Check-In. Sprouting Progress.

Sausage Biscuit for breakfast. Trail Mix snack. Hot dog for lunch (I know, crappy!).

Pasta with meat sauce for dinner and I jazzed up the sauce with wilted fresh spinach and cayenne pepper! Pomegranate popsicle while dinner was cooking.

Trail mix to soothe my snack craving.

The sprout jars are mixed results so far. I have tiny little alfalfa sprouts starting! But the chia is a mess. I need to look into that a little more, because with the lids I have I can't get the chia drained. because it turns gel-ly in water, then I realized it might not need to be rinsed. I'll look into it more and start again. Or I'll buy other sprouting seeds.

Gonna have a second clementine to finish up my bedtime snack.

Also, I've walked to work every day for over a week now and my pants are fitting better to loose depending on the pair.

Check-In. Stomach Yuckies.

Had a good breakfast at Nick's Diner this morning with Dave. Splurged a bit and had pancakes and sausage. Also, had eggs scrambled with spinach, which needed a bit of salt, but were otherwise wonderful, in spite of the funny looks from the waitress. (She's a sweetie, I forgive her.) Edy's Fruit bar for a snack and then spent the afternoon dealing with a seemingly random upset stomach.

Light-ish dinner and then a nap. Had another Fruit Bar tonight,

I got a little bit of work done in my back yard, in between not feeling that great.

Also, I started a sprouting jar of Alfalfa last night, and I'm starting one with Chia tonight. (If you've never seen a sprouting jar, this is one of the ones I have.) I picked of 3" PVC 'T' joints to set my jars on to. They need to be upside down, but can't set on the lid because they need the air circulation. The directions recommend tipping them at about a 45 degree angle in a pot or bowl, but I'm gonna see if this works. I don't really have enough pots or bowls to forfeit them to propping up a Mason jar.

Also, yes, Chia as in Chia Pet. You can buy food quality seeds at most health food stores. They're pretty tasty, behave really strangely when you get them wet and have tons of vitamins and nutrients. Bonus! If you eat Chia gel (chia and water) before a work out, or add it to juice or more water and drink it, it helps you stay hydrated longer!

Let's see how it goes.

Check-In. Been awhile.

I've walked to work three days this week so far, which is every day, actually, since I had off for Easter on Sunday.

I cheated a bit on my no-dairy to eat some of Gramma's Homemade Peanut Roll Eggs, but it was totally worth it!

We went back to the MLK stairs on Monday night and I shaved about 6 more seconds off my time, 2:54.54! Carl kicked my ass and made it in 2:10.38. BOO!

Eating hasn't been exactly great this week again, but I've been snacking mostly one Edy's Real Fruit Popsicles and Popcorn, rather than anything really crappy. Drinking lots of water, tea, juice.

Also, I got pretty awful sunburn yesterday, so I had to invest in aloe gel and sunblock today.

Check-In. AAARRGHHH!

We started moving Lisa today. Short a person. During a Tornado watch. I'm gonna just leave it at that.

Check-In. More Chaos.

I had cheerios for breakfast yesterday. Can't remember what I had for a snack, probably Good N Plenty's with are at least fat free.

Primo's Italian Diablo, no cheese for lunch.

McDonalds Caesar Salad for dinner. And the rest of my Soy Cheese pizza for a snack later. At least I got some exercise on the playground.

I'm having a very had time sticking to a schedule because of helping Lisa move. They keep a schedule that's just different enough from mine that I'm up for a snack at their mealtimes, and vice versa. Also, they stay up later than I've been the last couple weeks.

Today I'm off to a pretty good start, cheerios for breakfast, and 30 minute walk and Health is Wealth Vegetarian, lactose-free spinach munchies for a snack. They're like pizza rolls, but with spinach instead of pepperoni. Oh, and they're awesome!

Check-In. Moving Chaos.

It's not even my move and I'm getting caught up in the chaos of it. I'm trying hard and I think I did pretty good at eating pretty well today.

Breakfast on the run was an Almond Croissant from Wegmans and Odwalla's Original Super Protein.

Jayone Rice Roll for a snack.

Almonds for a snack.

Tomato Pie and original Terra Chips for lunch.

Trail mix for a snack.

Wendy's Spicy Chicken for Dinner, which was crappy of me, but at least I stuck to the dairy free thing.

Cheerios for a snack.

Hungry again, and I think it's because I've been going since like 7:30 this morning and I'm not feeling well. When my body's trying hard to fight something off sometimes I get a huge appetite. The trick is finding something healthy to eat.

I managed to get about 15 minutes of Yoga in today, too.

Check-In. Last Day Before Vacation.

Cereal for breakfast.

Almonds for midmorning snack.

Salad with almonds and green bean chips again for lunch. Digging the Daiya cheese now that I'm getting used to it.

Jayone rice bar for after work snack.

Amy's Soy Cheese pizza with Gimme Lean sausage for dinner.

Whole Fruit bar for a snack.

Did about a half hour of yoga tonight.

Dying for something crispy, thinking I'm going to have some pretzels.

Also, I had like about 5 Russian Tea Cookies today at work. But I'm going to say that's Viv's fault because she makes amazing cookies.

Check-In. Singin' in the Rain. Literally.

So Gimme Lean Sausage sandwich for breakfast.

Missed my midmorning snack.

Salad with Daiya Cheddar, Green Bean Chips and Almonds for lunch, also had a little trail mix.

Finished the trail mix for an afternoon snack.

Hubby and I decided to splurge a bit for dinner, so we WALKED over to Hana for a light sushi dinner. (IE not "all you can eat") He got an entree. I got soup, Kani salad and a sweet potato maki.

Then we got caught in th rain on the way home. I loved every minute of it! Hubby, not so much. I told him "rain makes you beautiful. you may as well enjoy it!"

Pretty good night all in all, it's about a 3 mile round trip to Hana.

Jayone rice roll for a snack, probably will have a Whole Fruit bar or some almond milk yet.

I also picked up an studier ankle support so I can keep walking to work. Because I really enjoy doing that. I need to find my earbuds, and then I can really enjoy it.

*** Found my earbuds and ended up having cereal for my snack last night.

Check-In. Learned a lesson about Vegan Cheese

Had Cheerios for Breakfast again.

Gimme Lean Sausage biscuit for early lunch.

Taco Salad with Daiya Cheddar for dinner. Also, trail mix. The cheese was great in my salad, but I would not recommend eating for a snack. It's pretty nasty by itself, although it is FANTASTIC as an ingredient.

Jayone Rice Roll for a snack and some almond milk. Also a Whole Fruit Bar.

Feeling pretty good about things, although, still a bit hungry.

Walked with Dave over to the steps. Hit it as hard as I could. 3:00.74! A 20 second improvement from last week.

Then Dave ran them. And beat me. Bad. 1:37.42! Ouch!

I had a bowl of cheerios when we got home and I'm heading to bed a little later than I planned. The steps are still kicking my @$$ but they were easier this time and I made a huge improvement.

Check-In, Got a little naughty today.

I had Chocolate Cheerios for breakfast again.

Rotisserie chicken for lunch with Purely Decadent Peanut Butter ZigZag for dessert.

I had Taco Bell without cheese or sour cream for dinner, which was not the original plan. Apparently the Quakertown Primo's closed so we had to get something else, kinda last minute.

I had some more of my fake ice cream for a snack.

Spent the day, helping Lisa pack, but I did walk over to Sign of the Bear and found time to get new shoes to make my walk to work more comfortable. Famous Footwear actually carries sneakers in a 4E (men's Extra Wide), so I actually got the right size!!!!

Will probably have a bit of something when I get home.

See ya tomorrow!

Check-In. I still get to eat Mac and Cheeze, sorta.

Chocolate Cheerios for Breakfast, with Almond Milk, of course.

Almonds for midmorning snack.

Caesar Salad from Wendy's for lunch, only used half the dressing.

Trail mix with organic raisins for my drive time goodies.

Had Amy's Organic Dairy-Free Mac and Cheeze for dinner tonight! Thanks, Josh, for letting me know about Daiya, I found out on their website that Amy's Organic uses their cheddar shreds for mac and cheeze!

Black cherry Whole Fruit bar for snack.

Hippy Tricks! Nair for a Slow Drain.

I heard this from a plumber over the summer, and I tried it today, and it really works really, really well.

Our bathroom drain gets slow from time to time. We live in an old house and shit happens. So I poured a big blog of Nair, yes, NAIR, down the drain and ran some hot water. And it was awesome.

Here's why it works:

The bulk of the clog is hair. And Nair basically dissolves hair. Ta-da! Cleared Drain!

It also works pretty well in the kitchen, too, because a lot of the material that clogs your kitchen drain is protein, and hair is protein.

Weird, right?

Check-In. That was a really bad idea, apparently.

Breakfast was the Florentine Omelet from Nick's Diner. Loads of spinach and tomato, with a little feta cheese.

Mid-morning snack was more almonds, like always.

For a treat after my civil service exam, I got a Chai Latte with Soy milk from Starbucks! Yay for me.

Late lunch was the Biancaneve Pizza at Paese Mio, plus spinach. It's a white pie with tomato, garlic and olive oil. However, apparently I can't handle the mozzarella cheese anymore! I've been sick all night. :-(

I finally felt up to having dinner and I had Chocolate Cheerios with plain Almond milk. Yay!

I also made tons of trial mix tonight for snacks over the course of the week.

The Check-In that Almost Wasn't

Sausage Biscuit for breakfast.

Almonds for my mid-morning snack.

Tofu and almonds (separate) for lunch.

Almonds in the afternoon. (Are you seeing the theme here?)

Pepper Crusted Beef and Roasted Potatoes for dinner.

No Yoga, but with the walk to work this morning, I managed to log 18,796 steps on my pedometer!

Go me!

Gonna have some peanut butter bread for snack.

Tomorrow may be a total wash as far as healthy eating goes, but I'm going to try to not get carried away. I'm driving to Harrisburg tomorrow to take my Clerk 1, 2 exam.

Check-in. I got a pedometer today!

Sausage Biscuit for Breakfast

Almonds for midmorning snack.

Sausage biscuit for lunch. (I forgot to put something together last night.)

Almonds for an afternoon snack.

Pepper-crusted beef and potato wedges for dinner. (yes, I made it at home.) And I polished off the last of the Almond milk we had.

Walked to work again today (2.4) miles and I racked up over 9000 steps on the pedometer which I didn't even get until lunchtime.

Need to give my ankle and back a bit of a rest, gonna watch TV with the cat for a bit and then I'm going to try to get some yoga in.

***Popcorn for a snack while watching TV and tofu when I was craving some protein. Also, I killed a sweet craving with some peanut butter.

Check-in. Walked to work today.

So, I had the usual sausage biscuit for breakfast today.

THEN I WALKED TO WORK (2.4 miles). Partly because I'm pretty sure my car died yesterday, but also because I live close enough to walk and the weather was nice enough that I don't really have any excuse not to.

No midmorning snack, didn't have time.

Lunch was pasta, tossed with Ceasar vinagrette and some grated Romano cheese.

No afternoon snack.

I managed dinner at a much better time tonight and I had a small steak with some grilled bell pepper chunks and some bulgar wheat with just the tiniest bit of butter (like less than a tablespoon on the whole pot) and sprinkled with a bit of Romano again. Also, a glass of almond milk.

Will try to do some Yoga in a bit because I'm feeling very stiff today.

*Got in about 20 minutes of yoga tonight before my knee decided I was done. Munched some popcorn while we watched a movie and now a bit of tofu before I head to bed. Good night all!

MLK & S 12st. Giant Staircase!

I decided that climbing these steps was going to be my way of gauging my get healthy progress.

There are 90 steps that wind their way up a huge hill.

How this is going to work:

I don't believe in tracking progress with just the scale. I don't think that weighing yourself and not tracking anything else does you any good.

Weight can be misleading. If you gain muscle mass while getting leaner, toner, healthier, you can actually gain weight. It's a no-brainer, I know, but it can be really discouraging, too.

So, what we're going to do, is watch our food portions, be more active, and every week we're going to head down to these steps and time ourselves hitting them as hard as we can.

We went down tonight and, while I can't say I'm exactly proud of my time, it's not as bad as I was afraid it might be.

I made up the 90 steps and back down with a time of 3:21.31 and Carl was about 15 seconds ahead of me 3:06 and some change.

As far as I'm concerned, as long as I have a better time than the week before, I'll consider it a victory!

Check-In, Sunday.

Sausage biscuit for breakfast.

Trail Mix for my midmorning snack.

Almonds when it got way to late for me to not eat, but I couldn't take my lunch yet. Busy day at work with a huge sale and almost no overlap in my department. Went in at 7, got lunch at 1:10.

Salad with homemade corn salsa for lunch. Almond milk when I got home.

Dinner remains a mystery at this point because we're heading up to my dad's.

However, I did bring trail mix with so I didn't end of snacking on something I shouldn't have.

***Dinner at Dad's was pork barbeque, Dutchy-style (no sauce) with pickled cabbage. I had a glass of water and managed to completely avoid the potato chips that Gramma put out. I did however cave and had a cupcake.

***Tofu for an evening snack. However, at this point, I've apparently been up enough hours that my body thinks it needs another snack. I'm having a sausage biscuit.

I did the 15 minute Breath and Body Segment on my Yoga DVD tonight. Would have loved to to more, but my knee was finished before I was.

***10:20, still frickin' hungry. One slice of peanut butter bread.

Saturday Check-In

Sausage biscuit for breakfast. Again, almond milk, but I did actually bother with a glass today.

No mid-morning snack, that's gonna be hit or miss on Saturdays that I work.

Lunch was more of the Fajita Topped Salad from last night, and some almonds. I was also a little extra hungry because I missed my snack, so I also had about 1/2 a portion of my homemade trail mix.

Finished the partial bag of trail mix on the way home from work. Decided to join my mom for a walk, so I had a second bag of trail mix because dinner was going to be late compared to lunch.

Mom's making dinner now, steak and salad with strawberries!


I WALKED 2.5 MILES TODAY!!!

***Lucky me, dinner also included Fresh Pineapple!! For snack I had the last two of the goodies from my mother-in-law. (I did mention they're bite-sized, right?)

Food Check-In

Breakfast, a sausage sandwich one the way out the door and a couple swallows of Vanilla flavored Almond Milk. Right the carton. Yeah, I'm like that.

Mid morning Snack, more almonds.

Lunch, leftover Asian salad from last night, and because I got my lunch pretty late, I ate the trail mix I intended for my afternoon snack because I was still hungry.

No afternoon snack, because I ate it early.

Dinner/Supper/the meal I'm trying not to drop on the laptop, spicy, Fajita-style grilled chicken and bell peppers over spring mix with chopped tomatoes, tortilla chips and a small sprinkle of shredded cheese. For dressing, I used the Spicy Chipotle Vinagrette we made last night. Hubby had seconds, I am going to have a glass of Almond Milk instead.

So far, I feel like I'm doing pretty good.

***Evening snack time. Will raid the baked goods from Mom-in-law again. Only having two cookie/bear claw thingies.***