the fitness center, it makes getting in exercise much easier!

Food:

Breakfast was as planned - tomatoes & shrimp with feta
am snack was a boiled egg
lunch was salad with grilled chicken
pm snack was half an ounce of walnuts and 2 clementines

dinner tonight is going to be a roasted lamb chop, baked sweet potato, and roasted brussel sprouts.

It is so warm here that we got in the pool yesterday!  I am hoping it will cool back down for a little bit - I love being able to have the windows open.  OTOH, we are planning to go scuba diving and snorkeling next week, so a little warmth might be a good thing!

Lunch

I eat the same lunch 6 days a week.  The base is: greens (spinach in this case), cucumber, tomatoes, and a grilled chicken thigh.  I add banana peppers, olives, etc.  I make different dressings to change it up and I may add cilantro or parsley.  The 7th day we generally have leftovers.

Breakfast this week

I packaged up my breakfasts for the week: 4 oz boiled shrimp, 4 chopped campari tomatoes, a green onion, and 2 Tbsp feta cheese in each container.  And salt, pepper, and oregano. 

This is something my mom used to make and serve over pasta.  I just left off the pasta.  I love it but it isn't one of hub's favorites, so I'm having it for breakfast!

 The peanut butter is not on the counter for convenient snacking - that's what we use to give the dogs their medicines!  Works like a charm.  I'm not a big peanut butter fan myself, but I can't imagine wanting to stick a spoon in it after I've been using dog pills as scoops! :-O

Breakfast

Brekfast today: 2 eggs with 1/4 avocado, salsa, iced coffee.

Almost a month

I'm still alive.

Teeth are healing up.  We're still here in Florida, working on the house, taking care of the dogs.  Things are still largely the same.  Our chihuahua has been sick, but she is doing well.  She was given the incorrect dosage of a medicine, but has made a full recovery.

What else?  Getting ready for spring break.  We are going to the Keys for a week the first week of April, which is going to be a great deal of fun.

Jeff at work has set up an informal group that meets each afternoon to lift weights together.  In a not so shocking development, I am the only girl.  I love my kettlebells, but its nice to be doing some old school style weights as well. :-)

It's perfect winter weather here - nights in the mid to upper 50s, days in the mid to upper 70s - no need for heating or air conditioning.

The hub and I went to Everglades National Park a couple of weekends ago.  I am posting a picture.  I could not believe the alligators!

I just haven't felt like I have a lot to say here, but I am doing okay.  I hate it when bloggers vanish, and a time may come where once again I have more to say, so I want to check in periodically.

Be well.

Update

So, my oral surgery was on Feb 7, and the stitches came out on the 18th.  During that time I was not able to wear my temporary applicance, could not exercise (or do anything to raise my blood pressure due to the pain it caused), and was on a soft diet.

As of Friday, I still couldn't wear my temp teeth.  The dentist ground it down some, but she said the implants probably changed my gumline.  I worked from home the first week and was on vacation this last week.  We'll see how things go tomorrow - I have to go back to work.  Hopefully she can make enoough adjustments without my having to have another temp appliance made.

My mom was here for a week and she helped me do some painting in the house, so that was good.  Still looking at moving as soon as I can get work situated - no idea when that will happe, hopefully sooner rather than later.

We switched our dogs to new heartowrm/flea med.  Vet gave us the wrong size and our chihuahua took a dose meant for a very large dog.  They treated her for free, but once she had to go to the hospital the bills started mounting.  She is on 4 meds and seemed to be doing better, but today she is not eating.  I can't begin to tell you how worried we are.  We were there when she was born and she is my husband's pride and joy.  Besides the fact that we simply can't afford thousands of dollars in vet bills, basically they said "no idea.  here's an antibiotic, call us if she gets worse."

If this post sounds negative, I have to tell you, I'm feeling pretty down.  I've been randomly crying on and off for days and can't seem to stop.  I am just so overwhelemed - by money, by being so far from family, worry over the dog... literally I feel like I can't get a break. 

Between starting this post and now our son's bf came by to let us know his grandparents kicked him out.  Can't even remember if I posted here, but his parents threw him out the weekend before Christmas and he lived with us for a month before moving in the his grandparents.

Like I said, cannot get a break.

Here is breakfast - veggie omelet.  I keep trying even if I keep getting knocked down.

Blogger fail

I don't know if I'm not cut out for blogging any more - I keep trying and not following through.  I am still reading plenty of blogs, I just don't know what to say here.

I am walking, swinging kettlebells, making green drinks, eating vegetables, living my life.

Things are okay.  We certainly have challenges, but we seem to be tackling them together.  Still not thrilled to be in south Florida, but we continue to work on that.

I am having my dental implants next week.  First they do the impants, then they have to heal (minimum 4 months) and then they can put on the crowns.  This has been a long, crazy expensive process, which has sucked.  Lesson learned: don't get your teeth knocked out in a swimming pool as a teenager.

Juicing

For this week I decided to do juice for 2 of my 3 meals.  It's an easy way for me to get in mass quantities of veggies.  For me, when I say "juice" I generally do a sort of hybrid: I juice my hard veggies but then pour my juice into the BlendTec and add the spinach & that sort of thing.  I do that because I have a centrifugal juicer (which I love) but it just doesn't do greens very well.

I've been doing a green drink in the morning (spinach, 1/2 banana, frozen mixed fruit), then 2 quarts of juice - I juice in the morning and put it into 4 canning jars, 3 of which I pack in my lunchbox with ice packs.  I've also been taking a couple of the little clementines - I do love citrus season!  My juices are mostly vegetable, not the largely fruit juices you often see recipes for.

Tonight I made a goulash in the crockpot which I served with leftover mashed cauliflower and 3 bean salad.

While I certainly want to lose weight (I think that's been true for the past 25 years regardless of what I've weighed), for me, the primary point of juicing is the cram nutrients into my body in such a way that they are highly bioavailable.  The sniffly nose I had over the holidays cleared up less than a day after I started juicing.

I don't know whether I will juice for meals next week or cut back to a smaller amount of juice and add a small breakfast & lunch back in for next week.  The week after that we will be travelling and I will be packing food rather than juice for sure.

Right now we have 2 guest dogs at our house (long story) so I can't really go for a walk unless someone is here to watch them, so I am getting exercise in while I am at the office. 

Yesterday I was talking about the mild weather - well I take it back.  It is miserable freaking hot and I sincerely wish I wasn't 1) too miserly and 2) opposed on the principal that using AC in December is WRONG because it is 80 in my house and I am sweaty. 

Happy Wednesday!

Ah Wednesday, the world is slowly getting back to "normal."  Colleagues I haven't seen in weeks are getting back to work. I start the new year with a new boss, slightly altereed work role, new challenges. 

Unfortunately, I am also starting the new year sleep deprived.  I had another bout of insomnia last night.  Sigh.

Still and all, the mild weather is helping keep my spirits up in the face of various challenges life continues to offer up. 

I took some steak out of the freezer to marinate.  The plan is for hub to grill it and I'll make mashed cauliflower and roasted green beans and fruit salad for dessert.  Then take the dogs for a walk.  He's been crazy busy with work (thank goodness!), so I am looking forward to a quiet evening at home.

Hello again

Happy new year!

Over the holidays I didn't get on the computer more very often.  My family was down from NC and we just enjoyed our time together.

I didn't gain weight over the holidays, but I did eat some crap.  So in january I am doing the Whole 30 and trying not to eat out except for 1 planned dinner out.  We are going to NC for a week and we'll be staying with friends up in Asheville for a few nights.  I plan to take them out to thank them for their hospitality.  no idea where we'll eat.

I met with the nutritionist yesterday and shared my plans regarding Whole 30, food for the trip, and my exercise goals for the month.  I re0established good habits in December and intend to kicj them up a notch in January.

There is still loads going on with work, home, and family.  But there is ALWAYS something going on.  That can't be an excuse to derail your goals.  If anything, by sticking to goals you'll feel more in control of the things you can control, which I think helps deal with the stuf fyou CAN'T control.

In any case, if anyone is still reading this, Happy 2013!