Bacheloretting It

I have a love/hate relationship with Wednesdays aka “Hump Day.” Part of me is really excited because it marks the halfway point of the week. The other part of me is just wishing it were closer to the weekend.

Lately I’ve been hit or miss with my morning exercise. I’m trying hard to get back into that routine. Yesterday I was awake early. Instead of laying there and snoozing I decided to get up, see my husband out the door for work and then do a little yoga.

My selection was the free 20 minute (actually 25 minute) Prenatal Yoga class from YogaDownload.com. It was incredible. This sounds strange, but the best way I can describe the way I felt when I finished is “healthy.”

Another coffee day at work which meant a frozen skim white mocha. Yum! I swore I took a picture. Either I’m crazy or my camera ate it. Oh well.

I was completely unhungry (is that a word?) until lunchtime so no morning snack. My lunch was homemade egg salad on a La Tortilla Factory Tomato & Basil Softwrap with just a little bit of shredded 2% cheese.

A few coworkers and I pulled a great April Fools joke over on my boss that left me giggling all afternoon. I didn’t expect him fall for it, but he did. Hook, line & sinker! I have to watch my back now because he’s sworn revenge on all of us.

Later in the afternoon I had some more Stoneyfield Farm Oikos yogurt (honey flavor) with Bear Naked Fit granola and unsweetened coconut flakes. This time I knew to stir it up before I added my toppings.

I couldn’t hit the door fast enough at 5PM. The sun was shining and I couldn’t wait get out for some fresh air. I picked up the pooch, chatted with my mom for a bit and then headed home. My husband was staying out of town so it was just me and the puppers.

For dinner, I decided to make stir fry. My husband doesn’t like Chinese food (or anything ethnic besides Mexican) so I don’t have it very often. Mine last night was pretty quick and easy. I just steamed a bag of frozen veggies, cooked some organic whole wheat pasta and topped the whole shebang with a mixture of Tastefully Simple Sweet Sassy Mustard Sauce and reduced-sodium soy sauce. Yes, I do realize that rotini isn’t exactly Chinese and thin spaghetti or rice noodles would have been more appropriate.. I had a partial box that I wanted to use up before I opened anything new.

I had good intentions of magazine reading and painting my nails after dinner, but I pooped out early and just wanted rest. I talked on the phone with my husband for a while and then turned on Jon and Kate +8 while I curled up on the couch with a cozy blanket. That’s where I fell asleep and didn’t wake up until this morning when my husband called to say “Good morning.” I got more sleep than usual, but I still feel tired. I also have a nasty crick in my neck. Next time, I’ll make myself go to an actual bed when I get that sleepy.

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Happy World Water Day!

• The average American uses 150 gallons of water every day.
• 1 in 6 people on Earth do not have access to safe drinking water.

How can you help?

• Drink tap water instead of bottled water. It helps our planet and gives you a really great excuse to buy a cute, reusable bottle. WIN-WIN in my book!
• Be conscious of the water you use and try to reduce your consumption.
• Share information about water conservation with your friend.

In honor of this special day, Nubius Organics (LOVE ‘em) is offering 20% off all reusable bottles, including those that are already on sale. Just enter promo code WWD20 at checkout. The offer is good through March 23rd, so hurry!

Here’s a recap of my eats from the past two days:

Friday

I woke up STARVING because I didn’t eat much of a dinner last night. Two Kashi waffles with a little butter and lite maple syrup filled me right up. I’d really like to start posting pictures of my first-thing-in-the-morning meals. It’s still dark when I leave the house so I can just never get the lighting right.

I ate the last bit of my strawberries after getting settled in at my desk.

I ate what was supposed to be my lunch about an hour and a half before workout time. Morningstar Farms Spicy Black Bean Burger, a wedge of Laughing Cow Light Swiss cheese and lettuce all on a La Tortilla Factor EVOO Tomato & Basil Softwrap. Here it is pre-rollup.

I was trying to decide what to do about being lunchless when my coworkersaid she was calling in an order to the fancy hotel bistro across the street and would pick it up after our workout. Clearly, it was meant to be.

Our workout at work today had tougher cardio stations than normal and I could feel the burn. My favorite exercise today was the BOSU trainer plank. I was grateful to have food on the way when I returned because I was hungry.

I had the spicy vegetarian rice rolls. All I can say is HOLY WASABI! They came with a veggie blend (tossed in balsamic vinegar) and their homemade chips. I ate everything except the onions from the veggie salad and about 1/2 of the chips. I’m a little worried that these will become an addiction. They were sooooo good.

I had an afternoon craving for something sweet, but the only thing available in the office was candy. I ran over to the cafe across the street for a chocolate chip oatmeal cookie and ended up with a cup of unsweetened raspberry iced tea, too.

It always feels so good to leave work on a Friday evening. There’s just something so exciting and freeing about knowing you have those 2 days ahead of you for fun. I called a few close friends and family members during my commute to share our baby news. Everyone was thrilled and offered lots of encouragement.

I wasn’t even a little bit hungry for supper. I had toast with butter and jam at some point, but no photo because I was really into the Ohio State vs. Siena basketball game. The outcome didn’t help my bracket any, but man that was a good game! I’m not usually a big fan of basketball on TV, but that’s changed a bit since I’m in the office pool this year.

Saturday

I slept in a little and was worried that the grocery would be crazy busy since I was going a couple hours later than normal. I ate some Kashi waffles and was out the door.

The grocery was actually quite peaceful. I had freedom to browse without being crowded or pushed along by the flow of cart traffic. This resulted in some new products which I’ll be reviewing here soon.

After the grocery, I stopped at the bank and then the local coffee shop for a light iced java chip frappe. It’s one of my favorites.

By the time I’d put groceries away, I was hungry for lunch. I tried something new and made my organic whole wheat couscous in the microwave per the directions from the box. It worked perfectly! Actually, I think it turned out even better than on the stovetop. I added some black beans and Tastefully Simple Mild Red Pepper Salsa.

I also had VeggiePatch Veggie Nuggets with mustard for dipping.

After lunch, I headed outside to do some reading for my Nutrition & Wellness Consultant at-home study. That’s where I spent most of the afternoon into early evening. The sunshine felt great! We didn’t have an “official” dinner. I just did a repeat of lunch because it was so yummy and then hung out with my husband until time for bed.

Just FYI, this is where I’m blogging and blog reading today:

I have some water (in my reusable bottle of course) and fresh iced sun tea for refreshment. Those are clothes drying on the line in the background. That’s one of my favorite parts of warm weather. I love the way they feel and smell. The real perk is that it’s more eco-friendly than the dryer. Plus, it cuts down a LOT on our electric bill.

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Food Frustration

Yesterday was a frustrating day for a few reasons. Luckily, it ended on a great note.

I splurged all of my caffeine allowance for coffee day and ordered a large frozen skim latte with sugar free hazelnut syrup and a scoop of protein powder. I drank it pretty fast and definitely felt the buzz.

Breakfast was where things got frustrating. Well, it actually started on Tuesday and just continued into my Wednesday. For some reason, my coworkers all suddenly feel the need to critique my food and tell me how gross it is. Tuesday, it was tofu. No fewer than 6 people stopped me on my way from the microwave to my desk. The conversations all went something like this:

Coworker: What IS that?
Me: Tofu. Would you like to try a piece?
Coworker: Gross! Yuck! Disgusting! Nasty! Gag! How in the world can you eat that?
Me: Have you ever tried tofu?
Coworker: No! I can’t even imagine. It’s awful.
Me: *walking away*

Very few people in my office have any concept of healthy eating or exercise nor do they care about either. Most of them are female and older than me by at least 20 years or so. Several of them have health issues which could benefit greatly from a more healthy lifestyle.

Save three of four people, my coworkers aren’t the easiest to get along with and they tend to be extremely nosy. I try to be pleasant, respectful and cordial at all times. While I do often notice their unhealthy food choices, it’s none of my business and not for me to judge. I can’t imagine walking up to someone and telling them how disgusting the food they were about to eat looked. I just wish they would show me the same courtesy.

…which brings us to breakfast yesterday morning. I made up a packet of Quaker Simple Harvest Vanilla, Honey, Almond oatmeal. Then, I stirred in a couple handfuls of blueberries and some unsweetened coconut.

One coworker was pouring herself a cup of coffee while I was mixing this up in the work kitchen. She turned her nose up and asked, in a disgusted voice, “What IS that?” I tried not to sound annoyed and replied back simply. “It’s oatmeal.” “Oh,” she said. “That’s not what it LOOKS like.” She then huffed away, mumbling under her breath, and proceeded to tell other people how gross my food was. Of course, they all had to come over, check it out and share their opinions. My boss said it looked like “horse food.”

Vent over. Just needed to get that out there.

Around noon the IT people came down to swap out my hard drive. This left me computerless until about 3:00. While it was down I took a brisk 15 minute walk to soak up the sunshine, filed, wiped my desk down, wrote my to-do list and tidied up my office.

Somewhere in there I ate my lunch of leftover buffalo chicken, a Laughing Cow Light Swiss cheese wedge and lettuce all on a La Tortilla Factory EVOO Tomato & Basil Softwrap.

I also had a snack. Kashi TLC Roasted Vegetable crackers and another Laughing Cow Light Swiss cheese wedge.

Shortly before I left, I had a juicy plum to hold me over until dinner.

Dinner was a rare weeknight meal out. I met a friend at Dakota’s Roadhouse. We were so wrapped up in conversation that I forgot to photograph my house salad with bacon tomato dressing and a baked potato with cheese, bacon & sour cream. We were all geared up for dessert, but they only had 3 choices and nothing looked good.

I got home a little before 9, watched Criminal Minds with my husband and headed to bed. That show always creeps me out and then I have trouble sleeping.

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