You vs. I Can’t

The night before last I realized that my food was already ready for the day, my gym bag was packed, my pictures were downloaded for the blog post yesterday and since I can type 130 words per minute, I knew it wasn’t going to take me 90 minutes to write my post, shower and get out the door.

So I got my ass out the door and took a walk.  But even though I knew I had the time, when that alarm goes off?  All I want to do is go back to bed.  Like every time.  The sleeping weather is amazing – low 50’s – window open so there’s a breeze and I am bundled under my covers.

But then I realized that for the last several years, my life had been just Me vs. I Can’t.  I can’t get up, its too early.  I can’t work out because its too late.  I can’t not drink wine during the week.  I can’t pass up the bagels that someone brought in.  How easy is it to just roll over, close your eyes and tell yourself you can’t do it.

It was a gorgeous walk – invigorating and just set the tone for the day.  I’ve realized there are things in my life I can’t change at the moment, but that doesn’t mean I have to let it get the best of me.  I CAN keep putting one foot in front of the other.  I CAN get my ass out of bed.  I CAN make my body better.

Next thing I knew, I was already back home from my work – felt like I was gone for a minute!

Yesterday morning when I was blogging, I looked out my window – and there was Peter rabbit and a friend.  We have so many creatures around our house these days!  They are probably looking for some beef roast by the grill to fall down – ha!

I put together my breakfast at work – I scrambled egg whites with spinach and brought an English muffin, some cheese and some cantaloupe and plums.  Our toaster oven at work isn’t the fastest, so I topped my muffins with the eggs, sprinkled with cheese and put it under the broiler and went to go check my voicemail.  All of a sudden I was like “My breakfast!” and made a mad dash to the kitchen.

Whew!  Almost burned it, but not quite.  The eggs protected the bottom muffin so it was crisp, but not too bad – and the top had a cheezy crunch that I actually liked.

I had planned on swimming at lunch – back in the indoor pool.  When I got in the pool there was just a swim lesson going on and both lanes were free.  But about 10 minutes in, an older couple got in the lane next to me, and then all of a sudden I realize a woman with a noodle had gotten into my lane.  No problem, I don’t mind sharing a lane.

Except the fucking noodle she was holding was kind of big and she didn’t understand that by sharing a lane, she couldn’t swim in the middle.  So we would get close to passing each other, and she just kept her head down in the middle of the lane, and I had to get out of her way otherwise she was taking me down with her.

That wouldn’t have been so bad, but old man in the next lane hugged the line separating the lanes and was kicking backwards into my lane.  It was like an obstacle course swim!  It wasn’t the best 30 minute swim of my life, but oh well!

Lunch was more leftover lasagna soup!  Louise just made Batch #7.  What??  You haven’t made it yet?  What are you waiting for!   I had leftover plain wagon wheel pasta leftover, so I tossed that in.  Sorry for these shitty photos – my blood sugar was dropping and somehow my desire to live beat out my desire to take a good picture.   I did like the wagon wheel pasta in the soup though.

The night before last Tony and I were watching Diners Drive-ins and Dives.  Let me rephrase that.  Tony knows that I love that show so he tolerates it being on the t.v. when I am in the room.  That’s better.

Anywho, it was a show all about meats – double cut pork chops, brisket, corned beef and pastrami.  I watched this guy break down a pig and I thought to myself “I think I could be a butcher!”  It really fascinates me how you can really use a whole animal nose to tail.

But they also showed fried chicken.  I loves me some fried chicken.  Although next time I will take the time to do it right – brine the chicken one night, rinse, then soak in seasoned buttermilk overnight, then toss in seasoned flour the third night and deep fry.

My quick version?  The chicken soaks in milk with hot sauce, salt and pepper for 15 minutes while my fryer gets to temperature.  I just toss it in seasoned flour and then fry until it reaches an internal temperature of 160.  Last night I did bone-in chicken breasts, which I cut in half so that it would cook on the inside before burning the outside.  I am using the calories from KFC for a fried chicken breast, which is 360 calories.  I may have somehow accidentally tossed my chicken in Frank’s hot sauce.  Huh.

Don’t look at the zucchini “fries” on the side – they didn’t turn out so well.  I had 1/3 cup of baked beans and some ranch sauce for the zucchini fries on the side.

So last night was one of Tony’s favorite nights of the year . . .

FIRST FOOTBALL GAME OF THE SEASON!!

So after I cleaned the kitchen at kick off time at 7:30, and took the garbage out, I did 32 minutes of Insanity Cardio Recovery.  I puffy heart that one – it’s all stretching and slow moving muscle building.  I could do that workout every day of my life and never get sick of it.

So I was surprised when I went into the living room a little after 8 and Tony was watching a documentary of the Andy Griffith show.  He loves that show, but I was thinking to myself, isn’t that something you can DVR and just watch later?  I had no idea there was a weather delay, but happily the game started not too long after.

So I went back to my “comfy chair” to watch Extreme Weight Loss on the DVR.  Only one problem – the comfy chair also represents snacky chair and wine drinking chair.  Tony is in the front room, and I am in the back of the house, but I told myself, I CAN watch t.v. without snacks and wine!

I made myself a cup of coffee, put it in my snowman mug, opened the windows to let the cold breeze come in while I was bundled up under a blanket and enjoyed my show.

STATS FOR THE DAY:

• 30 minute walk before work
• 30 minute swim at lunch
• 32 minute Insanity cardio recovery after dinner
• 1432 calories, 61 fat, 151 carbs, 15 fiber and 86 protein
• 40% of calories from cabs, 38% from fat and 22% from protein

I have a new batch of pancakes cooking up in my kitchen this morning – sweet potato and banana!  Yep, pretty sure Tony just threw up in his mouth at the thought of it – don’t worry honey, I am taking them to work.

Question of the Day:  What CAN you do today for yourself?

Make it a great day!