Found my Bounce

Today was the first day in over a week that I woke up with a bounce in my step. Welcome back, energy!!! Very nice to see/feel you again! I’m on later start at work this week so I even got to sleep a half hour more than usual! AND, I was very excited about the breakfast that was waiting for me in the fridge! Can you tell that my Monday started out great?

Before I went to bed last night I combined 1 cup of water, 1/3 cup steel cut oats, a handful of dried goji berries and cinnamon in a bowl. I covered the mixture up and popped it in the fridge to soak over night. This morning I tossed it in the microwave for one minute, pulled it out added a mashed banana and gave it a good stir. Back in the nuker it went for 3 more minutes to get all thick and creamy…
Then I topped it off with some slivered almonds. The result was a fabulous, filling bowl of deliciousness! You can bet on seeing this method again on my blog!!!
I spent the day keypunching at work. This may sound boring (and it is), but today was the perfect day for it because I was able to let my mind wander to all the baking I had planned for later in the day! Read on, my friends! Part way through the morning I noticed these guys in the office candy bowl…
I love Swedish berries and can go overboard on them VERY fast so I pulled out my container of nature’s candy!! Check out these figs that I found at the Bulk Barn yesterday…
Yowzers, they’re big! I only bought 4 because they were a wee bit pricey, but man, are they tasty nuggets!! All together with their cousins, Parnoosh dates! :)
The return of my spunk brought about one helluva a fantastic, sweaty workout today! PHEW! First, I did 30 minutes on the elliptical. I set the resistance to L3 and kept my speed between 7-7.5mph. Then I spent 20 minutes catching up on the BBBC. I still need to do few more to be up to date, but here’s what I accomplished today…

*3 sets of 10 front arm raises (7lbs weights)
*3 sets of 10 side arm raises (7lbs weights)
*3 sets of 10 (girly) push ups
*3 sets of 10 tricep dips
*3 sets of 50 bicycle crunches
*2 sets of 10 side steps
*3 sets of 10 squats on the BOSU (very tough!!)

I split the exercises up and did a bit of a circuit with them to give my muscles a bit of a break between sets. I know 7lbs isn’t very heavy, but I am VERY wimpy in the arms and 5lbs is what I usually use, so I did upgrade. Here’s the damage;

Time: 50 minutes
Avg Hr: 158
Max Hr: 179
Calories Burned: 441
Distance: 3.5 miles on elliptical

I’m feeling pretty stellar about that!! Especially after my bum week last week!

I really had my thinking cap on before I hit the sack last night because I remembered to pull a serving of buttered “chickpeas” out of the freezer for my lunch today! (For those who are wondering what the heck buttered chickpeas are, I used a butter chicken recipe and ditched the chicken part in place of a can of chickpeas!) I turned it into a bit of a soup by adding about a half cup of water and tossing in a few handfuls of spinach and a good few shakes of nutritional yeast. I gave it a stir before warming it up to make sure the NY was mixed in well.
This was fabulous and really hit the spot after that workout! Later on in the day I ate a chopped up apple and orange….
My fruit supply is running low although I realized while eating this that I forgot about the 2 kiwi that still need to be consumed! Ah, there’s always tomorrow!!

On top of tonight being dance night for DD, DS started soccer and I had a physio appointment at 7pm. B-U-S-Y!!! Thankfully, there are only 3 weeks left of dance and I scheduled my next appointment for a night other than Monday. (When I made this one I didn’t know soccer would be starting). Needless to say, dinner was on the fly! I made my go-to meal of choice….egg whites on a toasted English muffin with a LC cheese wedge and Sabra hummus. I also sautéed up some fiddle heads in avocado oil.
How about that? YUM ! For my sweet end I ate the banana bread mini loaf that I brought in my lunch but didn't eat. After I took the photo I smeared it with homemade PB.
What a treat! Then I ate one of these Lindt chocolates that I got for Mother's Day...
So fast forwarding to now, which is 8:30pm....I have a crock pot full of banana bread oats that's almost done. My version has 5 mashed bananas, 1/2 cup golden raisins, 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, 1 tbsp cinnamon and a shake of nutmeg. I also used 3/4 cup of Egg Beaters and a 1/2 cup of chai tea concentrate and 1.5 cups water. The oats are the same as Sarah's measurements. In the oven I have 2 versions of the Hungry Girl banana bread recipe that I always make. Version #1 has the usual subs of 2 tbsp of agave in place of Splenda and I was out of plain applesauce so I used a 1/2 cup of strawberry flavoured applesauce. I also added a 1/3 cup of carob chips. Version # 2 has the agave/Splenda sub plus I had to use a 1/2 cup of baby food prunes....hey! I had to use something!! and a 1/3 cup of dried fruit. I used my mini loaf pans again as the recipe calls for 8 servings anyways. This way I don't have to cut the slices!! They should be almost done so I will take lots of pic's a post them tomorrow! Just to note, I used up 12 of the el-cheapo bananas tonight!!! :)

I also cleaned a big bag of fiddle heads.
I won't lie, this is a big pain in the ass but SO worth it! Tomorrow I will steam them and prepare them for the freezer. Needless to say, it's been a busy one but I am so grateful to have my mojo back that I feel great about it!

Physio went well, too! I've got the OK to hop back on the treadmill at the end of the week for a slow run to see how my ankles take it. Very exciting!! Before you shut down for the night, please go on over to Oh She Glows and check out the info Angela has posted regarding a most awesome auction that she will be holding on Tuesday, May 19. All the proceeds will go to cancer research. You will not believe some of the goods up for grabs....Coach, anyone????? Have a great night!

Bye for now!!