I'm really struggling with the tired's again this week. This morning I felt like I literally could not drag myself out of bed. I'm super glad it's not a running day, because I seriously don't think I would have made it out there. I did eventually drag my sorry ass out of bed in time to cycle to work thankfully - but it was a long hard slog the whole way, which kinda sucks. Hopefully I'll snap out of this sometime soon. Oh, that just reminded me to take a multi vitamin - maybe I'm low on something. Can't do any harm, right?
Anyway, I think I left off on Saturday morning with my last post, after a great long run. I didn't achieve a whole lot else on Saturday really - I did manage to go and buy the curtain fabric with my mum, but that ended up taking hours. That's the problem with going home, I can never just pop in there, they won't let me leave the house. We spent about half an hour in Spotlight, then I spent 2 hours trying to escape the house after that.
Sunday was a busy one, but surprisingly productive for once. Up for the markets first thing (really really dark now. I got up early so I could make us some coffees to take with us, sit in the car and drink them while we waited for it to lighten up at least a little bit). I felt the need to bake, so I made a sultana cake for my Pa, and a batch of hot cross buns. They were good too - perhaps a little more spice, but otherwise a good recipe find. Someone at work has kindly volunteered to be the recipient of the next batch, so that will be a good offload of next weekend's baking :-)
After the baking expedition, I did a bit of gardening in the rain (as you do). One vegie patch has been fertilised and will be ready for planting in 6 weeks or so. I still haven't made any headway with doing the edging pavers on the other 3 patches though, damn it. I did clean the house from top to bottom and do piles of washing though, so that was a good effort. I also went to mum's early for dinner, and put the pug in the bath for her. He was one stinky pug, something to do with the fact that he decided to roll in cow poo fertiliser last week perhaps. He looks a completely different colour now, nice and cream instead of dirty brown. I also took the pug and the shep for a walk... and it started to rain 5 minutes after we set out. It was just my day to get wet I think. The pug has made great progress on his fitness too - he used to refuse to walk in the rain (he would just sit down and refuse to move, I had to carry him!) Now he loves a walk more than he hates the rain, so he just kept trotting on without seeming to notice the rain. Go pug!
Monday morning saw me out for a scheduled 4.8km "easy pace" run. My legs were really heavy from Saturday's run and it was a tough circuit. I haven't got my lap times on me (well the Garmin is 3 rooms away, which is clearly way too far), but I think the time was 30:34 for 4.8km. I felt every metre of that distance too. I nearly gave into the fatigued legs last night, but instead I sucked it up and went to Step at the gym for the first time in a few weeks. I got through that fine, which leads me to believe that the fatigue and soreness is probably more mental than physical. I just need to push through it and toughen up a bit I think.
Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go...
Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts
Monday, March 21, 2011
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Another weekend gone
How do these weekends keep slipping by so fast? I'm sorry this one is gone, but there are two things keeping me chipper this Sunday evening.
One, the boss is away this week, and will not be ringing - he's doing an 800km bike ride from Adelaide to Geelong. I wish him well for the big ride (especially as it is for a charitable cause, in memory of a friend who passed away from leukaemia a week or so ago), but I'm also REALLY happy he won't be on the phone this week. We get on well, but I'm ready for a week's trial separation. He can be quite demanding, and having some time to get stuck into a big project without side projects from him is something I am very much looking forward to.
Two, next weekend is a long weekend, the first one since June and I am hanging out for it. I am 150% sure that I'm not working this long weekend, not even a little log in from home for a couple of hours like I usually do. I need the break, and damn it I'm taking it.
So, anyway, I'm in quite high spirits this evening. The weekend has been a good one all round really. On Friday night I went for a run from the office (seeing as I failed to drag my butt out of bed in the morning). It was an awesome run - I had forgotten how rewarding it is to run on relatively flat terrain, compared to the killer hills around my house. I covered 5.75km or thereabouts, and didn't need to stop to walk at all. It wasn't a very fast pace, about 8.6km/h, but I felt great that I could cover that distance, so the speed will return in time.
After the run and a bit of recovery, I headed for home, had something quick for dinner (I think it was a vegemite sandwich of all things... perhaps I need to revisit "balanced diet 101" and "refueling the body with protein". But I was hungry and it was quick. Meh.) I then got stuck into my baking. I love to bake, and I haven't done any for a month or more, so I've missed it. It was a bit of a test for me, because I usually spend as much time eating the ingredients and various batters as I do cooking. I won't say that I didn't eat any of the raw materials, I probably downed 500 calories odd, but I certainly didn't binge out, and I didn't eat any of the final products. I'm proud as can be - something has finally snapped into place in my stupid head, and I'm over the binging. Weird (but awesome).
On Saturday I got up a little later than planned, but made it to the gym for the step class. I love step, I'm not massively coordinated (but not completely unco either), so I have to concentrate to follow and remember the moves. This is great for me, because then I focus on something other than the pain in my legs or how much I'm struggling to breathe. It was a good class, and I hope I can fit it in semi regularly. I didn't stay for body bar, because I was buggered, and I didn't want my legs to pull up so sore that it put me off schedule for the week ahead. Small steps.
After a quick call into the supermarket, I returned home and continued the baking feast while watching the drawn grand final. Very little taste testing today too (except for a damn cheesecake I made, it was devine. I had 3 spoonsful and then gave myself a stern talking to, put it in the fridge and didn't touch it again). All up, I made a dozen melting moments, 2 dozen triple chocolate cookies, 2 dozen neiman marcus cookies, 15 cinnamon and sultana muffins, and 14 miniature cheesecakes. I knew it had been too long since I baked, I wanted to make everything! The good news is the whole lot has now been delivered to willing recipients - a lot of it to mum and dad's, and the rest to my friend Lou and her family.
On Saturday night I went out to dinner and watched a movie with my best mate Lou. She's been really sick for several months with glandular fever and other nasty viral things, but she appears to be coming through the worst of it now. I haven't seen much of her while she's been sick as her main pastime has been sleeping, and she hasn't been up to visitors. It was brilliant to see her again, and I realised how much I've missed her. I like to be a hermit at times, but it's great to have friends who know you inside out too. We met at school when we were 9 years old, went right through high school together, then went to uni together too. I half lived at her place in uni holidays, we were pretty much inseparable. So yeah, good times. I had lasagne at the cafe where we had dinner - possibly not the best choice, but not a tragedy. I had the calories saved, so all is well.
Sunday saw me up bright and sparky at 6am, ready for mum to pick me up at 6.15 and head to the markets. I was pretty bleary eyed after getting home after midnight, but it's a good way to start the day nonetheless. We were there for ages today, lots of trash and treasure stalls to look through, and we got some cute stuff for my niece Lara. We got our lovely fresh vegetables, then retired to my place for coffee and scrambled eggs. Mum left about 10.30, and I got on with some chores around the house, made my lunches for the week, made a stir fry for a couple of dinners (which came in at a beatifully low calorie count I might add), and stewed some apples for a sweet treat or two.
Late in the arvo I went round to mum's place, and took those stinky dogs for a bath, it was finally warm enough to wash them. Kali was very badly behaved and barked at other dogs, and also scared the crap out of someone when she lunged wildly at them walking past with their staffy. Kali is a massive black German Shepherd, so she looks pretty scary. She actually wants to lick the dogs she's barking at, but from the dog owner's view I'm sure it looks like she wants to eat them. Very embarrassing, I think we'll need to get Bark Busters back for a refresher course. Bazil the Pug was not at all amused by the bath, but there's only so much fuss a dog that size can kick up (thankfully). They smell much much better now, but the hair they are dropping everywhere is insane. Glad it's not in my house! I stayed on for dinner at mum's (roast pork, delicious), then made my way home.
So here we go with the goals for the week ahead:
One, the boss is away this week, and will not be ringing - he's doing an 800km bike ride from Adelaide to Geelong. I wish him well for the big ride (especially as it is for a charitable cause, in memory of a friend who passed away from leukaemia a week or so ago), but I'm also REALLY happy he won't be on the phone this week. We get on well, but I'm ready for a week's trial separation. He can be quite demanding, and having some time to get stuck into a big project without side projects from him is something I am very much looking forward to.
Two, next weekend is a long weekend, the first one since June and I am hanging out for it. I am 150% sure that I'm not working this long weekend, not even a little log in from home for a couple of hours like I usually do. I need the break, and damn it I'm taking it.
So, anyway, I'm in quite high spirits this evening. The weekend has been a good one all round really. On Friday night I went for a run from the office (seeing as I failed to drag my butt out of bed in the morning). It was an awesome run - I had forgotten how rewarding it is to run on relatively flat terrain, compared to the killer hills around my house. I covered 5.75km or thereabouts, and didn't need to stop to walk at all. It wasn't a very fast pace, about 8.6km/h, but I felt great that I could cover that distance, so the speed will return in time.
After the run and a bit of recovery, I headed for home, had something quick for dinner (I think it was a vegemite sandwich of all things... perhaps I need to revisit "balanced diet 101" and "refueling the body with protein". But I was hungry and it was quick. Meh.) I then got stuck into my baking. I love to bake, and I haven't done any for a month or more, so I've missed it. It was a bit of a test for me, because I usually spend as much time eating the ingredients and various batters as I do cooking. I won't say that I didn't eat any of the raw materials, I probably downed 500 calories odd, but I certainly didn't binge out, and I didn't eat any of the final products. I'm proud as can be - something has finally snapped into place in my stupid head, and I'm over the binging. Weird (but awesome).
On Saturday I got up a little later than planned, but made it to the gym for the step class. I love step, I'm not massively coordinated (but not completely unco either), so I have to concentrate to follow and remember the moves. This is great for me, because then I focus on something other than the pain in my legs or how much I'm struggling to breathe. It was a good class, and I hope I can fit it in semi regularly. I didn't stay for body bar, because I was buggered, and I didn't want my legs to pull up so sore that it put me off schedule for the week ahead. Small steps.
After a quick call into the supermarket, I returned home and continued the baking feast while watching the drawn grand final. Very little taste testing today too (except for a damn cheesecake I made, it was devine. I had 3 spoonsful and then gave myself a stern talking to, put it in the fridge and didn't touch it again). All up, I made a dozen melting moments, 2 dozen triple chocolate cookies, 2 dozen neiman marcus cookies, 15 cinnamon and sultana muffins, and 14 miniature cheesecakes. I knew it had been too long since I baked, I wanted to make everything! The good news is the whole lot has now been delivered to willing recipients - a lot of it to mum and dad's, and the rest to my friend Lou and her family.
On Saturday night I went out to dinner and watched a movie with my best mate Lou. She's been really sick for several months with glandular fever and other nasty viral things, but she appears to be coming through the worst of it now. I haven't seen much of her while she's been sick as her main pastime has been sleeping, and she hasn't been up to visitors. It was brilliant to see her again, and I realised how much I've missed her. I like to be a hermit at times, but it's great to have friends who know you inside out too. We met at school when we were 9 years old, went right through high school together, then went to uni together too. I half lived at her place in uni holidays, we were pretty much inseparable. So yeah, good times. I had lasagne at the cafe where we had dinner - possibly not the best choice, but not a tragedy. I had the calories saved, so all is well.
Sunday saw me up bright and sparky at 6am, ready for mum to pick me up at 6.15 and head to the markets. I was pretty bleary eyed after getting home after midnight, but it's a good way to start the day nonetheless. We were there for ages today, lots of trash and treasure stalls to look through, and we got some cute stuff for my niece Lara. We got our lovely fresh vegetables, then retired to my place for coffee and scrambled eggs. Mum left about 10.30, and I got on with some chores around the house, made my lunches for the week, made a stir fry for a couple of dinners (which came in at a beatifully low calorie count I might add), and stewed some apples for a sweet treat or two.
Late in the arvo I went round to mum's place, and took those stinky dogs for a bath, it was finally warm enough to wash them. Kali was very badly behaved and barked at other dogs, and also scared the crap out of someone when she lunged wildly at them walking past with their staffy. Kali is a massive black German Shepherd, so she looks pretty scary. She actually wants to lick the dogs she's barking at, but from the dog owner's view I'm sure it looks like she wants to eat them. Very embarrassing, I think we'll need to get Bark Busters back for a refresher course. Bazil the Pug was not at all amused by the bath, but there's only so much fuss a dog that size can kick up (thankfully). They smell much much better now, but the hair they are dropping everywhere is insane. Glad it's not in my house! I stayed on for dinner at mum's (roast pork, delicious), then made my way home.
So here we go with the goals for the week ahead:
- Make some major progress on my big work project
- Eat at 1500 calories, give or take
- Stick to the exercise plan - 3 runs, 1 circuit, 1 boxing class, 1 body bar class, and anything that else that fits in with the weekly regime
- Do a small housework job every night after work/gym so I don't have to waste the long weekend cleaning the house
- 7 hours sleep a night
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Quickie
I didn't get to do my blog update last night, and it will have to be a quick one this morning, because I have a crap load of work to get through today.
I went to mum's place for dinner last night, but it was a bit drama filled. My aunty was there, and told us the sad news that my cousin was in hospital suffering a suspected miscarriage. We waited for ages for any news, and eventually got something that falls into neither the good news nor bad news category I guess - she did indeed have a miscarriage, but she was carrying twins. One twin has survived and looks healthy and normal. The doctors even told her that she can go on her planned trip to Melbourne tomorrow for the grand final. It's hard to know how to feel about it - it's sad that one of the babies died, but it's wonderful that there is still a baby to come (and they didn't know it was twins anyway).
On my own personal front, I didn't make it to the gym this morning, my legs and butt are not up to it yet. I got up early and did some stretching to hopefully ease it off a little, and with any luck I'll be able to sneak out for a walk at lunch time and loosen things up a bit. I've been thinking about whether I'll do some exercise tonight to make up for this morning, but on the whole I think not. If I tighten up the legs again, it will just stop me going for a run tomorrow morning. And anyway, I've got some other stuff to do tonight at home, given the weekend is starting to fill up again already.
The food front is still going strong. I felt like I ate a lot last night, but I still came in at 1500 calories for the day amazingly. Eliminating the chocolate from my diet has made it so much easier to control the calorie intake, it's amazing (OK well maybe it's not amazing to sane people, but it's been a revelation for me).
I am putting myself through endurance testing at the moment though - I collected various baking goods from mum's place last night. I buy up my chocolate chips and cooking chocolate etc, then I take it to mum's for safe keeping, so I can't eat it! I'm visiting a friend who has been quite unwell on Saturday night, and I've promised to take some baked goodies with me. And my dad has put in a request for cookies and cake. All the ingredients were on the bench in my house last night, and I wasn't remotely tempted to touch them (although I did get home pretty late, but still...) Tonight will be a new test, because I'll be home for longer before I go to bed. The massive test will be on Friday night or Saturday afternoon when I get baking. I LOVE to bake, but I also love to stick my fingers in what I'm baking. I need some strategies to minimise the damage - suggestions anyone??
Right-o, time to get into it.
I went to mum's place for dinner last night, but it was a bit drama filled. My aunty was there, and told us the sad news that my cousin was in hospital suffering a suspected miscarriage. We waited for ages for any news, and eventually got something that falls into neither the good news nor bad news category I guess - she did indeed have a miscarriage, but she was carrying twins. One twin has survived and looks healthy and normal. The doctors even told her that she can go on her planned trip to Melbourne tomorrow for the grand final. It's hard to know how to feel about it - it's sad that one of the babies died, but it's wonderful that there is still a baby to come (and they didn't know it was twins anyway).
On my own personal front, I didn't make it to the gym this morning, my legs and butt are not up to it yet. I got up early and did some stretching to hopefully ease it off a little, and with any luck I'll be able to sneak out for a walk at lunch time and loosen things up a bit. I've been thinking about whether I'll do some exercise tonight to make up for this morning, but on the whole I think not. If I tighten up the legs again, it will just stop me going for a run tomorrow morning. And anyway, I've got some other stuff to do tonight at home, given the weekend is starting to fill up again already.
The food front is still going strong. I felt like I ate a lot last night, but I still came in at 1500 calories for the day amazingly. Eliminating the chocolate from my diet has made it so much easier to control the calorie intake, it's amazing (OK well maybe it's not amazing to sane people, but it's been a revelation for me).
I am putting myself through endurance testing at the moment though - I collected various baking goods from mum's place last night. I buy up my chocolate chips and cooking chocolate etc, then I take it to mum's for safe keeping, so I can't eat it! I'm visiting a friend who has been quite unwell on Saturday night, and I've promised to take some baked goodies with me. And my dad has put in a request for cookies and cake. All the ingredients were on the bench in my house last night, and I wasn't remotely tempted to touch them (although I did get home pretty late, but still...) Tonight will be a new test, because I'll be home for longer before I go to bed. The massive test will be on Friday night or Saturday afternoon when I get baking. I LOVE to bake, but I also love to stick my fingers in what I'm baking. I need some strategies to minimise the damage - suggestions anyone??
Right-o, time to get into it.
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