Very soon, my 4-day work week will be coming to an end. I have 6 more weeks, or until September 1, to enjoy having my Fridays off. It’s hard to complain too much about this. I’m actually surprised it lasted this long. But still, I will miss my consistent long weekends.

Ironically, this weekend I’m having an even longer weekend. I had off from work yesterday and Monday I’m taking a personal day. The kids will be home with me, but it will be hot, hot, hot! And ya’ll know what that means – POOL! Even my 5 year-old knows P-O-O-L! Seriously, it is sooo hot here, even as I’m writing this at 6:30 AM, that I had to go into the basement to cool off. And yes, we do have central air, but for some reason my husband turns it down (or is it up?) to make it warmer in the morning.

Anyway, after my awesome 5 1/2 mile run yesterday, I kept with my semi-tradition of having a leisurely breakfast on Fridays (oh, how I will miss those too). It just happened to a French Friday breakfast, where I enjoyed:

• a mini croissant with Trader Joe’s raspberry jam with all-natural peanut butter for added protein
• 1 cup of ice cold, juicy watermelon
• 3/4 cup of blueberry yogurt with walnuts, again, for added protein

I’m never able to eat my entire breakfast when the kids are home. At least one, if not both of them, want to taste mommy’s breakfast. Even though they’ve already had their breakfast, somehow mommy’s looks and tastes so much better when she’s eating it.

Ok, as we say in these here parts – I have to get on my horse now. We’re heading to another local Farmer’s Market – the first one for the kids. Then we’re hosting a BBQ/pool day at our house. I have a feeling there will be drinking involved.

Related posts:

1. Why Is Breakfast So Important? Most people have heard the saying, Breakfast is the most...
2. Red, White, and Blue Breakfast I continued my quest to be the ultimate weekend warrior....
3. Early Summer Breakfast It’s summertime in Chicago! Well, almost This week it has...

It’s summertime in Chicago! Well, almost This week it has been near or above 80 degrees, which definitely makes it feel like summer. There are so many things I love about summer – swimming, running outdoors, wearing cute sandals, and….dining al fresco!

Whether I’m eating at home or at a restaurant, I love eating outside. There’s something about being among nature that makes the food taste better. And so, to celebrate this early arrival of Summer in Chicago (at least by temperature’s standards), I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast outside. It included:

• French bread spread with brie and Trader Joe’s raspberry jam
• 2 cups of chopped fruit (for the fiber) topped with a dollop of plain nonfat Greek yogurt (for the protein)
• Tazo Awake tea with skim milk

Ahhh, breakfast perfection! Now, if I could only find some new cute sandals – Nordstrom 1/2 yearly sale for women, here I come!

Related posts:

1. Chocolate-filled Breakfast Afternoon everyone! I’ve had a very busy day so far....
2. Breakfast in the Cube And now a line from one of my favorite Christmas...
3. Birthday breakfast at the office Hello everyone! I had a great start to my morning....

I layered the parfait with the following awesome ingredients…

• 5.3 ounces of Trader Joe’s nonfat Greek yogurt, vanilla
• 1/4 cup Galaxy Vanilla Almond Granola
• 1/8 cup blueberries
• 1 huge strawberry, chopped

My own Greek Yogurt “Sundae”. This was, by far, the best breakfast I’ve had in a long time.

And, if you can believe it, the whole parfait added up to less than 300 calories – now that’s a great breakfast!

Scott and I took the kids to church at 11 AM then headed to Jason’s Deli for lunch. It really wasn’t too exciting, but I did snag a couple of Dr. Kracker flatbreads for a snack at work tomorrow – he he!

After lunch, I headed back out shopping. I am trying to find something fun to wear for Fitbloggin. There’s been a little chatter about going out dancing, which sounds really fun. Unfortunately, my dancing days post-kids are few and far between and my fun, party girl close have taken a hit because of this. I shopped for more than 2 hours at Gap, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, etc. and only found one thing that I remotely liked.

Is it just me or is anyone else having a hard time finding cute clothes for Fitbloggin and Spring in general??

For dinner ….it was taco night at the RWC house tonight.

Scott makes fantastic turkey tacos – really juicy and just the right amount of spice. He makes it all from memory too. As you can see, I had my fair share of the taco fiesta…

After letting my stomach settle, I hopped on the treadmill again for a fast 2-mile run. I had to shorten my morning workout a bit due to church so I wanted to make up for the lost time tonight. I used to do double workouts/runs quite often – mostly in the few months post-pregnancy. I love how strong the fast bursts of exercise make me feel. However, I stopped doing them so often because running in the evening tends to make it difficult for me to fall asleep.

Anyway, post evening run, I enjoyed a little sweet treat…

Double chocolate Ghirardelli brownies. I cooked them a tad too long, but they were still ooey and gooey!

Time to plan my wardrobe for the week and for Fitbloggin! Have a great night!

Related posts:

1. Bad, Bad, Yogurt Evening Chicas! I had an awesome run this morning, although...
2. Morning Glory Run It was an awesome morning for a run! It was...
3. A Healthy Ice Cream Sundae Hello All. I had such a great day today. I...

Introducing my new 1154 Lill Erika bag. It’s big enough to hold my Macbook Pro and a few odds and ends. The bag has a plum base color with a Queen Anne’s Lace accent stripe…

On the inside, I decided to show my wild side with an African cheetah print…

I love my Lill! After making this one, I so want to make another one…hmm, maybe for my birthday!

Alright, enough about my new chic bag…on with the day…it started with a 30-minute run on the t-mill followed by some fast walking and an ab workout. That makes 5 days of running straight – I think I’m ready for a break.

Breakfast was about 3 oz of Trader Joe’s vanilla Greek yogurt with some of my new Galaxy Granola…

The folks at Galaxy sent me 3 bags of their awesome granola while I was on vacation. I was so excited to get it and practically tore into it on the spot. I really admire the Galaxy brand and its new Web site promoting granola made with Fruit Not Fat. Many of the granola brands out there are loaded with sugar, fat, and ingredients that I can’t even pronounce. That’s the main reason why I try to make my own because I can control my own ingredients. Galaxy Granola seems to have recognized the importance of making a product all-natural because they make their granola with naturally healthy ingredients like applesauce and honey, instead of corn syrup and oils. Now that’s my kind of granola!

The vanilla almond flavor also had whole almonds in it, which made my yogurt extra crunchy…

So yum and so filling – good thing I only used 1/2 a carton of the yogurt and 1/8 cup granola! On my way to work, I also picked up a skinny vanilla latte, since I missed out on my treat yesterday. Ahh, how I’ve missed my Starbucks.

Lunch ended up being some leftover risotto which was good, but just not filling enough. I snacked on a banana, some lemon tea, and a few “thank you” cookies…

I call them “thank you” cookies, because each cookie had the words “thank you” on them, but in different languages. As you can see, I ate 1/2 of the merci cookie before I took the picture

Dinner was a family favorite – Scott’s homemade pasta sauce with a big ‘ole side of broccoli…

OK, that’s enough for tonight. I’m off to repack my Lill for tomorrow!

Ciao!

Related posts:

1. All-Natural Chicago Hot Dog Lovin' Ok folks, I have to make this quick. I actually...
2. Crash and Burn Happy Friday Everyone! Trader Joe’s Recall For all of you...
3. A Panini Novice Makes Good Hey Everyone! Sorry for the late post, but I’ve been...

I had a great early morning run today – started before 6 AM which I haven’t done for a while. After 4.5 sweaty miles running from 7.0 to 7.6 on a 10% incline, I was sooo ready for breakfast. I couldn’t wait to try my new Oikos nonfat Greek vanilla yogurt…

Hmm…not so good. I really wanted to like this yogurt because it’s a little more accessible than going to Trader Joe’s and it’s a little cheaper too. But there was just something about it I did NOT like. It almost tasted too sour – like it was on the verge of becoming bad, although the expiration date wasn’t until mid-March. I tried adding some peanut butter to it and that didn’t help, which totally goes against my peanut butter reality (that peanut butter makes everything taste better).

I only took a few bites and then gave the rest to Miss M, who didn’t like it either. And that is saying a lot considering this is a girl who loves Trader Joe’s vanilla Greek yogurt. Oh well, I only bought two – I’m hoping the strawberry flavor is better. To compensate for my blah breakfast, I had 1/2  Luna bar on the way to work. Luna – so dependable! Then it was on to Starbucks for a skinny vanilla latte – I needed it after only getting about 6 hours of sleep!

Work ended up going by really fast today, which is always nice Lunch was an unpictured can of soup and a banana, and then another Luna bar for a snack.

Dinner was one of my favorites tonight – homemade pasta sauce made with ground turkey…

Plus some homemade garlic bread on the side. Scott made it and it was sooo good – doesn’t this look like Texas toast??? But it wasn’t, it was the leftover three-cheese bread from La Brea.

I had about 1 1/2 cups of pasta plus 3/4 cup sauce. I really wanted MORE, but I refrained knowing that there is a brownie in the house with my name on it.

So let’s see how I did…

Jen’s Calories for Monday, February 22:

• Few bites of yogurt = 50 calories
• 1/2 Luna bar = 90 calories
• Skinny vanilla latte – 90 calories
• Banana – 90 calories
• 1 can of chicken soup = 150 calories
• 1 Luna Bar – 180 calories
• 2 small pieces of garlic bread = 200 calories
• 1 1/2 cups cooked pasta (measured) = 300 calories
• 3/4 cup pasta sauce (measured) – 200 calories
• 1 cup steamed broccoli = 50 calories
• 1 brownie = 200 calories
• Total calories = 1,600

Not too bad as far as calories, but the majority of my calories were consumed after 5 PM (950 calories), when I am at my least active. Not so good for my metabolism. 

Gotta read a few articles before heading to bed. See you all tomorrow!

Related posts:

1. Bad, Bad, Yogurt Evening Chicas! I had an awesome run this morning, although...
2. A Panini Novice Makes Good Hey Everyone! Sorry for the late post, but I’ve been...
3. A Full Morning Morning everyone! I went to be so full last night...

Trader Joe’s Recall

For all of you who have not heard, Trader Joe’s is recalling its chocolate chip chewy coated granola bars due to potential contamination that may cause a food-borne illness.  There have been no reported illnesses as of yet, but they are taking precautions, which I think is very admirable. Way to go TJ’s for being on top of things.

Crash and Burn

This morning, I had a little accident just before getting on the treadmill. A couple years ago, Scott made a rolling cart/wrack to hold a flatscreen monitor. The television can play through the monitor so it is a great way to watch shows or the news while you’re on the eliptical or treadmill. Well this morning, when I was rolling the cart over to the treadmill, it hit a bump and the monitor fell on my HEAD! My head and shoulders literally stopped the monitor from crashing to the ground. You might not think that a flatscreen monitor weighs a lot, and for the most part, the screen doesn’t. But the base weighs anywhere from 8-10 pounds. As it came crashing down on my head, the sharp corner of the monitor scraped my head and left a very nice gash above my eyebrow…

It’s kind of ironic that so many injuries happen on the treadmill each year and my injury happened off the treadmill. I didn’t realize how bad the cut was at first. I was dizzy for a few minutes but then was able to regroup and get on the treadmill. It wasn’t until I reached up to feel my head that I realized I was bleeding – yuck! Head wounds are not so fun. After cleaning it off, the only bandaids that I could find were either Hello Kitty or Batman. I went with Batman – somehow it made me feel tougher. I have since been to the store to get “adult” bandaids.

I’m hoping tomorrow is going to be a better day. I’m meeting Anne in downtown Chicago to make a purse at 1154 Lill. I am so excited! Scott bought me a gift card there for our anniversary in September and I’ve been dying to use it. The last time I made a purse there – 4 years ago – it took me about 2 hours to pick out all of the materials and extras. They have so many great fabrics and patterns, it’s hard to choose! I plan to take lots of pictures of my purse-making outing so stay tuned.

See you all tomorrow.

Related posts:

1. Super Goal Sunday and Big Easy Irony Hey All! This weekend, I planned to accomplish several things,...

This weekend, I planned to accomplish several things, including:

1. Study for my CPT exam
2. Run
3. Shop for groceries
4. Clean
5. Study some more

It’s funny that I accomplished all of those things, and more, in just one day! So, I am calling today my personal, Super Goal Sunday! I started the morning with a sweaty run on the t-mill (I’ve got to get that heat turned down – ugh!). I am sooo looking forward to running outside in Orlando in a few weeks. The treadmill is really starting to get old.

Breakfast was a super energizing bowl of Trader Joe’s Greek yogurt with a dollop of all-natural peanut butter and a few walnuts…

Breakfast was followed by a little lot of grocery shopping! I can’t believe I spent more than $80 on groceries – guess that’s what happens when you have two growing kids and a husband who is training for the Chicago triathlon.

Lunch was a carbon copy of yesterday’s lunch…

A reduced fat salami sandwich – only this time I had three-cheese bakery bread. Wow – the bread made all the difference in the world. I swear I could have eaten the whole loaf by itself! Along with my sandwich, I also had a few carrots, some low-fat chips and a juicy naval orange. I have been craving citrus fruits so I bought a bag of oranges today. I just couldn’t wait to dig into them!

After lunch, I cleaned a good portion of the house, then headed off to Barnes and Noble to study. After about an hour of studying, I had a mocha frap, mostly to keep me from dozing (only had 6 hours of sleep last night). I only have about a week left to study before the big test! Tick, tock, tick, tock.

Dinner was Scott’s creation – chicken stir-fry…

Stir-fry is so easy to make and it is relatively healthy, as long as you don’t douse it with sodium-fill soy sauce. Plus, you can add all sorts of yummy and color veggies to it to make it even healthier. 

**Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints! On a side note, here’s a bit of irony – Big Easy style.**

The Year of the Big Easy

• In December 2009, Disney released it’s Princess and the Frog movie, set in New Orleans
• We will be in Disney World during Mardi Gras
• We will be staying at the French Quarter
• The New Orleans Saints win the Super Bowl

How’s that for coincidence? 

Ok, I’m off to study a little more before bed. Have a great night!

Related posts:

1. Super Spinach = SuperFood Boy, did I have a little scare this afternoon. I...
2. Orzo Risotto Improv Hey there! Well my headache from last night has continued...
3. Sunday Morning With Bob Marley Running With Cake Fact: I ONLY run in Nike running...

I worked at home today – with the kids! I hadn’t planned on working at home at all and especially not with the kids. But, when push comes to shove, I do what I have to do.

Before Scott left to teach a class, I hopped on the treadmill for about 45 minutes. We have a separate heating system (electric heat) in our basement where the treadmill is. For some reason it is super hot down there every morning. So, I’m usually a sweaty mess by the time I come upstairs.

Breakfast was 1/2 a carton of TJ’s vanilla Greek yogurt, with a teaspoon of all-natural peanut butter and a few walnuts…

I also had the last of the OJ, which was seriously like 2 ounces!!! Why even bother leaving 2 ounces of juice in the carton? I just don’t understand it.

Lunch happened to be leftover homemade fried chicken from Saturday night…

I had two small pieces, although I could have easily eaten more. I paired the chicken with some steamed baby carrots and about a cup of Trader Joe’s shells and white cheddar..

Let me tell you, it is REALLY hard to work at home with the kids! At their ages, they demand all of my attention – which is not a bad thing except when I need to work. Fortunately, they both take naps and can be calmed by a Disney show (desperate times call for desperate measures).

While the kids napped then watched a Disney show, I was heads down in a project for work. Between working a little before getting on the treadmill, and working in the afternoon, I was able to finish my project and put in about 3.5 hours at home. Whew – what a day! I was so busy – and HANGRY – that I just had to have a snack – 2 small homemade chocolate chip cookies and a 1/2 cup skim milk. Plus, right before dinner, I was starving and couldn’t wait. Had a small, snack pack of Sunchips too – blah! Oh well, still under 1,600 calories for the day.

In all of my craziness today, I actually found the time to make dinner…

I tried a new Giada recipe for creamy orzo (at least it was new to me). Minus the peas, I thought this dish was really good, although I had to add a bunch of salt and pepper for taste. I’m glad I quartered the recipe because Scott and my son did not like this AT ALL! That’s ok though – Giada will never know. The kids and I also split a turkey burger which is the reason why it looks so small in the picture!!

Now, I have about 200 calories that I could still eat to get to my 1,600 calories a day – I’m thinking a small brownie and a little Breyer’s vanilla – what do ya think?

Restaurant Diet Update

So today, it has been officially 4 weeks since we started our Restaurant Diet, vowing not to spend any of our own money on food outside of the house. So how did we do? We did fantastic!! By having gift cards from Christmas at our disposal, we were able to get our fix of eating out without spending money. So, for the most part, we really weren’t tempted to stray.

That is, until yesterday. That’s right, we decided to end the diet one day early. We contemplated going to Panera for lunch and using the last of our meal gift cards. But Panera just didn’t sound good. So, we opted for the Italian cafe near our house. Kids eat free on Sunday and we actually had a free meal to boot. So, we spent about $14 to feed 2 adults and 2 children – about $3.50 a person. Not bad!

So how much money did we save? Well, we were regularly going out to eat 2-3 times a week with the kids – blowing about $75. Then, between Starbucks, Barnes and Noble cafe, and going out to lunch, Scott and I easily spent another $25 a week, if not more, between the two of us. Overall, we probably saved about $400 by on the Restaurant Diet, which is well worth the effort!

Gotta get to bed. See you all tomorrow!

Related posts:

1. Home Sweet Home Chicago Wow – it’s GREAT to be home in sunny Chicago!...
2. A Panini Novice Makes Good Hey Everyone! Sorry for the late post, but I’ve been...
3. All work and no vacation I don’t know what’s going on with me this week....

As most of you know, I have been trying to stick to 1,600 calories a day for at least the last week. I’m not trying to lose a bunch of weight, but I’m trying to “shrink my stomach” as my husband would say.

What does it mean to shrink your stomach?

It doesn’t mean that I want six-pack abs (very hard to get for women). What “shrinking your stomach” means to us is the process of training your body, your mind, and, hence, your stomach to need and want less food. For instance, after traveling twice in January, I grew accustomed to eating out, eating bigger than normal portions, and eating many, many sweets. However, even when I stopped traveling, I found that my stomach still wanted me to eat like that. If you don’t catch this vicious cycle in time, this can mean big trouble in the weight department.

Although I may have put on a pound or two while traveling in January , the real reason why I’m watching calories is to retrain my brain and appetite to not eat so much, stop eating before I’m full, and not snack as much. Plus, we are leaving in just a few weeks for Disney. I’ve mentioned before that we opted to buy the dining plan, which pretty much means you can eat ALL the time, or what seems like it. Between buffets and fancy plated dinners, to fast food and snacks, we are going to have calories thrown at us faster than the teacups can spin. So, I’m trying to preempt those temptations by making my body not want to overeat.

I figured that by sticking to 1,600 calories a day (about 300-400 less than normal), my body would become more full on less food. And, in just about 10 days, this has actually happened! I find that after just one bowl of soup or one small serving of dinner, I’m pretty satisfied. Dessert is still something I enjoy too, I just eat less of it and make sure it fits into the 1,600 calories (or around 1,600 calories) per day.

So how did I do today?

After my fab run on the treadmill (running an extra 5 minutes), I had about 3/4 a container of Trader Joe’s vanilla Greek yogurt with a few walnuts…

Plus I had a 1/2 cup of OJ (actually measured to be sure), just because I was craving something citrusy…

For lunch, we headed out to a restaurant (we had a free meal!) where I had 1/2 an Italian sandwich plus about 1/2 my French fries…

This ended up being the most calories I ate at one sitting today. I really do prefer eating heavier at lunch than dinner. This gives my stomach more time to digest the food. After lunch, I took my son to yet another 5-year old birthday party. Then, I stopped at Starbucks to pick up a tall mocha frap. My stomach wasn’t feeling so great after a while, so I only drank about 1/3 – 3/4 of it and threw the rest away.

Dinner ended up being about 1 1/2 cups chicken soup – that’s it! Because I just wasn’t very hungry. And then finally, a small (1/2 slice) of birthday cake (unpictured).

Let’s see how the numbers add up…

• 4 ounces Nonfat Greek Yogurt and walnuts = 200 calories
• 4 oz Orange Juice = 50 calories
• 1/2 serving French fries = 200 calories
• 1/2 Italian Panini with spinach = 500 calories
• 3/4 Tall Mocha Frap with no whip = 175 calories
• 1 cup popcorn = 100 calories
• 1 1/2 cups Chicken and Veggie Soup = 150 calories
• 1/2 slice cake – 200 calories
• Total = 1,575 calories

Obviously, the choices I made today were not the greatest as far as nutritional value. For instance, I need to eat more fruits and veggies and fewer sweets – duh! But, I still came in under 1,600 calories and I feel FULL! After doing this for about 10 days, I HAVE actually lost 2 pounds and am now down to my pre-January business travel weight (108 pounds). What I am more happy about is that I don’t want food all day long and I don’t find myself eating mindlessly – aka the Brian Wansink theory.

I’m hoping that I can stick to this way of eating on vacation. But, after all, it is vacation, right?

Have a great night everyone!

No related posts.

I don’t know about you but my Sunday just flew by – probably because I spent most of the day either working or working out. I started with a 45 minute interval workout on the treadmill (the rain kept me inside today – blah!). The run was followed by a 15-minute ab workout. I love ab-toning exercises. They not only make you look really in shape, but they are great for strengthening your core.

Next up, a little breakfast…

And yes, it was little, probably too little. It was about a 1/3 cup of Trader Joe’s vanilla Greek nonfat yogurt, with about a teaspoon of peanut butter and a teaspoon of chopped walnuts. I know that this was not enough because about 45 minutes later I was starving! I grabbed a few pretzels just to take the edge off until lunch.

And speaking of lunch, I had leftover turkey chili with elbow noodles..

I don’t know what was with me today, but I just could not judge portions sizes. This ended up being only a 1/2 cup of chili and about 1/2-3/4 cup noodles. After such a small breakfast, this was way too small of a lunch for me. But Scott very nicely offered to share his turkey burger, so I decided to take him up on his offer and have 1/4 the burger.

The rest of the afternoon was spent working – and I mean working! Because of all the craziness at work with this potential new project, I am working in overdrive. I headed to Barnes and Noble – my office away from home – for some quiet work time. I did enjoy a nice mocha frap while I was there – via gift card of course!

Dinner was a household favorite, Italian sausage with peppers and leeks…

I LOVE this dish – it just never gets old. Although tonight, the sausage seemed a little underdone. I guess we’ll all find out if we get sick in the middle of the night!

After our stomachs (and the kids) were settled, Scott and I headed into the basement for a little workout. No, not that kind of workout (get your mind out of the gutter ) He’s been going on the treadmill at night pretty consistently for the last few weeks. He’s trying to increase his fitness level for some of our big trips we have planned in the coming months.

Many of you have posted on how you do double workouts a few times a week. I have done this in the past and, although it’s hard to keep up with on a regular basis, I do find that I can keep my weight down fairly easy when I do this. So tonight, I thought I’d try doing the eliptical. I haven’t been on the eliptical in YEARS!!!! Let me tell you, doing the eliptical was so much HARDER than running. Not only was I dripping wet with sweat after just 10 minutes, but I could barely make it through the 20 workout – on no higher than level 4 – yikes! And I thought I was pretty in shape.

Funny thing is, I was extremely tired at the end but it said I only burned 90 calories. I burn about 400-450 calories after 40 minutes on the treadmill! I think it’s safe to say I’ll be sticking with running.

Now, completely exhausted, I’m about ready to dig into some of my father-in-law’s leftover almond crunch cake…

Ahh, so good, and definitely just as tasty as it was last night.

That’s all for now friends. See you on Monday!

Related posts:

1. The End of Gourmet Hi Girls! If you haven’t already heard, Gourmet magazine is...
2. So, I was called into the Principal's Office…. **Don’t forget about the first ever Running With Cake giveaway!...
3. What I May or May Not Have Eaten Today Let’s play a game – It’s called, What did Jennifer...