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Salt and Vinegar Beets, Tiny Sprouts, and A Sandy Seed Spreader

Day 4 of 28 Day Refocus

Atlantic Beach, FL – August 5, 2021

It was in the low 80’s this morning and the beach was lovely. We walked with a neighbor and her dog for about a mile and then hung out like riff raff under the pier for a bit. On the way home, Codee found something that he just couldn’t get close enough to…

Boys Are Gross – Codee Rollin’ It
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 5, 2021
Camouflage Codee
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 5, 2021

In The Gardens:

The balcony plants get a pretty decent amount of really direct morning sunlight this time of year and because they avoid the blistering heat of the afternoon sun, they do pretty well. I’m excited to see if this pepper comes all the way through ripening.

Potted Pepper Plant
Upcycle Balcony Garden, The Condo
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 5, 2021

I don’t typically get any squash up here, but I think the plants are fun so I grow them anyway.

Honey Nut Squash Flower
Upcycle Balcony Garden, The Condo
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 5, 2021

Just waiting on the last two little seeds to sprout in this lot of tomato plants….

Tiny Tomato Sprouts
Upcycle Balcony Garden, The Condo
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 5, 2021

Speaking of seeds…I give you The Ultimate Seed Spreader!

The World’s Cutest Seed Spreader – Codee
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 5, 2021

Sweating It Out:

By the time I got around to hitting my five miles for the day, we were just starting our daily storm, so back to the treadmill. I am really grateful that I bought it though I need to stop filling my living room with recreational gear. It was a walk/jog combination holding 3lb dumbbells for 4 of the 5 miles.

What I Watched:

What a fun soundtrack! I mean, the whole movie is pretty glorious, but the orchestrations and songs are everything you want in a musical. Also, I confess that Hugh Jackman is pretty awesome workout motivation for me. A girl can have day dreams, right?

On The Plates:

Should I start posing my brunch Green Drink in random places around the condo so you don’t get bored with it? That’s the thing…it’s not exciting and, I repeat, it’s an acquired taste, but at 215 calories with 25g of protein (important albeit, not complete protein), my concoction takes about an hour to drink and is more interesting to me than plain water. Plus, it’s full of all sorts of things that are really beneficial (for most people) that I definitely wouldn’t consume most days if I didn’t intentionally try, like chlorella and spirulina.

My brunch plate was the greatest example of a silver lining to being single and only cooking for myself. It’s also a reminder that I would never ever recommend that anyone follow my eating plan because it is very specific to my…let’s say…uniqueness. I’m not saying that what was on the plate wasn’t delicious and remarkably nutritious, but who in their right mind wants to eat a plate of roasted beets and steamed broccoli?…Besides me, that is because I really enjoyed it. 🙂 I used a bunch of champagne vinegar and sea salt and the beets I cooked in the Ninja the other day were perfect! You have to be a big beet and broccoli fan for this one. I get it if you aren’t.

Dinner was another “pasta” plate, this time black soybean spaghetti. Now that I have leaned into the single ingredient alternative noodles, you can expect to see lots more of them in my rotations. I do this with most new ingredients that I get into…potentially eat it too often…but I’m reminded why so many people are drawn to making and eating pasta. Obviously, actual, real, good pasta is also amazing, but pulling a meal together with a base of pasta is SO easy and fast. The bonus with the alternatives is that you get the plant protein you want, the downside is that none of them are pasta.

The packaging is a little deceptive on this one in that it says black bean on the front, but the black beans that come to mind don’t have the protein content this product boasts about. It’s because the noodle are actually made from organic black soybeans, so be wary if you are sensitive to soy. I’ll say it a little louder for the people in the back…ALWAYS READ THE INGREDIENTS! Sorry, I don’t mean to be so aggressive about it. Anyway, at the end of this month long challenge, I will do a whole taste test comparison of a few varieties to actual pasta. The soybean ones have a little chew to them versus the chickpea noodles, but I really like most of the varieties that I have tried.


Tonight’s plate had the noodles, carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, sea salt, and dried thyme. I cooked the noodles in salted water, drained them, and tossed them in a small bowl with 1tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. I added my veggies and dinner was served.

Cronometer:

Time restricted eating saved me from myself again. I had entered in double of my dessert peanut spread and was still in the calorie range, but I was right up to the edge of 10PM with what I actually ate that I didn’t have the second serving. The calorie count wasn’t really the point, but I had already had a TON of food and really didn’t need to eat it. The genesis of that spread is that I was trying to find something to replace, or at least mitigate, the amount of my beloved peanut butter that I eat. I bought what is effectively peanut powder. It is a single ingredient product, but clearly HIGHLY processed. See? I have a bunch of exceptions to every rule, too! The protein powders and supplement powders, and coconut milk that I use fall into the exception category, though I do try to keep them single ingredient items, like the NorCal Organic Peanut Protein Powder. But here’s where my addiction shines through. I have taken to mixing it with full fat coconut milk instead of water completely negating the lower fat, lower calorie feature of the powder. Of course, when you mix it with water, it’s not nearly as yummy, but it’s dangerously close to higher in calories than peanut butter this way plus, the fat from the coconut milk is predominately saturated. At this point, I might be better off with actual peanut butter, but I have MAJOR portion control issues there so it’s never just one serving. With this spread, one is enough.

Garmin Says:

A fairly consistent day which translates, in my mind, to a win. A decent amount of calories burned and steps taken, according to the algorithms.

Stay safe and moving, y’all!

Gatherer’s Gold Sweet Peppers, A Summer Garden of Guitar Greens, and A Great Start

Day 1 of 28 Day Refocus

Atlantic Beach, FL – August 2, 2021

It wasn’t much cooler than it was this weekend, but Codee actually ventured for a bit of a walk in the neighborhood before we headed to the beach. I might regret this comment if full on puppy suddenly comes back, but it’s really nice to see his energy level return. Fingers crossed that he doesn’t lose any mobility because I really don’t want to revert to the old dose of prednisone. This morning, he even started playing with one of his buddies again. It was such a beautiful morning so Codee played and hunted for snacks while I chatted with a neighbor. There is a pier not far from my beach access that offers some shade and that has become more and more important for both of us as August sets in.


In The Garden:

Gatherer’s Gold Sweet Pepper, Dig Local Community Garden, Dutton Island Road
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 2, 2021

There aren’t many plants left in the garden these days because of the tropical storm that we had, not to mention the heat. A few peppers, the carrot patch, and a lacinato are hanging on despite it all, though. I ate this one with some hard cooked eggs after my walk. I’m not sure that it was entirely ripe, but it was super sweet! There are two more on the plant that I am hoping to have next week if all goes well. One never knows in the garden….

Guitar Case Greens, The Condo
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 2, 2021

But the balcony is rocking! (pun intended) The guitar case greens are filling in nicely, my potted pepper plant is flowering, and I have a bunch of seedlings starting to come up for the fall season. I know it seems crazy to plant since I am leaving. I love to garden so much though and I don’t lose anything by doing it…whether I harvest anything or not. I just can’t find a downside and I got really, really sad when I started to think about not putting another round of seeds in the soil. Besides, I think I might actually have some success this season, so I’m going for it.

Podcast of The Day:

I’m not a huge sci fi and action fan so forgive me. After looking at his IMDB, I can confirm that I have not seen a single one of his movies even though clearly, he is a tremendously prolific producer. I love listening to episodes that introduce me to new people and I thought he was a great guest. His comment about the difference between “seeing” a movie and “experiencing” a movie made me remember the feeling of community that accompanies shared moments of storytelling. As for the three boys, I feel like I write “I laughed out loud” after every episode… because I do. 🙂

Sweating it out:

My fitness goal this week is to get in 5 miles a day of purposeful exercise and I got the week off to a good start. I decided it doesn’t matter if it’s running or walking…TMI, I have a callous on the bottom of my foot that is really jacking things up, but since I know it’s not an injury, I am powering through and trying to get it under control. This is one of those circumstances where something is better than nothing and building the practice is what really matters this week and next. Anywho…..leery of going in too hard, too fast in the beginning, I am easing back into full time running. That means leaving Codee at home. He just doesn’t have the energy back, yet. Also, it’s really important that he gets used to me coming and going throughout the day, so in a way, he really is training while I am. Good news is that he is super comfortable here at the condo, so typically, he just ends up on the bed snoozing.
I’m also going to do this super quick arm program on Monday (check), Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. There will likely be a lot that is different when the tour starts back up again, but I am willingly to bet the condo that actor trunks won’t be getting any lighter. Time to start lifting again.

On the plates:

The meal that I am going to call Brunch was my Green Drink, two Dash eggs, and the pepper from the garden. Dash eggs are simply steamed in the Dash egg cooker that I love, but I am such a fan that I like to market for them. Also, here are the before VitaMix and after VitaMix photos of the Green Drink…weirdly appealing to me after all this time.

Because I am doing time restricted eating for the first few weeks, meaning that I am going to consume calories during a specific time frame, in my case 2PM until 10PM, the meal names feel a little weird, but after Brunch is, what I was referring to as Tea. Not because it draws any relation to anything even remotely related to tea, the service or the drink, but because I didn’t love calling it Supper. I will now though because it happens around 6PM. So, for Supper, I had Roasted Chicken Thighs, Baked Sweet Potato, and Sugar Snap Peas.

Lola Farms Chicken Thighs, Baked Sweet Potato, Snap Peas

Dinner, which I eat some time between 8:30PM and 9PM, was a variation of the recent Go To meal in my kitchen…Chickapea Linguine, Roasted Cauliflower, Mushrooms, Arugula, Nutritional Yeast, and Extra Virgin Olive Oil. At the end of the day, I like something sweet, so today I had an apple. I am Fuji apple fan, but every once in awhile I branch out, but that’s the variety that I keep stocked right now.

Chickpea Linguine, Roasted Cauliflower, Arugula, Mushrooms, Nutritional Yeast, Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Cronometer:

Garmin Says:

Off to a fantastic start! The step goal is set at 15,000, but I am really looking to break 20,000 daily. Now, to keep it up for a month…

118 Days Until Load In…Stay safe and moving, y’all!