working out for Disney

[HouCuseChickie]

I don't track my macros, but I do try to center my meals around a lot of protein. I think this was because I was away and didn't workout with weights. I am going to try to eat more protein. I'm not a big meat eater, so it's a challenge for me. It's weird, because I only get soreness in my inner leg muscles and my hamstrings. I never get it anywhere else. I think it's like some inherent weakness of my body. lol I also feel like I retain water when I am sore, too. Fun times.

I have been trying to get more creative with my protein since I can't eat meat all the time and there are some good ways to sneak it into meals without any meat.

Low fat cottage cheese and Greek yogurt have become my biggest methods to boost protein without a ton of fat and calories. It's also relatively inexpensive and can be blended into all sorts of stuff. Beans are another good one. Of course, there are the protein powders, drinks and bars. The powders are actually good for some creative ideas...like faux cookie dough. The better bars have pretty decent protein content and are good for quieting candy bar cravings. If you're into eggs, adding egg whites has been hugely helpful in stretching my eggy meals. Even the new 60 calorie tortillas I've started using have boosted protein and fiber. I just bring it up because it seems that no matter how much weight I add or how much I change things up, soreness has become a rarity for me. So, I'm thinking the protein is to thank.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

I have been trying to get more creative with my protein since I can't eat meat all the time and there are some good ways to sneak it into meals without any meat.

Low fat cottage cheese and Greek yogurt have become my biggest methods to boost protein without a ton of fat and calories. It's also relatively inexpensive and can be blended into all sorts of stuff. Beans are another good one. Of course, there are the protein powders, drinks and bars. The powders are actually good for some creative ideas...like faux cookie dough. The better bars have pretty decent protein content and are good for quieting candy bar cravings. If you're into eggs, adding egg whites has been hugely helpful in stretching my eggy meals. Even the new 60 calorie tortillas I've started using have boosted protein and fiber. I just bring it up because it seems that no matter how much weight I add or how much I change things up, soreness has become a rarity for me. So, I'm thinking the protein is to thank.

I lived off of Greek yogurt before my gallbladder came out. Protein was a struggle, and that was a good source. Rice and beans don't have fat on their own, so that was also my source of protein.

The other surprising source is popcorn. I have an air popper, so I pop it myself to control what's going on there. But it is also my safe snack at WDW because the fat is mostly from the butter, so if I feel like "eh, better lay off the fat" I'll get that as a snack. Even movie theater popcorn is wayyy better than a lot of the other snacks. I typically get mine without butter, and then they have a machine where you can add it so that it's not drenched.

 

[Sans Souci]

That place looks interesting. I wondered when it opened. We have walked in that area and never noticed it.

They have seating along the river that is covered in the fall and winter. I'd love to get one of these seats, but the entire restaurant looks really cool.

 

[Sans Souci]

I have been trying to get more creative with my protein since I can't eat meat all the time and there are some good ways to sneak it into meals without any meat.

Low fat cottage cheese and Greek yogurt have become my biggest methods to boost protein without a ton of fat and calories. It's also relatively inexpensive and can be blended into all sorts of stuff. Beans are another good one. Of course, there are the protein powders, drinks and bars. The powders are actually good for some creative ideas...like faux cookie dough. The better bars have pretty decent protein content and are good for quieting candy bar cravings. If you're into eggs, adding egg whites has been hugely helpful in stretching my eggy meals. Even the new 60 calorie tortillas I've started using have boosted protein and fiber. I just bring it up because it seems that no matter how much weight I add or how much I change things up, soreness has become a rarity for me. So, I'm thinking the protein is to thank.

There are these protein bars that are so good.; they're like candy bars They're called Barbells and they have so many different flavors. They're not cheap, so I buy them when they are on sale. I had been reading about creatine and it's supposed help older women build and maintain muscle, helps with bone density, helps regulate mood and helps with soreness. So I ordered some. It's pretty cheap because it's an amino acid derivative and not some proprietary, lab-made product. It's also supposed to be good for energy during workouts. I'd avoided it for so long, because I thought it caused bloating, but I read happens with larger doses and the rec. dose for women is 3-5 gram/day.

 

[Sans Souci]

I lived off of Greek yogurt before my gallbladder came out. Protein was a struggle, and that was a good source. Rice and beans don't have fat on their own, so that was also my source of protein.

The other surprising source is popcorn. I have an air popper, so I pop it myself to control what's going on there. But it is also my safe snack at WDW because the fat is mostly from the butter, so if I feel like "eh, better lay off the fat" I'll get that as a snack. Even movie theater popcorn is wayyy better than a lot of the other snacks. I typically get mine without butter, and then they have a machine where you can add it so that it's not drenched.

I love air popped popcorn. I spray avocado oil on it and sprinkle it with a bit of salt and nutritional yeast. Some times, I sprinkle a bit of onion powder, too. It's very savory.

 

[Sans Souci]

Hello-

Checking in with a chest and shoulder workout. I'm hoping to get out for a walk, but there's a nor'easter here today that's staying around for a few days.

I had to growl loudly at a raccoon to get to leave my patio. Callie slept inside and she wanted to go outside, but it was still dark. I turned on the light and this chonky raccoon was sniffing for food on the patio. Callie went outside and hissed at him (which was the first time I'd ever heard her hiss) and he didn't even notice. I was trying to get her to come back in, fearful she was going to attack him. I didn't want to scare her, so I was softly shouting at it, it barely noticed me. Callie was getting increasingly agitated, so I hissed at it. It noticed me and went back to looking for food, Finally I growled very loudly and it left quickly. After all of that, Callie decided to come back in to sleep some more

 

[HouCuseChickie]

There are these protein bars that are so good.; they're like candy bars They're called Barbells and they have so many different flavors. They're not cheap, so I buy them when they are on sale. I had been reading about creatine and it's supposed help older women build and maintain muscle, helps with bone density, helps regulate mood and helps with soreness. So I ordered some. It's pretty cheap because it's an amino acid derivative and not some proprietary, lab-made product. It's also supposed to be good for energy during workouts. I'd avoided it for so long, because I thought it caused bloating, but I read happens with larger doses and the rec. dose for women is 3-5 gram/day.

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE Barebells!!! They are so good, but they are pricey. Chocolate Dough is my favorite flavor. It reminds me of a 100 Grand candy bar. Due to the price, I usually opt for a cheaper brand. Still, many truck stops have them, which is good on road trips. Pure Protein bars have been my go-to of late. They're about half the price, still pretty tasty and for some flavors, the calorie to protein ratio is superior. The one I ate this morning was 180 calories but 21 grams of protein. Rule of thumb, from what I've seen, is take the last digit off the calories and compare it to the protein content to determine if it's really high protein. There's another brand called David that's got crazy ratios, but it's also pricey. Blueberry pie is my fave from them...150 calories to 28g protein. I have creatine from Costco which goes into my Crystal Light caffeinated lemonade most days. I haven't noticed bloat but I do feel a bit of an energy boost.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I lived off of Greek yogurt before my gallbladder came out. Protein was a struggle, and that was a good source. Rice and beans don't have fat on their own, so that was also my source of protein.

The other surprising source is popcorn. I have an air popper, so I pop it myself to control what's going on there. But it is also my safe snack at WDW because the fat is mostly from the butter, so if I feel like "eh, better lay off the fat" I'll get that as a snack. Even movie theater popcorn is wayyy better than a lot of the other snacks. I typically get mine without butter, and then they have a machine where you can add it so that it's not drenched.

One of my favorite snacks is the SkinnyPop individual bags. It's not quite as good (or budget friendly) as using the air popper, but it's a time saver and only 100 calories that helps fill me up for a bit.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Ok, I have a few from the afternoon tea I go to at The Phoenician. They don't do the traditional tiered presentation. I know it doesn't look like a lot, but they come around with more sandwiches, if you want more. You get a raisin scone and a buttermilk scone, too. They serve it with clotted cream, lemon curd and strawberry jam. So good. I always leave stuffed and they always keep my glass full. lol

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Here are the mignonardises. These are so good. They are almost too pretty to eat.
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This is the one I went to in Dublin on the double decker bus. I look wrecked and I hate having my pic taken. I was on that side of the Atlantic for less than 24 hours. I didn't know which end was up. But this is the more traditional afternoon tea presentation. The wraps are filled with coronation chicken salad (curry with raisins), there are egg salad sandwiches, and the sandwiches are ham, cheese and pickle. (not pickles), but diced pickled veggies. I don't know if you know what Branston's is? I only ate the red velvet cake, which did not taste like red velvet cake as we know it. Most of the stuff had raspberries in it and I am allergic to them. They served warm scones, too, but without clotted cream or lemon curd, sadly. They just served them with butter and strawberry jam.
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Not sure how I missed this, but that spread looks AMAZING!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Happy Monday! I meant to share last week that those jeans I took back from K fit without any shapewear. So, I know I'm getting near my first major goals. I haven't tried the pair that's a little smaller ...soon. I also think I may weigh myself next week. Not that I was horribly bad, but I was in Waco all weekend and am trying not to beat myself up over some indulging. The reality is that I didn't go far off the deep end by any means but I'm still struggling with the mental game of diet culture.

On Friday night, I had eggs benedict with sweet potato fries on the side (just for you @StarWarsGirl). I was still in a calorie deficit for the day, but something about eating out still feels like a guilty pleasure. Saturday was mainly snacking on healthier stuff until dinner (Oikos triple zeros, protein bars, popcorn). Even dinner wasn't overly indulgent. Yes, I probably went overboard on chips and salsa, but I had chicken fajitas for one...so lots of veggies, lean protein, a little bit of guac for some good fats, and homemade corn tortillas. For dessert, I got a Halo Top from the market, which isn't crazy either. Sam got two big pieces of cake and I had several bites but the reality is that 4-5 bites of cake is not going to kill my progress. I think it was harder on my mind because it was a break day, but I still walked that morning...which added up to around 6 miles on my feet on top of normal moving around and climbing in and out of stadiums several times. The walk was interesting. We were at Baylor, so I walked some of the campus before heading to the river. I wound up on a nice riverwalk trail. I saw people on the other side of the river and thought maybe I could walk both sides. I sort of could, but the other side wasn't well maintained, there were a lot of homeless people, and I wound up in some 'make your own path' sections where I ended up in dirt or concerning grass with lots of sticker burrs. I should have stayed on the other side but there was no good way to backtrack across the river.

Yesterday, before Sam's softball stuff, I hit a new (to me) Planet Fitness and got in a decent elliptical session and arm workout. I walked twice after that to get in my minimum mileage. The walking was above average even though the split made it feel like I didn't do enough. Walk 1 was up to a JUCO campus that was on this big hilltop. I really love doing hills like this. The only beef was a parking garage I walked through to come back down. It was a web world in the staircases since it was a weekend. Walk 2 was a natural trail along a riverbank just below the JUCO, which involved climbing root ledges and rock formations. So, also a good workout. This morning, it was back to my normal greenbelts for 5.25 miles and tonight will be leg day at my home gym.

 

[Figgy1]

Please do post the photo! I'm curious about an actual afternoon tea. It's a UK thing, right? The Dutch are terrible at traditional foreign foods. They try to change everything, but then they advertise it as like "American breakfast!" But it is absolutely not American. For example, we stayed at a center parcs place and they advertised an American breakfast, and I was excited because things like waffels, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, are not things people over here eat. Breakfast is pretty much an assortment of breads with cheese or cold cuts. So I was thinking of all the American things I couldn't wait to eat. It was scrambled eggs with salmon in them, which I had NEVER heard of, and bread with cheese or cold cuts. And they had corn flakes. That was their idea of an American breakfast.....I was like...they have obviously never BEEN to the US and had breakfast in a restaurant. No hashbrowns, no sausages, no bacon, no plain eggs, no pancakes, no waffels....NOTHING that would be in a traditional American breakfast. So I know they do that, and I've never had a high tea outside of the Netherlands, so I'd like to see what a real one is like!

The millionaire shortbread was good, but REALLY sweet....they should have added just a tiny bit of salt to cut through some of that sweetness. For Dutch baked goods, they were good. It's only in the last few years that the Netherlands has started introducing American desserts like brownies and cheesecake. For the longest time, I had to make everything from scratch because it wasn't available here. Now I make everything from scratch because what's available isn't very good. Red Velvet is traditionally chocolate....it was a chemical reaction that made it red. But now that chemical process to treat the flour is different, so it no longer changes the color, so people add red food coloring. Over here, they make it with berries, so it's fruit flavored, not chocolate. And most of the cakes/brownies are very dry and dense rather than fluffy and moist. It's a completely different animal. These brownies were actually pretty good as far as Dutch brownies go, but they weren't as good as mine. The cakepops were not very cakey....they were hard and crumbly, which was kind of weird...very dense. It's just all a bit off. They give everything the name and appearance of the traditional food, but they make it differently, so it's not really that thing anymore. There was just a news bit last week about this Chinese woman who made a documentary about a popular dish in Chinese restaurants in the Netherlands. Turns out it is not Chinese. It was made by Chinese restaurants in the Netherlands to appeal to Dutch people, but it's not something they would eat themselves. I wondered, because my husband had called it sweet and sour pork, but it was so different from the Sweet and Sour Pork I got back home at this Chinese restaurant where this woman had immigrated from China and opened the restaurant, and her mother (who spoke no English) cooked. It was a partially open kitchen, and her mom would stand in the back and watch you taste the food and then raise her eyebrows and give a thumbs up. Then she would look so happy when you gave her the thumbs up of approval. It was so sweet. Anyway, it was all traditional recipes she brought over from China, so it was all authentic food, and none of it was anything like the "babi pangang" here. But that's what the Dutch do. They take a food from another country and try to make it Dutch.

Scrambled eggs with lox, never salmon in the eggs is a thing, usually served on a bagel and is only found in certain neighborhoods to my knowledge. To advertise an American breakfast and serve that would be weird imho

 

[Figgy1]

I'm feeling the need to pull the air popper out

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I'm feeling the need to pull the air popper out

This all reminded me that I have one in the garage. I'm thinking I may need to bring it in for some fresh popped stuff.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Happy Tuesday!

Just wanted to share that I decided to jump on the scale a little earlier than planned. I started doing the math and I wanted to get a gauge before Halloween (in case I have some candy weakness and binge) and one more before I go to AZ in about 3.5 weeks. Honestly, I was a bit nervous since I have been trying to free my mind of that number...especially since I was feeling stuck before I stepped away. I know with how much I exercise, that scale number is just one piece of the puzzle and all kinds of things can lead to ups and downs. I actually hid the number with my toes for a few seconds while I braced myself. I was pleasantly surprised. I am down another 5 pounds from my lowest low. I say it that way because the fluctuations I was experiencing a few weeks ago were putting me anywhere from 1-3 pounds above that lowest low. I ended up weighing myself like 10x in the span of 5 minutes today just to make sure it was consistent...which it was. Now the plan is to get back on the scale about a day before I leave for AZ, which is Nov 6th.

Other than that, I had a decent leg day last night. The gym was super quiet because it's fall break...which you wouldn't think would have an impact on evening gym volumes. I walked 5.15 miles this morning. I can't decide which route I prefer. The route I had been favoring takes me along a lake at sunrise and gives me the steepest incline in our town, but the route I took today...which is an extended version of my shorter day route...is a longer uphill climb. It's not as steep but up walking uphill for easily 3x as long as the other route. If I reverse my preferred route, I would still get the pretty sunrises as well as the longer uphill climb. I'm conflicted.

 

[Songbird76]

Ok, I have a few from the afternoon tea I go to at The Phoenician. They don't do the traditional tiered presentation. I know it doesn't look like a lot, but they come around with more sandwiches, if you want more. You get a raisin scone and a buttermilk scone, too. They serve it with clotted cream, lemon curd and strawberry jam. So good. I always leave stuffed and they always keep my glass full. lol

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Here are the mignonardises. These are so good. They are almost too pretty to eat.
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This is the one I went to in Dublin on the double decker bus. I look wrecked and I hate having my pic taken. I was on that side of the Atlantic for less than 24 hours. I didn't know which end was up. But this is the more traditional afternoon tea presentation. The wraps are filled with coronation chicken salad (curry with raisins), there are egg salad sandwiches, and the sandwiches are ham, cheese and pickle. (not pickles), but diced pickled veggies. I don't know if you know what Branston's is? I only ate the red velvet cake, which did not taste like red velvet cake as we know it. Most of the stuff had raspberries in it and I am allergic to them. They served warm scones, too, but without clotted cream or lemon curd, sadly. They just served them with butter and strawberry jam.
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Do you eat both the strawberry Jam and Lemon curd with the clotted cream on the scones, or do people usually choose? I had never heard of them being served with anything but clotted cream and jam. Interesting that both places buck tradition and do something slightly different.

That's sad that you have a raspberry allergy. That's not a common one, is it? I've heard of strawberry allergies, but never raspberry. I would have a hard time with that as I like a lot of things with raspberry.

I wouldn't eat any of the sandwiches. It all looks pretty, but nothing that doesn't have stuff I don't like. Really nice presentation, though. And I don't think you look wrecked.