shopping

Quiet Saturday in the kitchen

How was your Saturday? Mine was fairly uneventful, spent mostly running errands and meeting a friend at Starbucks for writing time.

Immediately upon waking up, I hit the treadmill for W3D2 of C25K. (Okay, it wasn’t quite immediate. I lazed in bed, checking email and Twitter for about 15 minutes after my alarm went off.)

The workout went as well as can be expected. I sweated buckets and those 3-minute run intervals still seemed to take for-ever. I bumped up the speed on my walk/run intervals (to 3.7/3.8 and 4.1) and racked up mile 1 at the 15:53 mark. (Last time, I finished my first mile sometime after 16.)

Mile 2 was complete just before 32 minutes — after the end of the C25K portion. I kept walking for an extra 15 or so minutes because every time I hit a milestone (a new lap or certain number of calories burned), I was in the middle of a song. And when the next song came on, it was one I didn’t want to miss.

Guess it’s time for me to sit down with iTunes and create a timed playlist for C25K workouts, eh? Or maybe it’s better that I don’t. I end up doing more this way.

My errands included stops at the health food store, Walmart and Safeway. I went to New Frontiers first, specifically to pick up my unsweetened almond and coconut milks. Turns out I could have gotten the almond milk $1 cheaper at Walmart. I didn’t even know Walmart sold unsweetened almond milk. I’ll have to remember that for next time.

After writing time, I hit the grocery store. I’d picked up most of the items on my list, but needed produce and meat. Found a great deal on pork chops — 4-plus pounds for a little more than $7. Tomorrow’s dinner suddenly changed ethnicity. (It went from a Crock Pot full of Italian beef to pork/green chile stew.)

When I got home, it was time to make dinner.

This:

Became this:

It tastes better than it looks. Trust me. The recipe called for chicken, but I used pork instead. It is “the other white meat,” after all. I’m glad it turned out well, since I have three more servings. I left one in the fridge and put two in the freezer for dinners on work nights.

After dinner, I ran out to the mall to use a Cost Plus World Market coupon. You can never have too many sugar-free flavored syrups. On the way back home, I was seized with a craving for cake. But I couldn’t just stop at the store and buy a slice, the way I used to do.

Luckily, I remembered the Molten Chocolate Cake recipe from the Atkins website. I made it last summer and knew it’d hit the sweet spot for very few carbs.

The only problem? With all the ingredients that need to come to “room temperature,” it’s not a quick fix. I got home from the mall at about 9 p.m., and didn’t sit down with my cake until 11.

It was worth the wait, though: Rich, chocolatey and delicious. Even better, the recipe made two, so I have another one for later in the week (probably Monday).

After enjoying my cake, I decided another short walk on the treadmill wouldn’t hurt. Treadmill at midnight? Don’t mind if I do. I can’t disturb anyone when I’m the only one at home, right?

This time, I tried the ifit.com personal trainer workout preloaded on the treadmill. At first, it was a little strange/annoying to have Jillian Michaels talking to me while I was walking. But it was kind of nice, too — made me feel a little like I was on “The Biggest Loser.” Of course, the contestants on that show would have been running until they barfed instead of walking at a max speed of 2.6 mph.

Now I’m watching a very old episode of “Law and Order.” Chris Noth looks so young. In contrast, they’re showing an ad for the new “Dallas” and JR and Bobby look ancient. The new blood next generation is hot, though. It’s enough to make me want to sing “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy.”

Sorry. That was one of the songs I listened to during my workout Saturday. What can I say? My iPod has a strange, strange mix of music.

New favorite place to shop

Maybe this post ought to be titled “I love lucy.”

Not that Lucy, although Lucille Ball was one funny lady. Does any TV station air reruns of “I Love Lucy”? I watched them when I was growing up. Yes, they were reruns at the time. I’m not quite that old, even if some days I feel like it.

When I was in Scottsdale for my writer’s conference in April, I couldn’t leave town without hitting the high-falutin’ Fashion Square Mall. It was right down the street from the conference hotel, after all.

I’m glad I took the time to stop, because I finally had a chance to set foot inside an Anthropologie store. Sadly, I found it too rich for my blood. Things were super-cute, but also cost a lot more than I was willing to pay. $18 is too much to pay for a kitchen towel, no matter how brightly colored it is.

But across the aisle from Anthropologie, lucy beckoned to me with its adorable workout gear in vibrant colors. I wandered in the store and immediately fell in love. The clerk was super-helpful and knowledgeable about the brand. Better yet, she didn’t look at me like I didn’t belong there. No “what’s a chubby chick like you doing in a store that sells fitness apparel?” vibe from her.

She brought me a bunch of different items to try on, including several pairs of pants and fitness skirts. I had some cash that didn’t get spent at the conference, so I treated myself to a skirt (with built-in shorts) that was on sale.

I’m not sure if it’s this Walkabout II Skort — it sure doesn’t look like that on me.

Walkabout II or not, I love it. I’ve already worn it several times and run it through the washer and dryer. I want to buy one in every color available.

My desire to wear my new skort all the time isn’t surprising. The lucy philosophy (according to the company’s website):

Yoga. Training. Running. Explore. Whatever activity you choose, lucy wants you to look good and feel good. We believe fitness should be stylish so we design workout clothes — yoga pants and yoga tops, sports bras, running apparel, hoodies, skirts and dresses — to support your active lifestyle. Women live in lucy all day long. We make workout clothes with your whole life in mind.

Too bad I wasn’t able to spend a little less cash at the conference. I’d also have loved to pick up a pair of these pants, the Lucy Everyday Pant II. They fit beautifully in a large (not extra large!). Unfortunately they’re not exactly cheap — one of the hazards of shopping at the most expensive mall in the state, I suppose.

So I made a deal with myself. Those pants are going to be my reward after I lose 10 more pounds. That’ll be a total of 50 pounds gone, definitely deserving of a reward, right?

That’s what I thought.

Hopefully, having something fun to look forward to will make me work that much harder to take off the weight.

That’s the plan, anyway. Tuesday was the first day in a while that I used the Atkins app on my iPhone to track everything I ate: 22 Net Carbs in all.

Why does it never cease to amaze me that I feel fuller longer on fewer carbs? You think I’d have learned that by now.

I also completed W2D3 of the C25K program Tuesday morning. A good night’s sleep did improve my attitude — a little. I still wasn’t fired up about doing it, though.

No matter. I did it anyway … and by the time I got through the first interval or two, I felt great. I finished strong, with an extra several minutes of walking just to hit a total of 100 vertical feet climbed. (The roommate’s treadmill counts that kind of thing.)

Here’s what my workout looked like:

We finally have a Trader Joe’s

This is a post I’ve been meaning to write for a while now. Look what finally came to town.

Okay, it’s not technically MY town. Flagstaff is, unfortunately, still TJ’s free. But a Trader Joe’s opened up in Prescott a couple of months ago — and since it’s only an hour and a half away, I’ve been fortunate to visit a couple of times since then.

Now I finally understand the raves it gets from all quarters of the blog world.

TJ’s is just as great as everyone says. The low, low prices are off the charts, and they have so many products I’ve never seen anywhere else.

Yes, it’s safe to say I’m totally, completely in l-u-u-r-r-r-v.

What’s not to love about a bright and cheery with so many great, low-priced choices?

No kidding. I couldn’t believe how much they were charging for their unsweetened almond milk and coconut milks. They’re at least a dollar cheaper than I pay at the health food store.

I’ll definitely be stocking up on those the next time I head to Prescott.

Since I was there with the Boyfriend, I didn’t have as much time to explore as I’d have liked. (He’s not a shopper.) I did, however, find several things I’d like to try.

Products like this trail mix:

And some of these delicious-looking dips:

I can’t wait.

Until I get back there again, I’ll content myself with the treats I did pick up. I got Tangy & Spicy Almonds and some pink salt crystals.

I’ll be back, TJ’s. I’ll be back.