1.30.2009

falling off...slowly...

Hey guys!

Sorry I know I didn't come back yesterday so that almost 2 days worth of stuff I owe you, not to mention the recipes. Anyways this has to be a quick post because I need to go brush my teeth get dressed and head to the gym for my last appt. with my trainer. I'm kind of happy, but sad at the same time. If they make me a great deal who knows, maybe today wont be the last day, but I will just have to be more determined about working out..no excuses, and perhaps getting a normal sleeping schedule too! Anyways it's been a long day and I will re-cap after my workout, as well as post some pictures too.

For breakfast I had my cup of joe with 1/8 hot skim milk and 1 tsp of fat free hazelnut (don't ask why I did this), to pair up with that I had an Aunt Millie's Whole Grain EM with 1/2 tbsp of PB and 1/2 tbsp of Light 3 berry preserves. I also sliced a small banana on top of the. It was divine and kept me full for only 2 hours!!!!! :-(

Thankfully, I brought some grapes (about a cup) and had my protein shake (1scoop Isopure Vanilla, with 12 oz. of water) as a snack.

That didn't hold me down either, and it's starting to bother me that I keep getting hungry every 2.5-3 hours, even though I know you should eat every 3 hours, I'm starting to get a little irritated with it all. Anyways I got home and finished off the Baked Sour Cream and Cheddar Lay's (there was only about 1 serving in there) and I made a salad with gazrbanzo beans, red kidnery beans, fat free Medi. feta, lettuce, carrots, red onion, and 1 hard boiled egg. topped it off with some croutons and my all time fav. dressing, Light Olive Oil Vinaigrette.

Ofcourse I needed something sweet after wards so I filled about 1/2 cup of Kashi Crunch+Fiber One Frosted Mini Wheats, and had about 1/2 cup of Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk. I am stuffed like a turtle right now...and probably shouldn't have eaten so much, but I'm going to try and get to the gym a little early today and do some sprints as a warm-up before seeing my trainer! erghh... I know I won't walk out of there very happy, nor will he be very happy to see me, so it's going to be quite the workout hour...

Hope you all are having a splendid Friday Morning/ Afternoon, and I will see ya'll later tongiht!

P.S. Melissa, I'm sorry I have not tried your oatmeal yet, I am hoping to try it tomorrow for breakfast and hopefully it holds me over through my Economics class, but I will definitely let you know how it goes... I've been super duper excited to try it. As for the Unsweetened Almond milk, I got it at Whole Foods (it was on sale 2 for 4), but it's not in the refrigerated section. I have seen it at Meijer's (which I don't know if you guys have that out in Penn.) or any local grocery store. Let me know if you find it, Goodluck!!!

1.29.2009

later is better than never...

Good morning my loves!

I know this is a late post, but I'm taking a half day at work today (I'm going in for the later part since I have class right after), so I slept in a little. I did have a stomach ache throughout the night that kind of kept me up, but it's gone now. I woke up with a pounding headache and some congestion in my head, which sadly might mean that I may be getting sick :-( but let's hope not.

I know I didn't post anything about y eats yesterday, and since I did wake up a little later than I wanted too (I wanted to try and squeeze in a morning workout) I will quickly post my breakfast and then hopefully at some point be able to post in what I had all day yesterday and about my rough day that led me to go to my friend Nina's house and have some wine with her and my other friend Liz.

I also have to prepare something to eat (because I know I will be getting hungry at work) for work, as well as something for my dinner during class...and I think I might go with a pb+jelly sandwich or maybe some tofu and spinach pierogi's and steamed veggies... we'll see how much time I have left. I will definitely hit up the gym after class for a nice and challenging workout, because sadly tomorrow is my last session with my trainer (unless I buy more, which Ria will be mad about...and tell him off) and he will be putting me on the scale, and I know it ain't going to be pretty...but oh well I did it to myself.

So my breakfast today consisted of a small bowl of Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal and some Fiber One frosted mini wheats. I did a little mixing because well I love mixing different cereals and getting different zing's at once...YUMMY! I ad some Unsweetened Vanilla Almond milk with that and a splash of Original Soy milk, don't ask why I mixed my milks, but I love the taste of soy milk with Kashi crunch cereal, so I had to. I am sipping on my cup of coffee with 1 tbsp fat free hazelnut creamer, which you guys know I wouldn't go a day without.

This is a lot of dairy for me at once, but I'm trying to just sip on the coffee, that way I can bring it to work to and make it last, and so I'm not overdoing my dairy again...and dying with a super tummy ache.

I need to get showered and ready for the day, stop by the store to pick up some Charleston Chews for a friend, whom I told I would bring them on Tuesday (oops... sorry) and to work I go for 4 hours. I will try to post my snack/meal at work, and maybe work in what I had yesterday, but I will be back after my workout tonight, for sure!!!

Have a good Thursday, the weekend is just hours away now!!

p.s. I just happened to turn to look out my window, and here we go...it's snowing yet again!!



1.28.2009

for all the time you bake, you should be spending that time in the gym

Yup that's what my trainer said to me yesterday. Of course, teasing in a way, but he's right.
I have been baking a lot... and my mom thinks that there's a crush for someone (one of those old ideas). I don't know who it could possibly be, but I've had a lot on my mind and cooking/baking helps me relax and have fun, which in turn helps clear my head of any worries going on. It's my personal time to be creative and go outside the box, get out of the 8-5 desk job thinking and just have fun, kind of like a little kid at a park, after a long day of school.
Back to what the trainer said, If he thinks I should be in the gym more and less baking...I'll take a week or so off and see how much he misses the cookies and baked goodies that I bring him...mwahahahaha.... Yes I'm trying to get my trainer FAT!!! but he wants to gain weight, atleast I'm keeping most of the goodies/cookies healthy.

It shows though that I have been to the gym yet again, which I'm so proud of myself, because it was hard going there when it was so freezing out and I had just gotten out of my History of Geology class; we did get out early though, so I had no excuse but to go to the gym.

Quick recap of the rest of my eats after lunch and my work out, and then I should be posting up my breakfast after I eat it.
For lunch I had a salad with 2 tbsp garbanzo beans, 1.5 tbsp red kidney beans, 1 tbsp sweet corn, some onions, a little bit of rotini, carrots, lettuce, and topped off with a tbsp of fat free medi. blend feta cheese (YUMM!) I had some light olive oil vinaigrette with that, and a red orange.

Later I snacked on some ginger snaps (about 15-20), with some red zinger raspberry tea (with 1 splenda). I also had the piece of 60% cocoa espresso chocolate(Ghiardelli) that my co-worker Karen gave me on Monday.

I got out of work and headed straight to class (which is literally a 5 min. drive w/o traffic). When I got there I had my Lara Bar (Cinnamon roll) which was delicioso...but it definitely didnt satisfy me so I went and got a veggie burger and ate that during our 10 min. break..I ate only the bottom half of the bun with pickles, tomatoes, onions, mustard, and ketchup. It was alright.

About 30 minutes later we got out of class and I headed to the gym, again without a plan of what I was going to work on. I did 15 minute stair master set on intervals. then I did some abs (if you want to know what kind just let me know and I'll be glad to share), I also did 3 sets of 16 lunges (with a medicine ball), side abs with a medicine ball. and3 sets of 15 squats on the bosu ball with 8 lb. weights in each hand.
Hopefully during the work day I can look up a plan of what to do when I get to the gym... I already have a couple things in mind.

After my work out I had 1 scoop of vanilla Isopure with 12 oz. of water, and about a cup of grapes. Once I got home and showered I was still feeling a little hungry so I had half of the mini blueberry-oatmeal-applesauce muffin. (I know I need to post the recipes)...

I hope you al had a good Tuesday, mine was decent until right befor eI headed to bed I heard some bad news for one of my friends, so I'll be praying and keeping my fingers crossed for him, and that everything works out for his family.

1.27.2009

Knock over...

Ahh what a morning!

Ofcourse, my friend Nina is a champ and calls me every mornign to wake me up for work ( I love her for that... because otherwise I'd be showing up to work, atleast an hour late!) But this morning I guess half of my covers were down on the floor, and after I got off the phone with her I was getting ready to ge tout of bed, swung my covers and down goes everything on my nightstand (may I mind you it's 5:45 a.m.). My 2 alarm clocks (yes I have 2 alarm clock and 3 on my phone and I still need people to call me to make sure I'm up) mypicture frame, my lamp and oohhh....my glass of water!!! yupp all down, I was waiting for my dad to run in to se what happened, but I think everyone was knocked out; or I hope. Anywho I got out of bed got ready and tried to get to work on time, but I ended up being 15 minutes late, but that's what I get when my closet is a mess and I don't know what to wear and for not preparing my lunch last night.
Today's going to be a long day, not only with the time kind of moving slow this morning, but I have class tonight after work, from 6-8:45, but I am also heading to the gym for a quick and good workout! see I'm determined, oh and because I forgot to give my trainer the muffins and pumpkin bread I had left over from yesterday. Yes I am trying to fatten him up, but he is also trying to gain weight, kind of sucks sometimes, but it's nice because instead of me going for a cookie, I grab one if I want it and pack it up on the side and just give it to him... haha that's the trick I came up with, however, that trick didn't work so much last week!!!

Let's get down to business because I have some stuff piling on my desk to do today. So for breakfast I had an Aunt Millie's Whole Grain EM with 1/2 tbsp of Krema Natural PB on one side and 1/2 tbsp of Meijer brand 3 berry Light preserves on the other half. I sliced up my small banana and piled as much as I can on my PB side. I also had 1/2 cup of low fat cottage cheese (to pair with my preserves) and I had 2 cups of coffee with 1.5 tbsp of hazelnut fat free creamer. That's all the coffee I have to last me until after work (or maybe I'll run out during lunch to Dunkin Donuts), we will see. I finished about 1/3 of my small banana with my coffee, since I couldn't fit it all on my EM. It should be a productive Tuesday, I hope you all have a fantabulous morning, and afternoon, and I will catch up with you guys later.

p.s. I know I promised recipes, hopefully tonight or maybe tomorr w(since I don't have class) I can post the articles and the pictures and recipes up for you guys) sorry for the delay, but thanks for being such great champs.

xxox

the extra push...

Sorry for the late post of Dinner, but I got wrapped up in things and before you know it I had to head to bed.
Last night I went straight to the gym after work, even though all I really wanted to do was go home cry and sleep... don't ask why, because I couldn't tell you myself, I was just sooo down all of a sudden the last hour at work and honestly had no strength to go to the gym and deal with more people, but something kept my car driving towards the gym. When I got to the gym I was a little excited because it wasn't as packed as it normally is on a Monday night. IT's funny how everyone goes to the gym right after work, especially on a Monday, to workoff the weekend bites. Anyways I changed quickly and headed to do a speed interval warm up; it consists of:
1 min. speed walking (at 4.0 mph)
2 min. jogging at 6.5
2 min. running at 7.0
1 min. jogging at 6.5
2 min. running at 7.0
1 min. jogging at 6.5
1 min. running at 7.0
2 min. running at 7.5
1 min. speed walking (at 4.3 mph)
1.5 min. at 7.5 mph
0.5 min. at 8 mph

it was a great feeling to feel that burn again and the sweat! :-)
I did a couple varieties (about 3) of abs. 3 sets of 25, and 3 sets of 50 sit ups. In between the sit ups I did 3 sets of 15 reg. push-ups
I proceeded upstairs where I did shoulders, 3 sets of 16 at 30 lbs., back 3 sets of 25 at 30 lbs., leg extensions 3 sets of 20 on 30 lbs; leg curls 3 sets of 20 on 45 lbs. I am trying to keep light on my legs because I am trying to get them smaller, instead of putting on more muscle than I already have. I also did 3 sets of 20 squats with 60 lbs., 3 sets of 16 step ups (4 steps...pretty high and hard), and in between each set of step ups I did a set of 15 dips. A total of 1 hour and 15 minutes at the gym... and I was definitely happy to leave. I honestly didn't know what I was going to do....no plan going in, so I just did a littl ebit of everything.

On my way home I had a protein shake, which consists of 1 scoop of vanilla Isopure and 12 oz. of water. As soon as I got home I had a clementine, and a salad that I had originally made for lunch. I just added some feta, garbanzo beans, red kidney beans and some noodles (maybe about 7 ). I had 1.5 tbsp of Olive Oil Vinaigrette Light with it. For dessert I had Hibiscus Tea with 1 splenda and the other half of my Luna tea Cakes ..YUMM-O! :-)

I hope you all had a wonderful Monday, and hopefully it's a good start for a good week to come!

1.26.2009

Breathe in...Breathe out...and relax

Maybe Yoga sounds like a good idea for me tonight. It's been quite the stressful and long morning, and feel like today should just be over already.

Sorry for such a short post, but I still have a few things to finish up and about 2 hours to do them so I don't have to stay later, and I can go work out all this stress and anger out!!

I definitely could not wait for lunch, I was thinking of taking an early one, but stuck it out until 1 to go with a couple friends; I did, however, snack on a cup of fresh diced pineapple with 2 cups of coffee with 1 tbsp fat free hazelnut creamer.
Last night I made some 'Beef' Stew, and I was actually kind of nervous that I might not like it since I wasn't sure how faux beef tastes, and well it's just been an interesting 10 days with trying everything completely new, but I am actually enjoying everything I am making. I am loving this 30 day challenge, it has definitely opened up my eyes to new recipes and cultures, and varieties of healthier cooking/baking. It has taught me one lesson so far, plan ahead with all meals otherwise...whether you're dieting or just trying to maintain a healthy weight, you will splurge if you barge into the house starving and nothing planned ahead. (I know this is all probably not making sense, but I'm trying to type what comes to mind, and will edit it later tonight).
So for lunch I had one clementine with 1/2 whole wheat Naan, and 1.5 cups of 'Beef' Stew (I'll post the recipe once I get home). It filled me up just right which I'm so happy about, but I did have half of my Peanut Butter Chocolate Luna cookie and 2 more cups of coffee with 1tbsp of fat free hazelnut creamer.

I am definitely on a caffein kick, but if you know me well, it takes a whole lot more than just coffee to wake me up...thats what 9 years of coffee drinking does to you. I've had a headache since Saturday and it's been on and off, and the coffee is kind of putting it away, but I'm hoping the workout tonight will get rid of it, since I'll be able to sweat out the toxins out of my body...or some of them, and get the feel good high! haha

I hope you all have a great rest of the afternoon, with whatever your plans are, and I will see ya'll later tonight after dinner. :o)

3rd time's the charm?!

Good morning!!!

It's quite the cold and dreary day this morning, but I hope all of you are doing well after the weekend, and are looking forward to this week being a good one!! Can you believe it's already the last week of January.. (YIKES!!!)

Anywho, I'm back and I'm hoping 3rd time is the charm here!! It's been a rough couple of weeks here, with the cold, with work, with school starting up again and me trying something new out. I promise though I think I have everything figured out and set up and I think I will be more participant with this blog!!!! I hope. I have been baking tons, and I wish I took pictures, but I'll post up some recipes that I found from various bloggers and from various websites, and made them according to this 30 day challlenge I'm doing.

It looks like a busy bee monday for me this morning, so I will quickly post up my breakfast and try to sneak in some articles throughout the day that I have been looking over and been meaning to post up.

Breakfast was a yummy Egg (sunny side down) with tomatoes and green onion. I also had an Aunt Millie's Whole Graiin english muffin with 1/2 tbsp of Krema PB (yes I know about the salmonella outbreak, however my favorite all natural PB was re-called...see there is a reason why we should all eat organic natural foods, and not all organic foods are expensive, this PB only costs me $1.99!!!) with a small banana; and on the other half of the EM I had 1 tsp Light Butter with Canola Oil and 1/2 tbsp of 3 berry Light preserves (Meijer brand).
Ofcourse my day wouldn't start without my classic cup of joe, except this time I put in 1 tbsp of fat free hazelnut creamer (for 2 cups of coffee), and my friend is so generous she brought me in coffee as well (from home) so I will be loaded up on caffeine today, and maybe that will help curb my appetite for a little bit today. I have been binging on way too musch food in the last week that I need to shrink my appetite and decrease the amount of food I consume so I can get back on track and lose the weight I want and more, and fit back into the pants I just bought 3 months ago...size 6!!!! Besides I don't feel very healthy lately so I'm pumped about going to the gym tonight after work!

Oh right plus my friend Karen celebrates the Chinese New Year so she dropped off a Ghiradelli Espresso Escape 60% Cacao square on my desk (YUMM-O) and some cute little crackers, I'm sure I'll munch on the crackers throughout the day, I've been craving salty foods lately and I think it's from all the baking I've been doing and all the taste testing of the baked goods, that has my stomach rebelling against me know and not really allowing me to have an appetite :o(

Anyways, I hope you all have a good morning/afternoon on this last Monday of the month, and I will check back in later will more updates and interesting facts!

1.13.2009

PB=my love!

Good morning Sunshine's!

It's a chilly January Tuesday morning, and I think I woke up on the right side of the bed this morning. Of course, I still don't want to be at work, but I'm doing GREAT! It's going to an easy and quiet day at work, so I'm a little happy.
I'm thrilled to say that my friend Ria will be joining me at the gym today, finally a partner to workout with!!

For breakfast this morning I had Egg White Omelet, which consisted of 6 Tbsp. liquid egg whites, tomatoes layered inside (once the egg is almost done I layer the tomatoes and set the heat on low and fold in half.) I topped the omelet off with about a Tbsp of fat free Medi. feta. I had a couple slices of tomatoes on the side with some green onion. If you notice I tend to only eat tomatoes when I eat eggs. I'm not a big fan of tomatoes unless it's on pizza, on a sandwich or with my eggs; don't ask why, but it is how it is. I do, however, eat cherry tomatoes with my salad... again I don't know why, it's weird. Oh and no I'm not a big tomato soup person unless it had bits of chicken in it and noodles!!
Back to my breakfast, I also had a slice of Healthy Life Whole Wheat toast with 1/2 Tbsp. organic PB ( I use Krema, it's cheap andnatural!! all it contains is Peanuts) :o)http://http://www.krema.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PBCRE1
I also had 1/2 tbsp of the light 3 berry preserves and a medium banana on top. Of course a cup of Joe makes the day 10 times better for me, so I had 2 cups with 1/3 cup of fat free milk and 1 splenda! My friend Nina brought in some coffee for me as well so I will try and drink that Black, but we will see.

I know I really don't have much variety day to day with my breakfast, however, I can't eat oatmeal after spending about 3 months eating it. I will try to find or make up a new recipe to make it bare-able. I also have a tendency to eat a little salty and sweet foods for the morning, I'm not to big of a fan of sweet foods first thing in the morning!! I know shocker. PB always completes me, it's the right balance and it's just oh so YUMM-O with a banana. Hopefully tonight I'll be creative and make some pancakes or think up of something new for breakfast.

Alright time to get back to work. I hope you all have a wonderful morning, and I will be on later to post up some snacks and lunch along with some articles I have saved up and have been wanting to post.

1.12.2009

Talking but not walkin'

So as you know from my previous post I said I'm back and planning to stay. Okay I have to get serious this time. I'm gonna make this a quick post because I'm super tired today, it was quite the busy day at work (well atleast in the morning) and I was there at 7:30. That is a shocker to everyone because well I'm usually the one walking in 30 minutes late, not early. Anyways so I'm going to do a quick recap on what I ate (sorry no pictures yet) and my workout and call it a night. I'll be back in the morning hopefully make it in early for work and post up my breakfast and what's going on.

Breakfast consisted of an egg sunny side down with some tomatoes and green onion, along with that I had a medium banana, one slice of Healthy Life Whole Wheat bread with 1/2 tbsp. of organic PB and 1/2 tbsp of Light 3-Berry preserves. I also had my ritual 2 cups of joe with 1/3 cup of skim milk, and one splenda.
Since I always bring in some kidn of treats (that I bake myself) to work, a co-worker (Karen) brought me a cookie (store bought) and wanted me to try it. It was okay, but totally tasted like it was just a regular cookie of the shelf.( it was chocolate chip). So I had that throughout my day when I had a sweet tooth.

3 hours later I snacked on a cup of diced pineapple and 1/2 cup of low fat cottage cheese.

Around lunch time, which was about 2 hours later (I usually go and run some errands) I had half of my pink orange (they are YUMMO!!!!), and once I got back (which was about 3 hours after my snack)I finished the orange and I also had 8 medium shrimp (sauteed-night before- with some lemon juice and garlic salt) and a salad filled with corn, carrots, cherry tomatoes, green leaf lettuce, 1 tbsp of fat free medi. feta, and 1 tbsp of light olive oil vinaigrette (I believe I may have a picture in an ealrier post).

I waited for that to digest but had a horrible sweet tooth that wouldnt go away so about an hour later I had 2 small squeres of dark chocolate with some hot peach tea (with one splenda) and that did it just right. Actually who am I kidding I couldv'e scarfed the entire dark chocolate bar, but knew I would regret it later in the day so I controlled myself.

After work I went over to the gym (and yes I actually wasn't too tired or lazy not to go) and I had a decent work out. I must say I don't like the start of the New Year at the gym because everyone and their mother join the gym and it's just so crowded I feel like I can't get a good workout there. Anyways I did the stair climber for about 15 minutes. That made me sweat like a maniac, but I loved it. I did 2 sets of 50 sit ups, 2 sets of side abs(similar to a bicycle crunch/sit up), and 2 sets of 30 leg raises/lifts. (I should take photos once I get my caera, or seach for pictures on the internet of what I'm talking abotu exactly. After that I went to peek into the lifting area part of the gym and it was packed, so instead I did a 30 minute run (speed set at 9 minutes a mile). It was intense and a nice burn and sweat. I could have done a better workout but I'm proud that I went to the gym and won't worry too much about it.

After my workout I had a medium green apple with a protein shake that consisted of 4 oz. skim milk and 8 oz. water mixed with 1 scoop dutch chocolate Isopure mix. It was delish and actually satisfied me well enough, that is until I got to my moms where she had food everywhere. So after my 1.5 hour drive over ther (stupid snow) I had about 1/3 cup of couscous (with mushrooms) and 2 drumsticks (boiled, out of the chicken soup). I had my sweet tooth yet again so I had a cup of coffee with about 1/8-1/4 cup of whole milk (couldn't really tell ) and one splenda. I also found some walnut/preserves cake (I don't know what it is really but it is deliciousness in your mouth, and tastes a million times better when it's warmed up with vanilla ice cream. My aunt's boyfriend makes it, so maybe I can ask him for the recipe and I'll be sure to take a picture soon). It wasn't the healthiest thing around but I did take a sliver of it and it did hit the spot a little, but I knew if I had more I'd only REGRET REGRET REGRET!

I know this blog isn't that great without photos so I'll try to steal my sisters or order one online ASAP, when Im not maxed out on my credit cards anymore.

I hope you all had a great first day back at work, school or whatever your plans were for the day. Goodnight and I will see you all tomorrow!!

1.08.2009

I'm back, and planning to stay!

Sorry for not posting for a while. It really is a little time consuming to do this blog, but one of my new years resolutions is to keep up with it, and make it simple. I have a whole list of of resolutions, but that is saved on my computer at home, so I'll post it later this evening!
Anyways, I apologize for not posting for a while, and I promise to post as much as I can, when I can. I will be getting a camera soon so I will be putting up pictures of my foods then, for now I'm sorry for the boring blog, but hopefully I can make my meals sound appetizing and insprie you to maybe try them.

For breakfast this morning I had an tomato egg white omellete, which consisted of 1/2 cup of egg beaters Egg Whites, 6 cherry tomatoes (cut in half), sprinkle of shredded 2% monterey jack cheese, and some green onions. I made the egg whites first then put the tomato halves when the top looked a little firm and just about done, after putting the tomatoes on I folded the omelette in half (added some table mix seasoning, and fressh grind pepper) sprinkled some cheese and put the heat on low for about 1 minute.
I also had a medium Banana and 1 Aunt Millie's whole grain english muffin. One side was with 1/2 tbsp. organic no salt added PB and the other half with 1/2 tbsp. three-berry light preserves.
Ofcourse I had my cup of coffee with 1/3 cup nonfat milk and 1 splenda. My friend, Liz, made some chocolate chip cookies (from scratch) so I took one and had half of it because she really wanted me to try it and judge it; I'm saving the other half for later. Maybe I can get the recipe from her and I'll post it up!! :o)

It was a pretty filling breakfast, and a lot of food to eat, so hopefully it holds me overfor a couple hours (more than 3 please.)

Hopefully I will be able to fill you in on bits and pieces of what has been going on since my last post, but we will see how my load of work will be today. Hopefully you have a nice and relaxing day planned, or your work isn't too overwhelming.

Enjoy! :o)