Ethnic Meals Day!

I had a case of the snack attacks yesterday!  It was so bad I didn't even take pics of everything that went into my mouth :(  definately not a great eating day.  Why can't I ever just stop at one piece of candy?  It's a lesson I must learn.  I definately have learned I get moody when I don't eat well and I am not as happy.

Moving on to today....

Exsc:  5 mile run/walk

Mexican Breakfast:  1 egg + 2 egg whites scrambled with sauteed with onion, cilantro, tomato on top of a double fiber English muffin (110 cals) with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese & a drizzle of ketchup

I had a larger mid morning snack since yesterday I think that was where I went wrong and over did it later :)

3/4 C. fat free cottage cheese, 15 sliced strawberries (a few made it into my mouth before the bowl)

asian turkey lettuce wraps, I swear they taste just about like P.F. Changs... yum yum

mid-afternoon, gala apple, 4 slices deli turkey

a little pre-din snack, I was starving and didn't want to over do it at dinner!  PLUS I got my Barney Butter in the mail today with FREE SHIPPING & I had to try it!  I am definately a fan!  Who could ask for anything else than a no-stir a delicious almond butter (code: ship4free)

I had about 1T. with 10 raisins
Italian Dinner:   ummm spaghetti squash, I like to call it the "pseudo spaghetti".  I actually like spaghetti squash better than regular pastabecause 1.it fills me up way more than pasta 2.less cals 3.love the texture

I topped it with 4 T. marinara sauce from Whole Foods (only 25 cals per 1.2 C) 3 turkey italian meatballs I made from the "Eat Clean Diet" recipe book, the hubby was very impressed and loved them!  I also had a side of steamed broccoli, I am full & satisfied!
Now I'm off to help out with a youth group..I love it!  

PIZZA PIZZA

Aren't Mondays always hard to get going back into the grind...work, exercise, basically a schedule! haha    did accomplish a major goal yesterday that is for hard for me...I didn't eat anything after dinner whahoo!  I really think thi will teach me to stop comfort eating and lose weight more efficiently.  I did wake up really hungry in the middle of the night though :(  hope fully my body will adjust soon.  

I started out the day with almost a 3 mile jog and then lifted weights on my chest/back/abs.  This afternoon I headed out for a 2.5 mile stroll to think and get fresh air, it was nice!

After my run I had a 1/2 C steel cut oats mixed with 1/3 C. whipped cottage cheese, 1/2 large banana, 1 T Better N' PB topped with a 3 chopped walnuts

After my weight session I guzzled this sinful looking "milk shake" I mean protein shake made with 1 scoop Whey Designer chocolate PB protein powder, 1/2 C skim milk and 1 T. PB

Lunch was exceptionally good today!  I HEART pizza!  I took a 110 cal pita and topped it with 

1 1/2 T. Roasted Red Bell Pepper spread form TJs, cooked spinach, olives, 1 T. fat free feta, shredded chicken and about 1/3 C. shredded mozzarella.  It was so yummy!  When I showed my husband the roasted red bell pepper spread I bought on Saturday he gave me a funny look, but when he saw my lunchh today he said, "that looks amazing, what's the orange stuff?" haha  I paired the pizza with a side salad (from a bag :( ) topped with a few oloves, a sprinkle of fat free feta and 1 T. Newman's light balamic.  DELISH!

After my walk I treated my self to some pita pillow sandwiches!  I used the left over shredded chicken from lunch, hummus, cucumber slices, and tomato

then I finished it off with a sweet treat!  DInner tonight is going to be leftovers from last night, I'll spare you the De'javoux pic!  Instead of the salad I'm going to pair the pork tenderloin and pilaf with some fresh steamed broccoli.  Hope today was a great day!

Happy Sunday

I love Sundays, they are so relaxing!  Its my day off from exercising, well except for maybe a nice stroll outside with the hubby that I'm just about to head out and go do :)  After my pancake my breakfast I had a light lunch to tide me over thru church.....

2 mini wheat pitas and the rest of my chicken/grape/celery salad.  Doesn't it look like a bed with pillows? haha

After church I snacked on a caramel brown rice cake with 1/2 C whipped cottage cheese mixed with 1 1/2 tsp better n' peanut butter topped with a sliced strawberry and a dash of splenda!  Anyone ever tried Better N' PB?  What do you think?

Oh how I love eating beautiful dinners!  I made the pork loin roast from Tosca Reno's Eat Clean cook book and it was nothing less than to die for.  I did mine a little different & stuffed it with sun dried tomatoes instead of apricots, Ezekiel bread crumbs, cooked broccoli, and basil leaves!  On the side we had a spinach salad with tomatoes, cucumber and fat free feta crumbles oh and of course some Kashi Pilaf....delish!

Here is my plate!  I went for seconds on the salad... a little extra veggies is never a bad thing right?

Good night, hope you had a wonderful weekend! :)

Starting anew

No, I am not posting today to say, "I'm starting Monday".  This weekend wasn't the best eating for me but definately wasn't the worst.  Let's just say it was a higher calorie day Friday evening and yesterday.  This "no diet" mentality thing may be harder than I thought for me.  I am so use to putting my self on strict diet plans that having some freedom has been great but also a little too cushy.  It's been great in the fact that when I've eaten a snack that in the past would have been considered "forbidden" (like a  banana with PB) I didn't go off and eat everything else in sight that is forbidden.  Yesterday, however, I did snack on a few too many snack size candies (pumpkin kisses, m&ms, reese's, jolly rancher).  Then after an evening of miniature golfing with friends I had a scoop of Baskin Robbins cookies & cream ice cream.  Wouldn't have been so bad if I wouldn't have been so slack in my eating earlier in the day.  You can always fit a treat into a healthy diet right?  At least I went on a 5-mile hike yesterday.  Anyways, I decided since I am use to some rules in my old life of dieting I need to set a few to help keep me focused and on track to achieve my goals and give me some structure.  Instead of calling them rules, I am calling them goals.

GOALS

1.  eat a good balance or protein and carbs at every meal

2.  eat higher glycemic carbs earlier in the day, especially after an intense workout

3.  eat every 2-3 hours if hungry (this is never a problem for me, the problem is all the bites in between:)  about 5-6 smaller meals per day, I am a grazer  for sure!

4.  don't eat after dinner unless really hungry, not just bored.  Even then make it a protein snack

5.  Don't count calories:  calorie counting doesn't work for me, I get all flustered if I think I am too close to my budget and then tend to throw in the towel.  Plus, you don't always know how many calories are in something if someone else makes the dish.  I have found the hand fist method works best for me.  Each meal should have a carb the size of your fist and a protein the size of your palm.  Veggies can be eaten liberally until satisfied (unless starchy & loaded with butter)

Not eating at night has been something I have always wanted to follow.  I think most of my night time eating is for comfort reasons, or the sweet tooth kicking in, not because I physically need food.  I will achieve these nutritional goals and I am starting right now!

Moving onto breakfast:

I picked up a box of Trader Joe's multigrain pancake mix and whipped up half a batch this morning using 1 T. unsweetened applesauce instead of oil, 2 egg whites, cinnamon, vanilla, and diced apples. I topped my two pancakes with about 1 T. cranberry apple butter from TJ's, a drizzle of sugar free syrup and some left over sliced apples.  It was really good, not much protein in it but at least I had a carbohydrate loaded meal early in the day.  Next time I make these I am going to incorporate some more protein in the meal :)

So far this afternoon....

Yay, only 6 more hours til the Zach Gill & Mason Jennings concert!  They are on the same record label as Jack Johnson & I HEART them!

Here's a recap of the afternoon thus far....

 chicken salad pita:  1 can shredded chicken, diced grapes, diced celery, a few sliced almonds,    1 tsp lemon juice, 3 tsp. greek yogurt, 2 tsp. poppy seed dressing leftover from last night all mixed together

I packed the pita with lots of lettuce for extra filling and then added the chicken salad

Remember, this awesome pita only had 110 cals...LOVE IT!

AFTERNOON TREAT:  not much protein packed in this snack but I was anxious to try it even though I wasn't hungry.  Last night I took half a banana, sliced it & mixed it in a Lt N' Fit blueberry yogurt.  Then I stuck a popsicle stick in it and threw it in the freezer and got this cool treat!  Wish me luck at dinner!  I am so not going to order a salad & consume more than I would if I just ordered something else and ate less of it....this will be a first!  Well, I might order a salad if it looks amazing, I LOVE SALAD!

Breakfast Buffet

I don't know what got into me this morning, I definately over did it for breakfast today:(  I woke up feeling tired and lacking energy so I had a small banana and 1 T. peanut butter before I headed out to EXSC.

I walked about 1.5miles to a mountain bike/running trail to run some hills.  By the time I got home I had been out about 90minutes and was hungry!  So, I started witha slize of Ezekiel toast topped with a few black beans and left over egg white turkey scramble from my pizza the other night & a drizzle of low sugar ketchup.   It was good but I wasn't satisified.

So, I had this small bowl of granola.  Wouldn't have been that bad but I had a second bowl too oops!  Man, granola is just so hard for me to stop at just a bit.

Then, I still wanted even a sweeter treat so I topped one of my caramel brown rice cakes with a T. of peanut butter, a few raisins and a drizzle of honey.  
Well, to look on the bright side at least I ate this all for my morning meal & not late at night.  Pus, they say its best to eat your largest meal after an intense workout because your muscles will eat up all the glycogen and it won't be stored as fat.

My hubby and I are going to dinner and a concert tonight, can't wait!  I am going to try to eat some very light meals the rest of the day so I don't "feel guilty" at dinner.  Going out to dinner tonight will be a good test for me.  I am definately going to order what I want but eat a small portion of whatever that may be.  :)

Double duty!

After my extremely boring and sedentary computer training I suddenly got this surge of energy when I got home and decided to head to the gym for round dos!  Funny because I was fighting to keep my eyes open the entire time during the training class, guess I had a lot of energy I needed to release.  

I decided against the ThinkThin bar and opted for more of a sugary snack for an added pick me up!  It sure did the trick, I felt great at the gym.  I topped an organic brown rice caramel cake with a T. melted PB mixed with 1/4 C whipped cottage cheese, 6 banana slices and a drizzle of honey.  The cottage cheese PB combo was fantastic!  I think I might have cottage cheese coming out my ears I've been eating it so much.  I made a special trip to Whole Foods just to make this special whipped cottage cheese purchase, bought 3, then got home and realized they expired in 4 days!  ahhhh!  Note to self....look at the expiration date before you hit the checkout stand :)

ate this treat at 2:30pm

EXSC:  legs and biceps

back squats 3 sets of 12 at 45lbs, 55 lbs, 65 lbs

good mornings 2 sets of 12 at 45lbs & 55 lbs

lean back cable curls 50lbs x 12 reps

lying leg curls 3 sets of 12 reps at 70lbs

standing EZ curl 3 sets of 12 at 30lbs

leg ext machine 3 sets of 20 at 87.5 lbs

20 lunges each leg with bicep curl using 10 lb dumbells

hammer culrs 3 sets of 12 at 12 lbs.

Finish with 20 minutes on the stairclimber while reading my new issue of Women's HealthMag

My snack held me over for about 3 1/2 hrs until dinner was ready.  My wonderful hubby made a turkey bean chili using a package of Bob's Redmill bean soup and ground turkey.  I put mine in a smaller serving dish and topped it with a sprinkle of cheese.

The strawberries in the fridge were looking nearly wilted so I threw together a spinach, strawberry, sliced almond salad with homemade raspberry poppyseed dressing.  I used 1/2 C of the yogurt I made with the cheese cloth mixed with raspberry balsamic vinegar and poppy seeds.  It was so good and oh so healthy without any added oils :)

Dessert:  1/3 C. whipped cottage cheese topped with 1/2 C banana sugar free pudding, the other half of my banana form earlier & a few chopped walnuts.  Oh how I love dessert!  Hopefully I can wait to indulge in this until The Office comes on in an hour :)