Being Productive
Despite some iffy weather, I had a pretty good weekend! I achieved my goal of planting the 200 remaining (out of 300) tulip bulbs I ordered. I'm so psyched to see if they will all come up. This is the first time I've planted bulbs in this quantity before.
I also worked out on Saturday, making last week the first week in about 6 months that I've worked out at Curves for the recommended 3 days/week. The workouts have stopped sucking, mostly, and one of the women working there commented on how strong I was. Of course, I was on the squat machine, so she was seeing my strongest muscle work. I laughed when she asked if I was coming every day to work out.
I made some good stuff this weekend, including a deviled egg swap. Can't find a link to the recipe, but I got it from Hungry Girl's "200 Under 200" cookbook. You don't use the yolks at all, but instead steam some orange cauliflower, mash, mix with low fat mayo, relish, mustard, and diced shallots. Spoon into the egg white "shells," top with paprika and it looks just like the real thing. Next time I'll mash the cauliflower until it's really smooth and creamy to make it seem more authentic. But it's really good. I saved the yolks to chop and add to salads. I made spaghetti squash with Italian meatballs, mushrooms, and homemade pasta sauce for dinner one night (a hit - you'd swear you were eating pasta) and chicken breasts stuffed with homemade green tomato paste (it was supposed to be sauce, but I forgot about it on the stove and the liquid cooked away), prepared pesto paste (a little goes a long way), chopped sundried tomatoes, and goat cheese. Dessert was Jell-O Dark Chocolate Decadence 60-calorie sugar free mousse layered with a combination of Cool Whip free & sugar-free strawberry preserves. Delicious! And I've got dinner planned out for the rest of this week - shouldn't have to pick up anything at the grocery store except salmon.
So, onward & upward! I didn't weigh myself this morning because I was pretty sure I'd be up a pound or two from my Friday weigh-in, but I did pretty well eating over the weekend. I didn't eat anything I wasn't supposed to, though I probably ate more than I should have. No big deal.
What I DID do was ride my bike into work this morning. Now that might not seem worth mentioning BUT it was 37° out (wind chill: 31°). I haven't bought any new biking clothing, so I don't really have cold weather gear, per se. But I was determined to do it, so I wore a tank/bra with moisture-wicking under an Old Navy fleece under a turtleneck sweatshirt (that I rescued from the giveaway bag) under my fleece zip vest. I wore wool socks with my riding shoes and thin gloves under my fingerless bike gloves. I borrowed a hat from my daughter (I had foolishly left my ear muffs at work). I'm sure I looked like a total DORK in this getup, but I was plenty warm on the way in and it was AWESOME! I love riding in the autumn -- the sights and smells of fall remind me every time why it's my favorite season. I'm going to ride for as much of this week as this weather will allow - I promised myself that I would ride on every likely day since the summer weather was not conducive to riding on a regular basis.
OK, so tonight - dinner & work out. I'm vacillating on whether to work out tonight or tomorrow. Maybe I'll catch up on laundry tonight and work out tomorrow. Yeah, that sounds good.
I also worked out on Saturday, making last week the first week in about 6 months that I've worked out at Curves for the recommended 3 days/week. The workouts have stopped sucking, mostly, and one of the women working there commented on how strong I was. Of course, I was on the squat machine, so she was seeing my strongest muscle work. I laughed when she asked if I was coming every day to work out.
I made some good stuff this weekend, including a deviled egg swap. Can't find a link to the recipe, but I got it from Hungry Girl's "200 Under 200" cookbook. You don't use the yolks at all, but instead steam some orange cauliflower, mash, mix with low fat mayo, relish, mustard, and diced shallots. Spoon into the egg white "shells," top with paprika and it looks just like the real thing. Next time I'll mash the cauliflower until it's really smooth and creamy to make it seem more authentic. But it's really good. I saved the yolks to chop and add to salads. I made spaghetti squash with Italian meatballs, mushrooms, and homemade pasta sauce for dinner one night (a hit - you'd swear you were eating pasta) and chicken breasts stuffed with homemade green tomato paste (it was supposed to be sauce, but I forgot about it on the stove and the liquid cooked away), prepared pesto paste (a little goes a long way), chopped sundried tomatoes, and goat cheese. Dessert was Jell-O Dark Chocolate Decadence 60-calorie sugar free mousse layered with a combination of Cool Whip free & sugar-free strawberry preserves. Delicious! And I've got dinner planned out for the rest of this week - shouldn't have to pick up anything at the grocery store except salmon.
So, onward & upward! I didn't weigh myself this morning because I was pretty sure I'd be up a pound or two from my Friday weigh-in, but I did pretty well eating over the weekend. I didn't eat anything I wasn't supposed to, though I probably ate more than I should have. No big deal.
What I DID do was ride my bike into work this morning. Now that might not seem worth mentioning BUT it was 37° out (wind chill: 31°). I haven't bought any new biking clothing, so I don't really have cold weather gear, per se. But I was determined to do it, so I wore a tank/bra with moisture-wicking under an Old Navy fleece under a turtleneck sweatshirt (that I rescued from the giveaway bag) under my fleece zip vest. I wore wool socks with my riding shoes and thin gloves under my fingerless bike gloves. I borrowed a hat from my daughter (I had foolishly left my ear muffs at work). I'm sure I looked like a total DORK in this getup, but I was plenty warm on the way in and it was AWESOME! I love riding in the autumn -- the sights and smells of fall remind me every time why it's my favorite season. I'm going to ride for as much of this week as this weather will allow - I promised myself that I would ride on every likely day since the summer weather was not conducive to riding on a regular basis.
OK, so tonight - dinner & work out. I'm vacillating on whether to work out tonight or tomorrow. Maybe I'll catch up on laundry tonight and work out tomorrow. Yeah, that sounds good.