Healthy Eating and Exercise: A Second Attempt

Yikes! Wednesdays are CRAZY! Every Wednesday I work 2 shifts at the bakery; A day shift to check in with my boss/friend Nora for order day, and my regular night shift with the guys. Not to mention that because I have a day shift I ride my bike the 6 1/2 miles to work in the morning. Not a lot of sleep happens, and things can get ugly.

Luckily, everything went just fine yesterday, and I got a good nap in. I also slept like a rock last night. Oh yeah!

So today I decided that I really need to step it up with the whole exercise and eating right thing. I've been feeling sorta chubby lately, and every time I look down at my midsection I think of Pulp Fiction and pot bellies. Not good! I did however weigh myself today, and I'm back down to 135 after being 140 for most of the year! Woot woot! Now I just have to keep working at it!

To work on the whole eating right thing I decided to try out a new recipe from Angela at Oh She Glows. Curry chickpea burgers. Of course my wonderful husband offered to help with dinner, which means we're having fresh french fries, but I promise I won't eat many(as in I won't take seconds ;) ) I hauled my laptop into the kitchen yet again ( I know, livin' on the edge!) and got out everything I needed for this recipe.

Things came together pretty quickly, as the recipe promised, and I love how few main ingredients there are. Granted, we haven't eaten them yet. But if they're as good as I think they will be, then i'll have to try this same basic recipe with other herbs and spices. I bet there are endless flavor possibilities! Ok, I'm getting ahead of myself here.

I formed the patties and laid them out on my sil-pat lined baking sheet. I only got 5 out of this recipe, but I made a couple of them kinda big for B and his dad.

Then I popped them into the oven for about 25 minutes. I did flip them once, just so they'd be evenly cooked. I plan on warming them on the grill just before we eat. We actually have some ripe avocado, so that'll go on top with some lettuce, mayo, and hopefully tomato if I can find one. We have fresh whole wheat Kaisers from the bakery too!

I think they came out looking pretty good! Great color, and seems like a good texture. I'm having a hard time restraining myself from demolishing one right now!

While doing the dishes I got to admire our yard and view. We live in such a beautiful place!

This of course inspired me to work on the exercise routine, so I started drying off (I say drying off, because it tends to look like monsoon season when I do the dishes. The counter, cabinets, my shirt, and shoes were all soaked!). While toweling off I discovered this! Guess I was a little too enthusiastic with the green food coloring at work last night! Seriously, that's above my elbow! How do I manage these things?!

I snagged one of my tasty banana spelt muffins from the other day (still delicious!) for a quick snack.

I think Izzie wanted some too!

Then we got ready for some cardio. Izzie LOVES walks! She recognizes my workout shoes/clothes and starts dancing around making happy sounds. SO cute!

We went to our mailbox and back, one mile each way plus lots of huge hills. I did intervals of 1 minute walking, 1 minute jogging the whole way, hills included. That got my heart pumping! When we got back I did some strength training. I use 5lb weights, and today I did arms. Here's the routine.

2 sets of 12 reps each:

chest press

overhead triceps extension

chest fly

triceps kickback

side lateral raise

alternate bicep curls

front raises

shoulder press

concentration curl

one arm dumbell row

I need to go finish dinner now, and get ready to go to work. Gotta get my stuff together for tomorrow too, as B and I are going to Victoria for errand day. The weather's been so nice, maybe we'll see the Orcas out and about on the ferry ride!

Do you guys work little errands in throughout the week, or do you do one big errand day? We obviously do it all at once! Sigh, it's gonna be a looong day tomorrow!

Market Madness

Yesterdays bike ride was so enjoyable that i thought i'd do it again today. I set off, and made it to Magic Lake, but felt like going farther. I ended up at Medicine Beach Market. This little place hasn't been around too long, so i've only been in a couple of times. They are devoted to whole, organic and natural foods. They also have a mini bakery where they make breads and cookies. They also have a tiny produce section where they sell produce from the island when it's available.

I am a sucker for shopping, and i can browse like there's no tomorrow! This cute little store has all sorts of fun finds mixed in with the regular food, and i found myself mesmerized by a collection of bright little paintings by a local artist. In the end i had to buy one, so its a good thing they were so tiny! I piled a few more things into my basket, payed and went outside to re-hydrate and munch on my energy cookie from their cookie counter.

Here's the loot!

The Mash soda was refreshing in a grapefruit flavor, but i found myself wishing i had bought some water instead. It really reminded me of those old Koala drinks, if anyone knows what i'm talking about. The cookie was surprisingly tasty, and didn't taste as healthy as i hope it was. I think it had oats, coconut, poppy seeds, and nut butter in it, but that's just guessing. Does anyone out there have a really good health/energy cookie recipe?

I have been searching for a coin purse, and they had these super cute felted ones, so i nabbed one of those.

I also discovered Sesame Sprinkle, which says it's for all kinds of food, but i bought it specifically for popcorn. It's got sesame seeds, sea vegetables, salt and a couple other things. I can't wait to try it!

I've been wanting to try smoked tofu, so i grabbed a package of that, and was happy to note that this specific brand was from salt spring island, just a very short ferry ride away from home!

See that island on the far right with the big hilly mountain thing? That's Salt Spring Island, and this is the view of it from Pender. Pretty darn close!

Lets see, what else did i get? Oh yeah...uh, i don't know how these got into my basket, cuz i don't buy soda. Oh well, now that i have them i'll just have to save them for a float on the next hot day!

Finally, here's Arnold! Yes, the cute painting i chose off the wall was this little crab. His front arms and claws are so big, and Predator is so fresh in my mind, that his name immediately became Arnold. Isn't he just the cutest little guy?!

I made it home a little slower than yesterday, as my legs were still kinda sore. I found Arnold a home in our room, then went for a little snack. Yup, leftovers again! But man is that stuff good! I had the black bean and corn quinoa salad with a spoonful of hummus and few cubes of my new smoked tofu.

This stuff was mouth wateringly (is that even a word?!) good! I thought it'd have an odd texture, but it was firm, smooth and flavorful. Score! B tried a cube, thought about it, and then couldn't keep his hands out of my bowl! It wasn't cheap, but i'll have to buy this again sometime. It's pretty filling, and seems like it'd go a long way, so it'll be worth it.

Looking back on all the stuff i bought i'm sort of wondering if i fell into a temporary (hopefully) sort of madness. Seriously! Thank goodness i stopped when i did, or i wouldn't have made it up those hills on my bike, that's for sure! When i try the other stuff i'll let you know how it is.

Tuesday nights i have our room to myself because B works, and i don't. Sounds like a good time for bad girly movies! Oh yes! Tonights choice is My Bollywood Bride. Never seen it, don't know much about it, but i LOVED Bride and Prejudice, so i'm hoping for something similar. At least there's nobody here to see me if i have to dance to the Bollywood beats!

Finally, a Fitness Post!

I've already done quite a few posts, and almost none of them have had anything to do with fitness (aka exercise). SOOO...here it is! Today I went on a good bike ride, about 6 miles, out to Magic Lake and back. There are SO many huge hills on this island, and of course, a couple of them are right below my house, which means i get to walk/ride up and down them every time i go out! Really got my heart beating though!

The weather is just beautiful today, and much cooler than it's been. I strapped on my helmet, stuck my pant leg into my sock dork-style, and off I went!

Going fast down those big hills is pretty fun, with a little "scary" mixed in! Just at the bottom of the hill is a little stand where we usually buy our eggs. It's so nice to get them fresh from a neighbor!


Next up on the tour is the garlic farm. This is where we got our scapes! I can't wait until their open house this year! Last year we got to taste so many wonderful varieties there!


Farther along the road, right by our mailboxes, is the blueberry farm. I am waiting impatiently for the berries to ripen, as I just used up the last of our frozen stash from last year. I love that they do u-pick, but if you're in a hurry you can pick up a bag of plump local berries at their little roadside stand too. Oh blueberries, how i love thee!


Peddling along i pass my favorite garden, and have to stop for a look. They have the most vibrant collection of flowering plants, and the cutest little potting shed. They also pick bouquets to sell at their little road stand. So pretty!


After much huffing and puffing I made it to the far end of Magic Lake, one of the biggest lakes on Pender Island. There are little benches and a picnic table strewn across a grassy area with a view of the lake, so i decided to take a quick rest... and some pictures!






Once I was able to breath semi-normally again i hopped back on the bike for the ride home. This cute little guy waved his tail at me as i passed (hope this was a kind wave, and not some sort of rude deer gesture!)


By the time i'm almost home i was getting pretty tired. Then, I see this! *groan*


Once i conquered the hills and had arrived home i downed a big glass or water and got ready for my strength training. I use two 5lb weights, and today was arm day, so i busted those out. I went to a personal trainer for a while last year, and she made a list of good exercises for me. It hurts, but in a good way!

Now i'm finally relaxing: feet up, fruit salad, and blogging time!


Not sure what dinner is all about yet for tonight, but here's a pic of last nights dinner. I told you all about it, but finished blogging and ran off to eat it without a second thought. It was so good!


Now that i think about it, i wish i'd mixed some scapes into those veggies. Oh well, next time. I'm off to re-pot some plants now, eat dinner, then to work!