Doh...

Just saw this message posted on the front page of my college's website:

All classes and offices at Limestone College will operate on normal schedule Monday, Feb. 1, 2010.

Guess it's a 6 a.m. wake-up call after all...

Snowy Sunday

Today was a fairly productive day as three loads of laundry were done, the bed made, the dishes washed, and lunch and dinner were cooked for the week. There was still snow and ice outside so I was not going anywhere in the car.

After sleeping in, Kobe went outside in the yard to enjoy the last of the snow before it melted. For breakfast, I had the usual oatmeal and banana, but I added some canned pumpkin to the oats which was very yummy. I also drank a small bottle of orange juice (I had used some to make a salad dressing yesterday).

After breakfast, I put dinner into the slow cooker: curried lentils with chicken. The house smelled so good all day with the curry spices floating through the air-- it made the place seem so much warmer.

After starting a load of laundry and washing the breakfast dishes, I continued with the Couch to 5K program (still on week 3) and then did a yoga sequence. It's amazing how much better you can fell after a really good stretch.

For lunch, I intended to make lentil soup, but upon grabbing the bag of lentils from the cupboard I realized I had bought split peas! Oh bother. What to do? I had already started sweating the onion, carrot, and celery. Realizing that I'd have to eat the peas sometime (and I had never eated split pea soup before as I'm not a fan of peas), I substituted the split peas for the lentils in the recipe. The result was a fairly bland soup, but at least I'm set for lunch the rest of the week. I also had a roll and an orange.

My afternoon snack was an apple. For dinner I had curried lentils and chicken over white rice, and a salad with balsamic vinaigrette and feta cheese. Dessert included another orange (they are so sweet and juicy),  five pieces of 85% cacao dark chocolate, and tea.

I decided to have  TV-less evening and have enjoyed ready a new book about container gardening and The Color of Lightning. 

We're back to the old grind on Monday (though I'm keeping my fingers crossed that offices will be closed due to snow still being on the ground). Tomorrow begins the busiest month of the year for people in my profession, otherwise known as hell month. Seventeen of our 22 sports teams will be competing during February, and all I can say is "BRING IT ON" so it can be over and done with. 

This Is It

Tonight I ate dinner while watching This Is It. It would have been spectacular show to see in person.

After taking another nap this afternoon, puppy and I headed outside for a few minutes. All the snow has iced over. Kobe also enjoyed watching some of our neighbors sled down the street this afternoon.

Dinner tonight was a chicken and onion stir-fry with oven-baked potato wedges and a salad. I had two chocolate chip cookies for dessert with my tea. This afternoon I snacked on an apple and some cheerios.

Now I'm off to finish watching the movie and find something on the tube tonight.

Lazy Day

It's amazing, it's 11:15 a.m. and the snow hasn't melted yet. Unfortunately, it's not the nice, powdery snow-- this stuff is pretty crunchy. But that didn't stop Kobe and me from heading out there this morning (after I bundled up in three layers of clothing).

After coming in from the cold, a bowl of oatmeal hit the spot (and then I ate a banana). Since breakfast, I've only gotten off the couch three times. I'm feeling very lazy so I think today will be a rest day.

For lunch I had a baby spinach salad with feta cheese, craisins, and walnuts, with a roll and an orange.

Kobe had a blast in the snow this morning:

SNOW

It snowed today! How exciting! We've gotten so much it actually sticks on the ground! Everything has been canceled! And I'm a little too excited about this, but cut me some slack, it's late. Here's a video of Kobe outside just as the snow was beginning to fall.



Like everyone else, I headed to the grocery store to stock up for the ONE ENTIRE DAY I'll be cooped up at home.I thought I picked up everything I needed (oatmeal, apples, baby spinach, etc.), but when I went to make my cup of tea I only had two tea bags left :-(. Guess another emergency grocery run will be in "store" for Monday.

Anyways, getting back to my healthy living journal, here's my exercise and food journal for the day.

Exercise: walk with Kobe and Get Moving For Weight Loss (this is a great cardio video that's only takes about 35 minutes if you skip the very short lower body segments).
Breakfast: oatmeal with Better 'n Peanut Butter, banana
Lunch: black beans and rice
Snacks: apple, salad with feta and olives, 1/4 cup honey nut cheerios
Dinner: Bacon corn chowder, bread
Dessert: Chocolate chip cookie, orange, 3 pieces of 85% organic dark chocolate

I'm getting ready to take a shower and head to bed. My plan tomorrow is to wake up, let Kobester out to play in the snow, eat breakfast, and watch the Food Network all morning. Just can't wait for a lazy day!

Craziness!

Today has been crazy-I haven't had a break since I got into work, so I'll just give you a short recap of the day:

5:50 a.m.-WAKE UP!
5:55 a.m.-Snack: Banana
6 a.m.-Morning walk with Kobe
6:45 a.m.-Walk/run workout
7:15 a.m.-Stretch
7:30 a.m.-Shower
8 a.m.-Breakfast FINALLY! (oatmeal with raisins, Better 'n Peanut Butter, and a little honey)
9 a.m.-Off to begin a crazy day!
11:30 a.m.-Lunch (black beans with brown rice, orange)
12:30 p.m.-Back to work for the rest of the day
Dinner will be a salad (when I go visit Kobe this afternoon), peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and an apple. I'll probably have a tootsie roll pop to keep me awake tonight!

Wednesday

Today's big event is a showing of our house this afternoon! That means that I had to get the house clean. I honestly didn't feel like cleaning last night (plus I had a meeting back at work at 7 p.m.), so after our walk this morning I got to work sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, and just tidying up the house. That took me about an hour, so my weight workout got pushed back to this evening after work. I'm not planning on doing anything too strenuous, probably just the express version of the Firm's Total Body Time Crunch. And then I must stretch.

For breakfast I had the usual bowl of oats with Better 'n Peanut Butter, but this morning I added in a squirt of honey as my reward for cleaning. I'm running low on spinach, so I skipped the salad at lunch and ate a big bowl of black bean soup with brown rice and some light sour cream. Dinner tonight is probably going to be a repeat of lunch. I've also got leftover fruit crisp for dessert-hooray!

Tuckered out Tuesday

Last night was a LATE night. I didn't get home until 10:30, and after scratching the dog's head for a couple of minutes, and then hit the pillow. I did get to see something awesome at the basketball game- a guy hit a full court shot for $10,000!



When my alarm went off, it was so hard to get out of bed. But, Kobe was waiting so I sucked it up, got bundled up, and we headed out for our walk. My plan was to do a yoga video this morning, but I decided it would be more beneficial for me to sneak in an extra hour of sleep. So, I returned to bed and got up at 7:30. Breakfast was the usual banana and oatmeal with raisins and Better 'n Peanut Butter.

Lunch was a salad, and black bean and brown rice soup. I snacked on an apple at work, and then headed home to get my run in. I've moved onto to week three of Couch to 5K, so here's what my workout looked like:

0:00-5:00: Warm-up
5:00-6:30: Run (5.7 mph)
6:30-8:00: Walk (3.5 mph)
8:00-11:00: Jog (5.1 mph)
11:00-14:00: Walk (3.5 mph)
14:00-15:30: Run (5.7 mph)
15:30-18:00: Walk (3.5 mph)
18:00-21:00: Jog (5.1 mph)
21:00-24:00: Walk (3.5 mpg)
24:00-30:00: Cool down

And then I stretched.

For dinner, I ate leftover spicy peanut chicken with brown rice, and had the usual orange and tea for dessert.

Manic Monday

Just another manic monday...

Monday's are always a little crazier than the rest of the week since you're trying to get settled into your work routine after a relaxing weekend. My Monday is no exception-- I'll be at the office all day and then will be at a basketball doubleheader this evening. It's taken me about three years, but I've finally figured out how to make it through a day this long without crashing. Here are my tips:

1. Get plenty of rest the night before.
This is really important. If you know you're going to have a long day, rest up for it. That doesn't mean going to bed really early, it just means getting a quality night's rest. Since my days are getting longer and longer, I have to stay up later than I have been. I'm usually in bed by 9:30 in the fall, but beginning in January I try and stay up until 10 p.m., just so I'm more alert later at night when I have to work.


2. Get your workout out of the way first thing!
After a good night's sleep, you should be bright eyed and busy tailed when your alarm goes off before the dawn, and you should be positively giddy to pull on your workout clothes and work up a sweat! By waking up and working out, you've already taken time for yourself. You also don't have to worry about working out later in the day. As you've probably gathered by now, my "workouts" often are a simple walk with the dog. Good for me and good for the pup. I usually try to tack on some weight training, yoga, or cardio session after spending some quality time with my four-legged friend.

3. Eat healthy and often!

I'm one of those people who gets extremely cranky and tired when I get hungry, not to mention my mental focus goes out the door when I get pangs in my stomach. The solution is to eat every 3-4 hours throughout the day, make you're getting your nutritional bang for your buck from your food, and planning.  I'm very fortunate to have a job with flexible hours that allows me to come home in the afternoon to grab a snack and pack my dinner, but if you can't come home during the day make sure to bring healthy snacks with you. By healthy I mean foods that have nutritional value. For instance, I used to snack on pretzels and diet soda every afternoon. Low calorie? Yes. Low fat? Yes. Nutritious? NO. Last time I checked there weren't many vitamins, minerals, protein, or fiber in soda and pretzels. Here's what I eat on a typical day that requires me to be at work late:

7:30 a.m.-Oatmeal, banana
12 p.m.-Salad with soup or whole grain toast
4 p.m.-Salad
6 p.m.-Peanut butter and jelly during the basketball games
9 p.m.-Apple while I finish work at the office
10 p.m.-Orange and tea while I unwind at home

This morning, Kobe and I walked, then I did an upper body and abs workout (specifically, Tamilee Webb's I Want Those Arms and I Want Those Abs. Alas, as much as I want her arms and abs, I don't think that's realistic for me.) Breakfast was oatmeal and a banana. Lunch was a spinach salad with craisins, walnuts, and feta, and a small bowl of black bean soup with a dollop of sour cream.

Weekend recap

This is the first time I've had a chance to post about this weekend!

On Saturday I woke up late (7:30 a.m.) after going to bed at 10 p.m. the night before. Kobe and I walked, and then I came home and had oatmeal and a banana for breakfast. Since I'd gotten the cleaning finished on Friday, Saturday morning was free, so I sat on my rear end and watched the Food Network all morning-- I was so sleepy I fell asleep for about 30 minutes! After lunch (leftover bbq chicken pizza and a salad), I bundled up and headed out to watch a lacrosse game for a couple of hours. I was freezing by the time I got home, so I let Kobe out in the yard and then headed inside for a very HOT shower. I ate a craisin, walnut, and feta salad before heading out to a basketball doubleheader. I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich during the game, an apple while I wrapped up things at the office, and then an orange and tea when I got home.

Sunday was another lazy day, as Kobe and I didn't set out on our walk until 7:30 (it was raining so we didn't walk very long). After finishing up the laundry and starting a batch of soup in the slow cooker, I relaxed for a bit before eating leftover bean soup, a salad, and a slice of toast for lunch. I passed the early part of the afternoon watching reruns of Supernatural before I hopped on the treadmill for my run/walk interval workout. I also did some yoga. For dinner, I ate some yummy spicy peanut chicken  with brown rice, a salad, and another apple/pear crisp.

This evening I'm trying to finish watching the Curious Case of Benjamin Button while listening to the wind and the rain outside.

Out of the Way

It was a very productive afternoon! I got a lot of stuff done at work (where I snacked on an apple). When I got home from the office, Kobe and I went outside for awhile. When we came back in, I cleaned the house (all I have left to do is mop) while Kobe relaxed.

Such a hard life...

Once the chores were finished, it was time for dinner. And since it's Friday, I even made myself dessert :-)! I snacked on some honey nut Cheerios.

I started my meal with a healthy salad...

Before moving on to leftover chicken pan pizza!

Seriously, this is one of my faves-- the crust is made of Jiffy corn muffin mix, and its topped with chicken, red bell pepper, onion, barbeque sauce, and cheese. This isn't the best photo-- the pizza fell apart when I took it out of its container.

I've been so good all week, I figured I could treat myself to some pizza.There is more of it leftover in the fridge, so that's probably going to be lunch tomorrow.

Dessert was a pretty good fruit crisp, and the good news is that I've got enough for leftovers :-)!

Even Kobe got a special treat- here he is eating a Greenie:

Hooray for Friday!

Friday's may just be my favorite day of the week. Not Saturday, not Sunday, but Friday. Fridays are (usually) the one day that none of our sports teams are playing, so I can actually go home and not worry about work.

Today started out on the right foot since the scale said that I've lost two pounds! Last week I maintained, which didn't disappoint me at all since I was out of town for four days. But two whole pounds! That's eight sticks of butter!

At any rate, after I bundled up and walked with Kobe this morning, I did two sets of push-ups and hopped on the treadmill for 20 minutes of run/walk intervals (week 2 of the Couch to 5K program) Running is getting easier, at least for my mind and respiratory system, but my legs get so tired. I think most of it is that my legs to haven't really moved that fast before, much less for 90 second stints. This morning I kept thinking, "Legs, why are you so tired? All you did was walk yesterday, and now you're carrying a whole two pounds less!" I don't think they really listened, but they did carry me through 1.75 miles on the treadmill.

My reward for the lower number on the scale this morning was some raisins in my oatmeal. Of course I had a banana.

Lunch will be a repeat of the last few days: spinach salad and butternut squash soup. I am very excited about my dinner tonight since Friday and Saturday are my "let loose" eating days (not too loose, just enough to keep me from going too crazy). I'll be having leftover barbecue chicken pan pizza, salad, and an individual fruit crumble for dessert.

Other plans for this afternoon include a run to the grocery store, getting part of the cleaning finishes, watching a move, and scratching Kobe's  head.

Great TV night!

Tonight is the best night on TV all week because Bones and Fringe are on--hooray! Now I've got something to watch while waiting basketball results.

I had leftover bean soup (again) for dinner, and a roll. After I walked Kobe around the block this afternoon (in the cold rain), I read a book while snacking on some honey nut cheerios. I just finished my orange, but I'm saving my tea for later. I figure if I'm staying up late, I deserve a tootsie roll pop with my tea.

I'm feeling a little better, so I should be good to go with my walk/run session tomorrow morning.

Rain, rain, rain

It is not a pretty day-- temperature is 41 degrees and its raining. Puppy and I were fortunate to get our full walk in this morning before it started raining hard, but it's one of those days you want to lay at home on the couch with a warm blanket and a good book.

I felt a little better when I got home last night, and I just couldn't resist the temptation to try out the Fat Burning Fusion DVD. It was a solid workout-- not too hard, but it did raise the heart rate. Dinner was soup and a roll, and of course I had an orange with my tea. I was exhausted so I was in bed by 9, and I wasn't ready to wake up when the alarm went off at 5:50 this morning.

It should have been a run/walk day for me, but I still am not feeling 100%-- my throat feels tight, so a cold may not be far behind (blech). Instead, I opted for AM Yoga Conditioning for Weight Loss. Breakfast was the usual oatmeal with Better 'n Peanut Butter, and a banana. Lunch was a spinach salad with (you guessed it!) olives, feta, and balsamic vinaigrette, and a big bowl of roasted butternut squash soup.

I packed an apple for an afternoon snack. It's going to be a wet walk for Kobe and me this evening.

The Move

The most exciting thing that happened today was THE MOVE... across the hall to my new office. Or offices, I should write, since I've got two rooms now.Are you ready for the grand tour? Here we go...

Here's the front office:

And one of its desks:

Here's my desk in the back room:

And the sitting area (I still have some organizing to do):

I even have my own manual pencil sharpener! I'm moving up in the world.

And let's not forget Larry the Dinosaur-- he's been with me since I first started at Limestone (the former basketball coach left him in the office one day).

In other news, I am very tired this afternoon. This morning, I did yoga for about 40 minutes after walking, and I was planning on doing a new Ellen Barrett workout this evening, but I'm worn out and think I may be coming down with a cold. Maybe going to bed early will get me back on track tomorrow. Here's today's food journal so far:

Breakfast: oatmeal with Better 'n Peanut Butter/banana
Lunch: baby spinach salad with feta, olives, and balsamic dressing/roasted butternut squash soup/craisins
Snack: apple

Dinner will probably be leftover bean soup and a roll. Last night I mixed some baby spinach into the soup so I got my greens in with the beans.

Tuesday

Tuesday started the same as always: walking Kobe! It was also time for a run(/walk), so I hopped on the treadmill for 20 minutes of intervals. Today's workout was really tough because my legs were worn out from my workout yesterday and I was really hungry, but I persevered. I followed that up with an abs workout.

I was really excited today because I finally got to pick up my birthday/Christmas presents from the post office! I got a neat card game called Quiddler, two books, and a new workout DVD: Fat Burning Fusion. I can't wait to start reading and I'm going to try out the new workout DVD tomorrow after work.

Breakfast was instant oatmeal, which overflowed in the microwave. There are only three packets left of the instant stuff, then it's back to stove top oats. I added some raisins and Better 'n Peanut Butter to the oats, and also ate a banana. Lunch was really good, I had a salad with feta, olives, and balsamic dressing, and a big bowl of roasted butternut squash soup. This afternoon I snacked on an apple, some honey nut Cheerios and olives.

For dinner I had Goode Bean Soup and a seeduction roll. Dessert was an orange and tea.

I'm off to watch The Office and read another chapter of The Color of Lightning.

2 Wins!

Last night I got to see two great wins by our men's and women's basketball teams! The nice thing about winning is everyone has fun (except for the losing team). Since basketball starts at 5:30 p.m. and usually doesn't end until 9:30ish, I went home early to let Kobe outside and eat a snack. Yesterday my snack was a baby spinach salad with craisins, feta cheese, and walnuts. For "dinner" I had a caramel nut brownie Luna bar and a banana. I also had an orange and tea when I got home-- I hate eating a big meal right before going to bed.

In more exciting news, Will sent me a video that he recorded using his Blackberry! He is unfortunately living in a place that most of us would never care to return to: a DORM ROOM!

Back at It

So, for dinner last night I ended up eating a baby spinach salad with feta, olives and balsamic vinaigrette dressing, a roll, and a big bowl of butternut squash soup.

I had a huge scare last night-- one of the condiments suggested for the soup in the cookbook was toasted coconut. Instead of toasting it in the oven, I put it in the toaster oven at 350, and set the timer for 10 minutes. I went about getting a few more things ready for dinner, and then as soon as I remembered the coconut I started to smell something burning-- the coconut had caught ON FIRE! I only had about a tablespoon of coconut on the baking tray, but the flames were pretty large. I didn't panic, since the blaze seemed confined to the toaster oven. I was afraid if I used the fire extinguisher, the force would knock the toaster oven to the ground and scatter the fire. I finally threw some water onto the baking pan which extinguished the fire-WHEW! Needless to say, I have learned my lesson about leaving things unattended in the toaster oven! After I managed to get the smoke alarms to stop screaming, I sat down my nice, healthy meal.

Dessert was a mini tootsie roll pop, an orange, and a cup of tea with agave nectar.

This morning, Kobe and I were back to our usual walking routine. I followed that up with a Firm strength video for upper and lower body (I'll do the abs segment tomorrow). Breakfast was oatmeal with a scoop of Better 'n Peanut Butter and a banana. For lunch, I ate my leftover baked sweet potato with black beans and avocado, and a few raisins for dessert.

Relax

Today's been a slow day. After getting up earlier than usual on Sunday (6:30 a.m.!), I had a bowl of oatmeal and a banana. From there, I had to return the school car with a full gas tank so that meant I had to find a gas station that was open and accepted credit cards-- this turned out to be harder than you would imagine. After driving to the other side of town to get gas, I picked up my car, and went to two grocery stores to find butternut squash-- did I mention that the stores on complete opposite sides of town? ANYWAYS, I now have ingredients to make roasted butternut squash soup tonight.

After returning from the grocery store, I put two sweet potatoes in the oven (one for lunch today, one for lunch tomorrow) and hopped on the treadmill for a run/walk workout. This week I'm running 90 seconds and walking 2 minutes for 20 minutes, plus a 5 minute warm-up and a 10-minute cool down.

Lunch was really yummy. I topped one of my baked sweet potatoes with an onion, black bean, and tomato mixture that was seasoned with cumin, lime, and cayenne pepper, and mashed avocado. I also snacked on a few craisins and walnuts.

Whole Foods recap

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I stopped by Whole Foods this afternoon. Here's a photo recap of what I bought:

There was a sale on Odwalla bars (too bad they didn't have any peanut butter and chocolate)...

Baby greens with cheese salad (with sun-dried tomatoes and olives), thai tofu, sesame sticks, tomatoes, artichokes, a hard-boil egg, red onions, and balsamic vinegar (not necessarily low-cal, but it was good)...

What a great dinner! Salad, roll, and a good beer...

And dessert was an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie (and tea, of course).

Honestly

Honestly, I didn't feel like blogging yesterday. Honestly, I wasn't too great about adhering to my diet yesterday (or today). And though I did my week 2 session of Couch to 5K, and an additional 20 minutes of walking, I didn't feel like waking up early enough to get in a workout today.

As I said, my eating habits fell by the wayside yesterday. Breakfast was a skim misto and oatmeal from Starbucks, and a small bottle of mixed berry juice. Lunch was flavorless Mexican food-- I honestly love Mexican food, but this had no flavor-- so I ate most of the soft chicken tacos and about half of the refried beans and rice. I ate a pack of almonds and walnuts for a snack. For dinner, we ate at Taco Mac. We went there because they have a fantastic beer selection-- we each got 3 samples and then I had a beer that had cocoa in it-so good! For dinner I had a salad, 2 chicken wings, fries, and a chicken sandwich with onions, mushrooms, cheese, and bacon. I ate about half the sandwich and fries-- I was stuffed by then.

We stopped to get tea at Starbucks before heading back to the room, and I had a chocolate craving which I satisfied with a Hershey nugget and a mini Reese's peanut butter cup.

We had an early meeting and the conference provided breakfast this morning. I had some strawberries, pineapple, and a bagel with cream cheese and strawberry jam. I also drank 2 cups of tea (I was thirsty and it was cold in the meeting room), and ate a banana for a snack. Lunch was half of a HUGE turkey croissant sandwich and a small serving of pasta salad with a sun-dried tomato pesto and basil. It was a 3-hour drive home, so I picked up a Coke Zero and pretzels to snack on.

Before we got home, we stopped at Whole Foods in Greenville to pick up dinner. I hit up the salad bar, picked up a beer, and snatched a chocolate chip oatmeal cookie. I also bought some Seeduction rolls and plan on having that with my salad.

Good Ol' Hockey Game

Since we're "stuck" in Atlanta with not much to do (the convention meetings end in the afternoon), we headed over to Phillips Arena to see the Thrashers play. They lost 2-1 (some things never change), but it was still a lot of fun.

We were planning on going to Taco Mac for dinner, but there was a 45 minute wait, so we opted for the food court at the CNN Center. I went to Moe's and got a veggie burrito with rice, black beans, guacamole, salsa, mushrooms, onions and jalapenos. I ate most of the burrito and a few chips.

At the game, we were disappointed because the only beers the concession stand had were domestics. We walked all the way down to the end of the concourse where we spotted a "Beers of the World" booth with some well known imports. I got a HUGE cup of Corona (with a lime of course) and I was pretty much set for the evening.

We walked to the game and back, so that counted as my exercise for Thursday. Since we got back late, I turned off my alarm and went back to sleep for a few minutes this morning before getting ready and heading down to the lobby's Starbucks. I got a skim misto and an oatmeal (in which I mixed brown sugar and nuts). We're heading to the gym in a few minutes to work off some of the beer and candy I consumed yesterday.

Tempting

Traveling always poses dilemmas and challenges, and traveling and being healthy are hard to do if you easily succumb to temptation. Take, for example, the bakery display case at the Starbucks located in the lobby of our hotel: cranberry scones, coffee cakes, muffins. Or the pack of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (my favorite candy ever) that was delivered to my room last night. Or the Chick-Fil-A sandwiches and fries in the food court that's only seconds away.

My strategy for eating out when away from home is to make as many healthy choices as possible while occasionally treating myself.  Also, I try to incorporate more walking into my day.

I got my Starbucks fix this morning before the meetings started. I succumbed the urge to order a scone and latte knowing that it wouldn't fill me up, and instead purchased a bowl of oatmeal (which I ate with a little brown sugar and dried fruit) and a medium passion tea. After the first meeting of the day, I snacked on a banana just so I wouldn't be famished by lunch.

Once again at lunch, Chick-Fil-A called my name, and I was really craving a sandwich and fries. I can't remember the last time I ate a chicken sandwich, so I compromised and ordered the sandwich, but with a fruit cup instead of fries.

The trade show also had its fair share of goodies. Among the bounty I brought back to the room were pens, chip clips, a lint roller, mouse pads, a koozie, and candy! After returning to the hotel room I snacked on some almonds, walnuts, and an orange that my roommate brought from home, and also a small pack of Nerds.

Tonight should be fun since we're heading over to watch the Atlanta Thrashers play the Buffalo Sabres. I haven't been to a hockey game in years and I'm so excited! We're going to walk to the game, which is nearly a mile away, so that will count for some exercise. Tomorrow I'll have to head to the gym for a morning workout.

Exhausted!

It's been a long day and it's still not over as I sit here in my hotel room waiting to get basketball and swimming results to post online. At least I've got American Idol to keep me entertained!

Today started with at 4:30 a.m. I had a slice of toast with Better 'n Peanut Butter and raisins to get me going. Around 7 a.m. I had an Egg McMuffin and coffee (with cream and sugar) from McDonald's. I have to say I'm not a fan of McDonald's coffee-- it leaves a really bitter after taste. ANYWAYS, I managed to snack on a banana between meetings. Lunch was a Chick-Fil-A spicy chicken wrap with honey mustard dressing, a french fry (just couldn't resist), and a diet lemonade. My afternoon snack was a 100-calorie pack of walnuts/almonds, and a fruit cup.

We ate dinner at Gordon Biersch, so naturally I had a beer, a slice of bread from the bread basket, and four pieces of pizza (in my defense, they were fairly small pizza). I had a mini tootsie roll pop and tea for dessert.

My "workout' was roughly a 1.5 mile walk around Atlanta. Tomorrow I'm taking the day off and sleeping in . I think I need it if I'm going to function tomorrow.

Survival Kit

The next few days will be filled with meetings, so I put together my "survival kit" tonight after dinner. Whenever I'm going to be busy, I try and pack some healthy snacks along with my meeting materials.

First things first, you'll need a bag to carry everything in. I packed my stuff in a gorgeous Vera Bradley bag my mom gave me (sure beats toting around a ugly nylon laptop bag). In my bag I've got:

• Folder with documents
• Book to read
• Water bottle
• Ipod
• Snacks
• Burt's Bees lip balm
• Kleenex

What kind of snacks did pack?

Banana, 100-calorie packs of walnuts, a Luna bar, and a couple of Tootsie roll pops.

In addition, I make sure to carry my vitamins around with me so I'll be sure to take them. I always take a multivitamin with breakfast, and a calcium and magnesium supplement with my lunch.

I'm off to bed- I've got a long day ahead tomorrow.

Forgetfullness

'Dang nab it!' I thought as I walked across the parking lot after lunch. I left my afternoon snack, an apple, sitting on the kitchen table.  I just really look forward to my snack break every afternoon at 3 p.m. Oh well. Guess I'll just munch on it after work.

My morning started out with a 6 a.m. walk, followed by the warm-up, buns & thighs, and arms sections of Gilad's Express Workouts. Each section is only 8 minutes, but you really feel the burn with the exercises.

Breakfast was oatmeal with agave nectar and B'nPB along with a banana. Lunch was a big bowl of leftover lentil soup, some olives, and a handful of raisins.

After work, I'm planning on getting in a Couch to 5K training session and some yoga.  dinner will be leftover noodles, some veggies, and a chicken breast that's been marinading in Teriyaki sauce. The only dessert I've got in the house is an orange, which of course I will have with my Sleepy Tiime Vanilla tea.

Hopefully I'll be able to get to bed early tonight-- I've got a 4:30 a.m. wake-up call in the morning! Yikes!

B-Day dinner

My b-day dinner ended up being a chicken stir fry with sauteed onions, frozen vegetables (I did heat them in the microwave before consuming), whole wheat pasta, and *really* spicy Szechuan sauce. I cooked more than I could chew, so I've got some leftover noodles in the fridge.

Dessert was a small serving of bittersweet chocolate chips, a few pieces of caramel candy corn, and tea.

Monday, Monday

Happy Birthday to me! It's my 29th birthday and I got the year started off right at 6 a.m. with another Couch to 5K training session followed by an extra 20 minutes of walking, followed by some yoga. Breakfast was oatmeal flavored with a heaping tablespoon of Better n' Peanut Butter.

It was also a sad day because my husband left for his new job in Michigan, and I probably won't see him again for a few months. Needless to say I haven't been in the greatest of moods today.

But moving on to lunch, I had a grilled chicken salad with balsamic vinaigrette, a few olives, a slice of toast, and a tablespoon of raisins. My afternoon snack was an apple.

Dinner is still up in the air, but I have a feeling chicken and broccoli stir fry will be on the menu.

Weekend Recap

This weekend was really busy! We kicked it off by meeting members of the Saints Club board at Outback for dinner, where I ate a piece of their honey wheat bread, a salad drenched in honey mustard dressing (I forgot to ask for it on the side), a baked sweet potato. For dessert (and my early birthday cake), we stopped at the clock where I got a HUGE piece of chocolate cheesecake. And I ate every bite.

On Saturday, we slept in, and I had oatmeal with raisins and a scoop of Better 'n Peanut Butter with a banana. My morning workout was a walk/run session, followed by two segments from Gilad's Express Workouts (buns & thighs and back), a segment from Firm Abs, and a yoga sequence. I snacked on a few glazed walnuts before lunch since all that exercising made me hungry. Lunch was a bowl of veggie chili with baked tortilla strips and a couple scoops of sour cream. I snacked on an apple before working a basketball game, and then Will and I ate dinner at Fatz's Cafe. I ate 1 1/2 rolls, a salad (dressing on the side this time), salmon, and a plain baked potato. My dessert was a fun-sized pack of M&Ms, an orange, and tea.

This morning we slept in again, so I started my morning with oatmeal and a banana. My workout started by vacuuming the whole house, moving the stove out from the wall and cleaning out the crevice (and I'll be honest, it was pretty yucky. So glad I finally took the effort to get that job done). My real workout was a 3-mile Leslie Sansone video.

Lunch was my favorite salad with craisins, walnuts, and feta, along with a slice of plain toast. During the afternoon I grazed on a couple of pretzels, some popcorn, an apple, Cheerios, and olives. Usually I can keep myself from snacking all afternoon, but all bets are off on Sundays. We also went to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie, which was pretty good.

 Dinner was barbeque chicken pan pizza, and I did sneak a couple of bites of the brownies I baked for the in-laws. My real dessert is going to be an orange and tea.

Slow going

After staying up until nearly midnight last night (waaaay past my normal bedtime), I pushed aside my workout in favor of sleep. I allow myself to take one day off from exercising each week, so today will be my rest day. For breakfast I had oatmeal with peanut butter and agave nectar, and a banana. Meetings at work kept me from my usual lunch time, so I didn't eat until 1:45. Lunch was a salad and leftover noodles.

Will and I are going out to eat with a few of his colleagues tonight, so I'll probably have an apple for a snack before we go to Outback. It's so easy to go crazy when dining out, so I always try to look at the restaurant's menu (and nutrition facts) before I go to narrow down the best options. Usually when I eat out, I'm looking to splurge, but given the fact some of my pants aren't fitting, I think it's best to go for the healthier choices tonight.

On and on...

Since I have to work late last night, I ate a pretty big lunch: salad and a bowl of Meaderville spaghetti. I cooked too many noodles, so I saves those for lunch on Friday. My "dessert" was a few craisins. During the afternoon I had a snack, and then my dinner was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (one of my all-time favs) during halftime of the women's game. After the basketball games were over, I ate a banana while I finished up work. To help me unwind, I had a cup of tea and some more craisins when I got home.

Long Day

Last night's chilaquiles were so yummy-- especially with the light sour cream I added. The plantain wasn't really ripe enough to be fried, but it ended up tasting okay. I also had tea and an orange after dinner.

Today is going to be a long day-- work day and then a basketball doubleheader tonight. My day began with a walk with Kobe, followed by the express workouts from the Firm's Hi-Def Sculpt DVD. While the new Firm workouts aren't as tough as the old ones, they are a good for when you want a lighter weights/cardio day, and they offer shortened versions of the workouts. Today's express workout was 25 minutes consisting of lunges, bicep curls, chest work, deadlifts, rows, bridge, hamstring curls, crunches, dips, and overhead presses. Not a very grueling workout, but most of your muscles get worked. I followed that up with a yoga sequence.

After my workout it was time for breakfast! Instead of cold cereal, I cooked some oatmeal on the stovetop with soy milk, raisins, agave nectar, and cinnamon. I was pretty disappointed when I poured the oats into my cereal bowl since there was half as many oats as I usually eat of cereal. However, the oats were very filling along with the usual banana.

Wednesday

It took me about 10 minutes this morning to get dressed to walk Kobe-- so many layers to put on to face the 20 degree temperature outside! While we were walking, I was really contemplating skipping my run/walk workout this morning and doing some yoga instead, but I knew that if I skipped my workout this morning I would feel really guilty. So, after furminating the dog, I peeled off all the layers of clothing, changed into my running gear, and did the week 1 program from Couch to 5K. It's actually getting a little easier to do the running segments (this morning I had the pace set to 5.2 mph). I think I'm going to repeat week 1 of the program next week, too, and try to improve my speed before going on to the next phase.

For breakfast I ate the last of my bran flakes with soy milk and a banana. Lunch was a salad with feta cheese, olives, red pepper, and balsamic vinegar along with a thin slice of honey oat bread. I was craving something sweet so I also ate a tablespoon of craisins. My afternoon snack was a 100-calorie pack of almonds and walnuts, and I'll probably have an apple when I get home from work.

Dinner tonight is chicken chilaquiles with fried plantains. I'll probably have a salad just to eat some green.

Tuesday Night

Dinner tonight was leftover veggie chili with baked tortilla chips (I snacked on a couple of chips, olives, and a few craisins while I was waiting for Will to get home. And in case you haven't noticed yet, I love olives). I also put a dollop of reduced fat sour cream in my chili. Dessert was an orange and tea.

Sleeping In

This morning I was so sleepy I begged Will to let me sleep in. I didn't actually have to beg since it was his day to walk the dog, and I stayed up "late" last night (until 10 p.m.). Knowing that I would feel terribly guilty and cranky if I didn't get my workout in, I had Will wake me up at 6:30 a.m., half an hour later than normal. My morning workout consisted of upper body strength training, ab training (with planks!), and about 20 minutes of easy cardio followed by a short stretch.

Despite only sleeping in 30 minutes, I was only 5 minutes behind schedule in getting ready for work! Go me!

For breakfast I ate cereal and a banana. Lunch was a great salad: baby greens, feta cheese, red peppers, rotisserie chicken, and balsamic vinegar with a few olives, and a slice of honey oat bread. My afternoon snack was an apple and about 1/4 cup of cereal. 

Monday evening

After getting home from work, I completed my prescribed yoga sequence (poses to open the ankles and the hips). My snacks for the afternoon included a 1/4 cup of bran flakes (I needed something crunchy), an apple, and a few olives. Dinner was leftover lentils and turkey sausage (and a spoonful of leftover rice). Dessert was cinnamon apple tea and an orange.

Tomorrow morning is "free", meaning I don't have to walk the dog. Weights, yoga, and maybe some cardio are on the agenda.

Monday, Monday

This morning I awakened to the sounds of birds chirping at 6 a.m. (I love my alarm clock! It's got all kinds of neat sounds to wake up to: birds, bells ringing, or a traditional alarm). I wasn't in a hurry to get out of bed since it was 14 degrees outside, but Kobe and I were scheduled for an early morning walk.

Early walks are quite a production at our house. First, the human has to stumble out of bed, put in contacts, brush her hair, and put on a layer of Under Armour, a long sleeve tee, a fleece hoodie, a down jacket, a rain coat, sweat pants, wool socks, fleece-lined shoes, a hat, glove liners, and finally gloves. Whew!
All this while the cutest dog in the world is wagging his tail because he is just so excited to go for a walk in the frigid air. Once the human is bundled up, it's time to pick up a baggie, grab the Furminator and brush, put the gentle leader and leash on the dog. Finally! Ready to go.

Kobe and I usually walk about 25 minutes in the  morning, and when we get back to the house it's time for me to get a workout in. This morning, I did another training session from the Coach to 5K program: running for 1 minute and then walking for 90 seconds for a total of 20 minutes. I picked up the pace on the running intervals to 5.3 miles per hour, and I got in a great, short workout.

For breakfast, I ate the usual: bran flakes with soy milk and a banana. Lunch was a salad with balsamic vinegar dressing, olives, and a red bell pepper. I also ate a cup of lentils, a slice of honey oat wheat bread, and a few raisins to satisfy my sweet tooth.

I'm planning on doing a yoga session when I get home from work this afternoon.

One nice thing about being a dog is you get to stay at home all day, take long naps, and play with your toys!

Arms, Abs, and a Walk

The scale and I had a rather unpleasant encounter this morning when it displayed a number I wasn't too happy with. At least I know where I'm starting at and I was able to set a goal to lose 15 pounds.  After eating a  breakfast of bran flakes, a banana, and tea, I dusted and mopped the house.  Then I did the second program from I Want Those Arms and Jiggle Free Abs.

For lunch I ate a salad with feta cheese, craisins, chicken, glazed walnuts, and a piece of toast. Will and I took the dog on a 40-minute walk in the afternoon.

I snacked on a couple of tortilla chips, cereal, and an apple during the afternoon. Dinner was a salad, chicken chilaquiles, and rice. For dessert I had a cup of tea sweetened with agave nectar and an orange.

Let's Get Started

It's a new year, time for new goals and new challenges. I've never been good at keeping resolutions, so this year I'm setting a new goal for myself: run at least 3 miles without stopping. My other motive is to lose at least 10 pounds (I'll determine the exact number when I hop on the scale tomorrow).

And so, sporting my new, expensive, state-of-the-art Asics running shoes, today I took the first step towards running a 5k, I completed my first training session from the Couch to 5K program : warm up for 5 minutes, then alternate one minute of running with 90 seconds of walking for 20 minutes. I also added in another 15 minutes of walking. I didn't have any problems getting through the workout, but I did take it pretty easy, keeping the running segments to 4.5 miles per hour. I followed that up with some yoga poses that will help ease my tight angles and hips.

To help get the extra weight off, I'm cleaning up my eating habits. This morning I had a bowl of bran flakes with soy milk and a banana. Lunch was a salad with feta cheese, olives, and balsamic vinegar dressing, a piece of bread with strawberry preserves, and a cup of lentils. I snacked on an orange, some craisins, and some cereal. Dinner was three-bean chili with cornbread. For dessert (it is the weekend after all) was a fudge sundae from McDonald's.