[Writer’s Note: This was supposed to go up last night but my picture program wasn’t working right.  So it got posted this morning instead.]

Hi gang!  Sorry for no update yesterday but time got away from me and I was busting it around the house.  It was a bit windy Wednesday morning so I stayed inside and did 2 levels of shred and then Gina’s week 3 of the Winter Shape-Up.  I kicked ass and it felt awesome!  One thing I love right now about doing the shred is that I’m actually sweating and to be honest, it’s one of the things about working out that I love.  With it currently being winter, I don’t really sweat much on my runs outside.  Both of my martial arts schools are in warehouse type buildings which means they tend to be on the cold side during winter and that means I’m not sweating as much.

I love to sweat!  I stink like a mofo too when I sweat.  I smell like sweat and garlic. Sexay!  In the mornings I have the added bonus of morning breath to go with it! :p  When I sweat, I feel like my body is working it and all kinds of nasty toxins are being forced out.  In the winter when I don’t sweat as much I don’t feel as great after a workout.  Don’t get me wrong, I still feel good but not fantastic.  I like feeling fantastic!  Doing shred in the living room helps me crank out a nice sweat.

Yesterday’s lunch was a pick-plate because I wasn’t super hungry.

Smoothie:

• .5C Carrot juice
• 1.5C Unsweetened cranberry juice
• 1.5C Soymilk
• Spinach
• Banana
• Frozen blueberries
• Frozen peaches

The plate was carrots, cucumber, and a chick’n patty with BBQ sauce.  Fruit in the middle.  Mmmm chick’n patty.

It was dang cold yesterday but Rocks and I cranked out a walk anyway where some high school kid told me my dog was cute.  After coming up to me, staring at me and saying, “HI!” as I was doing dooty duty.    It was hilarious!

It took me forever to decide on what to make for dinner and since I had a huge craving for beans I went with that.

We had blackbean burgers.  This time I ran some oats through the food processor first to break them down, then added:

• 1can black beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1/4 red onion
• 1 garlic clove

I pulsed that a bit then added in some salsa and pulsed more.  I added some wheat germ and ground flax and mixed.  Formed into patties and put in the fridge for half an hour.  I sauteed them up in some olive oil on the stove.  Topped with some cheddar and then I added some extra salsa for dipping after the picture.

• Buffalo sweet potato fries on the side:
• Buffalo sauce
• Olive oil
• Garlic powder
• Chili powder
• Sprinkle of salt

Baked at 400 for about half an hour.

And I dipped into my summer corn stash and we had that on the side.

Thursday:

I woke up early this morning and kicked out 6 miles.  It was cold but not terribly cold and no wind.  I thought about doing 8 miles but I was a bit hungry and headed inside.  Naturally I’m sort of down on myself for not doing those 8 miles and coming home early.  I’m getting over it though, 6 is better than nothing!

Today’s smoothie was purple glorious!

• 1C Carrot juice
• 1C Unsweetened cranberry juice
• 1C Water
• Spinach
• Frozen blueberries
• Frozen mango

Today was actually a glorious day outside.  It wasn’t too cold and the sun was shining for a while.  Too bad the weather is forecasting for us to get a nasty storm tomorrow dropping 6+ inches of snow.  MEH.  I was cranky about it but then I realized that in the few years that I’ve lived in Ohio, the norm has been for us to get one last big snowfall before spring arrives.  And it always happens in February.  Maybe the early part of March but no later than that.  February seems to be Winter’s last hurrah or something.

MT was rough and totally kicked my butt.  WHEW!  One of the new guys at the school showed up but didn’t know it was a conditioning class.  Whoops!  He said he wondered why there weren’t very many cars outside.  I said, “Now you know.  Welcome to conditioning class, you’re in for a treat.”  Dude he was spent after class.  I wonder if he’ll be back?

You know what today is!  Give it up for:

Wooots!  Message created by Scott.  Are we the only dorks who talk to each other with fridge magnets?

Feta is my new addiction for pizza toppings.  Here’s the scoop:

• Spelt crust
• Pizza sauce
• Shredded moz
• Feta
• Red onion
• Shredded zucchini
• Banana peppers
• Ham (Scott’s side)

YUM!

I had two huge slices of this perfection.  Delish!

Questions and Answers:

The latest thing that’s been going around the blogs lately is this anonymous question and answer session.  Sorry guys but I won’t be participating in that.  If you have a question just send me an email and ask me.  If you have to be anonymous about it, well then what kind of questions are you looking to ask?  My stance is, if you have something to say then put your name on it and own it.  Don’t hide behind an anonymous status. As long as the question isn’t too personal (I would tell you if it was) then I have no problem dropping factoids or answering questions.  It could spark discussion which is nice!  But if you were looking for me to jump on that train then consider this me bursting your bubble.