At Least My House is Clean...

Well, poo.  Last night, I was bad.  As mentioned in yesterday’s post, I made BBQ Chicken for dinner.  The chicken ended up being over-cooked by the time I got home (I cooked it in the crock pot on low while I was at work), but that wasn’t that big of a deal.  I made Sweet Potato Waffle fries for Branden and Nora… but I let my love of sweet potatoes get the best of me and I ate a serving of them.  2 redeeming factors: they were BAKED, not fried and sweet potatoes hold a variety of nutritional benefits.  Over-all, my meal (a scoop of BBQ chicken, Light Cesar Salad and Sweet Potato Fries) totaled about 450 calories, 11 grams of fat and about 30g of carbs (yikes!).  The calories and fat don’t bother me quite as much as the carbs… but it’s a little too late to take it back now.  I had every intention of getting up at 4:30 and busting some serious ass this morning to make up for that meal, but apparently Nora had other plans.  JK, the poor thing hasn’t been feeling well the past couple of days (teething L) and at around 4 this morning she woke up in some serious cries for her mama.  I made a bottle for her and got her back to sleep, then when my alarm went off at 4:30, she woke up again crying “Mamma, hold you.”  So, of course, I held my baby and put her back to sleep… and then the next time I woke up it was 6:30.  Boo. So I got up, took my shower and cleaned my house.  At least I did that?  I was on my hands and knees scrubbing my bathroom floor, so I mean… it was better than nothing!  I’m going to try to do something tonight, even if it’s just a Zumba DVD at my house!  Also, I’m hoping to be able to dance tomorrow so that will help.  Branden is sky-diving tomorrow and will be there almost all day, so going to the gym is kind of out… and I’m not taking any more walks until I can afford to buy new shoes (my hip can’t take it!).  I may try to talk my mom into watching Nora for 30 minutes so I can do the C25K and FINALLY complete Week 1 lol.

Good news – I woke up this morning and my legs are SORE from yesterday!  That means that I did something rightJ.  I do have weights at home and would like to get a good arm workout tonight, which is what I planned to do this morning. 

Food Today

Breakfast:

Mocha Protein Shake (love it! AND it’s saving me about 8g carbs by replacing most of the milk w/ coffee)

Snack:

Low Carb Yogurt

Lunch:

Greek Salad (lettuce, tomato, onion, feta, pepperoncinis, gyro meat, greek dressing)

The boss is treating us today… Greek to Me Prassino in Covington.  (It’s all organic produce/cheese/sauces!)

Snack:

Mocha Protein Mousse

Dinner:

Honey Chipotle Salmon

Veggie of some sort

Brown Lemon Rice for Nora and Branden

I’m expecting this weekend to be quite a busy one!  Tomorrow, as mentioned, Branden has sky-diving all day and I am going to watch him jump and then hopefully (either before or after, depending on the timing) will be belly dancing at a fundraiser that my friend is helping organize.  Sunday, I am committing to cleaning out our spare bedroom and working on making our living room more… pretty. I’m also hoping to get to work in my garden as I have neglected it for far too long at this point. Hopefully I can salvage some of my flowers L.   I plan to work up quite a sweat with my house-hold activities and I’m excited to do so!  I’m moving weigh-in back to Sunday.  I just feel like I’m not quite ready to weigh-in on Saturdays. 

Well, here’s to a sweaty weekend!  Until Monday…

PS, had to move my belt 1 hole tighter today J

Mocha Madness!

Howdy!  Well so much for ‘nothing planned’ last night.  (surprised? Me either.)  I came home from work, quickly made a big fresh and healthy chicken Taco Salad for dinner (Romaine lettuce, tomato, red onion, homemade blackbean and corn salsa, grilled chicken, ff sour cream, ff cheddar cheese general recipe), ate dinner then had to go and get my oil changed.  Branden had homework to do so Nora came with me to Walmart and we had to pick up a few things while the car was in works… wow.  Let’s just say, I was sweating when we left there.  Nora was not in the mood to ride in the cart and I ended up chasing her around half of the store (I think she’s going to be a runner!) and just wrestling with her to stay “WITH MOMMY.”  I love that little girl with everything I’ve got but goodness… Oh well, maybe I should thank her for helping me burn extra calories? Lol

We got home and I quickly did dishes and cleaned the kitchen then did laundry and put Nora down to bed.  My mind was racing and I couldn’t get to sleep so I ended up staying up with Branden until around 11.  I went to the gym this morning and focused more on strength today; it was all about the butt and back:

TIME	EXERCISE	REPS	LBS	SETS
5 MIN	BIKE	MED	N/A	1
(on ball)	BACK EXTENSION	15	N/A	4
	45 DEGREE LEG PRESS	15	225	4
	ANGLED ROW	10	45	3
	LAT PULL DOWN	12	70	4
5 MIN (1/2 MILE)	ELLIPTICAL - BACKWARDS	FAST	HIGH RESISTANCE	1

I had to run to the store so I didn’t have a ton of time but I had a hefty sweat when I left there! 

*Protein Mousse Update!*

I mentioned yesterday that I was going to try something different with my protein mousse last night and add coffee… and I’m glad I did!  It’s delicious!  I think I may add a little more coffee next time but I’m really happy with the results. J

Mocha Protein Mousse

3 Scoops Chocolate Whey Protein Powder

1 1/3 c boiling water

2/3 c Strong black coffee

1 lg box sugar free & fat free chocolate pudding mix

1 24oz tub fat free Cottage Cheese

-Make as normal with previously listed Protein Mousse but add the coffee to the water AFTER boiling, then whisk-in the pudding mix.

I LOVE the coffee+chocolate combination which is why I also switched-up my protein shake this morning!  2 parts strong black coffe, 1 part skim milk, 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, 5 ice cubes and BLEND!

Food Today

Breakfast:

Mocha Protein Shake J

Snack:

Low Carb Yogurt

Lunch:

Frittata

Carrots and Homemade Hummus

Snack:

Protein Mousse

Dinner:

BBQ Chicken (currently in crock pot J)

Salad

Veggie of some sort

Sweet Potato Waffle Fries for Nora and Branden

So my boss keeps telling me that I (a.) Need to patent my protein mousse recipe and (b.) Need to write a cookbook.  I looked into patents; it costs thousands of dollars lol. BUT I have considered writing a cookbook many-a-time… what do you think, would you buy it? J

Well, until tomorrow…

Oh yeah, new shoes...

Hump day has arrived!  Last night I ended up going home from work early b/c my grandma had to have some tests done and I needed to go get Nora… SO I decided that it was a perfect opportunity to go on a walk!  Nora and I did about 3 ½ hilly miles and about 2 miles into it I realized… hm… it’s still a little hot for this!  I also remembered why I initially stopped doing the walks, I still haven’t bought new gym shoes.  Duh.  Needless to say, I woke up this morning and my right hip and knee were VERY upset with me.  I still went to the gym and did the following:

TIME	EXERCISE	REPS	LBS	SETS
10 MIN	BIKE	MED	N/A	1
	SINGLE LEG EXTENSION	15 PER LEG	10	4
	SINGLE LEG CURLS	15 PER LEG	20	4
	WOBBLY PUSHUP	10	N/A	4
	STRAIGHT BICEP CURL	15	10	2
	TWISTING BICEP CURL	15	10	2
	CROSS-BODY BICEP CURL	15	10	2
	TRICEP DIP	15	10	2
21 MIN	TREADMILL	COUCH TO 5K (W/OUT 5 MIN WARMUP WALK)

After doing the bike warmup and a couple of leg exercises, I was feeling somewhat back to normal and decided to go ahead and do the C25K training session… I swear at this point, my goal is just to get beyond Week 1! Lol  I keep having set-backs and have never been able to progress.  I’m determined to do the 3 exercises this week and move on to Week 2 next week! 

For dinner last night I made mini Turkey Meatloaves and sautéed peppers and onions (cooked in reduced sodium chicken broth/garlic/Worcestershire sauce).  I cooked dinner before Nora’s music class with plans of coming home and eating but when I got home, I finished cooking/re-heating and then Branden got home so he fed Nora and I did a speed-clean on my house.  It was just to the point of nearly causing my brain to explode so I did that rather than eat dinner.  After I cleaned, I just finished what Nora didn’t eat (about 3 bites of meatloaf and a bite of veggies) and drank a giant bottle of water and called it a night.  Honestly, I wasn’t hungry… after the walk and drinking a bunch of water, I just wasn’t in the mood to eat food. (although, the few bites that I had were tasty J)

Food Today:

Breakfast:

Choc Protein Shake w/ Skim Milk

Egg white/Spinach/FF Mozzarella Cheese Omelette

Snack:

Low Carb Yogurt

Lunch:

Frittata w/ hot sauce

Carrots and Homemade Hummus

Snack:

Protein Mousse

Dinner:

Chicken Taco Salad

I have no plans tonight, and I’m completely okay with that!  It feels like the first day in a while that I have nothing to do?  I’ll probably do some laundry and maybe some more cleaning or something… I’m not much of a sit-arounder, I bore very easily.  ALTHOUGH I may catch up on the True Blood episode that I missed Sunday night?  Hmm… that does sound appealing.  J

I decided this morning that I need to re-structure my workouts.  I wrote-up workouts incorporating the C25K before my knee failed, now all I have to do is find those papers lol.  I’ve found that on my way to the gym or when I wake up in the mornings I’ll think to myself, “Hmm… what should I do today?”  and that’s not okay with me.  My OCD brain needs a plan of some sort, so a plan it shall have!

I do need to make a batch of protein mousse tonight, I’m eating the last of my supply today.  I’ve been considering subbing 1cup of water (for the pudding) with 1 cup of strong coffee… to try to achieve a kind of ‘mocha’ flavor.  Hm… we’ll see J

Well, I’m just rambling at this point.  Fun thing to report:  I’m currently wearing pants that didn’t button when I bought them and 2 shirts that I just purchased, size XL – not XXL. J

Tuesday, 7-26

So remember when I said that I was going to be more disciplined about going to the gym this week?  Fail.  After going to Rabbit Hash to belly dance last night, I ended up not getting to bed until almost 11.  Then, when the alarm went off this morning Nora woke up and was crying for her mama… so I ended up cuddling with my baby until 7am.  (not that I’m complaining J)  I DID get a good sweat going and a good workout last night at dance practice!  We had a couple of longer dancing sessions and we did some isolation stuff while working on new moves so all-in-all, it was great!  I wish I could dance down there more often, I love it!  It’s so laid back and just a friendly, natural environment. 

Tonight I’m going to scurry home and cook dinner, head to music class with Nora then come back and feed her.  I REALLY need to get my oil changed so I’m going to try to fit that in somewhere.  I would like to say that I’m going to try to fit-in a workout somewhere, but I honestly don’t know where it would go.  SO my goal is to get to bed early and get up early to get a good workout tomorrow.  I have to do the C25K session tomorrow which takes 25minutes so I need to allow myself ample time to work other things. 

For dinner last night, I made an Asian Chicken Stir-Fry with brown sesame rice.  I packed food and took to Rabbit Hash for Branden and Nora to eat while I danced, then when I got home I had a few bites of the chicken and veggies (skipped the rice, of course).  It was pretty good!  I cooked the veggies in Reduced-Sodium Chicken Stock and added 1tbs of Sesame Oil towards the end for flavor.  Here’s the recipe:

Asian Chicken Stir-Fry

4 boneless/skinless chicken tenderloins, seasoned w/ granulated garlic

1 bag Asian mix frozen veggies

½ c Reduced-Sodium Chicken Stock

1tbs Sesame Oil

1tbs Light Soy Sauce

1tbs Sesame Seeds

3 small heads Baby Bok Choy, chopped

1tsp Granulated Garlic

Rice:

1 bag Boil-in-a-Bag Brown Rice (this is the only kind I don’t burn J)

Left-over chicken stock from above (supplement water for the rest of required liquid for rice)

1tsp Sesame Oil

½ tsp granulated garlic

-Grill seasoned chicken on George Forman, rest for 5 minutes and then chop

-Cook veggies and bok choy in ¼ c chicken stock and garlic, add more stock as the veggies cook out moisture – don’t let them burn/stick

-Once veggies are almost cooked, add soy sauce, sesame oil and sesame seeds

-Fold-in chicken, reduce heat to low and cover.  Let sit on low for about 10 minutes to let the flavors marry, stirring occasionally.

Rice:

-Cook rice in stock and water as directed

-Drain water from rice, put back in pan and add garlic and sesame oil

Serve veggies and chicken over rice!

I also made my frittata last night (excited!) for lunches the remainder of the week.  I used the same recipe as last week so it should be all the same J

Food Today:

Breakfast:

Chocolate Protein Shake w/ Skim Milk

½ serving of Protein Mousse

Snack:

Low-Carb Yogurt

Lunch:

1 slice Frittata w/ hot sauce

Carrots w/ homemade hummus (I have to get this recipe, it’s delish!)

Snack:

Protein Mousse

Dinner:

Mini Turkey Meatloaves

Sauteed Peppers & Onions

Salad

Last night when I went to dance, one of the ladies that I dance with said that she hardly recognized me with as much as I’ve lost, then later my teacher said that I’m “wasting away”.  I love hearing those things.  Sometimes I think about my 10 year High School Reunion (which will be in 4 years!  I feel old) and how awesome it’s going to feel to walk in there, hopefully less than ½ the size I was in high school and walk up to all of those little bitches that made my life a living hell and slap them in the face… okay maybe not but I’ll at least like to see the looks on their faces lol. 

Oh well, still have quite a way to go before the ‘bitch slapping’ stage… so, until tomorrow J