Alive and Kicking

Yay for Thursday, friends. We're inching closer to the weekend and sprinkles of fall are finally in the air here in the Windy City. No more blah for me today, either! I plowed through some intense elliptical work for 30 minutes this afternoon and added another 20-minute walk outside. I *had* to get out of the house today. I spend a lot of my day working at the computer. With the sun behind the clouds and a cool lingering in the air, it seemed like the perfect time to head outside. With various errands to run, I earned a total of 10,478 steps (thank you Omron pedometer) for Thursday. I feel good!

I was craving eggs this morning, so I cooked up two eggs with pepper and chives on a Arnold multi-grain sandwich thin for breakfast. I also had some mixed berries and an iced coffee.

Ryan and I are heading to Michigan tomorrow for some Michigan State football this weekend, so for lunch we wanted to use up a few items that have been in our fridge for a bit. We resorted to our trusty Rising Moon Ravioli, Butternut Squash-style. Ryan also cooked up some Rinaldi pasta sauce with garlic and red wine vinegar, plus BelGioioso parmesan cheese. I also had some mixed greens on the side with tomatoes, cucumber, beets (!!!), and some olive oil and vinegar on top. While not incredibly eventful, it was good good good!

I spent a part of my afternoon brushing up on a new CMS program and wrapping up additional odds and ends. Once all was said and done, I grabbed my first apple of the fall -- my absolute favorite, Michigan McIntosh Apples -- for a snack. I added two tablespoons of reduced fat Jif on the side. Love this snack! For those apple lovers out there, what else do you pair 'em up with besides peanut butter?

Dinner, once again, featured Cooking Light's Turkey and Bean Chili. I tell ya, this version is hearty, yet lite. You don't feel quite so full when finished and that's a thumbs up in my book!

Prior to calling it an evening, Ryan and I ran a few more errands around town. We capped things off with our first pumpkin lattes of the season. Oh how I love Starbucks during this time of year. How about you?

At last, the day is done! Time to catch some reruns on TiVo. I hope you had a fantastic day and that you're gearing up for an awesome weekend. Thanks a mil for reading Fighting the Pudge and for supporting my food changes and weight-loss journey. xx

Do any of you use a pedometer? Would love to hear your thoughts on whether or not you think they work, what brand you prefer, etc. I'm experimenting with mine as a means of tracking my daily steps and exercise.

Bring on the Baby Beets

Wednesday, can be a tough one sometimes. You're half way through the work week, but not close enough to the weekend. Anyhow, today started off nicely with Love Your Man Steel-Cut Oatmeal with cranberries and a banana. The Chicago sun was shining and I was ready to take on my day.

I accomplished a few freelance odds and ends throughout the morning and checked a few more things off my to-do list. For lunch, I busted out some baby beets. Now let me tell you, before today I haven't had a beet since pre-school. How long has that been? What, 27 years or something? CRAZY! That entire time I had convinced myself that beets weren't for me. When you're a kid, you had moments where you just decided you didn't like something and you wouldn't like that particular something for the rest of your life. Am I right? Well that was me and beets. But with my new adventures in food and exercise this year, I am up for trying things I "supposedly" do not like. So for lunch, I added some baby beets to my lemon-dill chicken salad. Excellent! Loved them! How did I go my entire adult life without having beets!

I also shared a sliced pear with Ryan and had one of my favorite spicy pickles from McClure's.

Once lunchtime was over, my wacky hormones started to take over. I started to feel blah and my motivation began to wain, but I pushed through it. I spent the remainder of the afternoon researching a story for a freelance article. But it was the freelance database that was totally out of wack. And in the back of my mind, I knew not working out before lunch might come to bite me eventually. By dinner, my stomach was in knots due to this out-of-sorts tech issue on the freelance side. I wasn't feeling too hot and unfortunately my Turkey and Bean Chili would have to wait.

I finally finished my cup of chili around 7pm and it was mighty good. The fresh cilantro and lime really give this chili an extra spark. The cannellini beans are a nice change from your usual kidney or chili bean. Later, I was still a bit hungry, so I had two tablespoons of reduced fat Jif on an Arnold multi-grain sandwich thin.

I'm kind of all over the place today, I guess. But I've really noticed that my mind drifts off into a lazy place when I don't take the time to work out. My goal is to exercise 45 minutes, 5 days a week. A week from today, I have my first proper weigh-in since June. Fingers crossed these little setbacks haven't worked against me in the long run. Back on the saddle tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

What is your day like when you skip your daily workout? Does it affect your mood or motivation?