Miranda Jayne

Announcement!

2010-05-14T14:35:00.003-04:00

It's up and running.

A month ago I bought my very own domain name.

http://www.mirandasjeans.com/

Well after lots of work, cursing and my (was a nerd in high school) husband Kevin, it has been launched.

I have imported everything from MJ.blogspot.com over to the new site. So all the previous entries and comments are over there.

There is still some work that needs to be done, but it is now to a point where I feel like I can share and start to transition over to using just that one site.

I will keep MJ.blogspot open, so if you don't check in for a little while before seeing this message, you will know where to go to find me.

See you at http://www.mirandasjeans.com/

How's your water?

2010-05-14T12:37:00.013-04:00

I am looking back over the last couple of days, and trying to do some positive self talk. Trying not to fall victim to more of what has been going on yesterday & the day before. I see too that I haven't been drinking nearly enough water. Nowhere even close to 8, 8oz glasses of water. More like 1 or 2, for the whole day. So dehydration may be exaggerating the mood swings.

So needless to say, lots of augwa for yours truly today.

I woke up and wanted to get something in me that was going to keep me full for a long time. I had a big morning a head of myself. This called for a protein green monster. This one was so good, it might even be worth submitting to The Green Monster Movement site. Note the spill, not because it's over-flowing, rather I got distracted while pouring and made a mess lol.

Peanut Butter Vanilla Green Monster

1 scoop of vanilla Whey protein powder
1 whole banana
3 cups of spinach
1 tbsp Kraft smooth PB - running low on the cashew butter otherwise that would have been used.
1 cup of UVAB
Blend & Serve

After breakfast was over, it was off to get a quick run in before hitting the gym. Cardio Bosu class today. Honestly this class keeps me going all week long. I luuurve it! Here are a few sample pics I found online of what Cardio Bosu is like. We run circuits in the class, it's great!

[source]

[source][source]

I even managed to fit in an hour spin class with my fav instructor Sheena this morning. Ok, ok it's a lot yes, but I was excited and had banked on doing all of this before work this morning.

After class, I went and had a swim in the pool. However not the best of swim, I ended up getting chatty with 2 other swimmers, who also run. So there was much to talk about. I did however manage to get 5 laps, maaaaybe 6 before I had to take off and start working.

Needless to say burning all those calories I needed to refuel before I would have time to get a typical morning snack in. I planned for this and had half my lara-apple-bar.

Once I got back to the office (as I had some out of office work to complete) I was ravenously hungry. I ate my apple so fast, I'm not even sure I saw it. Tupperware lid open, mouth open, apple gonzo! Two of my coworkers have recently asked me what I do to my apples to keep them from getting all brown (as I cut and pack my apple the night before). I haven't been doing anything special, and I've been more aware of this trying to figure out what my secret is. When I cut my apples, it's packing varies from Tupperware to glassware, and it's storage varies from refrigerated to left out on the counter top. Then coworker Kelly and I figured out it might be the type of apples I eat. I eat Royal Gala Apples, which I love because they are almost always firm and crunchy, unlike a soft McIntosh. Could this be the secret to not having uber brown apples?

Remember when I talked about my love for breakfast foods here? Well being in a mopey mood last night I had no grand inspiration for today's lunch. So I went with something comforting and oh-so loveable! Oatmeal! That's right, breakfast for lunch (I swear dinner isn't going to be breakfast food).

I packed my dry ingredients, and tossed some fresh fruit in another Tupperware.
Lunch Time Oats

Ingredients

1/3 cup of quick oats
2/3 cup of water
1tbsp chia seeds
1tbsp dried goji berries
1/2tbsp cinnamon
1/4tbsp nutmeg
1/3 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup blackberries
1 banana
3 walnut halves

Directions

See here for standard banana mash
Add water
Add all dry ingredients to your banana mash mix (oats, dried fruit, seeds & spices)
Mix well with a fork to get that banana mash goodness all over
Cook in the nuker for 2 mins
Top with fresh fruit and nuts
Using your fork, mash that fresh fruit to release it's juices into your oatmeal

Manga manga!Just for an update, I have already had 6, 8oz glasses of water today (by 1:00), and I am feeling much better today. Fingers crossed that it stays this way for the rest of the day.

Question: Do you ever do uber long workout sessions? Do you feel like you need to make up for missing one?

Answer: Me? Why did I workout so much today? Because I felt like I had to? No! Did I feel like I had to make up for missing yesterday? In a way, kind of. However I didn't do all that I did this morning because I felt like I had to. I did it because this was something I was looking forwards to. I had fun doing it and seeing if I could push myself and make it through it all. I never feel like I must workout. I do get the feeling of having to, but let me explain that more. Being that I work so much and have such a busy schedule because of work, the times that I am not working, I feel like I have to workout, because I know that I won't get the chance to later, so it's a now or not today. So I have to grab the opportunities that I have otherwise it would be way too easy for me to say, I work 2 regular jobs and 1 casual, I don't have time to workout. So If I want to,I have to!

Keep on tracking

2010-05-13T19:55:00.011-04:00

Well I need to go get my agenda and make some notes. I am totally down in the dumps again. Ugh! Set off by what? Well I'm not getting any exercise today at all. I woke up pretty sore in the calves (nix the am run), and my upper back and shoulders were sore, so, no 30 Day Shred in the wee hours.

I had planned on going out for a nice rain run late in the afternoon/early evening, before hot yoga. Kevin however said that lately all the time we are able to spend together is spent exercising, he misses watching tv and cuddling. So I emailed and cancelled my spot at hot yoga, and put off running.

I had nothing planned for dinner, and remembered that Kevin had said a few weeks ago how he would like to have some real pasta sometime soon. So I thought we'd go pick up some Olivieri pasta and make a ravioli bake and some side salad. So that is what we did (keep reading below for dinner pics).

It's terrible that lack of exercise and carb heavy foods bring me down so. I think a lot if it has to do with my own body image issues I have going on right now.

I've gained the weight back again. The same weight I've lots and regained 2times now since Jan. I can't seem to stay focused and get what I deem to be a good workout in because I am so busy with work, and the stress that I feel from work.

My body imagine is as a result of the 10 lbs in the pits. Sure on the outside I look no different, but, my clothes are feeling too tight, the definition I was gaining, has returned to mush and muffin top. I am currently waiting for my cousin and her boyfriend to arrive to hang out in our hot tub, and am literally dreading having to put a bathing suit on. Mainly because I feel that they will look at me and see the weight that I've put back on. I shouldn't feel this way, maybe it's that hormonal issue I was talking about the other day (here).

My morning snack, which I thought would have been my afternoon snack, but I was feeling something chewy.

Thought I loved this flavour when I first tried it, however today, all I could taste was salt. I didn't enjoy it. Hmmm. Maybe this one was just from a bad batch.

My coworker was running out to Tim Hortons, and as usual he asked everyone if they wanted anything. Normally I say no, but today, I thought I would get something. Something like a Med Iced Capp.

I've been reading on a few blogs that May is National Salad Month. Well I guess it's a good thing that I love salads! Today I made a fruit and nut salad.

1 cup spinach
1 cup romaine
2 extra large strawberries
1/4 cup blueberries
1/2 cup blackberries
1tbsp slivered almonds, pumpkin seeds, cashew, walnuts and unsweetened coconut

One thing I love about this kind of salad, is that even when I get a piece of salad with each bite of greenery, there is still a nice combination of toppings left over once the greens are all gone.
When I got home, I grabbed my new mug and some granola with dried fruit. Sadly the fruit was so tart it totally wrecked the flavours. But hey check out my awesome mug. It's totally me. Kevin agrees.
Dinner, as I mentioned was pasta for Kevin, with a salad on the side for me. Kevin also got himself some Texas toast cheesy garlic bread as you can see.Whole wheat basil and three cheese ravioli, with tomato sauce and button mushrooms, baked with a sprinkling of old cheddar cheese. With a veggie salad. Very simple salad. 10 cherry tomatoes, 1/6th orange and yellow pepper, some red onion, 1tbsp light feta. Topped with homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

Question: How do you feel if you miss a workout session?

Oatmeal

2010-05-13T09:27:00.010-04:00

Breakfast is one of my most favourite meals of the day. I could honestly eat breakfast foods all day long! Just picture it, GM for breakfast, Oatmeal for lunch, and pancakes for dinner. Or, Oatmeal for breakfast, scrambled eggs for lunch and french toast for dinner. Oh I could go on forever with an all day breakfast meal plan.

Kevin has dubbed he and I as a cereal family. And though I do love my cold cereals too, I think we are a breakfast food family.

This morning for breakfast I made oatmeal, and I am going to go through the steps of how I make my oatmeal. Though the toppings might vary, the steps remain the same.

First start off with a half or a whole banana. I bought these from the discounted section for .59cents! Look at them. They just look like the bananas I buy fresh, 3 days later.
Peel open the banana and it's almost in pristine condition. Just a small bruise near the bottom. So next time you see some discounted produce, take a second look, you just might find yourself a steal of a deal.

Take said banana (today I used a whole), and toss it in the microwave for 30 seconds. This will help soften your banana for the mashing process.

Banana-mash.

As for toppings at this stage, I interchange between cinnamon&nutmeg or a nut butter (cashew butter is my fav).

Today, though, cinnamon & nutmeg won.

Now I add 1/3cup of quick oats. With quick oats, you want a 2:1 ratio of wet to dry. Added then to our 1/3cup of quick oats, is 1/3cup of UVAB and 1/3 cup of water.

Next, I added 1tbsp of chia seeds (almost always in each bowl now), and 1tbsp dried blueberries. Fresh fruit can always be substituted here.

Mix together and place in the microwave for 1.5-2 minutes. Careful your bowl might be hot.

Question: Do you make sure to eat breakfast every morning? Could you eat breakfast foods all day long?

Big night for Montrealers

2010-05-12T21:23:00.005-04:00

Well this time last year I was all over the hockey play offs. Rooting for both Pittsburgh and Detroit throughout the semi finals. At heart I am a true Detroit fan at heart though. I'm indifferent with regards to the home team Toronto Maple Leafs.

Dinner from left to right:

1/3 of a large sweet potato topped with 1 tbsp cashew butter
3 oz of turkey breast
1 BBQ roasted orange pepper
1/2 sliced BBQed zucchini

Sadly tonight I am conscious that I am falling victim to emotional eating. I knew that if I tried to fight it once I got home, that I would then end up binging on a bunch of foods that wouldn't be satiating my desire to snack.

So with much deliberation and trying to figure out what I would eat as an evening snack, I concluded that I did not want chips or nachos, nothing salty. Rather I wanted something sweet. I narrowed it down to something cakesque. Off to Lawblaws I went, and this is what I found. Some 'golden loaf' and vanilla Greek yogurt matched with 1/2 a banana and strawberries from home. A variation of strawberry short cake.

I enjoyed it, however Kevin wasn't a fan. His critique, the yogurt was too tangy (not sweet like whipped cream), and the loaf was too heavy (not light and airy like angle food cake). But I thought about all this while shopping and was aware of this and thought it would be nice. I enjoyed it.

Good night!

Trying Tabouli

2010-05-12T13:22:00.013-04:00

Kevin made it to the office around 9:45 this morning. So happy. The nice thing about having 4 walls and a door in my office is that I'm no in a cubicle where I'd have to whisper to talk to my husband and not disturb my coworkers. We were able to talk at a normal volume. It was great. Kevin stayed for about 15 minutes, and told me that he was going to go back home and rest (*whispering* I think that is code for napping).

As I had already had the magically delicious oatbar from Starbucks, I wasn't too hungry. I held off snacking until about 11:00, which is pretty late in my opinion.

Glassware 1

175g plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup blueberries

Glassware 2

1/2 apple
1/2 banana

Tupperware

1/3 cup Post Grape Nuts

Hmmmm... they fill out this container a little too well. This was going to involve some problem solving skills to be able to mix it all up. Enter empty glassware #2. And Shake! Wow! That workout better than I expected and with relatively no mess!

I am eating lunch now as I blog. Held off until 1:30, that was one satiating snack. For lunch I'm trying something new. Something, that up until a couple of days ago, I had never heard of. Tabouli.

What is Tabouli. According to various links that google provided me with, it's a Lebanese/Mediterranean salad. This particular Tabouli that I am having was inspired by the Tabouli I saw on Emily's Blog here. I of course did my own spin on this recipe, just to make it my own.

Miranda's Quinoa Tabouli (individual serving sized)

Ingredients

10 decent sized grape tomatoes
1/2 English cucumber
6 black olives
4 artichoke hearts
1/4 cup cooked quinoa
1tbsp olive oil
4-6 drops of lemon juice
3-5 drops of lime juice
1 pinch of oregano and thyme

Directions

Cook your quinoa according to the directions on the box. I personally cook 1/4cup of dried quinoa with 1/2 cup of water (it's always a 2:1 ratio), and serve myself 1/4 cup of cooked quinoa. Quinoa is a great gluten free alternative to rice.
Chop your tomatoes into small cubes. Yes this will be difficult as they are so small but the idea here is to chop them up small.
Take your cucumber, and length wise, into quarters. Then chop those quarters into small pieces.
Chop your black (or purple) olives and artichoke hearts.
Mix together your olive oil, lemon and lime juice together with herbs. If you are not serving this right away, do not mix in your dressing, as it will cause everything to get too soggy.
I made this several days in advance, and kept it stored in the fridge. When I was ready to eat my Tabouli, I warmed it in the microwave not to heat it, but rather so it wasn't right out of the fridge cold.
Top and mix in the dressing.

Serve & Enjoy!
This is a very low calorie meal. Because of that, I am also eating a grapefruit (yes strange combination, but I love grapefruit) at lunch time.

Happy Hump Day!

Hormones - Sheesh!

2010-05-12T10:28:00.007-04:00

Seriously. Hormones SUCK! I deeply apologize to my male readers - I know you're there ;-)

But seriously, the last 6 months or so, poor Kevin has been subjected to some pretty dramatic mood swings. I go from my normal happy go lucky positive outlook-self to overly clingy, to crying (I cried at a RADIO news report this morning about the poor family from Montreal that died when their house was swallowed up in a muddy sink hole the other day - see here -), to extreme bitchy. So last month I actually started marking these dramatic shifts in my agenda.

Well today after my workout, I started to feel really depressed that I didn't workout harder and longer. Rationally I know that after doing a 2 hour 1235calorie burning workout yesterday warrants a more relaxed less strenuous 1.15 min 350 calorie burning kind of day. I know my body needs to rest.

So I got to work and I marked it in my agenda. Then I looked back to last month. Hmm... Started to feel the same way last month on the 16th. 3.5wks ago. Hmm... Might be starting to see the starting of a pattern here. Time will tell. And if it does tell, I will be asking my OBGYN to change me to a new birth control pill to help regulate this.

Before the gym at the early hours of 5:10am, I made myself some scrambled eggs. Funny how I miss scrambled eggs in the morning. They just take so much more time I find than an GM or oatmeal.

3 Egg whites
1 whole large egg
4 grape tomatoes
about 1/2 cup chopped spinach
1/4 cup UVAB

* the 3 egg whites are from the liquid, boxed, egg whites. On the box it says 1/4 cup is about 2 egg whites. Well I have a 1/8cup measuring cup, so I just used 3 of those to make up 3 egg whites.

At the gym, Kevin and I did a muscle moves class. It's all weights or rather strength training. Today we didn't use the free weights at all. We all did strength training using a floor mat, a stability ball and our own bodies. Lots of ab work, which what woman doesn't love to work her abs to get that 6-pack going?!

Once muscle moves finished I hit the pool. OMG my arms and shoulders are tired today after yesterdays double Jillian workout vids. I did a measly 6 laps of the pool, and they were brutal formed laps. lol.

After showering, while Kevin and I walked to our cars (yes we both drove. Only because he went home and I went right to work from the gym, which is a 10 min drive from home), I realized that I left my lunch at home. And being that today is Wednesday, that means I go from one job to the other, so lunch isn't just lunch, it's, am snack, lunch, pm snack and dinner.

Kevin being the amazing husband that he is, reassured me that he would go home, unpack our gym bags, grab my lunch and bring it to me at work. What a great guy.

However being that I was feeling down in the dumps this morning, I thought that I would treat myself to some Starbucks to try and boost my spirits. In my own tumbler (to save the enviro and .10cents) Grande Skinny Vanilla Latte & an oatbar.

Seriously I have never had any foods from Starbucks before other than their fruit parfaits. This thing is De-lish! I think there might have been some nut butter in it somewheres. Mmmm dangerously tasty.

Question: Do you find that you have a lot of mood swings? Have you ever tracked them from week to week or month to month?

Still flying high

2010-05-12T08:56:00.014-04:00

Tuesday was a great day. I was flying high on the workout endorphins from the morning marathon workout.

I'm going to keep the writing to a minimum for this entry. I am toying with the idea of keeping my evening posts (which usually get posted the next morning) short and sweet.

Lunch
BBQ roasted broccoli and button mushrooms, pan seared tofu, topped with tomato sauce.

Side to my lunch. Carrots and red pepper with roasted red pepper hummus.

Red pepper hummus and red pepper. How could it go go well together!?! lol

Mid afternoon snack as I was slipping into a mini coma at work, I had to buy this and safe my packed snack for at my second job Tuesday evening.

7 walnut halves, and 1/2 banana (half was dried right in the middle, strange).

Packed mid day snack.

1 Apple topped with cinnamon and nutmeg.

Dipped in 85g of plain Greek yogurt.

Dinner

Romain fruit salad with homemade raspberry red wine vinaigrette.

And because I burnt so many calories working out Tuesday morning I needed to add some calories to the meals for the day. All I had left on me was change. So I went to see Mr. Vending Machine.

I love to eat Twix in two levels. Caramel first, then the cookie.

Question: Do you have a eating habit that other people find strange?

Who's hardcore?

2010-05-11T09:41:00.007-04:00

Well after feeling frazzeled by not getting my swim in last night like I had planned, I was determined to get up early early to get a lot of exercise in this morning.

I set my alarms (set 2 clock alarm and cell phone), just to make sure I didn't sleep in after hitting the snooze button.

4:45am, first alarm. Snooze and back to sleep. 4:50am, snooze is over, but let's hit it one more time. This time I was awake but in a fog. 4:55am. alright lay in bed a few mins, and see if Kevin wants to get up with me to go for a run. Groggily he declines, but says he will get up with me tomorrow, he swears.

5am. Up and out of bed, on time like I had planned. I knew that I was going to be giving this morning my full attention to working out. So I knew that I wouldn't be able to fend off a hungry stomach for the next 2 hours. So I grabbed an orange.
I didn't' want to get too full, so I only had two slices, leaving the rest for later.

Let me tell you how excited I was to go out on this run this morning. You see last night I met with my kijiji seller, and did in fact buy myself a used Garmin GPS watch, for 95$. There is nothing wrong with it. The seller told me he just wanted to get some newer technology. I'm no techy, so this works just fine for me. Sure beasts spending 400$+ at the running room to get myself a brand new one.

I played with the watch for a couple of minutes last night in bed before falling asleep so that I wouldn't have to fiddle with it in the morning when I wanted to be out running.

Watch on, satellites found, and I was off for a run by 5:15/5:20ish. Not too shabby.

I had no route or direction planned out, rather as I came to a point where I thought, ok I'm gonna go this way, I did. I just ran wherever I wanted to. Up through catwalks, through subdivisions (got a little disorientated, but kept running), and back to main streets to head home.

I ran for 35 minutes (the extra time is my cool down walk time around my court). I was so proud of myself. I only stopped when the watched started beeping at me, and I was trying to figure out what it was telling me, (heart rate too high, and beeped after each lap).

3 miles. When I got home I had no idea how far this is. Living in Canada and not being a mathlete, I had no concept as to how far this was in Km's. I would figure it out later. But I felt strong after that run. It was so much fun!

I had two more slices of my orange, and grabbed a bottle of water, took off my Garmin and strapped myself into my Polar HRM, and walked down the the bsmt to hang out with my BFF Jillian.

After yesterday's attempt do do her two workout videos I have (30Day Shred and Blast Fat Boost Metabolism), I realzied that, for me I should start with the BFBM, then do my Shred. So that is what I did.

I did a full 45minutes of BFBM, and Oh Man! Let me tell you! That baby works you hard. I felt like I was at hot yoga I was sweating so much! I didn't hold back until the last 5 minutes either. I skipped the stretching portion of this video as I was going right into my Shred, and knew that I could stretch on my own after the stretching portion of Shred was over.

Welcome more sweat. This sure made it hard to do push-ups.

After those two workout videos, I was hungry. I went and finished off my orange, and had to jump in the shower, it was 7:20am, and I have to work this morning!

After I showered, did my hair, makeup and got dressed, I made breakfast to go.

3 Cups Spinach
1 Tbsp Ground Flax
1 Cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze (UVAB)
4 Strawberries
1 Whole Kiwi
1/2 Banana
1/2 Apple

Into the Blender Bottle, and out the door for a full day of work.Question: What is the earliest you have gotten up in the mornings to squeeze in a workout?

Not quite sure where time went tonight

2010-05-10T22:24:00.008-04:00

I had such grand plans for this evening. These plans involved meeting kijiji Garmin seller, doing one full session of Blast Fat Boost Metabolism with Jillian, and swimming at 8:30-9:30.

Sadly because it is Monday, non of the exercise plans happened. With a 6:30 meeting in Whitby with kijiji people, and then going to the grocery store, to once again, buy produce, I wasn't home until almost 8pm. Then I had to put the groceries away and then make my Tuesday & Wednesday meals (2 lunches, 2 dinners and 4 snacks).

I know that tomorrow I will get a good workout in, in the morning, I just really wanted to get a good workout in tonight too, sucks being an adult sometimes eh!

! ! ! Rewind ! ! !

My afternoon snack was eaten alone. Our main caseworker Duztin left for an in house interview at 1:30. At 2:30 the boss left for the day, and shortly after my In School Mentoring partner Heather left at 3pm for a meeting at a school. I was alone for the end of the day.
Half a dozen strawberries and 2 rounds of pineapple for snack. I also had a couple of spoonfuls of some PB.

I stuck around work until 4pm like a good girl. :)

Once I got home I decided I wasn't much in the cooking mood. So rather than cooking up the turkey breast that has been in the fridge for a few days like I had planned I made myself something much easier. Oatmeal!

I think I am going to leave tonight's blog short and sweet with just this sort recap, as it is 10:30 and if I am to get up to get a mean sweat on in the week hours of the morning, that means me going to bed.

Sweet dreams everyone!

Looking for a Garmin

2010-05-10T13:09:00.012-04:00

I have recently in the last year started to run. I started early last summer, however once the heat got cranked up, unless it was raining, running pretty much came to a halt, hmmmm maybe this is where my love of running in the rain comes from!

This past spring, I have reconnected with my love affair with running. I have been doing the same route and minor variations of this route since last year. Originally I ran to my parents and circled back to my place for a 4.3K run. Then I added an extra 1K to the run by taking an alternate route home. How do I know the distance? I reset the trip meter in my car.

I do not like this. 1. it is not environmentally friendly to go and drive your running route just to get an accurate distance read. 2. it really kills any spontaneity that I could be incorporating into my running.

So I have been drooling over Garmin GPS watches, via blogs, The Running Room, and Amazon. However the prices are all too rich for my blood. Plus Kevin would kill me for getting one priced at over 300$ after getting a Polar HRM several months back.

So this morning I had an idea. Kijiji! Well I was lucky this morning and found a posting for a 2 year old Garmin Forerunning 305 with a HRM. So I've emailed, and they have responded that they still have the item, and now we are just trying to arrange a time and place to meet. I am super excited!

So today it is ab-so-lute-ly frigid in my office. Everyone has their coats and and are keeping their arms crossed across their bodies to keep the heat in. I am lucky that Kevin bought me a 20$ space heater from WalMart before the cold set in over the winter. So my heater is cranked and like everyone else, my office door is closed today.

I went to the water cooler and got a plastic cup of hot water (I wasn't feeling coffee or tea today), to drink to help warm me up.
See the little steam condensation. This was the best I could manage.

My morning snack was some Nordica Non Fat Cottage Cheese. I really love cottage cheese, however two things. I like cottage cheese when it is dryer, I do not like the wet cottage cheese (pictured blow). Also, man cottage cheese does not picture well.

Life in the office is pretty boning today. Not much to report with every ones doors closed. Lunch came fairly quickly, which was good because I was pretty excited. This is my last installment of this lunch for a little while as my supplies have dwindled.

Miranda's Capreses Salad

Ingredients

10-20 cherry or grape tomatoes
10-15 Tre Stelle - Mini Mini Bocconcini
5-10 Fresh basil leaves
1/2 TBSP balsamic Vinegar
1/2TBSP EVOO
1 pinch of sea salt (however I do not add the salt)

Directions

If you are making this to serve right away, combine the tomatoes, cheese and basil together and mix in a bowl.
Mix together your balsamic and EVOO
Pour your EVOO&Balsamic dressing over the salad.
If you are putting this together to serve later, do not pour your dressing other wise you will have a soggy salad.
Also as I am usually out of fresh basil, I do not add it until I am about to eat it, keeping it as crisp as possible (you can find packaged fresh basil at in your produce section).

I also had some veggies to take with me for lunch. I however opted to not transfer them from their fridge storage container to another glad lunch container. I seriously freaking love these things. They are genius. I have 3 pepper shaped ones, 1 tomato, and one onion. I store my avocados in the green pepper one I have after using a section of avocado. It really works to keep your produce fresher longer. Some red pepper, some orange pepper, and some baby carrots. I just got an email back, I am meeting the seller, Erika this evening between 6-6:30pm to scoped out the Garmin. So EXCITED plus we are meeting at Startbucks!

Question: What toys do you have that help you workout? Is there something out there you have been dreaming and saving for?

Weekend recap

2010-05-10T09:06:00.006-04:00

Well, I had an interesting weekend. How about you?

For me this was my first weekend off since March 27th. I was so excited for this workless weekend. And I must say I did enjoy the not having to work, however I did have social obligation I needed to be present for. However they were nothing like having to run around getting ready for work.

Saturday I got up nice and early to go for my first ever 5K race. Then at noon I was in attendance to Kevin's cousins bridal shower. After that I had the house to myself, and wore my quitters. Mainly I spend the night in front of the TV, however I was folding laundry, and took breaks away to clean my bathroom.

Sunday, was equally relaxing. I woke up when my body told me to wake up. No alarms were set! It was truly a beautiful thing. I put away 4 over flowing baskets of clean laundry and did some ironing. With some help from Kevin the house got swiffered, dusted and vacuumed. The house was so desperately crying out to be cleaned.

My mom and I went out to Costco to pick up some dinner supplies, and then the two of us headed back to my place so I could get dinner prepped and made. I love hosting special occasion meals at my house for my family!

So that was my weekend, as I didn't really do much posting focused on food, or post at all. This was all part of my weekend devoted to doing what needed to get done around the house and relaxing.

This morning I woke up at 6am to get a home workout in. Lately it has been so cold out here in Ontario. It was only a week or two ago that we had 26 degree (78.8 F) and now it has been ranging from 0 (32F) to 13 (57.2F). I just wanted to be warm this morning so I nixed the early morning run.

As I relaxed this weekend, my only workout that I got in was my 5K race Saturday morning. To make up for not having done my 30Day Shred Saturday and Sunday I thought I would ramp up my home video workout session this morning.

I did my Day 6 of Level 1 in the 30 Day Shred, then I popped in for my first time ever Jillian's Blast Fat Boost Metabolism video.

Wow I had no idea BFBM was a 40 minute video. I sadly ran out of time and could only completed 10 minutes of this video. Also, should I try this combination again, I will definitely lead with BFBM and follow it up with some shredding. However I did like what I was doing in the BFBM video. I love me some kickboxing style workouts.

After the workout, I went and made myself some breakfast. Nothing to start the week off right like a Green Monster! I kept this mornings GM simple, mainly because of the lack of fruit selection and also just to bring it back to basics.

2.5cup spinach
1 banana
5 strawberries
1tbsp PomWonderful
1tbsp ground flax
1cup skim milk

I would also like to take a quick minute to talk about some new straws I bought. They are reusable glass straws. I bought two of them. I am very excited about these straws. I have seen them in a couple of different blogs.

These particular straws came from Glass Dharma. I ordered 2. One for water and one for shakes. Plus this way when one is dirty you don't have to go without a straw.

I love that Glass Dharma offers different sizes, designs and shapes in their straws. I knew what I was looking for, and I was so happy when I found it.

A 'bendy' glass straw. I love bendy straws and was worried that this could be something I might lose when using a glass straw. But thankfully Glass Dharma offers glass straws with a bend in them to simulate a bendy straw.

I also love how the straw doesn't fall down in to the contain I am drinking from. I do not like having to stick my finger into my water bottle to fish out the straw.

I do not however like that the straw is taller and sticks out of the water bottle. This is because I like to close it up and transport my water bottle around with me everywhere. This means that I will have to take my straw out and possibly dry it to tote it around with me. This is why I have pictures of the box it came in. I plan to keep them in as good condition as possible to keep my straw clean, while out of my water bottle.

The race that almost wasn't.

2010-05-08T22:23:00.028-04:00

Well after a long day Friday (up at 5am, and out to dinner and not home until after midnight).

We were strong and got out of bed on time not a problem and fueled up on some peanut butter oatmeal and in the car to make the hour drive to Lakefield.

Once we got to the check-in point, we sat in the car. We had to. It was pouring rain. Verging on torrential for a good 15 minutes.
My legs were sore, and sitting around in the dark overcast morning, we got drowsy. I wavered, I became weak. I asked Kevin if he still wanted to do this (the race). Kevin said 'naw, we paid to race today, and we already made the hour drive to get here'.

After a quick trip to a local Tim's to warm up, I told Kevin that I was sure that I just needed to good long stretch and to get my body warm and I would be feeling better.

No doubt too that I was mildly nervous. This race is all just for fun, just for something to do to keep me active. This is not a race for true competition, I run way too slowly for competition. ;-)

Wow stretching really helped my hamstrings and quads feel better! Luckily the rain let up, but didn't come to a complete stop. Remember when I blogged this entry, I love to run in the rain!

All warmed up and waiting for the race to start.
The couple to run together have fun together.

Vogue!

The start & finish line.

Kevin was gracious enough to take lots of pictures of me, and I of him. Remember I am new to the blogging, and as a result Kevin is new to having to help me out with the picture taking.

Wet from the rain. This is just from a light raining. Imagine if it had continued to rain torrentially.

Running along the waterfront. Was so beautiful, and nice change of scenery from running along the sidewalks.

After Kevin took this picture, the ladies behind me said to each other that they wanted to get the name of "that guy with the camera", lol. Not sure if that was a good thing in their minds or not.

Kevin is such a strong runner, and faster than I. He is such a good running partner, that he refuses to run the race at his own pace and leave me to run my own. He will try to run my pace, but then he slowly starts to pull away. And I will without realizing try and keep up with him. It's good in that I will push myself harder, but I haven't quite learned how to properly pace myself for a full non stop 5K race.

Looking good and strong!

Less than 1K to go and feeling I was feeling strong. I had only stopped 3 times for 10 second walking breaks. I was feeling happy that I didn't chicken out and bail on doing the race at all. It's only 5K and when Kevin and I run at home we do 5.3K.

In the final stretch, I picked out a lady in her 40's, in black, who had passed us with her husband around 2.5K. I pointed her out to Kevin. I said her, she's my goal. Kevin told me to go for it. I went from a jog to a slow paced run. I was going to pass this lady and going to cross the finish line before her.

I was tired after passing the lady in black.

Ooops, earbud falling out. lol

Still going strong. Almost at the finish line. I joked with Kevin that I thought they had pushed the finish line back. He thought it was funny.

The lady in black's husband in blue.

Kevin said that he was going to run ahead and cross the finish line before me. this way he said he could get me my first ever picture of me crossing the finish line. What a great guy. I didn't even ask him to do that.

Here I come.

Wow do I look tired. So tired that I didn't even look to Kevin and smile for the camera.

When I crossed the finish line I thought I saw that the time read 35 and change. Kevin disagreed as the time read 32 mins when he crossed and there was no way he was 3 minutes ahead of me. So at most I was 33 mins and change. That is pretty awesome. Sadly I have no idea how to get my official time. I might call up the running room tomorrow to find out.

An orange to refuel after the run and the first dirt incident my shoes suffered since buying them

I was so happy to have lost my race virginity. It wasn't scary though I was nervous, and I can't wait to do my next. Which I am scared for (an 8K race around my home town, Bowmanville), June 6th.

Question: What was going through your mind during your first race?

Happy Birthday Amanda

2010-05-08T21:44:00.022-04:00

Saturday is my bestest friend Amanda's birthday. May 8th!

Amanda's boyfriend, Nick booked a hotel room at The Royal York downtown Toronto for Amanda.

Then booked a reservation for 8+ at a Mexican restaurant. Amanda (and I) love Mexican.
Lots of great fun, friends and drinks. Now, just to note, I intended to only have 1 drink because I was scheduled to run my first official 5k run in Lakefield Saturday morning at 8:45am. The pictures will show how that plan went. Amber (Amanda's sister) & I.

The birthday girl herself, Amanda & Nick.

Kevin & I.

The newly engaged Ross & Pritzi.

Recent MBA grad Gina & Mike.

Gotta give Amber this picture to make up for the next one of me with her in the background. Sorry Amber.

When it came time to order food, I couldn't decide. I had already been lured in to eating the delicious homemade tortillas and guacamole. On top of that the large orange margarita I'd almost finished was influencing me in a negative way.

Pollo Con Mole.

The chicken was so good. Cooked perfectly (that is what's under all that mole sauce). Moist, juicy and tender.

However when Kevin's meal arrived, I instantly became jealous. Tostadas Dona Flora.

Comon how smashing does this look. And way WAAAAY more healthy looking than what I ordered.

Waiting for her man Paul to come.

Nick ordered the table some tequila shots. Tequila at a Mexican restaurant?! No way!

Ugh, this was so not the kind of night I was planning. I only wanted 1 drink, and I had already had 2 large margaritas. I tried to say no, but Nick wasn't having any of it.

With some tomato juice chaser.

I didn't enjoy it all that much. I guess I'm getting too old for tequila shots.

Happy Birthday Amanda!

Amanda was loving the hat!

What a great way to end the night!

Amber & everyone's favourite boyfriend Paul!

Hope you had a good Friday night.

Holla!

2010-05-07T10:46:00.009-04:00

Yesterday after work I headed out to go find a bridal shower gift. Kevin's cousin is getting married at the end of next month and her bridal shower is Saturday. So being that I've been so busy I didn't think until yesterday that I needed to go shopping.

So I printed off the bridal registry (thank you Lisa for registering). It makes shopping so much easier.

As I walked into the store I walked past a clearance section. Something caught my eye. Something very similar to what I've seen before.
That's right Caitlin has a plate just like this one.

Here another!

After getting what I needed for the bridal shower, I was 'marven! It was 4:30 and I knew if I just started on dinner that I would be eating in 30 mins. I just couldn't make it that long.

I grabbed a banana and sliced it in half down the middle. I thought I would try out my sunflower seed butter I'd bought. It's not nearly as sweet and savory as cashew or almond butter, so I sprinkled on some unsweetened coconut.

Then it was time to start cooking. Stir fry. With quinoa.

Always make sure you rinse your quinoa before cooking. I use a cheese cloth. I reuse it 2-4 times for the same thing before I toss it out and get a new piece.

Simmer for 15-20 mins.

I had just over 2 servings left and thought I might as well cook it all and just store the rest in the fridge for an easy grab later.

Then on to the other ingredients. I had taken out a turkey breast to thaw the night before, but I was home alone and this is a mother of a turkey breast. So I left that in the fridge for another day and went with some tofu. Smoked tofu.

Onion, snap peas, zucchini, and orange pepper.

Sauteed until the veggies were softened to my liking. Then I tossed in 1/4 cup of my cooked quinoa, and drizzled some Peanut Satay sauce over.

All plated and ready for serving. It sure did hit the spot!

After dinner I went to Hot Yoga where Janice taught again tonight. My girlfriend MJ joined me and we both left feeling like we missed Jana (the owner). We may look into switching our Hot Yoga date nights.

Ended after almost 3 years

2010-05-06T17:53:00.017-04:00

I am married to a baby face. Kevin however has been sporting a full beard for almost 3 years now.

Sadly work required him to have it shaved all off for several projects he will be working on over the summer.

As part of the training for these projects, Kevin needed to shave off his beard for work today. :-(

Though he did keep part of his facial hair, just for sh*ts and giggles. These pictures were taken by Kevin today while I was at work.

Wicked Wednesday

2010-05-05T14:43:00.018-04:00

First off my day started terrific!

Today at my full time job we are hosting Bowling For Kids Sake. Basically we have a bunch of teams of local businesses who are joining us for bowling and have so far raised 17K online for our agency to provide for children.

How fantastic is that.

My day gets better. Because I will be working until after 9pm, I didn't get to work until noon.

I slept in until 7:15am! Whoot!
For breakfast I made myself a strawberry banana Green Monster, with 1tsp chocolate vegan protein powder. It was so tasty.

It was a great breakfast to have as, Kevin was home with me this morning and though he was tired and said he didn't want to, the two of us went on a 5.3k run.

I even made better time than our last run.

Last run 5.3k = 39.53 mins
Today's run 5.3k = 38 mins.

I'm totally proud of myself. Especially because Saturday May 8th, Kevin and I run our very first race. It is a 5k race in Lakefield Ontario. I have signed up for various races this summer as I have mentioned here. These races are totally just for fun. Actually my boss might be running in the race Saturday.

After the run, it was right to the basement to complete Day 4 of my 30 Day Shred with my new BFF Jillian.

Day 4 is definitely easier than day 1, but I still struggle to do more than 5 real push ups, and shoulder raises. Oh well, I'm still happy to know that I am working hard at something.

Kevin and I had a bank apt today at 10am. Can't tell you what for though. ;-)

By the time we left the bank, it as 11:50, and I hadn't eaten my morning snack. I was famished! I knew Kevin was too, as I heard his stomach growl a couple of times in the bank.

So needless to say once I got to work, I got right down the business. The business of eating lunch!

2 Cups romaine lettuce
10 cherry tomatoes
1/12th avocado
1/2 cup cucumber
some red onion
4oz broiled salmon

And I ate that salad like it was going out of style! I vaguely remember tasting it. I decided to eat what would have been my morning snack as a lunch hour dessert. Greek Yogurt, Blackberries and a cereal mix (1/4 cup grape nuts & 1/4 cup Kashi Go Lean). So good!

Usually I don`t post what I haven`t eaten yet, but today I am. This is because I know that once I get home I am not going to want to post after a long day. And honestly though it happens more times than not, I hate having to back blog. I hate leaving out all without something to read. So this is what I will be eating to finish off my day.

When making my meals last night I packed foods that were going to keep me full for a long period of time and provide me with lots of protein to help do that. So my afternoon snack was no different. I love these guys. A little too much. So much so that when I first got them, I was eating them too much. I had to store them in our under the basement sitars storage, so that they were out of sight out of mind.

Dinner is a smaller sized dinner. Not as little as I am used to. However it is packed with good filling calories. And let me go on about this new bread I bought and will be trying for the first time today. I haven`t even tried it and I am already tooting it`s horn. Stonemill - Sprouted Grain bread. BAKED WITH 100% GREEN POWER! How awesome is that! Seriously I think that this is part of what excites me about this bread more than I was before I read the tag. Some good nutritional values here too. & healthy ingredients that can all be pronounced. The slices themselves are pretty little compared to what you would get out of a regular slice of bread. No complaints here. It smelt so good and fresh too, and that is after buying it from the grocery store. Simply yet to be satisfying Cashew Butter and banana sandwich. So excited for dinner, hehe.
Because the sandwich is filling, it`s simply not enough calories to get me through the busy night I`m going to have. So some baby carrots and 1 sliced gala apple to go along with the sandwich/nibble on through the evening *while everyone else drinks and has pizza - I will stay strong!)

I hope everyone else is enjoying the day and the beautiful weather we are having here today in Ontario and everywhere else my readers are from. Have a great night filled with fabulous foods!

Silence

2010-05-05T14:36:00.009-04:00

What I love about food

2010-05-04T09:39:00.004-04:00

I love to cook. When I was finishing high school and had already been accepted into the collage course I took, I panicked. I thought I was doing the wrong thing. That I should have gone to school to become a chef. My boyfriend, now husband, reassured me that I was going to school for something else I loved.

I love to cook, to learn new techniques, and to create new dishes.

It's been 6 years since I finished school, and I started working in the field of social work 7 years ago. I still have the same part time casual job that was my first 7 years ago, and I really like working there.

But do I love my other jobs? No. I have never had a full time job that I loved and could see myself staying at for many years and make it a career.

I still think that cooking could have been lots of fun, but the hours are just not for me. I have a friend who is a chef, and he tells me, that it's great that I am passionate about cooking, but keep it a hobby not a job. I've stuck to that advice.

Last night for dinner I introduced Kevin to spaghetti squash.

He was hesitant. I reassured him telling him that if he didn't like it I would boil up some regular pasta noodles for him. This made him feel safe enough to try it.
Spaghetti Squash (serves 2)

1 spaghetti squash
1 cup broccoli
1 cup cauliflower
14 baby carrots
1/2 zucchini
8 mushrooms (1/4ed)
red onion
1-2 celery stalks
1/2 red pepper
1/2 tomato
1/2 cup pasta sauce.

Directions

Cook your spaghetti squash according to the directions on the sticker on the squash.
In a sauce pan, saute your onion and celery.
After the onions start to soften add carrots, red pepper and cauliflower. Saute several minutes until they start to soften.
Add broccoli and zucchini. Saute 2 minutes.
Add mushrooms and tomato last.
Pour the pasta sauce over the veggies. The extra moisture from the veggies will thin the sauce and make it cover everything.
Scraped out the spaghetti squash with a fork and plate like pasta noodles.
Top veggies and sauce over the squash.
ENJOY!

At 9pm I realized that I did not have any produce, veggies or fruit. This makes it very difficult to make my meals for work for Tuesday. So I went out to the grocery store. 124$ later, produce and other odds and ends replenished.

Question: What new and exciting foods have you tried? Where did you discover the recipes?
I discovered spaghetti squash thanks to Longmom on MFP less than 60 days ago. I have since had it 3 times.

p.s. I got a call back from the director of HR yesterday at 4pm. When I asked her if I didn't have a meeting today but would have one another day, she said no I was safe and wouldn't be called in for another meeting at a later date. That means I don't get laid off, I don't get bumped from my shifts, everything stays the same for me. Sadly I can't say the same for my co-worker The Fitness Ninja. So I then clarified with the director of HR, that they then just made a mistake and should have never called me in the first place. She said yes, this was the case. She then apologized saying she hope she didn't ruin my day causing me stress.

For me on the journey of layoffs and bumping, this chapter seems to be closed *sigh*.

B - A - N - A - N - A - S

2010-05-03T14:27:00.008-04:00

This Sh*t is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

I posted earlier today that I had a case of the Mundays, and that I would fill you in when I knew more.

Here is the scoop. I got a call from my part time job, where all the layoffs are happening. This call told me that I had a meeting with our Union President, Director of HR and Executive Director. This is the you got bumped meeting.

Ok, I've accepted that this might happen, I have other plans in the works, and I know that I have people below me that I can bump. So I stopped stressing, and just started to accept the process with irritation.

My meeting was to be at 3:15pm this afternoon. At 2:15pm I got a call back from the same lady who called me this morning, telling me that I do not have a meeting, and that if I have any questions I can call and speak with the Director of HR (yeah well she's in a meeting right now with a coworker of mine who got bumped). I left her a vm to call me back.

It's almost like they accidentally called me, when they really didn't need to. Ugh, this whole process is just b-a-n-a-n-a-s! So much so that the union has written a letter of complaint. :-o

While working at the temp full time job today (Big Brothers & Big Sisters), I snacked on some yogurt and granola.
--> 175g Vanilla Greek Yogurt
--> 1.5 tbsp raisins
--> 30g chunky supreme granola

I kept plugging away working diligently, in between txt msging and bbming my girlfriends from work (current and previous coworkers), as well as my husband keeping them up to date on myself and 2 other coworkers who were getting bumped.

Lunch time came around so quickly!

Sadly, like many of my packed the night before wraps, this one was soggy. If they weren't so darn easy to make I would never make them for lunches in advance like I do.

1 small tortilla wrap
.12 red pepper
1tbsp garlic hummus
3 slices of turkey deli meat
2 crimini mushrooms

I also had some veggies to help fill me up. Some carrots and more red pepper. I really love red pepper, roasted and raw. I also had packed some celery that I originally packed for a snack on Saturday. Obviously I didn't eat them Saturday or Sunday. and check them out. I was in such a rush I didn't wash them very well, and they are all dried out now. I opted to meander down to the grocery store and find an alternative.
I thought it was only fitting to grab a banana. 1 because they are fresh and easy to grab 2 I love them, 3 they fit into my daily caloric intake for lunch and 4 this whole day has been, say it with me. . . . . B-A-N-A-N-A-S!I have since left a voice message for the director of HR and (patiently) anxiously awaiting her return phone call.

No doubt there could be more silliness with this whole process, so I will keep you all posted.

Who's got a case of the Mundays?

2010-05-03T09:22:00.012-04:00

I have a bad case of the Mundays (Office Space). I will fill you in on why later, when I have more information to share.

This morning I did day 2 of my 30 Day Shred with Jilliam Michaels. It's the same workout routine for 10 days at level 1 then move on to level 2. So I knew what I was getting into at 6:15am.

I grabbed my 3lbs weights and headed to the basement to workout with Jillian (we are going to be best buds I might as well just refer to her no as Jillian).

After yesterday the shoulder presses with 5lb weights is just too much for me right now. I will have to build up to it.

Over all it was a great workout. Nothing like burning 310 calories in 27 minutes before starting your day.

After the work out I decided rather than shower right away, I wanted to eat my breakfast. Kind of gross I know.
Oatmeal

1/3 cup quick oats
1/2 mashed banana
1.5 tbsp dried blueberries
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1tbsp chia seeds

Check out another one of my new bowls I got Friday. Too cute.

So let's rewind to yesterday, because I wasn't able to blog at my work because of my leaving my usb cord at my full time job.

So Friday morning after breakfast, Kevin and I went and did a run and then I did my Day 1 with Jillian. This is what I looked like after all that working out. I don't know that I've ever felt or been this sweaty before.

After taking a nice long shower and getting cleaned up for the day, it as 1pm, definitely time for some lunch. I made myself a wrap with, hummus, tomato, asparagus, avocado, and some smoked tofu.With a some sides. Baby carrots and some orange pepper. Instead of jamming it into my wrap this time I just ate them on the side. I also had a grapefruit.

Come 2:20, it was time for me to leave the house and head into work for my last marathon work shift (on the weekends that is).

Working 3-11.

For my mid afternoon snack I had some yogurt and granola.

I quite enjoyed this one better than the chocolate. It fits more with what I would throw together for a homemade yogurt and granola combination.
Wow, and I knew this when I packed my dinner, but Sunday is exactly almost the same as what I had Saturday just switched lunch and dinner between themselves. lol I guess I don't have room to be creative when I work 22 of 48 hours. Strawberry, raspberry nut salad, topped with homemade raspberry red wine vinaigrette.

It was a pretty quiet shift at the group home Sunday. There was only 1 kid in the house and she for whatever reason wasn't in the mood to talk with me, and just talked with the other staff.

She didn't however mind watching any of the movies I brought in to watch. We watched Monster In-Law.

While watching the movie I grabbed the apple I had packed with me and a banana from the group home kitchen. Proud of myself for turning down blueberry muffins and frozen yogurt.
I hope everyone else is having a decent start to the day. Though it is raining here today, the air is warm and the sky is supposed to clear for a bit in the afternoon before it starts to rain again.

Fantabulous morning with the husband

2010-05-02T17:14:00.006-04:00

I was so happy to not get out of bed until almost 10am. Wow I needed those almost 10 hours of sleep. Too much working yesterday, though the day flew by.

Kevin and I had decided that we would go for a run. We really need to get a few runs in this week, as Saturday morning we have a 5k race we are running in. We have been running lately, but only after a 13k bike ride so I can get use to the brick for my try-a-tri. This morning was strictly a running workout for the two of us.

So before headed out into the warm damp light rainy weather (I was loving it), I had some oatmeal
Oatmeal

1/2 mashed up banana
1/3 cup of quick oats
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp raisins

It was a fantastic way to get ready to go out for a run. We did 5.3k in 39.53. This is because we mainly ran at Kevin's pace which is much faster than my pace when I run on my own. I needed to stop a few times along the way and walk. My HRM told me that my heart rate at one point was at 99%. Whenever I looked at it through the run it was between 92-98%, way too high for me.

Also I was having a hard time catching my breath. Hmmm maybe that asthma that I had back in the day and just stopped taking my puffers for is still hanging around for small appearances.

After our run and stretch, I headed down to the basement with my yoga mat and 2, 5lbs weights. Today was Day 1 of my 30 Shred with Jillian Michaels.

Well I don't know if I am just out of shape from having not done a lot of weights, if it was because of the 5.3k run before, the fact that it's Jillian Michaels, or a combination of it all, but wow 5lbs seemed like 10.

The workout was great though and only like 26 minutes with warm up and cool down. I had Kevin take some before pictures of me so that we can compare before and after results from the 30 Day Shred.

Question: Have you done Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred? Did you like it? Did you get the results you were hoping for?

Work marathon

2010-05-02T16:54:00.011-04:00

As I have mentioned before, Saturday was a marathon work day. I worked at my first part time job from 9-3pm and then hauled a$s to my second job to work 3-11pm. Luckily *big shout out* the girls I work with were free and were able to let me leave at 2:15pm so that I could get to my second job on time. Thanks girls!

Knowing what kind of day Saturday was going to be I made 2 snacks, a lunch and dinner Friday night after getting home from date night with the girls.

For breakfast I wanted to start out strong and healthy. Enter Green Monster! ! ! !
2 cups of baby spinach, 1/2 banana, 5 large strawberries, 1 tsp cocoa powder, and 2 tsp ground flax.

Luckily my day was flying by, soon it was 11am, and I hadn't eaten a snack yet. I ate my orange and didn't even think twice about stopping to take a picture, that was only until I finished it. No matter we all know what an orange looks like, right?!

Lunch quickly followed the orange.
2 cups romaine lettuce, some thinly sliced red onion, 2 dried figs, 6 large strawberries, 1 tbsp unsweetened coconut, 1 tbsp cashew, sesame seeds, sesame seeds, topped with my homemade raspberry vinaigrette dressing.
My afternoon snack was something I have never had before. Well no that isn't true. I've had this yogurt before, this is just a new flavour
It was good yogurt. Personally I wasn't a fan of the chocolate granola. The yogurt, vanilla, however is divine. I wouldn't buy this flavour again. I do however have one more of these yogurts (cranberry) left in the fridge.

At work, at the co-ed teenage group home, there were no kids at the house all night. They were all out in the community with friends or family and not due back until 11pm (the end of my shift). As nice and quiet as this is, I was disappointed. I had brought chick flicks to watch with the one girl who is usually home. Also she is a vegetarian, so I brought all kinds of veggie goodies to make wraps together.

So I made dinner for just myself (my co-worker, he opted for the white bread homemade subs).
Parsnips baked with cinnamon and nutmeg.
Wraps(per each wrap)
1 tbsp garlic hummus
2 slices tomato
1/2 cup alfalfa sprouts
2 slices of zucchini
some orange pepper,
3 slices of beets
1 Florette cauliflower rice

The key here is to not use the little wraps like I did and fill them up this much, unless you are going to eat it like a soft shell taco. Go for the big wraps.

As the night went on I got chilly so I made a mug of chamomile tea.
Home by 11:40, to cuddle with Kevin before we decided to go to bed for the night.

Fabulous Friday

2010-05-02T16:35:00.012-04:00

Friday was a great day though the afternoon dragged on. Usually my boss leaves work around 3/3:30, so when he left at 2:30, I still had 1 hour to sit around at work and wait out the clock.

My afternoon snack tied me over.
Check out the short list of ingredients. Can you pounce them all? That means it's even better for you and your body if you can!
Pretty impressive nutritional information.
Key Lime Pie is also a high ranking favorite of mine. It doesn't beat out the apple flavour, but this one is so good. Coconut, tart, a nice crunch to it. Though I wouldn't eat this one for a breakfast before a workout. Key Lime Pie is more a dessert/snack type bar than a breakfast bar.
After work I had 2 lovely ladies I was meeting for a dinner date. Though because I was early I went to Home Sense and picked out some new dishes. You'll see them starting to make appearances here and there.

After I was done shopping I started to head over to Lone Star. While sitting in traffic (darn accident, a 5 minute drive took me 20), I saw a fox right beside the off ramp to the HWY401.
Finally making it to the restaurant, I had the best of intentions for the evening. I would make as many healthy choices as I could. Well that went right down the crappier.

I was hungrier than I realized I was and ended up mowing down on more greasy nacho chips than I should have. Man they were salty too!
I also gave in to peer pressure. Well no that isn't far to say, I just went along with the masses. I ordered myself a margarita. Gotta say it was pretty tasty. Only had the one and then had a glass of water after that.
Originally, we, as a table ordered a spinach dip. I knew I was going to end up eating way more calories for the day than I would need to, especially with a spinach dip. *right now I am working on not eating food just because it is in front of me*

Well lucky for me the waitress forgot to put in our order for the spinach dip so rather than keep waiting we asked her to take it off the bill.

For dinner at Lone Star, let me tell you the healthy options are sparse if non-existent. I ended up choosing the Veggie Fajita. Wow, lots of food!
I made 2 fajitas, and then,
I piled all the veggies a sprinkle of cheese, guacamole and a itsy bitsy bit of sour cream and mixed it all together. It was good, but man those veggies sure are coated in grease!
After dinner me and my two girlfriends went and saw Death at a Funeral. The movie was hilarious. I recommend going out and seeing it.

After dinner we went to Demetres. Now I again had the best of intentions of making a healthy choice. Instead of ordering a Belgian waffle with peanut butter ice cream and brownies, I thought I would ordered a fruit bowl. Well I didn't and I ended up getting the Belgian waffle, ice cream and brownie combination.

Question: Do you struggle to make healthy choices when you are eating at a restaurant with people? Do you feel a strong pull to snack on food just because it is sitting in front of you, and its the sociable thing to do?

Keep checking in

2010-05-01T11:52:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone!

I have some bad news.

I am working all day today. 9-3pm and 3-11pm (yup 14 hours today). And sad to say is that I forgot my usb connecting cord to connect my camera to the computer. Unless at my second job from 3-11 has a desk top that will take my memory card, there won't be any post today.

So everyone get out and enjoy the weather wherever you are whatever the weather is like. It's the weekend. Go and enjoy it for me.

Post tomorrow!