Ah, today was a nice low-key day!  The daughters and I stuck to the homestead all day getting some much needed cleaning and organizing done.  They love me for that.  Hey, it can’t be all fun and games every minute now, can it?

MY fun started off with a 3 mile run on the treadmill in the basement!  I got going with my warm-up before realizing that I forgot my GYMBOSS!  Embarrassingly enough, I was too lazy to run upstairs and get it, so I went on without it.  I know…kinda contradictory, right? 

I must admit, halfway through I was missing it dearly.  I have learned to rely on it to take me through the intervals without having to watch the time .  It is complete torture without it.  I stare at the time display watching every second tick by, but when I wear the GYMBOSS, I don’t pay attention to time at all.  Which stands still when you’re  watching it, in case you were wondering.

We will call this experiment in laziness – “Lesson Learned” with “Never Again” as a subtitle.

Breakfast made everything better – scrambled eggs (one egg and 3 whites) with hot sauce (‘cause I know Biz would ask where it was! LOL!) (4 PP)…

Along with a side of Ezekiel toast with buttah (4 PP)…

I loved this breakfast!  It’s nothing special, but there is something so satisfying about eggs, toast and butter! 

Lunch was more toasty bread!  An open-faced hummus sandwich – 1/4 cup hummus, sliced cucumber, red onion and mixed greens on lightly toasted Ezekiel sesame bread (8 PP)…

With handfuls of carrots and cherries to round out the meal …

Afternoon snack was a sweet peach and string cheese (1 PP)…

Just loving summer fruits right now!

Even though it was hot as Hades, I braved the outdoors to fire up the grill for dinner.  I cooked up thin sliced chicken breasts seasoned with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and dried thyme.  It’s my go-to seasoning for chicken and the family loves it!

I took help from Trader Joe’s for a quick side …

These potatoes are really tasty, although lacking in the beans and mushrooms!

Not a bad in the stats dept. …

A nice 11 PP dinner…

Including more bread with goat cheese!  Yep, bread and potatoes make a meal.  It’s on page 29 of your Weight Watchers guide.

The carb coma has commenced!  Off to dreamland!

Have a great day, everyone!

What is your favorite type of bread?  I LOVE a good rustic Italian bread – crispy crust with a dense inside.  A thick, chewy whole wheat is my second fave!

Today marked the start of half marathon training!  I was both excited and nervous.  It’s been a month since my last run and I always worry that I might forget how for some reason!

The Plan…

I decided to follow Hal Hidgon’s Half Marathon schedule.  I like my run days being Tuesday, Thursday and a long run on Sunday.  I also plan to stick with the Galloway Method of intervals  throughout training.  It has worked well for me in the last year and so far, I have been able to remain injury-free and keep my hip/IT Band issues from flaring up.  I am going to be diligent about stretching and using my foam roller during training to keep issues at bay, too.

On the alternate days, I am going to make good use of Exercise TV and all the videos that it has to offer!  I’m really enjoying working out at home and I’ll never get bored with the variety of workouts available!

~~~~~~

The schedule called for a 3 mile run, so I woke up super early, got on  my clothes and chomped on half of  a banana to fuel up…

I arrived at the trail, powered up my tunes and set off.  Well, I kind of took off!  I started running faster than I normally do ( which is still a snail’s pace!) and had a hard time getting into a rhythm.  At first, I didn’t realize it was because I was running faster.  I thought it was due to being out of practice.  At a mile and a half in, it dawned on me that I needed to slow down a bit.  Once I did, I found my natural groove.  It’s slow, but I’m more steady that way and able to git ‘er done…

Just noticed my GYMBOSS is taking a beating!

I came home to a quick breakfast of Orange Date Baked Oatmeal Bar from the freezer stash…

I got hungry for lunch fairly early.  Mainly because I wanted to dig into these…

I thought about making these the only the main attraction, but decided on this instead…

Hummus, mashed avocado and cucumber slices on toasted Ezekiel bread. YUM!

Along with hummus chips and carrots…

Hummus chips can be added to the crackilicious list

Dinner was defrosted Salisbury Steaks with Rich Brown Gravy …

with leftover roasted sweet potato wedges and broccoli…

I’ve been missing broccoli!  Sure ate my fill tonight.  Reunited and it feels so good…

Have a great day, everyone!

Are you a hummus fan?

Do March showers bring May flowers, too? 

It’s been a really rainy spring day today.  ick

However, not wanting to go out in the rain, lends itself to some super spring cleaning mojo.  I have been meaning to clean up my cabinets for quite a while, so today was the day.  I didn’t get a “ before” picture of the catastrophe that was in my cabinets, but it looked a lot like this…

(source)

But, noooooowwww, it looks like this…

You guys still here?  Okay, thanks.  Sorry to bore you with all that. It’s just so therapeutic to purge and organize

***

Well, I’m quite aware that my eats have been a real snoozefest lately.  I’m been eating pretty much the same stuff  while counting down the last days of Vegetarian for Lent !

My standard breakfast has been a yogurt bowl with nonfat Chobani and strawberries.  I tried to spice it up today with some cocoa roast almonds…

Chocolate with breakfast is a good thing.

So is french press…

I changed it up for lunch and went old school.   Do you guys remember the Crack Wrap that was all the rage last year?  It’s a mix of hummus and cheese rolled into a tortilla and heated.

My mix was Sabra Spinach and Artichoke Hummus, part skim mozzarella and baby spinach heated in a skillet coated with nonstick spray…

  Melty goodness.  Crack is back!

Later, after getting drenched in the rain because I had to go grocery shopping and stock up on BACON and TURKEY for the Vegetarian for Lent ending celebration, I had snack…

I heart Wheat Thins <3

Dinner was something new!  I was feeling creative and in the mood for rice and beans so, I put together a Baked Rice, Beans and Vegetable Casserole…

• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 4 oz. baby portabella mushrooms, sliced
• 1 small red pepper, chopped
• 1 small zucchini, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 can (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes
• 1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce 
• 1 can (15 oz.) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup long grain brown rice , uncooked
• 1/2 cup water
• s + p to taste

Coat a large non-stick skillet with cooking spray.  Add onion, garlic, mushrooms, pepper and zucchini.  Cook until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes, sauce, beans and rice.  Transfer mixture to an 11 x 7  baking dish, cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until rice is done.

* Add water halfway through baking and give it a stir.

I served this hearty dish with a simple side salad…

I will admit that I have done NO REAL EXERCISE for 2 WHOLE DAYS!  I got little daughter to do about 5 minutes of Wii Fit with me, but that is it.  I don’t know why having them home for spring break has completely thrown me off my exercising schedule!  I don’t feel like doing anything.  No running, no DVD’s, no yoga.  Nada.  Craziness!  I will stop it tomorrow.  Tomorrow….I run!!!!

Have a great day, everyone!

Do you find it hard to stick with your exercise when your normal schedule is changed?