Showing posts with label cake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cake. Show all posts

Monday, June 5, 2017

Weekend Wrap Up


Friday -


Double Light strength training.  I was happy to get it done in the morning on Friday. Please take a moment to appreciate this workout because the rest of the weekend was all about relaxation. 
There were push ups. I know these push up pics are super blurry, but hopefully you can see well enough to prove that I am actually doing pushups. Granted they are still knee modified, but I will take it. Next time they are on the schedule I am going to try a traditional push-up :)  

I was proud of my lunch Friday. I really didn't have a good plan of what to take to work for lunch. When in doubt...make a taco :)  Not having a bunch of junk in the house meant even my unplanned pulled together lunch turned out to be something healthy - corn tortilla filled with leftover grilled chicken and grilled corn, spinach, avocado and a bit of feta - super good! 
Gratuitous shot of my husband doing the dishes. #morethanatrainer
Saturday

The day started with a trip to the Farmers' Market. I wore one of my new dresses with my bare arms for all to see. This is has been front and center on my mind since Mary (one of the awesome ladies in our fitness group) had some frank words for us.  Our group had decided on a weight loss challenge for the summer - part of it was posting our starting weights and posting a "before" picture. She reminded us of our strengths and how are weight does not diminish those strength.  She urged us to be proud of ourselves and not focus on numbers/pictures. Seriously though ladies. Being healthy is supposed to feel good. It's not supposed to hurt, not emotionally anyways.  Allow yourselves to feel good. Don't stress about how you look now and where you are. You're all really strong women I admire with a very diverse set of talents. You all accomplish so much day to day just being YOU, so yeah, I have 100% faith in all of us reaching our goals! No more negative self talk!  So here I am, world. I felt good enjoying the market and not caring one bit about "less than perfect arms," who by by no accident are stronger than they were three weeks ago.  They do push-ups.   I admit posting my weight and pics did make me uncomfortable, but guess what, I haven't thought about it much since because these things do not define me.
These reminder from a vendor made me chuckle.
I splurged on a container of black raspberries. My mom used to have tons of black raspberry bushes and picking them could be painful, so I understand why they are expensive. I am not a blackberry fan and red raspberries aren't bad...but black raspberries are like the perfect summer in a little tiny package.
An afternoon of lounging and watching House of Cards with my snuggle puppy.
 Saturday evening we met some friends to see Wonder Woman.

Sunday

I started the day out with a solid breakfast (see, I don't always eat that wacky sweet potato hash!).
And I made a healthy lunch - tikka masala chicken with a ton of veggies. The best part is I have three more servings for lunches (or lazy dinners) this week. Showing off my new Pioneer Woman flat edge spatula - makes scraping all the goodness of the bottom of the man so much easier and it has a butterfly on it :) 
So, the reason I was extra vigilant about my meals on Sunday was because it was my mother-in-laws birthday and she requested I make this decadent cake - Raspberry Pink Velvet Cake with Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting.  Can I get credit for all the fresh fruit in every component?? The cake batter was probably the best I've ever stuck my finger in :) 
There were several steps to making this cake, but it was quite simple. 
 Meanwhile....
Ready for the birthday girl. I bought the roses - they are made of cornstarch so technically edible, but why would you?  The greenery is some Mexican Tarragon I found at Walmart. It has good flavor and I am looking forward to using it more this summer.
I was surprised (and relieved) how much the berries between layers "melted" down. I was a bit concerned it wouldn't stay together when served.  The cake was a huge success and nobody complained about the generous pieces my husband cut.
I wasn't even hungry come dinner time, so I didn't force myself to eat. Later in the evening when I actually felt hungry I had an egg sandwich with a slice of Swiss cheese (250 calories).  So even with the huge cake indulgence I felt good about the day's eating. Finding the balance is going to be a key to my success.  I am consciously working on treating each meal/snack as a separate entity - no more giving up on the whole day/weekend/week/month because of a splurge.

It was a nice weekend, but here it is Monday morning and time to put my relaxation and treats aside.  A quick bowl of oatmeal and black raspberries with a hard boiled egg was a perfect segue to a healthy week. I usually like blueberries on my oatmeal and was a little hesitant to try the raspberries (they don't seem like oatmeal fruit to me), but it was SO good. I hope they have black raspberries at the market next week.
Millie did not get the Monday memo. I don't think we can get out of bed fast enough if the morning to suit her bed hog self.
 Week 4 of Double Light starts today. I see things ramping up....
Looking forward to a good week. What is on your agenda?


Sunday, June 22, 2014

Birthday Party

I am struggling with this post. I have started it several times.  Bottom line is that I am struggling with my feelings today. I know I am doing very well overall, but I am frustrated with my body at the moment. I wanted to have a really great workout today because we are going to a birthday lunch today. I wanted to have a little flexibility in what I eat without feeling like I am splurging too much.

Unfortunately, my body is not cooperating. I have had a little concern about my right knee for awhile. Nothing major just at times it feels a bit tight and/or tender. Yesterday it started bothering me in a new way. Every now and then it would kind of pop - like it extended backwards. Then it would hurt quite a bit for a few steps. Then it will be fine again. 

I thought maybe I aggravated it with all the bending and pulling from the weeding frenzy yesterday. So, I rested it last night and hoped that it would feel better in the morning. Overall, it feels okay. Just every now and then I have the pop/pain incidents. I made the choice to not walk this morning to rest my knee. But I am really hating not getting in a good workout today. My husband ran this morning (his foot is doing better) and he is at the gym now doing weights. I feel like a big ol' slug. I know I am working hard and am not a slug, but I can't shake the feeling.

To be honest I am a bit envious of how well my husband is doing. Please don't mistake me to mean I wish he weren't doing as great as he is. I am thrilled and proud of him - he is seriously working hard.  It is just difficult to be side by side with someone who has much more visible success when you know you are working hard (and succeeding). It is just not noticeable to others quite yet.

I am trying to concentrate on how much better I am feeling (apart from my knee at the moment). Yesterday when I was doing the yard work I thought several times to myself that it was not as painful as it has been in the past. I know my legs are stronger. This morning I was a bit sore from the yard work, but nothing like I have previously felt after yard work.  

So here is the plan for today. Birthday party for my sister and niece. We made the birthday cake this morning. I have been wanting to make this since I first saw it on Pinterest. I wish I could give credit to the original creator of this adorableness, but I can't seem to track down who started it - many many people have recreated it and now we have too.  Now you can see why I am more concerned about missing a workout knowing that I am going to indulge in a piece of this chocolate extravaganza :) 

On the upside, my niece requested Subway and chips for her birthday party - I thought for sure she would want the dreaded hashbrown casserole...so naughty and so yummy.  Subway sure makes it easier for us to stay on track. To help with the chip situation (another of my downfalls), I bought the little individual serving bags. That way we know exactly how many calories we are getting, everyone can choose their own flavor and no one is stuck with big open bags of leftover chips. It may cost a bit more, but it is worth it to me. 

I am going to make good use of the pool this afternoon. People will think I am playing, but I will be giving myself a good workout that won't stress my knee.  

Well, off I go... Happy Sunday!

Birthday cake!!