So glad its Friday today – for some reason this work week dragged even though I was busy. Usually my day flies by when its busy but I kept looking at the clock and it would only be 15 minutes later and I would have thought an hour went by!
Yep – back to my breakfast parfait – I found two containers of Chobani on the 50% off bin so they only cost .50 cents each. 
This time my fruit filling is fresh strawberries and bananas.
This is the last of my fruit puree granola, so I’ll have to make some over the weekend. I love the added crunch to this parfait.
It was a gorgeous day so I walked again – for some reason my blood sugar stays around 150 after breakfast and I can’t run when its that low, it would drop to below 50 if I ran. But you know what? I love walking. The neighborhood is pretty hilly around my office too.
When I got back it was taco salad time! I ended up putting 6 ounces of taco meat on my salad, because my dressing was just salsa mixed with 1 tablespoon light ranch, and the rest were veggies. By total coincidence, my twin sister made herself a taco salad for lunch too. Twin powers activate! I love the random paper clip on the desk too.
Tony ended up making a delicious pasta sauce for dinner. Except I forgot to pick up Italian seasoning at the store. He sent me an email that said “how the hell can I live in a house with no Italian seasoning?” 
But he improvised, because that’s the kinda cook he is. He ended up putting in my garlic croutons left over from Easter Sunday. It was super garlicy and delicious!
My plate: 1 cup baby spinach on the bottom, 2 ounces Italian sausage, 1 cup cooked cavitapi pasta, 1/2 cup of Tony’s sauce and a couple shaves of good Parmesan. I have to say I cringed when I saw that Tony bought a wedge of Parmesan for our Easter dinner and it cost nearly $12. But you know what? It’s amazing and totally worth it. Sure beats the Kraft grated parm!
I may have read Food Magazine and had a glass of wine while I was grilling. 
I may have lost track of some of them while I was cooking the pasta inside! But truth be told, I like a really charred sausage.
And I may have had a serving of tortilla chips with salsa last night while Tony and I were catching up on our DVR. 
Stats for Day 12 of Operation Bad Ass
- 1601 calories, 51 fat, 188 carbs, 22 fiber and 89 protein
- 47% of calories from carbs, 32% from fat, 21% from protein
- 30 minutes stretch on the DVR
- 50 minute walk at lunch
I am planning on weighing in tomorrow at WW. Not expecting much – the extra nibbles and glasses of wine snuck in, so my hope is that I at least maintained.
He had his first chemo the night before last. My Mom ended up staying in the hospital overnight with him to make sure he didn’t have any adverse reactions, and he didn’t. He gets chemo once every three weeks. He will have to go to the hospital three times a week for blood tests – I guess blood transfusions are not uncommon.
I asked my Mom about Charlie’s work. My SIL is a stay at home Mom so I was a bit worried about that. Um, turns out my brother has 200 vacation and sick days banked! Do you think he worked too much? He has short term disability for the first three weeks, then they will use the 200 vacation/sick days, and then go to long term disability for 70% of his salary. Whew!
Alright, I guess I have to go to work now. Wish it was Saturday! Make it a great day!
I’m so glad to hear that your brother has a reasonable amount of sick time to use as well as disability. It’s so heartbreaking to see people not only suffering from an illness but also financial difficulties as well. I’m so hopeful that your brother will respond well to the treatment and recover soon.
I think it’s awesome that you are able to spend time mid-day doing something that’s good for you, your body and your mind. A beautiful walk is just as good exercise as a run.
The bit about blood transfusions reminded me that I am eligible to give blood again next week. In honor of Charlie I will make sure to donate.
Have a great weekend!!
What a weight off all of your minds that Charlie has a boat load of sick time/vacation banked and he can focus his energy on getting well. Take care of yourself Vat!!! Have a great, relaxing weekend. (I’ll be reading the new food network mag tonight myself) Hugs.
I wish your brother well. I get a remicade infusion every six weeks for my arthritis and there are lots of ppl coming in for blood transfusions because of their chemo. It helps them a lot. I had a port two times, but had problems with it. It did make things a lot simpler. Reggiano is so worth it. If you sign up for Penzey’s catalog, they send out coupons 4 x a year. I just got a coupon for a free bottle of spice. Last month it was 5.00 off a 10.00 purchase. Penzey’s basic herbs are not that expensive, I think even cheaper than the grocery store. I love their tuscan sunset for my pasta sauce. I do like The spice House better, but they dont give coupons.
Freshly grated parm is the best! Actually all cheese is better when you grate it yourself. 😉
mm taco salad, I wish I would have had that instead of a boring wrap for lunch! I am glad your brother made it through his first treatment with no bad reactions.
Have a wonderful weekend.
You know I never get sick of seeing parfaits 🙂 And you always make me crave a taco salad. GLAD your bro has so much vaca time and that his first treatment went well. Praying!
That pasta dish looks so yummy! I haven’t even looked at my Food Network magazine yet. I’m still on the last one and going to conquer the Alley fries. That is great that your brother has that many sick/vacation days saved up. He must be a workaholic! Glad the chemo went smoothly and hope the rest do too.
200 sick days?? crazy, but glad to hear he’s on his way to getting better! delicious day of eats, i love that parfait!!
Charred sausage actually sounds tasty! I like charring even though it’s SO bad for you (carcinogenic). Why is everything delicious so often not good for you? lol
Glad to hear your brother is covered! 200 sick days… wow!
I guess I never knew burnt food was bad? Who knew!
Those big noodles are my husband’s favorite!!
And 200 vacation days? Wow! So glad he’s doing well, Biz. **big hugs**
I’m with you on the well-cooked sausage…every time Jeff grills, I have to remind him to “burn” mine, lol!
Glad Charlie did so well with the chemo – and what a relief that he has so much vacation available (although I’m sure he’d rather use it on something more fun!).
Glad your brother had a smooth first chemo, here’s to smooth sailing for the rest.
I love almost burned food, guess it’s not that good for us though! I like your wine glass, I don’t use wine glasses either! Have a great weekend!
So glad Charlie’s first treatment went well. And how great that he has so much off time to use.
I’m a charred sausage and other grilled item girl myself. I even “forgot” a pan of roasted veggies last weekend and they were pretty charred too – and it made the onions (which I know you hate!) so much better caramelized…it was almost like eating dessert! Have a good weekend!
I have never banked a vacation day in my life. Glad your brother’s hard work is going to pay with those days!
Good start to my friday, down a few pounds. I have my Biz’s Buffalo Chicken diet to thank. I made a big batch and have been eating it over spinach for lunch everyday. I may have had it for breakfast one day too. Keeped me on track!
That’s awesome Jacky!! 😀
I recently found your blog on day one of “OBA”. What a wonderful name! I too have reached a breaking point about my weight/fitness. I am ready to go but not quite sure where to start. How did you decide your calorie intake etc? Where do you get all of the great recipes? Any pointers on getting me started in the right direction would be appreciated.
I hope everything with your brother goes well. I can not imagine how tough it is. You seem to have a great supportive family bond.
Good luck with OBA and I’ll be working my butt off too!
Hey Kym! Glad you like my Operation Bad Ass! The first thing I did was go to this site: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/. You need to know what your current BMI is – I am 5.2, 164 pounds, moderately active so my BMR is 1453. Because I work out 5-6 times a week, I multiply 1453 x 1.55 to give me 2252. To lose weight, subtract 500 calories a day, which gives me 1752.
I mostly am around 1400-1600 calories, because I know I am not 100% accurate all the time – too many variables – if you put beef and broccoli into fatsecret.com you get a range from 160 calories a cup to 580!
I am a recipe/cooking magazine/tastespotting/foodgawker/blog stalking whore – that’s where I find most of my recipes. 😀
Nothing wrong with *just* walking! Sometimes I feel pressure to take up running again because it seems like everybody does it but me.
Glad your brother has all that sick time available to him. That is very lucky to have that to fall back on.
Glad to hear that about Charlie!
Wait until you get your Cooking Light (if you haven’t already) – Tacos/Mexican featured on it’s cover too.
Have a great weekend Biz!
Hi! Cam you tell me what channel the Classical Stretch is on? I suffer from Plantar Fascitis, too. Thanks!
I found it on my local public radio station – WCIU in Chicago. If you have AT&T or Comcast, do a search for “Classical Stretch.” Here is her website, I know she sells DVD’s: http://www.classicalstretch.com/. I still wear my inserts in my shoes, but to wake up with no heel pain is amazing!
So glad to hear that your brother has all of that time saved up at work, definitely will be nice!
Good luck at your weigh in tomorrow! I’ve been bad about snacking this week, so we’ll see how that plays out for me as well.