Okay, now we are cooking with gas! My back feels pretty darn good and as a result I was able to hit the gym twice at the tail end of this snowy week, once for mere 27 minute walk on the treadmill. The second trip allowed for more time, and I completed a 40 minute total body workout which saw me walk for 22 minutes and proceed to work on the ab crunch, rowing, hip abductor and adductor, and the overhead pull down machines. Soundtracks were the new, yet to be released Bright Eyes “Four Winds” EP (exactly 27 minutes long) and The Shins “Wincing the Night Away” (just about 40 minutes long).
I swear that I had good intentions of visiting the gym for a third time this week, but a sick daughter curtailed those Saturday morning workout plans. My lovely little lady threw-up on my face (no kidding) at 1:30am and as a result, the whole family was awake for over an hour in the middle of the night. She took a bath and I a shower, then we three slept-in until 9 A.M.
There was to be no 7 A.M. workout for me today!
My ability to frequent the gym this week comes at a pretty good time, as my eating over the past four days has been a mixed bag. While the large batches of great food we whipped up last Sunday did last through Thursday night, with many healthy-sized portions of lasagna being frozen for a later date, Friday saw me head out to lunch with some of the fellas from work. I was somewhat responsible, ordering a grilled chicken hoagie with procsuitto, sharp provolone and roasted red peppers with oil. It was as amazing as it sounds…my mouth is watering all over again just thinking about it. The bad news is that I coupled that sandwich with chips and a root beer (I mean, how could I not?) The root beer was my third soda in 24 hours – not good at all – as I stopped for a couple hot dogs on the way to school Thursday night and grabbed a Sierra Mist as well. Too much soda, coupled with those darn Thin Mint cookies still floating about my home (I will just need to eat them more quickly to remove them from the premises!), means I have to give myself a low B grade for the week.
Our late Saturday morning start also caused us to postpone on our weekly journey to Whole Foods. That means dinner tonight will be only some fresh Buffalo mozzarella, tomato and basil (that my mother-in-law brought over) with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Maybe that is not an entirely bad thing, in fact, a light Caprese salad to end the week sounds quite lovely.
Sunday morning should see us making our big weekly grocery trip, assuming there are no more, um, incidents. Early indications are that dinners this week will be ravioli, pork tenderloin with apples and onions (my specialty – maybe I will even provide the recipe in the Families.com Food Blog), meatloaf and mashed potatoes (my wife’s best dish), and chicken tetrazzini. We will work in veggies with each meal. I would expect to make peas (with the mashed potatoes, yummy!), broccoli and zucchini. But we will buy whatever fresh vegetables look good tomorrow – it is fun to let seasonality dictate such choices.
My workout goal is to visit the gym three days next week and do the longer routine each time. I need to get back into a rhythm now that my lower back is once again cooperating, because who knows how long that will last!
Until Tuesday…
Enjoy your weekend!
Dad’s Losing It articles are published every Saturday and Tuesday. Follow Jeff’s journey during the rest of the week in the Dad’s Losing It Forum. In the Forum, Jeff discusses his individual workout routines and soundtracks, among other tidbits and musings from the week.
Jeff is a Family Fun blogger. Read more of his posts here.