Weekly Workout Thread 26th March till 1st April

[mrssalvo]

i wrote a long post earlier today and must have forgot to submit b/c it''s not here

anyway, happy sat. all. I went to an advanced step class at the gym. it''s been YEARS since I took a step class and my how things have changed. i didn''t recognize half the terminogly and spent half the class just trying to stay moving and figure it out. it was fun though and I plan on going back. the instructor said she only changes one part of the routine each week so the rest of the moves will become more familar with time. according to calorie-count.com a 60 step class burns 578 calories..woo hoo!!

i''ve got family in town so we grilled for dinner with a bunch of sides. i''m trying to avoid weekend spluges until I get where I want to be. special occasions excluded. i did enjoy a regular brownie which was still only 170 calories and I stayed at my goal for the day.

i hope everyone has a wonderful sunday tomorrow

 

[Mara]

rod sounds like you had a great day...too funny about the pollen and i read greg the paragraph about the water, he laughed and said good point! that is all part of what we''ll have to figure out..!

mrs salvo...kudos on getting back into a class even if the terminology has changed hehe.

DJ...so funny you say that about the cooking shows because i LOVE watching cooking shows at the gym. it''s almost like a motivator. also i am always thinking about how i can adapt the recipe to make it healthy, or if it''s healthy etc. sometimes the food network is on and i will totally watch the show. also i always read cooking magazines at the gym too, like if there is a cooking light or a saveur was there last time. i have gotten some amazing recipes that i have brought home and adapted to be healthy and still taste really good, the latest is this yummy looking chive crimini tagliatelle that looks DIVINE and with a little less oil and some extra garlic will only be like 400 cals per pretty large serving including the pasta. since pasta is soooo high in cals that is a pretty good cal count! i actually never change the channel as i typically have a book or mag with me to entertain me if nothing is on the TV''s but if there is a cooking show on i am always like whee! last time i got the orange glazed chicken quesadillas we made from a show and they came out fab with my low-cal tortillas and lighter cheese. i am all about still eating fab food but within my cals hehe.

today was a wonderful relaxing day...i went for a 4.5m walk...greg and portia accompanied me for about a mile and a half then split off and went home. my ipod died halfway but it wasn''t that bad actually as the streets i walk on near our house are pretty quiet and have lovely homes with nice gardens for me to look at. then i made us lunch, which were avocado and turkey wraps...yum and healthy...and we sat outside and ate on the patio and then we both stayed outside and read for a while in the sun. i have a nice blush on my face now for tonite...no makeup required!! i also did some stretching and some toning work before my shower, aka 200 jumping jacks then some leg and glute work. i like to throw that in there every once in a while like 2x a week just to keep all the muscles working. hehe. we did some housework, folded laundry, bathed portia, and greg headed off to his concert and i got ready for tonite. i am about to head over to our neighbors in 2 minutes and we''ll take off to see the concert. and then tonite we are having tapas which i am so excited about, i realized we haven''t been to this place since my birthday in october! so we''ll def enjoy it...mmmm truffle empanadas and roasted mussels here we come.

anyway hope everyone had a great day and is out splurging or having a fabulous saturday night!!! enjoy !!

 

[FireGoddess]

LOL DeeJay - I would rather watch a cooking show at the gym than something boring like CNN or ESPN.

*yawn*

Today I went to TJ's and found fage!! Woo hoo! I bought a container of the 0% and am psyched to try it. I also bought a box of the steel cut oatmeal to try, and some quick bites that had decent nutritional info - chicken egg rolls you can bake in the oven, some spring onion rice bowl soup, etc. Fun trip. That place is usually so packed it was a nice surprise to be able to meander through the store for once!!

So I have been wanting to make this dish for awhile, since I saw it on Giada DeLaurentis's show on the Food Network - talk about delish - Chicken with Mustard Mascarpone Marsala sauce. Sounds like something you would like Mara. I should submit it to you for recipe modification.

Each serving is 800 cals!!! Anyway, I eliminated the butter which cut down on the cals, and could easily substitute the mascarpone for thick yogurt to thicken the sauce, but I had a carton of mascarpone I need to go through so I did use that instead of subbing it. Anyway, I made 2 servings and that really is actually enough for 3 people, so I have leftovers and that made the cals less at only about 460-something. Would be way less w/o the mascarpone. Anyway, it was divine.

Mara, I have also been making a sort of egg mcmuffin thing the past 2 weeks - there were Jenny O mini turkey sausages on sale awhile back so I got two boxes and have been toasting a wheat english muffin, making a 1 egg + 2 white scramble, and frying up the turkey sausage to make 2 open face mcmuffins. I also drizzled a teaspoon of maple syrup on the turkey sausage. Out-of-this-WORLD!! mmmmm. Anyway, right there with ya on the mcmuffins.

 

[Modified Brilliant]

Was I missed?

Didn''t think so.

This miserable cold has knocked the wind out of me. Back to the gym tomorrow after

a week of light exercise. Weight is still holding at "excellent" and not an issue. Tendonitis

has improved also. Life is good

 

[Rod]

Thanks DeeJay for your kind comments on our going home!! Also.....time to find a new gym girl

NO, we do not have to share a singular television at the gym. Our gym is quite large (both in Tampa and Raleigh). In raleigh, there are two levels and on the main level, the cardio (ellipticals, stair climbers, treadmills and other assorted cardio) are in front of like 7 big screen tv's each tuned to a different show and you can tune in to the show you would like to watch. Upstairs there are two different areas with ellipticals and other cardio machines but they all have their own private tv screen or the others are located in the Cardio Cinema room where movies are running on a theatre sized screen and you exercise in the dark while watching a movie. Our Tampa gym has screens all over the gym each with a different show and all you have to is plug headphones in and selected whatever channel you want to hear.

Mara, We really miss being near water. And as you recall our condo in Tampa is directly on Tampa Bay so it's even harder for me as I loved siting on our terrace every evening and enjoying a nice glass of wine (or beer) at sunset on the bay! I didn't realize just how much water meant to me. So, it is something to consider if water means something to you too.

Also, Mara: The Bloomsbury Bistro was just OK IMHO. The menu was somewhat limited and the food was good but not exceptional by any standard. It was expensive though and dinner for three of us passed $200, which is pricey for Raleigh, NC. Charlie had a Salmon dish that was good. I had a strip steak which wasn't remarkable to be sure. So, since you and Greg only have a couple days in Raleigh, this would not be one of the places you should include. If you want an exceptional dining experience I can't recommend Second Empire on Jones Street enough. It was a superb dining experience to say the least (reservations would be mandatory if you want to dine there).

Sorry about losing your post mrssalvo. That's happened to me too and it's a PITA when you type all these profound thoughts only to have them disappear.

Hope you all had a nice Saturday night and are planning good Sunday's.

 

[Rod]

Date: 3/31/2007 10:24:46 PM
Author: Modified Brilliant
Was I missed?

Didn''t think so.

This miserable cold has knocked the wind out of me. Back to the gym tomorrow after

a week of light exercise. Weight is still holding at ''excellent'' and not an issue. Tendonitis

has improved also. Life is good

Uh excuse me, do we know you???????????? So, you''re using the cold has kept me from working out excuse, eh Jeff?? Isn''t that excuse number 364 in the excuse book of reasons to lounge around and not workout??? Just kidding with you. Sorry, you''ve been under the weather. And, yes, we missed you!!!

 

[gailrmv]

I hope everyone gets over their colds soon! My allergies have been awful lately. But I do love spring.
Rod, CONGRATS on your last day! I know firsthand how much a bad work environment can affect every aspect of your life. So glad you are outta there.
Mara, congrats on your new job!! The best part of getting paid hourly (as I do now, in one of my jobs, as a grad student) is that when you work late, you get paid more! Previously I've been in salaried positions where working late went with the territory... but meant your hourly wages went down and down! I hope you enjoy your new job and enjoy that last week of freedom!
So today was not the best for my eating. I had to vacate my house fast for an unexpected showing (house is on market) and went to eat/do some work at Panera. I had a half fandango salad and half turkey sandwich, which was more calories than I'd planned for lunch, since I'd planned to have a light lunch at home. I also went out to dinner to a healthy mex place that uses minimal grease, and had two chicken soft tacos. However, I was starving when I arrived, and ate more chips and salsa than I planned. We decided to split a large margarita and it was much bigger than I expected! So some extra calories were had there too. I did get in a great workout, 25 min on the bike, 30 min upper body workout, 10 min abs, and 15 min running. My gym just got new cardio equipment and I LOVE it!

I'm currently at the lowest weight I've weighed in about 3 years and I'm wearing size 12 "long and lean" jeans today that have not fit in quite some time. (Remember I am 5'9.) Yay! We were talking tonight about when to start trying for kids, and are still thinking a while off, although we're both feeling more ready than last time we talked about it. I realized how much I want to be at a healthier weight and size before starting to try for a baby. Just one more reason to keep working on my goals. Even though I'm not the size I want to be, I know I am at my most fit, in terms of what I'm able to accomplish running wise. There is no way in the world I could have done a half marathon when I was in college, even though I was slim. I only ran 2-3 miles at a time back then. I did two half marathons, and 4 triathlons, this past year! So I feel a lot of confidence from that, although I do look forward to being slimmer again.

Has anyone else noticed this: On the bike, even though my heart rate and perceived exertion is comparable to running or elliptical, the calorie count on the bike seems SOOO low! I wonder which is more accurate.

I can already tell that writing about my eating on this thread will help me stay accountable and be more honest with myself. Awesome!

 

[KimberlyH]

Morning All!

Jeff, you were absolutely missed and I''m so sorry you''re not feeling well. I can relate!

So I did something last night that I haven''t in quite some time...I drank too much and I have the hangover to prove it. I had 3.5 glasses of wine over the course of a long evening and woke up at 4 with a pounding headache. Not so fun! I''m going to workout today, and see how my stomach responds. It''s feeling better than it was yesterday, but still not normal. The fact that it''s improved says to me that I haven''t cracked a rib, which is good news!

Hope everyone is having a pleasant Sunday morning.

 

[Modified Brilliant]

Thanks for missing me

die hard healthful friends.

Does having jury duty tomorrow exempt me from Monday exercise? Rod??

I''ll ask the judge

Hope your Sunday is special everyone

 

[Dee*Jay]

Date: 4/1/2007 10:51:06 AM
Author: Modified Brilliant

Does having jury duty tomorrow exempt me from Monday exercise?

Only if they sequester you overnight!


Just back from the gym, which was absolutely full of grumps and crazies today.

Of course there was some cooking show on when I got there and they were cooking something with cheese and so that's all I could think about for the whole hour--a grilled cheese sandwich (which I just made with whole wheat bread, shreaded cheddar [so I use less of it than if I sliced it] and the tiniest bit of margarine--YUM!) but the show didn't last long becuase the guy whose turn it was to control the TV kept getting mad at the cook and talking about how what he was doing was wrong (how do you chop an onion wrong?) and he ultimately turned the television OFF. OFF. Nothing. Blank dark screen. I would rather watch the guy with the goofy hair and the checkered chef's pants grate cheese and chop onions *wrong* than watching NOTHING.

Then, the woman beside me on the elliptical decided to sing with her ipod. Quitely at first. Then not so quietly. The same song. Over and over again. I think it was the theme song from that 70s show Greatest American Hero. I'm not kidding.

Finally, the weights are over on the wall by the light switch and the guy who was using them kept hitting the light switch, which just plunged one of the guys on the treadmill into an eye-rolling rage. I wouldn't be surprised if he strained his eyeball muscles he was going at it so outrageously.

Where did these people come from?! For the past three months it's been the same nice mentally stable bunch of people, then these past few days the loons have come out in full force...

Anyway, I have an open house from 12-3 so I'll take a few things along to snack on, but I'm going to try to be good (especially after that grilled cheese sandwich!) because we're going out for Chinese food with some friends tonight.

Have a wonderful Sunday everyone!

 

[Mara]

good morning everyone!! i was up bright and early at 8am...which is insane for a sunday for me. but that''s part of the downer of sleeping in til like 9 on the weekdays, on the weekends i am pretty perky. so i decided to get started early and took P for a 1.5m jaunt around the neighborhood. i actually like being up earlier sometimes because the air is crisp, if it''s going to be a nice day it''s not cold and the sun is coming out but it''s not hot yet. and typically there aren''t many people out. we saw about 4-5 of portia''s dog friends but no one else really. so now i''m having coffee and waiting for greg to get up soon so i can make us some breakfast.

dinner last nite was DIVINE. literally all caps DIVINE. we always love this place and think ''we need to come here more often'' but we have so many other places we love that somehow it always falls by the wayside to like ''every 4-5 months'' status. and then we get reminded we love it. it''s spanish tapas but with other types of influences also...like cuban and south american. lots of small plates and then you can get paellas and things too. fabulous sangrias...red or white. our neighbors are foodies and they are flexible on food and they know that we love our food so they let me order for the table. we ended up getting a black bean soup with sherry; flash fried calamari; a carmelized pear and cheese salad; truffled mushroom empanadas; roasted curry mussels; albondigas; ahi tuna tartar; and a paella with seafood. actually i ordered a crab and corn soup but somehow our waiter didn''t hear us (they have a live band on the weekends which is just amazing but it gets loud in there) and thought i wanted black bean which everyone loved anyway but i was like i wanted crab and corn!! hehe. so i really didn''t eat it...but you pour the sherry on top and it gives it a wonderful richness. but everything was fabulous...their calamari are huge and tender and not overdone, the mussels is one of our faves, the empanadas are stuff from my dreams (we got 2 orders since it only came with 3 lol)...yum yum and yum. the funniest thing is because you end up eating so slowly and you are talking in between, tapas actually makes me eat less in volume than i typically would...but i feel so full!! like i only had a few of each thing and one albondiga (meatball) but yet you are like gosh i''m so full! but not too full for dessert which is good because this place makes exceptionally tasty desserts. we got the chocolate covered pineapple cheesecake which is not like your average dense thick cheesecake but so buttery soft and light i swear it was melting in our mouths. you didn''t even have to chew it. and the chocolate lava cake which seemed to be made from the best chocolate ever known to man, and lots of it...served along with caramel nut toffee ice cream...so amazing. the boys were talking nonstop all night about motorcycles and sci-fi so the neighbor gal and i (who are the TOTAL foodies in the relationships!!) just mowed down on the desserts ourselves. it was pretty funny, we kept pointing at the guys and dessert like ''hey you better get it now or it''s gone''...hehe. anyway i hate to wax on and on about food but you guys know me, i love my good food. bottom line was the dinner was fantabulous. and we HAVE to go there more often! haha. the neighbors loved it too, they heartily approved. we are already planning our next food excursion hehe.

anyway...the funniest part is when i came home and estimated it for my spreadsheet, i was almost right on target with my cals which hardly ever happens on weekend nights. typically after a big dinner splurge it''s like woops i went over by 500. haha. which i ''plan'' for during the week anyway because i know myself anyway. but man it was a great dinner.

so this morning i was going to make us some sort of decadent pancake or egg breakfast ala sundays, but i am just feeling kinda simple right now esp after thinking about the super rich mushroom truffle empanadas lol. so i was thinking steel cut oatmeal with sf syrup and cinnamon and an english muffin with butter and jam. and then greg can get real maple syrup and some granola on his oatmeal. this evening i invited my parents over for a casual BBQ...have to see if they are still coming, but if so the menu is shaping up with grilled ribeye steaks with chive butter; green salad with bleu cheese and sliced apples with dijon vinaigrette; grilled herbed corn on the cob; alexa shoestring fries; and then for dessert, sugar free AFC with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. yum yum and yum. so we''ll see how it all shapes up. if they don''t come over we might do something more simple for just us.

rod thanks for the mediocre review on that place...i''ll add the sullivan one to our picks to check out. so far we just have Mura but i need to cull through the recommendations you guys gave and do a little research. you pretty much have similar tastes to ours (aka picky!!) so i know if you guys loved it, that we will probably like it too.

gail, congrats on being at a low weight and fitting in the long and lean jeans!! stick with it...i know it has taken me almost a year to get to where i am at now and my body is STILL changing. small changes now but it is totally still happening...things are still toning up, hips are still getting a little smaller, legs are still getting a little leaner, more muscle is showing etc. so even just continuation of the same thing still keeps your body moving. on the whole bike vs elliptical thing, the bikes at our gym are useless in terms of cals burned as well...if i spend 20 min on one i only burn like 120 cals whereas elliptical is more like 180 cals for 20 min. from what i have read online, elliptical and treadmill at a high incline or a run is the most cals burned unless you have like a stair stepper that you use there, i think those are pretty intense in terms of cals burned. you can also go online and find calcs that let you input your weight and activity and you can see comparisons on various machines at gyms, they are ''estimates'' of course but it gives you a general idea i think

lol DJ re the whole gym crazies, sometimes they just come out in droves...i have had the singers next to me too. though i haven''t had anyone tell off the cooking show yet, hehee. oh and for your grilled cheese, you should have HH get you some 2% fat american cheese or 2% cheddar slices next time is at the store, they are only like 40-45 cals each and you can use 2 on a sandwich with whole wheat and it''s not bad at all. yum!

jeff sorry to hear you have been under the weather, feel better and get back to it when you can!!

FG that dish sounds really yummy...mmmm. and your egg mcmuffin sounds yummy, i might have to try the turkey sausage thing...we just ran out of bacon so at the store i''ll have to get something else or more bacon, hmmm. how do you make the egg for the muffin? i have been using a round biscuit cutter to try to keep it in some semblance of a round shap (saw it in a mag) but mine doesn''t curve to fit the pan correctly so egg always leaks out and ends up all misshapen. i was going to look online or go to sur la table or something to see if they had something specifically for making round eggs for this...because i would totally get it...i have been making these so often it would be worth it!

anyway, time for some breakfast, hope everyone has a great sunday planned...!! i''m off to the gym later this afternoon for my 500ish calorie burn activity...but i''m happy i got an early morning walk in too. bonus!

 

[AmberGretchen]

OMG - DeeJay I laughed so hard at your post about the gym crazies!! DH and I are both sitting here having our usual Sunday morning leisurely breakfast with our matching laptops (yes, we''re nerds) in front of us, and he looked at me like I was completely crazy when I started giggling

I don''t know how you stayed calm - I think I would have had so say something to the guy who turned the TV off. And to the singer. I hate when people sing in public, because I''ve always been able to hear when someone is even a little bit off pitch and its like nails on a chalkboard for me. There was a woman at the gym I used to go to who sang church hymns loudly and off key the entire time she was in the ladies'' locker room - I actually adjusted my workout times to avoid her as often as I could!

Mara - that dinner sounds so yummy. I LOVE Tapas. DH and I always say we want to go more often too but somehow we never seem to manage too. Those desserts especially sound divine though. I got that corn bran cereal you''ve been talking about last time I was at the grocery store, and so yummy! I''ve had it for breakfast the last couple of mornings, and its really delicious and I love that its so low cal!

We''re going to a picnic in the park today with friends. I''m bringing a chopped salad (celery, carrots, corn, cucumbers, etc...all chopped into little pieces) with a balsamic dressing on the side (I''ll bring the non-fat TJ''s version for me), and I''m also going to make a fresh mozzarella sandwich (the kind in water is relatively low in calories for a full-fat cheese, and very yummy) with sundried tomatoes and arugula, so that should be yummy and not too bad especially if I cut it into smallish pieces, and then I can eat that and not be tempted by all the other evil things I''m sure will be there.

 

[indecisive]

It sounds like everyone is doing so well!

AmberGretchen- Your sandwich sounds so yummy. I love fresh mozzarella. Have fun at the picnic!

Mara- Tapas are so good. I totally love sangria too. Did you have any last night? I am going to have to get a list of restaurants compiled from your posts. We are thinking of doing half our honeymoon in Tahiti and half driving up the California coast. M has never been to CA before so it will be fun to show him where I was born and where I used to live and I can''t wait to go back as an adult. Plus it will be my honeymoon so I will get to splurge on food like crazy!

Dee*Jay- you are making me glad we have an elliptical at home! That would totally bother me. I am like you; I could totally eat grilled cheese for breakfast... or any meal. I wish tomato soup didn''t have sugar in it though.

KimberlyH- I hope you feel better. Make sure to drink lots of water before you work out. I haven''t been drinking much since I graduated college and I had a half a beer the other day and I totally got a buzz off of it. Kind of embarrassing but it is amazing how low the tolerance can go.

Rod- I''m sorry your meal wasn''t as good as you hoped. I am going down to Carry, NC next weekend. Hopefully the pollen will be down by then!


I have still been doing well with the eating and exercise except for last Sunday. We went to a bridal show and I had way too many samples when I really should have stopped with the first one (coconut cake with pineapple filling... so amazing!) I have been trying to be extra good this week and the upcoming week because we are taking pics for our Save the Date magnets. My family wants to go into D.C. this week and go out for Ethiopian food. I have no idea, does anyone know what it is like with calories and nutrition? I would love any suggestions (I am a vegetarian). Have a great Sunday everyone!

 

[Mara]

hehe AG i just finished off my box of corn bran right now. i need to get more at the store. i just love it!! mix a little cinnamon in and it''s like cinnamon toast crunch. i also love cracklin oat bran but it''s so high cal for what it is...like 200 cals for 3/4c that i just can''t justify it. but that is another fave. however for now i love the corn bran and the fiber one regular for getting a high fiber snack/cereal in with a low-cal count.

inde...good to see you...yep i definitely had sangria! i had a glass of white, which was very yummy...but funny i tasted greg''s red which typically is not that sweet at this place and last nite it was WAY sweeter than my white...i was like damn i should have had a glass from their pitcher. so i guess every ''batch'' is different! next time i''ll let them get a red pitcher than taste it before i get a white...hehe. typically white is so much sweeter but not last nite.

i just made my grocery list for the store and for dinner tonite with my parents. also i was looking up cheeses online...your post about your sandwich prompted me to remember the ham and cheese on sweet baguette sandwich that greg and i had last week AG. i loved it! so simple..just a small sweet baguette and cheese with ham. nothing else. i was thinking gosh this makes a simple yet fab lunch. so i might see if i can find a small baguette today at the store (small being the operative word since i don''t need a huge baguette hanging around the house tempting me all week!) to make us some lunch sandwiches today with deli sliced turkey and some st. nectaire cheese i got at whole foods last week. i was looking up cheese cals online and i guess the st. nectaire is only 90 cals per 1 oz. brie is 95. monterey jack is 110. swisses are about 100-110. mozz is only like 90. kinda interesting, never really thought that there would be that much variation in the cheese cals but i guess some have more fat and therefore cals than others? bleu was 115 i think. i am a cheese lover, so i love having it with sliced apples or similar....but i can eat the whole thing which is not really calorie conducive, hahaha. so i always try to get the smallest wedge of whatever i am getting. and i am still LOVING the laughing cow light wedge for 35cals...it''s so fabulous with pear! and for those of you wondering what 1oz of cheese looks like, the laughing cow wedges are 21g whereas 1oz is 28g. so a regular slice/1oz of cheese is a little bigger than the laughing cow wedge (which actually goes a long way with 1/2 a pear!). another afternoon snack idea for cheese/fruit/crisp lovers is a wasa fiber rye crisp for 30 cals, laughing cow wedge for 35 cals spread on it, and then thinly sliced 1/3 pear for ~20 cals. one whole pear is only 65 cals.

anyhow, about to head off to the gym for some torture...hope everyone is having a lovely sunday afternoon! oh and indec re ethiopian, see what you can google online for it, i am totally unfamiliar with it so can''t be of any help!

 

[KimberlyH]

Date: 4/1/2007 1:58:53 PM
Author: indecisive
It sounds like everyone is doing so well!

AmberGretchen- Your sandwich sounds so yummy. I love fresh mozzarella. Have fun at the picnic!

Mara- Tapas are so good. I totally love sangria too. Did you have any last night? I am going to have to get a list of restaurants compiled from your posts. We are thinking of doing half our honeymoon in Tahiti and half driving up the California coast. M has never been to CA before so it will be fun to show him where I was born and where I used to live and I can''t wait to go back as an adult. Plus it will be my honeymoon so I will get to splurge on food like crazy!

Dee*Jay- you are making me glad we have an elliptical at home! That would totally bother me. I am like you; I could totally eat grilled cheese for breakfast... or any meal. I wish tomato soup didn''t have sugar in it though.

KimberlyH- I hope you feel better. Make sure to drink lots of water before you work out. I haven''t been drinking much since I graduated college and I had a half a beer the other day and I totally got a buzz off of it. Kind of embarrassing but it is amazing how low the tolerance can go.

Rod- I''m sorry your meal wasn''t as good as you hoped. I am going down to Carry, NC next weekend. Hopefully the pollen will be down by then!


I have still been doing well with the eating and exercise except for last Sunday. We went to a bridal show and I had way too many samples when I really should have stopped with the first one (coconut cake with pineapple filling... so amazing!) I have been trying to be extra good this week and the upcoming week because we are taking pics for our Save the Date magnets. My family wants to go into D.C. this week and go out for Ethiopian food. I have no idea, does anyone know what it is like with calories and nutrition? I would love any suggestions (I am a vegetarian). Have a great Sunday everyone!

Thanks, indecisive...how absolutely stupid to make myself on top of already having a cold and feeling crappy. We were just relaxing and talking and enjoying a nice bottle of wine and I just didn''t even think "ENOUGH!" But I''m sure wishing I had today. I don''t know anything about Ethiopian food, so I can''t be of assistance.

AG, have a blast at the park, that sounds like fun! And your sandwich sounds delish. Or it would if food sounded good!

So the upside of this is that I am not at all hungry, I could only stomach 1/2 my oatmeal and it''s almost lunch time and nothing is sounding good. I think I''ll have some saltines.

 

[mrssalvo]

dee jay, I agree with rod that it might be time for you to upgrade your gym. that is too funny though. My gym has the no cell-phone rule and several tv''s that you can tune into the station of the show you want to listen. another Y in my area just re-did their cardio room so that every piece of cardio equimpment has it''s own tv. I can''t wait to get over there to check them out although most of the time i just listen to my ipod. do you have an i-pod or something to play music on?

kimberly, so sorry you''re not feeling better. do take it easy and get lots of rest. i hope you feel better soon.

mara- your dinner sounds so yummy. i''m going to be in Cal. in a few weeks and hope to partake in some of the wonderful restaurants there for fresh food that we just don''t get here. hope you have a good workout today too.

sunday is normally my off day but tomorrow i''ve got a ton of stuff and don''t think I''ll be able to get to the gym so I''m going to go with hubby this afternoon. after our workout, we''re going to take the girls swimming for a while to reward them for serving in the nursery (although they have fun in there, I still feel guilty at times leaving them). then we''re hitting wild oats to stock up on some more fage and other items I can only get there. should be fun. we ate a big lunch after church, i made a pot roast for the family in town so dinner will be very lite, fruits and maybe a fage mix and that''s probably it due to the higher calorie lunch.

i hope everyone has a wonderful sunday!!

 

[Rod]

Oh My Kimberly........A hang over??? Am betting it''s a long long time before you do that to yourself again. I haven''t had one in many years. I think the last one I had was caused by WAY too much Champagne and involved hovering over the toilet for too long

Jeff, DeeJay took the words out of my mouth.......LOL Feel better and I hope you don''t wind up on a long drawn out case in court. But I''m betting gyms are open at night even in New England

Mara, the Tapas meal sounded wonderful. We have a fabulous Tapas place in Tampa, but the one we tried up here, not so good. Good Tapas can be so much fun! And good for you managing to stay within your calorie limit while having a good time to boot!! Also, if you had to choose between Sullivans or Second Empire as one of the two dining options in Raleigh, go to Second Empire. It''s really fabulous.

DeeJay, sorry to hear about the grumps and crazies at the gym. There were a load of strange (and pretty out of shape) new people at the gym today here too. Maybe the fact that spring is in the air and people realize they can''t hide behind their heavy sweaters and winter coats has pushed them to hit the gym. I would have been really annoyed at the lady on the elliptical singing the same song over and over. It really annoys me when people talk on their cell phones while on the elliptical too. It''s just plain rude.

We had great workouts at the gym this afternoon. I''m finally feeling a bit better, though my infection is taking it''s dang slow time going away.

It seems really funny that I don''t have to get up and go to work tomorrow!! I gave out my personal email address to people at work incase anyone wanted to keep in touch with me after I left and I got several emails from people who are incredibly frustrated there, but never said anything to me while I was still there. It''s a shame to have such talented people all looking to get out of a place.

So, tomorrow, I''m going to sleep till I''m ready to get up. Then I''m going to go buy boxes and start packing this crappy corporate apartment up!!!!! Yaaya!! I usually don''t workout on Mondays, but with the extra time on my hands, I''ve decided to do 45 minutes on the elliptical tomorrow afternoon, then my usual three workout days Tue, Wed and Thur. Charlie''s going to Bufallo to visit family from Thursday through Monday (which is why we''re still in Raleigh, otherwise we''d be heading home this week), so I''ll probably work out on Friday too with the extra time I have.

I hope everyone had a terrific weekend. Only one more weekend in Raleigh for me!!!!

 

[KimberlyH]

Thanks mrs.salvo and Rod. You''d better believe it will be a long time! I wasn''t drunk as I had about 3.5 glasses over a 5 hour period, I was just not thinking too wisely. I did not kneel before the porecelin god today, it''s not that bad, I''m just feeling blech, compounded with the cold.

John is making us pesto pasta for dinner, which sounds pretty good, a nice light meal. I''ve had some crackers, a handful of almonds and 1/2 my oatmeal, so I''ll be ready to eat by dinnertime, I think.

 

[Mara]

hehe kimberly, i remember hangovers too well. i typically don''t drink that much but i am such a lightweight too because of it. two strong drinks and i''m down for the count! so i typically stick to one. which is good too because they can pack the cals in so that way i end up saving a bit i think...for dessert!! hehe. that feeling in your stomach the next morning is never fun. hope you feel better soon.

so went to the gym and did 70 min on the elliptical for 630 cals. no arm weights today as i''m giving my arms a break. we will probably go for a short walk later after my parents leave as we are having dinner early in about an hour. but i just had ''lunch'' at 3pm and then i have been snacking like a fiend since then! well i don''t know if 10 almonds and a candied pineapple slice counts as a fiend but still they were cals i didn''t really NEED to consume, esp when we are eating in an hour! oopsie oh well. smaller piece of steak for me.

i went to the market and saw that the turkey sausage was way more cals than my center cut bacon so i am just going to stick with my bacon for now for my egg mcmuffins, esp since i love me a salty piece of bacon hehee. got some more corn bran, and 2% american singles for the mcmuffins and grilled cheese sammies, as well as some more pears and fuji apples for snacking. also i saw in a fitness mag that smart ones makes desserts and they recommended the chocolate chip cookie dough brownie one (or something like that) so i found it at the store and picked it up, 170 cals for the entire box. who knows what it tastes like but i''m willing to experiment! i also picked up sugar free cal free hanson''s diet root beer soda which my friend LOVES...i figured i could make root beer floats with it, i tasted it and on it''s own it''s pretty nasty, i am soo not a diet soda kinda gal...but i think with gelato or ice cream it will be yummy.

so dinner is pretty much mostly prepped, i got rib eye steaks then sliced them into individual steaks for everyone, fresh herbed corn for roasting on the grill, i just need to make my salad and throw the fries in the oven when the steaks go on and i''m all set. i got a sweet baguette for dinner as well and had an end with some st. nectaire cheese and sliced turkey after reading about AG''s lunch...which was SO yummy. and now i am like DAMN whose idea was it to bring a baguette into the house! so my family is totally eating it tonite to take it off my hands. i saved a bit of the end for lunch tomorrow with a turkey and more cheese but after that it''s gone! hehe. it''s really a shame that bread has so many cals, it''s like nectar of the gods, how is that really fair?!?!? hrmph.

but anyway i have more than enough cals saved up this week for a little snackiness. i ended up burning 4375 this week! and if we go for a walk tonite it''ll be more like 4450. but i feel great actually! so next week will be my last crazy insane cals burning week, before i go back to work and i am sure it will drop back down to about 2500 for maintenance. kinda sad but it''s been fun to play around with ''how much can i do'' kinda thing.

anyway better go finish my salad. rod i''ll mark down second empire for a place to go for sure. mrs salvo if you need any sf bay recommends just let me know (you too indec!).

have a great evening everyone!!! hope you had a relaxing, fun weekend.

 

[FireGoddess]

Date: 4/1/2007 8:01:12 PM
Author: Mara
i went to the market and saw that the turkey sausage was way more cals than my center cut bacon so i am just going to stick with my bacon for now for my egg mcmuffins, esp since i love me a salty piece of bacon hehee.

Yeah - the jenny o mini turkey sausages are 120 cal for 2 links. I tend to take one link, cut it in half lengthwise, and use 1/2 a link for each side so it ends up being 60 cals instead. We have to stay away from the bacon because DH doesn''t eat pork, and even though I prefer turkey bacon anyway, he won''t eat that either.

This week will be a challenge because we are moving next weekend, so I don''t want to buy anything else because I don''t want to move it, and the kitchen may be out of commission for a few days while the transition happens!

 

[KimberlyH]

Thanks, Mara. A good glass of wine is as much of a treat as dessert is for me. Yummy! John just came to ask if I wanted wine with dinner...hahaha!

 

[gailrmv]

wow, everyone is having such yummy dinners!
Mara, thanks for your note. I am feeling really good and looking forward to getting even closer to my goals! I now have 28.5 pounds to go.
Today was pretty successful for me - had smartstart and skim milk and blackberries for breakfast, and just a piece of whole wheat pita and hummus for lunch. For dinner I made spaghetti with lean meat beef sauce, and a big green salad. I added a lot of veggies to the sauce as well. It was quite excellent! My splurge was two glasses of wine. I had to miss the gym today b/c it was an insanely busy day. I am a grad student with 2 part time jobs (for another 6 weeks anyway) so there''s always something going on. I will have to miss the gym tomorrow too, although I''ll have at least 30 min of walking in my day. We were invited to a dinner party tomorrow night so I''ll have to be careful to keep my portions in check. the hostess always cooks low fat healthy things, so no worries there! I am already planning nice long workouts for the rest of the days this week.

My ipod has been on the fritz, so I am planning to get the new nano ipod with that running tracking thing that they are now making. i am so excited! I love gadgets, and I love running, so it will be a great combo!! I actually bought the running tracker today at the ipod store and will buy the nano tomorrow from costco, and hope to have the whole thing set up for my run on Tues! I don''t have nike shoes so I''ll have to figure out how to attach the sensor to my adidas.

This is a little rambly. Must be the wine still!

 

[AmberGretchen]

OK, I''m happy to report that the sandwich was SUPER yummy and was a huge hit at the picnic. I used a giant loaf of ciabatta bread, and scooped out a lot of the insides to make it kind of hollow. Toasted it lightly in the oven, then let it cool down. Spread it with about 1/2 a container of Trader Joe''s sundried tomato pesto (pretty high cal per serving, but very flavorful and not too bad when spread out over 8 servings). Then I filled one half with sliced fresh mozzarella (the kind in the water, which, incidentally is only 70 cals per oz, according to calorie king, though the kind I got at TJ''s says its only 60 cals per oz, but I used the higher count just in case), and the other half with a heaping amount of fresh arugula tossed in a little bit of balsamic vinegar. I let it sit for a few minutes, then cut it into eight pieces, which by my calculations were 250-260 cals each, depending on how much bread I actually scraped out, which is a little hard to tell, so very reasonable for lunch, and super yummy, very easy to make, and a big crowd-pleaser. I made it with a chopped salad of steamed corn cooled and cut off the cob, celery, carrots, and cucumbers all cut up into little pieces and some Trader Joe''s balsamic on the side. That was also a big hit. It was great picnic food because it stayed very crisp with the dressing on the side. Highly recommended!

Kim - I really hope you feel better, alcohol can really do a number on your system. Do you have a good recipe for light pesto? I''ve been looking around for one, since I have a bunch of nice fresh basil, and I LOVE pesto pasta, but don''t want to use a ton of calories to have it.

Rod - it sounds like life has gotten so much better for you, and I''m so happy for you about that - it must be so nice to have going home to look forward to so soon now!

 

[royalasscherlover]

sounds like everyone had a wonderful weekend! mine was a little food heavy, but i did an hour on the elliptical on friday and again today, plus i walked outside with a friend for about an hour, so hopefully i offset most of it! the chocolate layer cake i made for the dinner party on friday was divine (definitely worth the 350 calories for a slice!), and then i spent all day saturday taking a bread-baking class at a fabulous bakery here in town. it was awesome! so i have a freezer full of gourmet bread that i baked. i should probably count kneading bread as my workout on saturday - it takes quite a bit of force and my forearms are sore today!

mara, how do you count the tapas calories in your spreadsheet? do you enter each individual thing, or do you have a method to just estimate? i went to a cocktail party at an art gallery saturday night and ate a number of hors''d''oeuvres as dinner - a few shrimp, a few pieces of tuna and smoked salmon on bread, etc - which is similar to the small bites in tapas, and i''m hoping there''s an easier way than putting in all the individual bits.

indecisive, ethopian food is very vegetarian-friendly. it consists of a platter of spongy bread (injera) topped with piles of various stews, most of which are vegetable-based (beans, greens, etc). you tear off pieces of the injera and use it to scoop up the stews - no utensils! i''m not sure about the calorie count, but i think the stews can contain a fair amount of butter. also, i always feel like the injera expands in my stomach, so that''s another reason not to overeat!

this article in the nyt is about restaurants in ethopia, but will give you an idea of the types of dishes. for your first visit, definitely get a combo platter which will have piles of 6-7 veggies stews and also a couple meat stews if your group wants that. http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/travel/18choicetables.html

 

[KimberlyH]

AG: So glad the meal was a hit, it sounds fantastic. DH is the pesto maker in our house. He makes it with fresh basil, lemon zest, a bit of olive oil and a few pieces of diced potatoes plus some other spices....yummy! I don''t have the recipe, he makes it a bit different every time, but his calorie estimate was something like 420, but I always estimate a bit higher than he says because he cooks by eyeball.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Kim - I never thought of making it with potato! I guess it thickens it or something. Hmm...now that I have all this basil to use in the next couple of days, I guess I better start looking up recipes LOL. 420 sounds a little high to me - I''ll have to see if I can find something a little lower, but lemon zest definitely sounds like a yummy addition, especially since I LOVE

lemons!

 

[Rod]

Date: 4/1/2007 9:43:48 PM
Author: AmberGretchen
OK, I''m happy to report that the sandwich was SUPER yummy and was a huge hit at the picnic. I used a giant loaf of ciabatta bread, and scooped out a lot of the insides to make it kind of hollow. Toasted it lightly in the oven, then let it cool down. Spread it with about 1/2 a container of Trader Joe''s sundried tomato pesto (pretty high cal per serving, but very flavorful and not too bad when spread out over 8 servings). Then I filled one half with sliced fresh mozzarella (the kind in the water, which, incidentally is only 70 cals per oz, according to calorie king, though the kind I got at TJ''s says its only 60 cals per oz, but I used the higher count just in case), and the other half with a heaping amount of fresh arugula tossed in a little bit of balsamic vinegar. I let it sit for a few minutes, then cut it into eight pieces, which by my calculations were 250-260 cals each, depending on how much bread I actually scraped out, which is a little hard to tell, so very reasonable for lunch, and super yummy, very easy to make, and a big crowd-pleaser. I made it with a chopped salad of steamed corn cooled and cut off the cob, celery, carrots, and cucumbers all cut up into little pieces and some Trader Joe''s balsamic on the side. That was also a big hit. It was great picnic food because it stayed very crisp with the dressing on the side. Highly recommended!

Kim - I really hope you feel better, alcohol can really do a number on your system. Do you have a good recipe for light pesto? I''ve been looking around for one, since I have a bunch of nice fresh basil, and I LOVE pesto pasta, but don''t want to use a ton of calories to have it.

Rod - it sounds like life has gotten so much better for you, and I''m so happy for you about that - it must be so nice to have going home to look forward to so soon now!

Oh thank you very much!! It is nice to know we are going home!!! Sometimes, you do get do-overs in life. I''m going to make the absolute best of this do-over!!

 

[KimberlyH]

Date: 4/1/2007 10:38:01 PM
Author: AmberGretchen
Kim - I never thought of making it with potato! I guess it thickens it or something. Hmm...now that I have all this basil to use in the next couple of days, I guess I better start looking up recipes LOL. 420 sounds a little high to me - I''ll have to see if I can find something a little lower, but lemon zest definitely sounds like a yummy addition, especially since I LOVE

lemons!

Adding the potato is a northern italian thing. My husband''s grandparents were 1st generation immigrants who passed down some amazing recipes to my husband''s aunt, who in turn passed them down to him. The lemon zest is fabulous, and the potato is different, it''s definitely not a low-carb meal though!

 

[Skippy123]

I went for a long walk today; it was great, 4miles. I have been working so hard and neglected exercise. I have 8 more days till I won''t be working. I am so excited. I am on a leave of absense so I can study for the CPA exam. I am so excited to exercise and see my gym friends again!!!!! I can''t wait! The count down is on!

Rod, I am so happy you are following your heart!

Mara, I hope you got to play an April Fools on Greg. heeeheee, or was it the other way around.

Kim, pesto, YUMMY! Hope you are feeling better. I laughed at myself because I am such a lightweight and had one and a half drinks last weekend w/coworkers that my hubby had to come pick me up. This Friday my work threw me a going away Happy hour that I just had a diet coke because I did not want to relive that hang over. LOL.

Thanks for the motivation!!!!

 

[Mara]

sb on the tapas i end up entering it like this into my spreadsheet:

"Sang;Soup;Bread;Mussls;Albon;Salad;Empan;Cala;Ahi;Paella;Dess"

obviously each thing is abbreviated so my column isn't super long hehe, and then in the column next to it for cals i do the calculation like =120+100+150, etc. so that way later when i come back and look at this week's spreadsheet i can click on the cals and see what each individual thing cost me. so yeah i guess i do it individually, but the sum column for cals makes it pretty easy...i don't have it on separate lines or anything. this is how i enter all my stuff during the days, onto about 4-5 lines per day, so like breakfast is 'steel cut oatmeal w/syrup; toast with SB jam; coffee' and then my calc column would have like =160+55+30. anyway hope that helps!

AG the sandwich sounds good! when i made my little mini sandwich today i hollowed it out too so that i could put the cheese and turkey in it. i definitely think that saves some of the cals. but man bread has so many cals! i looked up a french baguette online and like a 2.5" slice is 130 cals or something like that. so a 5" sandwich is just 250 at least for the bread. bah! so sad. and i makes me wonder how so many subway type places have low calorie counts on sandwiches, do they hollow out the insides too or use a lower calorie type of bread or what. anyway we ate the rest of the bread tonite for dinner with my parents and i saved a small 3" piece for another sandwich tomorrow. but thankfully the rest is gone! it was very yummy. i had 3 small pieces at dinner hehe.

dinner turned out really yummy...the steaks got a little charred when the flame got a little wild thanks to the ribeye fat, hehe, but i like some flavor on my meat and everyone pronounced them quite tasty! the salad, fries, corn, etc all came out perfect and for dessert i did the rest of the SF angel food cake with fresh strawberries (so sweet right now), whipped cream (fat free for me) and then put a little sweet ground ghiradellis chocolate sprinkled on the top for presentation. i also served the rest of our mini cheesecakes from this week cut into thinner slivers, and then 2 of our specialty truffles from vday!! i ate my AFC and then had a truffle and 1.5 cheesecake slivers...and everyone else polished off the rest, woo hoo. so now we have only one specialty truffle left (the irish creme one i saved for greg and i to savor this week) finally! i love these things but they are so big and rich that they have taken us forever to eat. and the AFC is gone, and the cheesecakes are gone, and the bread is gone! so thankfully, way less temptation in the house now for this week lol.

i realized last week that i need to be better about keeping so many 'treats' in the house at once...because it makes it so hard for me to be good. i should just focus on one or two things that i keep in the house and then i have less 'option' to be bad, hehee. it's easy to snack on pear when that's what you have yanno.

oh and for those asking about pesto, i know this is not the same as making fresh but the little dried powder packets you get at the store...the pesto one is actually really good! we had it about 2 weeks ago with some leftover penne or something....and greg loved it. i made it with WAY less oil than it called for, like 1/4 the amount, and i think i used a little heavy cream with fat free milk to thicken it up, and it was still really tasty and in fact tasted even more like basil that way which is what i love about pesto anyway. i don't like the oily feel of it. i mixed in some roasted mushrooms i think. definitely a hit. i got another one at the store last week and i think we might have it this week. and the total for the sauce was only like 75 cals per serving or something...so just add a serving of pasta for around 200 and some mushrooms or other veggies and you are golden.

skippy well the night isn't over but we haven't played any april fools on each other (yet?)...hehe. i am hoping it stays that way!

FG i think i just looked at the turkey sausage patties, not the links, i will have to check them out next time. i also thought you could open up the link casing and just use the sausage in the egg like a scrambled thing or similar...hmmm. oh and i found 'silicon egg rings' at C&B and also BBB so i am going there maybe tomorrow to get one so that i can have a nice round egg for the muffin! hehehe.

we are about to head out for a short evening walk in a few minutes...i need it to help digest all that dessert hahaha. i ended up eating about 200 extra cals tonite but whatever, it was worth it! and i am still in a deficit thanks to all my workouts this week, so it's well worth it. anyhow, hope everyone had a great day....it's a new week tomorrow, my last week of 'freedom' and i plan to enjoy it!!