Starvin’ Marvin

I am starving upon waking up in the morning!   Well, in the afternoon, too, but let’s just stick with the morning for now ;P 

I had planned on running at the gym, so I didn’t want too much in my stomach.  I decided these were perfect to tide me over…

They were just enough to quiet my stomach and give me a pop of energy for my 3 mile run. 

I felt much stronger during my run today.  Less winded, less time-checking and less leg weakness.  I like that feeling!  Don’t know if it’s the increased run time and mileage or just a good day.  I may have a better idea after my outdoor runs this weekend – Sat. is 2 miles and Sun. is 3 miles.

I wanted to take a minute to thank you for your comments on my last post regarding the pre-5K training schedule.  I am always open your suggestions and recommendations.  Manderz and Amanda gave me some great food for thought – thanks, guys!  And as strongly that I feel about trying to improve my running skills, I also don’t want to injure myself.  So far, my hip has been cooperating, but I know that with overuse, the bursitis could majorly act up.  So, I’ll promise to respect my body and listen to how it is responding to the schedule.  I think what may work best is to follow the schedule for one week on/one week off.  By off, I mean my regular exercise –elliptical, weights, The Arc Trainer and save the running for the “on” weeks.    What do my running peeps think?

After my run, I was starving again.  I brought another dashboard breakfast that I grabbed from the freezer – mini Veggie Quiches…

I dug these out from the depths of the freezer and I wasn’t sure they would be good, but they were A-OK :)

But, not very long lasting.  I was starving about an hour later!  I tried to take my mind off it by doing some house chores, however, that didn’t work very long.  I decided to just listen to my body and EAT!!!  I made a wrap with turkey, bacon, baby spinach and salsa.  Along with it, went some cantaloupe, pineapple and POPchips…

Plus more POPchips.  Cuz, once you POP, you can’t stop! Hey, how’s that for a slogan?!  You heard it here first, POPchips peeps!

Later in the afternoon, the munchies came to visit.  I started off with some #@!$%^&* Cheez-its, then stopped the insanity with a healthier choice…

I was trying to eat a little lighter (don’t laugh) so I could indulge in pizza at dinner!  Pizza is so easy now that I use Biz ‘s no rise pizza dough.   I made a regular boring –old- sauce –and- cheese only pizza for the husband and daughters and  White Pizza with Zucchini and Broccoli for me.  So easy with having leftover zucchini and broccoli waiting in the fridge!

White Pizza with Zucchini and Broccoli

• 1 recipe No Rise Pizza Dough
• 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• leftover roasted zucchini
• leftover steamed broccoli
• 1 heaping cup part-skim mozzarella

Way delicious…

I couldn’t wait to dig in…

I think I could eat this everyday…

I did finish the night with a piece of dark chocolate that I didn’t take a picture of  because I sprinted up the steps and locked myself in my room so I wouldn’t eat any more!

Okay, I won’t torture you anymore with my punchy writing today …

ONE GOOD THING:  Locks on my bedroom door.  Better than what I used to use across the kitchen opening…

Have a great day, everybody!!

Up And Moving: No Candy Required

It’s so nice to get up with the sun!  Love the time change for the morning, although getting dark by 5:30 p.m. kinda stinks.  Oh well, can’t win ‘em all!

The daughters were off from school today, so it was a nice relaxing morning in the pj’s for us.  I took advantage of the extra time to make a bowl of Pumpkin Oat Bran…

• 1/2 cup oat bran
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup canned pumpkin
• splash of Silk Heart Health Vanilla Soymilk
• 2 tbsp. walnuts
• 1 tbsp. homemade almond butter

Delicious and very filling.  The addition of almond butter made it!

After breakfast, I got in a good amount of organizing and decluttering in various rooms.  It all accumulates so fast!  Especially books and magazines!

Lunch happened earlier than I thought.  The oat bran was filling, but didn’t hold me over as long as it has before.  Oh well, I ran with it and fixed up a leftover turkey sandwich on an Ezekiel Hamburger Bun with spinach.  The star of the sammie was this awesome mustard…

 

It wasn’t as zesty as Zesty!  But, it was the perfect compliment to the turkey sandwich, as were the POPchips and crunchy Gala…

Later, while I was packing up the mounds of Halloween candy, I had a little treat…

Then carried on along my merry way, pinching my nose so as to not be enticed by the smell of this…

or this…

Yes, you can smell it through the wrapper.  Uh huh.  Have I mentioned that I hate Halloween?  Yes?  Okay, moving on…

While little daughter was at dance, I decided to hit the gym for a quick run.  I wanted to do 3 miles today, but knew I probably wouldn’t be able to fit it into my 30 minute time frame.  I tried pumping up my speed, but it left me a little too winded, so I  resigned myself to the 2 miles and walked the rest at a 10% mountain climbing incline.  It felt great!

Dinner was prepped (me) and in the oven while I was gone (thanks, big daughter!), so a yummy cheesy Lasagna was waiting when we came home.  I wasn’t in the mood for it , though, plus I made it extra cheesy for the family and I didn’t think it was worth the splurge.  I decided on a Salmon Roulette with a drizzle of pesto, leftover roasted potatoes and veggies…

I’m turning into the Leftover Queen!  It’s my secret way of cleaning out the fridge :)

I ended the night with a decaf soy latte:  decaf coffee and Silk Heart Health Vanilla Soymilk…

Candy?  What candy?  Yep, I can say that now.  I am so over it.  Who needs it?  Nope, not me!  Whew!  Now to brace myself for Christmas cookies!!!  Aaaaah!!!!

ONE GOOD THING:  I’m back to running again and I love it!  So far, so dizziness and no major hip issues.  I’m going to try out a pre-5K training schedule which I’ll post about tomorrow.  I like pushing my body a little to see what it can do!

Have a great day all!

Ready For The World

I felt great this morning!  The fresh start of a new month coupled with a little extra sleep had me ready for the world.  The first thing on my mind was GET TO THE GYM.  Just ditching exercise for a few days had made me so unhappy!

Since big daughter was feeling better (still kept her home for one more day), I was able to slip out for a quick stint at the gym.  I jumped right on the elliptical and cranked it out for 45 minutes.  It felt great!  My whole mood changed and I felt ready to be back on track!  On a side note, my dizziness has gotten a lot better, so I’m going to get back to my regular exercise routines (including running – I can’t wait! <------still can’t believe I say that!) and see what happens.  I can always scale back if it acts up again.

I wasn’t very hungry this morning.  It makes me wonder if it’s my body’s way of getting me back to a normal eating pattern.  Funny, if we listen, I guess the body does it’s job! 

I grabbed a Chobani yogurt before I left and ate it in the car after my workout…before driving, Mom …

I had planned on eating something else a little later in the morning, but it got close to lunch time , so I just went right to it.  I went with a simple turkey wrap with dijon mustard and a good handful of broccoli slaw for a little different twist.  POPchips and apple on the side made this a super crunchy lunch…

 

The afternoon was a bit of a challenge.  Bowls of candy seemed to  beckon to me (I am packing them up now!), but I planned a big snack to combat the evil sugar soldiers…

It kept me busy for a while, so I was able to pretend I didn’t see forget about the candy:)

Dinner was a precursor to Thanksgiving.  Roasted turkey breast, mushroom gravy, roasted potatoes and green beans…

So delicious!

Okay, it’s a complete MIRACLE that I was even able to post this as I have been extremely distracted by little daughter who has basically been doing a three act play in front of me, jumping around like a crazy person, grilling me with a hundred and fifty-two questions about where stuff is and pretty much torturing our dog by dressing him up in random things found in my closet.  Time to go!!!

Have a great day, everyone!  Oh, and THANK YOU SO MUCH for all of your supportive comments on yesterday’s post!  We can ALL do this together!

Off to get the duct tape…kidding…kidding :)

Fast Food

I was a fast food junkie today, paying tribute to those fast food restaurants of the past.  I used to love those places.  McDonald’s, Wendy’s, pizza places;  they were all former stomping grounds.  I have always loved good food, too.  Real, wholesome, made from scratch meals, so I got the best of it all!  But, when I decided to seriously embark on my weight loss track, I slowly realized that these fast food places were not the best options for me.  Yes, there were menu items that I could eat at many of them that were better choices than what I would normally go for (i.e. quarter pounder with cheese and supersized fries!), but I would always leave feeling a bit empty and deprived.  The better choices that were available were usually salad and grilled chicken items, but often times the nutritional facts for these were still on the high side and I knew that if I had eaten at home, I could have eaten something much more filling and satisfying without having to spend the money and the calories.

My menu today reflects how I have been able to find similar, but healthier options to those favorites.  I started off with a take on the Egg McMuffin.  How I used to love those!!!  I can easily make it at home now, using a light or whole wheat english muffin, reduced fat cheese, egg whites and canadian bacon.  When I first began Weight Watchers in 2007, I probably ate this version everyday for the first 6 months.  It was a filling breakfast and would hold me until lunch.  My newest version changes it up a bit by using Eggo Nutrigrain, lowfat waffles.  My bacon, egg and cheese wafflewich uses 2 Eggo waffles, 3 egg whites cooked in nonstick spray with 1 slice of center-cut bacon crumbled into it and a slice of 2% cheese.  So good…

For lunch, it was off to the local pizza place.  Really local – my kitchen!  I had made an Eggplant Parmesan Pizza on Friday nite when Gram joined us for dinner.  She likes everything eggplant and whole wheat, so she and I shared some of this pizza…

I made this using Trader Joe’s whole wheat pizza dough, Dominex Eggplant Cutlets that I prebaked in the oven, homemade marinara sauce and part skim mozzarella cheese.  It was delicious and just as good reheated for lunch.  I also reheated some leftover Zucchini and Beans to have with it.  Can’t get that at the local pizza place…

After a fun family afternoon at the park, we were all hungry for dinner.  That fresh air really works up the appetite!  The husband and daughters got Italian hoagies on the way home, but I decided on a good old hot dog.  I really love the Applegate Farms Organic Uncured Beef Hot Dog that I bought recently.  They are low in calories and fat, but have that traditional hot dog flavor.  I put mine in a whole wheat bun and piled on the sides- carrots with chipotle hummus and barbeque POPchips…

A little later, the ice cream man came to town.  He lives in our freezer actually;  the husband and daughters love ice cream and eat it almost every night.  I’m not too tempted by ice cream, but these guys were shouting at me from the freezer!  Mmmmm….

And thanks to this, I sang the commercial jingle all night long!  *What would you dooooo, for a Klondike bar? * The advertisers who made that one up would be happy :)

ONE GOOD THING:  I was able to include some fun fast foods into my day and still feel like they were healthy choices.  Yeah, even the Klondike:  ice cream = calcium and peanut butter = protein.  Okay, I know that’s a stretch, but everything in moderation, right? :)

Question of the day:  Do you have a favorite fast food item that you recreate at home?

For The Love Of Leftovers

This kitchen wallpaper removal/painting prep/nasty cold is not leaving me with much creativity in the food department.  The kitchen is a mess, so minimal “cooking” is going on.  So, I thought this is a good opportunity to stress the importance of “being prepared” with respect to staying the healthy eating course.  As the saying goes, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”!

During the weight loss journey, I have heard many people (including myself) say that they didn’t have time to cook healthy foods or didn’t have the right ingredients in their pantry, fridge or freezer.    This lack of time and staples makes it all too easy to opt for takeout, especially when you’re getting in late from work, activities or when your kitchen is a huge mess!  It is so important to have a basic stock of pantry staples, so that you are able to throw something together at a moments notice.  I always keep some canned soups for quick lunches or dinners paired with salad or grilled cheese.  Also, cans of diced tomatoes make great quick pasta toppings;  just saute with garlic and extra virgin olive oil, pour over some whole wheat pasta and finish off with some grated parmesan.  Canned beans are a good option, too.  You can add some chick peas or cannellini beans to a pasta dish for an extra protein punch or just add them to your salad for more staying power.  Some of my fridge/freezer staples are bagged salads ( I make my own by cutting up romaine hearts and placing them in large zipper bags), tortillas, baby carrots, apples, cheese, eggs, yogurt, veggie burgers (homemade or store bought), soups, precooked taco meat (turkey or beef), chicken cutlets and frozen veggies, just to name a few.

But, I have to say that my saving grace many days and especially during this kitchen project has been having leftovers in my fridge and freezer.  I used to balk at leftovers.  Why eat the same thing over and over??  Unless, it’s brownies, of course.  However, there probably wouldn’t be much of those leftover!  Now, I look at leftovers in a whole new way.  Leftovers allow me to have a quick and healthy option with minimal effort or fuss.  Knowing that I had those meals and fridge/freezer items made it easy for me to make good choices during this tiring project;  just heat and eat!  Gotta give props to the microwave!!!   Having these options, besides being a real time-saver, allowed me to “plan” to stay on track.  Failure was not an option!  Love it when a plan comes together :)

Onto the food!  Warning:  prepare to bored out of your mind.  Not much creativity here, just necessary eats!

Thursday

Started the day off with a hearty bowl of leftover oat bran.  I have to say, I wasn’t quite sure how precooked oat bran would translate, but it was just fine with the addition of a little extra water to thin it out while reheating.  I morphed it into PB&J Oatbran with a bit of grape jam and PB2…

Lunch was a Cedarlane Beans, Rice and Cheese style Burrito with a side of POPchips and a peach…

After tons more wallpaper scraping, I decided I needed a break.  I couldn’t shake another Starbucks craving!  The crack is back!!!  This time, I went for a Pumpkin Spice Light Frappuccino…

OMG!  Loved it and a Grande is only 150 calories, .5 grams fat and 3 grams fiber.  Heeeelloooo!!

Scrape, scrape, tape, tape, paint the trim.  UGH!

Dinner was a Dominex Eggplant Burger topped with leftover Hot Artichoke-Cheese Dip and baby spinach on a deli flat, a side of carrots and a Chobani nonfat strawberry yogurt for dessert…

Wallpaper on…

Wallpaper off ---thank, gawd!!!

Now to choose a color….

Friday

I felt a lot better this morning!  Still stuffy, but no fever and head throb.  Since I was on the mend, I decided to make a quick run to the gym.  The Arc Trainer was calling my name!  Brought my breakfast to-go…

The Arc Trainer whipped me good for 30 minutes which was all I had time for since I had a late morning doctor’s appointment.  On the way to the appointment, I munched on a Blueberry Apricot Oat Bran Muffin (from the freezer)…

I went for a routine physical and all checks out, except for my hip which the doc thinks is bursitis and wants me to consult with a Sports Medicine doc for it.  Yikes!

I made it home for a “leftover” lunch before running out the door again to pick up paint and supplies.  I went with Chickpea Croquettes and the ever easy side of carrots and apple…

Later, a Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar was needed to help with the paint color choosing…

And dinner was leftover crock pot chicken with a side of sweet potato fries (pre-cut from Trader Joe’s)…

Thanks for hanging in there with this marathon post!!!  Hope you have a great weekend!  I’ll see you tomorrow for the “reveal” :)

ONE GOOD THING: Leftovers!!!!!!

Cooking In The Infirmary

The infirmary is open.  The husband and daughters are sneezing and snotting all over the place.  Won.der.ful.  Big daughter stayed home from school, but since the husband was home, I was able to get in a quick stint at the gym.  Before I left, I grabbed breakfast to-go:  Banana Walnut Breakfast Cookie topped with PB2…

I came up with the cookie recipe the other day and tried it out on the daughters.  They were a big hit;  big daughter ate 2!  They are quite large and very hearty.  I can’t share the recipe with you, yet.  You’ll have to wait to “buy the book” –LOL!  I’m submitting it for Jen’s awesome e-cookbook that she’s putting together for charity, so stay tuned for more info!

After munching down my cookie, I headed straight for the elliptical for a decent 15 minutes.  My friend, Coleen, wanted to bravely try out another contraption, so I went along for the ride.  And a ride it was… The Arc Trainer!!  I have aptly renamed it The Brutalizer.  It is one tough workout.  I did 20 minutes on it and was dripping with sweat.  It was great!  Definitely my new favorite machine.  I threw in a couple sets of lower body exercises with the weights and I started home to the infirmary.  Hack, hack, sniffle, sneeze.  UGH!  On the way, I couldn’t shake a strong craving for an old friend…Starbucks!  I know I shouldn’t have…I really, really shouldn’t…been doing so great being “off” coffee.  But, the Pumpkin Spice Latte was just too hard to resist…

I missed it sooooo much…

Yes, I realize that when you kiss your coffee cup, it’s 1) extremely weird and 2) a sign you have a major problem.  *cue Amy Winehouse*  I don’t want to go to rehab, I say noooo, nooooo, noooo.  :)  It was so good!  I spread the happiness by bringing big daughter a Mocha Frappuccino for her sore throat and she was thrilled!  See?  Spreading the love….

So, when I am stuck in the house with a bunch of sickies, what do I do??  Cook.  And Eat.  But, I mainly chose cook  and I decided it would be healthy, so that’s a step in the right direction!  Ever since seeing this amazing recipe for Big Batch Bulgur Chili on Just Sweet Enough’s blog,  I knew I had to try it.  It was easy, delicious and made a ton!

I had a hearty bowl for lunch…

with a side of Barbeque POPchips …

Yum!  And I have plenty left over that I portioned out for quick heat and eat lunches or dinners…

Little daughter had dance class in the afternoon, so dinner was a crockpot concoction.  I never have much luck with my crockpot meals (too dry/overdone), but I thought I’d try it again.  I pre-browned some chicken thighs and placed it in the crockpot with a little white wine, chicken broth, garlic, lemon zest, s +p and some chopped red peppers.  It was all ready when we got home.  I nuked up a steamer bag of red potatoes and organic corn and dinner was done!

My plate…

And again, I have some leftovers for another time when I don’t feel like cooking.  Which might be sooner rather than later because I think they got me.  The sickies.  I’m feeling a little…ACHOOOOO!  Boo :(

ONE GOOD THING:  Making extra food and freezing it leaves me with lots of good, healthy options for times I don’t feel like cooking or just need to grab something quick.

Question of the Day:  What are your favorite “cook and freeze” meals?

Blah, Blah, Blah

I know you guys are probably tired of hearing me complain about the morning, so here it is…my last one…why does it have to be dark in the morning??!!  Okay, I’m moving on… :)

I was looking forward to another Banana Oat Smoothie …

Yummy and filling!  I added a few strawberries to this one, too…

Then, it was off to the gym.  I wasn’t feeling it, though.  Not so gung ho!  But, once I hopped on the elliptical and started watching my boyfriend, I felt better.  He did an interesting segment on metabolism.  Did anyone catch that?  He said that keeping your heart rate lower(less intensity) and exercising for a longer period of time is what burns the fat.  I didn’t realize that!  I always thought pumping up your heart rate through the roof is what burns it, but he says elevating your heart rate like that dips into your sugar (glycogen/carb stores) because your body needs the energy to power the intensity of the workout.  I guess that’s okay, too because it burns calories, but it seems that the slow burn is better for fat loss.  Hmmm… I may try that experiment.  I have noticed my hunger levels/cravings going way up since I’ve been sweating it at the gym.  Maybe I’ll try not to huff it so much with the cardio stuff and keep it going longer.  And I love doing the weights, too, so that counts for the slow burn also.  We’ll see;  you know I love my experiments! 

I was ready for lunch a little on the early side.  I decided to use up some of the leftover Italian Chicken Salad (thankfully, I halved the recipe or I would have had tons!)  and made a wrap with it using a Joseph’s Lavash Flatbread and had some baby carrots on the side…

I still wanted some crunch, so I broke open these new multigrain POPchips that I picked up at Target…

They were pretty good;  like a thin rice cake.  I liked the cheddar flavor, but overall, I think I like the potato variety they make better.  Didn’t stop me from eating a good sized serving, though…

When the daughters came home, I doled out the snacks.  I did some extra snacking myself.  Just picking here and there, a few of this and a few of that.  It was mindless, so mindless in fact, that I can’t even remember what I ate!  I wasn’t feeling my best, physically – kinda achy and just blah, so I think I was just “feeding” to try to feel better.  Uh, that doesn’t work.  Just sayin’.

Tacos were on the menu for dinner.  I finally came across ground chicken breast in the supermarket (only have ever seen the regular ground chicken), so I thought it would be great for tacos.  I wasn’t much in the mood for anything after noshing in the afternoon, but I decided to make a Chicken Taco Salad to get in some extra green stuff.  In the mix…

• romaine and boston lettuce
• tomato
• red pepper rings
• 2% shredded cheese
• 1/2 c. cooked ground chicken breast (w/taco seasoning)
• 2 tbsp. guacamole
• 2 tbsp. salsa

It was very tasty, but I didn’t quite finish it all since I was full and feeling yuck…

Tomorrow’s another day!!!  Hope you had a great one!

ONE GOOD THING: Ummmmm, I got nothin’.  No!!!  Now, that’s not positive!  Okay, I slapped myself upside the head.  Let me try it again…

ONE GOOD THING:  I got in a good workout at the gym, even though I didn’t feel that into it :D  Better, right?!

Question(s) of the Day:  What do you think about Dr. Oz’s metabolism boosting info?  When you workout, do you go for the slow burn or the "pumped up” heart rate?