Love Of Oats

A blog dedicated to balancing a healthy and fun life… with oats!

Something To Think About

Thanks for the wonderful response on yesterday’s giveaway.  The winner randomly selected is… ashley:  I LOVE Butternut Squash, seriously, I could live off of it. I hope I win this book, I’m a full time student and worker so it would be perfect for me!

Ashley, please e-mail me today with your mailing address so I can send your book on its way :)

I’ve been up and at em today… I started out with a yummy pb english muffin to have before spin class which fueled me so well that I burned a whopping 500 calories during the session… I was on fire! 

p5013257

I just love my teacher beause not only is she FIT (aka she is JACKED!) but she’s also motivational AND loves Jesus… She told us today that she always struggled with weight and being 25 lbs. heavier and that she realized you only have one life to live, why waste it on bad choices?  It’s not worth it.  Why waste your time working hard in the gym to just give it all up with emotional eating… I definitely butchered what she said but I hope I captured the general gist of it, it’s just something to think about today :)

Now I’m off to grab some steamy coffee, it’s a chilly/rainy day here… booo… and tackle my todo list… I’m traveling for work from Sunday thru Friday so I definitely need to get cracking on laundry so I can start packing up!

Lent

Ooops, I totally forgot to mention that I got the award featured in this post also from Hallie.  I knew I was forgetting someone :/  So go check out her blog, because she is another lovely lady!

For breakfast, I decided to switch it up and have some really toasty Kashi blueberry waffles!  Of course I needed something to dip them in, so I mixed 1 T of PB2 with maple syrup!  My oh my, Erin, this is such a great combination! 

Don’t forget, if you’re interested in winning a jar of PB2 OR a goodie bag full of PB2 and other treats, check out my giveaways to celebrate my blog birthday!

p2232007

I also snacked on some of these grapes.  I picked out the ones that were still decent and had to throw out the rest!  Ugh, I hate wasting food but they went bad so fast!

p2232006

Speaking of breakfast, what do I always include in every breakfast no matter what it is?  Hint:  it’s not cinnamon, although that’s a close second!

Mid-morning, as a snack, I snacked on 1/2c oats.  I cooked them in the microwave at work with water & cinnamon.  Mid-afternoon, my snack was a Pure Protein bar that Heather sent me.  It’s my guilty pleasure!

p2242017

Yes, you’ll see that I skipped over lunch!  I was planning on meeting my brother for lunch today but he is a busy college student and had to cancel… It stinks we didn’t get to have lunch but I completely understand what college was like, believe me!  I found out we had to postpone lunch early this am, so I didn’t have time to grab a picture while I packed it up.  I whipped up a super quick pb&j on an english muffin alongside an apple and carrot sticks, celery, and ff cottage cheese

I’m planning on hitting the gym after work today for about 40 minutes on the elliptical and then a 30 minute condensed version of P90X chest, shoulders, and arms.  Some of you have been asking how I’m doing with it.  This is week 5 and I am LOVING the muscles that I have formed.  I should have measured my arms to see if i had any growth.  I am doing the lean program, but I swear that my muscles have grown a little and become way more defined, but I’m not complaining.  I like feeling like I’m tough (or wishing I was!)… hahahaha ;)

Lent

I usually don’t talk TOO much about religion, so I hope you don’t take offense to this post, but it’s a big part of my life so I thought I’d explain my intentions for Lent.  Like some of you, I am devoting to change something during the next 40 days.  Instead of giving up some sort of food, I have vowed to make a conscious effort reduce the amount of time I spend on the computer and replace that time with more prayer and kind acts instead.  God has truly blessed me with the life that I am leading and I feel like this is something I can do to further strengthen my faith.  I feel like I have good intentions most of the time in terms of my faith, but I often let things get in the way and then my intentions go unfulfilled.  Hopefully this is something that will go past the 40 days of Lent.  I grew up in a Catholic household and although Bill and I attend a Christian church now, I still like to incorporate a little of each faith in my daily life.  I will also still be avoiding meat today (Ash Wednesday) and every Friday until Easter.  I know that this practice is man-made, but I feel like it’s a sacrifice for me that I choose to make, since God has made the ultimate sacrifice for me.  Wish me luck!