food prep

atthequillsmercy

Workout Dump: Busy, busy!!

This isn’t all my workouts since I’m in the process of getting things ready for my son’s surgery. It was very sudden; someone apparently cancelled, and they offered him the spot! I am very nervous and excited for him. I know he’s been waiting for this for years, and it means a lot of preparation for the post-surgery recovery and running around to pre-surgery appointments. I’m still doing the desk peddler whenever I can, and I’m counting moving furniture as a workout.

Those pickled red onions are still a fun addition, but now, they’re joined by some garlic scape chimichuri. I had some pork chops to throw in the air fryer, which was a great dinner. I usually end up with a dry, inedible mess when I try to make pork chops. I dunno how my Gramma did it… Either way, it was a success. I didn’t want to use heavy sauce and didn’t want to waste garlic scapes, that’s where the chimichuri came in. It has a kick to it (it’s garlic scapes, yellow onion, and garlic in olive oil and red wine vinegar). Whatever I’m doing is working because I am down to 206! I honestly don’t think it’s the food. I think it’s getting back into being active.

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Workout Roundup: It’s good to be back (mostly)

As I’m easing back into things, I did push myself a bit and ran at a really easy pace when I hit the treadmill. I’m pairing that with the desk peddler. I do just enough to get my heart rate up, and by the end of it, I can tell it’s working because I am so sore. It’s gonna be a while before this is easy again.

When I say I wanted more veggies, I mean I was desperate for them. I’m back to eating solid foods. I still have to be careful and only chew on one side of my mouth. I’m also watching my portions because I lost weight when I couldn’t eat anything more solid than mashed potatoes and oatmeal and I don’t want to gain it back. And as you can see, I’m big into those pickled res onions now. I make them really fast in the fridge and even put them on sandwiches (pics at another time). I feel so much better getting back to a normal routine. 

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Today’s Workout: I am such a nerd

We’re switching things up today and starting with what I ate:

Yes, I fell for the K-Pop Demon Hunters meals. I left for work early for the Saja Boys breakfast and stopped on the way home for the Huntrix ‘dinner’ meal. I… Okay, I don’t eat fast food very often. Contrary to my waistline, I eat McD’s once or twice a YEAR. Wendy’s can be quarterly, I haven’t been to Taco Bell in like… 5 years, I think? So, on the rare occasions when I do eat it, my system feels like this:

(Image Source)

Most of my meals are my own cooked food, leftovers of that food, or takeout from local places that I eat for three days. I am NOT used to 600 calorie breakfasts and 800 calorie dinners. I average 900 a DAY because of the Saxenda. It may seem boring to you, but I don’t even drink soda. I have water, seltzer water, or unsweetened teas (if not a cocktail or beer). Yeah, the meals were kinda cool, I satisfied my FOMO, and now I can go back to never eating this stuff because I feel SO SICK. I can see how this stuff makes you fat even if you workout, because I feel so sluggish and bloated. It was kinda worth it because I don’t have to do it again. I doubt they’ll do another promotion with a property that I made my entire personality for a few months.

I’m supposed to take a running day off, but when I was putting my food into MyFitnessPal, I knew I was gonna at least take a long walk. I propped up my iPad and ignored the timer until I hit 40 minutes. It helped the guilt of eating so much fast food in one day, but I still feel like crap. I’m gonna eat so light tomorrow… Why the fuck did I do this…

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Today’s Workout: Getting back to normal

I really hope I’m not jinxing myself when I say I’m getting back into running very slowly. Believe it or not, you’re not supposed to do strenuous workouts the first week after a tooth extraction because the increased blood flow could knock out the blood clot from the wound. The human body is such a disgusting miracle… I was taking it very easy. I don’t want to mess up and have to stop again. I do feel pretty good, even after moving a couch out of the house and to the curb. The thing was disgusting. So glad it’s finally gone.

Since I can eat normal food again (as long as I chew on the opposite side of the wound), I am sticking with thin-sliced or ground meat, steaming the vegetables a little longer than I’d like, and chopping the lettuce thin for salads. The infection is completely gone, and I’m almost done with my antibiotics. I am sincerely hoping this means my luck is turning around. I just need a couple months of normalcy, for fucks sakes…

I also got to try those viral Chloe’s Giant Cookies. They’re really good! Each one is six servings at 130-140 calories per serving. I tried the Lemon, Lava Cake, and Red Velvet and while it will probably take me forever to finish these, I wouldn’t mind getting more! I have other flavors on the way (Chocolate Chip and Cookies and Cream) and I’ll let you know if they’re any good.

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atthequillsmercy

Workout Roundup: My mouth hurts…

(Image Source)

I have been getting more steps in and walking more, but this fuckery I’ve been through about my tooth is… Fucking typical for me at this point. I had been complaining about pain, I was told the tooth was in an odd place to do anything about it, then I needed a root canal, then the endodontist told me the tooth is cracked in half, and he can’t do a root canal. It has to be extracted. I’m very lucky my job was willing to accommodate me and that I had sick time left to get that done tomorrow.

Getting back on the treadmill feels nostalgic at this point. It feels great to be moving and my knee is almost back to normal. I’d still like to keep walking for the time being. Even the weather has been good enough to walk outside if I wear a good enough hoodie. I didn’t track those… I probably should have.

I managed to snag an avocado before my kid got to it and made open BLTs with homemade fries. Yes, I made some for him, too. Very good choices. My Itaki meals have made their regular appearances, of course. Overall, the scale has been moving in the right direction again. I don’t think the food had much to do with it, it’s all about the fact that I’m moving more and burning more calories. It’d be great if I can have a run of good luck to counteract the fact the first quarter of this year has been a shitshow. I’ll take any win I can get.

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Workout Weekly Recap: FFS

Every time I feel like I’m getting back on track, something happens. I was hoping to get back into workouts on the weekend mornings, but instead, there was a leak in the basement, and I spent the whole day dealing with plumbers, home insurance, and water damage remediation. Over the next couple days; repairs and a new water heater. Oh lovely! I can’t wait to add 7k to my debt (if the home insurance decides to jerk me around). But it did feel good to get moving on the days I was able to. I can’t really complain about that.

I’m varying my food some more by trying out spinach in my Itaki meals, and it’s okay. I’d rather have broccoli or bok choy. The timing is better for cooking, and it’s more filling for me. I managed to get some ground bison on sale and made some chili (while the nice men were working in my shitty basement). The pasta dish was a way to use up those cherry tomatoes and spinach before they went bad, and it was actually pretty good! It was just butter, olive oil, pasta water, and parmesan cheese. Creamier than I’m used to but I’d totally make that again. I’m more in favor of setting up the slow cooker so I can do other things. I guess in a way it was a good thing the leak happened on a rare weekend I wasn’t working… 

This coming week is also going to be a mess. At least to start. Things will go back to normal once the new water heater is installed. At least I hope.

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Today’s Workout: Welcome to January

Yeah, the January workout posts. Guilty as charged. But, as I did this, I could tell that I hadn’t lost much strength from not working out for a while. This was challenging but not impossible. Not every day should or can be a cardio day, no matter how much I enjoy running while I’m doing it.

I’ve been having fun with random meals and doing my best to try and have something light for breakfast. I usually don’t eat breakfast at all. And of course, I made a big ass pork shoulder for New Year’s that will be in a few more meals. I’m upping my veggies and protein most of the time since I’m still working on my goal for all ten fingernails to be completely attached. It’s just the ring fingers that need to grow out now. That’s so freaky… That’s why I want to wean off the Saxenda at some point.

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Workout Dump: Season One Complete!

Now, you may be saying: “Lenni, you already finished season 1 years ago!” And you are correct! These workouts were finishing all the season one Radio Abel clips. With some 5k trainer thrown in there. After NYCC, I kept up with some very easy walking workouts and I think it actually helped me recover faster! Moving more in general is good and the scale is inching in the right direction again. I’m also doing my crunches and upped the number of wall pushups. Kinda like my writing, bit by bit progress is being made.

I got some boneless chicken thighs on sale and made a whole batch of buttermilk fried chicken for me and my kid to eat during the week. For the first time, I had it over a bed of Napa cabbage and onion with lemon juice, olive oil, and lemon pepper on it. It was actually quite refreshing! I scored more of that amazing focaccia bread from the farmer’s market for sandwiches (yes, that is a book bento box), and I’m eating more types of vegetables. Sometimes, I have the energy to stand there and chop peppers, sometimes it’s lightly sauced steamed in the microwave vegetables. Lately, my calories have been over 1000 a day but I am totally ok with that if I’m active and it’s not junk food. I’m back on the Saxenda on a low dose. I don’t feel overfull and I think my nails are growing back attached. I’m super excited about that.

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Workout Dump: Longer Workouts and Adjustments

I finished the pirate missions and now I’m working through this spirit quest like one? It’s really interesting! I can’t always run but then I walk; trying to get in at least 40 minutes when there’s space in my schedule. Overtime hours are available again and instead of sleeping in longer, I get up and work out before I go in. I even managed to destroy the seam on another pair of running pants. Odd that I take that as a win… But I’ve also noticed more loose skin on my thighs even if the scale hasn’t moved as much as I’d like.

After the big clean out for the new fridge, I have been trying to use up more of the stuff I had in the freezer. It may be odd to be thinking “Gosh, I gotta eat all this bacon” because it’s on auto ship with my Butcher Box order (free bacon for life, baby) but I kept not eating it since it’s unhealthy. Then it just built up. BLT salads are a great way for me to get protein with my salads while taking a break from tuna. With grocery prices the way they are, I only buy things on sale and the bacon I have in the house is better for my wallet than going out to buy full-price tuna. And since I’m militant about calorie counting, I still log everything to make sure I’m in a calorie deficit, drink plenty of water, and try to keep averaging 7k steps a day. And honestly, even the piddly 20 wall pushups, 100 crunches, and 100 squats are making a difference. I have noticed I am stronger. I don’t get winded as quickly, I can pick up heavier things, and stuff I normally could lift, I can hold longer. This is not to say that moving large things like a mini fridge doesn’t result in muscle pain (I keep my Saxenda in a small fridge in my room, and I got a new one that has a self-defrost) but I did it. I did it all by myself. I do need to chill on the carbs more, though. And up my protein. I’m slowly building muscle and I want to keep that train rolling.

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Workout Dump: Doodles

I normally don’t post the little notes I get from Zombies Run but this one from Sam is just too damn adorable! I really like these training missions! It’s so nostalgic with all the people I heard from way back in season one of the app coming back. And you’ll see I did one mission twice and that’s because I didn’t notice that it hadn’t been marked complete the first time. I just did it again. No biggie. Steps are steps.

I’m making good progress on cleaning out the freezer, which is why I made a random Cornish game hen in the middle of the summer. I don’t want to put the oven on but I also don’t want to waste food. I’m already tossing out a lot of random stuff I’ve unearthed and whenever I do, I hear my mother’s voice telling me that wasting food is a sin. I assuage my guilt by promising not to overbuy things in the future.

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