a bean counter's food blog
Whelp, it’s official.
Once an Excel spreadsheet enters the picture, there’s just no turning back. In my world, transforming an idea, plan, or goal to a glorious (preferably multi-tabbed) spreadsheet is like signing my name in wet cement. It took a lot of thought and research, googling and binging, reading and pondering, but I finally got my half marathon training plan together!
I’ve been in Charlotte for nearly 2 months now, yet my place is still in disarray. So, my primary goal for the weekend was to be OOBER productive. Looking back I’d say I did a fairly good job of meeting that goal—good enough that I may even be able to post some pics of the apt in the next week or so 
Amidst all my oober productivity, I squeezed in a Body Pump class Saturday morning and a “run” (Ah! more on that to come) Sunday morning.
After the Body Pump class, the instructor called me a “real regular”. I know it seems silly, but her little comment and acknowledgement that I’ve been body pumping on a regular basis gave me this sense of pride and accomplishment. I guess it’s because I’ve NEVER been able to stick with any sort of strength training program. I’ve tried. I’ve failed. Annnd repeat. I mean, you all remember my strength training powerpoint, right? Fail.
The hard part for me was finding something I could stick with, and something that I KNEW wasn’t a waste of time. I’m happy to report I’m four months in to Body Pump and going strong! So strong in fact, that today without thinking I flexed my biceps in the bathroom mirror at work. Who does that?! Luckily no one walked in on my “which way to the gym” routine
Anyway, after body pump Saturday I headed home for a quick shower and scooted out to run some errands. I was about 5 centimeters down my street when I realized that I had not only forgotten to shave my armpits, BUT I’d also forgotten to put on deodorant. I slowed the car down to a crawl contemplating on whether or not I should turn around. On one hand I had my goals of oober productivity. On the other hand I had my newly formed goal of not ruining my chances of making new friends in Charlotte because I smell like B.O.. Now if it had been my cell phone I’d forgotten, you’re darn tootin I would have turned that car around. But hairy au naturale armpits? Not so much. I guess we all have our limits 
I hit up Lowes, Target, and Trader Joes before rolling my famished self (neglected armpits included) into my first ever visit to Zoe’s!
Simple.Tasty.Fresh!
My strength training obsessed BF tells me I need to make sure I get bookoo protein in after body pump, so as I perused the menu for something meaty I giggled when I saw they had a dish called The Protein Power Plate. Really?
REALLY??
As unappetizing as the name sounded, the description really hit a special place in my heart. Flat-grilled chicken, caramelized onions, and slaw. Say it with me. CARAMELIZED ONIONSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
I was also pleasantly surprised that the dish was sprinkled with a bit of feta. You know what they say. Feta makes everything betta.
This was one DELICIOUS dish. One that I’d eat again regardless of my body’s protein replenishment needs. Zoe’s has a ton of other things on the menu that look worthy of a taste – several sandwiches, kabobs, salads… not to mention the hand-made chocolate cake and homemade cookies. Can’t wait to go back!
After lunch, I headed back to the apt where I unloaded my booty… as in all the goodies I scored shopping… not as in #2… ummmm moving on….
One thing I scored was this lamp shade from Lowes:
I love the color and pattern. Yes, I plan to take the plastic off. Please note the pile of crap on my nightstand. Now envision a 1,000 square foot apartment filled with similar piles of varying heights. That’s what I’m working with, folks.
Slowwwwllyyyy but surely
I woke up bright and early this lovely Saturday morning to head to Day #4 of Body Pump. Apparently, sometime between Thursday and today the Y got new weights, which are LB weights as opposed to kilograms… Needless to say, I was thrown off by this ABSOLUTELY INSANE change, but I managed through the class 
When I got home I wanted something a little special for breakfast. Something delicious but balanced…
After some foraging in the kitchen, here’s what I came up with:
That’s
And that, my friends, was a whole heck of a lot of deliciousness.
This may be my new Saturday staple
Mmmmmmmm…
Stats on breakfast: 286 calories, 54g carbs, 3g fat, 14g protein, 5g fiber
What’s on the agenda today? I’ll be running some errands, hopefully grabbing a tasty lunch, then spending some quality time with the condo *hopefully* making a dent in the pile of boxes I now call home
I’ve NEVER been into weightlifting. I’ve tried. I’ve researched. I’ve made spreadsheets. I even made a fancy pants powerpoint slideshow. To date, each of these tactics has failed. I just can’t get into it. I admit (somewhat shamefully) to the list of reasons why I thought I hated the idea of weightlifting:
1.) I (thought) I’d burn more calories doing cardio
2.) I didn’t want to get big and beefy cakey or she-manish
3.) It’s boring
4.) I don’t understand it
5.) If I don’t see results or some sort of numerical indicator of my success (i.e., miles ran, lbs lost), then it’s clearly not worth my time.
On and on.
Despite this apparent disdain for weightlifting, I HATE how weak my body is. I have internal anguish every time I have to ask for help carrying, lifting, opening, hauling etc. I’m a strong independent women, so why can’t I carry a 75 pound entertainment center by myself? Why can’t I open this friggin jar of banana peppers? Who says I can’t rotate a queen size mattress by myself? My baby muscles, that’s who.
For months I’ve been hearing about Body Pump. Body Pump is an full-body strength training class that utilizes a bar bell and “rockin music” … It sounded interesting, but my gut told me it wouldn’t hold my interest. When I finally got my YMCA membership lined up, I felt like the pass was burning a hole in my pocket. I HAD to try Body Pump. STAT.
This past Saturday was my very first class. I was pretty apprehensive, but I went in there and gave it my all (as shockingly little as that was). As I left class, I felt pretty excited. It went by crazy fast and it was definitely challenging. Two steps into my exit I realized my legs were not quite so excited. I was literally week in the knees. I had to physically concentrate on stabilizing myself so that they didn’t give out from under me!
When I got home, I jumped in the shower and quickly realized washing my hair was extremely difficult. It took everything I had to lift my arms high enough to touch the top of my head… And all I had, whelp, it wasn’t enough. I actually had to scrunch my head down to meet my hands half way. Later, I realized sitting was difficult. As in sitting in a chair, sitting on the toilet… actually anything that involved any sort of movement was difficult… borderline impossible actually.
The next morning I went shopping, and actually went home EARLY because my arms were too tired to carry bags. WHAT?!?!?
Holy hell I was sore.
This much SORE must mean I did something right. Maybe there is something to this weightlifting thing after all…
to be continued….
