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Back to Reality and Tempeh Fajitas

No Parties 
Yesterday was a good day - no Memorial Day parties or cookouts. I needed to try to get myself back into "reality" mode post vacation. It's always hard to do.

Jason and I managed a 4-mile run despite the 90-degree temps. It wasn't easy. I swear my Garmin was lying to me about mileage. I thought it was never going to buzz at mile 4. Longest mile ever!

After the hot hot hot run, I spent some time in the yard pulling weeds and trying to pull up trees that keep trying to grow (thanks to acorns from our Oak tree). Luckily, the front yard is mostly shaded and there was a nice breeze so I wasn't melting like I had been on the run.

I spent about 45 minutes in the front yard before heading to the back. I got rose bushes deadheaded and some more weeds pulled, though there are still plenty more left. I am officially waging war on the Bermuda and Crab grasses that are creeping into the flower beds. My hands were definitely sore after all that.

I got more laundry washed and then spent some time lounging in the pool. I figured I deserved it right ;-) I should have gone to the grocery store of course, but that's not a fun errand on a holiday. The pool was much more important.

Luckily, I did have some frozen veggies on hand as well as pasta. So, dinner was a very simple pasta salad with chickpeas.

Back to the Gym
This morning was like a cruel joke. I've not been sleeping in mind you, but I haven't been having to get up and get ready for work. Today was the first time I've done my hair or put on makeup since Friday. And apparently I'm rusty at it. I almost walked out of the house with my dress unzipped. Nice huh?

Today was also about getting back into the gym. I definitely needed the rest week from weight lifting. And from the inside of my gym to be honest. I think that was the hardest part about my workout motivation today - being inside the gym.

I really enjoy running for the ability to be outdoors. To enjoy the fresh air (even if it's 90 degrees), the sunshine, the scenery. The gym? Um, hot, stuffy, stinky. And I think a lot of my dislike for my gym stems from that being my only option for 6 weeks when I was unable to run and from all the turmoil going on right now with the gym itself. I wouldn't be surprised if it's closed by Friday (first of the month).

Anyway, I got myself there as I knew I would one way or another. I started with the elliptical as a warm up. The only good thing about the elliptical is being able to read magazines since I can't change the TV channels and watch something riveting like Food Network ;-)

I've been doing biceps and triceps. But am changing up my splits now. Today I went with biceps and shoulders. I went with 3 supersets done as 8 reps, 3 times.

SS#1
Alternating curls
Arnold press

SS#2
Hammer curls
Lateral raise

SS#3
Incline curls
Front raise

I did some ab work as well before calling it done. I must say, today I felt fairly weak. I actually had to go down in weight for lateral raises. Usually I do 4-6 reps at a higher weight then drop for the remaining reps. Today...I had to go with the lighter weight for all reps. Talk about bruising the old ego.

I know that one week off from weights isn't going to diminish strength like that, so maybe it's just changing up the split and doing biceps with shoulders. My muscles had to work differently than what they've been used to (or that's my theory and I'm sticking to it).

Tempeh Tuesday
Definitely feeling some of the post-vacation blues coming on. I think it always happens to me. It's just never fun to have to jump back into reality: work, house chores, errands, more house chores. To make it worse, I did something stupid today. I went to the grocery store AFTER work.

I love living downtown, but there are no decent grocery stores nearby. The closest one is in a nice neighborhood, and was recently remodeled. It's a shame they didn't think to work on the parking lot though. There are lots of restaurants and shops surrounding the store. Parking is already tight, so then when you have people using the lot for other stores, that means even fewer spots for those of us shopping at the grocery store.

I drove around for close to 10 minutes just trying to find a spot. Of course this left me frazzled and flat out ticked. List or no list, when I'm frazzled bad things happen. I always forget stuff. I have to circle around multiple times. And for whatever reason I start buying things I don't need or have plenty of. Anyone else do this? Sort of a strange habit/reaction I have.

Anyway, full fridge meant lots of dinner options. However, it's HOT and we're out of propane for the grill. So, dinner needed to not include the oven if at all possible. Jason suggested fajitas; so fajitas it was.

We just browned some tempeh then sauteed onions, bell peppers, jalapenos, and squash with garlic, chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and lime juice.
 
Super simple and it didn't heat up the kitchen so win-win.

Daily To-Enjoy List
Lifting
Sunshine
Easy dinner
Painting nails

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