There are times when I feel that being a grown up basically means that outside of work, commuting, sleep, household maintenance, meals (and meal prep), and financial management, I only have time for two in-depth hobbies or interests at a time in my daily life.

Clearly one of those slots will always be taken up by my workouts, and the time commitment for that ranges from 40-90 minutes a day currently. My other open slot is currently dedicated to fussing with the Pink Dumbbells and Caustic Musings sites, which leaves maybe an hour a day before bed or my morning workout for the remaining hobbies and various social commitments to rotate in and out when I don’t have to work late.

No wonder I never seem to have enough time to do all the things I *want* to do: garden, draw, play through my huge backlog of computer and video games, sew, learn to knit, practice writing Chinese, and write fiction.

If I actually had children, I’d probably only have ONE open slot instead of two.

There does seem to be a way to free up more time, though. I just need to stay away from the living room couch and the siren call of our Brighthouse Networks DVR with its many recorded episodes of CSI, Project Runway, and Good Eats.

I did seem to get a lot more done when I didn’t have cable… Maybe it is time that the TV transformed back into a home workout/gaming machine vs. the hypnotic waste of time it has become.

And, come to think of it, fitting in work out 2 during lunch would free up an hour at night as well….

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3/1 Report
(*Diet and workout details omitted by agreement with trainer)
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Nutrition:

Meals - On plan
Water - 17 cups
Supplements - On plan

Regular (Non-Plan) Daily Supplements - multivitamin with iron, calcium 600 + D

21 days down, 63 more to go!

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Workout:

Weights - Make up session from Tuesday - Done
Cardio - Bike sprints + Treadmill LISS walk and run - Done

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The Awful Truth:
1. Nothing!

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Brownie Points:
1. Upgraded Community Builder component at PDB.
2. Located new Events module for PDB.
3. Fixed remaining issues with Joomla migration at Pinkdumbbells.com.
4. Upgraded to Joomlaboard 1.1.2 stable at PDB.
5. Got cardio done during lunch so I can have the night off from sweating.

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Short-term Goals:
1. Work on paper doll sketches.
2. Set up archived version of The Training Journal forum at PDB from Hershey Girl’s backup.
3. Upgrade Wordpress to 2.0.
4. Transplant two tomato vines and plant Swiss Chard.
5. Buy more chicken breast.
6. Clear out mail inbox at home.
7. Finish taxes.
8. File receipts and statements.
9. Organize office.

I made another crispy treat bar recipe this weekend in an attempt to get my boyfriend to snack on something healthy yet tasty. I’m sad that I can’t have any, but oh well…they look fabulous and HUGE, and my taste-test guinea pigs at home and work say they are good.

Enjoy!

(If you are lactose intolerant, you can try replacing the dry milk with two more scoops of protein powder.)

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Chocolate Oatmeal Raisin Crispy Treat Bars

Yields 10 bars

Nutritional information per bar: 256 cals, 6.77 g fat, 1.72 g sat fat, 28.2
g carb, 1.51 g fiber, 22.4 g pro

(Macros: 41% carb, 35% protein, 24% fat - Between Zone and BFL)

Base Layer
. 8 scoops chocolate protein powder (~20-22 g protein per scoop)
. ½ cup oatmeal, dry
. ½ cup dry nonfat milk powder
. 1.5 TBSP cocoa powder
. 5 TBSP natural peanut butter
. 2 tsp vanilla extract
. 6 packets Splenda (or 1/4 c. granular Splenda)
. 1/3 - 1/2 cup water (less or more based on your protein powder)
. 4 oz. raisins (~ 2/3 cup firmly-packed)

Crispy Treat Layer
. 2 cups Rice Krispies Cereal
. 10 large marshmallows
. 1 TBSP butter/margarine

Directions:

Line large (9 x 13 or at least a 9 x 9) baking dish of loaf pan with wax
paper (let the paper be over size on two opposite ends so that you can use
them to pull out the bars after setting).

BASE layer: Combine protein powder, oatmeal, cocoa powder, Splenda, and dry
milk for BASE layer in a medium bowl and mix well. Add peanut butter and mix
(I use a potato masher or two butter knives to “cut in” the PB) - the
mixture will be crumbly and dry. Add raisins and mix. Add water & vanilla
extract. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula (you may want to spray with
non-stick cooking spray), mix everything until dough forms. The dough will
be sticky. Spread dough into pan and press down using a sheet a wax paper
and a spatula.

CRISPY layer: Over stove in non-stick pan, melt butter over low heat. Add
marshmallows and stir until melted and sticky. Remove from heat and quickly
stir in cereal to coat. Press mixture into pan on top of base layer using
wax paper (or spray your spatula with cooking spray) to prevent sticking.

Microwave method: Melt butter in large bowl in the microwave ~ 35-40
seconds. Add marshmallows and toss to coat in butter. Microwave for an
additional 45 - 90 seconds or until marshmallows have softened and expanded.
Stir into sticky mixture and add cereal. Quickly stir to coat. Press
mixture into pan on top of base layer using wax paper (or spray your spatula
with cooking spray) to prevent sticking.

Refrigerate for overnight or freeze for 1 hour and cut into 10 bars. Wrap
individually in plastic wrap or store in covered container between sheets of
wax paper. Keep refrigerated.