Workout Roundup

 It's been useful for me to have a place to reflect on my fitness, so I'll keep this going for the time being. 

Workouts for the week

• Monday - 2 hour hike with M
• Tuesday - 2 hour hike, while the power was out. I tried a new trail, and it was hilly!
• Wednesday - 20 minute walk on the treadmill + hour spin class
• Thursday - 100 minutes of elliptical
• Friday - 1.5 mile run, 45 minute walk, 1 hour of yoga
• Saturday - 60 minute Orange Theory class (treadmill, rower, & strength combo)
• Sunday - 95 minute elliptical (while I listened to TED talks required for leadership course. Multitasking!)

Eating:

My eating is never "perfect", nor is it my goal to make it so, but overall it went pretty well. I've definitely cut out the evening snacking, which is my biggest problem. I can trim up a bit more here & there, but progress was made, & my eating is both healthier & I'm keeping my calories in check. It helped to have the baked oatmeal option available, as by the time I'd finished working out most days, I was starving. 

Lowlights:

Nothing really stands out, which I suppose is a good sign. 

Highlights:

Last week, my focus was to run more, & get back to balanced eating. I did a pretty good job of both of those. 

Things I want to focus on next week:

Continue to work on balanced workouts (more stretching) & intuitive eating. I can still do a better job with getting in enough fruit & vegetables.

How about you? How are you doing with your fitness goals? 

Zucchini recipe

For those of you with an abundance of zucchini, I highly recommend this recipe for grilled zucchini. It was delicious & easy. 

Any other zucchini recipes you'd recommend?

Menu Plan Monday

We're largely back in action, with Nick at a sleepaway camp & the rest of us back in the swing of things & all working, with Sam starting up club soccer again. As a result, the menu reflects our schedule(s).

• Friday - grilled chicken sausages + grilled zucchini
• Saturday - grilled chicken, with watermelon/feta/blueberry salad
• Sunday - burgers + caprese salad
• Monday - orange chicken + rice
• Tuesday - leftover grilled chicken + caprese
• Wednesday - burgers + grilled zucchini
• Thursday - leftover orange chicken + rice
• Friday - TBD. Maybe pizza, or whatever Nick requests, as we're picking him up at camp. 

What about you? What's on your menu for the week? Any good recipes to share? I included links in other posts, but I've tried a few recipes I really liked lately:

• One pan coconut curry chicken rice
• Baked oatmeal
• Watermelon, feta, blueberry salad

Sunday things

I accomplished almost everything on my to do list yesterday, so I'll consider that a win. Sam is thrilled to be out of quarantine, and we went to boba last night to celebrate. I don't mind taking the boys for an occasional boba splurge, because it's not remotely tempting to me, and it means I'm not indulging in treats. ;-) 

Here's what's on the list for today:

• Work out. I'm thinking of using the elliptical, while watching some of the lessons from the training I'm taking. Multitasking at its finest.
• Garden
• Help Nick with last minute packing
• Take Nick to camp drop off
• Read book club book
• Laundry
• List a few things on eBay
• Find some more items for Buy Nothing. I'm on a decluttering roll
• Get out a ladder, and drag out one of my family members (all of them are taller them me by 3+ inches) to pick some lemons at the top of the tree. 
• Sit by the pool (in the shade) with my book. It's going to be 88 today. 

Decide what to do with all of the spearmint. We have a ton of mint, and I've been drying that, for a recipe M uses a lot. I may use it to make iced tea, which sounds delicious. 

What about you? What are you up to today? 

Saturday Happenings

Here's what's happening in our house today. It looks like it's going to be about 80, which is the perfect temperature for reading by the pool (in the shade) & potentially enjoying a cocktail. :-) 

Other items needing doing:

• M to cut the boys hair
• Make a menu plan & shopping list
• Potentially go to the produce stand. I'm a sucker for their $1 bags, which means I often come home with unexpectedly large quantities of things.
• Costco
• Go to a workout class this morning
• Laundry
• Finish helping Nick pack for camp
• Make muffins
• Pick & dry more herbs
• Work in the garden
• Read more of my book club book

That's it from my side. What about you? What are you up to today? 

Frugal Friday

It was a week! It doesn't feel particularly frugal, as M drove to pick up Sam when he had COVID, & gas prices are $$$. The rest of the week was all about the garden, & using things up. 

Saving on things we buy

• Did another grocery store offer, buying a travel gift card, & earning a $60 grocery store gift card
• Bought a $1 bag of tomatoes from the produce stand. It weighed just over 5 lbs. We have quite a few tomatoes, but I wanted to make a triple batch of pico de gallo
• I booked M a night in Medford, so he could stop & sleep during the drive to pick up Sam. I was able to use some reward points to cut off about 1/2 of the stay. 
• Took advantage of a 1/2 off drink coupon at Starbucks, and indulged in an iced tea/lemonade combo. We had no power, & I was trying to avoid being in the fridge. This was a nice treat. 

Earning money

• Sold three of M's outgrown shirts on eBay, as well as a hat
• Listed a few new items on eBay

Avoiding spending

• Returned a few things we bought, that didn't work out
• Discovered I had everything on hand to make the watermelon, blueberry, feta salad for the 4th of July. 
• Picked up a few groceries from a neighbor who is moving, and can't bring the items with her
• Used a gift card to pick up Subway for Sam (his choice) when we had no power on Tuesday. He was thrilled. The foot long came with a free 6" sandwich, so that was also my lunch. 
• Picked up a free container of hummus through a Fetch offer
• Took advantage of a free spinning class through work

Eating what we have

• We were able to use up lots of garden items this week:
• Juiced lemons, which we will use in salad dressing
• Used parsley & oregano to make a chimichurri sauce
• Fresh tomatoes & basil for a caprese salad
• Lettuce, peppers & tomatoes for salads
• Made a giant batch of pico de gallo, using up cilanatro, tomatoes & jalapenos
• Strawberries on the 4th of July cake
• Mint in the watermelon salad
• Peppers in the macaroni salad
• Jalapeno, cilantro & basil into a coconut curry dish, which is one of my favorite easy dinners I've made in years! Highly recommend
• Used up some really old celery in my macaroni salad
• Turned the tomatoes (above) into a triple batch of pico de gallo, as well as two batches of tomato sauce
• Used leftover jams from the 4th of July cake in baked oatmeal, to have on hand for easy breakfasts. This baked oatmeal recipe was fantastic. 

For others

• Gave away a bunch of additional items on Buy Nothing. It always makes me happy to get stuff out of our house, and into the hands of people who want them! Bags & bags on my porch, for others to pick up & enjoy!
• Continuing to work on a leadership course, which will then enable me to serve in a non-profit advisory role for a university. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Goals for July

 This will be a month of Sam working, and Nick attending summer camps! Hoping to enjoy this lovely summer month, while still being productive. I'm streamlining a bit this month, to hopefully knock a few more of these off of the list. 

Financial

• Stick to our budget
• Progress towards side hustle goals
• List all of M's outgrown clothes on eBay. Go through & donate non-selling eBay items

Family

• Plan one activity with the kids
• Finalize plans for Bend
• Have two dates with M
• Plan a call with M's family (or, send videos)

Fitness/Health

• Start posting weekly workout/fitness summaries, to keep myself on track
• Beat June's calorie burned goals
• Close rings daily
• Take advantage of workout classes
• Meditate 5x

Personal

• Do something social with friends
• Finish work volunteer commitment
• Complete half of training for advisory role
• Read Biased for book club

What about you? What are you hoping to accomplish in July?

Workout Roundup

 I'm experimenting with a new type of post, that's more fitness related. Mostly for my own purposes, but maybe it will be helpful for others as well. I'll probably tweak the format here & there, but here goes. I get into a real rut with my workouts, so this helps

Workouts for the week:

• Monday - 90 minutes of elliptical
• Tuesday - 90 minutes of elliptical + 60 minute yoga class
• Wednesday - 20 minutes on the treadmill + 60 minute spin class
• Thursday - 90 minutes of elliptical
• Friday - 5 mile run. My first run in a long time. The consistency of my other workouts must be paying off, because it was a really great run, and much longer than I'd normally be able to go, on a first run out. 
• Saturday - 60 minute Orange Theory class (combination of strength, rowing & running)
• Sunday - 100 minutes of elliptical 

Eating:

I don't do well coming back from vacation. I'm usually in a bit of a funk, & eat like I'm still on vacation for at least 1-2 days. I used to also not work out, but I've broken that bad habit. I did, however, eat ice cream & had some brownies & other junk. My body doesn't appreciate it, and my clothes feel tight, particularly after a week of vacation eating.

Lowlights

• Snacking in the evening
• Not as many vegetables/fruit as I would like

Highlights

• My 5 mile run
• A decent mix of workouts, throughout the week
• Hitting my workout goals (cardio minutes, calories burned, & standing) all week

Things I want to focus on next week

I want to run more, and get back to balanced eating. 

And, for my June summary, I had 62 workouts (some are just short walks), for a total of 56 hours of working out, burning 17,127 calories. 

What about you? Any health or fitness goals you want to share, or are working on?

June Goals Recap

 June flew by, with a lot of fun. My sister & I took my mom to Hawaii for an early 70th birthday celebration, & M & I did two mini trips. Nick & Sam wrapped up school, Sam started his job, and Nick enjoyed tennis camp. Then the kids headed to my parents for "Papa camp" + Disneyland, and more fun was had. It's been quiet at our house, & we've missed them!

Here's how I did with our goals for the month.

Financial:

• Stick to our budget - we're well over in some categories, such as "Boys", and food. For the boys category, we weren't expecting to need many summer camps this year, but Nick requested to attend tennis camps. The ones geared for his age group are pretty expensive. Food, well, it's expensive. 
• Have a great time in Hawaii, while sticking to a reasonable budget - we did well here. It was a great trip, and we made smart tradeoffs on where to spend our money. 
• Finalize long term budget/FIRE plan - My plan is to basically save as much money as possible by March of 2023, & see where that gets me. The biggest factor is our stock price, which is a huge part of my overall compensation. 
• Progress toward $1500 side hustle goal, gift card & Fetch/iBotta goals - I didn't make any progress on my side hustle goals this month. 
• List or donate remaining eBay inventory - actually, I added a few things, but need to go through & pull everything that doesn't appear like it will sell, and donate it. 

Family 

• Plan one fun activity with the kids - we went out for boba a couple times, as well as did a family dinner & a bowling day
• Manager summer schedule - there were a lot of moving parts, but we made it happen!
• Have two dates with M - we crushed this one, with two weekend getaways, and a bunch of impromptu dates while the kids were gone
• Have a call with M's family - we filled in with videos instead. 

Fitness/Health

• Decide on some updates to my eating habits. Move away from calorie counting, and go with something easier to manage. Focus on eating well, and dropping a few pounds. - I struggled with balancing my eating in June, & have more work to do here. 
• Close rings daily - yes
• Lose 4 lbs - definitely no
• Sign up for new fitness classes - yes, and I'm enjoying the mix of workouts!
• 4 strength & 4 stretching workouts - I got in 56 hours of working out in June, & burned 17,127 calories! I'm feeling excited by the tracking, & want to push myself in July. 
• Meditate 5x - No, & I'd like to get back into this

Personal/creative

• Do something social with friends - I worked out a few times with friends
• Finish volunteer commitment for girls in tech org - done
• Continue working on post work plan & options - I agreed to serve on a college advisory board, and am taking an executive leadership class as part of that. Looking forward to trying that out!
• Some sort of personal writing - I'm not feeling this right now, and will likely drop it, moving forward. Maybe I'll be re-motivated at another point? 

That's it from my side. How did you all do on your June goals? Any progress to share? 

COVID & the menu plan

Happy 4th of July to all of us in the US. I loved SAM's comment this morning to embrace what's good. 

Sam has COVID, so M embarked on a 24+ hour round trip drive to pick him up from my parents yesterday. Everyone else is testing negative, so we wanted to do everything possible to reduce exposure for my parents. We are really hoping to limit the spread to just Sam. Fingers crossed. 

• Friday - out to dinner, after running errands. We shared calamari, a burger & salad. 
• Saturday - steak, brussels sprouts & caprese salad M jumped in the car, just as the steak came off of the grill. I had some of the caprese salad
• Sunday - I had some leftovers, caprese salad, & macaroni salad
• Monday - grilled hot dogs (steak), macaroni salad, & watermelon/blueberry/feta salad + poke cake
• Tuesday - one pan coconut chicken curry & rice
• Wednesday - orange chicken & rice
• Thursday - leftover coconut curry chicken
• Friday - any remaining leftovers, or caprese salad & wings

What's on your menu this week?

Long weekend things

 I had a great workout with my friend yesterday, but today I am feeling it! The five mile run on Friday, combined with a hard workout class yesterday is definitely sending me reminders, every time I go to sit down or get back up. 

We are using up so much from the garden, which always makes me happy. I made a large batch of pico de gallo yesterday, as well as chimichurri. It was nice to use up lots of garden goodies! I also made caprese salad. Yum!

I also juiced a bunch of lemons, filled out Nick's camp paperwork, gave away more on Buy Nothing, made a return at the mall, and sat by the pool reading for a bit.

Here's what's on the agenda for today:

• Figure out where to get a passport photo taken. I need one for my Japan visa paperwork.
• Pickle all of the peppers in the fridge.
• Work out
• Work in the garden
• List 5 items on eBay
• Stretch, foam roll, and use the massage gun
• Recap June's goals
• Write July's goals
• Figure out plan/schedule for executive leadership class
• Laundry
• Clean/organize fridge
• Plant radish seeds
• Make macaroni salad

What are you up to today? Are you prepping any food for the 4th of July, if you are in the US? 

Saturday Happenings

 It's Saturday, and a four day weekend around our house. Woohoo! I'm very excited for the bonus vacation days. We get Monday & Tuesday off, for the 4th of July. 

We had big plans to barbecue, and get in the pool on the 4th, but the boys changed their plans & are not coming home as planned on Sunday. Sam's job didn't need him next week (low enrollment due to the 4th) & Nick asked if he could move his tennis camp to another week. Much to their delight, I adjusted their flights to come home on Friday evening instead. My parents were so excited to have them stay for an additional few nights. My 17 year old nephew also adjusted his plans, to be able to stay with my parents as well. It makes me really happy that all of them are so excited to spend more time together. You know you are crushing it as a grandparent, when three teens willingly cancel their plans at home to stay at "Papa Camp". 

As a result, M & I are alone again this week! We had to run an errand about 20 minutes away yesterday, and went to one of our favorite nearby restaurants for dinner. We shared an appetizer, burger & salad, and had wine. It was so much fun, chatting, & not worrying about the time. We started a movie when we got home, but we are both early birds, & didn't finish it. 

As for today, here's what's on the agenda:

• Meet a friend for a workout class this morning
• Make pico de gallo
• Work in the garden
• List a few things on eBay
• Call Nike again, about a summer camp
• Return an item at the mall, that didn't work out for Nick
• Fill out my entry visa for Japan
• Pay a few bills
• Fill out Nick's camp paperwork
• Complete end of month goals summary
• Write goals for July

That's it on my side. What about you? What are you up to this weekend? 

Frugal Friday

 We were out of town for part of the week, so there are some additional travel related wins. Wins aside, traveling is expensive! So, saving where we can is important. 

Saving on things we buy

• Used a $20 grocery store reward to do a fill in shop, while the kids are out of town
• Uploaded receipts to Fetch & iBotta. I'm in a good habit of uploading all of my receipts to Fetch. With iBotta, I'm typically only doing the standard $.10 receipt offers, when those crop up. 
• Researched transportation options to the airport. Uber used to be less expensive than airport parking, but it's gone up so much. We weren't able to do the pre-book online airport parking (you save an extra 20%), as it was sold out, but it was still cheaper than Uber both ways. 
• Saved $14 on a pair of shorts for M (slowly adding to his closet, after he gave away almost everything, due to weight loss), by using a reward. Earned another $1.10 on Rakuten, & paid the remaining balance with a gift card.
• Bought a travel gift card at the grocery store, earning a $60 grocery store gift card

Earning money

• Nothing outside of our standard paychecks. However, it's on the to do list to get a bunch of stuff listed on eBay over the next few weeks.

Avoiding spending

• We filled our water bottles at the airport, and avoided buying any food, both ways. I'm usually weak on the way back from a trip, & splurge.
• Took advantage of comp'd food from my husband's poker tournament. 
• Attended two free fitness classes at work (spinning & yoga), and had free breakfast/lunch x2 at the office

Eating what we have

• Using lots of garden lettuce & tomatoes in our salads
• Defrosted a pan of chicken enchiladas that my mom made when she was here, and we had those for two dinners
• Avoided eating out after a late flight on Sunday, and made a frozen pizza + salad for dinner. It got everyone fed!
• Made a grilled cheese, to go with a box of tomato/red pepper soup. The soup expired six months or so ago, and I wanted to get it used up. A grilled cheese to go with it is required! Okay, if not required, seriously enhances the flavor of the soup. Yum. 

For others

• Continued my monthly contribution to my aunt's health care
• Sent money to the boys, to cover a meal out with my parents at Disneyland. 

That's it from our side. What about you? Any wins to share?