Yum yum in my tum tum

This month's Chatelaine is certainly hitting the mark with me. But the day first...

Legs were certainly telling me, all day, how hard we worked at Tuesday's leg-a-licious leg-a-thon! The pain that was in my quads yesterday shifted to my butt and hamstrings today. Sitting was a joy, as was standing back up again! And my shoulders were a little sore too, which worried me about tonight's boot camp. I thought for sure we'd be in for Arm-a-geddon, but turns out we were in a cardio mood. And by we, I mean Josh!!

The walk home didn't put me in the best frame of mind to head to boot camp. The daytime high hit a magical -21C, and that was before the wind and light snow that started to fall. I knew I had to change, wait for the car to warm up (my next house is going to have underground parking or a garage...this I vow!) and then drive to the camp. And even worse is leaving, all wet and sweaty back into the cold, cold night. But as much as I thought this, I wouldn't let it deter me from going (yay me) and off I went.

While I was expecting a ton of arms tonight, Josh seemed more content to have us run like maniacs! After a run/lunge walk warm-up, we alternated cardio with some intense weight sessions. One minute of push-ups followed by one minute of jumping rope. Followed by 1 minute of curls, with one minute of burpees. One minute of squat press with 1 minute of sprints. And on and on and on it went. My average heart rate says it all...157. Normally, because there is "down time" in boot camp, my average is around 130 for the hour. Today, my top was soaked through, my face beet red and my heart rate through the roof. Excellent day!

Came straight home (avoided a grocery store run...it can be done, Amy!) and got started on a bowl of Tum Yum soup, from Chatelaine. Into a pot went a can of coconut milk and 3 cups of chicken broth, kafir lime leaves, lime zest, a pinch of sugar (balance sweet, sour, salty, bitter...), celery, carrots (more sweet), a tomato, broccoli, dried mushrooms, dried wood fungus (like a mushroom...I use it for hot & sour soup a lot), fish sauce, lime juice, chili paste, ginger, garlic. Okay, so I improvised a bit...recipes should be a guide, not law. As well, the recipe called for chicken and shrimp, but I forgot to pull the chicken out of the freezer. I went with all shrimp, and WOW!!! Topped with a smattering of cilantro, it was so good, I had to force myself to STOP eating it. I have a healthy portion left for lunch tomorrow, and I'm guessing it'll be even better the next day. Double wow...

With a content tummy, I'm sipping on some water and thinking about sleep. I was up again this week at weigh-in (which I'm sure had nothing to do with the whole freaking bundt cake I ate this weekend!) but as noted beside, I had no one to blame but myself. I did resist all cakey/cookie goodness today though and am happy to report that I'm actually sitting here a point shy of a full day, and without using a single exercise point. And I'm not hungry. Goal this week, besides the Weight Watcher's challenge of using the Power Foods, is to stay within my points and not go overboard. I don't want to get into the habit of exercising to eat, and I need to see the number on the scale actually go down. That is my mission. The other good thing that results from boot camp/running clinic, is that when I sweat, I tend to have less cravings for sweets and treats. It's like my body knows those won't help it be the lean machine it needs to be, and steers me away. So, bring it! At least it's supposed to be warmer on Sunday, so I will get out there for a good long run. After all, I've got a half marathon in 30 days that I should at least be semi-prepared for!

Later,