Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you woke up to warm temperatures, blue skies and an overall beautiful day. But if you live in the Boston or Providence area, you woke up to gray skies, showers, rain, and down right cold temperatures. When I got to work it was barely 50 degrees outside and there was a chill in the air – the kind that gets right into your bones. I felt like I was living in England again during the winter months. Hopefully this will not last long – but if the meterologists have it right, weather something like this will be with us until Saturday. Bleh.

Every single person I saw on Monday morning looked like they had a case of “the Mondays”. No one was really high energy, no one was laughing [much] and everyone looked tired. Not to mention the fact that we all looked like we were dressed for winter. Even my friend who insists on wearing shorts and a tee shirt every day after April 15 was in jeans today.

But I was determined to make the best of my Monday morning. I for one did have a very busy weekend, but I felt well prepared for Monday morning. So I tried to make the best of it.

I have to admit, there is something about a Monday morning… There is something about waking up at 5:45 on Monday morning. Your entire work week stretches out before you. This is one reason I love Monday afternoons – you’ve made it through what could possibly be the worst part of the week (Monday morning) and you are making progress in your week. I think Monday mornings can be really productive.

This morning I started my commute with a great travel mug of coffee. I got to the office at 7:30 where I promptly enjoyed a Kashi chewy granola bar. Later I had a second cup of coffee out of my Rosie the Riveter mug:
For the record, drinking coffee out of my Rosie the Riveter always makes me feel like I can survive a Monday morning 🙂
I also enjoyed a Chobani lemon flavored Greek yogurt (along with my usual sprinkle of Kashi go lean crunch and flax & chia seeds for the Omega 3 fatty acids, fiber and a little extra protein).
I think the lemon could be my new favorite Greek yogurt flavor. I knew I needed the added protein from the yogurt because my lunch was a little low on protein. (Salad, a small piece of bread and hummus was packed for lunch)
By 12:30 I was able to sit down with my colleagues for lunch. I had a salad, bread and vegetable hummus packed:
The salad was made up of green leaf lettuce, tomato, red pepper, carrots, orange pepper and scallions. All parts of of my lunch were well worth the effort I had put into preparing them the night before. The bread is from Dave’s market and it is amazing. (you know how much I love bread!) After lunch I enjoyed a small piece of Dove dark chocolate.
At three o’clock, I needed my afternoon snack which was an apple that I had packed. The apple was good and I was going to be fine. But a few minutes later I was walking through the lunch room where I saw two of my friends hovering over a loaf of banana and coconut bread. Seriously!? I had a little taste and it was wonderful – a very interesting combination.
I left work at 4 o’clock and I was determined to head to the gym. I have one word to describe traffic today in the Boston area: brutal. Here’s a great combo for you: Boston + rain + rush hour (which by the way lasts approximately between 6AM – 10:30 AM and 2 PM – 7 PM) + the month of May (everyone is going to school, no one is really on vacation, and at the end of the month you have a ton of college graduations!) = worst traffic ever. Well, not quite – because I survived both the morning commute and evening commute today. But I think it is just going to get worse as the week goes on.
I got to the gym at 5:20 this afternoon. I was surprised that my trainer had a free half hour so we got a great work out in. We are gradually starting to incorporate light weights into my strength training. I used to be so strong from my college years of rowing crew, but with being so sick and my surgery, I have lost a lot of my muscle mass.
After a half hour of working out with my trainer, I got on the treadmill and I walked and slowly jogged for 32 minutes. Last week I had a bit of a serious set back in my recovery. Last Monday I lifted something at work that I should not have – it was very heavy and I had definitely severely pulled or strained a muscle in my stomach. Hopefully this is not a hernia. Tomorrow I am meeting with my surgeon to make sure that there is no serious damage done. My fingers are crossed that I have not done anything horrible to my body – I have definitely learned my lesson. No more lifting heavy things.

Recovery can be a really frustrating business! After the highs of running my first race since surgery on April 30th, and running the 5.1 miles last Saturday, I hit the low of injury and not being able to run for the last week. Thankfully I was able to do some cardio exercise (elliptical and speed walking saved me!) Today I finally started feeling well, and made sure to take it easy at work so that I did not injure myself again.
I got home from the gym a little after 7 o’clock. I made a quick protein shake with fat free milk and water, and drank before showering and changing into comfortable clothes. I cannot believe it is the middle of May and I am wearing the same sweat pants I have been wearing all winter long. 😦
Dinner was fantastic yet again! Ratatouille over whole wheat pasta. Such comfort food for me. [This is the same picture from last night – I ate more tonight!] 🙂
I hope you are all having a great start to your week, too. I’ll be back tomorrow – see you then!