Right On Track

Good Afternoon friends!

I think that’s one of the first times I’ve wished you all a good afternoon, my blogging schedule is clearly off! My whole schedule is a bit off these days…I’m on semester break and I haven’t yet got a call to substitute teach. What does a girl do with long days filled with no obligations and little spending money??? Accomplish her New Years goals!

I feel like I have been off to a great start so far, as was evident yesterday. I began my morning with a new bowl of oats for me:

That would be oats with banana, cinnamon, almonds and raisins. Nothing ground breaking but a switch up from the norm and some interest added from the almond crunch (trying to get myself away from the needed dry cereal crunch).

I’ve also been trying to expand my palate. I want to add new fruits and veggies and flavors and tastes so that I can have more options for healthy and creative meals. I good way to do that is to incorporate a new fruit or veggie per week. This week’s buy was a persimmon:

Definitely an interesting fruit! Not too sweet or too tart. I ended up cutting the skin off, I’m not sure if you’re supposed to eat it but it didn’t taste good to me. I think I would like it in smoothies or a fruit salad, alone it doesn’t really shine for me.

I have also been finding “me-time” to relax and unwind. Sipping herbal tea is always a way to relax and ease stress and tension. My go-to teas are ginger and peppermint:

I added a mini candy-cane for a little sweetness and fun 🙂

The biggest addition to my life since 2011 has been my participation in the 2011 Fit Blogger Charity Challenge:

I am SOOO excited about this challenge and am a proud member of Team HEAB! The challenge is designed by Lindsey from Lean Bodies Health and Fitness who designs training plans that can be done from the comfort of your own home! I kid you not, these plans are TOUGH! Yesterday’s lower body routine left me me exhausted and my legs pretty sore. The challenge is broken up into three teams and each person contributes $10 that will go to the winning team and be donated to that team’s charity. Its a wonderful and motivating way to start the New Year off with some fitness. I hopped on the scale for the first time in weeks/months yesterday so I can have a marker of my progress over the 6 weeks. I am NOT a big scale person, I have a rough history with that piece of equipment, but that and body measurements are a great way to mark progress when you begin a new fitness regimen. I am just really and truly hoping to feel more toned, in shape, and better in some of the not so loose pants 🙂 I am also doing most of the workouts at my gym so that my membership does not go to waste. There are 5 workouts per/week which fits in perfectly with my New Years goal. I am hoping to get in some yoga on my rest days, too 🙂

My day finished up yesterday with a little more me-time in the for of takeout and a movie with Eric. Takeout was from our favorite local chinese restaurant (using a gift certificate from Christmas, I might add).

Steamed veggies with shrimp plus some brown rice. I love how full of veggies Asian food can be, my favorite is Thai, but almost all Asian menus have an option for everyone. I don’t do well with sauces so I like to get my meals steamed and add Braggs or other sauces that I have at home. Eric is an “easy” orderer as I like to call him; he gets exactly what’s on the menu as is! His meal was Beef, Green Peppers, and Onion Chow Foon. The movie of the night was Salt:

(Source)

We both loved it! We have been really into thrillers lately (The Town and Inception last week) and this was a great one, too. Angelina Jolie is seriously incredible, I may not always understand her choices in her personal life, but she seriously can act and do amazing stunt work.

Today is going to be another longish day of no work. I am planning on getting in a cardio workout later and working on my vision board for 2011 which I will be revealing to you all in a day or to.

Question of the day: How are you resolutions and goal for the New Year going? How do you mark you success and evaluate yourself?

Have a great day everyone!

lots of love,

Em