Fitting It All In

I can’t believe it’s December!!!  Holy moly!  I’m feeling a little wigged out about fitting in all the things I need to get done before Christmas.  It seems that everything is happening at once and the calendar is already looking jammed up!  Well, one thing I will fit in is fitness!  I made a promise to myself to keep my workout schedule and I’m stickin’ to it!

Before heading to the gym, I had a mini- breakfast of a string cheese and a few Triscuits…

Just enough to tie my over for my 35 minute run on the treadmill.  I tried out some intervals this run and I really liked it!  It took the pressure off keeping a steady fast pace and I liked being able to coordinate the pace with my music.  Fast songs = fast pace, slower songs= slower pace.  It was fun!

Breakfast part 2 was by the dashboard light…

After changing, it was off to Gram’s for a day of shopping.  She loves to shop and can outlast me any day!

I finally dragged her out talked her into leaving and headed back to my house for lunch.  I made a terrific tofu scramble…

In the mix…

• 1/2 block of Nasoya Lite Firm Tofu
• 3 cremini mushrooms, sliced
• a few onion slices
• 1/2 small red pepper, sliced
• handful baby spinach
• 1/4 cup Galaxy Nutritionals Veggie Shreds

Gram declined the tofu and went for a turkey sammie instead!  I’ll make a believer of her, yet!

I also took a few minutes to assemble dinner , since I knew the afternoon would be busy.  I saw a recipe on Kalyn’s Kitchen for Brown Rice Casserole and thought I would give it a try, knowing full well that this would not be welcomed with open mouths by the husband and daughters!  But, I decided to torture them anyway.

I baked it when I got home after little daughter’s dance class.  It looked and smelled delicious…to me…

Them…not so much.  I proceeded to rant about how I didn’t give a flying fig newton what they thought and they were going to eat this fabulous, healthy dish.  And I dished it out…

Okay, I know it doesn’t look pretty, but it was very tasty!  I even threw in some broccoli to make it a true one-dish meal.

Little daughter cried full blown tears at the sight.

The husband hates mushrooms and moved the stuff around to make it look like he ate some.  Okay, but he will eat kale chips???  Whatever.

Big daughter said, “Mom, this actually tastes good.”  She is the only one I love ;)

So, not the biggest hit, but I will keep trying to feed them healthy foods.  Hear that, family???  Yes, the torture will continue…

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Brilliant Blogger :  I read a great post by Jack Sh*t today.  So motivational!  His posts are usually flat out hilarious, but every so often, he throws in one of these “serious” posts to really get you thinking.  What struck me was when he describes a conversation he had in the locker room after a workout – go check out his post for the whole story – but he replied to the person:

 “I didn’t leave a lot in the tank.”

And that’s how I approached my run at the gym.  I kept thinking “don’t leave anything in the tank;  give it your all.”  Result:  awesome workout!  Thanks, Jack!

Oh, I almost forgot… the winner of the Campbell’s Soup Giveaway is  Denise!

I have a couple of favorite soups - creamy tomato, taco soup and butternut squash. Yummy!

Denise, please send me your address and I’ll forward it to the Campbell’s rep:)

If you’re not too sick of me, go check out my guest post on Melissa’s blog – www.abetterbagofgroceries.com  -and see how I tried out the NuVal nutritional scoring system!  Fun!

Have a great day, everyone!

Pep In My Step

I woke up with such a happy feeling!  I think my “step it up” pep talk really worked!  I can’t describe the feeling;  it’s like something changed in me overnight.  I feel like I have a stronger resolve to stay on the healthy eating track.  I kept saying to myself that I would not let food control me.  I’m not giving it the power.  I have the ability to eat just what I need.  I have the ability.  I make the choice.  It’s up to me to do what’s right for my body.  It deserves it.   I know there are going to be rough times.  Times when food wants me…really badly.  I have to remind myself that I am in control of what I put in my body.  I can be in control.  Even through the holidays…  :)

So, breakfast was one of my favorite Yogurt Bowls topped with strawberries and diced apples…

I cheated on Chobani with this guy…

Chobani will always be my first greek love, but ya gotta get what’s on sale when ya can :)

After breakfast, I got my butt out the door for a peppy 45 minute walk (I’ll fill you in about the running tomorrow) around the neighborhood in the glorious weather.  I love mild November days!  The husband even joined me for the last 20 minutes which was  nice!

My stomach let me know it was lunchtime about 3 hours after eating breakfast.  I tried to cue into that to see how long it takes me to get hungry between meals.  I think knowing that is key to keeping munchies at bay and also, to help understand what types of food stick with me the longest.

Lunch was a Grilled Vegetable Boca Burger on a Pepperidge Farms Deli Flat, piled high with baby spinach and tomato.  Instead of my usual side of chips, I went with a longer lasting choice of fuji apple with 1 tbsp. homemade almond butter…

We spent the afternoon at a Christmas carol sing-a-long at church.  It was a nice time and really got us in the spirit!

Again, around the 3 hour mark, I was hungry for a snack.  I decided to go salty with reduced-fat Triscuits with turkey and a dab of  wasabi mustard…

Yum!

The dinner plan was a new recipe from Amelie for Grandmom’s Macaroni.  It sounded delicious;  sort of a new twist on baked mac n’ cheese.  I changed it up a tiny bit by subbing these for the originals :   Ronzoni Smart Taste elbow macaroni (high fiber), my own marinara sauce (had some left in the fridge to use up), Cracker Barrel 2% white cheddar and whipped light butter.

The result was DELISH and a hit with the husband and daughters…

My dish…served with a side of broccoli…

This will definitely be added into my regular dinner rotation!  Thanks for the great recipe, Amelie!

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I have been thinking a lot lately about the blogworld and about how much encouragement I receive from other bloggers without them knowing it.  I read a lot of blogs.  A lot.  If you have a blog, you can rest assure I am reading it!  LOL!  I guess there are worse addictions :)  Anyway, I got to thinking how many bloggers write things that really strike me.  Really spur me on or cause me to take pause and reflect.  I don’t often take the time to get in touch with each person and tell them how something they wrote affected me, so I had the idea of making an addition to the end of my posts with a reference to a blogger who made an impact on me that day.  I decided to call it Brilliant Blogger because I often think “that’s brilliant” when I’ve read these words of wisdom.  There are also readers that leave me comments that are brilliant words of wisdom and they don’t have blogs, so I’m going to include some of those, too.  Just my small way of saying “thank you” to those bloggers/readers and sharing some great insights from them!

My first Brilliant Blogger is Joanna from Fitness and Spice. 

She wrote:  This year I’ve decided I’m not going to stress out about eating too much and working out too little during the holidays. That’s because I’ve already made up my mind that I won’t be eating too much and I will be making the time to workout.

Love that!

Don’t forget to enter my Campbell’s  Soup Giveaway – there’s a cool pedometer in there!!!

Have a great day, everyone!