Everybody Loves The Sunshine

I love the song "Everybody Loves The Sunshine" and can't seem to get it out of my head this morning. We woke up to bright sunshine coming in the apartment and were almost blinded when we walked out of our building to the gym. It hasn't been this sunny for weeks! Unfortunately, it's also absolutely frigid out, so it's one of those days when the sunshine plays a trick on you because you think it might actually be warm out. Oh well, the sunshine is still gorgeous and has put me in a great mood.

So, last night I decided to 'bake' a frozen pizza I picked up at Trader Joe's last week. I do love pizza but it's hard in this city to find tasty, healthy fresh pizza that's not super expensive. If you're not familiar, most pizza places sell by the slice, but the slices are about as big as a small pie! Anyway, I got a whole wheat veggie pizza, light on the cheese with a good amount of protein and not too bad in fat and calories. I boosted the nutritional value by adding some frozen broccoli & peppers, and sliced fresh zucchini and yellow squash before popping it in the oven. What came out was a very tasty dinner.

Woody added a few ingredients to his slices - hot pepper flakes and a few slices of jalapeno pepper (he likes his food much spicier than I do).

This was a healthier way to enjoy a guilty pleasure. I do want to try making my own pizza sometime soon. Apparently Trader Joe's has very good whole wheat dough and I found a good recipe I might try too.

I had a great workout this morning. 45 minutes on the treadmill followed by 30 minutes on the bike and a pretty intense core workout and finished off with a few minutes of jumping rope. Something happened while I was on the mat doing my core workout that hasn't happened to me before and caught me a bit off guard, to tell you the truth. There was a woman next to me on the mat, probably in her 50's or so, doing crunches and other ab exercises and I noticed she kept looking over at me. It made me a bit self conscious until she complimented me on my routine and said she was watching to get ideas! Okay, so I have been working on my core more lately, but by no means do I have a flat stomach (yet), so this seemed a bit misdirected since there are quite a few women at our gym with to-die-for abs, but I couldn't help smiling and thanking her for the compliment. Definitely added another notch in the 'quality workout' scale for the day!

By the time I got home, I had definitely worked up an appetite and wanted a little switch from my usual oatmeal or yogurt & granola routine. So, I had a White Chocolate Wonderful & banana sandwich on an Arnold's sandwich thin with half a grapefruit (sent with love from my MIL in FLA) and a cup of hot Carribou Morning Brew Coffee (a Christmas gift from my sis & her husband). This breakfast definitely hit the spot!

Question(s) for the day: what are your Super Bowl plans? Do you watch for the game or the commercials? Do you have a favorite team? Are you planning any healthy snacks to munch on or taking a break for the night?
My Answers: Staying in and enjoying it with Woody. I watch for the commercials, he watches for both. (have you seen the previews of Betty White's spot? Can't wait for that one!) He has a tiny bit of money riding on the Colts but we'd both be happy to see the Saints win. I'm planning a not so healthy dinner for tonight (also my first meat dish in 3 weeks) but also have light popcorn on hand to make for snacking. Woody has his favorite baked tortilla chips and salsa ready to go.