Improving my sleep habits

I realize I haven’t been getting enough sleep during the work week. On the weekends, I sleep in until about 7 or 8 and go to bed around 10:45. That amount of sleep feels perfect. At work today, I wanted to eat sweets and was always hungry. To me, those two elements signal that I am not getting what I need in sleep. I currently go to bed around 10:30 and get up at 5:50, which doesn’t leave me with quite the rest my body needs. My goal for tonight is to try to get to bed by 9:30 or 9:45. Don’t know if that will happen Tuesday through Thursday nights of this week, as I am babysitting my nephews and working Wednesday/Thursday until 9 p.m. At least I will be able to sleep in on Wed/Thurs. Do you crave sweets when you are tired?

My breakfast included one of the new cereals I picked up at the grocery store on Saturday. Kellog’s Fiber Plus Antioxidants Berry Yogurt crunch cereal with fresh blueberries.

It was ok. Didn’t have a ton of flavor, even with yogurt pieces thrown in.

Lunch was leftover Baked Stuffed Shells, a peach Chobani with canned peaches on top, & a string cheese.

As I mentioned, I was craving sweets today and for some reason, that lunch didn’t fill me up completely. After a meeting, I went to buy some peanut butter cookies out of the vending machine. I think I have only bought cookies of out the work vending machine one other time. Not bad for almost three years at my job!

After work, I picked up the third and final Stieg Larsson book from the library, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. Maybe I will read two books in January and start my New Year’s goal off on the right foot. As for the other Larsson books–I plowed through the first one, went a bit more slowly through the second and who knows how fast I will read this third and final book by Larsson. He is an excellent writer and I wish he was still around to share more intriguing stories with the world.

Can’t wait to log off of the computer, bake some chocolate chip cookies (so I don’t have to buy any from the vending machine) and dig into this book tonight! Besides Friday, it is truly my only relaxing night this week, so I am going to enjoy it.

Since it was snowing out before and when I left work, the drive home was slow going and I didn’t make it to Boot Camp in time. I just headed to the YMCA on my own and did 25 minutes on the recumbent bike while watching the HGTV dream home special–love watching all of the beautiful touches they add to those houses! I also did 10 minutes on the stair stepper, which I must say is a good workout because I was sweating after those 10 minutes! I also lifted some free weights for my arms.

I already knew what I wanted for dinner when I got home from the gym. My co-worker had some buffalo wings for lunch today and the smell made me want some myself. I had the third and final gardein product in my freezer to try out–meatless buffalo wings. I paired them with a side of baby carrots, broccoli and pepper jack cheese.

They were pretty good! Nice and spicy. I added a little Frank’s Red Hot too, because I’m obsessed like that.

I blogged early tonight and it’s time to read a few blogs, log off, bake and read! Good night! Don’t know if I’ll be able to blog at all tomorrow, but if not, I’ll catch up on Wednesday morning before heading to work.

Millions of Peaches and South Indian Pumpkin Soup

Ok, I couldn’t resist. Last night, during our cool down at Boot Camp, our teacher played the song Peaches by the Presidents of the United States of America. I haven’t been able to get it out of my head since and I also craved peaches since hearing the song. All I had to satisfy my craving was a can of Dole All Natural peaches in the pantry, so I packed that up for lunch today. The band’s name is perfect for voting day, even though we’re not voting for President today, but for Senate, Governor, etc.

Breakfast was Kashi Island Vanilla with coffee.

It was my rest day from exercise, so we walked to the nearest school and voted. I had to register again because I haven’t voted since we got married. The name change thing seems to always come up, even a year and two months after I have been married!

Karma liked my “I voted” sticker.

Dinner tonight was a new recipe! South Indian Pumpkin Soup.

South Indian Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1  can pumpkin puree
• 2 cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth or stock
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1″ ginger, peeled and minced
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 cup reduced-fat coconut milk
• toasted pumpkin seeds for garnish (optional)

Instructions:

1) In a heavy saucepan, heat oil over medium-low heat. Stir in garlic, ginger and curry powder and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant.

2) Add vegetable stock/broth and coconut milk and turn heat to medium. Stir in pumpkin puree and orange juice, breaking up any clumps with a long-handled spoon.

3) Stir soup occasionally until heated through, about 5 minutes. Take soup off the heat and stir in salt, nutmeg and red pepper; taste for seasoning. Garnish bowls of soup with toasted pumpkin seeds (optional).

Nutritional content (per serving):

Calories: 34, Total fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 0mg, Sodium: 146mg, Carbs: 6g, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 3g, Protein: 2g

The littlest things excite me. At work today, we got our YMCA Wellness at Work gym towel, water bottle and gym bag. You see, I bought a Gaiam bag that held my yoga mat and was the perfect size. Well, I never used it (because I wanted to see what my free Y bag would be like), so I will have to return that bag and keep this YMCA one. The Y one ended up being a great size and of really nice quality.

Off to watch the election results for a little bit. Hope you all voted!