I keep meaning to write about my elective this semester. There were a couple of choices (War in Society, History of Technology, Video Game Culture) but in the end I chose Creative Thinking. The write-up for the class was:

“Today’s workplace is built on teamwork, flexibility and collaboration. This course develops thinking skills that many traditional business processes based on efficiency, logic, and control can’t achieve. It enables students to use their full range of human abilities, from the logical, to the intuitive, to the interactive. Students will develop skills in decision making, communication, creativity and leadership by employing artistic processes such as improvisation, performance, visual media. Creative Thinking puts art back into business. It gives students transformative skills - the ability to evolve along with a rapidly changing world.”

It sounded interesting, however, it’s turned out just plain weird. Last Friday we had to write about a painful memory and then have others critique them (in small groups). Most wrote about death, I wrote about being lost. In the end, simple participation got you 4/4 (being 4% of the overall grade). This Friday we had to listen to music clips, pick one, and do some type of improv to it. We did an imaginary patrol (with one group member sneaking up), then some imaginary sword fighting, with his death at the end. Again, participation gets you 4/4, so I’m now sitting 8/8 for the class. Basically showing up on the Friday class, and doing something silly (and creative) will get you 32%.

The rest of the marks will be two small presentations (30%), which she’s already said she’s going to be very generous with since we’re a group of strangers (ie. we’re all from different programs). Although the first presentation is supposed to be film/video and she’s talking about making us upload them on YouTube, so I’m not so sure about that. I will make a point to get any video that I do have put into electronic format in the next week or so. I’ve probably got enough old camcorder stuff that I can probably come up with something (once I know what the idea is supposed to be). There will be two take-home projects (no clue, 10% + 15%), and one test (again, no clue - 15%). And yes, that adds up to 102%.  

I think it will be a fun course overall, just not sure how much work that the take-home stuff will take.

- - -

So I was enjoying the nice warmth of the fire last night and didn’t come back to enter my food. So, I’ll do that now, and then I’m off to get some of my homework done before I come back to the internet. In fact I might to do the non-computer stuff just so I’m not tempted. 

Food for yesterday:

Total: 2291 (18% fat, 39% carbs, 34% protein, 9% alcohol)

Breakfast: protein shake with oatmeal & sour cherries, pecans (441)
AM Snack: none (0)
Lunch: whole wheat tortillas, mustard, eye of round, apple (438)
PM Snack: beer (300)
Post-WO: protein shake (179)
Dinner: turkey sausage sauce, cheese, whole wheat pasta, salad w/dressing (657)
Late Snack: protein shake, fruit salad (275)

So the flaky firewood delivery guys, who I wanted to come Tuesday… who changed it to Saturday - they’re coming tomorrow afternoon. I’m kind of pissed off as this means I really do have to leave the college after class (no drinks and/or social hour). I was kind of looking forward to it, but won’t be able to stay. Oh well, I know there will almost certainly be other weeks. But honestly, I’m a bit pissy about the whole thing. Next year if we need wood (after the fall) I’m going to look for someone else. Oh, and our forecast for tomorrow afternoon is a rain/snow mix. Always great weather to be stacking wood.

So, I was emailing a friend of mine back and forth, as well as looking for stuff on the internet. I’ve got a recipe to link to and then, perhaps a good summer PWO snack. First the link:

http://www.isoflex.ca/recipes.html

Now… here’s the thought… ice cream with chocolate syrup!

226 cals - 22g P, 18g C, 8g fat

Really! I started with the recipe for chocolate pudding on the above link and used 40g of my protein powder and 5g cocoa powder. You’re supposed to add just enough water to make it a pudding consistency and I goofed and put a little too much in (it goes from sludgy to thin really fast). It was about the consistency of chocolate syrup though and I ended up just eating it with a spoon. While doing this I thought it might go well over ice cream. It probably needed a little less protein powder though (those numbers above would be 20g protein powder to 5g cocoa powder).

The real problem with that calorie count above is that it’s over half a cup of breyer’s all natural ice cream (and I’m not sure that half a cup is really a serving. Make it a cup of ice cream and it’s more like 356 cals - 25g P, 32g C, 15g F. Oh, and the small amount of mixture that I left in the bowl became almost like chocolate leather…. hmm…. a more portable was of taking protein powder with you? More experimentation with this in the future.

There’s an interesting recipe on that site for orange creamsicles. You mix egg whites with orange PP and then freeze. I might just be silly enough to try it in warmer weather. Although it might be better to mix with real orange juice (better carb/protein blend).

Saturday will be a bit busy with homework (the lab I skipped out on today, electricity lecture questions, lab preparation, maybe a little studying for a quiz). Hopefully I’ll get my math homework done during the break tomorrow morning. I did half of an assignment for my problem solving class this afternoon. It’s due Thursday next week, but he’s not going to teach how to finish it until Wednesday. Although I think I could probably finish it now, but I can finish it up quickly next week.

So, I have nothing else to add tonight. Tomorrow is another early morning so I’m probably going to get to bed soon. Have to rest up if I’m going to haul around wood in the afternoon.

Food for the day:

Total: 2005 (34% fat, 32% carbs, 32% protein)

Late Breakfast: egg/egg white omelet with cheese & salsa, honey oatmeal bread, jam, orange (624)
AM Snack: none (171)
Lunch: whole wheat tortillas, mustard, eye of round, apple (438)
PM Snack: carrots, hummus (178)
Dinner: corned beef, cabbage w/tomato sauce, butter (481)
Late Snack: protein pudding/syrup (experiment), fruit salad (284)

Nothing much to add today.  I admit that by the time I got home I was kind of tired of answering questions for people.  Cad, math, statistics, etc.  And then my mother was having problems printing through the network when I got home. 

The only good thing to come out of today is that the stats teacher confirmed that we don’t have to actually attend the MiniTab lab if we don’t want to.  All we have to do is complete the Thursday assignment by next Wednesday.  So, I’ll skip it tomorrow (and probably not bother attending the labs - although they aren’t every week) and be done by 3pm instead of 5pm.  Yay!

Anyway, off to bed with me since I’ve got a lifting day in the morning… although I’m thinking perhaps of doing the lifting at 3:30 in the afternoon when I get home (a preferred time for me).

Food for the day:

Total: 2014 (29% fat, 40% carbs, 31% protein)

Breakfast: two scrambled eggs, honey oatmeal bread, clementines (404)
AM Snack: zucchini spice cake (171)
Lunch: whole wheat tortillas, mustard, eye of round, apple (440)
PM Snack: carrots, hummus (178)
Dinner: orange pork, bean/carrot blend, butter, salad w/dressing (591)
Late Snack: protein shake, fruit salad (230)

Well, from the the mental list I made yesterday:

1) lifting
2) bake bread (running low)
3) work on autocad drawing (other homework done)
4) 60 mins on the treadmill (this is a maybe)

Did all except the autocad drawing. I found some other work to do (typing up notes and such), and worked on some of the statistics assignment (have to be done before some time in February, but don’t want to leave it too late). I’ve got three hours free tomorrow and the cad lab is free, so I’ll work on it then. However, I know I’ll likely have company … and they’ll have lots of questions. It can sometimes be a little draining, but I’ll survive.

The good news is that our class got changed on Friday, so my last class ends at 1pm (after an 8am start though). Of course, the guys think this is good because we can go to the campus pub early. I decided I will probably go, but maybe not every week. This week I managed to do an hour of cardio today, and I’ll be moving/stacking wood on Saturday, so I can skip a Friday workout. However, what I might do is move cardio to Thursday morning next week, and then lift on Friday afternoon. I really do prefer to lift later in the day.

Other than that I feel like a bit of a wreck tonight. My right elbow is definitely twingy, more painful on twisting motion more than anything else. And for whatever reason my left foot is sore. It’s a good thing that it’s bedtime soon!

From the HR monitor (for the cardio):

60 mins, 421 cals, Max: 152 (86%), Avg: 131 (74%)

Food for the day:

Total: 2294 (28% fat, 37% carbs, 35% protein)

Pre-WO: protein shake, zucchini spice cake (266)
Breakfast: egg/egg white omelet with cheese & salsa, honey oatmeal bread, jam, clementines (543)
Lunch: lamb barley soup, honey oatmeal bread, apple (382)
PM Snack: carrots, hummus (178)
Dinner: beef/turkey burgers, whole wheat roll, condiments, salad w/dressing (695)
Late Snack: protein shake, fruit salad (230)

So, I did a good thing / bad thing today. I went into the bookstore to pick up the last of my books. It was actually a college printed item and it came to ~$9. I didn’t have my bank card, so I handed her my credit card, only to be told that there was a $10 minimum on credit card purchases. I’d been in line for about 10 minutes, so I wasn’t going back to put the book back, go to my locker, come back, wait in line again. So, I looked at the ‘impulse items’ and picked up a roll of Maynard’s Wine Gums. I know from the past that the roll is 140 calories, and I had soy nuts that I hadn’t eaten. So I figured I’d just eat them instead.

I go into the cad lab early (it’s empty) and a couple of my classmates were there, so I handed the roll to one of the other women in the class as I sat down. I was telling her about buying it, but not really wanting it (liar). I figured she’d take it home and give it to her kids. Nope, she opened it and pretty much ate the entire roll. I did eventually give in and take one, but better than 9 of them.

I feel a little bad corrupting someone else (turns out that candy is her downfall), and she was complaining before Christmas that she was gaining back weight that she’d lost. Although, I don’t feel all THAT bad.

Just adding the food for the day, then off to bed!

Food for the day:

Total: 1997 (27% fat, 40% carbs, 33% protein)

Breakfast: two fried eggs, honey oatmeal bread, jam, clementines (460)
Lunch: whole wheat tortillas, sirloin steak, mustard, apple (463)
PM Snack: zucchini spice cake, soy nuts, 1 wine gum (320)
Dinner: chicken breast with tomato/wine sauce and cheese, bean/carrot blend, butter, salad w/dressing (523)
Late Snack: protein shake, fruit salad (231)

Sometimes I don’t know where the day goes. I’ve finished the laundry, read over my electricity lab information, but I really want to go over it again. So, I think I’ll make my evening post and then sign off soon for the evening. I think the snow is stopped, and we’ll get a slight break until the end of the week (fingers crossed). The forecast seems to change hourly, so who knows.

Food for the day:

Total: 2297 (24% fat, 30% carbs, 46% protein)

Breakfast: egg/egg white omelet with cheese & salsa, honey oatmeal bread, jam, clementines (455)
Lunch: turkey noodle soup, honey oatmeal bread, apple (392)
PM Snack: zucchini spice cake (171)
Dinner: sirloin steak, corn, butter, salad w/dressing (723)
Late Snack: protein shake, fruit salad (276)

—- from earlier in the day —-

I started off with 3 mins cardio (walking/jogging on the spot), the prescribed warm-ups, and then did:

Power Training - Strength Training (weeks 7-9)
Workout A4 (7 of 10)

1: Snatch Pull - 65t/5, 65t/5, 65t/5, 65t/5
2: Clean-grip Deadlift - 135t/5, 135t/5, 135t/5, 135t/5
3: Single-leg Supine Hip Extension - 5, 5, 5, 5
4: Push-ups (incline) - 5, 5, 5, 5
5: Bent-over Two-point Dumbbell Row - 35e/5, 35e/5, 35e/5, 35e/5
6: Push Press - 75t/5, 75t/5, 75t/5, 75t/5
7: Chin-ups (band assisted, attempts) - 5, 5, 5, 5
8: Cable Woodchop - 10, 10, 10, 10
9: Four-point Plank - 45sec, 45sec, 45sec, 45sec

Total time: 75 mins
HR monitor: 445 cals, Max: 152 (86%), Avg: 116 (66%)

I struggled through this one today as well. I purposely dropped the weight on the deadlifts (and they were reasonably easy), but the push press I think needs to come back a bit. By the time I get to the chin-ups (even band assisted) I’m just out of steam. Of course, I did do about an hour of snow shoveling, wood bin refilling, so that could be some of the issues.

Well, it’s been one of those somewhat busy days that you end up wondering where the time went. I did get the first turkey smoked, and made some really tasty lamb soup. I likely won’t put up the recipe, since it’s rare that I have lamb stock around, but the recipe came from here:

http://www.explorenepal.com/recipe/soups/?i=lamb_barley_soup

I changed it a little (ie. I don’t like spinach, so I used celery) and it needed way more liquid than it called for. This was good as I had more stock than that. I was also a little light on meat so I added a couple of smoked turkey/chicken sausages. For me, it was a small pot of soup, making 9 servings.

I also spent about 45 minutes outside shoveling snow. We didn’t have more, but it’s supposed to be a combination of snow/rain/freezing rain over the next couple of days. So I cleared snow away from the house, hoping that we don’t end up with a flood in the basement. I noticed while doing that today that I’m a collection of aches and pains as well. One hamstring is sore, my shoulders/neck area is still bugging me, and while tossing snow I felt a bit of a pinch in my side. Yikes, I feel like I’m falling apart. Although, last year I wouldn’t have even considered shoveling as much as I have so far this year, so I suppose that’s progress.

So, all the soup has been frozen, and tomorrow I’ll slice up the first turkey. The plan is to smoke the second turkey on Christmas day, and we’ll have some hot for dinner that night. Tomorrow I’ll also probably get a start on making some turkey stock, even though I’ll have more bones after doing the second turkey. I might also make another pot of soup (lentil) with some pork stock (the last of the stocks in the freezer). The catch is that there’s little to no meat in that stock, so I’ll probably cook and chop up a couple of chicken breasts to make it a heartier soup.

I also rearranged the freezers a bit, so I’ll have room to put all the stuff I’m making away. I don’t think that I’d thought that far ahead. The odd thing is that all this work has been on lunch items. I notice that the dinner stuff is kind of running low. I’ll likely be making some type of stewed beef and possibly some chili next week. I like having both of them handy as they are ‘last minute/no work’ dishes. At the moment what little is there all requires thawing the raw meat before cooking it.

Having said all that, I’m kind of tired, so it’s time for bed!

Food for today:

Total: 2010 (25% fat, 36% carbs, 33% protein)

Breakfast: two fried eggs, honey oatmeal bread, jam, clementines (332)
AM Snack: chocolate zucchini cake (78)
Lunch: whole wheat tortillas, mustard, smoked beef, apple (464)
PM Snack: protein shake, cookie (261)
Dinner: spicy meatloaf with roasted potatoes, bean/carrot blend, butter, salad w/dressing (625)
Late Snack: protein shake, apple (250)

Well, I’m not sure that workout day vs. non workout day is making much of a difference while I’m off, at least with total calorie burn.  Having said that, I still stuck with the higher calories today, mainly from the post-workout shake.  I’m not sure what my plans are for tomorrow.  Depending on the weather I might become chauffeur for my mother while she goes to 5 or 6 different stores.  This is something I really don’t look forward to - I’m not a shopper. However, if needed, I will do it.  I’m crossing my fingers for a nice weather morning though.

Total calories burned today - 3394 (see, almost exactly the same as yesterday).  Of course, I did spend an extra couple of hours in bed after getting up and putting on the HR monitor. 

Food for today:

Total: 2313 (25% fat, 36% carbs, 37% protein)

Breakfast: egg/egg white omelet, honey oatmeal bread, jam, clementines (333)
Lunch: whole wheat pasta with turkey sausage sauce, apple, ruffles chips (584)
PWO: protein shake, frozen cherries (281)
PM Snack: white chocolate almond cherry bark (220)
Dinner: sirloin steak, corn, butter, salad w/dressing (623)
Late Snack: protein shake, apple (272)

Today was really another low energy day. Don’t get me wrong, I accomplished what I needed to. I could have just done with doing nothing. And from a physical activity point of view I really didn’t do that much. I got up and started some beef/turkey minestrone, but after the initial flurry of activity… just didn’t do all that much. After lunch I made a point to use the treadmill for 30 mins though. I really need to start thinking about some of the tasks I was going to do over my break. I suppose I’ve started some (the cooking), but the tidying up is only marginally started, and I just don’t feel like getting the sewing machine out yet.

On the continuing HR monitor data collection, I ended up at 3375 calories burned for the day. Pretty close to the lowest day since I started (3344) so it’s probably a good thing that I did get on the treadmill.

From the HR monitor (treadmill):

30 mins, Cals: 220, Max HR: 146 (82%), Avg HR: 133 (75%)

Food for today:

Total: 2001 (25% fat, 40% carbs, 31% protein)

Breakfast: egg/egg white omelet, honey oatmeal bread, jam, clementines (335)
AM Snack: protein shake (180)
Lunch: whole wheat pasta with turkey sausage sauce, apple (494)
PM Snack: chocolate zucchini cake (235)
Dinner: crab-stuffed mushrooms, bean/carrot blend, butter, salad w/dressing (530)
Late Snack: protein shake, apple (227)

So, I had a really low-energy day.  I was originally going to lift in the morning but decided I just couldn’t do it.  I had lunch early, then tried to nap.  I don’t know why, but I was so cold.  I actually lay down with the heating pad, trying to get warm.  After the attempted nap (I think I dozed a little) I went out and shoveled snow for an hour.  I’m counting that as my exercise for the day.  :)  It’s probably a good thing as up to that point I don’t think I’d done much of anything (that raised my heart rate much).  I did end the day showing 3617 cals burned though.  The one good thing about the shoveling is that it didn’t half-kill me as it would have in the past.  And carrying that shovel loaded with snow, to where I needed to toss it, was really quite easy.

I did slice up the other roast this morning, and put some stock on to simmer.  I separated it after dinner and picked out the meat.  I should probably work out the soups I’m going to make tomorrow, but I’m tired and I think I’ll do that in the morning.  I also switched around some meals today as well.  Minor stuff, like taking out the post workout shake, adding a little white chocolate/cherry/almond bark.  In fact I suppose it was the post-workout (shoveling) item.  I was going to have a piece or two of one of the snack cakes, but while making up a plate for someone I just decided that the bark would do.  I also switched around the dinner at the last minute as well.  That’s what I love about having a couple of completely cooked meals in the freezer.  I’ve actually got away from that recently.  There are plenty of items, but most of the meats are raw.  So, they really need to be considered the day before, not at 6pm.  I’ve got one more serving of the stewed beef, so I’ll need to make more before going back to school.  The crab-stuffed mushrooms we’ll have tomorrow.  They just needed more effort than I wanted to put in this evening.

So, tomorrow I will need to make soup (haven’t decided which one) and I think the turkey will be thawed enough to put in the brine (will decide tomorrow).  Of course, I understand we’re going to get… more snow.  I meant to take a couple of pictures today before we started shoveling, but forgot.

From the HR monitor (shoveling):

60 mins, Cals: 538, Max HR: 169 (95%), Avg HR: 149 (84%)

Food for today:

Total: 2000 (28% fat, 39% carbs, 31% protein)

Breakfast: two fried eggs, honey oatmeal bread, clementines (444)
AM Snack: none (0)
Lunch: whole wheat tortillas, mustard, eye of round, apple (438)
PM Snack: protein shake, white chocolate cherry almond bark (387)
Dinner: braised beef, potatoes, bean/carrot blend, butter, salad w/dressing (596)
Late Snack: protein shake, pomegranate (240)