Going Beyond

What I ate:

I still love these boxes for packing my lunches. My turkey/veggie meatloaf and grilled corn feels like decadent comfort food to me. The veggies were super fresh and crunchy. The cherries were the perfect "dessert".

  I think you know what this is going to be :)

I traded my regular chicken breast out for some spinach/feta chicken sausage. I found these two flavors at Aldi. I am hopping the one with the cranberries won't be too sweet. I am planning to alternate the chicken breast and the sausage. The sausage is a bit higher in calories and definitely has more sodium. 

I have been working on snacks that make me feel better physically than my beloved chips. I saved a little of my veggies and cherries from lunch and had them later in the afternoon with a super cold bottle of water.  Truth be told this did not happen for every snack...there were some chips, but in very limited portions. 

I enjoyed lettuce wraps with pork tenderloin. The green sauce is a fresh salsa I bought at the farmers marker. It is like a salsa verde with the addition of pineapple and avocado. I even had a conversation with the vendor about ingredients, so I could figure calories...that did't happen last summer when I first discovered it. I am feeling bolder and a little more take-charge of my situation. Good news is that there is less than a half of an avocado in a whole two cup container of salsa, so the calories are very reasonable. If my tomatillos do well this year, I think I am going to work on a version of this salsa at home...I love the pineapple and avocado, but I would like a bit more heat to balance the sweetness of the pineapple.

Oatmeal with fresh apple and black raspberries...it was so good. Veggie egg muffins on the side for a stick-with-me breakfast..

Chicken tikka masala I made earlier this week specifically for lunches. I confess I was a little disappointed because I'd planned to have the meatloaf again. However, someone else in this house loves my meatloaf and it went "missing" :)

I know I have talked about most of these foods/dishes before. When I am eating healthy I tend to lean on some core go-to meals. Eating healthy does take more planning, so these foods have become my version of convenience foods. This weekend I hope to spend a little time working on finding a few recipes to mix things up.

What I did:

Double Light abs workout 

For some reason, we mostly got video of this particular workout. At first, I was disappointed to not have more pictures, but then watching the videos I was able to see how much harder I am working. I am especially proud of how hard I am fighting to go beyond what I think I can do.

Accordion crunches - This exercise works the obliques (read, love handles) by bringing the knees and elbows together while sitting on the hip.  You will notice the extra towel under my hip. I would think with the padding I had this would not be an issue, but my hip bone needed a little extra cushion.

Twists - These weren't too bad. In fact, you might even see a smile during the video.

Figure 8s - I did these for the first time last week and I could really see improvement this week

Flutter kicks - These are getting better too.

I can't believe I can already tell a difference in what I am able to do with these workouts.

Fitness Blender video

One of the ladies in our group challenged us to complete this Fitness Blender video. Fitness Blender offers tons of free videos on their website. I have tried them in the past, but it has been awhile. This one is a low impact beginner cardio workout, but they offer all sorts of exercises at all levels. I am very impressed and who doesn't like free?  They do also offer pre-arranged workout packages (set up on a calendar) that you can by for nominal fees. On a side note, I love my Chromecast. I can send the video from my computer straight to my tv where I have room to move.

I enjoyed this workout (well, as much as I do enjoy workouts that are challenging). As I have mentioned, I am not the most coordinated, so a couple of the moves I had to modify or replace. One min particular, was a modified plank where you had to reach back and touch your toes while in the blank position. That was not happening. I replaced it with a previous exercise. I liked how they incorporate a little preview of what was coming up for each section. I need an extra second to wrap my head around the moves.

I was home by myself when I did this workout, so I had to take my own pictures while I was doing the video.

At the end of the workout, there was some nice cool down and stretching exercises. I have never been able to do the quad stretch where you reach around and hold your foot up. I realized the arm of the couch was the perfect height to prop my foot so my quads got that same stretch without me toppling over. I finished the workout with a hot sweaty smile.

Thank you, Mary for turning me on to these videos. Fitness Blender was created by Kelli and Daniel Segars. This article is an interesting read about how they started and continue to build their fitness "empire". In this particular video, Kelli is demonstrating the workout and Daniel is narrating. It tickled me a little when Daniel said if you can't go as fast as Kelli that's fine, but if you can go faster that is fantastic. It reminded me of watching Ina Garten when she says, as she frequently does, something like...

3.9 mile evening walk with my friend.

It has been a long time since we walked together - we used to do it regularly and I have missed her.

There were dogs everywhere. This guy and his young friend came out to greet us. The puppy was too quick for a picture.

 I thought this frog was fun. I think it might have been used to hold their hose.

After my Friday workout, I will have officially finished four weeks of Double Light. I have already been warned that in month two we will be ramping it up. I wonder at what point I will have to stop calling it Double Light. Judging from this video, it may be awhile yet. Remember the "ladder" workout from a couple weeks ago. This is my husband's version of a "ladder" workout:

Now all of that fifteen more times!! He said he took a minute break after ten circuits. Yeah, I 'll be Double Light for awhile :)

This morning my glutes are especially sore, so I have high hopes that big ol' muscle is doing some major fat burning :)

Any fun plans for the weekend?  I am planning to hit a big neighborhood yard sale not far from us. Our big event, will be going to an airshow to see the Thunderbirds perform.

Recharging

Saturday our office hosted an event for K-8 grade authors. Winners are chosen from their schools. Then the winners all come together to be honored at the county level. Without a doubt, my favorite part of the morning is sneaking away for a few minutes to peek at the books.

This book reminded me of so many friends who have adopted their dogs or volunteer with humane societies and rescue groups.

 Stories like this are the payoff for those efforts.

 I LOVED the artwork in this book. What a great idea to use the black paper.

Look closely and you might see my niece's eyeball peeking out of Clifford's eye. She was a great sport wearing the costume and interacting with the students.  I am not sure why Clifford looks so gloomy though.

We spent a nice evening at the farm just relaxing with the dogs and a fire. It was an excellent way to unwind after a crazy work week.

 

I didn't do too much with the garden, but I did take a little peek. My chives are blooming. I probably shouldn't let them do that, but they are pretty and how many chives am I going to eat anyway?

 I noticed a couple little volunteer dill plants coming up (oh, and some weeds too).

There was some grilling, of course. I need to work on veggie variety. I tend to grill the same things over and over again. I would love any suggestions for mixing up my grill.

In the meantime, here is what has been on my plate recently. (Yeah, there has been lots of other things going in my beak, but I am trying to focus on the "good" at the moment.)

Breakfast in bed - does it count as breakfast in bed if you have to get out of bed to get it and then get back in bed to eat it? I couldn't decide which jelly - grape and orange marmalade? My egg muffins have some of the veggies from the night before and some leftover Easter ham I froze.

Buffalo chicken tacos for dinner. I added a bit of fresh pineapple to mine. Then I ate a bunch of pineapple on the side.

 Mini turkey meatloaf and veggies.

Yesterday we had a lots of rain and wind....the trees dropped a bunch of debris on Pearl. Thankfully, not harmful debris.

The problem with spring as much as I love it unfolding after a long winter, the changing seasons sets me back physically (that coupled with stress of a super busy time at work). My MS flared up and I have spent the past three days pretty much in bed trying to rest. Tomorrow I am heading back to work. There is only so long I can stay in bed with this wackiness beside you.

I actually think they were very happy to lounge with me. This little monster has a birthday coming up - she will be 15 on Sunday.

I am hoping to be back on track after my rest. I am tentatively planning a nice walk and to finish planting my garden this weekend if this body cooperates :)

4th of July Eve

Another day off work :)  I could get used to being a stay at home wife.  This morning we did our usual workout routine.  It was still in the 50's when we were out - felt so good.  When we got home I opened windows and enjoyed the fresh air all day.

My niece came over for a bit. We made lunch for my husband after work. He took the afternoon off to get an early start on our long weekend.

After lunch we took our race registrations to turn them in.  Yes, that is right we are signed up for another race. This time it is a 5k on July 19. It should be a good time. It has a 6 pm start time then it is followed by a party at the water park.  Guess that is why it is called the Dash N Splash.  The registration fee includes the water park after party with dinner provided by one of our favorite restaurants. My sister, brother-in-law and nephew are all doing the race too.  Yay! A family event :)

I went with my husband to the gym this afternoon when he went to do weights. I rode the bike and watched Family Feud - I am slightly obsessed with that show.

After I rode the bike I planned to go in the aerobics room where they have some kettlebells and hand weights.  I thought I would do a little arm work.  I was not amused when I saw a guy was in there with his two little boys - guessing 7-8 years old. He was having them lift a barbel that he had perched on a couple of steps (for step aerobics).  I had heard a lot of thudding while I was on the bike - apparently they were dropping the barbel.  I can't think of a good reason to be having little kids lift weights. And if you did, there certainly shouldn't be any reason for them to be dropping them - get off your butt and spot them!!  Okay, enough of my rant. I went downstairs to see how my husband was coming along in the weight room.

I should have known better.  I knew I would get sucked in.  This is the only exercise I did and I bet I am going to feel it in the morning. I know at some point I should add some strength training...

We had a bit of a dinner crisis tonight.  I was making my husband's new favorite burger...turkey with cilantro burger filled with jalapenos and provel cheese.  I got everything going in the bowl and added the last ingredient a little bit of panko bread crumbs. But it wasn't panko...I accidentally grabbed the bag of crushed eggshells waiting to be taken out to the garden. Disaster!  There was no rescuing this batch and it was the last of the ground turkey. Of course, I had to run to the store for more turkey because once you tell your husband you are making his favorite burger you better make it :)  Thankfully, the store is close and it only set me back about 20 minutes.

I don't think Millie wants to watch tv with us. She is working her best "poor me" look.  She is such a goofy pup :)

Good luck to all of us navigating all those yummy BBQ goodies tomorrow. We can all do this!!  We are planning a good morning workout and an evening BBQ and fireworks show at a friend's house. She always has the best sundae bar...help!

Hope everyone has a safe and fun 4th of July.

Who Gets the Puppy?

Whew!  That was a little crazy.  My husband's schedule is back to normal.  We decided we would keep getting up early so that we could workout.  Here is the problem...he run/walks and I walk...and we only have one dog.  (Actually we have an old dachshund too - I am worried it is too much for her when we walk for fitness - she is more of a stroller.)  So first we had to decide how we were going to share Millie.  We decided we would walk together to the start of the loop.  Then we would go our own pace and he would take Millie.  Then if he lapped me I would get Millie for the remainder.

There goes my puppy...and my man!

It did not go as planned.  They got about a half a block ahead of me and turned around and came back to me.  Evidently, Millie didn't want us to be separated.  My husband said "it was like running with an anchor."  She kept trying to turn around to find me.  So he dropped her off with me and ran ahead.  Then my "ordeal" began.  Millie was then trying to catch up with him pulling me along.  Once he was out of sight her nose was to the ground...I think she was trying to pick up his scent.  On the up side, I suppose I got a little better workout...I went faster and used the upper body trying to hold on.  We finally met up again and I quickly handed her off.  I think we are going to have to find another strategy.

This morning was the warmest morning since I have been doing these early morning walks  - 70 degrees!  I would like to say my "sweatiness" is from my effort, but at least some of the credit has to go to the weather.  I do miss the slight chill in the air...much more refreshing. Since it is only May I better come to grips with warmer mornings...and more sweat!





I am doing a little better today with my attitude toward the food side of this journey.  I have been using myfitnesspal for a few days and though I am staying in my calorie range I've been a bit grouchy about it.  I bought a watermelon the other day...sounded so good as the weather heats up.  I was a bit hesitant because I bought one a couple of weeks ago and it was horrible.  This one is super tasty.  I was loading up a container to take to work with my lunch.  Then I checked the calories....I had to put some back.  Eight ounces (9 calories/ounce) didn't look like much, but it was very refreshing.

A huge food victory today in our house!  We have a make again fish recipe  My husband is NOT a fish guy.  But since we have been working on our health he mentioned that he would like to try fish again and hopefully find a way to like it.  With the green light, I quickly did some research and moved on a plan.  I chose flounder since it is so mild.  Then I found a recipe on skinnytaste.com for Flounder Piccata.

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/12/flounder-piccata.html


I knew from experience with chicken my husband likes the lemon flavors.  I served it on quinoa with spinach on the side.  He liked it!  I am so happy to have a fish option!  If you have not checked out skinnytaste.com you need to leave my blog immediately and check it out (don't forget to come back though).  Lots of delicious recipes! 

All in all a much better day :)