Knee-d Some Help

I must be sleeping pretty well at night because I’ve been up pretty early, but still feeling really energized. A big part of that is Peanut sleeping for an 8 hour stretch most nights.

Peanut and I both had oats for breakfast.

I think she’s a little jealous that she can’t have toppings yet. She gets plain, single grain oatmeal while I get PB&J oats.

I managed some much-needed gym time in the early afternoon. I did Week 3 Day 3 of the Couch-to-5k program. I really feel like I’m starting to get back into my running groove. I’m able to relax into the runs and focus on my breathing and posture. I was worried that my body would reject running this time around, but I think easing back in has been the key. I walked briskly on an incline after my run intervals to make an even 30 minutes. Peanut fell asleep so I took advantage of the time by doing squats and then grabbed some weights. I cranked out 3 sets of 12 of these exercises:

~bicep curls
~chest press
~chest flies
~skull crushers
~overhead press
~lateral raises
~tricep kickbacks
~front raises

I managed to squeak in 2 sets of 50 crunches before Peanut woke up. That means time to stretch and head home.

This is where I need some knee help.

The last few times I’ve done cardio I’ve had a weird knee thing happen afterward. It usually happens 1-2 hours post-workout. Basically the outside half of my left knee feels like it fell asleep. I always stretch really well. I’ve tried massage, ice and elevation when it’s occurred, but none of that seems to help. I just have to let it go away on its own which usually happens after just a few minutes. It’s not exactly painful, just an odd sensation and my knee buckles a little when I put weight on it. I injured this same knee my freshman year of high school. That was followed by physical therapy that helped with the big stuff. I’ve continued to have minor discomfort here and there. Usually it’s at the top of bottom of my knee cap so this side thing is new. The tingling sensation makes me think that maybe it’s a nerve. Anyone ever have this happen to them? Any tips for what I can do to prevent it?

Last night’s leftovers for lunch! I think it might have tasted even better reheated.

Bacon, Ranch & Chicken Mac & Cheese with a side of sugar snap peas:

Dinner wasn’t very photogenic. It was Beef & Mushroom Meatloaf from a Weight Watchers recipe, but something about the ratio wasn’t right
and it ended up crumbling as soon as I attempted to slice it. Thankfully it still tasted great. So did the roasted Yukon Gold potatoes I served on the side. My ‘meat and potatoes’ husband was thrilled.

Peanut and I have a busy day in town today that culminates in my weekly weigh-in. The battery in our scale went kaput a couple days ago so I have no idea what to expect. I don’t have high hopes, though. I skipped most of my workouts this week in order to take care of other people’s needs. I enjoy helping other people and I enjoy (and need) exercise. Finding a balance between the two is so tough. Either I shortchange myself on the workout time I deserve (like I did this past week) or I disappoint/upset someone when I make my workout a priority. I just wish it were easy to find a happy medium.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Thursday so far. Don’t forget to do something nice for yourself today.

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It’s in the Mail

I work in the finance department of a medium-sized city. Income tax season has already begun so everyone pitches in to help with everything that goes along with this time of year. I spent almost the entire day folding letters and stuffing envelopes. Riveting work, lemme tell ya.

Overall today was a pretty good day. For starters, it’s Friday. To make that even better, it’s payday. My checks are direct deposited so the only thing I see is a pay stub. I don’t physically touch my money, but I know it’s there.

Breakfast was probably my favorite oat concoction so far. I stirred in a dollop of peanut butter and then put a plop (a scientific unit of measure) of Amish store blackberry jam right on top. That ended up being stirred in as I went, but the picture looked prettier this way:

Lunch was something new for me. I love tofu, but I’ve never tried it as a sandwich. Why? I have no idea. It was very tasty and very filling. I put some reheated leftover Gliding Calm tofu, a slice of 2% American cheese and some dijon mustard on 2 slices of low-cal toast. This picture was before I added the 2nd piece of toast:

One of my coworkers brought in a box of Celestial Seasonings Gingerbread Spice tea to share and, being the tea lover that I am, I was happy to accept. Unfortunately, I think it’s just seasonal. I may have to check my grocery and snag some if it’s still on the shelves because I really liked this one. It was the perfect balance of ginger and spice. One bag made two pretty strong cups.

Snack was very refreshing. I had slices of green and yellow peppers dipped in a cup of Chi Chi’s medium salsa. I love these individual serving packs. So convenient for transporting to work.

Shortly after I left for work I got some news that made my day even better. I won Kelly’s giveaway over at Every Gym’s Nightmare for the book The World is Fat by Barry Popkin. I’ve heard great things about this book from several sources so I’m really excited to read it. Thanks Kelly!

No dinner picture tonight. My super sweet husband made spaghetti tonight. I started to take a picture, but my camera battery was out of juice. We were both really hungry so I didn’t want to wait for it to charge. Basically what you’re missing is a pile of whole wheat spaghetti noodles with sausage sauce and a some baby carrots with Annie’s Goddess dressing for dipping. Mmmmmm. I’ve been spoiled lately. I’ll be a bit out of sorts when he goes back to working 5 (or more) days a week. This is the off season for his company so they’re working four 10-hour days and getting Friday off. That will end as soon as the warmer weather kicks in. By summer, he’ll be working 80-90 hour weeks including LOTS of Saturdays. For now, I’ll just enjoy having him around more.

After dinner we digested and then hit the gym. I had a pretty good session of walking on the treadmill, upper body & lower body. I did all my strength training in front of the mirror today. I don’t do this every time I lift weights, but I do like to do it every once in a while as a way to check my form.

No big Friday night plans for our household. My husband is watching his favorite show, Friday Night Lights, and I’m catching up on blog reading. I hope you’re all having a fabulous Friday night!

What’s your busiest time of year? Why?

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Ice Ice Baby!

As expected, we were blasted overnight with a pretty nasty ice storm. Here are some pictures I took as soon as the sun came up:

I went back inside and made called in to work to let them know I wouldn’t be there. Ice is pretty, but not very conducive to driving an hour and a half on mostly back roads. My husband didn’t go to work either, but he slept in. I fixed myself a nice hot bowl of oats with some maple syrup, a little brown sugar and unsweetened coconut. I swear there wasn’t that much syrup. It just looks like it in the picture because it got all hot and oozy.

I also had half of a delicious grapefruit…

…and some steaming hot coffee in another of my favorite mugs. Little did I know how that quote would come to reflect my day.

I even broke out a placemat!

So there I am sitting at the table sipping my coffee and admiring the winter scape when BAM…power goes out. I checked the breaker to make sure it wasn’t just us. Nope. The power company was busy so I used the automated system to report the outage and then broke out the flashlights and candles.

My husband got up a few minutes later. We listened to a Jillian Michaels podcast I had saved on my laptop until the battery died. Then we sat. And sat. And sat. It’s so funny all the things we take for granted that use power. I kept flipping light switches when I went in and out of rooms. I got the vacuum out of the closet and unwound the cord before realizing that it was futile. Finally I just bundled up on the couch and read a book.

Around noon we still didn’t have power or any word about when it would still be on. My coffee had gone cold in the pot and I had no way to reheat it. My husband was starting to get cabin fever. We decided to ride in (all of 2 blocks) to the only gas station in our teeny tiny town. It’s kind of the gathering point so it was packed with people swapping weather and power stories. While we were there we also realized we were hungry and that there wasn’t much at home that didn’t require a heat source. We ordered subs at their little deli counter and I fixed myself a cup of coffee. My sub was a toasted 6″ turkey on wheat with lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, pickles, mustard and just a little bit of mayo.

I found bags of something called Pogos. I’m not a big fan of most things you’d find in a convenience store “grocery” because of the nutritional information so I was surprised when I read the back of the bag. The nutrition information wasn’t too bad, the ingredient list wasn’t horribly long and there was only 1 thing on the list that wasn’t easily recognized.

They ended up being just okay. They didn’t have much potato taste and the Jalapeno Cheddar flavoring tasted a bit chalky. I might buy them again, but only in a pinch.

After our “adventure” we went home and ate our lunches. The power came back on as we were cleaning up the table. We flipped on the TV and watched all the weather reports for our area. The joy was short lived. It went back off about an hour later.

I bundled up again and went back to my reading. That’s pretty much all I managed to accomplish until the power came back on permanently about 5 hours later. I reheated some Lemony Shrimp leftovers from yesterday for dinner. I don’t think I’ve ever been so grateful for our microwave.

We’re skipping the gym tonight because on-street parking is the only option there and they’re asking people not to do that so the plows can do their thang. I’m trying to get caught up on all the things I wanted to do today that require electricity and I’m thinking about an early bedtime. I know this storm was a big one so I hope everyone is staying safe and warm no matter where you are.

What’s the last book you read?

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Snow Day!

We got about an inch of snow in the night and it was still falling when I got up at 4:30AM. I left for work almost an hour early only to make it 1/3 of the way and turn around. The snow just kept coming down harder and the roads were getting slick. They’re expecting more snow and maybe freezing rain through the day today followed by more snow this evening so there’s a good chance I’ll be home again tomorrow. I hate using vacation time for weather, but I don’t mind the day (or maybe days) off.

As soon as I got back home I fixed up the oats I’d packed for work. I decided to use a real bowl instead of my plastic container. Today’s toppings were a swirl of honey, a dollop of peanut butter and a few HUGE blackberries. Deeeeeelicious!

The coffee this morning was in one of my favorite mugs, a gift from my mom. I love polka dots & the color pink!

After breakfast I did a 30 minute workout DVD with cardio and some lower body. Some people think I’m nuts, but I LOVE squats and lunges. I think it’s because I can really feel my muscles working when I do them and I enjoy that burn. My timing was perfect because as soon as my DVD ended it was time for Namaste Yoga on FitTV.

I took the pup out to play in the snow for a bit. She had a blast running around like a crazy thing and rolling around. I think we’ve gotten at least another inch or so since I got home!

Jillian Michaels is on The Rachael Ray Show right now and I’m tuned in. I love and adore both of these ladies. Jillian always seems to say things that seem to hit home for me and she presents them in a fun way.

Speaking of Jillian, have you listened to her FREE podcasts? You can download them from the iTunes store. Just type KFI AM 630 in the search box, click the arrow to the right of SUNDAY, sort alphabetically and find Jillian. Add these to your iPod for some extra motivation during workouts! I actually like to listen to them in the car on my commute to help me stay motivated to hit the gym when I get home.

I love how so many of you bloggies as a question at the end of your blog posts and I’m going to start doing the same thing every day. Here goes!

What’s your favorite move for working the lower body?

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Monday, Monday

Da da. Da da da da.

(Obviously my creative energy is lacking in the post title department.)

Do you ever have those days when you don’t really feel sick, but you don’t really feel good either? Today is one of those days for me. I just feel ‘blah’ in general.

This morning I was STARVING. I related it back to my lack of appetite yesterday. I decided to start my day off with something filling. The obvious choice was oats. Today’s were topped with a stick of organic agave nectar, a few dates and some coconut. Along with that I had a cup of Celestial Seasonings Honey Vanilla Chamomile tea. I really, really have to figure out a way to make my work breakfast pictures more interesting. Same container = same photo every day.

I didn’t prep any food over the weekend and, since it’s Monday, we didn’t have any leftovers yet. I decided to try something new that I bought at the grocery last week.Here’s what I thought!

*Product Review*
Cedarlane Low Fat Couscous & Vegetable Veggie Wrap

At first glance it didn’t look like anything special, just an ordinary microwavable wrap. It smelled great when I took it out of the work microwave and many of my coworkers asked, “What is that?”

The taste was even better than the smell. The wrap part was a little bland, but the filling was full of flavors and different textures. It was nice to actually taste the various spices and vegetables since I find that most “heat and eat” options just taste like salt. This is the best picture I could get of the inside:

It really filled me up, too. The nutrition information (see photo above) wasn’t bad for a microwavable lunch option. I think it would have been even better with a little salsa and/or sour cream on the side for dipping. I still have a few wrap varieties from this brand in my freezer to try so stay tuned for more reviews.

I packed an afternoon snack, but ended up not needing it. Just not hungry. I’m not sure if it’s a credit to the fillingness (is that even a word?) of my lunch or just that my icky feeling was doing something similar to yesterday with my appetite. I drank hot tea for the entire afternoon. It was partly to settle my stomach, but mostly an attempt to keep warm in the frigid office. I think they forgot to turn the heat back on after the weekend.

Dinner tonight was one of my husband’s favorite dishes, Bubble Up Pizza Casserole. It’s super easy to make. One pound of ground beef (I use extra lean), 1 jar of pizza sauce, 1 tube refrigerated buttermilk biscuits & a cup of shredded mozzarella cheese. Brown the ground beef. Cut the biscuits into quarters. Mix everything together except the cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until biscuits are done. Top with cheese and bake for another 5 minutes. We usually replace the jar of pizza sauce with a can of plain tomato sauce seasoned to our liking. It’s really not the prettiest dish, but I took a picture anyway. I paired mine with a romaine salad topped with jalapeno peppers and chunks of yellow pepper.

Now I’m relaxing for a bit while watching The Big Bang Theory (most underrated show ever) and How I Met Your Mother. I think I’m going to call it an early night. They’re calling for more snow overnight so I may need to be up and out the door early in the morning. Have a great evening!

Giveaway alert! Kelly over at Every Gym’s Nightmare is giving away a copy of The World is Fat by Barry Popkin. I saw this featured recently in Shape magazine and it looks like an extremely interesting read. Check it out!

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Weekend Recap

Is the weekend really over? Already? It went by so fast!

Saturday morning started off nicely. I slept in which is rare for me, even on the weekend. When I finally got up it was time for breakfast and coffee with my husband. I had 2 egg whites and a slice of 2% cheese on low cal toast. That didn’t look like quite enough and I was really craving protein so I cooked a Gardenburger Portabella burger in the microwave and then added it to my sandwich. My husband thought it looked weird. I thought it tasted delicious!

Add coffee and organic skim milk and it’s a filling meal.

After our late breakfast we showered and hit the road to visit my BFF and her husband. The guys both have strange work schedules and she’s a nurse so it’s been forever since we could all get together.

We had lunch at a place called City Barbecue. The other 3 are all big BBQ lovers. Me? Not so much, but I went along because I knew I’d be able to find something I liked. I ended up ordering a big salad of mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, shredded cheese & strips of smoked turkey breast. Everyone else topped their sandwiches with hot & spicy BBQ sauce, but I discovered a spicy mustard sauce that didn’t taste at all like traditional BBQ. I ended up using a little of that as my salad dressing and liked it a lot.

After lunch we headed back to their house and hung out for a while. We had a blast and totally lost track of time. Before we knew it it was time to head home.

I was still pretty full when we got back, but needed to eat something to keep me full through the night. I ended up making oats for dinner! Oats, a little cocoa powder, a spoonful of peanut butter and a few chopped dates. Sweet and delicious!

Sunday morning I got up before my husband and did some yoga. I’ve been feeling really restless lately and that was exactly what my body needed. Afterwards I settled in with my Sunday morning ritual of coffee and coupons. The binder in the picture is how I organize my coupons. It’s filled with baseball card sleeves and divided by section of the grocery. I’ve found it works well for efficiency.

My husband woke up hungry and offered to make brunch. I wasn’t going to turn him down. He made me a 1 egg, 2 egg white omelet with ground turkey, mushrooms & shredded colby cheese. On the side I had 2 slices of turkey bacon and toast with spray butter. Oh, and coffee of course!

After brunch I cleaned the casa and got the laundry going. The rest of the day was pretty much wasted. I had a horrible headache that I couldn’t kick and just overall felt icky. My day was spent mostly on the couch either sleeping or relaxing and reading. Brunch was really filling and I never really got hungry again. I did have some Kashi crackers and cheese later in the evening, but was too lazy to take a picture. I ended up calling it an early night.

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Black & Blue

Don’t adjust your computer screen. You are seeing those colors correctly. This morning I was trying to get socks out of the dresser without turning on the light because my husband was still sleeping. Obviously that was a bad idea. I ended up with BLUE trouser socks to go with my BLACK shoes. I didn’t notice until I had been at work for probably two hours. So embarrassing. Oh well. What can you do?

Not sure what it is in the office today, but everyone is wearing their crankypants. I’ve just been keeping to myself. Thank goodness it’s Friday and everyone has to weekend to get over. Oats with banana and coconut first thing in the morning make everything seem not so bad. Tazo Awake tea helps, too.

Lunch was my last portion of the taco soup with ground turkey & quinoa. I’m kind of sad to see it go. It’s definitely one I’ll be making again soon. Perfect for cooking ahead and then packing all week for lunch.

Now I’m on my lunch hour and just hanging out at the coffee shop. It’s the perfect time for two of my favorite things: coffee & blog reading! I’ll be back tonight with my afternoon & evening eats. Hope you’re all enjoying your Friday!

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Box o’ Goodies

It was a pretty ‘meh’ day. Nothing bad happened. Nothing exciting either. Well, that is until I got home from work. More about that later. More oats for breakfast today! I topped them with blueberries & unsweetened coconut just like yesterday, but I actually had my camera today. That calls for two pictures! My tea of the morning was Tazo Awake. Typical.

That was followed by a productive morning of work. I’m halfway through a tedious special project. Won’t be sad when this one is finished. No picture of lunch because it’s identical to yesterday. Still eating the Easy Turkey Taco Quinoa Stew. Still not tired of it. It’s made me super excited to try new recipes from GreenLiteBites.

Around 4 I indulged in one of my new obsessions discovered thanks to you bloggies, Fage. I stirred in some peanut butter almond granola and man was it good! No salmonella worries for me. This granola is homemade at the Amish store using peanut butter they also make in-house. It added just the right amount of crunch and sweet to my yogurt. I think the tea is Tazo China Green Tips though I’m not completely sure. I’d probably had about 6 cups throughout the afternoon (all different) in an attempt to combat the freezing office temperature.
.

That held me through the rest of the afternoon and my commute. When I got home there was a box waiting for me on the front porch. I love, love, love getting mail and packages are like the granddaddy of all mail. I brought it inside and tore into it like a kid on Christmas morning.

Back in November I won a contest from one of my favorite sites, BellaSugar. My husband and I were flown to San Francisco and put up in the amazingly glorious W hotel for 3 days & 2 nights. As if that weren’t enough, I was treated to a relaxing trip to Bliss spa, lunch in The Rotunda at Neiman Marcus restaurant with the editors of the site and a hair consultation, cut & color at The Red Chair Salon. The highlight of the day for me was a Bare Escentuals makeover done by one of their National Makeup Artists. I started wearing Bare Escentuals about 3 years ago and have been faithful to the brand since then. It’s the only thing I can use that doesn’t make my face erupt into a minefield. They have so many great products and the quality is phenomenal.

As if the whole trip and day of pampering weren’t enough, Bare Escentuals sent me every product that they used during my makeup and a few extras. Remember by lipgloss mishap? I got two new tubes! They’re not the same color as the one I lost, but these are soon-to-be released colors and equally as fabulous. Guess what I’ll be playing with all weekend? Here’s a picture of the goods:

After all that excitement it was off to the gym with my husband and sister-in-law. She and I decided to try Tina’s 45-minute treadmill workout. I was still a bit tender from lower body work on Wednesday and sister-in-law was feeling the P90X workout she’d done earlier in the day so we decided to try the walking version. Well, 4.5 MPH for this girl is a jog so I did some running in there, too. Sister-in-law is 5’8″ so she was able to stay at a walk the whole time. It was great! We were both working hard and very sweaty by the end. I burned 447 calories.

My husband wasn’t hungry when we got home so I just threw together a quick dinner for myself. It consisted of a chopped-up Gardenburger Portabella veggie burger, freshly shredded mozzarella cheese, a few croutons, and a tomato cut into four wedges. All this was served over a bed of romaine and green leaf lettuce tossed with a little Annie’s Goddess dressing.

It was the perfect post-gym late dinner. I was so tired that I could barely keep my eyes open through the last bite so as soon as I was finished eating it was off to bed.

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Goosebumps and Tears of Joy

The title of this post sums up my feelings on today’s inauguration. President Barack Obama. It has a nice ring, doesn’t it?

I wasn’t able to watch on TV, but I did manage to get my radio tuned in to the coverage. I was deeply moved and filled with an amazing sense of hope. There were many quotes that immediately hit home with me. Here’s my favorite:

“The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works.”

Okay. Back to food.

I totally restructured my routine today. I am hypoglycemic and have a lot of trouble keeping my blood sugar stable throughout the day. I get weak, shaky, nauseous and have passed out on more than one occasion.

The best fix I’ve found to remedy the problem is to eat a “mini-meal” about every 2 hours while I’m at work. Since I eat so often, I tend to stick with low-cal options and/or very small portions. I never really feel satisfied which leads to getting hungry in between “mini meals.” These are the times when I find myself gravitating toward the unhealthy snacks in the work kitchen like cookies, chips & candy.

Today I decided to try eating less often, but eating foods that pack more of a punch. I’m very happy to report that the experiment was a huge success!

I’m backtracking a bit to my last post, but this is what I ate today at work:

• 8:00AM: 1/2 cup steel cut oats w/ 2 Tablespoons unsweetened coconut, 1/2 cup blueberries & 1 stick organic agave nectar
• 12:30PM: 1 serving of Quick Quinoa Turkey Taco Stew from GreenLiteBites.
• 3:30PM: 1 container Fage greek yogurt with 1 stick organic agave nectar & 1/4 cup Amish peanut butter almond granola

The only things I had between those times were plain water and unsweetened hot tea. Overall I took in less calories than an average day because I never felt hungry and didn’t graze between meals. Normally I’m starving after my hour commute and have to have a snack as soon as I walk in the door. Not today. It was almost 8:00PM when we sat down to eat dinner and I was just starting to get a little hungry.

For dinner I made Creamy Pasta Primavera from KraftFoods. I tweaked the recipe quite a bit. I used broccoli instead of asparagus because it was on sale. I added red pepper flakes to the chicken & veggies because we like a little heat. I also used whole wheat pasta and light cream cheese. I didn’t think it was an A+ recipe, but my husband loved it.

Several of my food and product choices today were made based on things I’ve seen and read since discovering the food blog community. You’re all so amazing, inspiring, fun, kind and extremely welcoming. THANK YOU ALL! (((((virtual hugs)))))

Speaking of great bloggies, Angela over at Oh She Glows is having a fabulous giveaway. Up for grabs are some yummy-looking products from Neal Brothers (for Canadian readers) or Honest Foods Country Squares (for US readers). Check it out!

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Kind of Like a Monday

It’s my first day of work for the week so it feels like a Monday. I’m bummed that I have to be here instead of at home watching the festivities in Washington D.C. I wish I’d thought to make patriotic oatmeal like Caitlin!

I was really dreading coming back to work after the 3 day weekend, but it’s shaping up to be a good day. I felt rested when the alarm went off and got in a sweat-filled 30 minutes of cardio & core. To top it all off I’m having a good hair day (which is rare) and wearing pearls. Nothing bad can happen when you’re wearing pearls.

There is one bad thing about today. I forgot my camera…again! It’s okay because I have the same 3 things planned for another day this week so at least there won’t be repetitive pictures.

Back to the good things about today! I had my first bowl of oats from the batch I made yesterday! Today I topped them with blueberries and coconut. Soooo good and I’m still full. Now I see why everyone else eats them. I love that I could make them up ahead of time, portion them out and just throw them in my lunch bag. I think these will become an every morning thing for me.

There was a minor volcano-like incident in the work microwave, but I managed to recover most of the oats and get the mess cleaned up. Note to self: Do not leave oats in microwave unattended.

I’m going to brave the cold at lunch time for FREE beauty products. As a result of a lawsuit in California, several department stores will be giving out certain full-size products (one per person) today while supplies last. Click here for more information. I know this is completely unrelated to food, but just good to know.

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