La Vida Fresca

Today was so busy and crazy with work and otherwise. I hardly even had time to eat anything. I was lucky enough to have these within reach or I would have been out of luck. Still, I didn’t even start on this until about 2 p.m.

Had quite a few of these dates.

And quite a bit of this fresh almond butter and a little peanut butter. Not much in the way of volume but these sure are calorie-dense.

Some fancy trail mix.

A handful of grapes.

The quickest dinner possible: vegeterian chili made with a can of seasoned chili beans and a can of diced tomatoes in sauce (shared with Kevin). Basically “cooking” this dinner is opening two cans and heating. Sure there are lots better chili recipes, but this one takes five seconds. Doesn’t get much easier than that, folks.

More dessert: a banana, peanut butter, chocolate chips.

And then there were a bunch more dates and almond butter.

Once again I had zero time for a workout and I am getting antsy. I suppose I could do a quickie workout or some yoga now at 11 p.m. but I don’t think I want to do that. Sleep sounds better.

I have really been itching to go for a run. Sigh.

Tomorrow, tomorrow …

Night!

My day started at 6 a.m. with some coffee, computer time, and my Fairfield Four radio station on Pandora. I really like listening to that station (some of the songs that come up aren’t my style but most are awesome), especially on Sundays. Kevin had lots of work to do, so our day was planned around that. But when we innocently drove past Dick’s Sporting Goods toward Panera Bread, our late lunch destination, we both did a double take because they had kayaks on sale outside. I was rather hungry by then because I was lazy all morning and hadn’t eaten anything yet but I forgot all about hunger.

Our best intentions and efforts at budgeting evaporated at that moment. Dave Ramsey would not be pleased. He says TVs aren’t emergencies, and I agree, but surely these great deals on kayaks qualify. Well, maybe not. There is something wrong with a person too cheap to replace her work shoes that are literally falling apart and drop big $$ (or relatively little $$ as the case was — they were on sale, after all) on impulse for kayaks. But Kevin needs them for business, so there.

Actually Dave Ramsey wouldn’t approve of the shoes thing either. He says you need to budget for clothes.

Needless to say, we have some new kayaks. Hey, there aren’t many big-ish purchases that we’ll get on a whim, but when you find a good deal on a kayak you should probably go ahead and snag it because you don’t come across them every day (deals, not kayaks).

So, at Panera I got a Sierra Turkey sandwich and Forest Mushroom soup which I only used to dip their yummy baguette in because it was just like mushroom gravy to me. The sandwich was pretty good.

And I sampled their orange scones and raisin bread.

There might’ve been a big iced green tea at the bookstore as well as a giant coffee with cinnamon dulce syrup later on. I adore coffee but have never cared for Starbucks because it always tastes dark and burnt to me. I have to pour out some of the coffee, occasionally add a flavor shot, and always add a lot of half and half or a combination of half and half and skim milk.

When we got home, Kevin kept working and I got to work in the yard. It was getting late so I was in turbo mode trying to make the most of the daylight remaining.

My helpers:

(poor thing taking a much-needed rest)     (yawn-panting)

Today’s workout consisted of:  lawnmower sprints, sparring with citrus trees (while armed with hedge clippers), and debris deadlifts.

After I’d finished mowing and had been taking it easy for about 30 minutes, I snapped a photo. It cracks me up because it looks like I got in a drunken fight or something. Normally I can open both eyes all the way but one eye was really stinging at the time.

I was more thirsty than hungry when I finally got inside and showered, so I had a strange dinner, which was a bowl of applesauce followed by some vanilla frozen yogurt with some semi-sweet chocolate chips and a banana well past its prime and approaching old age.

Strange, but it worked.

In my two whole days off from work, I did almost no housework, zero laundry, have not washed the dogs or cleaned the vehicle, haven’t written much of anything or shopped for groceries or baked. So I have done almost nothing on my to-do list yet it’s been a pretty fabulous couple of days.

For some reason, I have the feeling I will be going somewhere sunny and watery tomorrow ;-) Perhaps I can squeeze in some laundry time beforehand but it’s almost 1 a.m. so it’s doubtful.

Since I am obviously feeling very long-winded today and since it is Sunday and since I don’t do it nearly enough, I’m listing some of the things I am most thankful for at present.

• my husband and my family and friends
• my dogs
• good times with my favorite people
• books
• freedom
• the good health of my family and friends and me and everyone who is fortunate enough to have it
• shelter
• water
• my bed
• plentiful food (not just for fun or photos but for actual nourishment too)
• that my almost disastrous slip in the shower today didn’t turn into a real disaster
• that while displacing the many banana spiders outside today none got on my head that I know of
• God-given talents (which everyone has)

So, thank you, Lord.

Finally I am going to bed. Good night morning.

We got a late start today and I knew there would be no time for a trip to the gym or even a run outside so I got some coffee in me and did one of Craig Ballantyne’s 7-minute bodyweight circuits that I found a long time ago on Skwigg’s site. I did the circuit three times (subbing a resistance band exercise for the close-grip push up to limit strain on my bad mouse wrist) for an effective and super fast workout. I was so glad I did it because otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten any workout in today.

For lunch I made a salad of Spring Mix, chickpeas, shredded cheeses, onions, bell peppers, squash, and Italian vinaigrette. I had the grapes after my little workout. I don’t know why but fruit is so much better than water sometimes at quenching thirst.

This evening, we went to see a movie and had dinner at Carrabba’s with my sister, brother-in-law and niece. Good times, good times. I didn’t take any photos inside the restaurant but dinner was nice. I had a Mediterranean salad (ate half - is was heavy on the dressing), about a whole basket of bread by myself with olive oil and Alfredo sauce for dipping, and my whole plate of Tagliarini Picchi Pacchiu (”fine pasta in a sauce of crushed tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and basil”). We also got three of these little dessert shot custard things and shared them around. I forget what they were called. I got the cannoli one, my sister got a vanilla-y one with berries on top, and my niece got creme brulee.

I’m really glad I only got a half order of pasta. I am so stuffed and thirsty right now. I’ve been drinking water and just switched to hot decaf green tea.

Once again it’s time to hit the hay. I don’t know exactly what’s on the agenda tomorrow but we shall see. Night!

Well today was long and I’m ready for bed.  But first, here’s a recap:

Eats were strange, mainly because I worked late and had to forage for food and eat what was available. Breakfast was a Green Monster with 2/3 of a frozen banana, a whole bunch of spinach, some blueberries, and vanilla almond milk.

And half a bagel, toasted, with warmed blueberries on top.

Lunch was leftovers from last night’s salad followed by midday dessert, Puffins with strawberries and almond milk.

For dinner, I was at my desk and had yet another breakfast:  oatmeal with a banana and almond milk.  Then at home there was dessert, naturally. Vanilla frozen yogurt in a tiny bowl with semi-sweet chocolate chips.

I still had a small bit of tenderness in my shin so I went to a Spin class tonight. Before the class I did some lifting, mostly upper body stuff. It was a good Spin class, I liked the instructor, and it was pretty hard on my legs. I could never get to the “almost breathless” state the instructor was talking about because apparently my legs are less fit than my lungs. I just couldn’t seem to make ‘em do more than they were already doing and I wasn’t out of breath. Those legs sure were wobbly when I hopped off the bike.

Now I’m going to read a bit, possibly while icing my shin, possibly with some tea, and go to bed. Night!

Today’s eats, in reverse chronological order:

For supper, I had another sandwich like yesterday’s only with rye bread and pickles (Kevin had black beans and rice).

Mmmm. Served with carrots.  I’m telling you, that is the greatest mustard ever made.

I also snacked on some of these radishes while I fixed supper.

I had breakfast for lunch.  Puffins with vanilla almond milk and half a banana.

Earlier in the day I had another green smoothie.  This time I used half a frozen banana, some ice water, blueberries, a bunch of spinach, and the berry SuperFood.  I didn’t care for the taste of the berry SuperFood too much.  It wasn’t awful but I only drank about 3/4 of my glass (the first time I’ve made one and didn’t finish it all).  Now all I have left to try are the green SuperFood and the wheat grass.  I am not looking forward to tasting the wheat grass.

Drinking this concoction out of an old McDonald’s cup is kind of funny.  There’s some irony or a joke in there somewhere.

Last night I was able to squeeze in a 20-minute yoga session from yogadownload.com (Gentle Hatha #2 - a free download!).  I also scrounged up a dessert:  mint tea, an apple with gobs of peanut butter, and a bunch of raisins (not shown). That told me I needed to get supplies quick so I can have some kind of legitimate desserts handy.

Tonight I got in a nice swim, probably the best I’ve had.

When we first walked in the gym, we saw a guy come out with a plunger and we both thought, “Uh oh.” But it was okay because I only got one knock on the locker room door from a guy wanting to come in and wanting know if there were any ladies inside.

I swam continuously for 20 laps (no idea how far that is but it’s not a huge pool by any means) except for stopping a few times to talk to Kevin, who got in the pool for the very first time tonight.  The pool was empty except for me and he got under the bubbles in the spa area after working out.  I side stroked the whole time but still I think it’s the longest I’ve ever swam continuously not counting previous swims when I switched it up each few laps and added in some kickboard work.  I think I went a little over 30 minutes of actual swimming and before and after the swim I used the pool jets to massage my shins.  That seems to work quite well. Unfortunately I detected some tenderness in my left shin, but I’m going to ice tonight and tomorrow and if it’s better by Friday I’ll resume with another 20-minute run.

After we left the gym, we treated ourselves to vanilla cones from McD’s.

I’m undecided about what tomorrow’s workout will be.  Most likely Spinning but could be Yoga again.  Now I’m off to make some tea and go to bed.  Night!

Well, it’s been quite a while since the last update. I suppose the  loooong hiatus is simply due to me not knowing what direction to take with this blog.  Food journal? No, I don’t do that. Food blog?  Not quite. Fitness blogger?  I’m definitely not that.  Does rambling about your weirdo gym encounters count?

I’ve come back with the realization that I really just want to post what I feel like posting, which is what I like to read the most at the moment. I love to read other people’s healthy food blogs. I like to see their recipes and get inspired.  I like to look at the pretty pictures.  As I’ve said before, I just really enjoy taking pictures of food and sometimes I like to make my food purty.

I haven’t been running most of this time.  I took a whole two months off then ran twice (less than 30 minutes on the treadmill, but I can’t remember exactly how long) and my shins (mostly my left) acted up again. Now I’m still taking it very slow, trying to do special exercises to strengthen my shins, and I’m doing plenty of icing, which is probably something I should have been doing all along. I’d love to be able to do a race in the future and get to new distances  (a 16-mile trail race comes to mind) but I’m just going to take it a day at a time and see how it goes.

In the interim, I have discovered Spinning.  I was a little unsure before I got to the first class, even nervous, but I shouldn’t have been.  Even though at the first class I ended up needing to prop myself up on the handlebars with my arms just to stay upright, I got used to it really fast and I actually enjoy it. I prefer solo activities (and picking my own music) but other than that, it’s a great workout and I always leave there feeling better than when I went in.

I also want to work on my swimming but that usually comes last after running and biking. I’ve never been able to get my breathing rhythm down and it has prevented me from being able to swim any kind of distance. If I can do that though, I can think about training for a triathlon, which would be awesome.

So there you have it. Until tomorrow! Stand by for lots of new food photos! Oh, and please bear with me as I invariably make a bunch of changes to the blog as I get going again.