Monthly Archives: September 2013

Return of the Pleasant Evening Walk

Daily Life!, Food for Thought, Workouts, , ,

Mac gets at least a short walk 1-2 times a day, regardless of the weather. It’s been a sweaty summer so many of these walks have been super unpleasant and resulted in a stinky mommy. But it’s necessary for him because we don’t have a nice, fenced yard for him to run around in during the day. I’m happy to report that some pleasant weather has finally returned to SW MO this week, and we can finally enjoy our walks again! Mac is especially excited…

photo(42) photo(41)photo(38)Yes, it’s still warm, but the humidity is slim to none, making it feel amazing outside in comparison to the rest of the summer months. I’m excited to finally look forward to our time together outside again. And hopefully this means that Nick will finally be joining us for some evenin’ walkin’ in the near future. If Nick has to choose between sitting on the couch watching TV or going walking in hot and sticky 100 degree weather, the couch always wins. Smart guy, right?

Cute little street we always walk down. So quaint!
Cute little street we always walk down. So quaint!

The forecast for the next 7 days is still in the 90’s each day, but low humidity is also in the forecast. So I’m okay with it 🙂  We’ve gotta soak up some daylight while we can during the next few weeks before the time changes. It’s so depressing when the sun is setting, and I’m still just driving home from work for the day! Then our long, pleasant evening walks will turn into dark and cold mini-walks around the block. I cannot complain though; my love of Fall will keep me happy with or without some sunny outdoor time!

Pretty!
Pretty!

Workout

This morning I woke up bright and early to make it to the gym for a solid hour before my busy day had to begin.

I was feeling pretty spry and lively when I arrived, so I hopped on the treadmill for a 30-minute interval workout consisting of walking, jogging, and sprinting. I love counting down the minutes during an interval workout as opposed to a certain distance. It always makes the time and miles go by so much faster. My 30-min. interval brought me to around 2.9 miles, and I was sweatin’ like a piggy!

I then completed some upper torso work, mostly focusing on my shoulders, chest and biceps with a circuit very similar to what I completed on Wednesday. I’m always a creature of habit, so I’m hoping this weekend Nick and I can go to the gym together so I can change up my routine with some free weight exercises. (I hate that part of the gym unless he is with me!) I finished off my workout with some light cardio on the Elliptical for about 15 minutes before heading home.

Breakfast

Can you guess what my breakfast was today??!! You got it: hot oatmeal with blueberries! I’m still loving it 🙂 And I had some Greek yogurt for extra staying power on the side.

photo(37)And now I’m off to finish up this workday and figure out what we’ll be having for dinner. I’m in the mood to cook and it’s Friday, so this usually leads to me becoming a little creative with our evening meal since I have the extra time. We’ll see what I can come up with!

Hope you’re Friday is going great! We can at least be happy that the weekend is here again!

Search for Flavored Coffee

Daily Life!, Food for Thought, Recipes

So I’m a BIG sucker when it comes to flavored coffees in coffee shops. I’ve never ordered just a plain ole cup of Joe at Starbucks, that’s for sure! But only recently have I started experimenting with flavored coffee at home. (Gevalia mocha and vanilla flavors were on sale at Dillon’s a couple of weeks ago – they make my house smell fantastic and fancy!)

photo(23)Since I’ve come to the realization that I can make awesome flavored coffee at home with my completely normal drip coffeepot, I’ve been determined to find and purchase the fun holiday flavors to try. My current mission: find the best Pumpkin Spice ground coffee that I can afford! I’m beyond excited that Fall is quickly approaching, and I want my house to smell like pumpkiny-spicy goodness each morning when I wake up. Is that too much to ask? Nope. Nope it’s not.

Currently, I’m considering ordering this one from Green Mountain Coffee. It has lots of positive reviews! I’m sure lots of good flavored coffee options are going to pop up in my local grocery stores anytime now, but I’m impatient and want to know that my delicious smelling coffee is on it’s way asap!

Google has been slightly helpful in this hunt, but a lot of good seasonal coffee flavors are not available yet for purchase. Sad day, I know 😦 But the anticipation of the season and all its wonderful flavors and smells is still kinda fun! It also makes me excited for peppermint mocha and gingerbread flavors as it gets closer to Christmastime. Can you tell I’m a BIG time holiday lover?? Starting October 1, I’m in heaven for the following 3 months!

So while we wait for Fall and cooler temps to arrive, let’s back up to lunch today…

Lunch

Lunch today came together quick because I threw together a nice chop salad last night so I wouldn’t be so rushed at noon. It contained a spinach spring mix, snap peas, carrots, and mushrooms! A little light zesty Italian dressing topped it off.

photo(36)I may have had a few tortilla chips on the side for a salty crunch 🙂 Yum! And the rest of my lunch is unpictured because it is boring and not healthy at all! I had a spinach, artichoke, and chicken Lean Pocket for my main meal. It was as delicious and filling as a frozen lunch can be. But, to be honest, it was pretty tasty.

I also took a second to cut up a massive apple that has been sitting in my fridge for the past few weeks because it is too big to eat like a normal apple. I don’t think you could’ve bit into this sucker! It filled up this 2-cup container and took me about 20 minutes to polish off at my desk this afternoon.

photo(35)A super filling snack to say the least!

photo(34)Dinner

Dinner started with yogurt. Key Lime pie flavor!

photo(26)I ate this as soon as I came in the door from my Jazzercise class tonight.

I then quickly showered before my main meal: leftover veggies from last night and shrimp salad that I threw together right before I headed off to class tonight.

photo(25)

Shrimp Salad for One

For this easy peasy recipe, I combined:

  • 3/4 cup salad shrimp, thawed
  • 1 1/2 TB Light Miracle Whip
  • 2 ts mustard
  • a little sweet relish
  • 1 stalk of celery, chopped
  • Salt & pepper to taste

I let this sit in the fridge for a little more than an hour, and it was delicious! Keep in mind that I love mustard, so I added quite a bit for this small serving. So alter for your taste as needed 🙂

photo(24)Salad shrimp are one thing I try to always keep in the freezer. They are yummy; you can toss them into basically anything; and they are a great source of protein!

Now I’m headed off to relax so I can wake up early and hopefully get in a good workout at the gym before my Friday workday begins. Sleep tight everyone!

Lovin’ Oatmeal & Chilly Run

Food for Thought, Workouts, , ,

I don’t know what it is about my tummy this week, but I have been cravin’ and lovin’ oatmeal everyday! I’ve always liked oatmeal (and make it often), but this week it’s been my breakfast everyday. Something about how the warm oats fill up my hungry belly makes me feel so cozy and ready to take on my day! So this morning’s food obviously followed suit.

Breakfast

Blueberries and oatmeal and Greek yogurt, oh my! It was delicious and filling as always. Plus I was excited to find a plain vanilla Greek yogurt in my fridge this morning so I could mix in my remaining blueberries. I love to eat blueberries plain, but when I’m having coffee with my breakfast, this is never okay to do. Plain blueberries + hot coffee = YUCK! If you’ve never tried it, just don’t. It’s terrible. So I had yet another blueberry-filled breakfast but mixing them into my oats and then into my yogurt as well. All yummy!

photo(33)Workout

I woke up a little later than usual when I’m wanting to complete a morning workout because I knew I only wanted to run outside this morning as practice for my 5K coming up in less than 2 weeks! I woke up at 5:40 and rolled out of bed and into my running gear. Mac was wide awake but had to stay home since he can’t run farther than 1.2 miles without me dragging him. We’ll just blame it on his extra short legs. 🙂

It was still dark when I headed out, but my RunKeeper app kept me company and provided a little light on the dark streets. My extra motivation this morning?? It was COLD when I set out! I had on a tank knowing that I would be hot by the time I got to mile 2. But I was wishing I had on a little more clothing! It was pretty glorious to run in the cool morning. It felt like Fall might actually be upon us very soon. If only the whole day would stay that cool…haha. Forecasted high of 86 degrees today here in Springfield-land. Oh well…

I completed 3.5 miles in 31m 15s which is an average pace of 8:55 per mile. Yay me! For a girl that has NEVER been a runner and struggles through just about every run I complete, this is a great time. Especially when I’m running alone in the dark at 6 AM. After this, I think it’s safe to say I’ll hopefully breeze through the Glow Run on the 14th. Let’s hope my girlfriend that I’m running with is ready too! We’re gonna rock it! In our best neon running attire, that is. 🙂

Hope your Thursday is off to a great start. We’re almost to the weekend already!