thanks a lot, Phil!

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Happy Groundhog's Day! I guess it is 6 more weeks of winter... but this winter has been extremely mild, so I guess it really won't bother me much.

I am just sitting here munching on some mangoes... Mangoes are seriously the most refreshing and delicious fruit, but have you ever tried to cut one? I have watched youtube videos on it and had a full tutorial from my sister, because it is not as simple as you would think. Luckily, Trader Joe's has a solution.

I always keep a bag of these in my freezer. They are so easy to just throw a few into a baggie, let defrost overnight in the fridge, and then eat out of the bag. I love them for a mid morning snack. The ingredients list is the best...

I am having the same lunch I had yesterday, and I am so excited for it. Tomorrow is our chili cook off, so I won't need to bring a lunch. It is a good thing, because we still haven't made it to the grocery store.

Mike isn't feeling too well today, so he is working from home today. When I was getting ready to leave for the gym, a certain someone was particularly clingy. I don't know why he didn't want to sleep in with Mike, but this was the look I was getting the entire time I was getting dressed.

Awesome cropping skills to give the appearance that my closet is clean. :)

What a face! He made it so difficult to walk out the door. I just wanted to stay and snuggle him all day! Deluca was not interested in me this morning. When Mike is around, it is all about Mike with that dog.

Gym Time
I finally ended up leaving that little, sweet pup and headed to the gym for a cardio session. It feels great to know that I have already done every muscle group except back, so I could make time for just a cardio day. I plan on doing back tomorrow, so I will get everything in this week. I might take tomorrow off from cardio, though. I have done 4 days this week and plan on going to the gym on Saturday. My legs are feeling a little sore, and I just feel like I need to rest them. So tomorrow, I will plan on just getting to the gym for a full back work out.

We are going to attempt a veggie primavera tonight for dinner. I'll post pics and a recipe tomorrow if turns out OK.

Have a great day!

Yesterday's Stats:
Calories (-) 0
Sodium (-) 704 - definitely made up for the previous day!
Protein (-) 14

I'm Juicing

Duh, duh, du-du-duh, dun, dun, duh, duh, dun, duuuun. Duuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Finally, a run! I busted out 30 minutes of straight up running this morning and it felt really good, even if it was on the treadmill. I put my incline a little lower than normal, because I wanted to be able to finish, and I didn't do any walking intervals. I ran at a pace of 10:30 min/mile with a several 9:00 min/mile intervals to mix it up. My legs didn't feel heavy and I actually felt really energized. I am still convinced that I am just making up excuses, but maybe I really did need some nutrients.

I think writing everything out, really helped me to focus on what needed to be done. After reading over my list from yesterday's blog, I realized that I needed to just shut up, and do it. This little bloggy really does help me with staying on track. :)

When we got home from work yesterday, I immediately started on dinner. I really wanted to get to bed early last night, so I figured the quicker we could get done, the better chance I got to bed early. I made Joy the Baker's Black Bean and Sweet Potato Tacos again, since we had some slaw leftover from last time. We had gotten some mushrooms from our produce delivery box and I didn't want them to go bad, so I added some to the black beans. Nothing like a little added protein. The tacos were just as good as last time! 

I mentioned in my blog post yesterday, how I thought maybe I needed to add some nutrients into my diet. Maybe that is the reason I have been so sleepy and unmotivated lately. So I decided to dust off the old juicer.

RIP Jack, thanks for the power juicer

Our fruit and veggie drawers have been packed full lately, with all of the produce deliveries we have gotten. We go through the veggies pretty quick, but are having some trouble with the fruit. I am not a fan of bringing citrus fruit with me to work. It is messy and annoying to eat, so I would rather just bring a pear or apple to eat whole. I mostly just had oranges and carrots on hand but, I added in some apples and celery for good measure.

When I juice, I do not use a recipe. I pretty much just start throwing things into the juicer and taste as I go. If it is too sweet, I throw in a veggie, if it is too veggie tasting, I throw in some fruit. I made Mike and I each a glass of orange, apple, carrot and celery juice to have this morning before we left for work. After we cleaned up the dishes (which is probably the worst part about the juicer), we headed to bed.

I fell asleep really quickly last night and woke up at 5 already feeling refreshed. When I woke up again at 6:20, to leave for the gym, I was in good spirits. I drank my juice on the car ride to the gym, and definitely felt energized. It is pretty sad that when I came downstairs to leave this morning, Mike's first words to me were "Oh, you aren't bringing a pillow and blanket for the car ride?" haha.

I plan on making another batch tonight for tomorrow morning and hope to get another good cardio work out in, along with arms and abs.

Mike is giving dry beans another try today, so he soaked some white beans all night and then threw them in the crock pot this morning. I hope they turn out good because I am really excited to make some rosemary braised white beans tonight. As long as they do, I will post the recipe tomorrow!

Recent Eats:

Leftover Spicy Pineapple Chicken and Rice

Energy Ball

Have a good day!

Yesterday's Stats:
Calories (-) 9
Sodium (+) 369
Protein (+) 4

where are you, Motivation?

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People, my cardio mojo is still lost...  I am starting to get a bit frustrated. I haven't done any type of cardio since last Friday. Even though I would have liked to stay in bed this morning, Mike forced me to get up. I had planned on just doing cardio today, no weights or other work outs to get in the way. That was a big, fat, FAIL!

Well, I got to the gym, jumped on the treadmill, and realized my shoe was feeling loose. So I stopped and tightened my laces. While I was doing that, I decided, why not try a different cardio machine to see if that will shake things up a bit. I got on the stationary bike and started pedaling... nope... no fun. Actually, within seconds I remembered why I hate any other cardio machine out there. Back to the treadmill. Ran for 2 minutes, felt exhausted, like I had just finished a marathon (side note, I have never finished a marathon, so you can imagine just how tired I felt, for no reason at all). Slowed down to a fast paced walk and increased my incline to try to compensate. Still not feeling it. Tried to run again, and felt as if my legs were one thousand pounds each... back to walking. Finally, I just quit. I figured it would do me no good to half-ass a cardio session, so I might as well do something that I know will get my heart going and end with me feeling good about myself.

I decided to spend my gym time on legs. It is time for it in my rotation, so it isn't like I didn't need it. And I worked pretty hard at my lunges and squats and ended up feeling really worked after, so at least I can be happy with my work out. But, I am just so annoyed that I can't seem to get any cardio in. I can't figure out why I have no desire to run, when normally I am excited about it. I still have a lot of motivation to work out, and have gotten in a good weight work out every day, but I just don't feel like doing cardio... Why???

I have decided to break down the most common reasons why people lose their motivation, in my opinion, to see if any could be the reason why I am lost right now.

• Time - I have been getting to the gym with plenty of time to get both cardio and weights in, so that is not the problem. We have also been staying in town this entire month, and plan to for the next month, so I don't feel like I am in a time crunch at all.
• Lack of Sleep - This is certainly not the problem. I can't figure out why I am even tired when I go to bed most nights between 9 and 10. I did work at the hospital last night, but I got off on time and was home and in bed by midnight. That is not that late, especially since I went to bed at roughly 8:45 on Monday night. 
• Injury - no injuries that I know of. I actually feel really great (body wise) and am feeling stronger with each of my work outs. 
• Poor Eating Habits - As you all can see each day, I have been right on track with what I want to be consuming when it comes to calories, sodium, and protein. One thing that I may need to do is to evaluate my nutrients to make sure I am getting enough. Maybe I could start taking a multivitamin or maybe I need to start making veggie and fruit juices again. We have a pretty stocked fridge right now, so maybe that will give me the energy I need. I haven't changed what I am eating lately, so I don't know why just this week I feel so run down, but I think I will give that a shot.
• Plateau - I am right in the smack middle of a plateau, which is pretty normal for me to feel a little unmotivated. The scale is staying the same, and on some days, it is even creeping up. But, I know my body pretty well, and I know that this is just part of the journey. My clothes fit better, I feel slimmer, and others notice my body changes, so I know it will swing back. I feel like that makes me MORE motivated if nothing else.
• Challenge - This is another area that I think could be an issue. When I am not feeling challenged, I seem to let go a little bit. Right now I am itching to get outside, go running on a trail, or try something new (like the recent basketball exercise I have been doing), but I know it is too cold (for me) to go outside, and I am not sure my basketball exercise will give me the same result as running does. I need some kind of change up to my normal routine, I just need to figure out what. Since obviously the stationary bike was not the solution. 
• Making Excuses - This one is definitely hitting right on the nose. See the bullet above this one? Yeah, that would be excuses. I make excuses that I can't run outside because it is too cold, or I don't have the proper clothing... but I really just need to do it. I am just such a wimp (<----- another excuse). 

I definitely think it helps to have those all out there. Now I can see the areas that maybe I can focus on and make a change. I hope that Mike will join me at the gym starting tomorrow, since he has had to go to work early this week. That might be helpful to have him there to push me and snap out of this rut.

Sorry for a boring rant post today. I am hoping tomorrow will be better. If anyone has any good motivational tips for me, please send them my way!

I am making those tacos again tonight... yes THOSE tacos. I just can't get enough. And, my friend Lindsay made them last night and sent me a text about how good they were, so now I have to have more. :)

Yesterday's Stats:
Calories (+) 76
Sodium (-) 84
Protein (-) 2

Spicy Pineapple Chicken

I am not sure what is going on, but I am in a funk. I feel grumpy and lazy, and very tired. Plus, I seem to have lost my cardio mo-jo.

Yesterday, I had to stop myself from taking a nap in the gym parking lot instead of working out, and today, I dragged out my back and ab work out so that I wouldn't have to get on the treadmill. What is wrong with me lately?? I usually really enjoy the cardio portion of my workouts, but so far this week, I have been avoiding them like the plague. I hope I snap out of it soon, because I could use a good sweat session about now.

I have to sign up to be "on call" at the hospital for 8 hours every 2 months (I split mine up in 2 - 4 hour shifts). Usually, when you are on call, you have a pretty slim chance of being called in, because the hospital tries to avoid paying the premium wage for nurses who are called in. Lately, since my floor has been short, we have been called in every time. Tonight, I am on call.  At 9:15 am, I was called in. Blah... I just have to keep reminding myself that working these shifts will get me to Sin City, Mehiko, and Beantown this summer. It will all be worth it.

Last night's dinner turned out pretty good. I made up my own sauce to cook the chicken in and it complimented the pineapple perfectly. I may have went a little too heavy on the crushed red pepper, since Mike started coughing when he took his first bite from the heat, but it's a learning process. He and I both thought the flavor was really good.

Spicy Pineapple Chicken with Rice
Serves 2-4

2 large chicken breasts, trimmed and cut in half
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce (I use light for the lower sodium)
2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
2 tablespoons wasabi teriyaki
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper (to taste)
4 pineapple rings (fresh or canned)

2 cups cooked brown rice

Cook brown rice as directed. Set aside. Preheat oven to 375 F.  Combine everything except the chicken and rice in a baking dish using a whisk. You can taste it to see if the flavor is enough and then add more seasoning or sauce if needed. Add in the chicken after coating both sides with the sauce.  Bake covered for 20 minutes, flip and then bake another 10 minutes. Place a pineapple ring on each piece of chicken and spoon sauce over pineapple and chicken. Bake another 10 minutes. Serve over rice.

Easy and yummy dinner. :)

I think tomorrow I will try to go to the gym and only do cardio. Maybe like 45 min worth... I guess it will just depend on how my night goes tonight. I need to get out of this funk, and get positive, otherwise, I am in for a loooonng week.

Have a good day everyone!

Yesterday's Stats:
Calories (+) 142
Sodium (-) 1
Protein (+) 11