Breakfast (9:00 a.m.): Special K cereal with almond milk.  The chocolate chips in here are so good!  I wish they sell them separately for me to snack on!

Lunch (12:30 p.m.): I had hiyamugi (Japanese noodle, a little thicker than somen) with pre-made dipping sauce, and vegetable and shrimp pancake (onion, garlic chives, carrot, and shrimp).

I really wanted to eat tempura soba but realized that I didn’t have any buckwheat noodle left midway through cooking so I settled for hiyamugi that my fiance apparently purchased and hid in the pantry when I wasn’t watching.  I ended up eating two pancakes.

Dinner (5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.): Tiffany, Shannon, and I went for a run after work. We ran around Rose Bowl only once, for a total of 3.1 miles, but they were quality three miles. We walked a little but dashed the last quarter mile like our lives depended up it!  I was out of breath at the end and my lungs and heart were pumping but it felt really, really great. YAY to the first workout of 2012!

I had a small bowl of spaghetti with bolognese sauce before the run to make sure that I had enough energy for the workout (which helped tremendously), but we ended up having real dinner at Pita Jungle in Old Town Pasadena afterward. I was actually pretty surprised how clean Colorado Boulevard was, considering that this was the heart of yesterday’s Rose Parade.

We shared a few appetizers (hummus, pita, sliced cucumbers, scallops, and shrimp) and shared the plate of grilled vegetable salad and black bean burger.  Oh, and two glasses of red wine.

I’ve gained a few pounds in the last several days, which is not too surprising … but I have to get back on track now.  I’m so happy that I’ll be working out with my sister tomorrow!

This is usually how I feel …

When I  see my sister … very happy to see her!
When I find out what she is going to put me through for the next 60 minutes
When I have to start
When I can’t do some of the moves (burpies!) because I’m so out of shape
When I’m DONE!
And this is my sister, with her tough love!