happy monday August 18, 2008

since when am i happy on a monday? since i have confirmed the suspicion i’ve had since friday that i’m getting a new job! so happy monday it is.

happy monday’s breakfast oats had double water because i ran out of soymilk but they still had a banana because i stole one from mom’s house last night, even in my painful partially blind stupor. i topped this last-of-my-oats bowl with the rest of my pecans (i have GOT to shop for food today, it’s down to the wire worse than ever before) and a soy-yo maple icing. i made it good today because i didn’t feel like gagging when i tasted it. it also added the creamy element that was missing from lack of soymilk.

delicious. happy monday’s lunch was the rest of the leftover amy’s lentil vegetable soup. i wasn’t going to eat this at all because i so thoroughly dis-enjoyed it last time but i added parmesan cheese (one of the only things left in the fridge) and half an avocado (more contraband from mom’s house). it was pretty tasty after the additives, i think i even liked it.

on the side i had 4 saltines and water. it was all i needed, this bowl filled me right up.

but then i remembered the snapea crisps so i had the rest to polish off lunch.

i had originally planned on working out as usual (today it would be spin) but my mom just called to invite me to happy hour to celebrate her birthday today! of course i’d rather go to that. suddenly i’m very happy i dragged myself out of bed yesterday to squeeze in an atypical sunday workout…

down to the wire August 15, 2008

it’s a good thing i get paid today because i have no food left except some spinach and tomatoes. i used my last english muffin for the pb&j i packed for lunch and i plan to have the aforementioned produce to make my last salad later today, probably after i workout. today i’m going to a new strength training class! i’m excited to add it to the rotation if it’s good because i had been seriously lacking a challenging friday workout.

this morning i made banana oats the usual way. after i served them in the bowl and topped them with the pecans and a handful of h2h, did the dishes and took some laundry out of the dryer while watching the today show so i could give the oatmeal a chance to cool off a little. i always get really eager to eat them and then i burn my tongue. not today!

i also drizzled it with a smidge of sugar-free maple before eating. this breakfast is doing it’s job, i didn’t get any hunger pangs until almost 1 (i ate at around 10). so i had my snack of true north peanut crunches.

they were pretty good but a little too sugary to be a regular snack. and right now i’m about to dip into the pb&j. so i don’t have to make another immediate post i won’t bother taking a picture. consider it logged. *update: i also added a serving of snapea crisps to round out lunch.

craving a balance August 13, 2008

i’ve decided that i definitely need to workout more, even more than i already do, because i just like food too much. i enjoy eating and i’d rather not put so many limitations on what i can and should eat. i like working out and the bottom line is i need to create more time to be active so i can start enjoying my life in a body i can be proud of. what brings this on is the discovery that i don’t have a waist and it’s high time that i get one. now that i’m done philosophizing (sp?) i can present breakfast.

same as yesterday, i started out with half a chopped cantaloupe. only today’s isn’t blurry

and followed it up with 1c. of kashi h2h with pecans and a small chopped banana in 1/2c. of soymilk

i ate at around 830 and started getting hungry again at around 1030 (!!) but i chugged water and staved off the real hunger until just now, 1215-ish.

weekend August 11, 2008

another short weekend ends rather unceremoniously. i’ll start where i left off saturday. that lunch i had really filled me up and kept me completely un-hungry for way too long. it was 830 before i felt anything. so i had a heaping bowl of kashi h2h with pecans and blueberries in soymilk

i was full, no lies. but that was when i started to get hormonal and crave-y. the sweetness of the cereal made me want to forget it immediately. so i cracked open two things: a can of amy’s spicy organic chili with tofu AND a bottle of riesling that has been sitting in my fridge since february. i suppose i was waiting to open it for a special occasion that never came along or perhaps to wait to drink it with someone special who also never came along. instead of holding out, i decided to just start drinking it with myself because i bought it at a wine tasting in california so i knew nobody else would even enjoy it as much as i could. it was the perfect olympic-watching companion.

here’s the first glass along with the bottle

glass #2

glass #3

it’s a good thing i took pictures because i thought that was the last one. but my camera doesn’t lie and there was a fourth glass pictured like so:

who knew watching the olympics would be so much fun on a saturday night? i got to watch michael phelps win his first gold medal and completely smash the world record that he set himself… that’s why i love athletes and like to pretend i am one.

after all the wine i really wanted something cheesy, of course. but it was not to be. i toasted an english muffin and called it a night. luckily i didn’t get the spins while i was trying to fall asleep and also managed not to wake up with a headache. i still have about 1/3 of the bottle left which should be gone in no time.

i had breakfast, too :) June 11, 2008

breakfast was yet another modified version of the purple power smoothie. i wanted a smaller one, only about 6oz. of liquid and i was trying to figure out a way to take the milk out while still having enough substance in the drink. solution: applesauce! it worked. today’s power smoothie looked like this:

i know, totally unappetizing. but i like it because it packs all of my vitamins, nutrients and nutritional supplements into 225 calories. which means i had room for 1c. kashi go lean with 1/2c. of soymilk and 1tbsp. of pecans.

and i’m actually still satisfied nearly 3 hours later. kashi is pretty good for that, i love the balance of carbs, fiber and protein. i added the pecans for fat and voila! the perfect power breakfast.

a hungry day June 10, 2008

if yesterday was an unexpectedly satisfying day, today i’ve been hungry within an hour or two of eating anything! it’s so frustrating but i’ve got a lot on my mind and i’ve managed to keep myself distracted. it also helps that i drink a lot of water. when we got the sparkletts service i had them set it up right next to my desk

it’s the foolproof way to stay hydrated, i just roll my chair over for refills when i get thirsty (or hungry one hour after eating, grr).

i had a morning snack again today because i’ve been eating breakfast so much earlier than i’m accustomed to now that i swim. today i had what was left of my fat free vanilla yogurt (about 1/2c.) with 1oz. of pecans and the other half of my juicy delicious cantaloupe.

oh yes, and another hungry girl cookie.

lunch after that couldn’t come soon enough… i had a cup of spaghetti squash with 1tbsp. of olive oil and some fresh goat cheese. it is the sun-dried tomato kind i bought at the farmers market.

for dessert i had homemade chocolate mousse. i whipped it up last night with two ripe avocados and cocoa powder. it tastes so rich and decadent and creamy one would never know it is made with avocados. i got the recipe from shape magazine and used sugar-free maple syrup and splenda.

i served about 1/4c. and it was so rich i couldn’t finish it! i’ll have to share it with my friends this week so the rest of the batch doesn’t go bad. sara is lactose intolerant and loves dark chocolate so i hope she likes it!

i got hungry too soon after my indulgent-looking (and tasting) meal but i held off until 330, almost 4, to eat my pre-workout snack, the rest of the Think Organic bar i had a taste of yesterday.

very disappointing. the ingredients are simple like larabars but it sure doesn’t match up in taste. my workout starts in half an hour and my tummy is rumbling. some days are just better than others. *sigh*

the best i can do is hang in there. at least i have my workout and sweet potatoes tonight to look forward to!

purple power smoothie June 9, 2008

i am back to my AM swimming regimen as of this morning. breakfast part one/pre-workout snack was a smoothie. i basically threw some stuff in the blender and got this:

it was good but i plan on modifying it for flavor and calorie content tomorrow. it consisted of 3/4c. of light vanilla soymilk, 1/4c. of egg whites (for protein), 1/2 a frozen banana, 1/2c. of frozen cherries, 1tbsp. of powdered greens (for fiber) and 1tbsp. of flax oil (for good fat). i love that i was able to squeeze all of those nutrients into a delicious frozen drinkable breakfast, go me. tomorrow i think i want to add nonfat vanilla yogurt as part of the 1c. total liquid dimension (so 1/4c. of egg whites, 1/4c. of yogurt and 1/2c. of soymilk) and 2oz. of vemma mangosteen supplement. i also want to just use cherries for the fruit, the greens mix better with tart fruit than sweet banana i think. and good lord, 1/2tbsp. of flax oil is plenty! a whole tablespoon sets me back 120 calories! i’ll take sixty and 7 grams of good fat, thank you very much. we’ll see how it comes out tomorrow, i can’t wait to try it!

breakfast part two was 1/2c. of cottage cheese with 1oz. of pecans and a drizzle of honey.

AND my fresh fruit summer staple:

JUICY CANTALOUPE! it’s my ultra fav, i can’t get enough!