Lovely leftover lunch.

Quick re-cap of lunch:



Leftover roasted veggies (onions, tomatoes and zucchini) over some Spring mix salad greens. I'm totally over salad dressing these days! Well, the crappy dieted versions that I used to buy, anyway. In fact, I threw a bunch of them out this afternoon. I hardly ate salad before and I thought it was because I wasn't a "salad person," but really, it was because I bought dressings that I didn't like, just because they were low in calories and/or fat. Now? I'll gladly throw on roasted veggies (including spaghetti squash!) or hummus & feta. The mix of textures and flavors just can't be beat.



Leftover baked sweet potato fries and my new favorite sandwich (slightly melted reduced-fat Cabot cheddar and triple-berry fruit spread on a slice of flax oatbran bread).

Such an awesome lunch. The fries definitely went better with this sandwich than they did with my BBQ veggie burger concoction last night.

Took the afternoon off from work to get some shopping done before more crappy weather moves in. We're hosting a get-together for some friends tomorrow night, so I'm pretty excited. Tons of junk and booze, but it's gonna be a good time. We know some smart, funny, good-natured peeps. Love 'em!

Swam at 24 Hour Fitness this morning! I've only swam sporadically in the past, usually while on family vacations as a kid or the handful of times at old apartment complexes when the pool was actually open, clean and free of obnoxious peeing children.

Totally whopped my ass, but now I'm excited to make it part of my regular fitness routine. I only did laps for 20 minutes (including catch-my-breath breaks), then I sat in the hot tub and the steam room. My god. I've never felt that relaxed AND refreshed after a workout. I'm gonna try to make that combination a regular Friday morning routine because it just put me in such a good mood!

Still need to try the 24SET class (which I may or may not make tomorrow, weather pending...), but I'm happy to say that I've made up my mind and will indeed switch to 24 Hour Fitness once payday hits next week. The kicker in my decision? Finding out that state employees get a discount! So now, my new 24 membership will only cost $4.99 more a month than what I currently pay at Accolade. Happy day!

I'm pretty stoked. I think a change is what I needed at this point in my life. Between a new gym, new workout DVDs and new magazine routines, I'm so much more excited about and appreciative of physical fitness. What's not to love about challenging your body in new ways and seeing what it's capable of? I think being comfortable and sticking to the things I knew for years finally got to me and all I want to do now is try something different just about every day. I've been so much happier since making such changes.

That's all for me this week. Happy weekend everyone!

Too much excitement (and soreness) for one day.

Well, I did Day 2 (a.k.a. 'Slimmer Sunday') of that Fitness Magazine workout.

This routine was sneaky. Day 2 looked a little easier than the previous day's routine, but the soreness quickly progressed and I'm more sore than I've been in weeks! Like the it-hurts-to-sit-down-on-the-toilet kind of sore, but also the wow-my-ass-is-perking-up-as-we-speak! kind of sore. Bittersweet, I suppose.

The fact that my body has clearly been challenged though has left me feeling strong (and simultaneously wussy). I'm good with that.

I was planning on swimming tomorrow morning, but honestly? I think I might just go to sit in the hot tub before work. Although, some medium-paced laps will probably help stretch out my muscles without adding any impact and making things worse. I dunno. We'll see. I've made up my mind to go to the 24SET class on Saturday morning, so I definitely want to be rested and refreshed, not all sore and busted. My excitement to try new [fitness] things is starting to catch up with me!

Also, some new food excitement to share... I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture of my life-changing sandwich that I had for lunch, but since I totally ripped off the idea from KERF, you can view a much more appetizing version on her site.

We have a Great Harvest store nearby, so I was able to snag the Flax Oatbran (which I ended up loving more than I thought I would, btw), but I used slightly different cheese and jam than she did. I bought a small block of Cabot's reduced-fat cheddar and some store-brand (King Soopers) Triple-Berry fruit spread.

HOLY CRAP, PEOPLE! Loved this sandwich! I had previously tried jam on a turkey sandwich before, but with sub-par bread, sugar-free Smucker's and only-ok cheese. This new combo was just fantastic. I put one ounce of cheese on one half of the bread slice and microwaved it for 15 seconds; I wanted the cheese just partially melted so I could experience some different textures. Heaven.

I definitely savored each bite, but I also pretty much inhaled the whole thing between my hunger and the foodgasm-inducing flavor. I'll be having several more of these in the future (tomorrow for lunch again, perhaps?), so I'll set aside my laziness for some pics.

And as if my lunch wasn't enough to get me all giddy about food (and life, for that matter), I also came across more flavors of my favorite Famous Dave's BBQ sauce at the grocery store! At first I could only find the Rich & Sassy and the Sweet & Zesty flavors for a while, but today I squealed when I saw the Devil's Spit and Apricot Bourbon varieties. Granted, I can go to the actual restaurant and buy whatever flavor I want, but it's considerably cheaper to buy them at regular grocery stores (Wal-Mart & King Soopers, specifically).

That said, I think some sort of BBQ veggie burger is in my future for dinner tonight. Might break down and take some pics of that too... Stay tuned!

Insert clever title here.

Quick lil' update...

First off, I've been rockin' Overnight Oats this week, thanks to KERF's suggestion. Quick, convenient and delicious! My favorite combo so far has been mashed banana, diced strawberries, coconut flakes, cinnamon and vanilla extract. All of the natural sugars/flavors from the fruits get so well absorbed in the oats that the taste the next morning is like whoa. In the morning, right before I eat them, I'll add chia seeds, a couple teaspoons of some kind of nut butter and warm it up in the microwave just long enough for the nut butter to melt. Semi-cold, hearty, soggy cereal awesomeness. I've been taking my breakfast to work with me this week since I don't get really get hungry until 8 or 9 am, so this has been a perfect option for me.

Second, I got around to trying the Sleeker Saturday workout from Fitness Magazine this morning (ended up taking Monday off from exercise). HOLY CRAP! So much harder than I thought! I guess it wasn't hard in the sense that the moves were complicated, it was just super tough and left me panting- glad I only had to go through it twice! In the actual magazine version, they provide 3 cardio moves that you're supposed to do in between the strength intervals, so that's what kept my heart rate so high and my face dripping.

I'll try to remember to scan the page with the cardio info later and do a follow-up post; it would be easier than trying to explain it here.

I also did 1/2 mile jogs before and after the workout. My muscles are all tingly now. Love it!

Since the workout was so quick (about 26 minutes for the magazine routine, plus 12 minutes of jogging), I'll probably give the 'Slimmer Sunday' routine a try tomorrow, assuming I'm not all sore and busted.

Lastly, I got a chance to visit 24 Hour Fitness this week. I just did a mixed routine on the treadmill, step mill and bike. I did sprint intervals on the treadmill for the first time in ages and my ass was officially whooped! Need to start doing those more regularly again.

I'm planning on swimming Friday morning and trying out their 24 SET class on Saturday, if there's still room left. It's basically supposed to be based off of Biggest Loser workouts, so there will be a mix of cardio and strength. I used to avoid fitness classes before, but lately my own routine has become so, well, routine, and I'm much more open to trying some new things now. Plus, it would be cool to meet some fitness-minded people in real life. Hope it goes well! I also want to try TURBO-Kick and spinning sometime too.

I'm still on my trial membership, but assuming I dig the classes, I'm pretty certain that I'm gonna make the switch to 24 soon. (Sorry, Accolade!)