Good morning!

I started off my day with a nice little jog on the treadmill, and once again I am remembering why I love morning workouts. I feel refreshed and energized. I made myself a nummy breakfast of oat-less oats but used chia seeds instead of flax seed (because we were out). It turned out great!  I added a little scoop of pb into the mix after I snapped the photo. A delicious breakfast, yet not very pleasing to the eye. But what is pleasing to the eye is the cute new mug I bought in the clearance Valentine’s stuff at Target yesterday.

It’s all about the simple pleasures! I fell in love with it, and it was only $2! Holla!

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Yesterday

Before heading out to work yesterday morning I had about 10 minutes to try and get something prepped for dinner if it was going to happen. I had to work late again last night so I really wanted to get something in the crock-pot so it would be ready to go when I got home from work. I took quick inventory and decided I would whip something up. I gathered and chopped and threw everything in the crockpot to mingle. Attending the party was corn, black beans, onion, bell peppers, ground beef, tomato paste, pumpkin puree, broth, and spices. This picture is not the most impressive looking, but I really just want to show you that dinner can literally be prepared in 10 minutes! I covered the crockpot, set it on low, and let everyone get to know each other for about 8 hours.

When I got home from work I gave it a stir, added a little salt and pepper, and served it up with some fresh cilantro and shredded cheddar cheese. I will be perfectly honest and say this was not my most favorite crockpot creation ever, but it definitely wasn’t bad either! I think I was missing a key ingredient–fresh diced tomatoes or even canned diced tomatoes would have been fine.

Since this wasn’t my most brag-able recipe, I probably won’t share this one with you, unless someone REALLY really wants it. Then I would do it for you. I did end up eating two bowls of this soup. It was good just not GOOOOOOOOOOODDD!

That was the most exciting food aspect of my day right there. After dinner I ate copious amounts of gummy treats from Valentine’s day. Which brings me to my next topic: Sugar.

Holy cow, I’ve mentioned it before but I have quite the enormous sweet tooth. More like, every tooth in my mouth is a sweet tooth. Yes, a Registered Dietitian is capable of having a whole set of sweet teeth. I find that if I have a day where I eat more than normal amounts of sweets, it leads to another day like this, then another, then another, and before I know it, 4 days have passed and I have eaten an insane amount of sugar.

Starting Saturday I began eating some chocolate that we had around the house. This fell over into Sunday…. and Monday. Tuesday was Valentine’s Day and you all saw the damage I did then. Yesterday, I did fairly well controlling myself at work as there were at least 5 different leftover treats, but as soon as I eyed those candies at home, my paws stuck to them like glue. My body begins to crave it. The more it gets, the more it wants. It is just crazy how quickly it happens.

Next week, lent begins. The past couple of years Dana and I have decided to give up sweet treats completely for the period of lent. I know that the purpose of lent isn’t to “give something up,” but doing so is a good reminder of how fortunate we are to live with the luxuries that we do, and that living without certain luxuries for a little while really isn’t a big deal. We haven’t 100% committed, but I think we are going to give up sweets again. This means candy, pastries, ice cream, cookies, and cake. We are also tentatively thinking that on special occasions, we may have a sweet treat, but just one. Example: Dana’s birthday always falls on lent. It wouldn’t be fair to never have birthday cake for him on his birthday, so we MAY make exceptions such as these, but they will have very strict boundaries! 🙂

Anyway….I also think this will be perfect timing with all of the running and training we will be partaking in, in the upcoming months. My body will thank me I’m sure.

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I’ve only briefly  mentioned an upcoming mini vacation I will be taking next week. Dana and I are going to sunny (hopefully!) Southern California to visit a few friends of ours that live there! We will be in Hollywood, then work our way down to Orange County.

I am ecstatic for our little getaway. It is much needed as vacations always are. I plan to eat lots of good food, enjoy some sun, possibly go for a hike, go to the beach (Laguna, Huntington, or Dana Point), go for a scenic run, people watch, maybe spot some celebrities, and wear flip flops! Speaking of, I really need to paint my toe nails. They are so neglected in the winter, those poor gals. I am really keeping my fingers crossed for beautiful weather while we are there. I haven’t figured out if I will be able to post or not while I am there, but I am hoping to at least post some pictures while I am there! We’ll see when the time comes. We don’t really have real “plans” which is great. I am looking forward to just going with the flow and seeing what we feel like doing once we’re there!

I am off to work. Happy Thursday!