C25K Week 3

I pressed that snooze button on my alarm about three too many times this morning. Instead of getting up at 5:15 when my alarm went off, I rolled out of bed at 6:15. OIY!  Even though I was an hour behind, I forced myself to complete Week 3/Session 1. I got through the session, ate my breakfast cookie that I had prepared the night before, hopped in the shower and was off to work. 

I must note that my breakfast cookie was amazing! :o) Mashed Banana was my "mix in" of choice and one of which I'll be using again.

For lunch, I had leftover white chicken chili with hummus and carrots on the side. All of which were quite filling. My tummy didn't even ask for an afternoon snack between lunch and dinner. Score! ;-)

My sweet husband came home and asked me out to TJ's Fish Shack for dinner. We had a fantastic time and wonderful food, as we always do when we go there.  I chose a fish platter with fruit instead of fries, with a side of cilantro sauce for dipping the fish in. The blackened Mahi Mahi was awesome!! My "treat" for the evening was the hot hush puppies dipped in honey. I seriously have a weakness for those little guys. I personally feel that it's ok to enjoy a treat (in moderation) here and there instead of depriving myself. This way, I'm less likely to over indulge and feel guilty about it.

I feel satisfied instead of stuffed, which is juuust right. :o)

I'll be doing my workout DVD in the morning. I'm hoping my body will soon adjust and not hurt for two days following each session.

Are you able to treat yourself in moderation or do you find it difficult to stop once you start?

All good things must come to an end...

My four day weekend is coming to an end.  Oh how I enjoyed the days off and oh how they are over too soon.

This long Birthday weekend came to a nice end with a lovely childrens choir practice that went very well.  I direct the childrens choir at my church and they have been preparing for the annual Christmas Eve program since September.  They blow me away each yeah with their talent!

I was given a few gifts tonight for my Birthday. Here is one of them from a little girl in the choir. It's a hand made clay nativity scene. (I didn't notice that the angel had fallen over, until I was looking at the pictures on my computer. I have since put her back in place.) ;-)

I will cherish these gifts forever.

This is a short post with little to do with fitness/health, but it's time for bed. (Thank goodness!) I'll be up bright and early for Week 3/Session 1 of C25K. The schedule changes and I have a feeling it's going to kick my booty. I shall put on my big girl pants, complete the session and report back to you tomorrow.

Who's ready for the work week? Haha.... riiiiiight!

Pain, Pain, Go Away!!!!!

It has been 36 hours since my workout yesterday, and I'm still unbelievably sore. *cries* Will someone please pass the cheese to go with my wine whine? Please. Thank you.

Lunch was yummies:  A Polaner raspberry fruit spread and almond butter sandwich on Ezekiel Bread with a side of fruit.  I highly recommend the fruit spread! It was full of yummy.  :o)

In my post from this afternoon, I mentioned a few things that Sultan and I could do on our rainy day off.  "We" chose to do two out of the six items on the list:

• Bake cookies for the Children's Choir (I promised them a treat at this Sunday's rehearsal)- CHECK!
  
• Do laundry (Can't seem to get that monster under control) - CHECK!

I chose to make these cuties for my cuties in choir.  :o) Rainbow swirl sugar cookies. A little labor intensive, but well worth it for the fun design! (Public service announcement: these are on the good-for-your-soul list, not the good-for-you list.)

I may or may not have had one of these cookies today. *blushes*

The cooler and rainy weather put me in the mood to make chili. I decided to make a white chicken chili which turned out awesome!  In an effort to stay with this weeks food goal of having fruits or veggies at each meal/snack, I dipped fresh cut zucchini in the chili and was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. Where has this concoction been all my life?! ;-)

What's your favorite cool weather food?? You know you have one!

Tell me in the comments section!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Ladies and Gents, I'm lacking motivation today. These Florida rain showers are killin' me! I know this weather is going to bring cooler air, which I'm good with, seeing how we're in December and I wore shorts the other day. BUT I'm desperate for some sunshine!! Ok, I'm done whining now. :o)

I have to tell you something. I hurt. I hurt real bad this morning. It hurt to get out of bed. It hurt to bend down to put Sultans leash on him. It hurt to sit on the couch and it hurt to pick up an ice cube off the kitchen floor that I dropped. Yesterday's morning workout has kicked my booty.

Through the pain this morning, I stretched and ran my C25K Week 2/Session 3. I thought I was crazy while doing it, but feel very accomplished now that it's done.  :o) YAY for "sticking to it"!

After the morning run, I whipped up an amazingly delicious smoothie that consisted of 1 whole banana, 1 tsp almond butter,  1 scoop of chocolate protein powder,  almond milk and crushed ice. YUM-O! This is definitely one of my new favorite combinations.

Sultan and I are lounging around the house today. "We" could technically be doing a number of things on this day off of work, but we're just not feelin' it yet. Here are some of our options:

• Clean the house (a lot) ;-)
• Bake cookies for the Children's Choir (I promised them a treat at this Sunday's rehearsal)
• Bake cookies for Christmas (Don't worry... I plan on freezing them. No stale cookies here my friends!)
• Put up the Christmas tree (while preparing hot tea or some other appropriate festive beverage)
• Get my nails did (Yes, I just said, "get my nails 'did'" )
• Do laundry (Can't seem to get that monster under control)

Have you ever been painfully sore after a good workout? Tell me I'll soon be able to get off the couch without pain! ;-)

The Many Adventures of this Birthday Girl

This Birthday Girl is whooped!  Whew. What a day!

I am quite blessed to have an employer that gives birthday's off with pay. :o) WOO! That alone is reason to have the day start well. I rolled out my exercise mat and broke out the weights for a workout DVD this morning. The workout was so intense (and my muscles and body aren't used to such work) that my legs were shaking during and after the session.  Even climbing the stairs to put Sultan in his crate this morning, was a task.

Food was "calling" after the workout, so I showered and went out to breakfast with my mommy and daddy. :o) (They're the best!) I chose Cracker Barrel since I hadn't been in so long and figured since they have such a large menu, there would be a decent choice of good-for-you food.  I'm glad I chose this, because I had quite the yummy good-for-me breakfast! Cranberry Juice and Water were my beverages of choice. I know, I know, I'm livin' on the wild side! hehe 

Fresh Fruit n' Yogurt Breakfast
Low-fat yogurt with honey oat and almond granola. Served with a cranberry-orange muffin with bits of pecan, fresh pineapple chunks, orange slices, a Gala apple, two eggbeaters, and turkey sausage patties.

I didn't eat much of the muffin, but the few bites I had were awesome!

(The poor quality breakfast pictures are from my cell phone. I guess I can't expect much coming from a cell phone.) ;-)

Breakfast was fantastic and I loved the time with my parents. :o) Upon arriving home, I let Sultan out of his crate and ran outside with him for a little bit. After a while, I went inside to get some stuff done and left him outside to play and run off some energy. I always leave the door cracked open so he can come in whenever he's done. About 15 minutes passed and I hadn't heard him bark for a good 5 minutes so I went outside to call him in. He didn't answer or come running. I made a couple laps around the yard with still no sight of Sultan. Here is where the fear set in. I called my parents over (they live two houses down) for help in the search. We called his name, searched the yard, the neighbors yard, the road across the street with still no sign of him. I had a complete breakdown and started shaking, crying, having the urge to throw up (I know, TMI, but he's our baby and I couldn't imagine losing him) and fell to the ground. I picked myself up, threw on my boots and started trecking the the woods, fearing he had been bit and was laying helpless. Still nothing. At this point, both my parents, my little brother, my Mimi, Mother in law and Mimi Jane were driving up and down the road and walking to every local yard and through brush. I finally called the husband and he left work to help search and to calm me down. Thirty minutes passed from the beginning of the search, when a car slammed on their brakes and honked their horn, about a quarter mile down the road. We all ran in fear of him being hit but they hit their brakes because they saw him run across the street. My dear MIL (Mother in Law) spotted Sultan, screamed and we all ran (see? we ran. lots of us ran today. ;-)for him. HE WAS SAFE!!!! His tail was wagging and was un harmed. That little daschund nose of his must have gotten the best of him and he went off on a trail to "hunt" for who knows what. My dad found where he had escaped and we'll be repairing it very soon. 

Sorry about the long post, but I had to get that off my chest. Here we are, after the great search and recovery... momma (me) is all sweaty and absolutely exhausted but relieved beyond words that my puppy mut is safe!

Needless to say, my day was pretty much shot after that. So I vegged out on the couch, fell asleep for about thirty minutes, recharging for dinner at The Willow Tree tonight. 

My appetite was slim for lunch as well, so I made myself a little plate of homemade hummus with some veggies and a few pieces of fruit. It was yummy and just enough to hold me over until dinner tonight.

The Willow Tree in Sanford offers amazing authentic German cuisine, which never lets my taste buds down. This evening, I had the Jegar Schnitzel (sp?) with fresh veggies and a side of German potato salad. All of which was quite amazing! My birthday beverage of choice was a Gummitini. :o) It even had cute little gummy bears as a garnish. YUM-O!!

The grand finale!

C25K will be on the schedule for tomorrow morning. Week 2/Session 3 - Here I come!! ;-)

Outrageously Delicious Mahi Mahi

Success! I made a good tasting,  good-for-you dish this evening. The hubby even loved it! *bonus*

Outrageously Delicious Mahi Mahi

Pan-roasted Mahi Mahi with Avocado and Tomato Salsa
courtesy of www.whatwereeating.com

• 2 pieces of fresh mahi mahi

• herb oil (recipe follows)

• 2 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled or chopped (ok, ok..... so this isn't the most healthy ingredient. BUT it lended so much flavor and was such a small amount. :o) Listen to me make excuses! haha. You could always make the dish without it. I suppose. ;-)
  

• 1 ripe avocado, diced

• 1 large ripe tomato, seeded then diced

• 1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

• juice from 1/2 large lime

• kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Make the salsa: In a bowl, add the avocado, tomato, cilantro, bacon, and lime juice. Mix thoroughly. Taste, then season with salt and pepper as necessary. Refrigerate the salsa while cooking the fish. 

Preheat an oven-safe pan over high heat. Add 3 tbsp of herb and garlic infused oil to the pan. While the oil is heating, season both sides of the fish liberally with salt and pepper. 

Once the oil has just barely begun to smoke, place the fish in the pan flesh-side down. Cook over high heat for about 2 minutes or until the flesh has caramelized nicely and has released from the pan. 

Flip the fish and cook over high for another 1 minutes. Baste the fish with the herb oil using the oil pooling in the bottom of the pan or adding more if there isn't enough in the pan. 

After a minute, place the pan into the 350 degree oven and bake the fish for another 4 minutes, until the mahi mahi is just cooked through and still utterly moist and delicious. (If you're having a hard time flipping the fish and the fish is sticking to the bottom of the pan, the fish is not ready to be turn. This is the case when searing all meats - when the flesh releases naturally they are ready to be turned.) cook times may vary due to the thickness of the fillets. 

Remove the fish from the oven and serve with the avocado salsa. Garnish the dish with a drizzle of infused oil.

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Garlic and Herb Infused Olive Oil

• 1/2 cup good quality olive oil

• 2 twigs of rosemary (or dried flakes from your spice cabinet)
  

• 4 sprigs of thyme (or dried flakes from your spice cabinet)

• 2 sage leaves (or dried flakes from your spice cabinet)

• 4 sprigs of fresh oregano or marjaram (or dried flakes from your spice cabinet)

• 2 cloves of garlic, smashed and roughly chopped

• pinch of kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper.

Put the olive oil into a pan over low heat. Add the rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper to the pan. Stir the herbs into the oil then allow the pan to cook over low heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. After the herbs have had a chance to infuse their flavors into the oil, strain the herbs and garlic out of the oil. This oil makes a great garnish or a dip for come yummy crusty bread. Enjoy!

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This dish was absolutely delicious! Moist with a nice, bold flavor from the fresh salsa and herb infused olive oil. Surprisingly enough, it was fairly simple dish to prepare and well worth the effort.  I highly recommend the recipe and hope that someone (anyone? Oh, come on! Why not YOU?!) will try it and report back here with rave reviews!

*C25K update*
Week 2/Session 2 went well. My alarm went off at 5:15 am when I popped out of bed, slipped into my running shorts, put on an extra layer up top for support ;-) and laced up my trusty running shoes. I grabbed my water bottle from the fridge, did some stretches and made my way upstairs to start the training.

Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

It's still coming fairly easy to me, so I'm embracing that while it lasts. I'm sure the heat's gonna get cranked up soon and I'll be begging for mercy. ;-)

What's your favorite good tasting, good-for-you recipe? Do share!!

Tell me in the comments section!

Cookie for Breakfast

I woke up to a yummy breakfast cookie this morning.

My cookie consisted of oats, almond butter, chocolate protein powder, soy milk, granola with cranberries, agave nectar and cinnamon. I'll have to admit that it not only tasted good but it also kept me full and satisfied for hours! Now that's what I call a good breakfast. ;-) Try it!

Week 2/Session 2 of C25K is tomorrow morning, so I'm going to get plenty of rest and crawl into bed sooner than later.

Everyone around me seems to be sick and I'm going to make the best effort to not end up that way myself.  Plenty of rest (more than I've been getting lately), vitamins, healthy food choices and exercise should all aid in my efforts.

What's the average amount of hours you sleep each night?