sunday morning August 11, 2008

that happens to be the title of my favorite maroon 5 song. but it wasn’t raining yesterday so the lyrics don’t seem super appropriate here. anyway, sunday morning i made the best bowl of oats ever

- 1/3c. oats
- 1/3c. soymilk
- 1/3c. water
- small banana
- vanilla & cinnamon
topped with:
- 1oz. toasted walnuts
- blueberries
- maple so-yo icing

all of the flavors together were outstanding. the banana i used was very small but there weren’t enough oats to sustain it so the next time i made it (this morning, monday) i used 1/2c. of oats. i skipped the “icing” today, too, because it was too weird tasting. i am not a fan of soy yogurt unfortunately. yogurt is something i crave so it might make cameo appearances from time to time but i will continue to avoid eating it for the most part. today i also put the blueberries in while the oats were cooking instead of as a topping. both ways were good, i guess it’ll just depend on how ambitious i’m feeling any given morning.

another reason to have had 1/2c. of oats was the satiety factor. i was hungry again sunday after about 2 and a half hours. so i had the frozen kashi entree i got at whole foods, black bean and mango

i really hate onions but i ate them as part of this entree and it was ok. i couldn’t taste them mixed in with all the other flavors. but from now on i will only buy this if i’m desperate for something quick and easy because of that.

after i ate that, i decided i wanted some kashi h2h. just because. i love that cereal so much it is super dangerous to have it just sitting there when i could be eating it. i’m working on resisting…

and i’ve already confessed to sunday night so this post is over.

banana-walnut oats June 3, 2008

i made the old staple because i woke up early and had the time.

they were extra creamy because i used half-and-half. (it’s the only dairy i have in the fridge right now! i’m in desperate need of a trip to the market.) i used a cup of liquid as usual but only 1/4c. of it was half-and-half. i need to use it up before it goes bad. i also thawed out my last frozen banana and added that. they were super rich and creamy and i didn’t do too bad on the calorie count, either. 385… huzzah!

just keep swimming May 29, 2008

before i get to the swimming i must confess that i had mint medley tea before i went to bed last night

it soothed my tummy that wasn’t very happy with me for some reason, maybe it was the wine i had with dinner…
another confession to make about yesterday (just for accountability), i had a bite of the zucchini walnut muffin i got for mom from starbucks when i had the coffee. it looked really good so i had to steal a morsel from the top, just to make sure. it was. but i was already digesting it before i remembered to take a picture, oops.
ok, NOW on to today. this morning i woke up bright and early to go swim laps at the aquatic center near where i live. i thoroughly enjoyed it! i woke up without too much trouble and seemed adequately prepared (i have a lock i was able to use to lock up my purse, a big towel, a sporty swimsuit and havaianas) except no goggles. i really really need some if i am going to keep swimming because my eyeballs still hurt and it feels like i am looking at everything through frosted glass. other than that, i did pretty well. i managed to swim 30 freestyle laps in 25 minutes for 246 calories burned before i even started my day! for the record, i tried to swim a few butterfly and breaststroke laps but i couldn’t even get across one length of the pool doing the butterfly :/
i am really rusty but with practice and awareness of my technique it should get easier as the summer wears on. i’m going to have to switch pools so i can continue making it a morning swim but luckily there is another one close by i can easily transfer to. i’m excited to throw something else into my fitness mix because it’s already waking up my muscles! my arms especially are talking to me right now, i love it!
APPLE WALNUT OATS
when i got home from the pool i had lots of time so i made oats-on-the-stove. today, because i didn’t have any ripe bananas to throw in, i used double milk (1c.) with my usual 1/2c. of oats to make them creamier. first i chopped up a green apple and tossed it with cinnamon and splenda. after “baking” the bite-sized pieces for a minute in the microwave, i added them to the oats just as they were starting to thicken on the stove. i toasted 1oz. of walnuts (about 2tbsp.) for a minute in the microwave as usual and topped the bowl with them. the result was a lot like oat-y apple pie, yum!

the bowl of oatmeal, including all the fixings, was 345 calories of deliciousness. if i am ever craving apple pie i will at least consider having this instead
i mean, look at that appley goodness:

it was pretty filling but i ate it really early so by the time i was showered and dressed and ready for work, i had a teeny pang of hunger. so i had a mini-smoothie, same as yesterdays but with half the ingredients. i guess i can’t start my day officially until i have some banana in me.

i had it to go
that added 103 calories to breakfast for a grand total of 448.

ruby tuesday May 28, 2008

i never actually ate there yesterday, but it was a gem of a day the way i did eat. i started out with a lovely breakfast of cream of wheat made with 2/3c. of nonfat milk. i topped it with a 1/2c. of blueberries and 1oz. of toasted walnuts. i didn’t have time to make oats on the stove so the cream of wheat was the instant kind. i was really pleased with the result.

it filled me up on minimal calories (290 total) so i was happy.
four hours later i had my hummus, wasa, avocado concoction with two pluots. i rather enjoy this one and i have lots of avocado and hummus so it will definitely be making another comeback.

i chopped the wasa into cracker slices and covered the avocado with the hummus and dug into it like that. lunch was a total of 342 calories.
four hours and lots of water later, i had a snack of chopped apples with almond butter. this is a new fav.

i guess i wasn’t eating enough calories though, because i was beginning to feel lightheaded. i couldn’t be having that with my workout coming up. so i supplemented with an extra protein snack before i hit the gym.

i had three of these roll-ups and it powered me through a very tough boot-camp workout. the snack totaled 271 calories and i burned 363 calories strength training.
i got to this boot-camp class every tuesday evening for an hour. we do 40 minutes of strength/circuit training with spurts of cardio in between, usually. yesterday it was supersets of biceps, triceps, chest, back, squats, lunges, and planks. then we stretch for 20. i can totally feel it today. i also did 30 minutes of light spinning before class. that was an additional 310 calories burned.
after all of that, i realized i hadn’t gotten nearly enough protein for the day. i came up with a protein rich dinner for not many calories. i call it my turkey-spinach-egg white scramble with cheese.

it was 3 scrambled egg whites with 4oz. of grilled turkey, a handful of organic baby spinach and a 1/4c. of fat-free shredded cheddar. i also had the last two pluots before they went bad, they were very ripe and juicy.
here’s a closeup of the yummy goodness that was my inventive scramble.

this was so light calorically (word?) that i treated myself to a glass of the pomegranate wine i bought at whole foods this weekend and a dark chocolate square.

even with the treat, dinner was only 363 calories.
so you see why i felt pretty good about yesterday, i managed to keep my calories low without going hungry and even saving room for that piece of dark chocolate