Week 3 - Done

This week has been hard. Not necessarily the workouts – it was a repeat of the Week 1 Schedule – but motivation was on the low side.

When I started off the month, I thought if it went well I would plan on sticking with it for the next few months – probably up to the end of April. And things did seem to be going well. The plan is definitely doable and it’s good to be pushing myself a little bit.

Then I got an email from Lindsey yesterday asking that we let her know if we were planning to continue next month so she could get to work on everyone’s plans. Up until that email came in, I had been fully planning to continue. Suddenly I got cold feet.

I’m tired. I don’t like having to go home and do a workout from a schedule. I want a break.

This afternoon I really was tired. My head was aching. I felt like I wanted to curl up and take a nap. I was feeling sorry for myself.

I decided it was time for a break from the office.

While I was out walking around I had a little talk with myself. I know that some weeks I’m raring to go, and some weeks I have zero energy. It’s a familiar cycle. So I’m having a bad week. Most days by the time I got home I would talk myself into doing a workout anyway – it might as well be one that is scheduled for me, then I don’t have to think about it.

I am the one setting the expectation here. Lindsey designed the workout schedule based on my goals and how much time I said I had for exercise. Yes, I check in with her once a week, but if I decide I don’t want to do a workout, that’s my choice. I can skip it if I want. Or I can substitute something else if I want. I’m choosing to do this.

So, I came home and did my workout. I won’t say I was enthusiastic, but once I got going it wasn’t so bad. That’s Week 3 down.

And then I went and signed up for the next 3 months.

Done.

Today’s food pics:

Decided to try for a carrot muffin again, but no luck.

Last of the Beef Curry Hotpot & Basmati Rice from last night. There was also a container of cauliflower that I ate before I remember I was supposed to take a picture.

From the freezer – Tex Mex Taco Soup with Cheddar and Light Sour Cream.

There may also have been a raid on the candy stash, but I’m not telling.

Snowy Day

It started out like this…

And it just kept snowing all day.

This is the first real snow we’ve had since the beginning of the month though, so we’ve had it pretty easy so far.

The roads were messy, I was glad Husband was driving and that we had winter tires on the car.

Cardio Intervals? Again?

It seems not that long ago that I was looking forward to intervals and feeling happy about it. It was going so well there for a while. Today I was all ‘Intervals again? Didn’t I just do intervals?’

It’s not so much fun because the running is not feeling so great anymore. Again. I may just have to give up on this running thing, I don’t know.

Anyway, today I alternated walking and running intervals, so it was less running; similar to what I did on Monday. I may have to stick with this for a while and hope the running thing gets better again.

Lazy Food Blogger

I was taking pictures all day, but I realized at supper time that it was nothing you haven’t seen already this week. And it’s only Wednesday.

- Yogurt & coffee for breakfast

- Raw veggies & Amy’s Kitchen Burrito for lunch

- After Eights for my afternoon treat

- Tomato & cucumber salad, Beef Curry Hotpot for supper.

It would just be boring to see all that again, right? So to save time (yes Bag Lady, for the piano) I decided to skip it.

However, I did decide that such a snowy night calls for an appropriate dessert; time for Mr. Hot Chocolate Maker to come out and play again.

Off to the piano I go!

Tuesday

I wore my pretty  new boots today…

I had happy feet all day. Looks like I will be back to snow boots tomorrow though. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

I actually packed yogurt and an apple for breakfast today, but on the way in to town I decided I really wanted a carrot muffin and if they had any, that’s what I would have for breakfast. Despite my lifelong hatred of carrots, the Texas Carrot is my favorite Java Moose muffin.

So we got there and they had carrot muffins! Yay! A carrot muffin was ordered for me, and a Summer Berry muffin for Husband.

When I got to work and opened my muffin, I saw:

Summer Berry. I thought: Poor Husband is not going to be happy; he doesn’t like carrot muffins at all.

But, it turns out we somehow both got Summer Berry. It was still a good muffin, just not quite what I had been wanting. Oh well. At least I wasn’t going hungry, right?

For lunch, I started with my veggies:

Oh, and you can see the apple peeking out in the background; I was too full to eat it after my muffin.

Then for lunch tried a new-to-me Amy’s Kitchen meal:

Which was sort of all frozen on one side of the container…

But it still heated up all right.

It was good. In both of the Amy’s Indian meals that I’ve tried, the Paneer is my favorite part. I always eat that first, then mix all the rest of it together. Aside from the Paneer though, I think I prefer the Burritos.

Afternoon treat – x2

It was a busy day, but the afternoon felt long. I guess it was a tiring day. I was glad to head home.

Today was Supersets, Abs and Steady State Cardio. This was the easy cardio, but today it felt hard. Guess I really was/am tired.

Very simple salad because I was feeling lazy – cucumbers & tomatoes with Renee’s Cucumber Dill dressing.

I probably wouldn’t have bothered to make this except I remember the cucumber needed to be used. I ended up being glad that I’d made the effort though.

And main course from the slow cooker – Beef Curry Hot Pot over Basmati Rice.

Watched Castle with dinner. Cleaned up the kitchen/washed dishes, cut some veggies for tomorrow’s lunch.

Dessert:

And now I’m done.

These past few nights, but the time I’ve done everything I have to do, I’m tired and I just want to crawl into bed with a book for a while. So, no piano for the past couple of days which is disappointing. Tomorrow I will make sure there is time.

Good night!

Monday

So I type up that whole recap of last week’s workouts, I post food pictures, and 2 out of 3 comments are about the cat pictures (and shoes). I guess I was right – it is all about the cats! 

That’s ok, they are pretty fabulous, in my humble opinion.

I confess – I also made a return visit to the shoe store today and gave my debit card another little workout. There were a couple other pairs of shoes I had been debating over, but I am trying to curb my impulsive shoe shopping…Mostly it appears I just manage to delay it. What can I say? I like shoes.

My other workout for the day was Cardio Intervals. After last week, I was still not feeling up to doing the whole thing as running intervals. So, I did 3 intervals that were different speeds of walking, 4 intervals that were walk/run, then 3 walking again. At the time it felt fine, but now my legs are complaining. Hope I haven’t I haven’t gone and set myself back again.

Finally, less than exciting though they may be, today’s food pictures….

Breakfast was yogurt and an apple:

Still feeling unmotivated to actually cook on the weekends for my work lunches. Last year January was a bad month for workouts. This year I’m doing the workouts, but I don’t wanna make lunch. So, for the second week in a row, Amy is doing the cooking. The upside to this is that I feel compelled to add veggies to my pre-packaged lunches.

Burrito with yellow bell pepper and cauliflower:

Late afternoon pick-me-up:

Dinner was a very tasty repeat of last night. So glad this experiment worked out and we will be making it again.

Italian Chicken & Potatoes, with steamed broccoli and cauliflower:

 

For my dessert – Bolthouse Vanilla Chai:

Time to drag my weary muscles to bed!

Fitness and Felines and Food! Oh My!

A little something for everyone. There’s even a new pair of shoes to be seen…

Fitness…

First up, a quick recap of Week 2 of my online fitness coaching experience. I mentioned a bit of this during the week, but I thought it would be good to have it all in one spot.

Sunday – Started off week two with the first Hyperbolic Resistance workout of the week, which was a circuit that I was supposed to complete as many times as I could in 20 minutes. By the time I was finished, my legs were shaky. I still managed to get in 40 minutes of Steady State Cardio (starting off very slowly until I was sure my legs would continue to hold me up) and Abs.

Monday – Intervals. This was meant to be a 45 minute workout, but I knew as soon as I started that I was in trouble. Ankles, shins, calves, all were complaining. I tried, but I ended up cutting it short, getting in 5/10 intervals and a total of 30 minutes of cardio.

Tuesday – Supersets Weight Workout plus Abs, plus a very cautious 30 minutes of Steady State Cardio.

Wednesday – intervals again. I stuck to walking and managed to do the full 45 minutes. It felt ok.

Thursday – Hyperbolic Resistance workout #2 – Another circuit, this time 5 sets as fast as I could. Then Abs. Then, for my cardio workout of the day I decided to take a break from the treadmill and did my Fat Burning Pilates DVD.

Friday – Rest.

Saturday – Yoga.

…And Felines (and shoes)…

I sat on the couch with my breakfast and coffee this morning, all covered up in my comfy, fuzzy blanket. Frank came and curled up next to my feet for a snooze. When I got up, Frank stayed put, and stretched right out.

I was doing some cleaning and tidying and came out of the kitchen to see this, which for some reason made me laugh.

I don’t know, just something about that face, those eyes peeking out from the comfy blanket…

Sorta looks like he’s posing for a photo shoot, doesn’t he?

Not to be outdone, Zappa got in on the action when I was trying to take a picture of my new boots – which I know some of you will appreciate.

I’d been eyeing these since the fall, but they were a little pricey so I just kept admiring from afar…Then on Friday I happened to walk by the shoe store and see sale racks…And there they were, just waiting to come home with me.

Not the best picture, but they are all shiny and pretty and very comfy. Happy JavaChick.

…And did someone say food? Oh My!

I didn’t photo all my food today – I was going to but then I forgot. However, what I did get was good.

First, breakfast…The fruit trays were calling my name when I went to the grocery store yesterday and I thought it would be a nice treat. Along with the fruit, my favorite Liberte Mediterranee Moka Yogurt.

I also had coffee, but I was all excited by my pretty plate of fruit and snapped a picture before I thought to pour coffee.

Then for supper, I did a Slow Cooker Experiment – I wanted to adapt a favorite meal that my Mom used to make (ok, she probably still makes it, I just don’t live there anymore so I don’t get to eat it. Boo.) .

I told Husband I was experimenting for supper and asked if he was scared. He said no. The man is no fun.

But he was also right.

I give you: Slow Cooker Italian Chicken & Potatoes.

It was very good. And we made enough to have leftovers tomorrow! Happy JavaChick! Again!

…And Finally…

I just thought these apples looked pretty.

That’s all folks…Hope you had a great weekend!

Thursday...

I don't seem to be keeping up with the food blogging, do I? I don't know, I just don't seem to be finding the time. Or don't have the interest at the moment? Not saying I'm done, but I guess things may be a bit irregular for a while.

Not too much going on - I have been sticking to my workout plan. I do find this takes a bit more time than I had been putting in previously. But I think the change is good.

It has been cold this week, but warmed up today and should be nice for the next few days at least.
And that's about all I have to say tonight.

Have a great Friday everyone!

Tuesday. It’s Tuesday.

I keep wanting to say Wednesday for some reason. Last week went pretty fast, but this week I seem to be completely off. Anywho…

I was not paying attention when I grabbed the carton of Almond Breeze from the fridge this morning, so I ended up having chocolate oats…

…Not that I’m  complaining.

For lunch:

I was so very stuffed when I finished all of that food. Well, maybe not stuffed, but I did not get hungry for a very long time.

That did not stop me from having a little treat this afternoon:

In the middle of the afternoon I just seem to need a little something, and mint chocolate always seems to hit the spot. For 40 calories, not a bad little indulgence.

Though, in the spirit of accountability, I did raid my candy stash when I got home from work; the sweet tooth seems to be working overtime today.

After my candy break, I did my workout for the day – Superset Weights Workout, then Abs, then steady state cardio. The the Ab workout was not the best because a certain feline was quite determined that it was cuddle time. How long can you hold a plank with a cat rubbing up against your face? But the laughing and cuddling made up for it. I took it easy on the cardio and kept it to 30 minutes, don’t want to push it after yesterday.

Supper was from the Slow Cooker. I adapted Giada Di Laurentiis recipe for Chicken Spezzatino for the slow cooker. Turned out quite well, if I do say so myself.

With Sunflower Bread from The Baking Stone in the City Market:

Husband is currently making Mulled Apple Cider to warm us up on this chilly night!