last monday of 2009.

well it looks like i made it through my monday in one piece. barely though.. i think i may be coming down with something (knock on wood!) i really need to stop walking back to my car from the gym all sorts of sweaty when it is 18 degrees outside. not cool, janetha, not cool.

it is kind of crazy to think that today was the VERY last monday of the year! sayonara monday mornings of 2009, you’ve been nothing but sleepy all year long!!

anyway~ hope you all enjoyed your day and if you were back at work like i was i hope it was not too hellish. if you are lucky enough to be off work this whole week.. damn you ;)

have you all had the chance to enter my skin MD natural shielding lotion giveaway? you have until tuesday night at 11:59 PM so make sure you get your entries in!

since i didn’t post a legit post last night, i have a couple day’s worth of food racked up on the old canon digital elph~ instead of boring you with all of it, i will just touch on the highest of the lights.

sunday.

yesterday morning i put two of my new kitchen toys to work.. first up i FINALLY was able to grind the coffee beans that i got in my sag bag from the foodbuzz fest.. with my new coffee bean grinder!

it is perfect for me to have this because i now have a french press which uses coarse ground beans, an espresso machin, which uses fine ground beans and a drip coffee maker which uses medium ground beans. i can just buy one bag of beans and get the best of all worlds!

then i put my new french press to the test.

turns out it makes really strong coffee and i didn’t need nearly as many coffee grounds as it called for. good to know, for next time. of course, i can’t turn down a strong cup of joe~i splashed it with some almond milk and called it good!

last night i was at my parents’ place again. basically sure i practically live there these days.. i have been there almost every day for the past week and a half!

my mom made us a delicious meal of roast, potatoes, veggies & salad and i whipped up some deviled eggs. marshall made a batch of guacamole. my plate~

after dinner it was time for a birthday celebration! it was my brother-in-law’s birthday and we had not one but FIVE kinds of pie (and ice cream!) to celebrate.

i went with a small slice of pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream~

can’t be beat. and i was just 3 days late, december 25th was national pumpkin pie day!

 monday.

 

today was another typical monday at the office which meant another sales meeting breakfast at the original pancake house. the egg white combo i got today was actually pretty dynomite.

egg whites+spinach+mushrooms+onions+liiiittle bit of swiss

i

paired it with dry wheat toast. and a lot of coffee. it was necessary.. i was SO dang tired this morning!

i

am going to show you my snack because it will be the last time you will see me eating shredded spoonfuls.

i kid. it will just be the last time that i will be eating it until february. i am devising a pre-jamaica eating/workout regimin and cereal is not going to be a part of it. this was the last of my shredded spoonfuls so i won’t be buying a new box until after my trip. oh, the pain.. oh, the sorrow ;)

i paired it with, what else, greek yogurt, cinnamon & mighty maple.

 

today’s workout was fanfreakingtastic! i was originally going to try april’s advanced treadmill routine that i saw on her blog today.. i even printed it out and everything! but then i got to the gym and my print out was nowhere to be found. shoot, next time.. for sure.

instead i made up a jogging/running HIIT routine of my own. here is how it went down: treadmill incline=0

minutes	speed (MPH)
0-1	3.5 (warm up)
1-3	5.5 (jog)
3-5	7.5 (run)
5-7	5.5 (jog)
7-9	8.0 (run)
9-11	5.5 (jog)
11-13	8.5 (run)
13-15	5.5 (jog)
15-17	9.0 (run)
17-19	5.5 (jog)
19-21	8.5 (run)
21-23	5.5 (jog)
23-25	8.0 (run)
25-27	5.5 (jog)
27-29	7.5 (run)
29-30	2.5 (cool down)

i ended up going 3.17 miles in the 30 minutes. i miss my HRM and wonder how my heart rate was looking for this workout. i am such a loser.. literally.

can i just say that during the second 2 minute stint of 8.5 MPH i almost fainted! it was gnarly. i had to step off and catch my breath. i think a couple things contributed to this:

1. i usually only run at higher speeds for one minute intervals and this routine was in 2 minute intervals.
2. i haven’t run since last wednesday. um, oops :P

but after catching my breath i was able to finish the workout strong and i ended up really loving this routine! i had the chance to use my new puma running shoes that marshall got me for christmas~ LOVED them! it was so nice to have new running shoes. my knees didn’t hurt at all the whole time! yay.

tonight i came up with a fantastic meal. remember when i made jessica’s buffalo chicken dip on christmas eve? well i can’t stop thinking about it but it is so not body for life friendly. i decided to make a healthier version of the dip and put it on a salad!

buffalo chicken salad

• boil & shred chicken breasts (i used 3 breasts)

• mix 0% greek yogurt with hidden valley ranch seasoning (enough so the chicken will be moist like chicken salad when added)

• add frank’s buffalo sauce

• add greek yogurt mixture to chicken & mix well

• add diced celery

• mix well again

• serve on top of a green salad, sprinkled with blue cheese

this was incredible! i honestly could not tell it was a healthy meal. it tasted sinfully delicious! the buffalo chicken mixture alone (for a 3 serving mixture i used 3 breasts and 1 cup of greek yogurt and 2 TB buffalo sauce and 2 tsp ranch seasoning) clocks in at 180 calories, 34 grams protein, 4 grams carbs & 500 mg sodium per serving. um. yes please! that is rad!

after dinner it was time for one last hurrah with my sister and her family before they head back to california. we all headed down to spoon me, a frozen yogurt shop.

yes, we took up the whole joint :P i got a small wassail flavored yogurt with mango, graham crackers (holler jess!) and strawberries

yes you heard right. wassail flavored fro yo. to those of you who don’t know, wassail is another term for spiced apple cider. this yogurt was amaze. but.. i couldn’t eat any of the fruit because my geographic tongue was acting up :(

we finished off the night with a rousing round of boggle where i knocked my mom & sister dead. i don’t know what i would do if i had to lose at boggle. i don’t think holly and i should ever play together ;)

and now we are current!

time for a little food talk.

as you can see, these past few days have been very indulgent~especially when it comes to dessert. i try to chalk it up to the holidays and having my relatives in town.. but let’s face it: calories don’t care if it is christmas and they still count toward the waste line. i am going to be cleaning up my act and am actually putting together a 4-week jamaica shape up plan as i mentioned earlier in this post. i will tell you more about it once the details are all worked out. i am so excited!

well folks, that is all she wrote. for now at least. i am off to bed~before midnight for the first time in ages! wow.

hasta mañana.

Qs~

1. what kind of camera do you have? just a curious question!

2. in the spirit of this treat-filled post.. what is your favorite dessert? easy. vanilla bean ice cream, straight up. xo. janetha b.