Tag Archives: humor

Love My Abs Challenge, Week 3

Posted on by Run DMT
18

If you’re just hearing about February’s Love My Abs Challenge for the first time, it’s not too late to join in the fun.  Basically, we started with a 100 dally ab exercises and tweeted about our achievements.  (This week we move up to 160 exercises.)  Then, each Wednesday, I’ll host a linky party for you to link up and share your recap post or add your Twitter handle.

That’s it.  Now sit-up and take action!  Show your abs some love this February!



Although I raised my reps to 140 this week, I didn’t try any new exercises.  With a half marathon only a few days away and to avoid injuring myself, I wanted to keep things simple and routine.  This week may have been less adventurous as far as ab exercises were concerned, but the results were pretty staggering nonetheless.

I think I see some abs forming there.

Day 9

60 crunches

40 bicycles

40 cross-over crunches

Day 10

60 crunches

40 bicycles

40 cross-over crunches

Day 11

60 crunches

40 bicycles

40 cross-over crunches

Day 12 (Rock ‘N Roll Half Marathon)

60 crunches

40 bicycles

40 cross-over crunches

On Day 13, I was recovering from the half marathon and suffering from a 24 hour stomach bug, but still managed to squeeze out some crunches.  It was not a pretty sight.

60 crunches

40 bicycles

40 cross-over crunches

On Day 14, the Plank Police hunted me down on Twitter and shamed me into doing some long forgotten planks.  It was only fair to show my abs some extra love on Valentine’s Day.

60 crunches

40 bicycles

40 cross-over crunches

2 x 30 second planks

Day 15 – I moved up to 160 reps.

80 crunches

40 bicycles

40 cross-over crunches

I am so impressed with #lovemyabs progress!  Are you loving your abs too?

Kiss Me

Posted on by Run DMT
11

For this week’s Music Monday, I’m co-hosting with Xmas Dolly and her Monday’s Music Moves Me crew: Lorie, Stacy, Callie and Cathy.  These ladies are such wonderful, supportive people and I am THRILLED to be part of this with them!

And what better way to show my love and appreciation then with a kiss? I mean, it’s Valentine ’s Day and all.  Well, how about a juicy, wet kiss from Little Lion Man?

He’s refined his kiss a bit since the holidays.  Now, he can blow you a kiss…

…with a little smack of a sound at the end. Muwah!

How stinking cute is that?! Don’t you just want to smother him with kisses?

Now it’s your turn. What love songs have you hitting re-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat?
Show some Music Monday/MMMM love and join our linky party. Be sure to visit our spotlight dancers also, Introducing Mr. Cool and I Made It Through the Rain

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Spinach Empanadas

Posted on by Run DMT
13

PhotobucketThree weeks after my wisdom teeth extraction and I’m still on a forced soft foods diet and probably will be for another three weeks since my steenky holes are slow to heal and still pretty sensitive. *sigh*

Besides losing weight, another upside to my soft diet is that it’s forcing Iron Chef Allan and me to think beyond our family favorite menu staples.  During the process, we’ve dusted off some long forgotten cookbooks to find new dishes to try.  This Williams-Sonoma Spinach Empanada recipe was found in one of those dusty old cookbooks, The Best of Taste.  While rediscovering this cookbook, I found a few more recipes I’d like to sink my teeth gums into and if they’re tasty, you’ll find them here on Fridays for my weekly Friday Food Fight.

Although the recipe calls for pastry dough, I opted to use the empanada dough found in the freezer section of my supermarket.

Oh and see those yummy crispy edges?  Um yeah, about that…I couldn’t eat that part but the dough and filling was yummy for my gummy!

Spinach Empanadas

Ingredients

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 red onion, finely chopped

1 Tbsp garlic, finely chopped

2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced

½ lb spinach, chopped

¼ cup pine nuts

1 hard-boiled egg, peeled and chopped

½ tsp ground nutmeg

Salt

Fresh ground pepper

1 package of frozen empanada dough (10 count)

Directions

In skillet, heat olive oil over a medium heat.  Cook onion until soft, stirring often.  Add garlic and cook for about 1 minute.

Add tomatoes and cook until softened, about five minutes.

Add pine nuts and spinach.

Cook until spinach wilts, about five minutes.  Remove from heat.  Stir in chopped egg and nutmeg. Salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray baking sheet lightly with cooking spray.  Using a slotted spoon, add 1 Tbsp of filling to each round.

Lay on flat surface and fold dough in half.  Pinch edges with fork prongs to seal.

Carefully move filled empanada to baking sheet and brush with olive oil.  Then, repeat steps with remaining empanada rounds.

Bake for 25 minutes or until slightly golden brown on edges.

Serve plain, with side of aioli or a dash of Tabasco hot sauce. (I served mine with a cup of homemade tomato soup, but I’ll tell you all about that next week.)
‘
Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight! Can’t wait to see what everyone is flinging this week!


*Also shared at*

Love My Abs Challenge – Week 2

Posted on by Run DMT
13

If you’re just hearing about February’s Love My Abs Challenge for the first time, it’s not too late to join in the fun.  Basically, we started with a 100 dally ab exercises and tweeted about our achievements.  (This week we move up to 120 exercises.)  Then, each Wednesday, I’ll host a linky party for you to link up and share your recap post or add your Twitter handle.

That’s it.  Now sit-up and take action!  Show your abs some love this February!


A week into the challenge and I’m already seeing a difference in my waist.  Although I didn’t measure myself with a tape measure at the start of the challenge, I would estimate that I have lost about an inch around my waist.  The real measure is the reduction of spillage over the top of my pants.  My muffin top is deflating.

No real ab muscles popping up yet, but I know there in there somewhere.  I’ll just keep at it.

Here’s a photo of my abs after one week and a rundown of the ab exercise I did this week.  I also learned about the #plankaday challenge via @runningmom2boys and @Amanda_Mowry,  so I’m plugging along with planks in that challenge too.

Day 2

(Unplanned resistance training thanks to Little Lion Man pulling my hair with every crunch.)

40 crunches

40 bicycles

40 cross-over crunches

1 minute planks

50 pushups

Day 3

40 crunches

40 bicycles

40 cross-over crunches

20 reps of pilates

50 pushups

Day 4

2 x :30 planks

60 crunches

60 cross-over crunches

50 pushups

Day 5

60 crunches

60 cross-over crunches

2 x 30 second planks

Day 6

60 crunches

60 cross-over crunches

2 x 30 second planks

25 push-ups

Day 7

60 crunches

60 cross-over crunches

50 push-ups

Day 8

40 crunches

40 bicycles

60 cros-over crunches

Like I said, I’m already seeing results.  How about you?

Random Thoughts about Getting Physical and Rocking ‘n Rolling

Posted on by Run DMT
2

In the last two days, I’ve been inside three doctors’ offices.  First, I had a 6 month follow-up for Little Lion Man’s hip dysplasia.  According to the nurse practitioner, “Everything looks great”.  His hips are developing normally (excellently) and now our visits will occur once a year.   Honestly, as fast as little man has been running and climbing these days, I knew everything with his hips would be fine and I didn’t have any worries.

Then, today I had my annual physical.  My cholesterol is high again (240), but I think that might be related to my soft foods diet as I have been eating a lot of eggs.  Also, my vitamin D was low, which is so weird to me living in sunny Florida and all.

Apparently, a vitamin D deficiency is a typical diagnosis as people age, especially for someone with darker skin or someone who consumes a vegetarian diet.  I don’t eat enough fish or beef liver, but I’m sure it’s a combination of everything.  I have been prescribed a vitamin D supplement once a week but I prefer ten minutes in the sun as a prescription.

I also had a follow-up with my oral surgeon today for my wisdom teeth extraction.  When I mentioned to him that I am still have some pain, he said that’s to be expected for up to SIX WEEKS!   Oi vey.  At least I’m healing well and he seemed pleased about that, but I still need to stay on soft foods for a little while longer.   Ugh.  I really miss almonds and tortilla chips with salsa.

Speaking of my soft foods diet, I lost another 3 pounds for a total of 7.5 pounds.  I’m happy about the weight loss, because my clothes are fitting a bit better, but I’m not too thrilled about the way I’m losing weight.  Oh well.  At least I’m only 10 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight.

On a related note about my weight, my general practitioner said, “You don’t look like you weigh 135 pounds.” Um…thanks?  I’m all muscle, baby. Yeah, I hide my weight well since most of it is tucked away in my juiceful butt.

This Sunday is the St. Pete Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon and I feel pretty good about it.  Even though I haven’t really trained as much as I had hoped, I think I’ll do all right, especially since I threw in some resistance training last week.  Yes, every once in a while, I run with a stroller to remind myself how much I hate running with a stroller.

Last Sunday, I ran 10 miles and it felt good.

10 miles

Time 1:47:55

Ave Pace 10:48

Max Pace 8:07

 

Here are the rest of my runs:

2/2/12

4 miles

Time 41:04

Ave Pace 10:16

Max Pace 7:36

 

2/3/12 (stroller run)

3.1 miles

Time 34:07

Ave Pace 10:58

Max Pace 8:26

 

2/07/12

3.1 miles

Time 31:37

Ave Pace 10:12

Max Pace 8:05

 
And in case you haven’t heard…for the month of February, I’ve committed to showing my abs some love with my #lovemyabs challenge.  Every Wednesday, I’m hosting a linky party.  So, stop by tomorrow to link up and see everyone’s progress.  I’ve already noticed a difference, but I’ll fill y’all in tomorrow.

 *Proudly submitted to Stacy Uncorked, because when I blog about my training, it’s usually pretty random.*

Stacy

Five Pins from Pinterest

Posted on by Run DMT
3

Mama's Losin' It“Are you on Pinterest? Share the last five items you pinned, choose one and let it inspire a blog post.” – Mama Kat’s Losing It

Just five?

Yesterday, I pinned my Love My Abs button to encourage others on Pinterest to join me in the February challenge.  I’m so proud of my little bloggy button.  Isn’t it cute?

To help with the challenge and mix it up a bit, I pinned this.

Then, there are all the yummy recipes I’ve pinned this week, like the Honey Lime Tilapia. I can’t to sink my teeth into that one!

Forget Valentine’s Day!  I’m already thinking about St. Patrick’s Day and baking these Guinness Butterscotch Brownies.

But the item I am most proud of this week are the magazine files in my pantry, which was inspired by this pin.

I found a pair of magazine files at Ikea for $6.99.  Target has similar ones, but they are sold separately for a tad bit more money.

The magazine files look so great in my pantry, but I especially love that I’ve stopped an avalanche of food storage items from happening on my head. Boxes of cling film and sandwich bags are no longer rolling all over my shelves or falling and hitting my in the face when I open the pantry door.  And like Martha Stewart always says, “It’s a good thing.”

Now, I just need some help with the rest of pantry, but it needs to be cheap affordable and practical.  Got any more bright ideas Pinterest?

Gasparilla and The Great Bead Booty

Posted on by Run DMT
19

Argggh!
There be a pirate invasion once again in Tampa.

Aye, wearing snarls and yielding swords, me krewe set sail upon the Black Pearl in search of treasure known as The Great Bead Booty.

The Great Bead Booty be the gem of all the scurvy pirates at the Gasparilla Children’s Parade.  The secret, me hearties, is to keep ye good eye on all that is casted from the krewes that sail along Bayshore as ye never know what treasures lie in front of ye.

Be it beads or candy, scurvy pirates need to be ready. Aye, that be the story of how Captain Madre got hit in the head with a Tootsie Roll  some pirates lose an eye and are forever cursed to wear a patch.

Even me youngest scallywag found treasure…

 

…and tried to steal some more.

Legend tells, some pirates hunt for treasures of giant burritos.

But one scallywag set her sights on cotton candy only to have her plan foiled when Mean Captain Madre grunted, “No” and threatened a long walk off a short plank if she didn’t become a jolly pirate.

Then, a loud thunderous boom shook the land as Jose Gaspar’s ship invaded and began firing cannons.  But we did not withdraw, me hearties!  Aye, the Great Bead Booty was still ours for the taking!

After hours upon the bay, our voyage had ended and the time had come to find a new destination to feed me hungry krewe. Aye and motley krewe we be.

Until next year, Gaspar!  ARRRRRRGGH!

PhotoStory Fridaythe hollie rogueUnknown Mami

Janathon 2012 – Day 26

Posted on by Run DMT
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PhotobucketSo if you’ve been reading my blog throughout the Janathon, then hopefully you’ve not given up on me yet and my ridiculous wisdom extraction in the middle of the Janathon and stinky hole stories, then you know my Janathon experience hasn’t been very Janathonish.  These stupid steenky holes of mine have made it really difficult to do anything thanks to all the pain I’ve been feeling.

This morning was no different than any other morning over the past three weeks.  I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and my jaw was throbbing.  So, I popped 800mg of ibuprofen.  Fabulous.

It was another slow start morning waiting for the pain to subside, but today was slightly different.   A couple hours later, I felt good.  Really good, even after yapping on the phone with my SIL for an hour.  So, I tested the pain boundaries with some light housework and still no pain.

I decided to test the boundaries a bit more with a walk to park with Little Lion Man.  I even wore my Garmin to pace myself from walking too fast (or even running) or walking too slow.

The mile walk to the park felt great.  Just the exercise and sun I needed to feel good about me again.  Little Lion Man loved the change in routine after being cooped up in the house for nearly 3 weeks and slept for 2 hours afterwards, which was an added bonus.  I really needed that too.

So there it is.  I did something today.  Finally.

2 Mile Walk

Time 34:14

Ave Pace 17:48

Max 12:26

My Grocery Bag Dispenser

Posted on by Run DMT
20

I am becoming way too co-dependent on Pinterest.  I honestly don’t know how I functioned before without it.

Some might say I’m on Pinterest too much.  But here’s the thing.  It’s adding value to my life.

Yes, most social networks suck me in and have me wasting time chatting, tweeting and responding to stuff, but Pinterest is different.  It pulls me and is helping me become a better person.

It motivates me.

Pinned Image

It helps me organize.

Pinned Image

It helps me plan menus for my family.

It helps generate decorating ideas for my house.

Pinned Image

And as creative and ingenious as I think I am, there are people on Pinterest far more ingenious and creative than me.

For example, I would have NEVER thought to store grocery bags in a wipe container before Pinterest.

Pinned Image

That’s green ingenuity at its finest, folks!  And if you were already sitting on this gem of a green idea, then you should have shared pinned it.

Pinned Image

You could have gone viral on Pinterest.

As for my adaptation to the grocery bag dispenser, I didn’t have an empty Wet Ones or Clorox wipes container to use, but I have tons of empty baby wipes containers laying about my house.  So, I recreated this creativeness with one of those.  Viola!

I’m sure someone will share some cute, creative way to cover the Luvs label or the wipe container with fabric or scrapbook paper and some Mod Podge. I’m sure it’s out there on Pinterest.  I just haven’t looked for it yet.  Until then, I’m fine with this happy little Luvs baby handing me grocery bags for to dispose of dirty diapers.

And she tucks away nicely in Little Lion Man’s changing table dresser drawer.

Thank you, Pinterest, for my handy-dandy dirty diaper bag dispenser tip.

Now, I just need to learn understand how to make the bags pop out of the container.

Random Thoughts about Soft Foods and Going Soft

Posted on by Run DMT
5

Yesterday I had my follow up with my dental surgeon for my wisdom teeth extraction.  Everything looks good. My body is just taking its sweet ass time to heal itself.  *sigh*  I’m still experiencing pain particularly in the bottom left side of my jaw, but the 800 mg ibuprofen helps control the pain.

He also said he wants me to continue on a soft foods diet for 2-3 more weeks until my next follow-up visit.  Have I mentioned how shitty a soft foods diet is?  If someone has any suggestions besides potatoes, toast, pasta, oatmeal, soups, yogurt or applesauce, I am all ears.  I feel like I’m carb loading without the luxury of being able to burn the carbs.  Speaking of carb loading, my doctor said I could drink beer which is good because wine was burning my steenky holes.

And if someone tells me one more time about all the weight they lost on a soft foods diet, I may just throw my yogurt at them.  I haven’t lost a pound because my body just doesn’t work like that.  It’s like my body feels a famine has hit and shifted into survival mode to begin storing fat.

I haven’t started running yet, but my surgeon said I could start whenever I feel ready.  I figure I would just judge the pain each morning.  If one day I wake up and feel nothing, then I’ll run.  That just hasn’t happened yet.

On good days when the pain is minimal, I try to do house work.  However, I think I’ve tried to do too much too soon because the next day, my jaw hurts like a mother.  Then, I waste the day doing nothing but lying around until the pain subsides.  It really sucks.

I really hope I feel better enough to run an easy 3 miles soon because Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon is only 2 weeks away.  YIKES!  Someone please tell me that I can do this.  I’m sure it’s all
in my head, but I feel like I’ve lost my strength.  I feel so weak, which I am sure is a result of the pain and this stupid soft food diet. I guess you really are what you eat.   I would love to be able to run an easy 10 miles with my friends, Faith and Chrissy this Sunday.  We’ll see.

The worst part is I brought it upon myself, like a sadist.  I should have done it 20 years ago when I was younger and my body would have healed faster and my parents would have paid for it and my mom would have played nursemaid and done all my laundry for me.  But I was too busy having fun living life.  Now I have a real life with a family and children depending on me and I can’t do squat except sit around eating fattening soft foods all day.

But there is an upside to all of this!  I’m being forced to rest which probably a good thing given the problems I had with my heel and my self-diagnosed plantar fasciitis.  Either all the ibuprofen in my system has helped with the issues in my foot or not being able to run.  Either way, I haven’t felt any pain in my foot for weeks.  When I wake up in the morning, I can walk flat instead of using the sides of my feet.  It’s all very strange.

Speaking of plantar fasciitis, Suncoast Running is hosting an injury prevention clinic this Thursday at 6:30.  I’m planning to attend even though I seem to have healed my heel, but I’d still like to go to learn how to avoid the issue in the future.  Hopefully, I’ll learn some good tips.

Mmmmmm…tips.  Great.  Now, I’m hungry for beef tips.

Picture of Beef Tips and Artichokes with Merlot and Black Pepper Gravy Recipe

*Proudly submitted to Stacy Uncorked.*

Stacy