spoiling my dinner

Happy Friday! You all know it is my favorite day of the week!

On the agenda for this weekend... NOTHING!!! Whoo hoo! We are attending a concert with my mom tonight, but otherwise, we plan on just getting some things done around the house. We haven't had a weekend at home in quite some time, and will be out of town for the next few as well, so I plan on using this weekend to get as much (or as little) done as possible. :)

So, after work last night, Mike and I decided to go grocery shopping. We didn't have a ton to get, but we also weren't prepared to go, so the shopping took a lot longer than normal. When we headed home, I remembered that there was a Rita's close by and convinced Mike to stop. I had been carrying around a coupon for a free treat of my choice for over a year, and I was ready to cash in.

As I got to the cash register, with a mouth full of chocolate custard and mango ice goodness, the cashier informed me they no longer accept the stamp cards and I could not use it. Major sad face. But, what do you do, give it back? Heck no! Either way, I got my Rita's fix!

This was probably a pretty bad idea, considering it was almost 8 pm and we hadn't eaten dinner yet. We got home, got moving on cleaning and straightening the house, and then decided that we were too full from frozen deliciousness to have any actual food. Not the smartest moves we have made, but it was well worth it.

By the time bed time rolled around, we were all exhausted. Franklin fell asleep with his rope toy in his arms. Poor little guy tuckered himself out playing.

Since I am still walking like a total penguin, I decided to take today off from exercising. We slept in a little this morning, I actually took the time to do my hair, and I was able to get a few errands ran before coming to work. Getting in and out of my chair is still a total pain, but the car is the worst. The pain I am feeling is pure misery, maybe the worst it has ever felt before (but I could be totally exaggerating). I think I am swearing off lunges for the rest of my life... until next time.

I ended up piling some binders on top of one another yesterday to make a stand up desk. It made working pretty difficult, but it made my legs feel so much better.

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I just finished up with my snack for today, and will move on to lunch shortly. We got some jalapeno palmetto cheese (pimento cheese) spread last night and I had some of that with a few ritz crackers. That cheese spread is awesome. I could probably eat it by the spoon.

My breakfast today was in the form of a smoothie. I used chocolate protein powder, a banana, 5 frozen strawberries, 8 oz of milk, and about 2 tablespoons of vanilla greek yogurt. It was awesome. Mike was rushing me out the door, so I didn't have time for a fun picture. Instead, you get the riding to work with my smoothie in my lap photo. Thanks a lot, Mike. ;)

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Yesterday's Stats:
Calories (-) 40
Sodium (-) 285
Protein (-) 1

walk like a... penguin?

Hey! A quick hiatus yesterday since I had a work thing that did not allow for blogging.  :)

I guess after not doing any type of leg work out for probably close to 3 months, I should have taken it a little easy on my poor butt and thighs yesterday, but instead, I am currently walking like a penguin. Getting in and out of my chair at work is quite the ordeal... it aint pretty. (side note... aint is not a word recognized by Google... further proves it is in fact NOT a word).

I was sure to do only do 3 sets of 8 reps for both my squats and lunges, I skipped any type of leg press, and didn't do any machines, thinking that would be "taking it easy." I even stretched a ton after my work out to try to ease any soreness I might have. What I probably shouldn't have done, was those lunges with 10 lb dumb bells in my hands... I think that is what did it. My legs are in PAIN today.

Somehow, even though I can barely walk, I managed a 3 mile run this morning. After the first few steps, my legs didn't feel sore and my run was pretty smooth. Now that they aren't moving, my legs are doing some complaining.

I ran the 3 mile loop close to Mike's (and most of you all's) work. It was really nice out there, with lots of shade and pretty scenery to enjoy. Of course I snapped a few photos for you.

I love changing up my running routes. It makes them go by so much faster and makes them much more enjoyable.

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I worked at the hospital last night, so let's rewind to Tuesday. We didn't get home from work/voting until almost 8 pm. Earlier in the day, I went to the store and got some bbq sauce since I was really in the mood for some bbq chicken. The last time I bought bbq sauce, I didn't really read the label, so I knew what we had at home would not fly.

Although it doesn't have the best (or few) ingredients, it doesn't have any HFCS and the sodium was relatively low (220 mg per 2 tablespoons). They have a bunch of other flavors, and since this was the ONLY brand I found that didn't have HFCS, I think I will be trying some of the others soon.

The grill master got to work.

Just before 9 pm, dinner was served.

I split my chicken breast and sweet potato in half and threw it in the fridge, which will be my lunch for tomorrow. Thanks to my company buying me lunch twice this week, I had enough lunches in the fridge for the rest of the week. I love being a day ahead of my leftovers!

After dinner, we each had some leftover butterfinger cake and ice cream. I can't wait until that cake is gone... this is becoming a nightly routine. It is just so good!

Luckily, along with the increase in cake consumption, I have had an increase in exercise this week. Balance... that is what it is all about!

I think I will waddle back to work now, and somehow find a way to work standing up. I just don't want to sit down or have to think about getting back up. :(

Tuesday's Stats:
Calories (+) 133
Sodium (-) 108
Protein (-) 1

Yesterday's Stats:
Calories (-) 340
Sodium (-) 326
Protein (-) 19

The Hunger Cure

Since I was on call last night, Mike and I didn't prepare ourselves to make dinner. I figured I would get called in, so he planned on just making some leftovers for himself. Well, to my pleasant surprise, I didn't get called in! So dinner was just sort of thrown together based on what we had on hand.

I made a cheese tortilla and heated up some of our leftover Rosemary White Bean and Veggie Soup. It was a hearty dinner, so it left me quite full.

For lunch yesterday, I brought the leftovers from Sunday's lunch. Mike and I were out running errands all day on Sunday, so we went to the Remedy Diner in downtown Raleigh for lunch. We have eaten there before, and this place has quickly become one of my faves. Somehow, I always forget about it, though. It is one of those restaurants that make you feel like you are at a hidden gem while living in a huge city. We all know that Raleigh is not huge, so it isn't very often you find restaurants that remind you of places like D.C., New York, or San Fran.

I love Remedy because they have such an awesome menu to choose from. They have a great vegetarian menu, so I always take forever to choose what I want. I am a little afraid to try a lot of vegetarian things like tempeh or seitan. I know that Remedy would be the perfect place to try it when I am ready, since they are pretty well known for their wonderful vegetarian dishes.

Remedy is also super adorable. It is right on the corner of a pretty popular area in downtown Raleigh, with a park, lots of restaurants, and the children's museum surrounding. It is pretty small, but we had no trouble getting a table for lunch. During the warmer months, they have sidewalk seating and a patio out back.

I had the Kansas Katie which had cream cheese, avocado, homemade raspberry honey mustard, and turkey on ciabatta bread... oh em gee... so good. I had their homemade potato salad as my side, which was good, but a little too mustard-y for my liking. I liked Mike's fries much better, so I snagged a few of those. :)

Check out those layers... yum!

Mike had the Spicy Turkey. It is turkey, provolone, jalapenos, lettuce, tomatoes, and homemade chipotle mayo on sourdough. His was really good too, and really spicy. He had fries on the side and they season them with old bay or something, because they tasted crab-like.

Since we were really in the mood for deli type food, this totally hit the spot. I am so glad Mike remembered it. I plan on going there a lot more often in the future. It is so different, yet has cozy food at the same time. There are so many things I want to try.

Gym Time
Yesterday, when I was planning out my gym session, I decided I needed to give my upper body a rest, since I was extremely sore. I didn't think my arms could handle doing back, and that was all that was left to do this week. My arms feel much better today, but I still went with a lower body work out. I did the same leg work out that I have been doing, since I have felt pretty happy about it for the last few weeks. Today didn't disappoint. I upped my weights a little bit and gave my legs a good long stretch before leaving.

Tomorrow I plan on just doing abs and cardio, leaving back for Thursday or Friday. I am loving getting to the gym every day during the week. It takes so much pressure off of the weekends! If I want to go on Sat or Sun, I do, if I don't get to it, I don't worry about it!

Have a great evening! Sorry for the late post, been quite busy around here lately...


Yesterday's Stats:
Calories (-) 140
Sodium (+) 1010
Protein (-) 2

Up Past 9! and a Budget Makeover

Since I am on a roll with self-diagnosing, why not throw a brain aneurysm in there for good measure? I am kidding. sort of.

My head has been pounding for the last 5 days. Maybe it is the super dry and cold weather, maybe it is the fact that I have spend the last 10 days around 2 one year old's getting over a cold, and then a toddler and a preschooler getting over a cold. Either way, something is going on in this head of mine.

I got to the gym this morning and jumped on the treadmill, thinking I really only had enough time for that. After 2 minutes of running, each step was accompanied by an intense pain through my skull. So I lasted only 10 minutes. Since I normally don't couple cardio with leg workouts, I figured this would be a perfect day to get that in.

I did some squats, lunges, leg presses and calf raises. By the time I finished, my legs were like jelly. At my gym, the work out room is on the 2nd floor, so getting down the steps after a leg work out is always interesting. I have to hold on to the railing for dear life. It was a good work out though, and I am sure I will be paying for it over the next few days. It is a good sore, I know...

Dinner Last Night

When I work until 6, I don't get home until close to 7, so it is just easier for Mike to start or make dinner.   We discussed some pizza ideas yesterday and what he ended up making turned out delicious.

I had found a pizza dough last week at Lowe's Foods that was whole wheat, and the ingredients list was pretty short, so I figured we would give it a try. I think it is my favorite so far. It had a crunchy crust, but was soft and doughy under the toppings.


He used salsa, tomato paste, and some pizza sauce to make a spicy, southwestern style sauce. Then he loaded the pizza with grilled onions and peppers, cooked pinto beans, and shredded monterey and cheddar cheese.

This tasted awesome. I added a little hot sauce to mine, and it was pretty perfect as far as flavor goes. Pinto beans are really tasty on a pizza. I had my doubts, but not anymore!

After dinner, we met our friend, Layne, and a few others for a drink. Yeah, you read that right, we went out on a school night. After going to bed the last few nights at 8:30 pm, we decided that we needed to get out of the house. We went to World of Beer, where the specialty is... yup, beer.

I forgot to take any pictures of my beer, but I had the Bell's Christmas Ale. It was a pretty dark beer for me, but it had a wonderful toffee flavor to it. It was not too sweet, but not too dry either. It was really yummy. It was my first time going to that bar, and I really liked it. It is in a really good location too, where there are lots of restaurants around to order from. They don't serve food there, so they let you order from any of the surrounding restaurants while you hang out. Pretty cool concept.

I only had 1 beer, and Mike maybe had 2. We only stayed for about an hour and a half, but it was nice to get out of the house, catch up with a friend, and act our age. We will probably have to go to bed at 7:30 tonight to make up for it. ;)


Budgeting

To say the upcoming year is going to be busy, is a major understatement. Our spring, summer, and fall are filling up fast and I am already feeling a little overwhelmed by all that we are involved in. The only problem is that we really can't cut any of it out.

We have 3 very good friends getting married as well as Mike's younger sister. Everyone who is getting married this year, was in our wedding and we are a part of theirs, to give you an idea of how close they all are to us. Combine those with the showers, bachelor/ette parties, family obligations, and our own personal trips and celebrations and we have one crazy year ahead. Fun for sure, but expensive and exhausting too.

We are going to have to take a serious look at our budgeting and saving to see where we can fit everything in. I guess we will have to make some decisions on what is most important and how we can pull all of this off without damaging our personal budgeting goals.

Should be a pretty interesting year for us. Stay tuned for the shizz show that is sure to follow! :)


Yesterday's Stats
Calories (+) 22
Sodium (+) 603
Protein 0