Vacuuming, soup, and other thrilling topics.

It's a sleepy-feeling kind of day. One of those days when from sunrise to sundown, the amount of light coming in through the window doesn't change at all and the sky remains the same shade of gray. Just look at it outside- it looks like nap time.

The plus side to a cool, rainy day that also happens to be a day off from spinning or running is that our furry carpet will finally get some love in the form of a vigorous vacuuming. And the sofa, which smells like a third, very large and stinky dog, needs to get Arm & Hammered to death. About three times a year my dogs shed everywhere, making this place look, feel and smell like it belongs to an animal horder. I might need to take a trip to the money trap that is Target to arm myself against the funk and dander.

For today's workout, I have GOT to get back to doing yoga. Naturally, I can not commence with my sun salutations until I clean the house (nothing like down-dogging in a pile of dog fur) but I think just about every part of my body will benefit from a solid hour of yoga today. I used to do it on a weekly basis in conjunction with running and climbing, and while I'm faster now than I was then - a few years ago - I feel like parts of me are not as strong. Since I can't always make it to the gym to throw weights around, I want to re-commit to weekly yoga sessions.

In addition to strength, I've been focusing on food a lot this week. It seems that I'm always just slightly hungry, which is annoying considering I need energy to keep up with my mini training partner, not to mention running and work. Protein has been my major focus (because lord knows I eat enough carbs). Truth be told, I just barely get the amount of protein I'm supposed to. I tend to follow the 3:1:1 carbs to fat to protein ratio. Based on a 2000 calorie diet, this means I should try to get 400 calories' worth - 100g - of protein a day. I think I barely get 50g. So I'm pretty much grabbing for protein wherever I can find it: lean meats, Greek yogurt, nuts, whey powder... anything.

Since I'm not always putting together Top Chef-worthy meals, I keep my cupboard and freezer stocked with quick, easy items that can be thrown together for quick, tasty meals.

Pasta + soup + frozen brocolli + frozen turkey meatballs. Boil low 'til pasta is cooked and you get...

Soupy, pasta-y, brocolli nomz. You can use a bowl though, if all of yours aren't in the dishwasher, like mine were.

I was full from that meal for a whopping 43 minutes!

Of course, the pot didn't last long, which just gives me another reason to raid Target. When you can put together a meal that is literally $0.67 a serving, you just can't go wrong.

What's your favorite strength or X-training routine? Do you do videos at home or do you just wing it? I actually like a yoga DVD from time to time- it's nice to let someone else tell me what to do.

Do you have a go-to easy meal? I'm a big soup fan, but once it's consistently in the 80's and 90's I start making a lot of chicken salad (recipe tomorrow) because I don't want to turn on the oven or burners!