Whole Grain goodness

Tried the Brown Rice Lentil cakes with Cilantro cream (for this week's challenge), as listed in the July/August Clean Eating magazine. It was really good, and quite simple to make.

Also had an avocado (with peppers, carrots & romaine) salad on the side, but I didn't have any black beans to add to it. Next time, I'll use the cilantro cream (yogurt, cilantro, lime juice) for the salad, and the salad dressing (yogurt, avocado, lime zest & juice, Dijon, honey and cilantro) for the cakes. I found the first a little runny, although tasty, and second was too thick for salad. More like a mayo by the time it was blended. All told, it worked out to 580 calories (2 cakes, 2 tbsp cream, 1 c salad (with beans) and 1/4 c dressing), 11 g fat and a whopping 21 g of fibre! And only 450 mg of sodium.

LOVED the scale this morning, as I am down 3 pounds from last week! Was very conscious of lazy eating (which I did too much of the week before) and I think that helped a lot. And rather than eat, I went for a 6.5k walk Saturday night, and purposely didn't take any money or bank cards, so I couldn't pick something up on a whim!

Had a good run at lunch yesterday (only walked a couple of times) and finished up with my usual squats/plank/push-ups and crunches in the park afterwards. Although they were still tearing down from Folk Fest, so part of the challenge was NOT getting hit by a car/mini-van/moving truck on the pathway...yes, the BIKE/PEDESTRIAN pathway...okay, so it's the only access to the island, but still...must we do this at noon when it's crazy busy already???

Today was stairs (busy, but not as insane as it's been in the past), with 3 each push-ups and triceps dips, sprinting stairs x 4 (there's a small set nearby, only 3 sets of 5 stairs - perfect for sprints), run to the stairs and walk back, followed by the usual toning in the park. Tried to find a good set of monkey-bars to do some chin-ups, but no such luck. Then Boot Camp after work...much running today. In fact, we did very little mat work, other than dragging them around. I don't think we actually used them, come to think of it! But I don't care...heart rate up...good. Sweating profusely...good! Legs like jello...GOOD!

Came home from Boot Camp, long enough to feed the cats and change, before heading off to Canadian Blood Services for my semi-monthly (is that right?? Every 56 days, I guess) donation. I have always 'bled out' rather quickly, but after Boot Camp and the tons of water consumed over the last few days, man!!! 4:12!! Took longer to rest afterwards (they make you sit for 5 minutes before you can go for juice and cookies) than it did to bleed. And next appointment booked for September. Which got me thinking about one of my rewards for my long term goal...I do want a tattoo, but I also enjoy being a "Lifetime" member of CBS...because I donate a minimum of 4 times a year. When you get a tat, you're off limits for at least 6 months. It's hard to give up...I've donated now 33 times since I first walked in the doors in 2001 and have committed to Lifetime since 2002 (7 years and counting)...that's hard to walk away from. I shall have to rethink this...the diamond circle pendant is looking better every day! Except I still really want a tat...what is a girl to do?!

Well, I'm off to bed...it's suddenly 10:30, but at least it's cool tonight (someone actually complained about the cold today!) so I should be able to sleep without fans and such.