Finally Blogging

I have been a horrible blogger this week! It seems as if there was just so much going on work wise, that by the end of the day I have been too zonked to even pull out my labtop and blog. The picture above explains how my week started...yes all my students had to wrap themselves in toilet paper to become a mummy...and I wondered why I had a headache when I came home Monday night.

For my lunches this week I have been on this quick of huge fresh mushrooms with barbecue sauce and turkey. YUM! Now on to my new obsession for dinner...pancakes with squash.

My first experiment was on Tuesday night with pumpkin and Wednesday night I bought some Acorn squash. Not a huge fan of this squash, not as sweet as pumpkin and it left my batter pretty runny. Tonight I tried some pumpkin and peanut flour pancakes..perfection!

Here are the latest easy quick recipes I have been working with:

Pumpkin Pancakes

1/2 cup pumpkin

1 egg

1/4 cup egg whites

1/4 cup cottage cheese

tsp baking powder

1/8 cup oats

1/2 tsp gaur gum for thickness

splenda for taste

Acorn Squash Pancakes

1/2 cup acorn squash

1/4 cup egg whites

1/4 cup cottage cheese

1 egg

tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp gaur gum

Splenda for taste

1/8 cup oats

Peanut Flour Pumpkin Pancakes

1/2 cup pumpkin

1/4 cup peanut flour

1/2 cup egg whites

1/2 tsp gaur gum/baking powder

splenda and sugar free maple syrup to taste

After work today, I was greeted by this wonderful invitation to my own Bridal Shower in the mail! My future sister in law put these together and I think she did a great job. I still can't believe that my wedding is now 3 1/2 months away and that everyone is coming together to do this for me!

On the workout front, I have a confession to make. I worked out six days in a row this week and I am really regretting it. I usually take Wednesday off as a rest day mid-week, but figured since we would be out of town on Sunday that I would just place my workout in on Wednesday. My body remembered very nicely that it needs the rest mid week between workouts. My Wednesday and Thursday workout dragged. I completed cross training for 50 minutes both days, but my lifting really was difficult. I was low on energy. Today my energy returned and I am looking forward to a good swim workout tomorrow. Monday, I am planning on a 1-2 mile run. My ankle has felt wonderful this week, bout I have stuck to strictly cross training.

I think sometimes I talk myself into thinking that I am this amazing athlete who can work over 40 hours a week and still manage 6 hour and a half workouts. I will admit though, I do really watch my calories. I make sure I don't overdo it with the carbs and keep my fats in check. I have a feeling that if I let myself go a little more, I would have more energy to fuel my workouts. Here is a sample of my daily diet:

Pre workout: 1/4 cup oats, greek yogurt 0% (80cals)

Post workout: 1 scoop protein powder (110 cals)

Meal 1: 1/2 cup oat bran, 2oz chopped apple, greek yogurt 0%, tbsp flax meal and 1/2 scoop protein powder

Snack: handful of cut up raw veggies/almonds 1 oz/2 hard boiled egg whits

Meal 3: 1 Flat out wrap (100cals) Can of tuna with 1/4 cup cottage cheese and chopped apple with side of green beans

Snack: 1 scoop protein powder with 1/4 cup oats and 1 tbsp flax meal

Meal 3: Pumpkin Pancakes with large bowl of veggies

Snack: 1 scoop protein powder with 1/8 cup peanut flour

**I try to make sure all my meals are balanced with carbs/fat/protein

What is a sample of your daily diet? Do you ever wonder if you get enough cals for your workouts??

3 Things

It's Tuesday, that means only four more days till the weekend. Okay, that is horrible that I am already counting down the days until the weekend. Today was quite a busy day, with the students being hung over by sugar, I had to be on my toes all day long with them. Enter 3 things I despised today, 3 things I was most shocked about today, and 3 things I loved today.

3 Things I HATED about today

1. I hated the fact that I had to stretch so much today. I know, I know, it helps your muscles recover...but I HATE taking the time to do it!

2. I had an observation today. Meaning my principal comes in my room and watches me teach for an entire hour. I hate when all eyes are on me.

3. How my puppy Cooper ran away from me today. Somehow I had strapped his chain on wrong and it snapped mid-way through our short walk. He went sprinting down the street with me running after him like an idiot.

3 Things that Shocked Me Today

1. Doing lunges at Physical Therapy. Shocked how much my butt had a great workout, and also shocked that physical therapy can be a workout itself.

2. I know this is old news, but come on...really I heard they lasted 72 days! Pathetic!!

3. My new protein powder arrived and I was shocked with how good the basic chocolate flavor tasted. I always tend to order the fancier flavors (Ice Cream Sandwich, Rockey Road, etc.) For just being chocolate, it tasted pretty darn good!

3 Things I Loved Today

1. My brand spanking new North Face Winter coat. Craig bought me a new one for putting up with him and his friends tailgating this weekend..he he he.

2. The fact that I had no papers to bring home and grade tonight..woot woot!

3. My mile swim workout today. It was hard and I felt exhausted at the end of my workout...sometimes it can feel great to be exhausted.

Now tell me, what did you love/hate/or were shocked about on this Tuesday?

Weekend Recap

I don't know about you guys, but whenever I log in to my blog and see I have a new follower I get so giddy! I love getting new readers!! This weekend I have been loving my turkey bacon like no other. So easy to make for a quick lunch or dinner.

I have also been continuing to make some scrumptious pumpkin pancakes, can't get enough of these babies. Tonight for dinner I mixed chicken with veggies, ginger, soy sauce and peanut flour for an Asian dish.

This weekend was one busy weekend. Yesterday, Craig and I left our place at 6am to head down to the stadium for the Nebraska verse Michigan game. Now I am not a die heart football fan, so getting up so early for football seemed pretty ridiculous to me. We had friends who were in town, so we were obligated to show up.

I can tell you one thing, I am no longer a trooper like my collage days. We started the festivities around 9am. Being around friends and drinks all afternoon, I admit that I was horrible about remembering to eat. It was four o'clock in the afternoon when I realized that I had not ate since breakfast and all I had on hand was a Kashi Granola Bar in my purse. We were on campus, so food places are miles away in walking distance. Around 6pm Craig and I decided we were shot and headed home....returning to my car we found that we had left my lights on this morning so my battery was shot. An hour later we managed to find someone with jumper cables to restart my car. 9pm we were home and hungry. I basically just slabbed together what I could from my fridge and ate then headed to bed.

This morning I woke up pretty groggy with an upset tummy. Yeah Chels that is what you get for eating nothing the entire day and having a few beers..not wise. I made some oats and headed to the gym for a light elliptical/cycle workout. I felt 100% better after my workout. The rest of the afternoon was spent grading papers and making Halloween treat baggies for my kids. I can't believe tomorrow is Halloween already!!

Well in the fitness area of my life, things were looking up with my ankle. I attempted my mile run on Thursday which turned into two miles, bad idea. Yes, I felt good during my run but immediately afterwords my ankle begun to swell and throb...I pushed myself too hard. Friday I took it to the pool and Saturday back on the elliptical. After today's workout, really no pain whatsoever. As I step into this week, I know I have to just take it a lot slower with the running...might go for the whole walk/run intervals. The positives about my ankle continuing to flare up on me is that it is now starting to get cold, so there are less races around to participate in. I am hoping by Spring I will be back in the game.

Any fun Halloween plans?

What could you do more of when you were younger that you are now finding harder?

WIAW

Pretty excited...today I picked up our invitations after work and this wonderful engagement photo will cover the invitation. Now I just have to put together about 300 invites...enter the bridesmaids and several bottles of wine lol. After picking up my invites, I called up Muscle Gauge and ordered some of my fav protein powder.

Two flavors I love...chocolate and peanut butter. The total came to 81 bucks! I still wonder why I am broke, probably because I spend a fortune on protein powder. I do though, to justify use it in almost everything I make pre and post workout.

What I ate Wednesday...here are just a few shots of what I enjoyed this Wednesday...

Before bed tonight, I will be enjoying one of these lovely peanut butter protein shakes made with almond milk.

Mid Day snack consisted of wonderful cinnamon roasted almonds...these babies are like crack. For lunch I had once again a tuna salad with some raspberry dressing and sliced apples. I also paired it with some pita bread and yogurt as usual.

Breakfast, chocolate protein oats with flax meal and cranberries and yogurt to mix in. I HATE cranberries unless they are cooked, I can't eat them right out of the bag...strange.

My afternoon snack consisted of some cereal mixed in with protein powder and greek yogurt..I think I get my daily dose of vitamin D.

Dinner...mid-way through the day I had a craving for pancakes, so pancakes it was...of course with a side of green beans and some ketchup.

Today was a rest day from the gym, and well needed. Yesterday at PT my doc made me do lunges. Yes, lunges that I have not attempted in over two months. My butt was so sore this morning. I am pretty pumped for tomorrow's workout, attempting a mile run!

Do plan your dinners out a week ahead of time or do you fly by the seat of your pants?

What are you looking forward to fitness wise??

Dragging Monday

Bleck it is Monday and I am d-r-a-g-g-i-n-g. I caught the sniffles on Friday, and I think my body is still trying to fight off the rest of my cold. This week is Red Ribbon week, aka say no to drugs week at school, so everyday the kids dress up as something. For example tomorrow is dress as your favorite super hero to fight off drugs. Fun, yes...but anything that distracts kids from learning and gets them excited means complete hysterics.

Sunday, I did something pretty amazing...I ran for 5 minutes! Yup 5 minutes of pure bliss :) I got to thinking that I probably could have ran more and skimped on my elliptical workout, but I am taking this running slow. My plan is to swim tomorrow, Wednesday rest day, and shoot for a mile run on Thursday...I have my second pt appointment tomorrow so I will see what my doc thinks. I am surprised how much the stretches my pt has given me have really helped me. My ankle still twinges here and there, but no more stiffness!!

Lately it seems as if I have had Greek Yogurt coming out of my ears. I have been eating it for breakfast, snacks and lunch with pita bread. I can't get enough of it.

Dinner tonight was yummy turkey tenders with pasta sauce mixed in with some Miracle Noodles. I love Mircle Noodles because I don't waste my carbs on the noodles and can still have pita bread or crackers or whatever other carb I choose.

I discovered these cute little serving size cups of Kashi Go Lean at the store today. You would think I would be smart enough to not buy these considering I have already two boxes of Kashi Go Lean in my apartment, but they are already serving sized out...I am such a sucker!!

So my wonderful pumpkin that I was so proud of, well I came home tonight and had found that apparently Cooper thought that it looked pretty tasty. Now it is headless. For reals?? I swear, I have quite the unique creature of a dog. He has managed to not only dig holes in our carpet, he has also torn up my bed sheets, Craig's Grandma's quilt and dug into some dry wall. Literally he is eating us out of a home!

What is your favorite snack/food right now that is coming out of your ears?

Enjoying Fall

Today was a great day! Instead of the usual Saturday football tailgating, I enjoyed the afternoon going to a local apple orchard with the girls. The orchard had lots of tasty treats. I picked up some blackberry jam and of course a big bag of apples, yum! Craig enjoyed several the minute I got home.

After the apple orchard I decided to hit the pool for some laps, and I was surprised how well my workout went. I was a little tired all morning, Craig and I had a birthday party last night and I did not make it to bed until after mid-night. So, my workout for the morning was pushed to the afternoon. I completed a mile swim free style then followed it up with about 10 more laps using a kick board and doing the frog motion with my legs. Man this really worked out my legs! I came home and crashed. Yesterday I woke up with a cold some sinus issues and it is still taking a toll on me.

Tonight Craig and I called for a night in, what a perfect time to carve pumpkins...and we did! Mine is on the right. Craig got creative with his design.

What was your Saturday workout?

What do you do to celebrate fall?

First Appointment

Yes you have to love my fresh out of the pool look! This morning workout kicked my butt, literally! I jumped in the pool and completed a mile swim followed by a few strokes of breaststroke and pool running. Mostly when I have been swimming I just try to stick to free style, but I am starting to become a little more open minded and getting into different strokes to tone different parts of my body. I felt great through my weight lifting session that followed, but seconds after I arrived at school...chomped down my oats...I was EXHAUSTED. My arms felt like jello, I had to physically force myself to write the schedule on the board for the kids this morning.

This afternoon, I came to the conclusion that I might be running low on fluids. How did I come to that conclusion?? Well, my pee was bright and I mean bright yellow. I know gross, but that is usually how I gauge weather I am either sick or dehydrated. Usually my pee is almost white. So I have been guzzling fluids to lighten up that pee a little.

Today was my first Physical Therapy session. I really like the young gal that I am working with. I am glad they did not set me up with a man...I always feel a little off working one on one with the other sex. Of course, I was still embarrassed when my doc took off my shoes and had to touch my yucky feet. My toe nail polish is chipping off and I have nasty little hairs growing on my big toes, yuck! Anyways, she said that from the evaluation it looks as if my foot probably just went through some kind of strain and is weak right now and needs to be strengthened up again, hence the reason why it stiffens up whenever I start to exercise. So we went through about six different exercises and she printed them off for me and I have to do them twice a day. Some of these exercises are calf raises (not new), toe raises, writing the alphabet with my toes, ankle rotations, and standing wall presses. I will be the first to admit I am HORRIBLE at stretching, probably why I got myself into this to begin with. So it will be some work for me, but I am going to do this. I am just so eager to get back on the treadmill.

Anyone ever pool run before? I have been reading a lot about it on Runners World. It seems almost comparable to running and many have said they come back stronger as a runner when they start running again. Do you think your body gets as great as a workout?

Friday tomorrow, WAHOO!!