You Asked, I Answered

Not much excitement surrounded me today so I decided it would be the perfect time to answer all your questions that you asked abut me. You’ll find a Q&A between photos of my eats. ENJOY!! (And feel free to ask me more if you’d like!)

VeggieGirl

Question for you - what is one activity that you've been dying to try?

After spending as much time as I have been at the rink, I really have an urge to try hockey. I mean, REALLY. Too bad I can hardly skate! The boys (and my hubby) make it look so easy and fun. One of the other Mom’s on the team just started playing net on a team this year and I’m so jealous…although net would be dead last on which position I would want to play!

Breakfast

-1 cup coffee
-1/3 cup sunrise blend with quinoa
-pumpkin puree
-raisins
-cashew butter
-carob chips
-cinnamon sugar

Anon
when did your weight loss journey begin, and how is it juggling two young kids and a hubby?

I never had an issue maintaining a healthy wait until I had a hysterectomy almost 5 years ago. Very shortly afterwards I realized that my weight had gone up about 10lbs and I was starting to develop an unsightly “roll” around my abdomen that was much different from the after effects of giving birth. I vowed then (in the summer of 2005) that I would do what it took to get back into shape. I had gotten a treadmill for Christmas the year before and started using it every night. I also starting following Weight Watchers although I never officially “joined”. It took 9 months to get the weight off and I’ve pretty much kept it all off. AND I’m in great shape now….better than I’ve ever been. In order to not take time away from my family I always hopped on the treadmill or went for a walk after the kids went to bed. Now I use the office gym over my lunch hour to get it done. Sometimes when the weather is nice and I feel like a run, I’ll take the kids with me on their bikes. Where there is a will, there is a way!

Morning Snack
Cookies & Cream Luna bar
Now my favourite of all the Luna flavours I’ve tried. This was exactly like an Oreo cookie!!

Cassie

I was wondering what your growing up situation was--did you have brothers/sisters..and what did you participate in during high school

I am the oldest of 3 siblings. I have one brother who is 4 years younger than me and a sister who is 11.5yrs younger than me! I was definitely more athletic in high school than I was “brainy” and played volleyball and soccer and was on the cycling team. I tried cheerleading in grade 9 and quickly realized that it was NOT my cup of tea!

GYM

Time: 45 minutes
Avg Hr: 166
Max Hr: 185
Calories Torched: 483
Distance: 4.4 mile on the treadmill

Lunch (sad as it was!)
All I could scrounge up in our next to empty fridge was leftover barley, peas and the carrots. Thank God I’m grocery shopping tomorrow!! Somehow a few of these made it past my lips, too!

Faith

what's your favourite dish (to make or eat)?, and what would you do if you could do anything for a day

I don’t really have a favourite dish to eat, but I do like to make lasagna. I like all the different steps involved in the process because cooking/baking is a huge stress reliever for me. Being in the kitchen always relaxes and calms me.

Afternoon Snack
GRAPES! I’ve been seriously lacking in the produce area of my eats but I think I made up for it today!!! :D

Julie

I wanna know how you and your hubs met

Well, let see….I met him in the earlier part of January 1995 through a friend that I worked with. I had a BF at the time and it turned out that he started dating said BF’s sister. We got to know each other better and soon ditched the “others” and started dating by the end of March. I know, it didn’t take long at all! :D The following year (July 1996) we moved in together and then we got married in May of ’98. We were both 24….

Dinner
I roasted up a pork tenderloin and served it with some edamame and leftover jade grain blend. There’s also some Ted Readers peach bourbon sauce for dipping.

I bought a new tea the other night that I wanted to share with you.

It’s coconut rum….how could I leave that in the store??? And it’s very, very good!

I hope you enjoyed this Q&A post! I’ll leave you with a picture of the necklace I wore to work today. It’s one of my favourite ones to wear in the colder seasons;

Bye for now!!

Dinner On The Run

Hi guys!! Everyone have a good hump day? I’m betting that quite a few of you are uber excited for tomorrow, no?? LOL! Well, the day dawned foggy, damp and wet. Better than snow any day, I say! This time last year we already had a whack of the white stuff. I just hope we don’t get majorly dumped on when it does decide to rear its ugly white head!
-1/2 cup water, ½ cup USVAB
-1/4 cup Quaker oats
-1/2 cup Weetabix crumbs
-cinnamon
-pumpkin puree
-crunchy PB & chocolate honey
LOVE!

Work was busy today so it went FAST. Before I knew it, it was almost lunch. I pulled out my snack and went to town!
The cranberry orange nut bread Clif bar is awesome! Has anyone else tried it yet? I loved the strong orange vs. the subtle cranberry. I really, really hope I can find the season Clif’s around here ASAP!

It was hot date Wednesday with good ole Mr. Elliptical today! He’s a pro at getting me all hot and sweaty! :D

Time: 45 minutes
Avg Hr: 147
Max Hr: 168
Calories Torched: 393
Distance: 4.5 miles

Lunch was the last Al Fresco chicken sausage with a nice helping of jade grain blend. I added a wee bit of butter to moisten the grains up and oh la la, the fabulous flavour!! There was also some really good quality Dijon for dipping.
When the clock struck 4:30 I was out the door faster than a cat with turpentine up its ass! I had 30 minutes to pick up the fam and drive to the next town over (about 20 minutes away) so that DS was ready to get on the ice for a 5:20 training sesh with his team at the Hockey Loft. PHEW! As per the menu plan for tonight, last night I made the chicken Caesar salad wraps for the fam. Mine contained goat brie and chicken tossed in a raspberry walnut dressing.
YUM! Although it was a bit awkward to eat in the Jeep! And the picture is REALLY bad! ;)

I just sat down to watch “The Biggest Loser: Where Are They Now?” Should be an interesting show! I’m definitely curious to see what some of the contestants look like after life on the ranch!

Bye for now!!

A New Chocolate Bar

It has been foggy and overcast all day today. Usually the fog burns off mid morning so it’s odd to see that it’s still hanging around. Eerie! I started the day off with a bit of a sleep in seeing as I’m on 8:30am start this week. Almost felt like a weekend! I made a great breakfast, too!
-1 cup USVAB
-1/4 cup polenta
-cinnamon
-1/2 cup frozen blueberries
-chopped walnuts
I loved this meal. It was completely satisfying. Polenta and blueberries are a great mix, really. Just give my Blueberry Almond Cornbread a try!

Work was the usual today. Earning a few more dollars, anyways! There was an open house in one of the departments today so I popped by at break and grabbed a few treats;
This plate of goodies became my pre workout snack!

The gym was on the warm side again today so I stuck to a 10 minutes mile so as not to get that gross sick feeling I got last week when it was a sauna in there.

Time: 40 minutes
Avg Hr: 164
Max Hr: 183
Calories Torched: 446
Distance: 4 miles

Lunch of course was the rest of last night’s dinner. I didn’t bother with any pasta today though because the sauce had thickened up so it was more like rich turkey stew than anything.
This smelled wonderful! I actually had a few people comment on the aroma as I pulled it out of the microwave. The turkey stayed nice and moist and this little bit filled my belly right up. Enough so that I didn’t bother with an afternoon snack like I usually do.

I made myself some baked tofu tonight. I let it soak up some soy sauce and OJ while the oven was pre heating to get all nice and flavourful. I baked it up for 20 min at 375*. I served it along side some steamed vegetables and jade grain blend mix;

DD helped me out with the tofu…too much for me! Here’s what’s in the grain blend; Dessert was another of Manon’s raw mini orange cheesecakes, but no picture tonight! Most things look bad with the flash, some just look awful and these little gems are way to good to look crappy.

I stopped by the health food store after Pilate’s hoping that they would have the seasonal Clif bars by now. No such luck. I did find this gorgeous chocolate bar, though;

Check out this link for more info and a better picture! This chocolate is very intense in flavour and has some crispiness to it from the cacao nibs. YUM!

Well, the Biggest Loser is on now so that means I’m outta here!!

Bye for now!!

Halloween Festivities

I was up earlier than usual this morning. I think it was the excitement of us getting all dressed up in our costumes! Even better was the fact that my outfit required yoga pants, hardly any make up and a pony tail! I was downstairs 15 minutes earlier than if I was getting dolled up for a regular day at work! Before we get to the fun photos, let check out breakfast;

-1 cup coffee
-1/3 cup oat bran
-chocolate honey
-Enjoy Life Foods mountain mix

I pretty much inhaled that. I might’ve even burnt my tongue a bit! ;)

The kids picked out fairly easy costumes this year. DS wanted to be Bumble Bee the Transformer;

And DD went to what she calls a “dead” person:

LOL! Let me tell you….the cats DID NOT appreciate their get ups! They freaked right the hell out! It was kinda funny, actually. Once their hair and tails puffed out they looked like true Halloween cats. And here I am…hockey player extraordinaire;

I know, the pink slippers sealed the deal!! Everyone was impressed with A) my black eye and B) the fact that I fit into my 7yr olds hockey gear! Well, the helmet is DD’s, but she’s only 10. :D Apparently I look like a 12yr old boy in this shot!

Here are a few pumpkins from the pumpkin carving contest;

Yes, some of my co-workers have a “sick” sense of humour! I also had the pleasure of posing with a witch;

And we had a show girl and an official Olympic drug tester in the house;

A ghoul dropped in;

And Dora even took time off from her adventure’s to pay us a visit!

ROFL!!! :D

There was a potluck over the noon hour with tons of food. I don’t remember/know all that was on my plate, but here it is;

That was some wicked spinach salad so I had more of that. I kept the treats on the light side with a piece of pecan apple pie (to die for), a small piece of pumpkin crisp and some fruit (which was eaten later on in the day);

I just went with a light supper seeing as lunch was heavier than normal. I also used up a few leftovers while I was at it.

This is the last of my tofu, jade grain blend and some broccoli & yellow bell peppers all mixed up with a few spoonfuls of Ted Readers peach bourbon sauce.

We left for hockey right after dinner and when we got back home my hubby and the kids carved the pumpkins. This is one “job” that he likes to do every year. The kids get to gut the pumpkin for him…

Don’t they look impressed? :) I enjoyed a bowl of Nature’s Path Flax Plus Maple Pecan Crunch cereal for a snack;

Here’s the finished product!!

Pretty neat, eh? I think they did a great job!

Anyways, the time grows late and I still need to assemble treat bags for the boys on the hockey team tomorrow! Have a great Friday night!

Bye for now!!

How Long Does It Take You To Get To Bed?

Even though I got to bed later than I wanted and New Moon sucked me in again last night, I woke feeling pretty well rested. My game plan for last night was turn TV off at 10, make lunches, then go to bed. This is what ended up happening;

*Turn TV off at 10, go make lunches turned into
*loading/starting dishwasher, hand washing stragglers that didn’t fit turned into
*gathering the 3 cats (no easy feat) and putting them into the laundry room AKA their bedroom for the night turned into
*filling the food/water bowls, scooping cat litter turned into
*Finding laundry in the dryer turned into
*folding laundry and bringing upstairs turned into
*putting laundry away and taking tags off of new jeans that we bought DS turned into
*Setting out his clothes for today
and FINALLY getting to the washroom to prepare my bod for some sleep….after reading New Moon, of course. Now it’s 11:15pm and I’m wondering how the heck that happened!

Is anybody else guilty of doing this at “bedtime”? It’s apparent that I have to start preparations at 9 to actually get to bed by 10ish. LOL!

Here’s breakfast, which I remembered to photograph today!

-1 cup water
-1/3 cup sunrise blend with quinoa
-cinnamon
-pumpkin puree
-craisins
-almond butter (!!)
-cinnamon sugar

I had some odds and ends to clear up at work so the morning passed quite nicely. I broke at noon for my very last Mountain Mix Clif Mojo bar;

I’ll never get sick of this bar and have plans to stock up in a few weeks when I’m in the US.

I was pretty stoked when I heard that yoga had been cancelled today and that the gym would be available! I ended up enjoying a nice run while watching divine design!

Time: 45 minutes
Avg Hr: 158
Max Hr: 180
Calories Burned: 447
Distance: 4.5 miles

I warmed up lunch on the late side again today. 2:30 to be exact. Dinner was so tasty last night that I had it again! Only this time you get it all mixed up!

Red kidney beans, jade grain blend and PC Roma tomato sauce. I forgot to mention yesterday that the reason I bought this sauce in the first place was that it was marked down to 50% off. The one grocery store near me is renovating and I think they’re trying to clear some product out. It’s not something I would normally buy as it’s quite pricy for the size of the jar.

I snacked on some grapes; too while plugging away at some monotonous paperwork later in the afternoon;

I had just enough time after picking the kids up to go home and change before I had to head out again to take DD to skating. I shared some of my TJ’s chocolate bar with the newest member of our family;

While DD was on the ice I hopped over to Zehrs to pick up a few items that I can’t find at my usual haunt. When I saw that Lara Bars were on sale 3/$5 AND that they had the new PB&J flavour, i had to pick some up! The other 2 were coconut cream pie and pecan;

I haven’t bought any bars in a while cuz I had an overload of Clif bars to eat, but I’m down to 2 of those so this purchase was justified! :D I’m holding out another 2 weeks to see if I can score any of the seasonal flavours while in the States.

I had snagged us each a corned beef sandwich from a meeting at work for dinner which got rounded out by some cut up melon that I got at the store.

This was eaten at the rink once skating was over because we were hanging around to watch friend’s of ours son play a game. I had these little guys for dessert!

So now it’s almost 10 and we just got the kids settled into bed. Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day! The kids will be dressing up in their costumes for school, there’s a big potluck lunch at work and a pumpkin carving contest AND I’ll be dressing up, too! Please come back to visit tomorrow to read about all the fun. I’ll likely be posting a bit later because DS has a game and them we’ll be carving our pumpkins.

In blogger contest news, head on over and pay Cassie a visit at A Pinch of This and a Pinch of That for a really fantastic Nature Valley give away. This is one prize that you do not want to miss!!!

Bye for now!!