Archive for ‘Out & About’

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February 11th, 2013

Trying to Fit in Fitness

by Tiff

Hello! Welcome to a new week. I hope you had a good weekend. Kevin and I left town to visit his parents. Though I packed one healthy breakfast and a few healthy snacks…

oats

apple vanilla protein oats

I was sure to enjoy some other goodies too.

pizza

mmmmmmm, pizza

I enjoyed more than food. We had fabulous weather here in the Carolinas. Pinot grigio on the porch made for a very relaxing afternoon. (For my snow-covered readers, stay safe!)

pinto

pinot grigio sippin & porch sittin

Now that you know a bit about the food and drink of the weekend, I want to mention the fitness. I’ve started this workout program, and I like it so far. The leg days are the hardest for me, but given articles like this about running/strenth/hip & knee pain, I know I need to push out of my comfort zone. (Glad I’m not the only one who thinks my hip issues stem from my knee issues…)

This workout includes Saturday workouts, which can be tricky for me. At least the Saturday routine is full of body-weight moves that don’t require me to hit the gym. Given the travel situation, I transformed it into this routine Saturday.

circuit

I wasn’t sore afterwards, but I sure got sweaty! I did two sets of the circuit on the left and then three sets of the circuit on the right.

  • Is it harder or easier for you to squeeze in workouts on the weekends?

Posted in Fitness, Out & About | 17 Comments »

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February 4th, 2013

This girl walked up to a bar…

by Tiff

Nope, the title of this post isn’t a joke.  I actually walked up to two bars on Friday; the first was the pullup bar.  I did three real chin ups!  After a quick rest, I did two nearly-real chin ups!  The video is for my mom who never thought I could do it… I didn’t either.  ha

Later that evening, I walked up to a bar with Kevin to enjoy local brews.  I ordered NoDa Brewing’s Cold Craze.  It was good, but not good enough to order again.

beer

Side Note: The chin ups thing took courage.  Do you know how long it took me to even attempt one?  Everyone at the gym has seen my failed attempts… many times.  For instance, I gave it another go this morning, but my arms were not having it!

*****

Anyway… back to my weekend.  Saturday started with a chili run and ended with a warm evening of delicious eggplant parmesan rollatini and board games with two other couples.  I was too shy to snap a pic after it had actually finished baking…

 run   italian

Sunday Funday included pumpkin pancakes, a sock bun, and a Super Bowl party.  I brought my slow cooker buffalo chicken shoved into whole wheat pitas.  By the way, I’m updating that buffalo chicken recipe tonight.  Having finally made the recipe a second time, I think it was due for a few revisions.

pancakes   bun   pita

I’m still not sure about the sock bun, but I was definitely digging those pitas!

  • Anyone else got a crazy week ahead of them?
  • Would you serve your guests eggplant?  I almost didn’t, but it went over well- thank goodness!

 

Posted in Out & About | 25 Comments »

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February 1st, 2013

The Cowfish

by Tiff

Eat-In-Month was going strong… until it wasn’t.  I think Kevin and I will probably eat in tonight, so a little slip up from last night won’t hurt, right?

We were originally supposed to meet 4 other couples for a fellowship dinner as part of our married couples Bible study. Sooooo I did my makeup, curled my hair, and threw on a dress right after work.

Before departing for dinner, Kevin and I met up with his work colleagues for a happy hour at Mortimer’s Pub.  I hadn’t been there before and really enjoyed the atmosphere.  Of course, I also really enjoyed my beer.

beer

Old Mecklenberg’s Dunkel – A Winner!

Not long before leaving, I checked my email on my phone only to see that all the other couples canceled on us.  Ugh, really????

Rather than give up on a night out, Kevin offered to take me to one place I’ve been wanting to try for about a year now, The Cowfish. It’s a burger-sushi fusion joint, and yes, that includes burger sushi. The wait is always long, and frankly, we don’t get out much (for dinner, that is).

wine

Get a drink while you browse the menu. The menu is so exhaustive you’ll need to stay hydrated. Side note: the draft beer list is weak, but Thursday is half-price saki night.

sushi

Kevin got the filet sushi, which was delicious.  I got the bento box, complete with one slider and sweet potato fries, part of a rainbow roll and edamame, and a little cucumber salad that I didn’t touch.

bento

Everything was sooooooooo delicious! (Except for the cucumber salad – totally skipped over that) If I had to cheat on my eat-in-month challenge, I’m glad I did it here.  There was so much food that I even took my edamame home to have for snack today.

sushi

  • Any restaurants on your to-try list?

Posted in Food, Out & About | 13 Comments »

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January 28th, 2013

The Big Snow

by Tiff

The meteorologists warned us. Counties closed schools early, and workers salted the roads. We were all prepared… for nothing. Ahhh, so is the story of the South. Not one flurry fell on my yard, though I think a few puddles may have frozen.

This was all happening on Friday. I wasn’t feeling so great anyway, so I didn’t mind chilling at home with my kitties, a movie, and a blazing fire. Kevin and I didn’t stock up on milk and bread, but I had him stop on his way home for OJ and diet ginger ale. Close enough, right?

oj

Don’t mind that champagne back there…

I felt much better on Saturday. I wasn’t back to normal by any means, but I was able to enjoy wedding festivities and a lil’ wedding after party. What’s better than party? More party, of course.

wedding photobomb

grilled cheese as the first course at the wedding – too cute!

So I was thinking about this sickness, as do most people who are sick, and I don’t think it was a relapse from what I had two weeks ago. I think my already weakened immune system let in a bug from the doctor’s office I visited Monday for my physical.

See, routine physicals really do more harm than good! (Totally jk, I just really hate those things.) Since the less-than-favorable blood test results, I’ve been doing a little homework on the matter.

tahini photos 005

off topic, but the above pics are the tahini casserole I made for Kevin’s lunch this week

I’ll be back with you on how I plan to combat those results tomorrow. Until then, happy Monday friends!

  • Have you experienced any winter weather this year? How about winter illness?

Posted in Out & About | 17 Comments »

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January 22nd, 2013

My Work Day Off From Work

by Tiff

I was lucky to have the off from work for the holiday yesterday, but it sure didn’t feel like a day off. While Kevin was at the office, I kept myself pretty busy.

I was at the doc’s office by 8 a.m. to see if they’d take my blood early. I really really really didn’t want to fast until my 2 p.m. appointment – 8 was hard enough for me! Sadly, the nurse refused, so this was breakfast.

brekkie

I came back to the house, finished some laundry and dishes, swung by UPS, took my car in for an alignment, and made it to the grocery store. ***Side note, going to the grocery store around lunch time when you’re not allowed to eat lunch is no picnic.

After finishing up a few more chores, I squeezed in a little retail therapy prior to my appointment. Believe it or not, all this activity actually took my mind off my grumbling belly. I wasn’t toooooo hangry during my appointment.

papaya

Of course, I had food and workout clothes in the car. No surprise there, eh? Papaya to the rescue!

workout

After 30 minutes of elliptical and some back and biceps training, I scarfed last night’s leftovers around 4 p.m. without spoiling my dinner. Cabbage and kale casserole hit the spot. Well, I think a lot of things would have hit the spot, but you get the idea.

kale

Whew – thank goodness I don’t have to do that for another year!

  • Are you good about regular physicals?
  • Do you carry snacks when running errands?

Posted in Food, Out & About | 14 Comments »

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