Chili!!

Tonight for dinner, I had chili that my mom had made. It had at least two or three kinds of peppers in it (which I generally have trouble digesting, but after going vegan, I've been doing great with them), plus two types of beans and zucchini, along with other typical chili spices and sauce. No meat, though! It's crazy to me that when I tell people that I make meatless chili, they wonder what I put in it. Apparently, to them, chili is just spiced meat with some tomato sauce poured over it. When I make chili, I love to put three kinds of beans, and LOTS of chili powder + cayenne pepper in it. Spicy enough to make my eyes water = perfect chili. Mom's was really good -- very spicy, the way I like it. I had to wash it down with the last of her apple cider. (Guess you'll need to go back to the orchard this weekend, Mom!) ;)

Lunch was pretty basic today. An organic PBJ (organic bread, organic peanut butter, organic Crofter's fruit spread). Carrots + celery (I shared the celery with KO--they're her fave!) and grapes (KO got a handful of those as well!)

I had a great workout tonight at the gym. I like to vary my workout a bit so on Mondays, I walk a couple miles around the track with my parents (that's the only day we can all work out together...). On Wednesdays, I do basic strength/toning exercises with machines + weights. Thursdays--at least 20 minutes on the bike (although I may try an elliptical tomorrow). Fridays and Saturdays are difficult for me to stay consistent on, but I like to do weights again on Friday and some sort of cardio activity (outside, if I can) on Saturdays. Tonight, as with most Wednesdays, I start out by walking one lap around the track to warm up my muscles so I won't pull anything. Then I do all of my lower body on the machines: leg extensions (quads), seated leg curls (hamstrings), leg press (quads/hams/glutes), and hip abduction/adduction (inner thighs and hip muscles). I also started using the ab crunch machine tonight. I do two sets of ten reps, usually. And if I start to feel like they're too easy, I'll increase the weight a bit. (That's only happened with one exercise though.) After the machines, I'll go over to the free weights and work my upper body. I do bicep and hammer curls, tricep dumbbell rows, and two kinds of oblique exercises (side-to-side and front bends). Two sets of ten reps for these as well. All of these exercises are things I learned in high school, and I'm really grateful that I still remember how to do them. And proper breathing technique, which is *super* important!

Sorry that was a bit long. I have some fun things to talk about over the next couple days, so hopefully I'll have some time to get to write about them. I need to go clean out my fridge for now, to make room for one of the fun things I'll be getting to soon. :)