It’s that magical time day of the year when many a folk get to open their first advent calendar surprise. Day one, the day you find out if your advent calendar sucks, or will be full of joy. You always seem to know by that first peak. I’ve been enjoying advent calendars most of my adult life. We had them sporadically as kids, but not very often. I so love them. I’ve had tea advent calendars and many many chocolate ones. I haven’t splurged on a wine one yet, but I hope to… I really hope to.
This is my second cheese advent calendar. The first one I had was last year. It was a commercially made one, but I don’t remember the brand. It was really good and I loved it. This year the local cheese shop was offering the commercial cheese advent calendar, or a homemade from the store version. I jumped on the in store version and I’m so glad I did.
It was packaged so beautifully and has decently large chunks of cheese (which is great since I am sharing with my spouse. We’re splitting each day between the two of us). I love that all the cheese is labeled. What a perfect way to discover new favourites. I’m not sure how many different kinds of cheese there are since I’m only on day one, but I’m hopeful it’s a lot, dare I even hope for a different kind each day??? Either way, I can already tell this is going to be an awesome advent calendar.
Shark week has begun and I am getting cravings. I want cookies! I am trying my best to ignore them. Last night I got take out at the Pita Pit – a small halloumi pita. I finished the whole thing. In the future I’m hoping to cut that down. I’m not sure how many calories are in a pita, the small size is pretty big. I’m hoping to shrink my portion sizes down and polishing the whole thing off isn’t helping. I recall not being able to finish one back when I was 20lbs lighter. I’m sure I’ll be getting pitas again in the near future.
When I got home from work I went for a jog on the treadmill. My speed was 3.7 again and I went a little further on the distance and for a longer duration. My goal on the treadmill is to keep it at around 30 minutes, but to increase the speed. My legs are tired, but so far my hip muscles aren’t bothering me like last time. I think that’s pretty fantastic, but I usually feel the previous days workout in the evening the next day, so I might still be in for some more discomfort.
I was sweaty. I snacked on a banana before I went to bed and had some sparkling water. I would have had more water, but I didn’t want to be up all night peeing. I need to improve my water intake. I’m pretty sure I live in a constant state of dehydration. I don’t seem to care to drink anything unless it’s coffee or alcohol. I never seem to be thirsty.
Breakfast started with a smoothie bowl and coffee. For lunch I had a can of Campbell’s Moroccan Chickpea soup. I’ll be going out for sushi after work today and I’m really not sure how I’m going to make that healthy. It’s a buffet. I’ll have to make up for it by eating healthier on Friday and the weekend.
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
Sunday started with “Epic Breakfast” (that’s what I call the big breakfast I cook on Sundays. There’s no restrictions). It was air fried potatoes with salt and a bit of avocado oil, a croissant, two fried eggs, and coffee. I massacred those eggs. Sunny side up was not happening this day.
Here I am taking the kayaks for a walk. It was going to be another scorcher today, so we went for a paddle on the river. We tried out the new kayak racks. They worked very well, but the tie downs that came with them were crappy and kept slipping. I tied the tails to the boat seat and that helped a lot.
I saw some pretty things and cool creatures along the way. There are tons of clams in the river. Don’t worry, this one was put back in the river after a quick snap shot.
There was a clear spot that is a little deeper further up the river. We were super hot and decided to take a quick swim to cool off. It was very refreshing but I don’t know if there are any leaches or craapy things in the river, so I made it quick. I must have snapped this pic before I got crispy fried. I don’t know why I always assume I’m not going to burn. I did. A lot. My spouse was putting aloe all over my face and neck when I got home and calling me his cherry tomato.
Lunch was a bowl of leftover green curry and for dinner I had a 6inch veggie sub. Between lunch and dinner I managed to have a bottle of a vanilla mudslide (the boozy kind), and a strawberry banana Palm Bay. The mudslide was amazing and I want to drink a million of them.
I also had these cookies with the sub. Later I had a slice of pie and a glass of wine too. It was a decadent day. Because I went kayaking, I counted that as my workout for the day. I was planning to do the stretching video, but I was burnt and didn’t feel like it.
Time to see my results after a week:
I’m down 0.2lbs… That’s it. After all these really tough workouts. I am annoyed. Apparently, my cheat days include too much cheating. I was very irritated with the results when I got on the scale this morning. I had planned to make a green smoothie bowl for breakfast but I was in a foul mood and didn’t make anything. I ended up stopping in at Tim Hortons for an egg and cheese sandwich on the homestyle biscuit and a coffee. I had a bowl of soup for lunch today and plan to have a healthy dinner, but no idea what that is yet.
Even though I’m down in some spots, that could be a measuring error, so I’m not counting it as a win yet, plus my chest is up an inch. Overall I’m pretty unhappy with the results. I’m going to have to do less cheating on cheat days and reduce the amount I’m eating. I didn’t see the results I was hoping for, which would have been a loss of a couple pounds. I’m grumpy.
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.
Every Saturday, my spouse and I go to the Stone Town Cafe. We go every week, it’s a tradition we started back when our dog was still alive. The three of us would get egg and cheese sandwiches. The owner of the café always had a couple cookies for her, sometimes a few of the café regulars too. She was stuffed by the time we went home. I miss her a lot. She loved her Saturday morning treats.
We’ve kept with the tradition, and still go every Saturday. Lately, I’ve been having a lot of eggs at home and have wanted something different. I’ve been getting the Mediterranean wrap. It’s healthy with lots of veggies and light on the cheese. I get it with a coffee.
On the way home from breakfast, I went to Kitchen Smidgen for some sweet treats. They had one of my favourites, custard tarts. One for both of us and a meringue to split. One bite each lol. It’s probably lucky for me that the bakery is only open Fridays and Saturdays. I feel it’s okay to splurge on weekends.
Lunch I made an attempt at green curry without a recipe. It was okay. It had tofu, green curry paste, coconut milk, and veggies. I served it over brown rice. I did some weeding today and I just sat on my butt in the garden to do it. My thighs are still burning like crazy from the Start It Up workout I did two days ago. I’m making sounds when I sit down and stand. You know… huhhhhhhh what did I do to myself groany sounds… Every time I sit or stand. I did the Slim In 6 Ab workout. That’s all my legs would allow. I wanted to save the stretching video for tomorrow.
This was dinner this evening. Avocado and egg on a whole wheat bun, a piece of cheese. I’m still craving this non stop. No signs of getting sick of it anytime soon. I had a slice of pie this evening and a glass of red wine. I forgot to take a picture of the pie. It was strawberry rhubarb pie with a sugar crumble topping, homemade. I’m going to be splurging a little tomorrow too. Sunday is big breakfast day. Once it cools down a little I’d like to spend some more time outside. It’s still very hot here in Ontario.
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.
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.
Here we are again, avocado and an egg on an English muffin, served with coffee. I love this breakfast. I could eat this every day, multiple times over and over and over again. Just talking about it, I want to eat it again.
I didn’t bring my lunch to work today, I was going to make something when I got home. My snack box from Vegan Cuts came in and I dug into it on the way home.
I split this rice krispie square with my spouse. Then novelty of having rice Krispy squares again was wonderful, the square was okay.
I split this cookie from the snack box too. I don’t want to dump on a product, but this was really gross. We both took only a bite and didn’t want anymore. It tasted really plastic like.
We tried these Snacklins and I really liked them. Lots of snacks, right… well there’s more.
I stopped in at the Snapping Turtle again for a dreamy latte and a cookie. This time the cookie was MY idea. I had forgotten I hadn’t had lunch yet. They didn’t have my favourite peanut butter cookie, but they had these chocolate covered coffee bean shaped ones and they left the café with me. One for each of us.
I didn’t really need lunch at this point, but still wanted something else, so I tried the new cheese from the Cheese Of The Month Club from the local cheese shop. I’m not sure what kind of cheese it is, but it has chili peppers in it and super good with a wonderful nip to it.
To make my day even healthier, I had pizza for dinner with wine, again. It was tasty.
I got everything I needed to do today done around 8:00pm and I really wasn’t feeling up to a workout. My legs were still really sore from yesterday and I just didn’t have it in me. I am trying to form a habit, (don’t they say it takes around 30 days?) of daily exercise and I didn’t want to start slacking off before I’d even hit a week. No days off. So I did this arm workout again. I didn’t do well. I had to put my arms down constantly and give them a shake many many times. I was doing push ups (very very modified push ups) yesterday with Slim In 6 and I don’t think my arms had recovered enough for this one. It was probably the day I should have done stretching, but I really wasn’t in the mood to set up the DVD player and change my clothes.
It wasn’t my best day, but I was saving Friday to Sunday for cheat days. I didn’t want to eat quite this badly on Friday, but I’m not going to beat myself up about it. I’m hungry, so I’m going to snack on some pickles before bed.
Which turned into a slice of strawberry rhubarb pie
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 