happy st. patrick's day

i am wearing a green shirt - not for st. patrick's day because i am of german descent - entirely out of coincidence haha. monday morning - tired again. last night i couldn't get to sleep until 2am! so obviously i did not wake up this morning and run. no way jose, not happening. i did get a lot of activity in on the weekend though. on friday i thought i was going to take a rest day, but after work my boyfriend couldn't meet up with me until around 10 so i killed some time on the treadmill. saturday was absolutely beautiful outside so i went for a run. and then yesterday i walked on the treadmill again.

yesterday i thought it would be a good idea to take care of some more home improvement business, so i painted this tv stand unit and my old desk with two coats of bonding primer. let me tell you, bonding primer is not like regular paint. it is gross and powdery when it dries and it's pretty much impossible to get out of paint brushes, so don't even bother trying... so at least that is done... except after i painted the second coat i let my cat out of the bathroom (where he was locked in to avoid messing stuff up) and he jumped on the top of the tv unit, leaving a trail of cat paw imprints... and then white paw prints all over the floor. gah!!! thank goodness he didn't jump on the couch. i feel mean for locking him in the bathroom while i paint these things, but obviously he is a shifty character and can't be trusted.

i brought my running shoes to work to go for a walk at lunch. it's cold but nice and sunny. tonight is my last night of photoshop, so i had to bring all my food to work.

here is today's menu:
1/4 cup red river cereal (2)
unsweetened almond joy (1)
strawberries (1)

yogurt (1.5)
all bran (1)

chunky chicken noodle soup (3)
english muffin (2)
peas (1)

bread (3)
grapes (1)
peanut butter (1)
jam (1)
banana (2)

exercise: lunchtime promenade

thank the good lord above it's friday

the weekend is almost upon us. i got a really good night's sleep last night so i am ready to par-tay, or something. ;o) i chose not to work out this morning because a) i wanted to sleep in and b) ok, so there is just one reason. i can work out on the weekend! friday is also weigh-in day. i was pretty sure i gained but nope, i stayed exactly the same this week. i did have a carb-free dinner, so maybe that helped. and i'm sure getting a nice sleep helped too.

today i am wearing a new shirt, and it's so cute, so i just took some photos to show it off. and to say that it's from joe fresh, which they sell at the supermarket (no joke) and is really cute and cheap.

front view:


side view:


me:


pencil topper view:


that pencil topper came with a jar of bics pickles haha. happy weekend everyone! :o)

shower time?

for once this post won't be *just* about how busy i am. although i am still busy. in photoshop last night we learned how to alter photographs - clean up images, change things, etc. let's just say there will never be a photo of me with a pimple again. ;o)

in terms of my "house business," tonight i might put some tape on the walls for painting prep. i also had a revelation about desks. my den is going to be one wall pink. you'll have to see it to believe it haha. the desk i got from my uncle is just too big, but my old desk is so craptastic. so.... i'm going to paint the desk pink too. once again, you'll have to see it to believe it but i think it will look good. the inspiration for this pink is a reproduced old elvis concert poster that i have. the pink is bold, not pastelly. i have to buy bonding primer and a polyurethane finish for some other furniture i'm going to paint, so i won't have to get anything special. i only know about things like "bonding primer" and "polyurethane finish" because i googled "painting furniture" yesterday, not because i am a mini debbie travis in the making or anything.

so... the topic today is showering. post workout showing specifically. most of my recent workouts have been in the morning before work, so i just shower and then get on with my day, but what about working out after work? riddle me this - do you shower in the morning and then after your afterwork workout? do you wash your hair or just wash your body? do you go to bed all stinky and sweaty? and what about lunch time workouts? what if you don't go to the gym (with a shower) and just run outside... then what? do you think wiping down with baby wipes is good enough for a lunch workout? i used to swim all the time and part of the reason i stopped is because i can't stand being wet (after swimming, not during, that would be ridiculous), so i'd shower but then have to dry my hair and get all ready again, etc. so my question is: how and when do you shower?

in other news, i am in a pretty bad mood this morning because my streetcar commute was the worst ever. 1) it took so long for the car to come. 2) it was so crowded. 3) people were pushing and rude... really physically pushing! 4) people were wearing their backpacks... for the love of god... take off the backpacks. anyway. i got to work and had oat pancakes with banana and peanut butter. and i'm on my second cup of coffee, so things are looking up. also i ran 4 miles this morning so that's good too.

today i'm eating:

1/2 granola bar

oat pancakes with banana and pb2

activia vanilla yogurt

carrots and hummus

lean cuisine margherita pizza

raspberry activia yogurt

for dinner: not sure but it will involve roasted brussel sprouts

get 'r done

i hate when people use this phrase: get 'r done, haha, but it's what i've been doing. last night i organized the kitchen and now there is room for everything. i have a lot of kitchen appliances.

on the counter we have:
4 slice toaster
kettle
kitchen scale

under the counter in a cabinet we have:
blender
immersion blender
crock pot
popcorn popper
toaster oven
waffle maker
george foreman grill
12-cup coffee maker

isn't that a lot? not that i even do that much cooking. but i do a) drink a lot of hot bevs, b) toast things quite often, c) use the george foreman grill often enough. i wanted the blender because they are fun to have and the 12-cup coffee maker in case one day i ever have a dinner party and need to serve a large quantity of coffee. planning ahead ;o)

i also unpacked a lot of boxes. i am the recipient of my uncle's old computer, which is really up-to-date and fancy schmancy. it was really hard to put together because there are a million kazillion random wires and plugs and cords. i think i did it though. i also got one of his old desks but i think it's too big. it takes up almost 1/2 of my little den. my old desk is falling apart and from ikea but i don't know... i'm just not into the new one and it's obscene size.

anyway, i worked nonstop until about 11pm and found it hard to wind down. my boyfriend came over after his band rehearsal and we ate popcorn and these new indian masala lays chips while watching the beginning of the biggest loser that i taped earlier. i had a 24 package of smartpop from costco and it's all gone. apparently i eat that much popcorn. unfortunately the 32 pack of fibre source granola bars isn't depleting so quickly.

tonight is my photoshop course again. on monday my instructor brought his dog, which was the biggest pitbull i've ever seen. the friendliest one too. my desk is beside the instructors and that dog spent 1/2 the time slobbering all over my arms... eeewwwwww! the other 1/2 was spent snoozing on the floor. :o)

this morning i walked for 60 minutes interval inclines, and did 15 minutes on the stationary bike. and today i'm eating:

pc blue menu multigrain oatmeal with splenda and ground flax
cottage cheese cup with mixed berries

almonds

tuna fish sandwich
apple
vanilla yogurt

dinner: ? (rushed because of course)

running champion

good morning everyone. i had photoshop last night until ten so i stayed pretty much on my eating plan... until i got home and was starvin' like marvin. i had soup, a dad's oatmeal cookie, a few pieces of beef jerky (i know beef jerky? wtf), and social tea cookies. mmmm social tea cookies are soooo good. coming home last night was also overwhelming because movers came in the day dropping off a thousand boxes and pieces of furniture from my uncle's apartment. ok, not a thousand. but a lot. his old desk, tv cabinet (which is kind of ugly... unsure unsure!), computer stuff, kitchen stuff (george foreman, blender, better kettle, etc), printer, weird metal storage things. lots of stuff. and it's all sitting there, in my living room. my boyfriend stayed home during the day yesterday to let the movers in (nice guy!) and he did all the dishes too, so at least it was somewhat clean when i came home.

tonight is a night of organization! i seriously need to re-order my kitchen cabinets including under the sink to make room for all of my new kitchen gadgets. i hate having anything but the toaster and kettle on the counter. and the food scale, but it's little. all the stuff i don't use everyday has got to be out of sight.

oh so the title of my post, running champion. i didn't do any exercise yesterday. well, formal exercise... whatever that means. i went for a walk, probably 3 miles, at lunchtime, to get some activity in, and the sun was shining. and then i was forced to walk home last night because the streetcar never came! i only waited for a couple of minutes before deciding to walk, but i didn't see one until i was a few minutes before my get off point anyway.

this morning i woke up to go downstairs to the gym. but it was PAINFUL getting up. maybe because with the time change it's still dark outside. i finally got up after convincing myself that i'd feel like crap if i didn't go and my only excuse was being a lazy lout which isn't cool. so, since i really didn't want to do anything, i decided to run without music, to get in tune (no lame joke intended) with my body and it's movements. i warmed up for 5 minutes walking, then ran for 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 35 minutes (which is where i usually would stop), but i kept going for another 10 minutes, before walking 5 minutes cool down. that's 45 minutes running without stopping. on the treadmill with no music. amazing! in total i went 5.26 miles or 8.47 kilometres. it's blowing my mind right now as i type this. why? because in the middle of september, i couldn't run at all!

in other news, i got this really interesting book at the library. it's called your diet is driving me crazy and it's about dealing with different eating habits and patterns in relationships. for example, maybe your boyfriend can eat whatever he wants without gaining weight and you can't. or maybe your partner only likes boring bland food and you like to spice it up. or maybe you are a "food cop" or are dealing with one... someone who pressures you to eat better or a certain way but does it in a pushy, negative way. anyway, so far it's cute, and easy to read. i like it and recommend it!

this is the biggest image i could find:

sunny monday

monday again and another super busy week. i have that photoshop course on monday and wednesday night this week, from 7 to 10pm. no tap on thursday thought because it's march break. yippee! except i still have to work, haha, but my boyfriend doesn't (he's a teacher) so it's still a good week.

this weekend was pretty good. on friday was the hawksley concert. it was good for the first hour, but the second hour (plus more) was a lot of hawksley workman loving hawksley workman, and jams that went on for way too long. i like a musical interlude as much as the next person, but each song doesn't need to be 15 minutes long with beyonce songs mixed in. on saturday i went for a run, and then just lounged around until going to the grocery store. yesterday i went swimming and painted my bathroom. it looks great although now my bathroom colours are yellow and blue and very swedish/ikea looking. i will post pictures but i want to do all of the touch-ups first.

i decided to take today off from exercise because i'll be out so late tonight without being able to go home. actually "decided to" means i got up to have a run, but was too tired and it just wasn't happening so i went back to bed. also daylight savings means losing an hour of precious time (sleep?). maybe i will extend all my workouts this week by 10-15% to make up for it.

today i'm eating:

grapes (1)
1/2 peanut butter banana pecan muffin (1)
(2)

rolled oats with a banana and peanut butter (6)
(8)

chunky beef soup (5)
multigrain toast (2)
veggie cocktail (1)
(16)

yogurt with all bran sprinkles (4)
(20)

granola bar (2)
(22)

happy days are here again

almost the weekend! i feel like i really need a weekend. last night i was go go go until bedtime. on the way home from work i had to return a movie and pick up my white winter jacket from the dry cleaners. also stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things. then i came home, clean clean cleaned, made peanut butter banana pecan muffins (see recipe below), made dinner, went to the post office to pick up a package, went to my tap class for an hour, went back to the grocery store to use that coin machine (i had a lot of coins) and then home for zzzzs. so very busy.

friday is weigh-in and today i weigh 118 pounds, which is down 0.2 from last friday, which is great maintenance, considering i ate two of the homemade muffins last night. i didn't exercise this morning because i needed a break, and i do not want to feel tired tonight as i am going to the hawksley workman concert.

so i ordered more PB2 peanut butter. for those of you who don't know it's powdered peanut butter that has 75% less calories and fat than regular peanut butter. and you can choose the consistency of the peanut butter by adding as much water as you want. for example, there are times when you would want a thick peanut butter (like in a sandwich) and there are times went you would want a runny peanut butter (using it as a delicious dip). so in the box was this recipe for PB2 and banana pecan muffins, but it called for things like white flour, sugar, vegetable shortening, eggs, etc. i thought, how can i make this healthier... and here is the recipe. they are very delicious and surprisingly pretty fluffy.

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup PB2
1 T baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup splenda
4 egg whites
1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3)

preheat the oven to 375 degrees. blend (with a spoon) the flour, PB2, baking powder, and salt together in a mixing bowl. mix in the chopped nuts. in a second bowl, cream (with a mixer) the applesauce and splenda together until light and fluffy. add the egg whites 2 at a time and beat well. mash the bananas (with a potato masher) and then blend them into the liquid mix. add the wet ingredients to the dry, stirring just enough to moisten; about 20 seconds. spoon the batter into a greased (spray like pam) muffin tin and bake for 20-25 minutes or until done. makes 12 muffins.

per muffin: 152 calories, 5g fat, 4g fibre

muffins with 1/2 cup chocolate chips instead of pecans:
144 calories, 3g fat, 3.5g fibre

muffins plain (no pecans or chips):
120 calories, 2g fat, 3.5g fibre

i calculated these calorie amounts myself by just adding up all the ingredients and dividing by 12.

happy weekend everyone. apparently it's going to snow starting at noon another 20-25cm. that's a lot... :o( boo hoo hoo.