Monday’s Bites

Today started with a slice of Trader Joe’s low calorie bread and ~1 Tbsp of light cream cheese before my 6:30am workout:

Jim and I lunged and squatted out way through the P90X Legs & Back DVD (~1 hour) and then completed the 15 minute Ab Ribber segment.  Very intense, but in a good way.  Post-workout, I refueled with a mixed up bowl of cottage cheese, kiwi, sliced almonds, and Kashi GOLEAN Crunch cereal:

I love kiwi!

Breakfast lasted me until about 11:30, but I knew I didn’t have time for lunch until 1pm – cheese stick to the rescue!

Lunch was leftover tofu and veggies from last night:

I chopped up a cheese stick for a little more staying power, and also had an apple on the side (unpictured)…

…followed by one of these guys for dessert!

By 5pm, I was starting to feel a tiny bit hungry, but not enough for a real snack.  I settled on raw zucchini:

This held me until dinner at 6:45pm:

Egg & mozzarella panini (TJ’s low calorie bread with a smear of Earth Balance margarine) heated on my panini press.  YUM!  I might have had a piece of bread while this was cooking.  I wasn’t feeling up to veggies due to a rumbly stomach, but wanted something munchy – enter 100 calorie bag of popcorn:

I feel totally satisfied and won’t question my sweet tooth’s current disappearance…I’m sure it will reappear soon enough!  Jim and I might be bowling with friends tonight, but I plan on abstaining from the pitchers of beer that will be floating around.  This girl is too tired for alcohol tonight!  Hope everyone else is doing well and full of energy!

Busy day and my first Green Monster!

For being slightly hungover this morning, I’m shocked at how productive today turned out to be.  Jim asked me to accompany him to the mall to pick out a present for his grandmother’s birthday, so being the good wife that I am, I happily obliged.  Shopping is a sure-fire way to forget a hangover.  I had a cheese stick in the car since we left at noon and I wasn’t hungry enough for lunch yet.

After browsing for a bit, we settled on Kiehl’s bath stuff.  I might have purchased a body wash for myself as well – gardenia…smells awesome.  After the mall, I had an easy lunch:

Romaine & carrots topped with tuna salad, raisins, and balsamic vinaigrette…

…a slice of rye with Earth Balance margarine…

…and a 100 calorie bag of popcorn because I was feeling munchy.

After lunch and a reading session with SELF magazine, I tidied up around the house and did some laundry.  A hour or so later I was hungry, so I had about 1/2 cup lowfat plain yogurt with 1/4 cup or so of Kashi GOLEAN Crunch:

Refueled and ready to go!  Jim was gone golfing with Chris, so I set out on a shopping mission at Run for Your Life.  I received some gift certificates for my birthday two months ago but was waiting to use them once my bra size changed again.   Sports bras for the “well-endowed” are not cheap, my friends!  I found one bra for running, one for lower impact stuff, and two sleeveless tanks.  I’m excited about the tanks because now I won’t have tanlines from my T-shirts!

After my shopping spree, I set out to gather the weekly groceries at Target and Trader Joe’s.  I might have thrown another sleeveless tank in the cart at Target as well…must have been the shopping demons taking over my hands (or at least that’s my excuse).  It was 7 by the time I made it home but I wasn’t that hungry and wanted to try out my new workout gear.   I had a piece of rye with ~1 Tbsp pbu to get me through the workout:

(Yes, this is a recycled picture from yesterday – I forgot to snap one…)

I took Kenan on a short run through our neighborhood – about a mile or so, and then did the P90X Shoulders & Arms DVD (~1 hr).  I loved this one – I actually enjoy free weights quite a bit.   They just make you feel strong and empowered!   After shoulders & arms I completed the Ab Ribber workout (~15 min) – it definitely rips your abs apart!  I am going to be so sore tomorrow!!!

I wasn’t really hungry after all the workouts, but knew I needed something substantial for dinner.  So…I tried my first Green Monster!!!

In the blender:

- 1/2 cup 1% Keifer

- 1/2 cup lowfat plain yogurt

- 1 scoop unflavored whey protein

- 2 big handfuls baby spinach

- 1 frozen peach

- 1/3 cup frozen strawberries

It turned out almost brown, but it was delish!   I was able to get away without adding agave nectar since the dairy was lowfat instead of fat free.   I also had another piece of rye with pbu on the side, but I didn’t take a picture since it would just be a repeat of earlier.

Fatigue is finally starting to set in after my jam-packed day, so I believe I will be heading to bed shortly.  I’ll try and post before seeing my dad in the morning, but if not, expect some flying pictures tomorrow night!

Cleaning Marathon!

I ate lunch around 1:30 – a combo of leftovers that needed to be eaten up:

Romaine lettuce, shredded carrots, tomato & cucumber from the Farmer’s Market, small apple, hard-boiled egg, and about 2 oz of chicken breast with TJ’s balsamic vinaigrette.  I tried to eat the chicken, but it just didn’t taste good so I pushed it aside – I think I’m getting to that burn out point with chicken breast.

Added a cheese stick at the end since I was a little shy on protein.

After lunch, I worked out for an hour and change – finished 45 minutes on the elliptical and 15 minutes of core strength training and 5 minutes of arms.  I’m excited because Jim wants to buy the P90X DVD series; it will be nice to do something different for a change.  I think it should be here in a week or so!

Post-workout I tried out the apple butter from Earthfare:

whole wheat bread with fresh ground almond butter and apple butter – YUM!

The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning – 2 or 3 hours worth!  I swept & mopped the kitchen/bathroom floors (first time in a month for mopping!), swept the den/foyer, vacuumed the bedroom, dusted, and finished two or three loads of laundry.  I used the vacuum attachment to hit all the hidden spots  in our bedroom- I even moved the bed to get the baseboards.  I now  realize why my allergies are worse at night – total dust/feather party back there!  A clean house makes me feel so productive and happy – does cleaning bring anyone else joy or am I the only weirdo out there? I asked Jim to mop the den/foyer, but we’ll see if that happens…

While cleaning, I munched on a few carrots here and there (unpictured) to tide me over until dinner.  We grilled cheeseburgers (96/4 ground beef with 2% colby jack) for Father’s Day – Jim isn’t a father in the technical sense, but we treat Kenan like a child so I got him a card anyways.  I tried to make potato wedges, but I think we didn’t grill them long enough because they turned out crunchy!

I had one of the potato slices and chucked the rest.  Good thing I had a big-old salad to fill up:

romaine, carrots, tomatoes, cucumber and TJ’s reduced fat cilantro dressing

Dessert was grilled peaches with a homemade strawberry glaze:

I didn’t measure any of the ingredients so these are estimates:  2 big handfuls of frozen strawberries, dash ground cinnamon, 1 tsp of vanilla extract, 1 tsp brown sugar, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, and 1 tsp Earth Balance margarine.

Everything blended together in the food processor:

I had a bite straight – it tasted like sorbet!

I filled each peach half with the glaze and then Jim used a rack on grill for about 10 minutes.

The finished product – they were delish!

Dinner was followed by clean-up and then lunch prep for the next few days.  I finished the night with a bowl of cereal:

1/2 cup each Peanut Butter Bumpers, Kashi Mighty Bites, and skim milk

Okay, better go call my Dad and wish him a Happy Father’s Day.  He’s in Atlanta with my mother and her parents for the weekend; otherwise, I would have made a trip home.  We’re going flying next Sunday, so I’ll have to give him a late hug then.

Mighty Bites are mighty good!

Jim and I took Kenan for a short walk around the neighborhood after dinner (~25 minutes), and then I completed about 30 minutes of upper body/core strength training.

Decided to try a new cereal for my snack tonight – Kashi Mighty Bites!

I apologize for the corny title above, couldn’t help myself

They taste like a cross between honey nut cheerios and honeycomb – great combo in my opinion! I mixed about 1/2 cup in 1/2 cup or so of plain yogurt, plus a drizzle of agave nectar.   Yummy!

I’m debating on becoming a Food Buzz Featured Publisher – any one have any feedback to share? I didn’t see anything that looked fishy in the contract, so I think I’ll go for it unless I hear negative stuff.

Macro Setting is Awesome!!!!

As you can tell, I’m a little excited about the macro setting on my camera.  I can’t believe how much better the food pictures came out! See for yourself:

I can actually see the individual flecks of tuna…

…and the specks on my apple peels!

These would have been so blurry before!  Obviously, lunch was a serving Kashi Original Grain crackers, a small apple, and a can of chunk light tuna.  I added about a Tbsp of reduced fat mayo and TJ’s sweet pickle relish to the tuna.  It feels weird not eating vegetables at lunch, but I’m out of fresh stuff and didn’t feel like frozen or canned.

Grocery shopping isn’t going to happen today – I got caught up doing some laundry and dishes before my workout, and I only have an hour before I have to start getting ready for the wedding.  Today’s workout included 45 minutes on my elliptical and one round of the Carolina 200 core routine.  Still trying to go easy on my shin splints; I’m hoping I can start running again by Monday.

Monday Eats

Physical Activity:  Woke up earlier today so I could fit in some strength training before work – spent 20 minutes with upper body weights and then one round of the Carolina workout from my husband.  I had planned on running after work, but it is roasting outside today!  I’ll probably stay indoors with my elliptical (and DVR’d episodes of So You Think You Can Dance) instead.

Breakfast

- Veggie-rific Egg Substitute Casserole

- Overnight Oatmeal Base topped with Kashi Go Lean Crunch & fresh blueberries

I was super pleased with the casserole – plain eggs get old after awhile, plus I enjoy knowing I’ve already eaten vegetables by 8am.    The only down side was that I didn’t microwave it long enough, so the middle bites were a bit cold.

The oatmeal mixture was excellent.  I love the crunchy sweetness of the Kashi, and it’s so much lower calorie than granola.

This combo kept me full until lunch, which is a great thing since I ran over with a few patients today and didn’t have time for a snack.

Lunch

- 1/2 can chunk light tuna with 1/2 Tbsp light mayo

- Creamy Low Fat Cole Slaw

- baby carrots

- cheese stick

- Kashi Original 7 Grain crackers

- kiwi

I’m pumped about my new plate from Target – I got sick of eating my lunch out of  Rubbermaid containers and plastic baggies.  It’s amazing how much more satisfying a meal can be when it’s plated in a decorative manner!

Afternoon Snack:  1 Tbsp freshly ground almond butter on 1 slice sunflower nut bread

You’ll have to use your imagination on this one – still getting used to this whole picture-taking thing and completely forgot.  I didn’t get around to this until 5pm, so really it was more of an appetizer.

Dinner

I have random leftovers in the fridge right now that need to be used – fresh pizza sauce from Earthfare, cooked red kidney beans/black beans, polenta, turkey breast.  Decided the four of those together didn’t sound very appetizer, but I was able to come up with something for two of the four:

Turkey & Pasta Pizzaz – I’m not going to post this on the recipe page because it’s a bit odd…unless other people like weird combos, too.

- 2 oz whole wheat pasta

- 1/2 can diced tomatoes

- about 1/4 cup pizza sauce

- handful frozen asparagus

- 3 oz turkey breast

Boil pasta in salted water.  While pasta is boiled, saute frozen asparagus in skillet sprayed with Pam.  Add tomatoes, pizza sauce, and turkey breast once asparagus has thawed.  Drain pasta; mix all ingredients.

I topped the dish with some grated Parmesan.  This would have been really pizza-ish with turkey pepperoni instead of turkey breast and some mozzarella cheese as well.

My eyes were bigger than my stomach – I left some of the pasta so I could have room for fresh pineapple!

Okay, off for my date with the elliptical…

Carolina 400 Workout & Grilled Turkey Breast

Strength Training: Carolina 400 Workout

This is courtesy of my husband, the UNC fanatic – seriously, he’s as obsessed with Carolina as I am with food.  I don’t have a medicine ball at home, so I improvised and used a 7.5 weight instead.  I like this because it’s quick – I can finish in 20 minutes if I really push myself, 30 if I take a more leisurely pace.   Great for the core!

After my workout, I was starting to feel a little hungry.  I had a slice of Trader Joe’s low calorie wheat bread with a tsp or so of Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese and a glass of Silk Light Vanilla Soymilk on the side.

I’m actually upset about the “cream cheese” – the taste was great, but it has 2 g of trans fat per 2 Tbsp!  I didn’t read the ingredients when I purchased it because I was at Trader Joe’s.  Proves you still have to read labels even when you’re in a health food store.  I hate to waste food, but I’ll probably throw this out after my next grocery store trip.

While I was working out, Jim was nice enough to grill a turkey breast:

He basted it with canola oil, and leaves it covered on our grill (covered) with a pan below the rack to catch the mess.  Grill time is anywhere from 1-1.5 hours, until a meat thermometer read 170 degrees.

I love when he does this because then we have fresh turkey for an entire week – so much healthier than processed deli meat!  I wasn’t super hungry after my grazing this afternoon, so I added it to a salad of mixed greens, carrots, TJ’s fire roasted red peppers, dried edamame for crunch, and balsamic vinaigrette dressing:

And some fresh pineapple for dessert: