Friday at Home

Good day & happy Friday everyone! After an excruciatingly long, frigid, and exhausting week in the office I was lucky to be able to work from home today. I had a plumber come to work on my shower faucet which has been leaking for several months so I had a good excuse to be home! I got up at 5:00 today (no drive into work meant I got to sleep-in an extra 15 minutes) and after some Coffee by Design pumpkin coffee and a bowl of hot apple & cinnamon oatmeal, I was off to the gym to train back and chest. My oatmeal was so good I'll share with you the simple recipe:

½ cup oats

¼ cup unsweetened apple sauce

Dash cinnamon & stevia

½ chopped apple

½ cup liquid egg whites

Refrigerate overnight and pop into the microwave when ready to eat!

Kind of a random crowd at the gym this morning. Fridays are typically a little quieter which is nice when you are on a time-restricted agenda! My workout was really great and consisted of these exercises:

Stiff-leg deadlifts

Standing T-bar rows

Decline DB chest presses

Incline DB shoulder presses

Wide-grip lat pulldowns

Flat bench DB flies

Cable straightbar standing pulldowns

3 sets of 8-12 each

A little stretching and I scooted home to walk the pup and get ready for my workday. Once I had my computer all set-up I mixed a delicious post-workout shake with whey and iced coffee. I usually have this with just water but since I was WFH I brewed extra coffee and refrigerated it while at the gym. I highly recommend this mix. Protein for your muscles + coffee for your brain = fantastic re-fuel!

At lunchtime I scooted out to the grocery store to do my weekly food shopping. It was an expensive order this week as I needed to re-stock on all of the expensive proteins (chicken, salmon & steak) and Mugsy was also running low on both food and treats! One great thing about this time of the year…citrus season! I got some delicious Ruby Red grapefruit and a gigantic crate of clementines. Clementines are such a great snack to have on-hand. They travel well, peel easily, are super healthy, and taste delicious! I plan on adding a couple into my annual cranberry sauce that I'll make for Thanksgiving next week. Yum! Hmmm that just gave me an idea for Thanksgiving themed oatmeal! :D

While at the supermarket I also picked-up a Vietnamese shrimp spring roll to have for lunch. Nothing in my fridge was appealing to me. Believe it or not I sometimes get sick of my usual chicken breast salad!

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing various work items on my laptop. Overall not a very eventful day but it was sssoooooo nice to be warm in my own home! The office has been so cold I've had to wear my smart wool socks, hiking boots, full North Face parka, scarf, and running gloves (thin fabric so I can still type) AT MY DESK. Even with all of this my circulation issues are at an extreme already this season. Yesterday my toes hurt so bad I had to try not to cry at my desk. Yes, I do have a doctor's note saying that I have a medical issue and need to be allowed the use of a space heater but I have not yet been allowed to use one by the company I work for. I won't go into details (I probably have mentioned it in prior years) but it's not something I can live with for much longer. I try to get up and walk around to get the blood flowing to them at least once per hour but I'm scared the lack of circulation could lead to amputation. I know that sounds drastic but my toes literally get so cold they turn purple/blue and burn. I can't even get a pedicure this time of year because it's too painful to touch them. I end up doing self-pedis on the weekend after a post-gym hot bath soak. Pathetic.   

Anyway, I'm toasty at the moment since I'm wearing socks, slippers, and sitting near my heater. I don't even keep my house that warm since I live alone and fuel is expensive. It ranges from high 60's when I'm home to low 60's when I'm away. I think it's more a matter of not having to sit stagnant for 9 hours with A/C blowing on me. Something's gotta give pretty soon.

I'm currently debating what to have for dinner tonight. To make something or to get a Whole Foods burrito which never disappoints? Hmm decisions, decisions. Friday used to be my "cheat meal" night but I'm going out to my favorite pasta restaurant tomorrow night and I plan to order the super decadent baked truffle mac 'n cheese. Saturday is of course my training off-day but I'll use the carb-load for my Sunday morning leg sesh! What are you all having for dinner tonight? Give me some good ideas! Cheers! xo