Lobster Shorts Food, lifestyle, vegetarian, weight loss

Back To Pound Town

Disclaimer. I am not a medical professional, nutritionist, or anyone with any business giving diet advice. This is my own personal journey. When it comes to yourself, seek the advice of a medical professional.

This morning for breakfast I had an English muffin with an egg and 1/2 an avocado with a coffee. I love this breakfast, it’s so tasty and satisfying. I want two eggs, but have stuck with one cut in half for each side because I know it’s enough. I want the second egg because I like how tasty it is, but I don’t need it, I just want it.

For lunch I had a can of Campbell’s Moroccan Chickpea Soup and snacked on cherry tomatoes. I made another pit stop to the Snapping Turtle with my spouse again, but this time I told him no cookies, just the latte. I still had a bite of his, because the peanut butter cookies there are magical. Just a bite though.

My spouse surprised me with dinner while I was playing in my craft room. It was wine and a frozen pizza. He cooks them really well. The crust was wonderfully crunchy. It wasn’t the healthiest meal, but it was nice not to have to cook. I had some pickles and a chunk of cheese before dinner. I was hungry.

My hips were still super sore in the morning from jogging a couple days ago, but they were fine enough by the evening to get out the Slim In 6 tape again. I did the Start It Up workout again and it left me sweaty and breathless. I had to modify a small section of the arm part (most of that is from yesterday’s torture in the gym), but I did most of it. I did manage to get through the rest of it.

Here’s my post workout face for your viewing pleasure.

Lobster Shorts Food, lifestyle, vegetarian, weight loss

Day Four – Eight Minutes of Discomfort

Disclaimer. I am not a medical professional, nutritionist, or anyone with any business giving diet advice. This is my own personal journey. When it comes to yourself, seek the advice of a medical professional.

Breakfast today was made by my spouse, an English muffin with a fried egg, and cheese. I snacked on more cherry tomatoes during the morning while I was at work.

This… this was my lunch today. I must admit, it was magical. I do love my cookies and lattes. It wasn’t my intention to get a cookie, the plan was just to get a latte and make lunch when I got home. My spouse was the one to go into the Snapping Turtle on the way home from work (it was only a half day for me today) and he came back with lattes and cookies. I COULD have said no… but I love these cookies, they’re so good. I was still going to make a lunch when I got home, but I was full, so I waited for dinner to eat again.

It appears I am still on a halloumi kick, I had salad with the leftover farro and halloumi from a couple days ago. This time I used a commercially prepared balsamic vinaigrette for the dressing. It was a huge plateful and I didn’t finish it all in one go. The plate was close by (I had dinner on the couch watching a movie) and I ended up finishing the salad by the time the movie ended. I had a glass of wine with it.

My hips (hip muscles) are pretty sore today from yesterdays jog on the treadmill and I didn’t feel like doing anything overly sweaty today. I remembered this arm workout a friend sent me awhile ago. It’s a short arm workout and it’s HARD. Quick and intense, is an accurate description! I had to put my arms down A LOT during this video and eight minutes isn’t that long. It’s easy and simple in that you can do it anywhere, even at work at your desk! I did it with my spouse and we were laugh crying it was so hard. We made it to the end and did as much as we could. I liked this one a lot and plan on doing it often. It’s perfect for when you’re looking for something quick and you don’t want to sweat buckets.

Lobster Shorts lifestyle

Late Evening Workouts and Takeout

Day three of my fitness journey started with this glorious smoothie bowl of deliciousness for breakfast. I do love eating my smoothies over drinking them. It’s so much more satisfying. I love how the toppings have that wonderful crunch.

For the smoothie bowl I threw in some greens, half a squeezed lemon, random fruit in my freezer, a banana, three tablespoons of hemp seeds, and a cup of oat milk. This made breakfast for two, for my spouse and I. Usually he’s the one that makes breakfast and I get to sleep in, but he was working out, so I decided to he the hero and make breakfast this morning. It was impressive! Go me!

Lunch was leftover bibimbap from Sunday. There was a full jar of it, but I forgot to take a snapshot of it until I was halfway through (I get very hungry before lunch time). I snacked on more cherry tomatoes during the day.

I had an eye exam booked after work and because I commute, I got takeout. I decided if any takeout was allowed on this new healthier lifestyle, it would be a pita. And yes, this football sized pita is a small.

It was a veggie/halloumi pita and I ate 99.9% of it with pretty much one bite left. It was delicious. By the time I got home it was 9:00 at night and I scrambled to get a workout in. I am surprisingly not too sore from the ab workout I did yesterday. I feel it, but I thought I would REALLY feel it. My arms are a bit sore and my thighs have almost (almost) recovered from the workout I did on Sunday. I wasn’t quite up to the Slim In 6 workout yet, so I went with a jog on the treadmill.

This was the result. I was happy with what I did. It also felt fantastic, more so than I was expecting. Fun fact, I think I’m allergic to my own sweat. I get hives after sweating a lot. This also happens to me when I get cold, but like in the winter cold. Maybe intense temperatures do that to me. Anyone else out there like that?

It’s an hour past my bedtime. I am sleepy and hitting the hay. Night all.

Lobster Shorts lifestyle

Working Out On A Full Stomach

This was my breakfast today. Not my healthiest. There was leftover waffle batter (I’ll post the recipe here. they were good) from Sunday’s breakfast and we decided to finish it. I had a craving for an egg on a waffle – no I don’t know why. Is that something people do? Egg on a waffle? Not with syrup or anything, just like, a fried egg on a waffle. On the other three sections I added syrup. This is actually me being modest with the syrup. I drown my pancakes and waffles.

I wasn’t able to finish my breakfast completely, which is something that makes me happy. I grew up with “clean your plate” eating habits, and I struggle with stopping, even if I’m full. Every time I don’t finish my plate, I feel it’s a win.

Lunch was a can of Campbell’s Moroccan Chickpea soup. This photo may make this soup seem unappetizing, but it’s flavourful and delicious. Right now I’m into them for work lunches. I usually snack on a couple Lara bars during work, but today I brought cherry tomatoes with me. They worked out pretty well for a work snack. I’ll keep having them until I get sick of them.

My snack for the commute home was a container of melon. This is my way of avoiding takeout for dinner. I work full time and commute. It makes it harder to cook healthy meals.

I cooked faro in the Instant Pot (wayyyy faster than stove top) and made a huge salad and served it with sparkling water with lemon. I was going to have wine, but I didn’t. Not to be healthier, I just went with the water.

The salad was mixed greens, cucumbers, tomato, and green onion. There was a lot more tomatoes and cucumbers than you see in the photo, I ended up adding more greens on top. I topped the salad with the faro and fried halloumi. For dressing I squeezed half a lemon, a couple tablespoons of avocado oil, some salt and sumac. It was pretty good, but it was too big. This time I did clean my plate and I was stuffed, giving me a dilemma. I am supposed to work out every night, it’s late 8:30pm, and I’m over full. Stuffed. I was also pretty sore from my workout yesterday. My thighs and butt were the sorest. I wasn’t up to anything too bouncy, or sweaty.

I went with Slim In 6 Pack. It’s a 10 minutes ab workout. It was difficult, but I did it. My arms were on fire, partly because of yesterday’s workout (Slim In 6 is an all body workout) and I had to rest them for a few seconds, a couple times during the video.

I stuck to my goal so far. I have concerns about timing. Dinner is always late at my home which makes it more challenging to work out. Tomorrow, I’m going to work out then eat. I’m going to have the same salad again, with the leftover faro and halloumi. I’m planning on doing a more… sweaty workout tomorrow.

Lobster Shorts lifestyle

Does Anyone Remember Slim In 6

It’s hard. I find it super hard. Even the beginner start up work out. This is an older workout series from Beach Body. There were some trendy ones (like P90X, and Yoga Booty Ballet) I’ve had it so long it came on DVDs and I had to order it over the telephone. I never made it beyond the second workout, it’s so intensely hard.

This photo is of me after finishing the Start It Up workout.

Okay, this is more likely the expression I had. You can’t tell from this photo, but I was covered in sweat. This was the first time I’ve done this workout in over 10 years. I haven’t been working out at all. I haven’t been eating the way I want to. I don’t recognize my body anymore.

Numbers aren’t important, but I’m at least 20 pounds away from a healthy BMI (I’m 5’10 by the way) and I can tell. I don’t feel as strong and vibrant as I used to. I’m spending way too much time couch surfing and not enough time outside. Getting back on the exercise band wagon felt good. I am finding it a lot harder to lose weight now that I’m older (in my 40s).

My spouse and I have decided to work out every day. He prefers to workout in the morning and I prefer evenings. Either way, we have to get our butts in that gym, sometime before we go to bed. Every night. No days off. If we’re sore we’re still going to do something, stretching or yoga, but it has to be something. I know I’m going to hurt like crazy tomorrow, so stretching might be on for tomorrow. Then I’ll tackle that DVD series again.

Lobster Shorts thrifting, vintage

Thrift Store Finds

I spotted this beautiful teapot in the window of my local thrift shop during the lockdown and it stopped me in my tracks. I love vintage silver tea pots and this one was so unique to me. I’ve never seen one with a candle holder on the bottom, I was intrigued. Tea gets cold so fast and I love it piping hot. I wanted it.

I had to wait a week before the store opened and I could to pick it up. When I arrived at the store there was a lineup. A line up at the thrift store! I was surprised. I knew there were lineups in the cities, but I wasn’t expecting that here in my small little town. I waited and worried that it would be gone when I was finally able to get inside (I waited over 20 minutes in the line). I wouldn’t even look at it while I was waiting because I didn’t want to attract attention to it. I was in love with this teapot.

This is how it looks after three hours of polishing. I was elated that it was silver. I spent $6.00 on it! It’s still not glossy and mirror shiny yet and I’m not sure if it ever will be. I don’t know enough about silver to know these things. I’m going to polish it again in the near future and see if I can polish the rest of the dull and dark spots. The worst is the little cup that holds the candle, unfortunately you can’t really see it in these photos.

It’s not a 100% match to my tea set, but the whole of it is quite eclectic, the tray being from a different set as well. I don’t mind, I love it. I consider it a complete now. I wanted the two pots, one for coffee and one for tea. I have used it and although it didn’t keep the water piping hot, it did keep it warm/hot, which is good enough for me. It worked like a charm and I so love it. The neck of the teapot is on the slim side and I can’t get my hand in to wash it, but a bottle brush works and also stuffing the dish cloth in there and shoving it around works just fine too. I’m so happy I found it.

Lobster Shorts Food, vegetarian, weight loss

What I Ate Today – Day 6

I was craving bagels and fruity cream cheese yesterday, so I made this for breakfast, today. I served it with scrambled eggs, cherry tomatoes, and coffee. I only ate half the bagel in this photo. I was full and gave the other half to my spouse. As you can see, I like my fruity cream cheese in whorish amounts.

Mid morning I was thirsty, I skipped my morning tea and had a pineapple Bubly instead.

For lunch, my spouse made me a sandwich on a bun, potato salad, berries, and wine.

I was craving potato salad later in the afternoon and I made myself a snack of the leftovers.

Later yet, I was craving bagels and cream cheese again, so my spouse made me this for me. As you can see he is aware of my love for cream cheese. I tend to give in to my cravings more on the weekends, especially Sundays.

Late afternoon, we mapped out where we want to put a garden, using sticks and yarn. It was so hot outside (in the 30s) and I was really thirsty when I came in. I had this can of Sanpellegrino. Because I drink a lot of the Bubly, this was too sugary, especially, when hot and sweaty. I prefer the Bubly.

For dinner, I made a bowl of fridge dump soup, made with sweet potatoes, spinach, and broccoli. I flavoured it with vegetable soup stock, coconut milk, curry powder, and some other spices.

This photo of a glass of wine is from a previous day. While writing this, I haven’t drank it yet, but I know I will sometime before I go to bed. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Lobster Shorts Food, vegetarian, weight loss

What I Ate Today – Day 5

It’s an unusual breakfast, but I love it. I usually get an egg and cheese sandwich on an English muffin for breakfast, at the Stone Town Café, here in St Marys, but I was all egg sandwiched out. The cafe lets you order off the lunch menu early in the morning, so I got the Mediterranean wrap and a latte. My spouse made the order while I waited outside. He knows I love their oatmeal cookies, so he picked one up for me, which made a huge breakfast. We sat down by the river to eat our breakfast and went for a stroll afterwards. I was full after the sandwich and chips, so I saved the cookie for later.

When I got home I did some cleaning which made me thirsty, and I had a pineapple Bubly. Cleaning took awhile and I had the oatmeal cookie when I was done

For lunch I had a salad with balsamic vinaigrette, topped with cheese, and cashews. I love this salad. The cheese and cashews make it very filling.

After the salad I made a mug of vanilla chai tea and then had a second one right after. I’ve noticed since I’ve stopped eating anything after dinner, that I’ve been a lot thirstier lately. I rarely feel thirsty and usually drink tea just because I like it.

Mid afternoon I was back to crafting. Once I finished, I sat outside to enjoy the sunshine, and split a Stella with my spouse. It’s was 30 degrees out and sunny, the perfect day for a beer.

Dinner was a veggie burger and potato salad. I love potato salad. I did end up having a couple more spoon fulls of it that I didn’t take a photo of. It’s one of my favourite things to eat.

After dinner, I had a glass of wine and now I’m done eating for the day.

Lobster Shorts Food, vegetarian, weight loss

What I Ate Today – Day 4

Friday, my day started with my sweetheart making me breakfast. He upped his breakfast game by adding strawberries. I had egg on a whole wheat English muffin and black coffee.

I had my mid morning tea of Earl Grey.

I skipped the mid morning snack of a Larabar because I knew I was going to the Snapping Turtle for a latte. I was craving cookies and I added a peanut butter cookie to go with my latte. Their lattes are out of this world.

Lunch was lentil soup… again. I am so happy to see the end of this soup. It’s gone now and I’ll be needing to come up with some new lunch ideas. I think it will be a long time before I have more lentil soup again, but then again, it’s super easy.

Later in the afternoon I had the last dilbahar. Just yum.

I was feeling thirsty and didn’t feel like having anything hot. When I’m thirsty I want something cold. I had a pineapple Bubly.

Around dinner time I was hungry,, but I was busy crafting and didn’t feel like stopping. My plan had been to have a salad for dinner, but my spouse suggested pizza. When I’m hungry I’m weak. I was a solid yes for that idea and awhile later pizza showed up at the door. Banana peppers, mushroom, goat cheese, and chili flakes. It was awesome. I like to make pizza even healthier and get it with dipping sauce. I had the three slices you see in the photo. So far, posting what I eat in a day, for anybody to see, is keeping me in check, because I would have had another slice, maybe even another one after that. I couldn’t handle the shame of posting that, so I stopped at three.

After dinner, I went back to crafting and got into this mini bottle of wine. The whole bottle contained 250mL and I drank the whole bottle.

That was everything I ate for the day. I’ve been really good about not eating after dinner. I had a glass of water and called it a day.

Lobster Shorts Food, vegetarian, weight loss

What I Ate Today – June 3/2021 – Day 4

I had my usual breakfast today of an egg on a whole wheat English muffin with coffee. Later that morning I had a mug of earl grey tea.

I had a Larabar for a mid morning snack

Lunch was lentil soup again. I have one last bowl left that I will have for lunch tomorrow. I’ll be happy to see the end of this soup.

For a late afternoon snack someone brought me dilbahar! I LOOOOVE dilbahar. It’s a syrup soaked ooey gooey sweet.

I went to my in laws for a barbeque this evening and I had two glasses of red wine.

Dinner was delicious, some of my favourite things. There was potato salad and burgers. The burger patty was a Beyond Burger and done on the barbeque, which is a real treat for me as I don’t have a barbeque. I usually pan fry my burgers. It was delicious and so nice to see people again.

I was pretty stuffed after dinner, but didn’t turn down a small bowl of chocolate ice cream. After dinner we went for a short walk and then it was time to go home.

Halfway home I caved and had another dilbahar. I should have cut out some of the snacks since I was going to a dinner, but I didn’t. I’m thirsty but it’s late. I’m going to have a small glass of water and go to bed.