Sprinkled

The longest week ever is slowly coming to an end? yayyy!! I?m taking this Friday off work to drive to Halifax, Nova Scotia to visit my best friend from high school. Her birthday was yesterday, so we thought a b-day celebration and some girly time was in order. I haven?t seen her in over a year!!

Also fun is that one of my friends from work is coming with me for the 5-hour drive. Otherwise it would be mega boring!

Anyways, as I teased yesterday, I had a stellar breakfast on Tuesday that I simply must share.

Sigh. It?s photos like these that make me love my Canon Rebel. Worth every penny I didn?t pay ;) In the tupperware dish went:

1 cup 1% low-sodium cottage cheese
1 packet stevia
1/3 cup frozen blueberries
cinnamon
1 tbsp almond butter
2 tbsp coconut chia granola

I?ve been struggling to find satisfying cold breakfasts for when I get to work after the gym in the mornings. But this was verrry tasty and made me happy till snack time at approximately 10:30am.

Oh! Speaking of workouts! I had a good one on Tuesday too that I want to share in case you feel like stealing. It was treadmill + full-body weights.

Treadmill ? 1% incline

Minutes
Speed – MPH


0-5
3.5


5-6
5.5


6-7
6.0


7-8
5.5


8-9
6.0


9-10
5.5


1-11
6.0


11-12
6.5


12-13
6.0


13-14
6.5


14-15
6.0


15-16
6.5


16-17
7.0


17-18
6.5


18-19
7.0


19-20
6.5


20-21
7.0


21-22
7.5


22-23
7.0


23-24
7.5


24-25
7.0

Holy smokes. My heart rate reached 183 bpm during this which is ultra high for me. A good kinda high though. I?m one of those people who quits when it gets too hard, so I like it when I can push through and live to tell the tale :)

 

Exercise
Weight
Reps
Sets


One arm dumbbell snatch 
20 lbs
8-12
3

 

Exercise
Weight
Reps
Sets


Step-up 
55 lbs
8-12
3


One-point dumbbell row
55 lbs
8-12
3

 

Exercise
Weight
Reps
Sets


Lunge with twist
11 lbs
16
3


Wide-grip lat pulldown 
50 lbs
8-12
3

 

Exercise
Weight
Reps
Sets


Medicine ball squat 
11 lbs
15
3


Russian twist 
11 lbs
30
3


Lying medicine ball throw 
11 lbs
15
3


Pullover to ball crunch
11 lbs
15
3

 

Another workout I made up as I went along! I try not to do too many isolation moves in my full-body workouts, but rather compound moves that work multiple muscles, as well as working my stabilizing muscles.

Now we must go from the crisp Canon shots, to cell phone photos!! Boooo. For a mediocre photographer, I?m a complete picture snob. I?m embarrassed to be posting these! But I guess good food sometimes trumps picture quality.

This is the stir fry I made for my mom and I last night. It was a mix of packaged teriyaki tofu, leftover roast chicken, frozen Asian veggie mix, basmati rice, Bragg?s and Diana?s teriyaki sauce. It was really, really good. Add stir-fry to the list of delicious things to make with roast chicken leftovers.

I can?t help myself, I also have to show you this embarrassing photo of breakfast this morning. I skipped Waffle Wednesday in lieu of an Oatmeal Wednesday. Sometimes you just gotta go with your cravings!

This wasn?t any bowl of oats though. It was a bowl of Ellie?s apple and cheddar oatmeal. I made my usual custard oats (with a whole egg whisked in), and cooked half an apple in it, then topped with old cheddar. (we call it ?old? in Canada, much harsher sounding than ?sharp? or ?mature? cheese) It was really good! But I think I put too much cheese on top, it was more like a bowl of melted cheese with oats and apples thrown in ;)

Okay, back to the good pictures!

I?ve decided I?m going to be one of those people who drinks tea at the office. You know the type (heck, you probably are the type). I dug into the Yogi Tea Adrien sent me for my Bloggie Secret Valentine gift.

First up was the Chai Rooibos. Chosen first because I love both chai and rooibos. It did not disappoint!

Then in the afternoon, I tore into the Green Tea Kombucha.

 
I had low expectations as I?m not a huge green tea fan, and I?ve heard gross things about kombucha. Which by the way, is fermented tea.

This stuff however was actually yummy! The spearmint in it helped take the edge off the usual bitterness of green tea.

It wasn?t till the second bag that I noticed there?s messages on the tag.

 

My mind is totally in the gutter with this one.

Today is my rest day from the gym, which means it?s my hungriest day of the week. I rushed home to get started on dinner asap.

 
A Gardein Sante Fe Chick?n Good Stuffs on top of spinach, mushrooms, onions and green pepper sautéed in olive oil. (the real stuff! Gotta my fat in for Fatty February)

 
I really like the flavour of these Gardein things. Even though I find the idea of them to be kinda strange.

My evening snack was colourful.

 
A small dish of April?s protein cookie dough. Which is 1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder mixed into a goo by adding water. I of course added chocolate chips and sprinkles because I can?t help myself. Can?t forget the glob of PB too!

All swirled up and eaten slooowly. This was real thick tonight and almost like eating fudge off my spoon. I can see how April is so obsessed with it! It?s tasty and fun to eat!

 

Well that wraps it up for tonight. It?s 9:20 and I?m heading straight to bed. Gotta start getting my beauty sleep in preparation for the weekend ;) Don?t forget! If you want to join in on the blogger fun for lunch in Halifax on Sunday, pop me an e-mail at thegreatbalancingact@gmail.com. Can?t wait to meet all you fab ladies!!!

 

Question of the Day: What ?childish? food do you still eat? Sprinkles and mashmallow fluff top that list for me. Although cheestrings and mini cartons of raisins are staple around here. I?ve been experimenting with a lot of baby food lately too!