Another one bites the dust....

Sorry, now that song is planted in your head. Let me change that for you. *if you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it* Ha! I'll wait for the hate mail.

So the week is just about over & I'm anxiously awaiting 4pm though I may skate out a bit early. We'll see.

Seems to have been a successful week in terms of getting things done. Though I'm realizing some things about me, where I *think* my head is & where I really find it to be. It's a good thing..no worries! I indeed sweat the small stuff but am getting better about that. Life is just too short. That's a lesson I've learned the hard way. A really really hard way.

Today's goodies
Training: Upper body
Cardio: Off

Eats
-Rice cakes with dark chocolate spread & almond butter
-Bagel, egg whites, veggie sausage crumbles (love these things) & 2% cheese
-Kashi bar, banana & peanuts
-Crackers, goat cheese & apple
-Chipotle fajita salad (romaine, grilled veggies, black beans, salsa, tad bit of cheese & vinagrette)
-Italian beef, wheat roll & 2% swiss slice; oven potatoes

Notes: Making dinner for us tonight at home then probably watching a movie or something at home. Just vegging tonight!

I've been trying to incorporate some other things back into my diet again...like the goat cheese. I love that stuff & am eating it quite a bit again! And last night I got some creamy havarti! Sooooo yummy! I'm not a fan of blue cheese unless it's in a salad but love most cheeses otherwise! I was stalking the brie today at the store too!

I'm also finding that I feel better/more satisfied with having more fats in my diet again. Plus my skin seems better too...less dry. So yum for fats! lol It's mostly through the cheeses, nut butter assortment, etc. Cheesy suggestions for me are always encouraged!

I think that's about it though I'm going to pimp out a blog from my friend, Marcia. She's got 2 different ones but the "Raising a Healthy Family in a Fast Food World" has a review of Organic Food Bar Kids that she got her little girl to sample. It sounds alot like the grown-up larabars. But anyway...check that out along with her other blog "Mission Possible" for some product reviews. You can find both links to the right under my "daily reads."

I'm enjoying a "free day" & still catching a movie! Underworld isnt at the Valpo theater anymore so I'm either seeing Uninvited or New in Town. Anyone see either of those?

Have a safe weekend!

The king & his throne.

Okay, so it's the wrong kind of throne but Alex would sit on the toilet & watch me get ready when he was a kitten. He wasnt quite big enough to make the leap to the vanity then but now he sacks out across the vanity while I'm doing my thing every morning. It's quite cute!

As for me, I'm freezing my bits off today! We ended up with well over 2 feet of snow from the dump. I never made it to work yesterday either but was quite productive at home. Now I can go see Underworld: Rise of the Lycans while Kevin's at work on Saturday!

Daily stuff:

Training: Abs

Cardio: 3 mile run; .5 mile walk (cooldown)

Eats:

*Chicken sausage, cereal & soymilk

*PP, soymilk & clif z-bar

*Amy's burrito, banana & nuts

*Clif builder bar, apple & nuts

*BW-3 naked tender wrap & a few tortilla chips

Notes: Running this morning was uncertain since we trained legs & rode the bike last night. When the alarm went off, I felt pretty good so headed to the gym. The run was good, did some abs & headed home to do my thing. Now, my legs are screaming, glutes are sore, etc. Ah well, tomorrow is upper body only.

Getting my haircut tonight, it's starting to just get too long for layers (starts looking stringy.) So I'm getting it cut just below or at shoulder length but keeping some layers in it. My only criteria is that I am still able to pull it back in a ponytail! That's a must for workouts!

That's my story for today!

Snow day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, that's right. It's a snow day here in Valparaiso. Pretty much the whole city has shut down, they arent plowing side roads & we've "received" about 18 inches of snow! Tack on the winds & it's drifing like crazy. I've had to shovel twice now & both times took me about an hour!

So for today, I'm catching up on some shows that I record, doing some laundry, running the sweeper & picking up a bit. Currently watching, Millionaire Matchmaker. Pretty interesting.

Wednesday, Feb 04
Training: Lower body
Cardio: 30 min bike

Eats
*Cereal combo & soymilk; chicken sausage, egg white & light cheese
*Chicken sausage, low carb tortilla, veggies & goat cheese; rice cake with cocoa spread & almond butter
*Same as above
*Chicken sausage, light cheese & low carb tortilla; lara bar
*Ground turkey breast, baked tostitos, light cheese, lite ranch & hot sauce

Notes: It's early in the day but since I'm home, I thought I'd post up for now. Training & cardio are later tonight. It was scheduled that way due to the weather.

And yes, my meals are quite repetitive today. I've been cleaning like a mad woman & just needed something I could grab quickly.

So that's a wrap for now though I'll update later once the show is really over!

Evening Edit: Food has been updated for the day, workout complete & shoveling session #3 complete. Snowfall totals in excess of 2 feet!!!! I'm so sick of snow. We've had record snowfall & I suspect by the end of the winter totals will be around 5 feet! That's unheard of for this region!

It's been a good day here at home, got tons done & will be able to enjoy my Saturday afternoon more as a result!

Sleep well friends!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....

Yep, that's right. It's snowing here AGAIN! Not just flurries or a few inches either! Yesterday's forecast said Valparaiso would get in excess of 8 inches. Today that translated into "we dont have a color for that amount" on the weather report. Ready? We could get 16-18 inches by morning! Speechless? So was I!

I work about 15 miles from where my house is & here it's flurries but out there. It's a whiteout! This is what Kevin sent me just a bit ago & what you dont know is that there's a MASSIVE high school across from that store!

Who wants to come visit?

Tonight I'm heading to my friend's house for a birthday dinner for her BIL then watching her little guy while she goes to a meeting. I initially planned to run while watching The Biggest Loser but that's not going to happen now.

Tuesday, February 03

Training: Upper body

Cardio: Off

Eats

Rice cakes with cocoa spread (think Nutella minus the hazelnuts)

Bagel, egg whites, veggie sausage crumbles & slice of cheese

Cottage cheese & Kashi pumpkin bar

Jalapeno chicken sausage, brown rice & broccoli

Protein, soy milk, Clif Z-bar & apple

(Updated) Italian beef, bun, cheese slice, pretzels & LF dip; bite of brownie

Notes: Training went well this morning but I was wiped out! This is a stepback week for race training so that gives me a little more leeway for getting my runs in this week. And it's supposed to be in the 40's this weekend so I'll try to get one in outside. It's forecast for rain though so we'll see!

Not much else to report at the moment. Will update dinner later & I also amended the weekly training schedule.

Enjoy your evening!

**spacing is off after the picture. Not sure why.

Listening.

Yep, that's my theme of the day. Listening. My body is telling me it's still tired & would rather not cardio tonight so I'm going to listen. Saturday was alot so maybe one more day off just needs to happen. I know that if I dont, I'll only be beating myself further into the ground. It's just not necessary!

Monday, Feb 02
Training: Off
Cardio: Off

Eats:
Egg whites, veggie sausage crumbles & 2% cheese
Cottage cheese
Chicken caesar salad with croutons & full fat dressing
Protein shake (with water) & apple
TJ's chicken sausage, low carb tortillas, goat cheese & veggies
Protein, blueberries & almond butter

**Edit to update last 2 meals**

Notes: Going to start keeping tabs of my eats again. I'm not going to be counting macros, etc so I want to have my food written down somewhere. May get boring to read but it's my blog! hehe

This morning was rushed since I stayed at Kevin's last night. Breakfast was snarfed down quick & I forgot a Kashi bar to have with my cottage cheese. Otherwise all meals will have some form of protein with either a carb or fat. Why? Because that works for me! lol

I'm also committing to making 1 new recipe each week moving forward.

I suppose that's it! Lots of good stuff on TV tonight....House & 24 on Fox. Chuck & Heroes returns to NBC too so I'll have to decide what to watch & what to record.

I sound like a TV junkie but I do have some shows that I love to watch! I guess it'd be different if I was a couch potato all the time.

Oh & let me not forget to mention that MORE snow is on the way for the region. We expect to see in excess of 8 inches overnight.

Good times!

Weekly Plan

Here's the plan for this week.

Sunday: Off
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Upper body training
Wednesday: Lower body training (AM); 30-40 min run (PM)
Thursday: Off
Friday: Upper body training
Saturday: 3 mile run

This week was thrown off this morning since we opted to sleep in. Our bodies were still feeling pretty beat up from the 8 miler on Saturday coupled with walking in the city (we estimated at least 4-5 miles that same day.) So we slept today instead though I'll head to the gym after work for some cardio.

We are just about 10 weeks from the Valparaiso Mini Marathon (a half) & so far feeling good.

I'm ready for a GREAT week!

And that's a wrap!

The weekend is just about over but not just yet. It's Super Bowl time & I'm heading to Kevin's to watch the game & make dinner in just a bit.

Our overnight trip to the city was WONDERFUL! We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel, wandered the Mag Mile & I did score some Lindt Cherry & Chili bars (thanks to Michelle!) They are so good. Just a hint of cherry & a subtle though wicked hint of chili. Really yummy!

We had a beer at ESPN Zone watching the IU game, hit up Macy's on State (the old Marshall Field's for Chicago buffs.)

Saturday lunch was at the Grand Lux Cafe & I had the Asian Nachos for my meal. They were wonton wrappers fried flat & covered with chicken, peanut sauce, wasabi cream & peanuts. Truly decadent!

Dinner was a big debate because neither of us were really wanting anything in particular so we ended up at Rock Bottom. Munched on fresh guac & kettle chips then I ordered the Smoked Salmon Fish & Chips. It was REALLY rich tasting & by the second one I was pulling off the breading. Wandered some more then stopped at Houlihan's for a couple more (had 2 with dinner) beers while we watched the Bull's game then headed back to the hotel.

This morning we slept in, hit Trader Joe's then came back to Indiana & had Cracker Barrel for a late breakfast. Yummy!

All in all it was a super weekend though a short trip it was really nice to get away & just enjoy each other!

Training recap:
Everything was ON like donkey kong this week! Saturday's long run was split between the treadmill (5 miles) & the elliptical (3 miles.) Though with all the walking yesterday in the city (at least 4 miles) our legs are tired! Things are on track & I'm really feeling good!

Next weekend is a step back (only 3 miles) then we hit 9.5 & have agreed to run outside for that one. This winter has been brutal but it's time to suck it up! lol It'll be fine though. We've both picked up some gear so will be good to go! I may even try to do one of my runs during the week outside depending on the snow.

I think that just about covers it. Nothing really profound to ramble about at the moment.

I just really realized this weekend that enjoying life & taking advantage of the blessings that I have is just crucial. Life is indeed too short to not do that!

Plan for a great week...it is what you make it!