Zzzzzz....

I would have posted over the past few days, but my life is basically blessedly dull. I'll just fill you in on meals and exercise, mostly to keep myself accountable.

For Thursday dinner, I made the Terra Ricotta from the Abs Diet. It is 3 tablespoons of ricotta cheese mixed with 1 teaspoon ready-made roasted garlic, spread on top of a Flat-Out wrap, topped with 3/4 cup chopped precooked chicken and 3 tablespoons reduced-fat mozzarella, and then baked at 375 for 6 minutes. I have to tell you, I was under-whelmed. I'm not really a huge fan of ricotta, and the taste came through in this recipe. It tasted as bland as it looked. But you did get a fair amount!

I do think the Flat Out wraps are a great invention. For 100 calories, you have a thin pizza crust or a great sandwich wrap. The first time I tried them, I got the Italian herb flavor and I HATED it. The multi-grain is w-a-y better.

Friday breakfast: chopped Canadian bacon, 2 eggs, and 2 tablespoons mozzarella all scrambled up and wrapped in a Flat Out for a breakfast burrito. Add a little salsa, and YUM! I had a glass of milk also - I'm just really thirsty in the morning.

Friday lunch: a 6-oz container of vanilla Chobani, 1/4 cup Grape-Nuts, 1 cup mixed berries all mixed together, and a hard boiled egg on the side

Friday dinner was the Superfood Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette. I made it several weeks ago, and have been hungry for the flavors so needed to make it again. Still so good. And I served it with some parmesan bread: actually just a Flat Out wrap (again!) sprayed with some butter spray, sprinkled with a little parm and baked for a few minutes. It was a nice crunchy counterpart to the salad.

Saturday breakfast: peanut butter English muffin (out of bagel thins!), milk, and mixed berries.

Lunch: more Superfood Salad (1 cup versus the 1.5 cups I had for dinner) topped with 2.5 ounces of chicken.

I owe Mark Zuckerberg another thank you for Saturday dinner. One of my friends had noticed a friend comment on my Facebook page, and it turns out these two women knew each other (and their now-husbands) when they were growing up. Since they're both in the area (well, Elkhorn and Lincoln), we decided that the three couples needed to get together and go out to dinner and catch up. We went to Mark's in Dundee, which is always a treat. I had one of the nightly specials (a papardelle pasta in a pesto sauce with some Indian spices) and I think I was the only one somewhat disappointed with my meal. But as my friend Debbie often says, "I'll survive. It's not my last meal."

But I'll tell you what WASN'T disappointing:

That's right, the bread pudding with whiskey sauce. (I think the picture is blurry because I was so excited that my hand was shaking!) We had one order and six forks, although only five of us partook of the treat. I had two bites and really wanted to lick the plate, but since it was a classy restaurant, I had to restrain myself.

Sunday breakfast: PB English muffin and an orange

Lunch: Archer Farms chicken sausage, an apple, and Special K sea salt cracker chips. I think the K stands for Krack, because that's about how difficult they are to resist. But you get 15 chips for 55 calories!

Dinner was a big lettuce salad with grilled chicken.

Today's breakfast was (just guess), PB English muffin, a banana, and milk

Lunch was tasty: a chicken sausage again, with cracker chips (again) and celery and carrot sticks with Trader Joe's horseradish hummus. This stuff is delicious. You know how sometimes hummus is a little bland? Not this!

My cardio workouts have been sporadic. I stopped swimming when I had the epidural - no reason other than I couldn't swim for that day. The lap lane hours were really inconvenient (11:30-1:30) and I'm a morning exerciser. Also, the skin on my eyelids was getting really dry - couple that with the wrinkles, and I looked a mess when I put on eyeshadow. I am full of good excuses.

I'm walking / running, but not as often as I should be. One exercise regimen that I have been religious about is the Fab Abs February schedule. Today was 60 sit-ups, 18 pushups, and a 50 second plank. Those planks are getting more and more difficult. Dwight tried it last night since he thought it looked so easy; he made it 45 seconds before collapsing. I was actually pretty impressed since I think it's the first plank he's ever attempted. By the end of the month - next week! - I am supposed to be holding a two-minute plank. I keep reminding myself of what Emily says: my body is stronger than I think it is.

So after all that rambling, what I need to do is plan my workouts for the week instead of just doing what I feel like whenever. The cardio workouts are a minimum of 30 minutes. So here goes:

Monday: Couch to 5K run/walk, Fab Abs

Tuesday: stationary bike, Fab Abs

Wednesday: C25K, Fab Abs

Thursday: stationary bike, Fab Abs

Friday: C25K, Fab Abs

Saturday: bike, Fab Abs

Sunday: OFF - we're going to Des Moines to have brunch with the girls and Tim. Can't wait!