Posted on February 23, 2010 - by Ashley Jackson

Long Day

I didn’t get much sleep Sunday night/Monday morning, but I couldn’t ignore the line of my fitness chore chart that was still blank, so I had to get up when my alarm went off at 5:40AM Monday. Actually, I got up at 5:30AM, and since I wasn’t due at work until 6:45AM, I got to experience what it’s like to actually have time to get ready in the morning! I didn’t have to rush to get dressed, I put eyeliner/eyeshadow on (that’s the first thing to go when I’m in a hurry), and I did weird things like take off my nail polish and hang up some coats. I might have to make this a habit…in fact, I got up at 5:40AM this morning, too!

It was nice (both mornings) to be able to just grab my bag and my nalgene bottle out of the fridge and go to work. No flying around trying to find things to pack. I had a Liberte yogurt for breakfast yesterday morning. When snack time rolled around at 9AM, I dug into a big bowl of carrots and tomatoes, accompanied by a double serving of hummus.

I’ve tried the hummus that you can get at Harris Teeter and didn’t like it at all, but this platter I got at Trader Joe’s is really good–all four kinds!

During my lunch break, I took a walk. It was raining. I came back in looking like a drowned rat, but assured myself while I was drying my hair with paper towels in the bathroom that I was totally hardcore.

I warmed up with the rest of my curry for lunch.

Looks disgusting, tastes great…can’t wait for my latest Penzey’s order to get here; I ordered some new curry seasoning, among other things…

Afternoon snack was some cheese and half of an apple.

Since I got to work at 6:45AM, I got to leave at 4:15PM. Yay! By the time I got home it was very foggy, but in the mid-50s and cloudy. Perfect time for a run! I planned to go out for a 30 minute run, since the first three weeks of One Hour Runner are all 30 minute runs. But even though my run was slow, I felt pretty good about it, so I decided to tack an extra 5 minute onto the end. I ran for 35 minutes, which means I can start Week 5 of One Hour Runner tomorrow (30/32/38 minute runs). I expected to be sore today, because my 5K times have both been slightly above 40 minutes and I was sore for days after, but no such bad luck…

After my run I decided to make a huge salad in a small mixing bowl.

Lettuce, sunflower seeds, cheese, tomatoes, bacon, mushrooms, and raspberry gorgonzola walnut dressing. It was extremely tasty and I wolfed it down, but I guess I didn’t have enough protein in my salad (though it had plenty of calories). I took a nap after dinner and woke up hungry at 9:30PM. I had a few chocolate-covered almonds, packed my lunch bag, and fell back to sleep around midnight, but I was still kind of hungry…

This morning, I got up at 5:40AM (yay!), and got to work at 7AM. I had another Liberte yogurt for breakfast–they’re one of the few things I can eat so early in the morning, and they’ve got 230+ calories each.

For a mid-morning snack, I had some grapes.

…they didn’t taste so great after being squished in a container and refrigerated. Remember, kids, don’t store your grapes in the fridge (unless you have to because you washed them the night before and you need to put them in your bag so you don’t forget them).

My hunger from last night started coming back around 10AM so I broke out some of the lunch goods in my bag. It was around this time that I noticed everything I’d brought, with the exception of the yogurt, was finger food. The better to eat while working…!

I had some salami and cheese…

And some Nut Thins. I made little sammiches! Nut Thins don’t taste a thing like crackers and they look like Tostitos Rounds, but they taste pretty good for what they are.

I went for a walk (with Jamie!) during lunch. It was a nicer walk than yesterday’s. Tomorrow, of course, it may snow…

Sometime after the walk I broke into my carrots and hummus for the day…

The green hummus is cilantro parsley, and it’s very good!

Late in the afternoon I was still hungry, but it felt more like a craving than actual hunger. I decided that today should not be a wheat-free day and busted out the Girl Scout Cookies in my drawer. Lemonades! Yum. I ate four. They were delicious, especially since I hadn’t been eating them non-stop for days.

I put in 10 hours of work today and got home around 6PM. My first order of business was to get some soup going on the stove. While it cooked, I did Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred. I can already tell a difference–I almost made it through both of the anterior raise segments today. Yay!

After the Shred, it was soup time.

Ye old veggie beef soup. I had three bowls, as usual…if I was still hungry before I started eating, I’m not anymore…

The thing I hate about getting home at or after 6PM is that I only have a little bit of time to do anything before it’s time to go to bed so I can get back up and go to work again in the morning. But at least I actually went in at 7AM today instead of lazing around and rushing into work at 9AM. Yay…