New ‘Workouts’ Section, 9.5 miles, Shooting Range Fail and Wine Night!

Um… have I told you lately how AWESOME you are?! Thanks SO MUCH for the great feedback, advice and overall support in my last post. I have SO many good ideas now! I copied/pasted your comments and am working on an action plan (you know – that’s how I do fo sho!) On another note, my weight was back down to 118 today. WTF? Whatevs – I still need to make changes and, thanks to you, I have some great ideas of where to start!

K – backing up – Tuesday was pretty blah. I felt crabby, didn’t want to be in the office, super “snacky” – ew. During lunch I walked 3.5 miles (burned 260 miles), but after work I was like no mas and headed straight home. Just watched some TV, had pizza worked on next week’s meal plans and developed some new workouts for this week! (back/biceps workout and Legs workout).

Back and Bicep workout for HOME (if you have dumbbells/ball)

Leg Workout for HOME (if you have ball)

Pizza... veggie pizza.... YUM!

Speaking of (workouts, not pizza) – check the top navigation! I reorganized and added a Workouts section! I’ll post all of my workouts there for those of you who have said you’re using them/printing them/etc. – fun! I ended Tuesday high… I think it was self-pity eating. Sad! I ended up at 1,847 calories, 234 carbs, 40 fat grams and 89 protein grams. Here’s what I ate. Too much candy… again. Moving on!

Yesterday was a great day! I got lots of work done, walked 4 miles during lunch, worked some more, then did another 2 miles. I believe someone asked in a previous post (sorry for not answering sooner!) – I do walk with co-workers! Usually I walk with my co-workers Stacy or Sue (or both!). Sometimes that pesky job thing gets in the way and I have to walk alone (cue Green Day), but usually I can avoid walking solo – except on Wednesdays when they work from home. Anywho! Sue came over and we walked 2 miles together, then we were off to meet Stacy at the shooting range. Yes, you read that right. Sue got a gun for her birthday and invited me and Stacy to an indoor shooting range. I was SO excited! But leave it to Atlanta traffic to hold us up causing us to miss the last shooting slot, so we did what anyone would do when when gun shooting is off the menu, went wine drinking! We headed to Smyrna West Village to McCray’s Tavern and had wine. Too much wine. But that’s okay – GREAT conversation – nice to chill with co-workers/friends who REALLY know what you go through 40 hours a week ya know? I got home and watched Modern Family with Austin and Reuben then passed out, ending the day at 1,795 calories, 174 carbs, 50 fat grams and 102 protein grams. Here’s what I ate. I burned 418 calories (6 miles at 4 mph) so not too bad, right?!

Today is pretty chill. Just worked, finished the meal plan/watched TV during lunch, and now i'm contemplating doing the back/biceps workout and some abs. We'll see! No walking today though - need a break. Especially since I have 4 down for tomorrow and some on Saturday! What are you guys doing this weekend? We're heading to Birmingham to see Austin's parents, shop with his mom, go to his youngest brother's high school football game - all of that good stuff! I'm mucho excited. Reuben will be staying in ATL with his mimzy - I think they're TOTALLY obsessed with each other! (in a good way of course - love it!) We're so lucky to have my mom!

K - i'm out... by the way, before I leave tomorrow my department as a team building. Viking Olympics from 12:30 - 4 p.m., followed by drinks. Hmmm. This isn't going to be bode well for me pre-car drive! eek!

Catch-up Time, 2 New Recipes, Leg Workout, More Running!

Happy Friday!! Sorry I’ve been MIA this week, friends! It’s been a tough work week and it’s spilled over to my personal life in a not-so-good way. Blah. I try to keep ‘em separated but sometimes I take my work frustrations home making me quite the Grumpy Gus. And to top it off it has rained here in Atlanta every. single. day. Nonstop, no sun, like stereotypical Seattle. Do you know what this means? My commute has DOUBLED and I’ve been spending 2 hours a day in the coche. Yes, I finished listening to The Notebook (review below) and am now on the sequel, The Wedding. Sigh. But I’m back and I’m positive and I feel better about work (and yes, it IS still raining – but I’m taking a half day today so whateva). And don’t get me wrong, I still worked out, ate right and watched lots of TV – all is not wrong in my world! Haha So backtrack… First, here’s a pic of those Tex Mex Sloppy Joe’s we made Monday!

I need to make a few tweaks to the recipe before posting – it was just too sloppy for us! (I blame myself for not straining the tomatoes). Anywho – if you want it pre-tweaks holla!

Tuesday was pretty blah – not gonna lie! I worked, walked 4 miles during lunch, worked, did chest/triceps/shoulders after work, then walked ½ mile, ran 1 ¼ mile and walked ¼ mile – so 6 miles + ST. Not bad! My lunch workout burned 280 calories, and my after work workout burned 356 – so 636 calorie burn. Woo! I raced home and had leftover manicotti while watching Entourage (SO good – first good one in a while – go Lloyd!) Then we made breakfasts and lunches for the next day and I got in bed and watched Gossip Girl (again) and ate my weight in Trader Joe’s crispy cookies. Eek! I ended up at 1,852 calories, 222 carbs, 71 fat grams and 91 protein grams. Here’s what I ate. Um – fat was out of control – what? So odd. Anywho – too many cookies, but I feel good about carbs – they’re never that low!

Wednesday was another tough one. The office was quiet so I got A LOT done which is great! During lunch I walked 4 miles. Had some meetings, got in a bad mood, went straight home in a bad mood and stayed grump all evening so I kept to myself. Sigh. Do you ever have days like that? Where it’s like “I’m in a crap mood so for you own good please just let me wallow and watch my programs.” Hehe I ended the day with a swig of Nyquil (to help me get my z’s) at 1,841 calories, 211 carbs, 51 fat grams and 125 protein grams. Here’s what I ate. Holy protein – that’s a lot for me. I will say I tried a new recipe and it failed. Sad.

Thursday was a little better in that I didn’t have to be at work until 8:30 a.m. for a meeting that lasted until 11:30. Not bad. As soon as the meeting went out I went to the gym and walked 1/2 mile, ran 1 ¼ miles and then walked ¼ mile – 2 miles, then did legs and abs.



I was a sweaty mess, but good thing I was able to go STRAIGHT home to work from home – woo! I ended up working until 6 p.m. but I got so much done and felt great about it. Then me and Austin got ready for our weekend visit to AUBURN – WAR DAMN EAGLE, and then we had some wine and chilled out (I stayed up too late – oopsie). I ended up at 1,773 calories, 171 carbs, 55 fat grams and 94 protein grams. Here’s what I ate and drank. Not bad, especially considering that I drank wine. Oh – and I made a new recipe from Monica’s Food Network Magazine, Chicken and Summer Vegetable Tostados.


Fabulous! It would normally be a little too high calorie for me, but I made it “their way” first and found that it was too much food! So again, going to tweak the recipe! But here’s a photog. And here’s my review of the notebook...

I give it a 4.5/5. I personally loved that I had seen the movie because as you can imagine, when you’re listening + driving in Atlanta you can be a bit distracted. So it was nice to already know the story and made it much easier to follow. That being said, I just love the story. I could easily see the movie unfold and thought it was just such a goodie (with them old vs. young; the story of how they fell in love; etc.). Good, good stuff – great “car” book!

K- going to read blogs tonight in AUBURN - yay. Can you tell i'm ready to get back and have a reunion with some of my besties??! Although, I must say it won't be the same this season without Jimmy & Mary - one of our FAVORITE couples from Birmingham, Ala., who always have a SUPER fun tailgate had a baby this week, little Emma (they're the ones we threw the shower for!). Thankfully we still have Teresa & Forrest in town with no babies yet! :) Talk to you all soon - can't wait to catch up!

Leg Workout + Another Running Urge + New shrimp Recipe + Books are In (!) + August Assessment + September Goals

Thank you guys SO MUCH for your sweet, supportive comments on my first blogiversary. Way to make a girl feel special! (and hot - you guys rock! j/k haha). I really appreciate it you guys.... I still can't believe it's been a YEAR! How long have all of you been blogging? How long do you think you will blog?! here goes this monster of a post... I’m a little behind , friends but I promise - highlights only! Tuesday I walked 3.5 miles during lunch and 1 mile after work + this leg workout – good stuff!

I also ran a mile… I felt the urge and said I’d run ½ mile… but I was feeling great so I went for the whole thing taking my total to 5.5 miles. I had a yummy pasta for lunch.


I got home and had yummy quinoa w/sauted veggies and sun-dried tomato/feta stuffed chicken. Nom nom nom. We did watch the season finale of Weeds – CRAZY ending, very good! I ended up at 1,739 calories, 217 carbs, 58 fat grams and 98 protein grams. Not bad – a little high on fat though. Here’s what I ate.

Wednesday my tummy was upset and I was SUPER sore. Work was crazy so I worked through lunch, then headed straight home. Boo. I did make a yummy dinner, a new one a tiny bit off meal plan, Cookinglight.com’s Shrimp Arrabbiata. Here is the recipe for two servings.

Close up...

Full serving on small square plate (salad plate!)

4 oz. linguine

1 tbsp olive oil, divided

6 oz. shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/8 tsp salt

¼ cup onion, chopped

1 tsp bottled minced garlic

¼ tsp dried basil

¼ tsp crushed red pepper

1 tbsp tomato paste

½ (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 tbsp fresh parsley

Cook pasta according to package (10 minutes), and drain and keep warm. Heat 2 tsp olive oil in nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle shrimp with salt and add to pan, cooking for 2 minutes on each side until shrimp are done. Transfer to plate. Heat remaining tsp of olive oil. Add onion, garlic, basil and red pepper; sauté for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and tomatoes; bring to boil. Cook for 3 minutes until sauce thickens. Return shrimp to pan and mix with tomato mixture for 1 minute until heated. Add parsley to pan, stir well, then serve over pasta. Nutritional Information: 392 calories, 54 carbs, 9 fat grams and 25 protein grams. We REALLY liked it – those red pepper flakes made such a difference as did the fresh parsley. I was definitely a fan – it was SO filling. After dinner we just hung out with the Reuben puppy and watched TV – standard! I will say that my books came in – YESSSSSS.

I ended the day at 1,812 calories, 282 carbs, 36 fat grams and 86 protein grams. Here’s what I ate.

Today I woke up feeling hungover (for no reason) – headache, sinuses, sneezing – mess. My power strip wasn’t working so my computer was dead... I had to drive in to the office to Desktop support in the rain to get a charger then back. That took 1.5 hours (heavy traffic at 8:15 a.m.). Reuben went with me so that was fun, and I’m now, thanks to that commute, on the last of 7 CDs of At First Sight – love it! Then I just cooked lunch, dinner and lunch/dinner for tomorrow (all on meal plan – yay!), and me and Austin locked down which Auburn games we would attend and let our buddies know – YAY!!

Dinner... creamy chicken tostdos... YUM They would probably look more appetizing but I used fat-free cheese and that stuff just doesn't melt like "normal" cheese

Now I’m settled into the Sex and the City Movie but still don’t feel well and yes, skipped another day at the gym. I hope I feel better tomorrow – I have 5.5 miles + back + biceps planned! I’m done eating fo sho, so I ended up at 1,690 calories, 254 carbs, 32 fat grams and 107 protein grams. Here’s what I ate.

Time for my Twelfth Month: August 2009 Monthly Assessment

By the Numbers
Pounds Lost: -2.5 (gain) (114.5 to 117)
Highest Weight: 119
Lowest Weight: 115
Pounds left to Lose: 4 (would like to be at 113)
Posts: 20
Days Worked out: 23
Miles of cardio: 84.5
Injuries: none! A little pain in my foot though after running…. Little….
New Recipes Cooked: 14

Interesting Charts

Click on charts to make them larger!

A Look Back: August Goals

1. Keep calories under 1,850 on days when I work out and 2,300 when I drink (1 day a week; 2 at most). Not done… I had 13 days over limit. Only 3 of these days were days I didn’t work out, but I’m still snacking when I’m not hungry with the whole “but I worked out it’s cool” mentality. This mentality would be fine if I was at 113 – but I’m not! So I need to work on this…

2. Walk 84 miles. DONE.

3. Do strength training 3 days/week. DONE – went well!!!

4. Do abs 3 days/week. Not done… I think this is too aggressive for me right now. I’m going to go for 2 days/week in September!

5. Decide whether or not to hire the trainer. I didn’t decide… but will move this over for September goal to hire him or move on my own route!

6. Introduce 10 new recipes. DONE… did a few extras, too, but mostly because of the shower!

7. Update the home blog 2 days/week AND fitting back in 5 days/week. DONE. Did much better at updating!

8. Read 2 books. DONE. Actually read 3!

9. Get dining room painted; install lights in hallway upstairs. DONE this was a great month for the house – we knocked off a ton of To-Dos!!

10. Develop 2 new weeks of Strength Training Routines. DONE me and Stacy are racing through them! I’m enjoying it so much and have SO many more exercises to try!

All in all I’m really proud of this month! I feel like I got a lot done on a lot of fronts, but am definitely going to try to tackle this calorie thing in September!!

September Goals:

1. Keep calories under 1,850 on days when I work out and 2,300 when I drink (1 day a week; 2 at most). TRACK AHEAD.

2. Walk 84 miles.

3. Do strength training 3 days/week and Abs 2 days/week.

4. Decide whether or not to hire the trainer.

5. Introduce 10 new recipes.

6. Read 4 books (including audio!).

7. Have canvas put on backers for green guest room, install shelf/hooks in hall closet and research stainless steel appliances (pricing, brands, etc.)

8. Develop 2 new weeks of Strength Training Routines.

9. Develop a meal plan for each week – STICK WITH IT!

10. Get down to 115.

I feel good about these goals! I think the walking, strength training, cooking and reading is kind of under control and has become a habit over the last year (which is so exciting!). So the biggie for me is going to be REALLY getting better at the calories (which the meal plans will help I hope!) and not forgetting to do abs… this tends to happen even though I’ve identified it as one of my problem areas! Also, i'm a little nervous about saying I want to lose 2 pounds this week but I can do it.... right?! Eek! Wish me luck on a whole new year of tracking – WOO!! (and no more starting my posts with days…. I’m oughta that business!)

Days 351 – 355: Shower Recipes, Reuben’s new Cut, Weekend Update, More Workouts, Playing Catch Up!!

I’m back to regular programming – yay!! Before backtracking to Thursday, I want to thank you guys so much for your support on my home projects and first time hosting a shower! I love sharing my projects and recipes on this blog and really appreciate your sweet, thoughtful comments. And I’m SO GLAD you thought the food looked good! I was super happy with the way it turned out and have decided it will be my go-to menu at any future events I host! Thanks so much!!! If any of you are interested, here is the entire menu with recipes (it was too much info for the last post so I made it its own!). The formatting is a bit of a mess but it’s legible, promise! All right… here goes!

Thursday I worked from home! Austin took Reuben to the groomers and he was ready for pick up at lunch – SO CUTE with his new haircut!


During lunch I walked 4 miles, then I shut down at 5:45 p.m. and began cooking. Then at 9:30 me and Reuben ran to the grocery store for a few more ingredients. I closed the kitchen at 11:30 p.m., ended up eating some of the pasta salad for the party – eek! My calories were too low – I guess I was just so busy I didn’t realize I hadn’t eaten enough. I ended up at 1,281 calories, 176 carbs, 50 fat grams and 46 protein grams. Here’s what I ate. You guys I’m not going to lie – I had SO much fun cooking!!

Friday I woke up exhausted but excited – couldn’t wait to see my friends and for Austin to get back in town! I didn’t eat the best (had processed food to avoid cooking MORE after cooking all the party food) but it was all good. During lunch I got in 3.5 miles, and after work I walked another mile then did the leg and ab exercises below – GREAT workout.



I headed straight home to see Austin, help him hang the wedding wall/mirrors in dining room/painting in half bath, etc. We got it all done, hopped in the shower, split a chicken salad sandwich (open faced) and had turkey/hummus/provolone sandwiches. Before we knew it we had a house full of friends: Forrest/Teresa came in from Auburn, Ryan/Kelly from B’ham and Mon/andy (they live here – stopped by for a drink!). Forrest ordered pizza and I had 2 slices…. And lots of alcohol – standard! It stormed so we ended up partying it up in our garage with a laptop + Pandora + a card table and chairs. It was like college all over again! Haha We stayed up too late, as usual, then passed out around 4. Grrr. I ended up at 2,329 calories, 236 carbs, 55 fat grams and 109 protein grams. Here’s what I ate.

Saturday…. Well Saturday was pretty well documented in my last post!! But I will say that I got up hungover, but Austin made the group our bacon/egg/cheese muffins. After breakfast, I got on the gym clothes and headed over to the gym for the last 2 miles I had planned for the week+ back and biceps. I walked a ½ mile and was just ITCHING to run. Couldn’t stand it. so I took it to 6.3 mph and ran. It felt great. I ran a ½ mile then stopped. Did my right foot hurt? (past injury last fall) No… Hmmm. I walked another ¾ mile then ran the last ¼ mile at 7 mph. I felt amazing!! I think I may start running…. SLOWLY (unlike last time). Perhaps I’ll do the couch to 5k?? I dunno… I’m thinking about it. Once I decide I’m going to need tons of running advice from you guys!! After the gym I came home, made two pizzas (a veggie pizza and a meatsa pizza with turkey pepperoni & chicken sausage).






Everyone seemed to love them and they were SO easy (and cheap too - wow!). Afterwards I went to the pool, met some nice neighbors, was invited to a cul-de-sac party in October and finished Undomestic Goddess – LOVED IT.

At first I was like this is just silly – who would do this? Then once they introduced a character who asked the questions I was begging to ask it got SO much better and ended up surprising me a lot and making me smile. It would make an adorable movie that I would buy and keep on whilst doing other things – cute and fun and LIGHT! After pool it was time to shower, prep all of the food (thanks, Teresa for helping so much), and then as you know we had TONS of fun!! I ended up at 1,982 calories, 185 carbs, 38 fat grams and 58 carbs. Most of my calories were in alcohol for sure – I was running around so much that I really didn’t eat that much! Here’s what I ate!

Sunday I was woken by Austin at 10 a.m. to say bye to the expecting couple! I was OUT – but I got up of course! We said bye, made eggsadillas for the rest of the crew, said our goodbyes, showered and headed to Ikea to return 2 of the dining chairs (last day to return them – they didn’t fit together right). Long story short – the item was discontinued, so now I’m searching for two fabulous end chairs!! Exciting Challenge. Afterwards me and Austin went to Crate & Barrel to return two mirrors and to Pancho’s for Mexican! I got chicken nachos. I ate half at lunch… then the other half for dinner. Nice! Started up the laundry, read your blogs, watched Drop Dead Diva and passed out!! I ended up at 1,834 calories, 184 carbs, 86 fat grams and 35 protein grams. WOWZA – eating nachos all day long takes you to 86 fat grams and practically no protein grams? Shocking. Grrrr. Here's what I ate.

Today was somewhat rotten. Blah. Lots of people in bad moods being rude. I tried not to let it get to me – and it worked okay! During lunch I walked 3.5 miles (burned 270 calories) and after work I walked another mile and did the chest/shoulders/triceps workout below (burned another 230 calories taking my total exercise calories to 500!).

I raced home, had yummy pasta with Austin and watched our shows (Entourage – eh… just not feeling it; True Blood – WHOA – amazing, better then last week – loved it). Then it was time to update this blog! Haha And watch some Army Wives – love it! The day’s almost over and I’ve stopped eating fo sho, ending up at 1,875 calories, 242 carbs, 55 fat grams and 103 protein grams. Here’s what I ate.