As always, the weekend went way too fast. I followed my doctor’s orders and when I made it to the gym on Saturday (I was moving very slowly that morning) I took it easy and didn’t do any activities that were below the waist. I’m super stoked that I’m able to do triceps kickbacks at such a heavy weight now. I’m thinking in the next week or so I’ll be up to 20 pounds!
After my gym session, Michael and I had a little date day together. We went back to Cartlandia for lunch. I was tempted to go back to the wrap cart I told you guys about but I thought I should branch out a little and try something new. After perusing all the options we ended up splitting an entree from the Thai Mango cart. It’s been AGES since I’ve had Mongolian Beef and the last time I had it (PF Changs), I remember it being super greasy and covered in sauce.
Thankfully it wasn’t like that this time. It wasn’t greasy at all. It was the perfect amount for two people to share for lunch. I’m glad we decided to split it. My only complaint about the delicious dish was that the broccoli should have been cut a little smaller. It was kinda hard to eat with a plastic fork! And we might have gotten another order of those cream cheese and jalapeno wontons. Might have…
After our lunch in the sun we caught a movie. It was such a nice day out–upper 70′s–and I was in shorts and a tank top! I wanted to spend the afternoon soaking up the sunshine. But sadly there wasn’t much we could do with my knees all borked and the doctor’s orders to rest. Soooooooooo lazy day it was. We ended up seeing the Evil Dead remake. DO NOT GO if you are squeamish in any way. It was pretty gruesome, but decent for a horror flick. (I did keep thinking about THIS movie the entire time, though…)
The rest of the afternoon was spent reading (two mindless chick lit books) and Michael watched sports. Fun times, huh? I wasn’t feeling up to doing much honestly.
Dinner Saturday night was simple and lazy as well. Michael grilled up some spicy bratwursts and I had some slices of that fancy English Cheddar cheese on the side. I also created a fun little snack!
Ingredients
- 2 celery stalks
- 1/3 cup cream cheese
- 3 Tablespoons Frank's Hot Sauce
- 1 tablespoon chopped green onion
Instructions
- Cut the celery stalks into bite size pieces.
- In a bowl, mix the cream cheese with Frank's hot sauce depending on your taste. (I like it spicy!)
- Add the green onion to the cream cheese and mix well.
- Spoon the cream cheese mixture into the celery.
It was super easy and tasted great. We had it as a side dish with dinner. I know, not as healthy as say broccoli or Brussels sprouts would be but I loved it! I’d make it a little bit spicier the next time I make it. It was a fun little snack and a much better way to eat celery. 
The weekend wrapped up and April ended with a lackluster fizzle for me. I’m hoping May is a little bit better…
MAY 2013 GOALS
I think it’s so crucial to make attainable, achievable, realistic goals. If your goal is to lose weight, saying you want to lose 100 pounds in 4 months is NOT realistic (or healthy for that matter), so why not set the goal to lose 30 pounds in 4 months? I understand the desire to be an overachiever but in the long run, a methodical, planned out journey to reach your goal will be much more successful.
1. Complete the 6 Week personal training program with Suzanne and possibly sign up for another 6 weeks, if needed. YES! I totally rocked this. Check back soon for the recap and final results.
2. Go for a bike ride if weather and knees permit. I did! I went for two bike rides in April. Both rides went really well. Unfortunately, I had another flare-up of my knee issues after the second bike ride. This sparked a tearful call to my sports doc who scheduled an MRI. I also did about 8 weeks of acupuncture in hopes that it would help me.
3. Try once again to get back at running! Okay, I think it’s time to stop putting this on my month goals for awhile. I’ve been tried to get back to running since January and it hasn’t happened. So, I’ll stop for awhile.
I’m pretty happy with my April goals, despite the knee flare-ups and the frustrations of not being able to run. My goals for May aren’t really shooting for the stars. My doctor ordered rest period is kind of putting things on hold for awhile. I guess this is time for me to learn HOW to rest…
May Goals
1. Work on my core strength and glutes/start Phase 2 of Suzanne’s program.
2. Follow knee specialist instructions and REST knees for 6 weeks.
3. Try and find other fitness activities I might like.
Of course I’m disappointed that my goals this month don’t involve commuting to work on bike or getting back to running. I think I’ll live in denial for a little while and NOT think about it. I’m debating on taking a full week off from ALL activities to just give myself a break and to process things but I’m still on the fence with that…
QUESTION: Do you have any goals you want to achieve before summer arrives?
