Wednesday, September 2, 2009

One Good Thing

Another lovely day!  I woke up with the birds this morning for some reason and feeling good =)  I knew it was gonna be a great day!

I felt hungry pretty early, so I ate breakfast before my workout.  I was craving plain Greek yogurt again, so I dished some out and decided to try making a “strawberry syrup”.  I put 1/2 cup of sliced strawberries in a bowl and nuked it for about a minute.  The strawberries took a little longer to get juicy in the micro than the blueberries did.  I poured the berries over the yogurt, added some additional sliced berries and topped it with 2 chopped walnuts and a sprinkle of shredded coconut.  Super Amazing!!! 

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Later, I set up for 45 minutes of Pilates.  I am getting better at some of the moves and I can really feel it in my abs and legs.

After some house clean-up, the daughters were asking for lunch and I realized it was almost 1:30!  My stomach was barely hungry;  that yogurt bowl held me over so well!

I thought soup sounded like a good lunch, so I heated up some Trader Joe’s Organic Lentil Soup (canned, but very tasty)…

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and heated up some Green Giant Immunity Blend Veggies with a sprinkle of parmesan for a side…

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 Fiber city…

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The daughters and I ran some errands,including a stop at BJ’s Wholesale Club to pick up some school snacks.  I scored a vat of  Chobani nonfat  plain  greek yogurt, so there will be lots more of the same old breakfast for a while!

When we got back, I was feeling a bit hungry, so I decided to have a snack and push our dinner back a bit.  I had the perfect snack in mind, too!  Ever since seeing these fabulous Choco – Cranberry- Almond Granola Bars on Jaime’s blog, I had to make them!  They couldn’t have been easier and I had just the right amount of brown rice syrup left in my pantry.  The only changes I made were substituting oat bran for the ground flax (didn’t have it) , used 4 tasting squares of Ghirardelli 60% cocoa dark chocolate (chopped) for the mini chocolate chips and whipped light butter instead of regular….

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These are seriously good…

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Even the daughters loved them!

Dinner was nothing fantastical;  the hubs was working late, so it was mac and cheese for the daughters and ‘stuff they would never touch’ for me.  I made balsamic roasted brussel sprouts (2 tsp. evoo, 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar, s +p  - roasted at 400 degrees for 20 minutes).  The daughters almost gagged at the sight!  To go with these beauties, a Salmon Roulette and a scoop of their mac and cheese.  Delish, even though it doesn’t look so pretty!  Hard to make brussel sprouts look good, especially when they color from the balsamic…

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I felt satisfied today.  I didn’t obsess over food all day and I enjoyed everything I ate.  I notice when I choose more filling foods with higher protein and fiber, I definitely feel more full.  I realized while on this path of intuitive eating, I have been psychoanalyzing myself more than ever.  I’m constantly judging how I am feeling, what I am doing, how much or how little I am thinking about food, how much or how little I am eating and if I feel that I am doing all this too much, I beat myself up about it because I feel like I am doing the OPPOSITE of what you are supposed to be doing as an intuitive eater!  It’s hard to break that dieting mind!  Maybe it’s all part of working this whole process, but I am feeling like I am focusing on the negatives instead of the positives.  So, I decided, no matter what kind of eating day I’m having, I will find one good thing about my food day to focus on.  Even if it’s the smallest thing, like “instead of eating the entire bag of pretzel slims, I left 2 pretzels in the bag” – LOL!  In doing this, maybe I’ll come to realize that I am making little changes along the way to reprogram myself and I will see the progress I am making =) 

ONE GOOD THING… I put a scoop of mac and cheese on my dinner plate, enjoyed it and didn’t eat the rest that was left in the pot and/or on the daughters’ plates because I realized I was full and had enough!

Have a great night, everyone!

Question of the Day:  What ONE GOOD THING happened for you today?

23 comments:

Diane, Fit to the Finish said...

It does sound like a very lovely day! I've always wanted to do Pilates, but haven't yet.

It's so great that you are finding foods that are good for you, and fill you up!

HealthySDLiving said...

That's so great--I really like the idea of finding 1 good thing a day no matter what!
Lets see...today i had a handful of almonds instead of the freakishly delicious looking Panera cookie that was in the office!

Anonymous said...

One good thing is that happened today was my quickie workout I squeezed in this afternoon.

Tasty Health Food said...

Good for you! In my opinion, this post definitely shows how you're progressing in getting in touch with your better and knowing when you're really full. Nice job with the mac and cheese scoop too! Is that Annie's? ^^

Unknown said...

That lentil soup looks so good. Fall is coming and I'll be making some lentil soup soon.

I've been wanting to try Jaime's bars too. Yummy Yummy.

Unknown said...

Oh and my one good thing for the day is...
I took a nectarine with me to the mall instead of being tempted by the fast food restaurants.

Lizzie said...

Beautiful Marisa....I heart your blog.

Also, would you consider adopting me so I can come and live at your house and eat all that amazingly yummy food??!! Seriously dude - FABULOUS eats!!!!! How FAB is it that your little peeps will grow up knowing how to be healthty yet fabulous with food! You rock lady, keep up the good work xxxxx

Unknown said...

Hi Marisa! Things are fine just busy! I'll have a new post soon...

Anonymous said...

Lovely day! And I looooove roasted brussels sprouts. I make them at least once a week, family preferences be darned.

I suppose I had lots of good things yesterday - but one of the best was havning an unexpected 75 degree day yesterday (where I live, this time a year is still HOT) and using it to spend the day catching up on yardwork that has been neglected because it's been too hot to do it! So now my yard doesn't look quite so shaggy, and I burned a few extra cals.

Di said...

You are doing great!Greek yogert is just so different from ordinary ! It's thicker and I think that may be why it sticks with you for so long. Good thing here was stealing half the day and actually getting back to the woods after what seems like forever ! That and spending some time with my husband totally recharged my batteries !

Shhhhh said...

Yes! Protein laden foods fill me up and keep me satisfied for sooooo long. I always try to make at least one meal a day be protein-errific. It's a word! hehehe

One good thing? I said no to the eclairs in the kitchen. That's a biggie for me!

Andrea@WellnessNotes said...

I love the "one good thing" idea!

One good thing that happened yesterday? Kindness from a person I'm not very close to.

A Daunting Tale of Scale Warfare said...

Excellent job intuitively eating for the day!

Nicci said...

Marisa, what kind of cheese did you make for the mac. I would like to make a healthy dish if possible? I think the brussel sprouts looks great btw.

Rebecca said...

What a great day?! Good job on the mac and cheese.

All your food pics made me hungry. I'm off for an afternoon snack!

Jaime said...

So glad you tried the recipe and enjoyed it. They are my new favorite creation for sure!!!

Sara said...

I definitely need to get some brown rice syrup soon! It seems to be called for in every good "bar" recipe. Yours look fantastic. I'm glad to have found your blog. :)

Marisa @Loser for Life said...

Guys, I LOVE ALL your ONE GOOD THINGS!!!! So, awesome!

Nicci- I used a natural cheese powder that I bought at in the bulk section of my indoor farmer's market. I just mix it with 1/4 c. of milk and pour it over. Reminds me a lot of Annie's boxed mac and cheese.

Hottest & cutest said...

My one good thing is that I didn't eat the huge bowl of ice cream I was craving but instead went out to my garden and picked a couple cups of green beans. I steamed them and ate them and am now full and not wanting ice cream any more!!

I love your bowls.. are they metal?

Unknown said...

Good for you for staying away from extraneous mac & cheese - I'm always sneaking in extra bites from the pot!

katecooks said...

i think your one good thing sounds like a great idea! reminds me of when i was doing three things at the end of all my posts...it might seem silly to list it out, but even when you make the tiniest little decision, it counts! i just ate lunch, so mine would be that i picked the spaghetti marinara lean cuisine at the grocery on my break instead of the new cheesey one because there were less calories and fat! fine..it was lean cuisine, but the other option was going out to lunch! so two good things in my mind :)

Marisa @Loser for Life said...

Weight Watchers Chic - No, my bowls and plates are stoneware, which I kinda hate because the food gets instantly cold as soon as it hits! And by the time I take a picture, it's REALLY cold! LOL!

Anonymous said...

Everything looks awesome, and I think you're doing great with the intuitive eating! It's definitely a learning process, but I can promise you it gets easier! Keep it up!! :)