Some New Things

My husband and I tried walking on the local track today to try and mix things up a little from the typical strolls around our neighborhood. I enjoyed it since it was something different. It made me think back to the last time that I went around that track, when I had decided that jogging was the best way to help me lose the pounds and shrink my waist. What was I thinking, starting up a program like that without any lead in? Obviously it didn’t work out (pun intended) but it does make me wonder a bit if I would be more successful now that I have actually already started improving my fitness.

I managed thirty-five minutes on my recumbent bike today but my right knee started aching part way through for some reason, and at the end I just had to stop from the annoyance of the pain. It wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t have continued to work through it, but I would hate to have done that only to end up damaging the joint more. It was a shame though since my energy levels were high and I’m pretty sure that I could have done another ten, or even twenty, minutes more than I actually completed had I not been contending with a sore knee.

I tried my hand at creating another salad this evening:

FLAVOUR FUSION SALAD:
- 4 cups green leaf lettuce, shredded
- 1 cup canned Mandarin oranges, drained
- 2 Tb. walnuts, chopped
- 2 Tb. dried pumpkin seeds
- 2 Tb. dried cranberries
- 1 light Laughing Cow wedge, crumpled

I was really quite pleased with the taste. I found that the variety of flavours worked to it’s advantage. I should mention that it was the first time I have tried Laughing Cow, and I hadn’t realized that it was more of a spread than a harder cheese. Nevertheless, I managed to break off small pieces to add to the dish and I thought that it’s subtle taste turned out to be a nice contribution to the salad as a whole. I used Eating Right’s low fat blueberry and pomegranate dressing to bring it all together.

FOOD & BEVERAGES:
- 11 glasses of water throughout the day
- 2 cups of Caesar salad with light dressing and whole grain croutons
- 1 toasted whole wheat English muffin with strawberry jam and light peanut butter
- 2 cups of Flavour Fusion Salad with low fat blueberry and pomegranate dressing
- 2 cups of celery with 2 Tb. Mexican cheese spread
- 3/4 cup of fat free peach yogurt with 1 cup Force Active cereal

EXERCISE:
- 1 hour of walking completed in 2 outings (20 minutes long and 40 minutes long)
- 35 minutes on the recumbent bike