Week In My Life – Day 3

Wow – Day 3 and I’m still doing this! I’m shocked LOL! Maybe I will be able to at least attempt NaBloPoMo? I definitely have a ton of half finished posts that never got published… And tons of recipes… Hmm…

Onto today!

I’m glad Jeff’s home early from his trip, it means I get both of my cuddle bugs on these cold mornings.

There they are — still passed out under the covers when I got up to make my breakfast and exercise.

No photo of this morning’s breakfast, but it was pretty much the same as yesterday’s but spiced apple cider instead of chai. I always get a protein rich – but light – breakfast in before exercising. I react badly to low blood sugar, so I never exercise on an empty stomach.

I’ve actually been taking a break the last several weeks from my weight loss plan. I got burnt out from constantly giving my 110%. So, I needed some time to enjoy food and stuff again LOL! I was too focused on the numbers instead of the ultimate goal – being healthy, fit, and happy.

I had the healthy and fit parts completely covered, but I wasn’t happy with the slow progress on the scale. But now I’m happy knowing that on the inside I’m fine (even shocked my cardiologist during a stress test – I was too fit and beat the machine!) I just needed more patience for the outside to reflect my fitness level.

This morning I just put in time on my manual treadmill while watching last night’s Covert Affairs, then I did some strength training with my resistance bands. 477 calories burned in just under an hour — I was actually taking it easy since I’m still recovering from a cold that’s been making my heart defect act up.

I love the manual treadmill – I can power walk and get a full lower body workout while in my target heart rate zone! Since I’m the power to the treadmill & it’s at an angle, it works my muscles more than just walking would.  I completely ignore the “computer” on it though — it said I only burned 65 calories, when my heart rate monitor clearly shows otherwise LOL!

After showering and getting dressed, I decided to go ahead and roast the pumpkin seeds and get the soup started for tonight’s dinner.

Until buying Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook on a whim, I never would of thought of making butternut squash in the slow cooker. It’s freaking easy and amazing! I use curry instead of brown sugar for seasoning – and even Jeff loves it!

I forgot how easy it was to open and gut pumpkins! I was done in no time at all! We’ll probably also eat them in no time at all LOL

I got the dishes unloaded and re-loaded while the seeds were roasting. Then it was time to make lunch – beef & barely soup with sourdough toast. Jeff had leftover stroganoff (also a fave slow cooker recipe) and we watched last night’s NCIS LA again… Since he slept through it last night.

After lunch, I got some work done. All those little things that add up when you’re not looking.

Once the butternut squash was ready the in the slow cooker, I finished making the soup.  It’s so easy and so perfect for fall weather!!

While I finished the soup, Jeff did his workout in the back yard. Those muscles…

Ahem.

Back to the living room for me to debate what work to do next.  I ended up pined on the sofa by a cold Riley wanting cuddles. So far, I didn’t have any appraisals to process… so I did some more hacking away at my to-do lists. I honestly didn’t get much done, my cold started to hit me again and Riley was really tempting :-\

When Jeff got home from running some errands, I decided it was time to get the chicken ready for dinner. Simple — lemon pepper seasoning with onion in the cavity & in the pan. I decided to roast it like my mother in law does – upside down. No need to fuss with trussing, the breasts still come out moist… even if they are a little flat.

Roast chicken is one of the easiest, healthiest, and cheapest meals to make — and one of our favorites. The (few) leftovers are great for salads and sandwiches the next day!

When I was cleaning up the kitchen after the bird went in the oven, Jeff thanked me for staying in the kitchen “all day” and “cooking for him.” I then asked him to hit up the grocery store for a bottle of Old Crow for me LOL!

Which he did! and got me some gin! He even went back out for ice!

I kind of got absorbed in finishing up some work stuff & a phone call from my Dad, that I forgot to check the chicken after the timer went off.  Whooops… but it still turned out great & moist! I had a breast half with a bowl of the butternut squash soup and a gin old fashioned

After dinner Jeff went back to playing his video game with his brother, and I decided to catch up on responding to comments on my blogs & facebook. I’m slowly working my way around to all the other WIML bloggers!  I was set up in the living room and channel surfed in between comments, and settled on Coast Guard Florida… these guys look the same as my 14 year old brother!!! Jeff’s going to be ancient when he joins the reserves LOL!

And then Riley decided that she needed my undivided attention, or that she wanted to skype with one of her aunties LOL! Just when I started finishing up today’s post :-\

So I had to finish writing this post with her pinning my right arm down, and her rump on the left side of my laptop.

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I’ve been getting a lot of questions from friends & readers as so how I’m managing to get these posts done while uh, having a weird “schedule”… if you can call my day to day life a schedule!

Well, this week obviously hasn’t been my busiest because Jeff’s home from work, since he had planned to be camping & hunting… but the weather killed those plans.  But, regardless… here’s how I’ve managed my time & keeping up so far:

My iPhone 5!

Seriously — it’s my lifesaver. I haven’t picked up my DSLR once. I’ve been using mostly Instagram to process the photos, instead of spending time in LR or PS.  I’ve also been using PicFrame to do all of the collages (but the last one – that’s a Pugly Pixel template since the photos were taken on my MBP.) The pictures aren’t the best — but taking awesome pictures isn’t the goal, the goal is documenting!

I use the Momento app to port all my social media feeds into one area, and take miscellaneous notes throughout the day. Like Jeff’s random outburst at the bar last night.

And with the WordPress app, I’m able to work on my post draft in between random little things… like stirring the pumpkin seeds while they roast, or waiting while the chicken rests. I don’t use the app to upload photos, I instead use the Photo Stream feature of iOS 6 & iPhoto to upload at the end of the day.

Basically, with my phone full of apps — I make the most of minutes during the day that normally would be wasted.

Well, I really have to sign off now — Riley’s starting to block my screen again!!!!!

Tagged as: exercise, journaling, life, pets, pumpkins, week in my life