Keep Calm and Lean On (Me)

I again started off the day right.

And to celebrate this right start, right after leaving the hospital I went straight to the Rec and peddled my butt off.

I again did some HIIT. This time it took me a little less than 20 minutes. I then headed back down stairs, but instead of doing legs, I was smarter and more bro and did arms. I did some sets of curls and some sets of triceps. I threw a set or two of chest in there just to really round out the bro routine.

When I got home, I grilled up about 3 pounds of chicken thighs with some onions and carrots. There was also an ample amount of garlic and onion powders, as usual.

I ate 1 pound of the 3.

I then succumbed to the urge to eat something sweet. I had a solitary CRUNCH egg. A little old, but still good!

Then I went and bagged some sunflower seed. All totaled, I bagged thirty 25 pound bags. So let's see, I lifted them after I bagged them, I lifted them when I stacked them...yep, that comes out to me lifting around 9,000,000,000  pounds total. Good for a second workout.

Right about when I got done is when Sidney got home. She still had muffins and brownies to bake, so I helped (sort of). The first thing I did was make the crumb topping for her blueberry muffins.

If it doesn't look that crumbly, well, that's because it isn't. You see, I used stick margarine instead of actual butter. Oh well, this made for a surprisingly tasty and incredibly addicting "quick cookie dough." I admit it; I ate a little bit of it. Okay, I ate more than I should have. It was literally margarine, sugar, and flour. Who says no to that?! Crazy people, that's who! (Sorry to all you crazy people out there whom I may have just offended.)

Sidney and I then went out to dinner. Constrained to a maximum budget of $30, we contemplated where to go. Eventually, we settled on Applebee's. I had been wanting to go to Applebee's since I hadn't been in about 4 years, and since I have fond memories of pleasant experiences from my previous visits.

Besides, it's nice to support a local Kansas City business.

I scoured the menu, looking for selections that may stay within my 900 or so calories remaining for the day. Thanks to MyFitnessPal, I was able to estimate the caloric values of several of my top contenders. For example, the 4 Cheese Mac and Cheese with Chicken had around 1,700 calories, so it was out. But my initial front runner, the Bourbon Street Chicken and Shrimp, with only around 610 calories, got the nod. So that's what I ordered!

It came out sizzling, with a nice-sized chicken breast, plenty of blackened shrimp, ample amounts of grilled onions, and some cubed red potatoes to boot. I can see how this is around 600 calories; it was just the right size.

Sidney ordered a Thai Shrimp Salad.

I did taste it, and it was pretty good. It was actually a salad that I could have been happy with being my main meal. Maybe. It was still a salad, after all.

After our dinner, Sidney and I drove up to Rock Chalk Park since she had never seen it before. On the way, the clouds looked rather...well, interesting.

They didn't get much better as we drove on, with this shelf cloud looming in the distance.

We decided to curtail our lollygagging and head home. As we got nearer and nearer to Sidney's house, the clouds got nearer and nearer to the ground.

It was actually quite interesting and spectacular to behold. As long as those clouds don't rotate quickly, I'm fine.

When we got home, Sidney and I sat down on the couch to watch Ella Enchanted. After many frustrating DVD imperfections, we finally finished the movie.

Sidney, not knowledgeable of my earlier moment of weakness, offered me another CRUNCH egg.

Of course, I ate it. But even with this extra bit of energy, I still don't think I really got all that huge today. Keep Calm and Lean On.