Office Life

Office jobs can be challenging-especially if you go from a fast paced, on-your-feet job to sitting at a desk all day. There are definitely a lot of benefits to office life (weekends off!) but there are also a lot of downfalls...like these:

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I have worked at the same company for almost six years and I have gained about 30 pounds in the process….YIKES! I originally started in customer service, where we were required to work 5am-5pm every first of the month. It wasn’t too bad, especially when lunch was catered in for us. I was in the department for about four and a half years, so that’s a lot of lunches! That doesn’t even count the week in October they celebrate the department and have lunch and snacks brought in all week long, or the endless donuts, bagels, cookies, and birthday cakes that are constantly being left in the break room.

 

Needless to say it can be a bit difficult to behave yourself when there are tasty temptations around every corner. A few months ago I decided not to be so tempted by all the treats, and so far it has been pretty successful! I have included a few tips that may help you in passing up the plethora of food at your work, as well as tips to get up and move throughout your work day.

Avoid, avoid, avoid
I know it is easier said than done, but if you know food is in a certain area and you may be tempted to have a nibble (or two) stay away. For example, today a bunch of bagels were brought in and I really thought I wanted one. Then I got to thinking about my goal and how I would feel after if I did eat one. So, I stayed out of the break room until the temptation passed.

Walk
Get up and walk around on your break or lunch. Get a walking partner to go with you-not only is this good to help you move around, but it also gives your eyes a break from staring at the computer.

Stretch
If you can’t get outside to move around, do it at your desk. Stand up for a minute or so and stretch. Bring in an exercise ball and alternate sitting on it and siting in your chair. Or better yet, get one of these…..

 

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Or better yet, one of these….

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Healthy Snacks
If you are actually hungry, and not just eating because it is there (been there, done that….Hello extra 30 pounds!) then make sure you keep healthy snacks in your desk. I have peanuts, granola, and protein bars in my desk. I also usually bring an apple or banana, or some veggies with hummus to snack on.

Contests
Get others involved in your quest to become healthier at work. Start a walking club or start a contest. Everyone loves a little healthy competition. Get everyone who is interested to pitch in five dollars and put it toward a gift card to Starbucks, a running store, or the movies. Who ever walks the most miles, or loses the most weight in a set amount of time (one month, three months, you pick!) will be the winner.

Share
When all else fails-you’ve avoided it, you’ve walked and stretched, and the healthy snacks are not doing the trick-then share. Or take half a donut, bagel, etc. My co-worker brought in pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese frosting yesterday….yea-it was a little difficult to pass that up. So when I ran through my handbag of tricks, I caved in and had a small sliver-and I mean small-just enough for a few bites to fulfill my craving. I’ve heard a few times, from different sources, that when you’re craving something it is better to have a small amount than to deny yourself because you will eat other snacks and waste those calories instead. (Sorry for the long sentence!)

I hope these tips will help you out as they have me. Nobody is perfect, and you’re going to want that piece of cake or donut occasionally. It is learning to know when you want it because you’re hungry, and when you want it because it is available. Good luck!! You can do it!

Questions…

1.       What temptations does your work have?

2.       Are there any other tips you know of to avoid the snacks or help you move around?

Baby Steps

You'll be glad to know that I have made it to the gym two days in a row. (I know, shock and awe, right?) As long as I make it tomorrow and Thursday I'll have reached my goal. Actually, my goal is to make it a minimum of five days a week to the gym, but we're doing baby steps here. "Baby stepping down the hall, baby stepping out the door. I'm doing it, I'm baby stepping!" -What About Bob? I really love that movie!

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But I digress....hitting the gym four times this week would be great since Friday we are headed to see these crazies....

 

 

Mom and the Brother

 

 

Don't hate me Matilda for using this pic. My cousin and aunt got all of us matching pj's from Old Navy last Christmas....oh, and my brother's name isn't really Matilda (just in case you thought it was), that is just what I've called him since he was little.

 

So, Monday we did our usual arm workout followed by 30 minutes of cardio-even the Hubster joined me in cardio! I went with the elliptical and he used the stationary bike. It felt great-even when I woke up at midnight with sore arms.

 

Today we did legs-no cardio-so it was a pretty quick workout. I do about eight different exercises but I'm not sure of the technical name for all of them. I will find out and post it later,  otherwise you'll be left with, "The one where your legs go.." Yea...real pro over here.

 

That about wraps it up for tonight. Hope your Tuesday night is going good!

 

Questions...

 

1. How often do you go to the gym? Is that your goal?

 

2. Even though it's only Tuesday, does anyone have any fun weekend activities?

 

 







Randomness

Hello again.....I've been a little under the weather so I haven't really don't have much to post for you. Instead, please enjoy a few photos from the weekend.

I joined the Hubster on a trip to pick up kegs for the brewery...smaller kegs for the test batches. The tie downs kept coming undone and the kegs would start to crash into each other....good times.

 

 Since we were close, we also dropped in on my uncle and his family. They live in Rolling Hills in Palos Verdes-one word: Beautiful!

 

My aunt found a kitten a few days old last month and it was nice to see how much it has grown....

 



 Sorry for the odd face-the picture was snapped right when Maury decided to check out my nose. When we were in Torrance a little more frequently back in March and April, the Hubster found this pretty cool restaurant/brewery. It has really, really good food and according to the man, pretty good beer too.

 

I guess its become a favorite with my uncle too, since he goes there almost once a week now. But we all went out to dinner-my uncle, aunt, and my cousin. It was a really enjoyable night.

I love their pan fried noodles:

The veggies are cooked perfectly and the sauce is really good! In the midst of dinner somehow cell phones came up in our discussion and the Hubby brought up pagers. Man did we feel old when my 15 year old cousin said she'd never heard of them. Trying to explain it to her was quite hilarious! My favorite question of hers, "How would you read a text on it?" Love it!!

Sorry for the less-than-stellar post. I'll try to have more riveting stories next time, along with my next workout. (Yea-hard to hit the gym when your tummy is rebelling against you. TMI...sorry!)

Questions...

1. Did you have a pager? Or something a little more outdated? :)

2. What did you do this weekend?

Monday Shenanigans

We had quite the excitement in our neighborhood on Sunday-roads were blocked off, police were hanging around, bomb squads were out, and a helicopter was circling around (and around). What was all the fuss over? A backpack. Yep, a backpack some little kid probably left on the sidewalk and will never see again. I guess someone saw the backpack Sunday morning and alerted the authorities as it "looked suspicious". (How can a backpack look suspicious? I mean, at an airport, or event, maybe-but on the sidewalk!?) In any case, we haven't been able to confirm if there was in fact a bomb in the backpack....but it is nice to know the police are on the "better safe than sorry" method.

 

 Today was the usual Monday-boring and slightly slow. It made for a looooonnnngg day! When I got home I was ready to hit the gym! (What!? I know-shocking!! Pretty soon this blog will actually be a running blog.)

We changed, packed our gym necessities and headed to City Hall. (Errr......yea, doesn't everyone workout there? No? Okay then....)

The Hubsters had to discuss something with the Planning department at City Hall so we made a stop on the way to the gym. I've lived in this city on and off since I was 13 and this was my first trip to check it out. It is a really nice building, pretty sure its new, but I had no idea I drive passed it everyday. Opps.....way to be aware of your surroundings.

 

While I was waiting around....I snapped this pic for you all to enjoy

I know-so generous. Right after this pic, I walked into a big spider web...and until I was able to get home and shower, I kept thinking (at least I hope I was only thinking) that I had a spider crawling around on me. Not cool.....

Oh, and at the gym I believe one of the bathroom stalls was out of order. What do you think was my first clue?

Really?! Was all the caution tape really necessary? If I just saw an out of order sign I don't think I'd question it. I love how they even put the tape over the door lock....you know, just in case you missed all the other stuff. No biggie.

Dinner is going undocumented because it was a bunch of leftovers which did not look pretty. Hope you're having a good Monday night. Only four more days to go!

Questions...

1. What are your thoughts on working out on Mondays?
I go back and forth-if I worked out on the weekend, its nice to take Monday off. But if I didn't (like this weekend) its a good day to get back into the swing of things.

2. Are you a leftover fan?
I am-but the Hubsters, not so much. It depends on the leftovers...meatloaf and enchiladas are the leftovers I can get the man to eat without complaints.

Pumpkin Time!

Happy Sunday! Although Sunday isn't really that great of a day since I'll be back at work tomorrow, but for the moment, I'm not at work so things could be worse. :)

Thursday was uneventful-I did manage to go to the gym to do my leg workout, but the Hubsters had a lot going on, so it was condensed into a thirty minute session. Either I wasn't lifting enough, I didn't do enough, or I felt too rushed, because normally after a leg day I'm limping around everywhere. As much as I hate limping, I actually look forward to the muscle soreness-kinda bummed out I missed it this week. Oh well-next time!

Friday started out  perfectly with my supervisor bringing in pumpkin muffins from Starbucks.

 

 I absolutely love pumpkin things.....with the exception of the pumpkin latte from Starbucks. (It doesn't taste like pumpkin to me.) My friend and I shared a muffin-a good thing because if I had a whole one of these I probably would have polished it off...maybe...they were pretty sweet. Speaking of food at the office-stay tuned for a future post regarding gaining weight in the office and what to do about it.

The work day draagggeedd on-like it seems to do every Friday. Once I was finally off, I couldn't weight to be outta there!

Most Fridays we get something for dinner that may not be the most nutritious of choices-pizza, pasta, burritos, etc. Amazingly enough we did not do this on Friday. I ended up making pasta and flatbread for dinner and it was tasty!

I added spinach to the ground turkey to sneak in a veggie for the Hubster (who avoids veggies like they're the plague)

 

I added more spinach to the flat bread...

Before....

After!

I also added some steamed broccoli florets to the pasta

 

 

But only mine-otherwise the Hubster probably would've dumped the bowl over my head. I also smothered his bowl in the sauce (as you can tell) since he likes a little pasta with his sauce.

 

That pretty much sums up our Friday...oh-a little bit of this may have happened while we watched Year One-pretty stupid movie by the way.

 

 

Hope you're having a fun weekend!

 

Questions...

 

1. What did you do this weekend?

 

2. Pumpkin fan or no?

 



It Cancels Out (Right!?)

Happy Hump Day! Only two more days until the weekend-well maybe one and a half since Friday afternoon is when my brain goes off. (Okay, okay Mom, more off than normal.)

Today was one of those days where I really wanted a cheeseburger and fries and nothing else sounded appetizing....please tell me you have these days too. Unfortunately, I did not have a cheeseburger packed for lunch...I had salad.

Not a Cheeseburger

Once you're craving something hot and bad for you, nothing sounds less appealing than something cold and good for you. So I ate about a third of my salad and gave up.

Luckily we had a workout planned and afterward the gym I was able to convince the Hubster we needed a cheeseburger for dinner-with fries too of course! We are doing simple burgers at home, with some baked French fries. YUM! Dinner is cooking as I type this up....can't wait! It may not be the Five Guys burger with Cajun fries-and if we're honest the trip to White Lime after-but it will be A LOT healthier and will hopefully get rid of this craving!

Since today was an arm day-biceps and triceps-I figure the calories I burned doing that and the extra ten minutes of cardio cancels out the extra calories from eating an "unhealthy" dinner. Right? Who's with me on this logic/justification?

In case you're curious, here is our typical arm workout:

I usually do about 50-60 pounds on tricep exercises, except for the extensions, in which I do about 20-25 pounds. For biceps I do about 30 pounds..so the arm in the above picture is obviously mine. (Just a little sarcasm for your Wednesday night.)

That about wraps this up....oh and in case you need to know what I wore to work...

I took this pic and sent it to my Mama-san to show her I was wearing the shirt she bought me when she was out. I miss when my mom would buy me all my clothes.....Mom-can we go back to this arrangement?

Questions...

1. Do you try to justify your meals if it isn't the most healthy choice?

2. Do you workout arms? If so, what exercises am I missing?

Planning Ahead

You'll be happy to hear I did go to the gym Saturday! I even came up with my very simple running plan while I was there. I started out on the treadmill and did a fast walk for a few minutes, followed by increasing the speed until I was at a jog. I stayed at that pace until I completed a mile-without stopping. After that, I switched to the elliptical for 45 minutes. Not too shabby......So the running plan is to keep my "runs" at a mile but each run improve upon the time it takes to complete it. Once I get to about a 7 minute mile I will start adding on some distance a little at a time.

In the meantime I will continue to cross-train and do weights. But on Sunday it was more like:

 

Obviously I took a rest day Sunday....yes, a rest day, after two whole days on the elliptical. Phew....I'm an animal at the gym. Watch out!

I did get back into making protein shakes though-with my beloved Click Protein Powder. Coffee and protein? Yes please!

I mixed about 16 oz of non-fat milk with a big scoop of 0% Greek yogurt (mold free thank you very much), a banana, and spinach with three scoops of the protein powder. I normally add ice but our lovely ice maker bit the dust a few weeks ago. All in all it was still pretty tasty!

On a random note, I must share something I found kind of funny and yet extremely adorable. I was running behind this morning and wasn't going to have time to make my lunch, so the Hubster generously offered to do it for me. As I was getting ready I could hear him in the kitchen and at one point he asked me if I wanted some broccoli and carrots thrown in. I said sure-the more veggies, the more filling it will be right?

Well, my dear, adorable little husband even cut the carrots (which were already baby carrots)....take a look:

So sweet! That's how you know your man loves you! <3 :)

To avoid making my husband show his undying love for me again, I packed my breakfast, snack, and lunch while I was also cooking dinner. Two gold stars for multi-tasking!

Starting on the left, I have my salad with poppy-seed dressing, cottage cheese (which I'll add to my salad), veggies and hummus, and Canadian bacon with a laughing cow cheese wedge and a bagel thin. Yum!!

To avoid you thinking I go to great lengths to cook dinner, I should tell you that the lunch prep took more time (and a bigger mess) than dinner. We just had grilled shrimp and steamed veggies.

 

 

Neat trick: Put your veggies in a ziplock bag with a little water, seal almost all the way closed-leave about a one inch opening-and microwave for two minutes.....perfectly steamed veggies. LOVE IT!

 

Oh and lest you think I didn't go to the gym today, let me assure you I definitely did. Only to have the guy on the machine next to me ask me twice about the football game I wasn't even watching. Come on man....I was watching Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition. Besides, do I even look like I would want to watch the Redskins and Eagles? Puh-lease!

 

Have a good night!

 

Questions...

 

1. What do you take in your lunch? Or if you buy it out, where do you normally go?

 

2. Are you a talker at the gym, or do you tune it and tune out?

 

 



I Finally Did It!

I finally went to the gym! Yay for me.....I cross-trained for 45 minutes while The Man worked on shoulders. Got a good sweat going on too-feeling proud of myself, in case you couldn't tell. Hopefully the momentum keeps going and we hit the gym again tomorrow morning (Yes-on a Saturday).

So Thursday night I tried to curl my hair using socks-you twirl your hair around a sock and then once it is up against your scalp you just tie the sock in a knot and sleep in it (which is not very comfortable). The Hubsters got quite the laugh out of my hair style and tried to mimic me...

Needless to say, Friday morning I woke up with half my hair really curly and the other half slightly wavy. It quickly turned into a ponytail day.....

Despite the bad hair, my hubby still loves me enough to bring me coffee at work. PSL (aka Pumpkin Spice Latte) is back....I love the smell, but the taste? Not so much. Non-fat cinnamon dolce latte, coming up.

On a random note (because everything else in this blog flows so naturally), did you hear about the Chobani recall? Well, when  my Mom and I were at the store last weekend, I was telling her how great the Key Lime Crumble flavor is, and since it was on sale I bought a few. Wouldn't you know it is the lot/batch that has the mold they are recalling...niiiiiice. No Key Lime Crumble for us.

In brewery news, we received the public notice to sell alcoholic beverages sign. As long as nobody contests the notice in thirty days, we should have the liquor license.

That seems about it for me-we're going to enjoy our Friday night and have some pizza...homemade healthy (-ish) pizza. I used naan flat bread as the crust, added TJ's pizza sauce, spinach, lite mozzarella, Canadian bacon, and green onions. YUM!

The rest of the weekend we plan on brewing, working on the house, and keeping our workouts going. Not too busy this time around.....which is always a nice break.

Questions...

1. What is your Starbucks drink of choice?
       Mine depends on the season and weather (and mood) but I usually like iced coffee, cinnamon dolce lattes, eggnog lattes, peppermint mochas (if I want something sweet), the black iced tea, or the passion tea lemonade. That's all....

2. What are your weekend plans?

First Workout...

Well-first workout in September, but more on that later.

My Mom and Brother made it back to Arizona Monday night. (*sigh) The house always seems a little empty after they leave. But, with the holidays coming up we'll be back to our usual nonsense soon. Since November last year we've seen each other at least once a month-sometimes A LOT more. I'd like to see how long we can keep this streak going.

After they left we had another visitor:

That was the most excitement for Monday.

So, Monday night was a quiet night at home with the Hubsters. We watched Zombieland and The House at the End of the Street. Let me just say, if you're extremely imaginative it is not a good idea to watch two creepy/bloody movies back-to-back right before bed. But I'll probably do it again-maybe even tonight.

I didn't get to the gym on Tuesday-work was a little crazy and I just wanted to relax when I got home. But here is a picture of my wonderful salad I had for lunch, thanks to my Mom's wonderful Costco card...(And yes-I did just use the word 'wonderful' twice in the same sentence...so much for "extremely imaginative".)

Since I missed quite a few workouts-there was no excuse for today. As soon as I came home, I changed into my workout gear and got set up to do a nice workout at home. (Meaning, I was too lazy to shave my legs and actually go to the gym. TMI, I know, sorry!)

 

This was a fun workout, and with the Pandora blasting away I worked up a good sweat. (Or it could have been because the temperature inside the house was 85..YIKES!) Finally got this body in motion!

Word to the wise if your dog is inside and you're trying to workout it may be best to put him in a room and close the door.....

Downward Doughzer

Now it is time to relax and unwind before doing it all over again tomorrow....

Questions...

1. Does your family live close by or out of state?

2. What is the longest you go in between workouts?

Labor Day Weekend

Happy Labor Day! For those who want to know what Labor Day is, here you go:

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. (source)

So here's to us-the hard workers of America, paying our taxes to the government each year and as thanks, we get a day off. :)

Saturday we had family over for a BBQ, well technically a smoke, and we had smoked pulled pork, BBQ beans, fruit, and salad. Sorry I don't have a picture-by the time everything was ready, we were starving!!

After dinner, we headed over to the brewery to show the family-we also went up on the roof to scope things out:

After hanging out at the brewery (really just the shell of a building with a few fermentations tanks) the boys decided to go cart racing.....

Like astronauts coming off the ship....

It was fun and entertaining to watch!

The rest of the night and Sunday passed in a blur. Mom and I hit up some of the sales yesterday and scrounged around Ross, Marshall's, and TJ Maxx. As for today, Mom and the Bro are heading back to Arizona and the hubster and I will be running a few small errands. Nothing like a three day weekend....

Hope you guys had a great one!

Questions...

1. What did you do this weekend?

2. Anyone get some great items on the Labor Day sale?