Sat 31 Dec

Bonne Anee! (or almost!) (Saw that on my Page-a-Day calendar so I needed to pass on the sentiment while I could remember the words.) We are planning a quiet New Years Eve in, with pan-seared scallops, oysters, baked cranberry walnut brie, broccoli, and Buche de Noel. We will open sparkling wine and probably play board games or watch a movie.

Your oatmeal yesterday really stuck with me, keeping me well-filled. I had no desire to snack, even with the plethora of goodies in the house. I'm having it again today, but it remains to be seen if I will go to the work on a busier day. Perhaps if I consolidated all the ingredients so they were more easily accessible, but even so it seems puttsy compared to pouring my TJ cereal. I'm not wild about the taste of the protein powder, and it does seem contrary to my attempt to eat more whole foods, but I recognize that this is what keeps me feeling full til lunch.

The second day of the workout shows that it remains challenging. I just did the Ramp It Up, but followed with the 15-min separate stretching segment. The regular workout has 6 min of stretching/yoga at the end as a cool-down, but it felt wonderful to do the longer stretch as well. I'm feeling this workout in my thighs and butt as well as my arms. It also has a higher level of intensity than my usual selection so I'm breathing heavier throughout. I'm going to try to keep it up for the 6-weeks before working some of my others back in to the mix. There's one more level, Burn It Up, that you're supposed to do minimally for the last four weeks. I will give the Ramp It Up at least a week before moving on. There's also an extra 10-min ab workout if/when I feel the need for a little more. I thought about trying it today, but after the ab section of the main workout, I felt it was enough.

Very nice NYE dinner, a bit early but that's us. Oyster stew with fresh oysters, pan-seared scallops, broccoli, heirloom rice, cranberry/orange baked brie, Spanish sparkling wine. And the Buche de Noel is thawing for later. Using my new fancy Patron flutes with the jingle bell wine charms.

Ate too many goodies to ring in the new year. Played 3 rounds of Trivial Pursuit with Dad.



Food:

8:15 am Laura's oatmeal w/blueberries, protein powder, soy milk, 1/2 grapefruit, 100 g blackberries, coffee
11:30 am Chocolate soy shake, bean casserole, 196 g pineapple
3:00 pm Lebkuchen cookie
3:15 pm 1 dark chocolate sea salt caramel
5:00 pm Small spoonful of hot fudge sauce
6:45 pm 3 pan-seared scallops, 3/4 c broccoli, 1/2 c heirloom rice blend, 1/10 baked brie, bowl oyster stew, 5 oz sparkling wine
8:00 pm Slice Buche de Noel, 1 Minty Mallow, several molasses and sugar cookies



Exercise:

10:15-11:25 am Ramp It Up and Slim and Limber sections
4:00-4:20 pm Wii Fit balance games