Day 9

Yesterday was kind of a hectic day. But not until after the kids returned home from school. I had to get dinner started because I was cooking potato soup and I still hadn't even cooked the potatoes yet. And Hanna had a volleyball game I needed to leave for at 4. Then Hanna calls me and tells me she and her friend Jessi missed the team bus and I needed to give them a ride. Well, without having to tell you all the details, I had to move it move it (I like to move it, move it). And, I had the added bonus of getting lost on the way to a school I'd never been to in Moorhead. We squeaked into the parking lot with a minute to spare before the game started. By the time we got to the gym, they were 2 minutes into the game already. Yikes!

So when we got home from the game, the soup was ready, but what I was eating was not. Luckily, I was just grilling chicken tenders and sauteing spinach so I knew it wouldn't take long. It was pretty good. Here's what I did:

Depending on how many chicken tenders you marinate (I used about 8 or so), put the following ingredients into a bowl:
(using my eyes for a measuring cup, I'm usually pretty good at it)
1/2 cup plain 0% fat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup olive oil
garlic cloves, minced fine
curry powder
coriander
garlic powder

Mix it together and coat the chicken with the mixture. Now, I usually make up a bed of chopped root vegetables to roast in the oven with the chicken sitting on top (things like yam, onion, beets, squash, parsnips, celery root, etc) but this time I just grilled the chicken. *warning: make sure you spray or oil your grill first because this sauce sticks like crazy on the grill.

It took just minutes to cook. And while it was on the grill, I sauteed some spinach in a tad of olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice and garlic. YUMMMY! I am a spinach lover. The chicken got so tender with the yogurt. Especially if you cook it in the oven. I will have to share that recipe another time.

Of course I realized that I didn't have a starch. So then I just went into the fridge and pulled out one of my delicious cinnamon swirl protein bars (Jamie Eason) and had a cup of coffee. It was like indulging in dessert!

Yesterday was the start of week 2 (of 12) and it was back to chest/triceps. I am a bit sore today but nothing like Tuesday last week. I had a good workout. I'm starting to find my ideal weight range for the exercises so I was able to focus more on the individual rep and getting a good pump versus thinking "am I using the right poundage". Again, it was hard to hold my arms up to wash my hair in the shower afterwards so I think it was a good workout.

I have been toying with the idea of joining a gym. I want more variety with my training (and to be able to follow Jamie's workouts to a "T") so I thought a weight machine with pulleys and cables would be a good investment. And to use some of Jamie's words, I think part of the reason I fall short in my progress is because I am stuck with limited options at home. I can only do the basic exercises day in and day out and my body has stopped responding. I need to hit my muscles from all angles to exhaust as many fibers as possible. But he didn't bite.

"Don't let what you can't do interfere with what you can do" - this needs to be my motto I guess

I know he thinks weight machines are ugly and probably hates that half of a room in the basement is devoted to my "habit", but it's in the basement for crying out loud. No one goes down there except me to lift weights or him to play xbox games that are too adult for the kids. And even then he goes into a whole different section of the basement, so it's not like he sees my equipment. Our basement is huge.

Anyway, he ended up saying why don't I just join a gym, without even giving me a reason. So, I hid my disappointment and said, "you'd let me join a gym?". And then he just shrugged, "yeah". While that would probably be good for me in the end, it's much more convenient not to have to leave the house to workout. (That's my lazy side talking) But he pointed out that Emma is in school now so I could just go during the day. And it is a good point. I could head over to the gym about 8:30 and I can't imagine that being a super busy time during the week. But I'm a bit of a chicken. I've never even stepped into a gym before. It's intimidating.

He hasn't said anything more about it. And why would he. I don't want to be a pushy nagging wife either. He's a good man. He takes care of me. I shouldn't drag him through the mud all the time for not sharing my enthusiasm for fitness. I'm sure if he cared one iota about it, he would spoil me with everything I wanted or needed to achieve my body goals. The problem with having such a "love you for who you are" husband is that he thinks I'm perfect the way I am. He likes my curves. He doesn't want me to have a rock hard body full of muscle.

But I do. And I'm sorry honey, but I will stop at nothing to get it. Even you can't stand in my way.