Friday Catchup (1.23.2009)

First off, I received an award and wanted to send a big THANK YOU to Lori over at Fake Food Free. I happen to think her blog is fabulous also. She describes herself as a "realistic nutritionist" and is all about having a healthy balance with real food. Sounds perfect to me, so I really enjoy reading her tips! She loves to travel and I think that adds a special "something, something" to her posts because you get to see all the delicious eats from different places she visits.

Food

Dinner on Tuesday night was Mediterranean Crusted Salmon with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Pine Nuts. I went the easy route on this one.

I overcooked this a tad, but it still had good flavor. I am slowly getting back into salmon since I had a bad case of food poisoning a year or so ago after eating a bad piece.

The fish was served with steamed cauliflower that I seasoned with smart balance, parsley, and fresh parmesan.

Wednesday night, we went out to dinner and I had a chicken caesar wrap with steamed veggies. No pics, but I wanted to share because I was proud of myself for saying "no" to the fries. I love fries - like really LOVE them. But I want to try and cut down to just having them as part of a splurge meal every now and then.

Last night, I cooked up a quick stir-fry using Trader Joes Beijan Style frozen veggies, thinly-sliced chicken, Soy Vay Teriyaki sauce, and brown rice.

It turned out pretty good, but I just wasn't into the chicken, so I picked around it. I decided to bake up some tofu using the Soy Vay sauce as a marinade so I could get some protein. These little cubes were caramelized and delicious.

Breakfast this morning was oatmeal. I am all out of fruit, so this combination included:

• 1/2 c oats
• 1/2 c vanilla soy milk
• sprinkle of brown sugar
• spoonful of part-skim ricotta
• spoonful almond butter
• pecans

Mmm. Mmm. Deeeelish. I ate my oatmeal while checking out some new reading material - Cooking Light. A Christmas present from my friend Carolyn that just arrived last night. There are a ton of delicious recipes, so expect to see some in the near future.

Workouts

Last week, I talked about the training program I started and am proud to say that I am keeping up with it! I put together this handy-dandy spreadsheet to help me track my progress against the plan. Here's a peek:

You may have to enlarge it to actually read it. Items highlighted in green have been completed.

I am playing indoor soccer on Wednesday nights, but last week, our team had a bye. This week the game was at 9pm and after my Tuesday run, my lower back was killing me. I ended up going to the gym earlier on Wednesday to do light cardio and a little lifting (not anywhere near my back), but didn't think playing indoor soccer would be a good idea.

Polar Bear Plunge

Tomorrow is the Polar Bear Plunge and I am still nervous. Today is a beautiful day and the temperature is up in the 50s. Why cant it be like that tomorrow?! The temperature is supposed to drop all day tomorrow.

Our plan is to get there around 10am and tailgate until the plunge at 1pm. I am going to layer up, so that I can decide what I want to wear for the actual "plunge" right before. I will probably end up wearing my triathlon outfit. Tri shorts and a wick-away tank. Oh and my scuba booties because someone told me I definitely need something on my feet.

If you have time, check out some of the pictures on the Plunge site. http://www.plungemd.com/

It looks like it is going to be a blast.

What are you all up to this weekend? After the plunge, my goal is to get warm. Then, get some housekeeping done around the blog...and my house!