TGIF + New Heartrate Monitor

Whew! What a week. I only worked three and a half days but man am I exhausted! It was just one of those weeks that really takes it out of you. On the positive note, there are many good things to post about!

*I am completely and totally in love with Ezekiel bread. In fact, I can't believe it took me this long to find it! I heard about it awhile ago but you can chalk it up with my low carb bread hating past that I wouldn't even consider buying it. However, I am loving all the protein and fiber and the fact that I just found out its sold at Fred Meyer!!!! So I stocked up with an extra loaf today plus I splurged on a loaf of the cinnamon raisin bread :O) I'm super excited to have that for breakfast tomorrow!
* I have also been eating a ridiculous amount of the millet & flax crackers (usually with fat free cream cheese or some organic peach jam on top-- yum!). I am definitely going to have to go back and try the garlic and cinnamon flavors. Please note those are two different flavors!!
*I am currently reading Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald and so far there is some really amazing info in there. It was a little dry for a Friday afternoon (I have to admit, I almost dozed off once... not because it was boring, I was just really tired!) It definitely seems to be geared towards people who are already extremely athletic but I've found some good running tips in there too. I'll do a full review post when I'm done.
*I have done 2 days of the Fitnessista's "Summer Shape Up 2010" so far and  it is one butt kicking workout. I haven't been sore in months (except for when I pulled the hammy a couple weeks ago). I take a bootcamp class from the trainer once a week and work/sweat/die for a brutal hour and I am more sore now than I ever have been from the class. I love it!

*I really wanted to post more about what I'm currently doing as far as exercise, nutrition, and supplements but that post went out the window as soon as this arrived on my doorstep yesterday afternoon!

My brand spankin' new Polar F11 HRM!!!

I was so excited, I squealed for a second. Once I got myself under control, I set out to figure out how it works. It was pretty user friendly but there are a lot of different options depending on how its being used at the time and what mode its in, so it's been a little confusing. But I love it! I took it out on a hike with the doggies and the brother and it worked awesome. I can definitely see that this will be my summer workout staple so I don't have to hit the gym all the time.

I also took it with me to the gym this morning and it was so motivating to watch the calorie count keep going up and up and up. I did Gina's day 6 workout today even though it's only Friday (IE: my day 5... and I've only done day 1 so far this week because of other workouts) . I would love to say that there is some logic in my choice but honestly, it was 5:30 a.m., there's no logic happening at that hour! So day 6 is speed aka HIIT (High Intensive Interval Training) or more commonly know as death a big stinky sweatfest all over the treadmill :O) I warmed up and then alternated running at a 6.5-7.0 mph for 1 minute with 1 minute at 5.2mph. I can totally see how doing this will make me a much better runner and help my speed and mile times. After finishing it off with 15 minutes on the arc trainer, I saw that I had burned almost 1100 calories!!! Way over double what the treadmill said, weehooo! Probably explains why I'm so stinkin hungry today.

Tomorrow will hopefully bring muscles recovered enough for Saturday strength workouts (usually the best of the week!) or at least some cardio and possibly a yoga class. If the weather holds up I may skip the gym altogether and take the HRM and the doggies out for a hike... Okay I'm off to paint my toes and then head to bed early; I love me some sleep :O)

Natural Foods Loot

Whew, what day! The outdoor run didn't happen, the bike class this morning was all I could handle. Although my mommy and I did get out and enjoy a nice walk with our doggies. My puppies are exceptionally adorable, they bring me endless amounts of joy. I'll try to post pictures soon :O)

I did however get out and do some quick grocery shopping. I hit up Fred Meyer, ours has a really nice organic/whole foods section. I think it's a little cheaper than shopping at Natural Foods (from what I can tell) and it's really nice to be able to buy all of my non-organic items at the same time. I didn't need much as I already have a nicely stocked fridge full of raw veggies, lean proteins, and most of the things that Morningstar Farms makes :O) Here's what I ended up with:

 Fresh organic basil from Fred Meyer. I'm going to use it to make homemade pesto!

Roasted edamame and barbecue soy nuts for snacking.

These things are amazing in helping me keep my protein high!

Ezekiel bread. I've heard amazing things about this stuff so I decided to give it a try.

After buying it at Natural Foods, I found it at Fred Meyer but it was actually more expensive, score!

Organic peach jam & Millet & Flax crackers (hello 8 grams of fiber in 66 calories!!)

I put it (along with some fat free cream cheese I bought) together in this yummy snack: 

deeeeeelicious!!

I also got some whole wheat flour (to help with my pancake addiction), eggs, and miscellaneous veggies. None of that's really exciting enough to be worthy of pictures, plus my camera batter died out after the snack photo. Yup that stuff was so good it killed my camera :O) I'm telling you, if eating healthy whole foods is this yummy, I'll never go back to anything processed again!

Coming up: Picture posts of some of my favorite things :O) I'm lovin this picture stuff!