Fitgirl Chronicles

A chill in the air....

There is a chill in the air as we have officially hit fall here but I love it.  This is my favorite time of the year.  I love the crisp air, the brilliant colors of the leaves on the trees, the garden in it's harvest and the light.  There is something so special about the light in the fall.

I LOVE the trees in our neighborhood.  It would be hard to live in a area without any trees.

This weekend I have been pulling out the sweaters and making soup.  Also, I have been trying to get the workout plan going with some consistency.  I feel good that this week I walked 4 times and did Yoga twice.  Both of my Yoga classes were challenging.  I LOVE Yoga, with the breathing and stretching it is so good for the soul.  I needed it this week.  I find Yoga is so cathartic and so great for getting one in the moment and in the now.  My good friend Donna, who is an excellent Yoga instructor and guru introduced me to Yoga and all it's benefits.  You can visit Donna's blog Yoga In My School here.

Still finding it hard to fit everything in with eating well, working out and having a productive organized fun life.  So I tried to fit my walking in on my lunch hour at work. I can get a good half hour walk in.  It was good on many levels.  I can get out of the office and clear my head; I can get some cardio in during the middle of the day without disrupting too much of the day and I feel that I can be consistent by walking at lunch.

I had to take some photo's of my friend's sweet peas.  I love sweet peas, they are my absolute favorites!!!! I had them at my wedding; I love the smell mmmmm......  Anyway I can never grow them in my yard because I don't have a good spot so I will live vicariously through these photos and be happy with that!

I was a bit behind on my weigh-ins but I am back up to date. I am only 2.4lbs away from my before summer weight so I feel very happy about that. My progress can be seen here.  I know weight is not the only measure of success but it is something I still want to lower for many reasons.

Look at that color - gorgeous. 

I LOVE this recipe.  It is called Double-Corn Spoon Bread.  You can find the recipe here from the Mayo-clinic Website. It is very delicious. It is more like a souffle than bread texture. Very fitting for fall and very comforting without the high calories.  Ithink it is worth making.

I had to put this wine selection on because it was amazing!!! About $ 15.98 so very reasonable too. I would put all of the "wine talk" on here but I am not sure how to put it into words sometimes.  I know I just liked it!

My glorious tomatoes. Harvest time means MANY tomatoes.  So far I have made many italian inspired sauces, tomatoe soup, and have eaten many a tomatoe sandwich. You can't beat the taste.  I am not as talented as my Mom or my friend Jess who both can and makes their own salsa.  That will be my next lesson I guess.

Me on the way to surprise one of my friends on her birthday ( I won't say which birthday).

Some great friends!  Friends who are good for the soul.  The birthday girl in front in the green. Happy Birthday Tracy!

Have a great day everyone!

Veggies are my friend.....

I have always loved veggies, there is not a vegetable that I don't like, ok except okra, but I think I may have cooked it wrong.  Anyway I am realizing to lose weight for me I need to load up on the veggies and make one of my main meals mostly vegetables with a little protein.  

I am so thrilled this week as I lost -4.2lbs ( I was up last week due to that bloaty time of the month), you can see my progress here.  I have realized I just need to ride out that time and just know that I will be up a little and it will go away fast.

Went home for a day trip and my lovely mother let me raid her garden.  So yummy, you can't beet garden veggies. 

I made a salad with lettuce, strawberries, onions, capers, tomatoes and light ranch dressing very nice.

I love beet greens, I need to find a way to get the family to eat them. Chicken in a citrus marinade and new potatoes.

Our trip to the country.  Love the blue in these delphiniums.

The basic potato plant is really a beautiful plant with a pretty flower.

More prairie sky.

It is so relaxing in the country.

The beans were not quite ready.

Which road do we take?

We went for a walk.

The Saskatoon berries were not quite ready either. But we tried some of the blue ones. Very good reminds me of being a kid in the summer and picking buckets.

 

What a view.

We spotted a friend stopping to check us out.

What a great day. So much to be thankful for and happy to be moving forward with my goals and stopping to smell the wildflowers.

Have a great day everyone!

Recharging is so important....

And that is exactly what I did on the weekend with some amazing girlfriends.  We had a whole day of just spending some downtime with each other.  Yes, we did maybe eat a bit more than normal and have one too many glasses of wine but it was a VERY enjoyable weekend!  Thank you Stacey, Tracy, Penny and Diane.  I love you guys!

We tried to keep it healthy and have some good choices.

Nice muffins Penny.

We managed to go for a good long walk and hit a garage sale along the way. Some of our finds.

Stacey love your yard! You are the gardener extraordinaire!

Good times......

Had a few cocktails to celebrate our day together.

A bit of a splurge, was very yummy.

Tracy keeping us in stitches, as usual.

Veggies, veggies, veggies.... 

So happy to see you D., you are the best girlfriend EVER!!!!!

The ribs were great.

A very pretty cheesecake, dessert was nice but not a big cheesecake fan.

Thanks for the patio and hospitality miss Stacey!  Very much appreciated!

Fruit for breakfast was a big hit.

This weekend really made me realize how important it is to keep those close friendships going and how important they really are.  Balance in life is something I am always trying to get right. This get together made the "scales" tip a little bit in the right direction. Thanks guys!