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A Full Morning

February 20, 2010 by

Morning everyone!

I went to be so full last night and I’m not sure why. I had a great run yesterday morning (4.5 miles on the treadmill) then had the following calories throughout the day…

  • 1 cup Cherrios with blueberries and milk – 150 calories
  • 1 tall skinny vanilla latte – 90 calories
  • 1 1/2 cups minestrone soup with a small breadstick – 300 calories
  • 3 mini snickers – 120
  • 1 Luna Bar – 180
  • 3 small pieces of cheese pizza – 400
  • Total Calories = 1,240 (give or take 100 calories)

That’s more than 300 calories less than what I was aiming for – 1,600 calories per day. The only thing I can think of is that the pizza (albeit small squares) made me super full because of the cheese…

Hmm..still puzzling to me. Anyway, this morning when I woke up, I was STILL full. I usually don’t like like to eat when I’m full. However, we have a very busy morning (and day) planned. I opted for a small breakfast of about 4 oz of nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt with a teaspoon of peanut butter…

Plus about 1 teaspoon of walnuts on top for added crunch and MUFA…

So total, I probably had about 200 calories for breakfast. Now, I’m incredibly full.

The rest of the day is booked – haircuts (not mine), cleaning, shopping, and other errands. With so much running around, maybe I’ll feel hungry by dinnertime!

Gotta run – have a great day!

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Super Goal Sunday and Big Easy Irony

February 7, 2010 by

Hey All!

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!

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Snack-free Saturdays

February 6, 2010 by

Hello everyone!

As most of you know, Saturday is a “no run” day for me. Sometimes I do yoga, but most of the time, Saturdays just end up being a rest day for me. Although I’m still active on Saturdays – running errands, etc. – I definitely don’t burn as many calories as I do when it is a running day. So today, I thought I would try to institute a no-snacking Saturday. Honestly, I have been trying to cut back on snacks altogether, but when I’m also trying to keep to 1,600 calories a day (and not cutting back on my runs) I find that having a snack once or twice a day is almost a must. But on days when I’m not running, I really have no reason to snack, other than the typical excuses, like boredom, habit, etc.

So today, on my first no-snacking Saturday, I started off with a sweet beginning…

I was really in the mood for a pastry of some sort for breakfast. So early this morning, I ran up to Deerfield’s bakery – a local favorite – to peruse their daily breakfast goods. They have so much to choose from that it was hard to decide. What I love about Deerfield’s, aside from the variety of pastries they have, is the fact that they have small bites or mini-size items of donuts, danishes, etc. This way, you can get a few small things to try, instead of buying one big coffee cake. I opted for a mini Cherry danish, which was only about 3/4 the size of a computer mouse…

I savored every bite with a bit of Fairmont Breakfast tea (from a stay at the Fairmont a while back). Ahh…so yummy. After I was finished eating, I realized that I had broken one of my rules of breakfast – to always include protein. I debated on whether to have some Greek yogurt or a spoonful of peanut butter but I really wasn’t hungry. And, I’m really trying to only eat when I’m hungry. So – no protein. 

Lunch was simple – a 1/2 salami an Swiss sandwich on rye with some steamed carrots and a few Reduced Fat Cape Cod chips…

Surprisingly, after having such a small breakfast, this light lunch kept me full all the day to dinner. I guess I really am shrinking my stomach!

For dinner, we opted for On the Border. We haven’t been there in soooo long, but decided to give it a try again since we had a gift card.

After having a dozen tortilla chips and some salsa, Scott and I split the chicken fajitas…

I had two small to medium fajitas, which was just perfect. The fajita meat was really good, better than many fajita chicken meat I’ve had – but Scott’s chicken fajitas are still the best. Hmm…can’t wait for summer grilling season!

When we arrived home, we got the kids in bed, then I cooked an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie for dessert…

Ok, this really wasn’t just ONE cookie – can you tell by the shadow? I actually had 3 very small cookies…

Yeah for me! I did it – I actually got through whole Saturday without snacking! Now, we’ll see if this has any impact on the scale tomorrow 😉

Have a great night everyone.

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An Unexpected Work-at-Home Day

February 1, 2010 by

Hey All!

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!

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Like Being in College, Except You Get Paid

January 29, 2010 by

Happy Friday! Don’t know about you but I am really ready for the weekend. I stayed up until 12:30 AM last night to finish a project for work. I felt like I was in college/grad school again, playing beat the clock against a mid-term deadline. Back in college, I used to think that all that work and pulling all-nighters wouldn’t be so bad if we got paid for it. Well, now that I AM getting paid for it, I wish I was getting paid MORE! 

Despite only getting about 6 hours of sleep, I had a great run this morning on the treadmill. It really is too cold to run outside here in Chicago – at least in my opinion. Although I complain about running on the treadmill day after day, I really am thankful that I have one.

Breakfast was a hearty bowl of oatmeal, with a tad of brown sugar and a few chopped walnuts…

I had to make a Target and Costco run for things for the party tomorrow, which consumed most of my morning. But I did cash in my Starbucks giftcard for a tall mocha frap. Instead of drinking it right away, I put it in the fridge to stay cold until after lunch…

Since I’m trying to stick to 1,600 calories a day for the next few days, I’ve been really watching my portions. As you can see, I had a 1/2 sandwich made with reduced-fat salami and a 1/2 slice of Swiss, plus a few carrots and chips to balance it out.

While the kids napped, I savored my mocha frap and spent the better part of 2 hours perusing the menus at Disney World. We have been very strategic about our restaurant choices, trying to balance quality food with a fun atmosphere for the kids. You’re probably thinking that every restaurant at Disney provides a fun atmosphere for kids – well, not really. Some do a better job than others. This balancing act also includes trying to split our meals between a la carte menus and buffets. Here’s the catch, most character meals are buffets and most of these get pretty low ratings for food. But, when you have small children, you want to go to character meals to make it more fun for the kids and not just like going out to eat back home.

As I checked out the menus online, which are very accurate by the way, I was contemplating some of the healthier choices for both me and the kids. On the dining plan, the kids have to order off the kid’s menu. And wouldn’t you know it, nearly all of the menus include hot dogs, pizza, chicken fingers, burgers, and mac and cheese. Come on – I know kids are picky but couldn’t you be more original than that? That’s not to say that my kids won’t eat those things because they absolutely will – but twice a day for seven days?? Even my kids would get bored with that. And what is even more strange is that the appetizer for the kids (the kid’s meal includes an appetizer) they can choose from a salad or carrots sticks. I know that those are healthy choices, but how many kids do you know (especially those 5 and under) who eat salads or carrot sticks for an appetizer? It seems like it should be switched, give them something a little more “fun” for an appetizer and give them a healthier choice for the entree.

Anyway, dinner ended up being homemade chicken noodle soup, which tasted really good on a cold day. Before soup, we actually started with a little white cheddar and crackers…

Again, because I’m watching my portions, I had one small cup of soup – about 10 ounces. But it looked really good in my fancy smancy cup…

I’m off to go finish up a few party things before bed. See you all tomorrow!

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Those Bloody Oranges

January 27, 2010 by

Hey There! 

I am feeling sooo much better today! I was actually able to run my full workout this morning – woo hoo! I guess my body really needed the two-day rest.

After the run I was craving fruit so I started digging around the fridge to see what I could find. Apparently, Scott went shopping on Monday and bought a bunch of oranges. But, not just any oranges – Moro oranges or blood oranges…

These oranges are freakin awesome! I can’t believe I have never tried these before!!! According to Sunkist’s Web site:

The Moro Orange, sometimes called the “blood orange” because of its deep burgundy flesh, has been a favorite in Europe and North Africa for years. They are characterized by a distinctive flavor, with a hint of raspberry added to the rich orange taste.

So cool, and not just because of the red-purple-ish color. This orange really had a great flavor – juicy and sweet. Ironically, my 2-year old was having a “I only like things that are purple day” so I was excited to show her my new find. She was just as excited as I was 🙂

After my bloody orange, I was still in a fruity mood, so I opted for a nana…

It was perfectly ripe – potassium at its best!

I worked at my desk for what seemed like hours on end (blood clot alert :-(). I made myself get up to make an unpictured bowl of chicken soup – I still didn’t trust my stomach was I was keeping the lunch light and brothy.

By dinner I was pretty hungry, so I dug into Scott’s leftover baked ziti that he made on Monday night – when I was too sick to even look at food…

It was good, but I really wish I could have tried it on the first go around.

In other news, I booked my flight to FitBloggin today! Woo hoo!! Is anyone else as excited as I am?? I’m flying in on Friday early PM and leaving on Sunday afternoon. I can’t believe it’s less than 50 days away!

Gotta run, have a great night!

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Working and Working Out

January 24, 2010 by

Hey there!

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!

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Washington, DC: Congress, Coffee, and Cupcakes

January 20, 2010 by

Hey all!

I’m blogging from Washington, DC! Before landing, I enjoyed my go-to airport breakfast nourishment….

This was actually a combination of breakfast and lunch. The  yogurt cup is actually a pretty healthy choice as far as airport food goes. 

Upon arriving at the DC hotel, I was overwhelmed at how many “suits” were in the hotel lobby. I actually felt quite out of place in my jeans, so I hustled up to my room without looking at anyone. But then, I decided to venture off for a little 30-minute walk to find my next cupcake destination…Red Velvet Cupcakery…

Don’t let the plain jane box fool you. Because when you opened it, there were these two lovelies inside…

My signature cupcake, the Red Velvet, and the Lemon Coconut cupcake. Hmm…so yummy! And, I would know because I ate both of them while sitting in my hotel room working. That’s what happens when I don’t eat a real lunch. Plus, on the way back from the cupcake shop, I stopped off to pick up a skim mocha…

This, unfortunately was NOT very good. It had a funky taste so I drank about 1/3 of it and thew the rest out. Blah! But hey, I didn’t have to pay for it!

Now, I’m off to meet my friend Prachi for dinner! I’ll be back later to fill you in on our dinner escapades!

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Lunch with the dinosaurs

January 17, 2010 by

Hey all!

Hope you had a relaxing Sunday! I started the day with an interval run on the treadmill for about 40 minutes. I started at 7.0 and then maxed out at 7.6. What a great workout! The run was followed by more squats and lunges – so great for the toning the legs which I totally need for my upcoming trips to Florida.

Breakfast was rather light – only a 1/2 Luna bar and 1/2 a pink orange…

This was the first time I’ve ever eaten or even seen a pink orange! The sign for the oranges didn’t give any indication that they were pink so their color really took me by surprise. Does anyone know why oranges can be pink sometimes???

The rest of the day was spent at the Field Museum (aka home of Sue the dinosaur) in downtown Chicago. I was really itchn’ to get out of the house for some reason, so going to a museum seemed like a good plan. When we arrived at the museum, we immediately ate a packed lunch so as not to buy any of the expensive (and mostly unhealthy) food there…

It was a PB&J sandwich made with all-natural peanut butter on whole grain bread, with a few chips, pretzels, and carrots/celery on the side. We ate in a little cafe area which had a great view of some of our new best friends…

I am not a huge natural history fan – I’m more of an arts and artifacts kind of a girl. But, the museum is great for kids and is not too expensive as far as admission. After about 3 hours at the museum, I had had my fill of dinosaurs and stuffed mammals. 

Dinner, again, was on the lighter side. I had a small salad with:

  • Red leaf lettuce
  • Cucumbers
  • Carrots
  • Tri-color bell peppers (sauteed)
  • Red onion
  • Bacon, 1 slice
  • 1/2 hard boiled egg
  • 1 oz of white cheddar cheese

I topped it all with a little spritz of olive oil and a bunch of balsamic vinegar. Super yummy and healthy! But of course, I just had to throw in something to off-set that healthiness…

Scott and the kids actually had hamburgers/turkey burgers tonight. I just wasn’t in the mood for a burger, but these oven-baked fries sure hit the spot!

I’m off tomorrow for MLK day – woo hoo! But, because I’m only in the office on Tuesday and Friday this week (due to my trip to DC), my two work days will be jam-packed.

Time to get studying – see you all tomorrow.

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7 Reservations in 7 Days

January 16, 2010 by

Evening everyone! Hope you’re Saturday was fun. My day was pretty lazy. I did not end up going to yoga this morning – blah!. After running 6 days this week, plus adding weights, lunges/squats, and an office yoga session, I was pretty tired this morning. But, I did have a fantastic breakfast…

This is my second day of oats in a bowl – although today it was in a ramekin = paired with Tazo Awake tea…

Check out my new tea/coffee cup from Anthropologie! It has my initial, of course, which I absolutely love, and it looks so French. Plus, it was only $6! I could have spelled out my whole name for that price, but I really did not need 8 more cups.

Lunch wound up being a sandwich again, although this time I actually slowed down enough to enjoy it…

Much of the day was spent lounging but also doing a little vacation planning. We’re heading out the Disney World in a few weeks and we’re anxiously planning/making all of our dining reservations ahead of time. I’ve actually been making reservations for the last 3 weeks, so today when I called the dining hotline, the customer service rep told me I had over 20 reservations made under my name. Yikes! I better cancel some of those. And so, I spent over an hour trying to reconcile the reservations, deciding which ones to keep and which ones to give up. As of now, we have reservations at:

  1. Le Cellier (Epcot)
  2. Boma (Animal Kingdom Lodge)
  3. 1900 Park Fare (Grand Floridian)
  4. Crystal Palace (Magic Kingdom)
  5. Chef Mickey’s (Contemporary)
  6. Whispering Canyon (Wilderness Lodge)
  7. Wolfgang Puck Cafe (Downtown Disney)

I seriously can NOT believe we will be eating at all of these restaurants – 7 top restaurant reservations in 7 days! We will definitely be making up for our Restaurant Diet!

And, except for Boma, all of these restaurants will be NEW for me – and that’s saying a lot considering I used to work for Disney. If it isn’t obvious by the reservations, we are doing the Disney Dining plan – for the first time. I’m really not sure how much money we are saving by doing this, if we’re even saving any at all. But, since we go to Disney once a year, we thought we’d give it a try.

Anyway, dinner was a brand new creation – a recipe/serving suggestion taken from the February issue of Real Simple magazine…

The magazine featured 10 ways on how to doctor up plain cheese ravioli. ALL of the serving suggestions sounded delicious, which prompted me to try one tonight. I started with Trader Joe’s mini cheese ravioli..

Which I cooked according to the directions. Then I added a mixture of cream and Trader Joe’s pesto…

I mixed the sauce and noodles together then put that into a glass baking pan. It was topped off with parmesan cheese and baked for about 20 minutes, until browned on top.

This was a great dish to make on the fly, although I’m not sure how healthy it was. I’m eager to try more of the serving suggestions the article suggested.

OK, I’m starting to fall asleep. Take care everyone and chat with you all tomorrow.

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