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?