Welcome to another weekly wrap-up. It’s the time to talk about the good, the bad, and everything else from the week before on the blog. This week I found myself down with a pulled muscle or pinched nerve in my back. On Tuesday, I reached for my backpack, and I felt a pain in my back. I didn’t think about it and reached down to pick up my backpack after that and went home to work out. The following day, I reached for a toy on the floor, and the same thing happened, but the pain was worse.
My week was filled with many avocado chickpea toasts, cold weather, watching television, and starting Black History month. I also had high hopes of doing a January favorites post and other content ideas that didn’t happen. Let’s get into the wrap up:
My workouts for the week:
Monday: Scheduled 45 minutes of an easy run. I did this workout on the treadmill due to convenience—nothing special about this workout.
Tuesday: Cross-training day. I did 45 minutes of strength training due to a headache, and I didn’t want to deal with the bouncing of cardio. Who is this girl? I did this strength workout, and I enjoyed it. P.S. – I promise I didn’t injure my back doing this workout. The incident started before I decided to do this workout.
Wednesday: 45-minute speed workout. Coach scheduled a 10 min warmup, 45 seconds run/45 seconds walk off and on for 25 minutes, and recover the remaining time. My shoulder hurt, and I wasn’t sure if I could pull this off. I got lucky to do this workout outside before the rain and cold came rolling through. The training turned out well, but it wasn’t the best. I am happy to have got it done.
Thursday: Rest day. I didn’t even do stretching because my shoulder still wasn’t ok.
Friday: Schedule 2 hour-long run, but I completed 90 minutes on the treadmill. The weather turned cold and wet, and there were no safe sidewalks in the morning. Did I mention it was frigid, so I got on the treadmill with the expectation of only doing an hour? I thought to do something longer than a weekly run, but not as long as my long run. I’m pleased I could do so much on the treadmill without hurting my shoulder even more.
Saturday: 30-minute outdoor walk in the cold, but the sun was out, so I decided to catch some vitamin D and popsicle hands.
Sunday: Rest Day spent watching Reacher on Amazon Prime.
What I ate:
Breakfast: I ate an abundance of chickpea avocado toast because I purchased avocados from Sam’s Club. On the days I didn’t have time to make toast, I ate oatmeal, and before my “long-run,” I ate peanut butter toast and bananas.
Lunch: I made the Trader Joe’s vegetable tikka masala and added chickpeas with brown rice and a side of pita (because I had no naan bread). These meals were a quick and nutritious meal that kept me full. I also made dahl fry with the same sides and was able to eat both of these meals all week.
Dinner: I made shrimp pesto pasta because it’s easy and I like it. It’s not hard to cut and sautee some veggies, add some pesto, and get to eating.
On Taco Tuesday, I made the best black bean tacos, with leafy greens and other veggies with a side of homemade guacamole. These tacos were the best meal I ate all week.
On the remaining nights, I also made salmon in the air fryer with a side of quinoa and brown rice pasta. It’s an easy meal to throw together. I also failed at making portabello mushroom “burgers”. The burgers didn’t sit well and didn’t resemble a burger. It was an ok meal, but not what I expected. I need to research this or let this meal idea go. It wasn’t the worst meal I’ve made, so I still ate it.
What I ate out this week:
This seemed to be a week of cravings. I wanted a scone earlier in the week, so I gave in and bought one (not pictured). Also, McDonald’s gives out free fries on Fridays. This is nothing information I care to know, and it won’t be hitting the regular rotation. I was craving a salty snack and gave in to a medium fry.
On Friday night, I go my usual ramen, but I tried the kale noodles this time. My ramen order is wonton ramen with corn, fried onions, extra boiled eggs, mushrooms, spinach, and green onions. Last week, I tried seafood ramen and didn’t like it. This week I tried the kale noodles, and the ramen was delicious.
Lastly, I had a turkey burger, fries, and some cinnamon toast bites with frozen yogurt on Saturday.
Ever wonder why I share this with you? Most people are interested in how I’m eating and how I manage to stay on track. I’m trying to be transparent about the process and show the variety of things I eat and crave throughout the week. It’s an 80/20 balance in life, and I want to show you how I’m living that life.
Everything else:
- I got a new Casetify case for my phone. If you know, you know, but this is some. I had to order a new case for my mom, so I purchased myself one, too.
- I started and finished The Maidens by Alex Michaelides, and I wish to get my time back. The book started great, but the plot didn’t move much until the book’s last quarter. By that point, it felt like the story was shoved down my throat, and sometimes things didn’t make sense. The book was good until the plot twist, which I didn’t see coming (not in a good way), ruined the book for me. People raved about this book and loved it so much, but I wasn’t a fan—time to move on to the next book.
- I cleaned my child’s art center because it took over the house. I didn’t particularly appreciate looking at it, and it was getting messier every day. I ended up purchasing a Sterlite drawer unit (which I can’t find) that was too much money but perfect for the job. I may have complained about the price when I was paying for it, but it was worth it in the end. Everything has a place now.
- I watched Reacher on Amazon Prime and loved it. BUT these are my type of shows. I love Jack Ryan, Alex Rider, Bosch, and all those action shows. I had zero expectations for the show but ended up binging it. I’m a sucker. Four stars.
- I also started Sweet Magnolias on Netflix. I should have watched the previous season again because I forgot what happened. I switched from this show, not because it’s not GREAT (because it is), I was just not in a wholesome mood and more into action. But Sweet Magnolias is beautifully written and relatable. I love this show, also!
Videos this week:
That’s all for this week! Thanks for reading and keeping up. I’m still looking for book recommendations. I started a new book, but I’ll have to save that for next week’s wrap-up.
