Say Hello to "Lurlota"

The moment we have all been waiting for….

She is smiling at blogland!

Say Hello to “Lurlota”… It is a new 2008 Dodge Dakota, Jeff’s old truck was a Ford Ranger and was named “laurlene”… hence you would say it like “Laurloda”..

It has 4 wheel drive, partially leather seats, heated seats, crew cab, an auxillary hook up and carrier for an mp3 player, 0 miles on it, and it is a V8 !

Red is Jeff’s favorite color and oddly enough it is the same color as his previous truck! This was purely out of coincidence since it was the only 4 x4 crew cab truck at this dealership he got it at!

In case you did not know, Jeff was in a terrible accident about a month ago. You can read more about it HERE

Everyone walked away with only minor injuries, but Jeff was t-boned on his side- causing his vehicle to be t-boned by TWO other vehicles on the passenger side ( our friend Nate was sitting there). Anyhow, his truck was completely totalled. After a long ordeal and lots of stress and worrying and financial issues- Jeff’s uncle got a fantastic deal on a truck that was at a dealership ( his aunt works there) that was going out of business.

He got this truck for about 1/2 the price it is worth due to the dealership closing and generous people all around. Thank You Uncle Jeff and Aunt Darlene!

It was dark when Jeff got home so I will take more pics tomorrow! We went out to dinner to celebrate!

PF Changs…
I have been there once before and a long time ago!
I ordered two appetizers for my dinner ..
Steamed Vegetable Dumplings and Seared Ahi Tuna.

The tuna came with a lovely mixed green salad and cucumbers- I ate all of it! The tuna was a little too rare than I would normally prefer but still delicious! Jeff ordered that sweet and sour pork, it came with bell pepper and pinapple and i had a bite of it- that was yummy as well.
The veggie dumplings were steamed and tasty as well -very filling!

and… Fortune Cookie… i just like to read the fortune
“If you put up with small annoyances you will gain great results”

Pretty good advice- And fitting- Jeff’s new truck is more than either of us would have thought would have come out of all these “annoyances” along the way, but it sure is a great result!

Lunch:

oven roasted sliced chicken, sandwich thin with mustard and a pickle, toasted kale, fresh cut veggies with some goddess dressing to dip, half a banana.

Breakfast:

Steel Cut Oats made with water, blueberries, cinnamon, banana, peanut butter…

and coffee ( no photo- it was black)

And if you made it this far… Jack thought he’d say hey to all my bloggie friends’ puppies

Any takers? No…

Aw… okay back to sleep.

Love to All of you!

Sunday

Breakfast:
Half Grapefruit and A smoothie: vanilla protein, milk, banana, pb, blueberries

Lunch:
Salmon Burger on a Thin with thawed frozen veggies and the last sprinkling of reduced fat feta…

Snack:
Larabar

Dinner:
no photo- battery- ( i don’t think its the camera- i just take a ton of pics and forget to charge the battery!)
Grilled Chicken Breast with lots of veggies

Body:
Walk with Jack (10 minutes). He ran away yesterday when we got to Jeff’s parents- STINKER! He stunk when he decided 7 hours later to show up… Thankfully Jeff gave him a bath…

Moving all the furniture around wasn’t really all that difficult but it counts!

YogaDownload: Sort of…. I clicked the download link and it kept getting stuck !? I got the pose guide and just followed that. I was surprised at how easy it was to follow without vocal instruction. I wish it worked though- I will not give up.

Meringue and Samba practice thanks to Dancing with the Stars DVD…

Gym Cardio: 30 minutes ellipticizing…

Mind:
Read through the ADA journal for this month again. I really enjoyed an article on refined sugars- detailing exactly what the craze of agave nectar is, difference in all sugars- from maple syrup, honey, white sugar, turbinado sugar , agave etc etc. ! I will try to post a better recap of it tomorrow since I think yall would enjoy it!

Soul:
Jeff is in VA getting his brand new truck!! So excited for him, and I am so excited for us. I can’t wait to camp on the beach, cook up deliciousness with his new grill, listen to the ocean while falling asleep…

Laundry and grocery shopping and cleaning and cleaning and sweeping.

I re-arranged our living room and thus will re-arrange our bedroom as well. I haven’t decided if I liked it or not yet. One thing is my computer is in a new spot and I don’t know if Jeff will see from where he sits now- so I know at first Jeff will probably hate it- but only because he hates change like that unless he can really see the improvement. Anyway, I have the night alone to watch Golden Globes, Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters… It seems as though its the calm before the storm with semester beginning this week for me. I also will attempt to “get a job” in the next couple days as well.

We have an busy January- this weekend I believe is our “spa” day and then dinner out with KC Mo and her boyfriend, Jeff’s other sister Missy Mo and her hubby Vern and Me and Jeff- The following weekend is our romantic getaway to a cabin in the mountains, the following is the last of january and we will head to my grandfather’s for his birthday and then right out to spend the weekend with our friends. I love to travel.

Intention and Expectation

Body:

WOW- I did 7.75 miles total!

I ran 6.5 of that at a steady pace of 8:34 for the first 3.25 then at a steady 7:47 for the last 3.25! It felt like I was floating the whole time! I read a magazine during my 1 mile warm up walk and then just… RAN! Visualize lady on the bus stop bench from Forrest Gump " so You just Raaaaaaan !?"

Mind:
I read this article in that magazine while warming up about how positive thinking really influences your behavior and why "saying so" means that it will become a reality. It goes on about "Intention and Expectation". 

This reminds me of how I type on here my "plan" for the day, or my list of what I intended for my body.mind.soul.  That is my "intention" and that intention helps give me the determination to act. After I have the determination to actually do "it", there is a level of "expectation" left by imaginary readers, real readers and myself to accomplish that intention.

I wrote the other day how writing out these plans seem to make me really accomplish most of what I intended, it was pretty darn cool to read an article affirming just that!

It also mentioned how you can use positive thinking to influence all areas of your life, such as "I will eat healthy today" to improve dietary habits, or "we will get along for this project" with co workers or " I will get that promotion" to help you get ahead at work. I think it could just work for relationships too…

"Jeff and I will get married, Jeff and I will get married, Jeff and I will get married…"

- well it’s not instantaneous, but you get the idea!

Soul:
Off to shower with my new stash of Victoria’s Secret Body Wash and lotions! Thanks Momma Mo and Melissa!

Then its off to return another shirt I got Jeff, and see if I can find a replacement. Who ever thought guys were picky about clothes?

Lunch:
Steamed Veggie Salad: romaine, carrots, snap peas, bean sprouts, broccoli, asparagus, red pepper, squash, cauliflower

you can really see the steam i guess!

The salad base before I put on all the steamed veggies- I forgot i had reduced fat

feta too

 
Leftover chicken breast- made intentionally for lunch last night- does that still mean its "leftover" if it had the intention for another meal?
Whole wheat wrap

Scrub a dub dub

Weekend- Friday

Yah! I got approved for the foodie blogroll/foodbuzz…. But I deleted the emailed to quickly, so now I have to figure out how to set it up!

This weekend has been AWESOME and INCREDIBLY FUN!

Friday:

Shopping with Mom! We actually had such a fun time shopping we couldnt bare to stop and eat- we grabbed a soft pretzel and Fuze EMPOWER! I have been waiting for these to arrive and really liked them! Pomegranate Acai Berry

It was pouring down rain the whole day but that did not deter us! I bought new bedding finally! I have been searching for exactly what I found for a while and it could not have been a more perfect find, on sale! I also found guest room towels on clearance and a dust ruffle for the guest room bed. My mom bought me new placemats and some new bowls ( I have been wanting to make blog pictures more interesting!) and workout top AND I found a great shirt and dress!

We spent so much time shopping that when I got home, I wanted to wash everything and get it ready for guests!

Dinner: Leftover pizza with lots of veggies ( I actually ended up putting the veggies on the pizza then making a veggie pizza sandwich out of it! I wanted to take a picture but my hands were all dirty at that point!)

monday monday

Breakfast:
Breakfast Pumpkin Pie for One

- I put a little cranberry fruit sauce on the side ( frozen wild organic blueberries, frozen organic cranberries, frozen pineapple- heated up in the microwave!) and
- a half of a tiny banana w/ Naturally More Flax Butter! ( I haven’t gotten this stuff in about a year- but its yummy- it has more protein (10g) than regular peanut butter, Less sugar, and less overall fat… which is a tough combo to actually make! I enjoy the flaxseeds in their as well !

Close Up…looks like a mini -pie slice…

Like my pjs!?
Yum Yum Yum!

Lunch:
Spaghetti Squash for One ( small guy)
I used it as my “serving dish” and put all the spaghetti in one half, with extra mixed veggies and vegetarian crumbles in the other
Chobani

Dinner:
Grilled chicken breast
Leftover spaghetti squash and veggies
Sweet Potato Fries!

Body:
Rest…
( I also did an intense yoga and strength session after my short 3 mile run yesterday so I wanted to focus on my work today anyway)

Mind:
Finished up both presentations but still have to rehearse them tomorrow

Soul:
Woke up early! I am hoping to wake up early again tomorrow and start a morning workout schedule… I HATE working out in the morning! I love working out in the afternoon as my “reinforcement” for a good day- but I want to adjust to the mornings because it just works out better with the rest of my life if I can get to it since classes are in the afternoon 4-7 and my homework usually gets done best before those hours.

Meeting my mom on friday! We also have friends coming into town this weekend! My best friend I grew up with got engaged! A girl I knew in college just got engaged last week too!
My newlywed best friend Andrea just got back from Hawaii and is pretty sure she is pregnant! Wow!
see you in the am

Dinner for One

Veggie Plate!

Some extra slices of mozarella on
Mixed frozen veggies with fresh brussel sprouts – salt and peppered
Vegetarian Crumbles.. Morningstar Meal Starters

And..on the way home from Minority Health class, I kept seeing pizza delivery cars. I wanted pizza but I REALLY didnt want to spend the money on ordering one (especially since Jeff is gone tonight and tomorrow on a business trip and the next day we leave for my parents)… Sooo.. I made three Mini “pizzas”…kashi crackers with a thin slice of mozzarella, a slice of turkey pepperoni on each!

I think it was mostly the pepperoni and mozzarella! Hit the spot perfectly for 80% of the cost and calories! ( note nothing other than good pizza can TRULY hit the spot but this was a great solution b/c I didn’t really WANT to purchase a pizza)

Sunday!

The two men in my life sure are adorabley mushy with each other aren’t they ?

Banana’s Foster Stuffed French Toast For Two ( take 4)
I used real eggs this time- 1 whole egg, 3 egg whites, 1/4 cup milk… whisked until super frothy. Slightly toasted bread, dipped then put into a hot pan, sprinkled with cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice.. Delicious! … Then I scrambled the eggs in another pan.. Took out the french toast, sliced banana into the pan… turned off the heat and flipped em after a few seconds ( based on smell)

Yum- Jeff officially loved it!

So I didn’t exactly have lunch because I woke up at 10, went to the gym, came back and then made “brunch”. Worked with Jacob 1-4, then got home and had a slice of cranberry mango bread with peanut butter as a hefty snack.

Body:
Bike 10 miles at the gym 23 minutes
Yardwork mowed the lawn and trimmed all the hedges ( my arms and hands are so sore from that! ) It took me a good hour+.
Walk w. Jeff and Jack 30 minutes

Yoga 30 minutes

Mind:
Read some of Jacob’s programming etc. for work during the week.
Suduko!

Soul:
Yoga and walking with Jeff was definately the highlight! I collected pinecones with Jacob and painted with them, and played with fake food-
Desperate housewives now!!

Dinner:
So… I started out making “Taco Salads” ground turkey meat, with black beans, onion, tomato, red pepper, green pepper with taco seasoning in pan.
I burnt the first tortilla and nearly started a fire, so I went in to get more and the lettuce- well i found the lettuce going bad and another bag of cut up sweet potato fries that needed to be cooked by today! So…. I threw the fries in the oven instead of the tortilla… Well then I thought I would make “chili cheese fries” only like “taco salad sweet potato fries”…

So I layered the fries with the cheddar, the meat and veggie and beans and then added extra salad stuff around it. Plus a big scoop of non fat greek plain yogurt (TJ)!
YUMMM!!! with extra hot sauce and some lentils too.
SO FULL!

"I thought I’d try out my sea legs" …. "Lieutenant Dan, you ain’t got no legs…"

Yes I know that…
( apologies to those who have not seen it, you probably won’t understand any of this post )
Now you wouldn’t believe me if I told you, but I could run like the wind blows.

I dragged myself to the gym with a case of the “Blahs” but I wore my knee brace and my running -only shoes. Mama says they was magic shoes, They could take me anywhere.
So Today, for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little run. So I ran to the end of the road. And when I got there, I thought maybe I’d run to the end of town. And when I got there, I thought maybe I’d just run across Greenbow County. And I figured, since I run this far, maybe I’d just run across the great state of Alabama. And that’s what I did. I ran clear across Alabama. For no particular reason I just kept on going. And when I got there, I figured, since I’d gone this far, I might as well turn around, just keep on going. I might as well just turn back, keep right on going At 5 miles, I figured I would just stop but then I though I will go to 6.4 because I like 10K’s… then at 6.4 I figured I would even it out to 7 because I like the number 7. I felt like if I really wanted to, I could run for 3 years, 2 months, 14 days, and 16 hours. I thought to myself … I’m pretty tired, I think I’ll go home now.

So I went home and made some lunch! Hope you enjoyed that, everything in italics is directly from Forrest Gump, it just seemed so appropriate !

Salmon, leftover angel hair, some goddess dressing, and tons of veggies!

• spinach
• carrot
• asparagus
• cauliflower
• red pepper
• yellow squash
• red cabbage
• snap peas
• broccoli

Jeff just called with free tickets to The State Fair!!! Its over in a few days and not really all its cracked up to be but I did want to catch the Slow Food exhibit and maybe eat a fried turkey leg or fried oreos. I hear they have fried pecan pie this year. Quite honestly, I am open to trying anything but I tend to just not want that kind of stuff. Whatever it is, I know I can just enjoy eating it since it happens once a year if that.

We’ll see if we go and I will probably not post lunch and dinner pics until later but will for sure take pics!!!

** Before I left for class I grabbed this baggie full of Kashi crackers- there was one serving in there. I actually didn’t want them but thought since I ran so much, by the time class rolls around I will be starving and not be able to pay attention so if that would be the case- I grabbed the crackers. Good thing because sure enough, fifteen minutes before class while I was reviewing from last week- I was hungry! **

HFCS

I spent SO much time shopping with KC this morning/afternoon that I got home and was really hungry for lunch. I heated up leftover pasta and sauce for Jeff and I before yardwork.

I started to pack for the beach, showered, laundry, then got ready and left for class- before I left I grabbed a balance bar and ate it on the way to class.

Manicure After Class!!

Note to self- iatria day spa did not do a very good job but it was later at night and the last appointment of the day so not sure if we should try this place again…. Dinner Finally!!!

Dinner:
Starving!! I had a salmon burger and toasted in the toaster oven. I had a whole wheat mini wrap with hummus and goat cheese and goddess dressing. I also had a big bowl of mixed veggies that was delicious!

Body: Rest day- sort of- I walked – a lot! and all the unpacking/laundry/run around/cleaning worked up a sweat! But no formal exercise today! See how heavy my mind section is!

Mind: Class was interesting! Adv. Nutrient Metabolism is always fun.
Today was glycolysis…

I will spill about high fructose metabolism ( only a tiny portion of what we went over) because it is such a buzz recently.

( you can refer back to my posts late september to refresh on saccharides)

Glucose, Galactose, Fructose all require ATP (adensosine tri-phosphate= energy!) to be broken down.

Glucose gets phosphorylated (using a phosphate from ATP) into Glucose 1-P, which uses either hexokinase or glucokinase ( gluco in the liver, hexo outside liver) to convert to Glucose-6-P…. which gets converted to Fructose-6-P ..

Fructose needs ATP to get phosphorylated as well and gets converted to Fructose 6- P via enzymes ( phosphofructokinase- PFK- the main regulator in the breakdown process) …

From here…
Fructose 6-P breaks down to glyceraldehydes ( 2 of them since its a 3 carbon molecule and glucose is a 6 carbon molecule)..

Glyceraldehydes get further broken down into carbon intermediate chains, then into pyruvate (with the help of high ATP, High alanine levels, and the pyruvate kinase enzymes). Pyruvate is the end result of glycolysis along with 2 ATP

( pyruvate can then continue to break down in mitochondria- if no oxygen is present it will convert to lactic acid…. if oxygen is present it will convert to Acetyle CoA which is the building block for fat AND cholesterol)

Unfortunately, science has shown that high fructose intakes result in high amounts of glyceraldehydes. The problem with this is that triglycerides ( glyercol with three fatty acid chains attached) are made from this via the available glycerol in glyceraldehydes.

Thus ….high fructose intake results in higher fat production. If you regularly consume a healthy diet and exercise regularly- consuming a single product or maybe a few products with HFCS isn’t really going to do anything that harmful except for potentially create a few extra triglycerides ( unless you exercise or output energy which will immediately breakdown everything to pyruvate b/c of energy demand). If your triglyceride levels are already high, you would want to stay away from HFCS. In general, you want to stay away from HCFS because the majority of products that contain it aren’t healthy products anyway- pre-packages snacks/cakes/cookies etc. arent nutritious foods.

Hope you enjoyed that! It helped me recap my class too!

Soul:
Manicure! Shoe Shopping! ( I got fabulous shoes!!!!!), Makeup shopping, Laundry, Talked to my mom about my day and my knee issues, Greys Anatomy, Going to THE BEACH!!!! WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

wait, did i already say… WOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!

bringing the laptop and the camera stuff but not sure if our house has wireless!
see you later tomorrow!

*updated- Lunchtime

Hello Blog-land from Campus!

So.. Ortho ordered an MRI, he was not happy that my knee is still giving me problems . What is odd is that the last two weeks on the meds, I could run again with no problems- I posted about my Supersonic Racer Speed last week ( 7 mile run in 50 minutes and a 6.4 miler in around that too).

Yesterday, I went to “jog” to my car after biking and jabbed with pain on the first step from nowhere! So dissappointing.

Health insurance won’t cover the MRI- it goes toward my deductible which is 2500 and it costs $600 out of pocket.

So the assistant is checking into other options on what to do and what will be figured out by the MRI- in most likely case- I need a surgical operation to either clear out cartiledge, or fix my knee cap. I doubt I can afford surgery, but at least 1/4 of my deductible would be paid for so ….??

After the appointment I went to the gym. I know, how ironic/hypocritical? But I felt like getting out my stress/frustration and the best way I can do that is by exercise- so

Body: Biked 11 miles, 23 minutes ( resistance level 4-11, random hill program). Elliptical 22 minutes (resistance level 3-5).. no strength training today, just some stress relieving cardio!

Mind: In the waiting area, got through several pages of Slow Food Nation…its been a Slow Read Too! I also am on campus early to do more research and read in the library, which should be rather productive.
** I got so much reading done in 30 minutes!!! Wow… super productive . Class was rather mundane- we got out early though so I could do more researching for the presentation for it! **

Soul: Dinner is already made and nail appointments for tomorrow evening. I have to pack but have a good base of what I need/want to take with me this weekend.
I also wanted to yoga everyday this week, so I plan on doing that this evening or going for a walk with Jeff. The grass needs cut too so I may do some yardwork with Jeff, the outdoor time relaxes me as well. ** yoga today- 20 minutes- Yardwork tomorrow afternoon with Jeff**

Lunch was delicious after the gym….I will have to post the pic later with dinner

I had:
TJ Steel Cut Oats, added tsp organic peanut butter, dried cranberries and pineapple ( and wished I had coconut!)… THANKS MOM FOR THE ORGANIC PEANUT BUTTER! ( its less salty but still yummy!)
Oikos Blueberry Organic Greek ( HT had $0.75 off coupons- i took a bunch which made the cost less than other greek yogurts!)
Thawed Steamed Veggies and Fresh Raw Veggies with a tsp of Garlic Hummus

Delicious! Off to coursework, see you around dinner