Archive for the ‘Walk’ Category

Mushaboom

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

Tomorrow is Friday.  Where did the week go?!  I love when that happens.  Disappearing weeks should be mandatory for all federal government employees.  And for everybody.

I Eat

Oats in a jar should also be a mandatory breakfast every single Wednesday.  Too bad the lighting wasn’t agreeing with my camera – most of the shots didn’t turn out.

oct22 011

Believe me when I say this jar was loaded with oat bran and t-mix toppings.  Of course, there was a ridiculous amount of peanut butter consumed, too.  I think that might just be the secret to having a good hump day: eat excessive nut butter.

Today’s oats were way more photogenic.  They must have seen ANTM last night.

oct22 030

oct22 035

This was 1/2 c. oat bran + 1/2 c. almond milk + 1 c. water + 1/2 nan + cinnamon + almond slices + pumpkin seeds + flax + peanut butter + cinnamon.

I love you.

oct22 037

The infamous Crate and Barrel spoon that shows up in oat bowls around the blogosphere is great because it’s small, which makes Oat Devourers slow down the devouring process.  However, it lacks a sharp edge.  That means I can’t scrape every last ounce of yum out of my bowl, which leads me to consider licking the bowl. 

This, friends, is one of the joys of being a single girl and eating breakfast in solitude. ;)

Last night’s supper was kind of lacking in, I don’t know, a lot.  I took a chicken breast and covered it with some dijon + rosemary + salt n pepa and baked it, paired it with some mashed taters (eeee! yum) and steamed carrots, and declared it dinner.

oct22 019

And no, this is not a full sized dinner plate – I like the taters, but not that much.

The rest of the chicken + tato leftovers were lunch at work today.

oct22 016

Up close and personal with the rosemary.

I turned into a munch face after and snacked the night away!  It’s that darn Bear Naked Banana Nut granola.  Killing me slowly.

Tonight’s supper could easily win me number one spot in the most pathetic looking plate category for the food photography awards.

But it tasted awesome!

oct22 043

There was no way to make this look nice.  Maybe if I stood the toast upright and drew a face on it with ketchup, it would have been an improvement.

oct22 040

Inside the double egg omelette was mushies + spinach + green onion.  Normally I throw the shrooms in raw, but tonight I cooked them a bit first and it made a big difference.  Way tastier, much more mushaboom.

I Move

Wednesday – I savoured my rest day and did nothing. :) Well, I walked to work, but that was it.

Thursday – Walked to work, ran on the treadmill after work.  Have you ever tried a new cardio machine and because you’re not used to it, find it hard to get a sense of balance?  I’ve tried two different treadmills at the office gym, and for both of them, it takes me the first third of my time to stop feeling like I’m going to fall off the side.  I was actually running and holding onto the machine with one hand for a few minutes.  It’s the strangest feeling… please don’t tell me I’m the only one!

Alright, time to get ready for Friday.  I’m sensing a good weekend on the horizon… partly because two foodie favourites are coming – potluck and sushi.  No weekend can be bad when it includes both those! 

Have a good one, and thanks for stopping by Oatonomy. :)

Adi

Stretch A Turkey

Friday, October 16th, 2009

Wouldn’t it be great if Thanksgiving was every single day for the rest of time?  I think it would be.  In honour of that, I ate lots of leftover turkey.  It’s gone now… but it was delish while it was around.

It didn’t make any oat appearances, though.

I Eat

Another bowl of Thanksgiving oats 1/2 c. oat bran + 1 c. water + 1/2 c. almond milk + 1/2 c. pumpkin + pumpkin pie spice + honey + cranberry sauce + chewy granola crumbles + almond butter.

oct15 009

Another bowl of pumpkin oats this morning, but with raspberries and the largest blob of almond butter I could scoop.

oct15 027

… in my new Crate & Barrel bowl + spoon.  Yippee!

I don’t photograph my lunches anymore, but I had a pretty Thanksgiving salad (if you put turkey in something, you can call it “Thanksgiving _____.”  Just because.).

oct15 021

… yes, raspberries were on sale.

oct15 023

No turkey in this supper, sadly. 

oct15 014

Mom’s spaghetti sauce + rice noodles + broccoli.

oct15 017

And tonight, Thanksgiving stir fry.

oct15 035

Buried brown rice + zucchini + yellow pepper + broccoli + mushrooms + onion + carrot + turkey + garlic salt + soy sauce + ginger + garlic + lemon juice.

And leftovers for lunch. 

I Move

Yesterday, it was back to hot yoga.  I hadn’t been in two weeks and really didn’t have much energy, so I couldn’t hold my poses for as long or go into them as far, but today I woke up feeling sore.  Guess I worked out some muscles!

I had packed my gym bag to go right after work.  I stepped outside, saw how beautiful it was outside, and knew the last place I wanted to be was the dark basement gym.  So instead, I walked home from work and then biked to and from home church.  My heart was a pumpin’!  It felt great to breathe in cold air and bike fast.  Way better than the gym.

And tomorrow is Friday!  I have a great weekend coming up – hope you do too!

Adi

“Ur-INe The Wrong Place”

Saturday, September 26th, 2009

Today, I did two new things.

1. I walked into a men’s washroom.  Into a man peeing at a urinal.  I turned around, ran away, and hope I can forget this special moment forever.

2. I stayed on the elliptical machine for one whole hour.  Why?  I was planning on doing my hour of power (an hour of cardio split between three or four different machines) but the thought of walking to new machines seemed like too much effort.  I know, pathetic.  And then I thought, what happens when you reach one hour?  The digits run out on the screen, there’s no extra space.  I was hoping it would be as cool as when the gas stations ran out of space to put the extra digit up when gas went over a buck a litre.  And then I thought, after an hour of cardio there must be some sort of prize!  Sirens will go off!  Gold coins will shoot out of somewhere!  Know what happens after an hour?

“Cool Down”.  The machine tells me to end.  Boring.

But oats aren’t boring!  Bring on the breakfast recap.

I Eat

sept25 006

1/2 c. oat bran + 1 c. water + 1/2 c. almond milk + 1/2 nan + unsweetened coconut + dried apricots + flax seed + almond butter + cinnamon + raisins.  Woooo!

sept25 010

This bowl of regular oats featured jam.  I’m not crazy about jam on oats, but I was sick of the same old, same old.

sept25 033

And today, the same oat bran deal, but different toppings.

sept25 049

sept25 050

My morning tea the other day made me feel great about lazy moments.  Isn’t it awesome when your tea tells you things that make you feel good?   Tetley, please attach inspirational messages to your tea bags.  One that says “dreaming about running away to a tropical island with a bag of great books and a sack of oatmeal is totally normal” would be good.

sept25 002

Other eats were leek and potato soup (easiest ever to make – I will try to post the recipe soon), some sammy action, some half sammy for snacking, stir fry and stir fry again.

 sept25 043

sept25 045

Oh puppy bowl.  I love thee.

sept25 040

Laughing cow light cheese is fabulous, but I’m not sure my tummy is convinced of that.  … I don’t know if I’ll buy the love triangles again or not.

sept25 055

sept25 060

This is leftovers.  The original supper was actually quite ugly.  So I had this twice. :)

And melon has become popular lately.

sept25 024

As have the never ending gluten free muffins that are still in my freezer.  There must be muffin fairies living in there, forever restocking that freezer bag.  They need to be eaten (I couldn’t bear to throw them away) but I’m getting tired of them.  Really.  I am.

I Move

On Wednesday night, I tried hot yoga again with a friend.  I enjoyed it this time more than last.  The instructor turned the heat up gradually, so I didn’t have the nostrils-on-fire feeling right from the beginning.  I was totally mellow and absolutely starving to the point of delirium after the class, so I went home and mauled that stir fry while in a zen-like state.  We’re going to try to go once a week, but right now I have a week of unlimited sessions.  Tomorrow morning?  Sweaty time!

Thursday I’m counting my hour of walking (that’s my total commute time to and from the office) as my exercise.  I soaked up some nice weather…

And today, yeah, the hour of power that amounted to absolutely nothing exciting, as you already know.

20-Day Total Health Challenge

My last post, I mentioned the 20-Day Total Health Challenge that I’ve embarked on, and maybe you have, too.  A few of you said you’re going to do your own… excellent!  My calendar is filling up with lovely coloured stars as I meet daily total health goals.  I confess that I haven’t met every goal each day, but that’s okay.  Perfection isn’t the goal!  I’m getting better at drinking water at work, and eating dinner at the table, although not as comfy as the couch, is becoming more routine.  How is your challenge coming along?  It’s only day 4 for me, so 16 more to go…

Enjoy your weekend!

Adi

It’s back. Finally.

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

This just in: Tim Horton’s Pumpkin Spice Tea is back.  Yes, now!  Hurry to a Timmy’s near you to get some, before I beat you there and clean out their stash.

At least, the Timmy’s I was at had it… it’s the best part of fall!  Yes!

It’s definitely been cool in the mornings here and the sun is taking its sweet time rising.  That’s the perfect recipe for oatmeal and no morning workouts. :)

I do miss the morning workouts because they’re the best way to start my day, but, I don’t miss wanting to eat paper off my desk at work because I’m so hungry, no matter how much food I devour.

I Eat

Speaking of devouring food, I was loving this bowl of oatmeal.  How lovely to eat regular ol’ oats.

sept20 003

1/2 c. oats + 1/2 c. almond milk + 1/2 c. water + 1/2 c. pumpkin + cinnamon + pumpkin spice + raisins + roasted soy nuts + slivered almonds + pumpkin seeds + peanut butter.

sept20 006

Saturday’s breakfast wasn’t the usual.  I was jonesing for eggs, which doesn’t usually happen at breakfast time.  I went with it.

sept20 017

I threw in green onion to the egg when I was making him.  Adds to the yummage.  With some gf flax bread + honey dew + grapes, all was well on a Saturday.

sept20 021

sept20 020

A couple random weekend lunches…

1 can tuna + dollop of Miracle Whip + green onion + dijon + curry powder + raisins on spinach.  Kind of all over the place.  The side of instant miso soup added to the confusion.

sept20 029  

sept20 032

sept20 035

And some more soup, of the chicken + veggie variety with a side of kale + spinach that I sauteed in some marg + lemon juice + sea salt and a tom + laughing cow fromage sandwich, too.

sept20 054

Good stuff.  Oh yeah, and the other day at work I had this as part of my lunch:

sept17 035

It was better than I was expecting – but I wasn’t expecting much, so that doesn’t tell you anything.  It was good, and I bought another one.  That tells you something.

I had some more leftover dairy free, gluten free mac and cheese but I beefed it up with some steamed broccoli.

sept20 014

It just dawned on me that “beefing up with broccoli” is an oxymoron.  Isn’t it?  Or is that another grammar lesson I misunderstood (there were a lot of those)?  … admits the communications graduate.

Last night I was feeling autumnish after drinking pumpkin tea by the river, life-chatting with a couple friends.  Roasted something was on the menu for supper.  I ended up with roasted butternut squash + red peppers + onion + olive oil + garlic + thyme + rosemary  + s ‘n’ p and chicken thighs for some protein.

sept20 043

This was pretty much finito after 40 minutes in a 400F oven, baked on the convection setting.  I served it with basmati rice.

These suppers are easy, fast and have the comforting, cozy vibe to them.  Who knew chicken thighs could give off a vibe?  I’ve only used chicken thighs once before and I’m not crazy about their lack of edible meat, but they work when you have nothing else (or want to buy cheap meat).

There have been no shortage of desserts these days!

Lots of applesauce + gf muffins + fruit (and almond butter straight off the giant spoon) has been popping up on my plate lately.  I’m not complaining! 

And did I mention all the muffins?  I may, or may not, be eating another one now.  The faster I eat them, the sooner they are gone. ;)

I Bake

I made these oat bran/cinnamon muffins for a friend.  My mom says the family loves these ones and they sure smelled good, so I’ll take her word for it and hope I didn’t insult a friend by giving her yucky ones.  If you’re interested, here’s the recipe.

sept20 022

I added about 1 tsp vanilla + 1 tsp cinnamon + half tsp nutmeg to the mix, and left out 1 tbsp of oil.  It would be an easy recipe to add in other things, like nuts or dried fruit or apple pieces.

I Move

Friday night I went to the gym for a short cardio session and some core work.  It was a light workout – Friday ones usually work out that way.  On Saturday, I did lots of walking for errands and decided that an at-home strength workout while watching bad television was exactly what I needed.  I did a 40 minute session of mostly upper body strength, and a tiny bit of lower body, using 8 pound weights and my yoga mat.

Speaking of yoga, I’ll be trying hot yoga again with a friend this week.  I’m excited because I enjoyed my first (and only) experience a few months ago.  There’s something great about standing in one spot and sweating like a piglet in Arizona, while exerting no effort.  Add lots of stretching to that and really, how can anyone not feel mellow afterward?  I’ll keep you posted on how this goes!  I’ve been looking for a new activity for the winter months and this might be it – anything that involves extra heat when it’s cold out is a very good thing.

Off to do some more walking and then sushi with a few friends.  I’m thinking this upcoming week I’ll be ready to get my heart rate jumping again.

Enjoy your Sundays!  (Or sundaes, if you so desire.)

Adi

O Canada

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

Yawwwwwwn.

Tiredness has sunken in and it’s not leaving.  I slept for 10 hours last night and I’m still really tired. 

I zombie-walked to the kitchen and made this for breakfast, served in fine china.

july1 001

july1 004

No need for toppings today – not feeling it. 

This was 1/2 c. oat bran + almond milk + half a nan + handful of raisins + cinnamon.

The almond butter was already built into the bowl.  How convenient.

july1 010

I wasn’t about to leave a speck uneaten.

I thought a walk might help wake me up and feel a little better… not so much.  I walked for an hour and now I just feel more tired than before.

So with that – I’m going back to sleep!  Whatever “this” is, it’s put a serious damper on my Canada Day plans.  Hanging out with friends at a BBQ is way more fun than sleeping.  But, being sick for the rest of the week isn’t nice, either.

Before I drift off to la-la land, a big shout to my Dad!  Happy birthday to The Popsman!

Adi