Laying on the Couch…Pondering if I can just sleep here all night

The day went pretty quickly.  I was fairly productive at work but I will admit that I am still struggling to get back into the swing of things post-vacation.  I did go back to the gym after work and when I got there the pool was closed due to an ‘accident’.  No idea how major or minor it was.  Luckily they have an agreement with the apartment complex next door and I was able to go workout in their pool.  This did mean that I had to walk through the whole fitness area in my bathing suit because that is how it connects to that pool and I didn’t plan on bringing anything to cover myself up and there were no clean towels.  One of the trainers did tell me that me walking through there probably made a lot of the men on the treadmills have a better workout.

Workout #2

Drill	Interval
Warm-up: 2 X 100M	Rest 0:20 per 100m
6 X 50m single arm with fins	Rest 0:15 per 50m
1 X 400m freestyle with pull buoy	Rest 0:30 per 400m
2 X 50m freestyle: kick only	Rest 0:15 per 50m
1 X 200m Freestyle with paddles	Rest 0:30 per 200m
2 X 50m freestyle: kick only	Rest 0:15 per 50m
1 X 100m Freestyle with paddles	Rest 0:15 per 100m
2 X 100m freestyle easy	Rest 0:20 per 100m
TOTAL: 1600 m
Time: 37:30

I felt very good with this workout.  My arms didn’t feel nearly as exhausted as I was worried they would be.

Oh for reasons of disclosure–I ended up eating the rest of the Lean-Up chocolate bar despite being terrible.  I also had a headache when I headed over to the gym.  I am blaming the ancient bar.

On the way home from the gym, I ate about 75% of this bar.  I think this is my new favorite flavor.  And I probably would have eaten the whole thing if I hadn’t made myself throw it into the back of the car where I couldn’t reach it.

Dinner
I don’t know if I have ever mentioned this but my dinners always serve Justin and myself plus typically have some leftovers.  These recipes definitely aren’t serving sizes for one.

It was a bit of an odd dinner.  We had quite a few leftovers from last nights dinner, so I just invented something.  It ended up turning out better than I could have expected.

Mole, Mole, Mole Chicken Dinner!

Chicken Part
I started by putting some water (maybe 3/4 cup) into a large skillet with some chopped onion (2T) and 1 garlic clove.  Then I chopped up 1 chicken breast and added it to the pan.  Then I put in about 1tsp of the following: cumin, cinnamon, chili powder and about 2T of fresh cilantro. Then I added 1 chopped chipotle pepper and added it along with 1T of extra chipotle sauce. Finally I chopped up about half of a tomato into the mix. I let all this simmer for about 15 minutes with the lid on.  I watched it and added more water when necessary.  Once the chicken was cooked, I mixed 1.5T of flour with about 1/4 cup of water in a small bowl and then added this to the mixture.  I let this cook for about another 5 minutes.  Finally I added 2T of chocolate chips. 

So basically this was a mole chicken sauce (which I have never attempted before.)  I topped it with some fresh cilantro and chopped avocado.

Rice Side
I cooked 1/2 cup of white rice with 1 1/3 cups of water (we are out of brown rice ).  Once this was done, I added about 3T of chopped cilantro, 1/4 cup of corn, 1/4 cup of black beans, 1/2 of a tomato and some cumin, salt and pepper.

I ended up added some mozarrella cheese (maybe 1T–but not pictured) on top of my whole plate and I had some arugula with Annie’s Green Goddess dressing on the side.  I must admit to have an extra spoonful or two of rice because the chicken mixture was so hot.

For a dinner creation that I had no idea what I was doing, this turned out pretty good.  I am sure I could add or alter the mole sauce some what, but in general, this was quite tasty (and another spicy night).

I am sure I will have a dessert of some sort (I have a mango in the freezer right now so I am sure it will be something with this.)  I am laying on the couch watching the Olympics.  I do have a few things I need to get done.  Hopefully I can get some chores done by 10 so I can watching swimming.

Bonsoira Vous!

Lunchtime Quickie

Yep, bet that got your attention!

I am actually referring to the fact that I am actual posting mid-day.  I just wanted to post my workout that I did today.  It was different and pretty challenging.  I don’t want to forget it, so what better way than post it.

I guess I have decent muscles but they aren’t defined.  I want toned arms.  Mine still look a bit soft.  I went and read a few different articles and I determined that what I need to do is high weights, low reps, high sets.  I will do this for a month or so and see if there is any progress.  All I know is that my muscles were FATIGUED afterwards!

I warmed up on the treadmill for 5 minutes at 4.0mph.

Exercise	Weight	Reps/Sets
Incline Bench Press	65 lbs	6/6
Standing Military Shoulder Press	40lb d.b	6/6
Deadlifts	40lb d.b.	6/6
Bicep Curls	30lb d.b.	6/6
Vertical Raise Machine for abs	N.A.	6/4
Tricep Dips on Machine	Set to 30lbs	6/6

 

The lifting took about 35 minutes, so a 40 minute workout.

I was hungry before I went to the gym, so I had part of a snack that I grabbed ‘in case of emergencies’ this morning.  Figures, I already decided I need to eat half of it today.  It was a bit stale (probably been in our pantry for 5 months)

When I was done lifting, I was already STARVING again.  I think I stretched my stomach out too much on vacation.  I feel like a bottomless pit.

 

Okay–back to work.  Swimming post-work tonight.  Hopefully my arms won’t be too exhausted from the lifting.

Must motivate

I really need to shake this “I still want to be on vacation” feeling.  I need to start focusing and getting more work done!!!  Time to get back into the swing of things.  With that said, here I am blogging (and I really want to go read a few blogs too).  Too bad I simply am incapable of waking up any earlier to get more things done in the AM.

On to the food!!!

Breakfast
I went for some warm oats….and I remembered how much I missed them.  (And how incredibly filling they are.  I feel stuffed!).  I had 1/2 cup of oats, 3/4 cup of water and 1/4 cup of egg beaters.  Cooked for 3 minutes on 80% power.  Then I sprinkled cinnamon, 1T of flax seed, a splash of soy milk, maybe 1t of honey and some granola on top.  They tasted really ‘egg-y’ today.  Maybe I just have forgotten what the egg beaters in the oats taste like.

I also cut up some fresh cantaloupe this morning for Justin and I.  I ate 3 of these chunks.  It was so juicy and earthy tasting!

AM Snack
We have some fabulous fresh fruit at the house right now, so I grabbed a nectarine that looks so juicy and a few pretzel sticks.

Lunch
A pretty close repeat of yesterday’s lunch (needed to finish up the can of tuna–why do they make those things with 2.5 servings???! And then the individual one’s are so much more expensive!).  Anyway, I mixed in about 1T of mayo, 1/2T of dijon mustard, some lime juice, chopped up celery and s&p into the tuna.

Anyway, arugula, chopped tomatoes (from one of my co-worker’s gardens) and the tuna.

On the side I am planning on having 2 wasa crackers

And my fat free pudding.

PM Snack
Same as yesterday except we are all out of Golden Grahams.  Now we have cheerios. 

Workout plan
I am going to go to the gym over lunch and lift today and then I am planning on going swimming after work.  Hopefully I stay motivated and energized for all that working out!!

And if only it was this easy: