green monster

ingredients:

4 cups spinach
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond breeze
1 banana
1 T natural peanut butter
3/4 cup frozen mixed summer fruits
1 cup coffee
1 scoop vanilla protein powder


comments: adding coffee was really gross. the combo of spinach and coffee was really bitter. i won't be doing that again. i only added it because i made it yesterday morning and didn't have time to drink it and put it in the fridge and thought what the hell. what the hell is right! i had to put it in that massive jar because i forgot my 800 mL plastic bottle at work yesterday. man oh man oh man.

day two thank you

day two was another food and exercise success. i ate breakfast at home, had lunch plus two snacks at work, went swimming and had a delicious dinner. on monday night i did have a vitatop brownie, but it's all good. now that i am back to tracking on ww online, i realize how different the site is. i know they changed the plan to the "momentum" plan, but since my points never changed and i already ate the more "healthy" filling foods anyway i didn't really look at it too much.

the new plan gives you a daily points allotment, 35 weekly points, and activity points. BUT you must use all of your daily points AND weekly points before any of your activity points are deducted. AND you can only use your activity points on the same day you earn them. so basically, you don't really get them except for the last day unless you eat all of your weekly points early on in the week, which heaven forbid, i would never do. i think that is how it works. i'm sure somebody will correct me if i'm not. i did a google search on this and apparently people are inconvenienced and outraged by this. i don't care because it's not the end of the world, is it? what is a point anyway but a figment of my imagination? a meaningless obstacle on this road we call weight loss. i'm deep.

my dinner last night was an egg white omelet. i wanted an egg, but i didn't have one. i did have lots of leftover veggies though. i chopped and heated up some red onion, zucchini, red pepper, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, avocado, and sun-dried tomato. then i poured 3/4 cup egg whites onto another pan and let it cook into a circle. transfer to a plate, pour the veggies on half, fold it over, sprinkle with chili lime sauce, add 2 slices of ezekiel toast, and you have a delicious, nutritious, filling 5.5 point meal.

in other news, my skin is really breaking out. what is with this mid-life acne! grrrr. i use pro-activ but it's not working. i think it's from stress and womanly business. who can be sure though? taking ground flax has eliminated most of my PMS symptoms (except the extreme snappiness and sensitivity) WHO SAID THAT!@@?@?@!! i'm sorry, come back, i love you.



mmm look at that candy. tonight is date night and i am going to see the musical "spring awakening" with my beau. i am very excited. first we are going to sears so i can buy more nylons for work, second we are going to harveys for dinner (6 point veggie burger OR grilled chicken salad) and third to the really big shoe. i am not swimming tomorrow but may do yoga in the morning. that's a big "may" since i already get up at 6:15 as it is! happy wednesday. one day at a time, right?

ouchy ouchy

my legs are so sore (still!) from doing lunges with weights on tuesday night. seriously, i can hardly move. can anyone say “out of shape?” i was going to do the elliptical this morning but decided to take a rest day since i am moving at such a slow pace. i have book club tonight and if i feel like working out after that (not likely) then i will. tomorrow is weigh in day and i was hoping to get an extra workout in but it’s not the end of the world.

last night we ate low fat fries with swiss chalet gravy, and low fat chicken and cheese meatballs from sobeys. and baby tomatoes. it was very delicious. going to bed i was a bit hungry and while making his lunch for tomorrow, my boyfriend tried to throw some cheese at me, but i resisted and ate a clementine instead.

in other news, my boyfriend’s sister is putting on this fashion show for charity in november, and asked me to be a model in it. i have never been in a fashion show so it’s pretty exciting. there is a fitting on tuesday! maybe this will inspire me to think healthy thoughts this weekend.

lately instead of eating bigger meals like the three usuals: breakfast, lunch, and dinner, i’ve been snacking all day long or dividing my meals into a few different parts. during the week and especially when i’m eating alone i like this a lot better. for example, for breakfast i used to have oatmeal and yogurt, or oatmeal and cottage cheese, but now, i have the oatmeal as usual and save the dairy for a morning snack, or eat it around noon. it’s great. i’m never too full and hardly ever hungry.

tonight is book club and the book we read this month is “the watchmen” by david gibbons and alan moore. it’s a graphic novel. i enjoyed it, although i don’t really care for the topic of superheroes in general so it could have been better. apparently there is a movie coming out soon? i don’t know. it won a HUGO award and was voted one of time magazine’s top 100 novels, so that has to stand for something. :)

wasting time

i am in love with frozen raspberries. and this week my local grocery store has them on sale for $4.00 so i am going back today to stock up. i don't know how much they normally cost but yummo! and a giant serving (140g) is 0 points. can't beat the zero!

last night i tried an eating "experiment." when i got home from work i was feeling the hunger, so i ate 1/2 a banana and then went down to the gym to do day 3 week 2 of the couch to 5k program. it's not that intense - a five minute walk, then six sets of 1.5 minutes running and 2 minutes walking, and then at the end a five minute cool down walk. i managed to make it through pain free which is a huge bonus. i think if i want to do any running, i'm going to have to do it at night time. that's ok with me, because it doesn't take up that much time. i'm not going on any long runs or anything.

my eating experiment was to try and keep my dinner really light. i had a scoop of protein powder (2 points), a cup of unsweetened vanilla almond breeze (1 point), 140g frozen raspberries (0 points) and the other half of my banana (1 point). so 4 points which is substantial, but still a very light meal that doesn't sit heavy in the stomach. and then this morning i am more than 2 pounds lighter. i was definitely still feeling the weekend bloat and water retention!

yesterday randi asked when i started to gain weight, and if it was when i stopped working. well, i'd say probably not when i stopped working, but instead when i stopped running. i was really hardcore and probably burned so many calories running. and i was eating a lot to make up for running so much. a lot of my runs, 4 or so times a week, would be an hour or 6 miles. so my portions were bigger and i was used to eating that much and that's the problem. i am still a volume eater but am trying to cut down on portion size. truthfully i haven't gained that much weight, not even ten pounds, but five becomes ten and then more and more and that's when it becomes a problem. and my business skirt didn't fit, let's not forget that.

today for breakfast i am making an egg and cheese sandwich. 2 slices ezekiel bread (2 points, and truthfully i am not that crazy about this bread. it's *too* fibrous, which i never thought i would hear myself say), 1/4 cup egg whites (0.5 points) and 1 slice kraft fat free cheese (0.5 points). maybe ketchup or a tomato slice too. :)

home today

i am at home today. since i am at home today, i am going to do my entry "food blog style."

i woke up at 8:30am and made a coffee, and small bowl of cherries and cheerios. ch ch ch champion foods. :) i was reading in bed, eating them, when i fell back asleep and didn't wake up until 11:30am. am i lazy or what?



now it's noon! i have some stuff i want to do today (on the computer), so hopefully i can get it all done. if i do, i'm going to reward myself with a trip to whole foods. (i have to drive there... bleh!) i was hoping to get outside for a run, but it's pouring rain... it might stop by 2pm or so for a couple of hours, so i'm going to postpone my workout until then and make something more substantial to eat.

for brunch or lunch i made my favourite... oatmeal:


1/4 cup steel cut oats
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup unsweetened almond breeze
1/2 small banana
1/4 cup wheatberries
1 T flax
1 t splenda
1/2 t vanilla
some thawed frozen berries on top. :)

i went for a long run... 6 miles. it was easy and my heart rate stayed about 140 the whole time. i think my monitor is working fine now... phewf. i was running for over an hour and burned 430 calories or so.

when i got home i thought about what to have for dinner. i looked in my vegetable drawer and saw a sweet potato that was almost ready to bite the dust, so i made a big batch of mashed potatoes.

i used:
1 giant sweet potato
4 cloves garlic, chopped (2 were really mini)
3/4 head of cauliflower
splash of unsweetened almond breeze

i steamed everything and then used my blender on a stick (what is that called?) to puree everything. yum yum. i love mixing cauliflower into mashed potatoes because it really increases the volume and not the calories.

i ate a small bowl right away:


i had a bath/shower afterwards and then made dinner. i had a sun-dried tomato gardenburger on an ezekiel english muffin, with some greens and mustard, leftover steamed veggies and some mashed potatoes. now i am very very full.


i have never tried ezekiel english muffins before ($4.99 for 6!) and i have to say, they are really delicious. way better than any other english muffin i've tried. i still have some work to do on the computer so i better get cracking. i am not going anywhere tonight because it's still raining and i just can't be bothered. that's how much i hate driving. why do i even have a car?

i hope you enjoyed looking at my food today. =D tomorrow will be back to regular posting (no pics), although i do have to say, posting my food for the day really inspired me to make the most of my food (variety, somewhat nice presentation) and really curbed the mindless snacking and little bites of things i would usually take but wasn't hungry for. interesting...

severe candy corn shortage

well. i can't find candy corn anywhere in this city. yesterday in the burbs i went to the bulk barn, expecting to find a giant tub of it ready for the scooping and they didn't have any. SOLD OUT. loblaws at lunch today didn't have any either. i am going to try the dominion by my office after work today because they have a pretty solid bulk section.

i have decided to make 1/2 vampire cookies and ice the other half. just for kicks. i forgot my camera USB cord so my baking photos will have to wait until tomorrow.

until then, i got this neat cereal info in my inbox this morning.

how to choose healthy cereals:

1) Remember the "Rule of Fives": Choose cereals with at least 5 grams of fiber per serving, and less than 5 grams of sugar.
2) Look for each serving to contain at least 3 grams of protein.
3) Read the ingredients list. The top ingredients should be "whole wheat", or "wheat bran"--not just "wheat". These whole grains are naturally low in fat, and high in fiber.
4) Avoid cereals that list hydrogenated oils, artificial dyes or colors, and chemical preservatives as ingredients--these have no place in a healthy diet!