Hello, friends. I feel like I just did this post, probably because I was late putting the last week in review up. It’s been a week. I’ve tried to stay off of social media due to the nastiness of what went on. It’s been nice to have a bit of a break. My Tot had some sinus issues this week, which made her a bit whiny. That’s mom’s life, though. She’s feeling better, but it’s made me work that much harder.  

The blog suffered a bit, but I did get my gift guide for runners.  I worked hard on this list, and I hope you find something to get for the runner in your life.

I was so psyched I was sleeping better, and that seemed to crash down on me this week. I lagged the entire week because I wasn’t getting good quality sleep. My one dog seems to like barking at midnight for several hours, and I’m a light sleeper. Insufficient sleep is no good for me, and I may have been a bit more stressed with life this week.  Let’s get on with the show:

My food this week:

My food this week was pretty typical. I tried the Panera flatbread (aka its just pizza), and I ate a BBQ chicken salad. Panera is pricey but so good and “healthy.” Some Panera foods have a high-fat content in them, so look at your nutritional values before ordering. Panera is excellent because they only use fresh and whole ingredients. That doesn’t make their mac and cheese healthier than others. But Panera is a great place to practice balance.  

HelloFresh does not sponsor me, but I’ve been using the service regularly. I cooked three meals, two plant-based meals, and one meat meal. My meals were Ancho BBQ sloppy joes, crunchy curry chickpea bowls, and balsamic tomato parmesan risotto, and my favorite meal was the sloppy joes. The plant-based meals seem to take a bit longer. I don’t always have time for those types of meals, so sometimes it’s frustrating. The food always turns out good, but I don’t ever want to work that hard for my dinner. I might be a bit dramatic at this point. I don’t enjoy cooking or grocery shopping. I lacked on lunch this week, so I ate many Lean Cuisine meals. Those meals always save the day. 

My workouts this week:

Monday: 5-minute warm-up, 20-minute hip-hop ride, and 5 minutes cool down. I was tired from not sleeping and slept through my workout time in the afternoon. I thought I wouldn’t get in a workout in, but I found a few minutes before dinner to get it in. Keep those appointments you make with yourself.

Tuesday: 10-minute HIIT cardio warm-up, 20-minute resistance band workout, 10-minute low impact ride. I thought I would do a HIIT workout and bike ride, but I got out of my comfort zone to try a different activity.

Wednesday: 3.22-mile run. It’s time to push myself, so I decided to ditch my Peleton running workouts to push me mentally. I am experimenting with running more and walking less. It’s a process, but I did focus on this week, which meant I had lower mileage.  

Thursday: REST Day. I felt like I needed this day to rest and get some other things done. What happened? I fell asleep on the couch again.

Friday:  5K done. It’s been warmer in Southeast Texas this week, but I’m committed to making the changes. I ran fartleks on this day to make this go by faster for me. Fartleks make me focus on the distance I’m running and not so much the fact that I’m running. Does that make sense?

Saturday: The Goku Runner Fastest mile challenge. I did a 1-mile warm-up and then did my fastest mile. Things didn’t go as planned because I had to run with the 30+lb toddler in the stroller. I was kind of down about getting this done, but I ended up running a decent mile of 12:32 with the stroller. Not bad. After that mile, I walked another mile to get my heart rate in check.

Miscellaneous:

• It’s egg nog season, so you have to do buy it now. Come December; this stuff won’t be in stores because they will not have extra stock. I got this Califia Farms Almond Milk Egg Nog. It’s delicious and worth the $5 price tag if egg nog is your thing.
• Tot is over-the-moon for Christmas. She loves the decorations and of course, the presents. She’s anxious to get the decorations up, but I don’t want to have Christmas decor up at Thanksgiving. (That’s just me, and I know everyone isn’t like that.) I purchased a small tree for her room and decorated it “with” her. She is happy, and that makes me happy. Everyone is going nuts over Christmas stuff this year. If you need to buy something, buy it now because nothing is left in the stores.
• I’m still working on my outfits, but I have body confidence issues. Not running = gaining weight. I know there are small changes I need to make, and I’ll be fine. This is the glory of maintaining your weight.
• I’ve watched some of the Netflix holiday movies. The three I’ve watched: Holidate, Operation Christmas Drop, and Midnight at the Magnolia are great. I’m a sucker for Hallmark Channel movies, but the Netflix movies seem to have a bit more “substance” behind them. These holiday movies can be predictable no matter what, but the Netflix movies were a bit different. If you’re looking for a movie to watch, try one of those and let me know what you think.

Videos this week:

That is all for this week. My week was normal and nothing special. Honestly, my goal was to make it through the week feeling good about myself and accomplished. I have slacked on creating video content, so I’m about to throw myself in cold turkey to record and edit something every day. When I feel like I don’t want to do something, I go hardcore and go all in, because it’s worth it!

How was your week? What was the best thing about your week?