Days Fifteen & Sixteen

Yesterday, I had a Kashi bar for breakfast and whole grain pasta with peas, basil, extra virgin olive oil and garlic salt for lunch.  I snacked on air-popped popcorn in the evening at work and had a little snack when I got home as well so I didn't really have a dinner.

I didn't eat anything until around 8 pm today as I slept all day after getting antibiotics and anti-nausea injections at the hospital that made me drowsy.  I'm eating veggie soup from Panera right now for dinneer.

Not typical days or days to mimic later on.

Days Thirteen & Fourteen

I've been having a lot of Kashi granola bars for breakfast and midday snacks.  I've also been eating popcorn (a whole grain) with pepper.  So good and inspired by Starbucks.  Today I also had an egg over hard around lunchtime.

Last night Andrew brought me home an amazing dinner from work -- it contained smoked salmon served cold, tapenade (a spread containing kalamata and green olives, lemon zest, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice), french bread toast rounds and honey almond brie.

Took off my boot this afternoon!  Hopefully it won't start to hurt -- did feel a little strained or weird earlier.  We shall see.  Going to try to do a little something to exercise tomorrow.

Days Eleven & Twelve

For breakfast on day eleven, I had a Kashi bar and coffee.  I put another bar in my purse so I'd eat that and not be tempted to stop at Chick-fil-a in between clients (although it's on a list of the 10 best restaurant chains in the nation in terms of health).  I did stop and get a small bag of Chex Mix and a vitamin water in the late afternoon -- could be worse.  I mostly just pick out all the chex and leave the rest.

For dinner, Andrew and I went to Panera and I ordered a soup and sandwich combo -- the french onion and mediterranean veggie.

                                                                   via here

I did stop and get my first pumpkin spice soy chai latte of the season for a treat afterwards -- going to have to figure out how to make my own healthier version.

Today, I had a bowl of Kashi Go Lean cereal with skim milk for brunch and a cup of hot chai spice tea.  I had a handful of whole grain goldfish for a quick snack, and then ordered a bowl of french onion soup for dinner.  We picked up some apple cider this evening as well to make festive mixed drinks!  I've been sipping my glass and a bottle of Mike's Light Hard Lemonade (I'm a girl) and watching the game.

It's been four weeks with my boot on and it's about time to start thinking about parting from it, but I don't feel ready to get back into action just yet.  It doesn't feel completely healed to me and I don't want this to be a recurring problem!

PS.  This list is highly comforting.

Day Ten

For breakfast/lunch I had a bowl of Kashi Go Lean cereal in Honey Almond Flax with skim milk.  I sipped on iced green tea with a packet of Stevia sweetener this afternoon, and then had a few handfuls of whole grain goldfish right after I got out of shadowing at 6 pm.

For dinner, I had three tacos with corn tortillas, grilled chicken, pico, corn salsa and guacamole from Qdoba as recommended here.  I was so excited to come across this article as Chiptole and Qdoba are my go-to quick meals.  And the checkout guy said they were getting brown rice and wheat tortillas soon!  Sweetness!

                                                                     via Shape

As a treat, I got myself a venti iced soy chai latte from Starbucks.  My fave, besides pumpkin spice, which apparently they have already.  I guess I'm way behind.

In other news, my new running shoes came in, but I can't exercise yet... so they're nice and pretty to look at?

                                                            via New Balance

Days Eight & Nine

I went and bought a lot of whole grains yesterday because I've been craving carbs.  I bought some snacks as well as pasta and Kashi cereal and breakfast bars.  I also picked up some dark chocolate because according to Cynthia Sass, you're 'required' to have an ounce a day.

Today, I had a Kashi bar for breakfast and then was bad and had a Cookout burger for lunch.  I realize I could have ordered a chicken breast off the menu, but I never get Cookout.  I think that makes it acceptable.

Last night Andrew made us asparagus with spaghetti salsa and fresh mozzarella.  So scrumptious.  I think I may whip some more up tonight.

via theguardian

Day Seven

For breakfast I had egg whites, coffee and water.

For lunch, I had a leftover Qdoba burrito -- less than half left and it included a little rice, black beans, lettuce, pico, corn salsa and guac.  Not too bad.  The only questionable item was the tortilla.

I had a very small amount of mashed potatoes for a snack.  I read an article recently that had some really good things to say about potatoes, but I can't for the life of me remember where or what it was.  Whoops.

I just had a really stressful anatomy lab test so I'm eating whole wheat tostito chips and salsa.  Just a little.

As a side note, this looks yummy:


           

Day Six

Woke up later than usual this morning and ate steel-cut oatmeal with a packet of Stevia sweetener and then went to get a venti iced soy chai latte from Starbucks on my way to GRE class for the afternoon.

Was pretty hungry when I got home and had a little bowl of peas to hold me over until dinner.

Am also drinking a diet Dr. Pepper now.

Not sure what's on the menu for dinner yet, but I'm looking up recipes on Shape Magazine's website, and was thinking about whole wheat red spaghetti. We shall see.

Days Four & Five

I ordered my new running shoes yesterday and they've already been shipped!  Go New Balance!  Can't wait to get them!

Most of Day Four went well, but it sort of fell apart towards the end of the evening.  I was working all day so I had an organic granola bar for both breakfast and dinner, as well as coffee and water.  For dinner I went to Ale House and ordered a spinach dip to share for the appetizer and then got the fish tacos for dinner.  Was also kind of conned in to getting onion strings as a side.  Didn't have that much in quantity, but what I did have wasn't nutritious.  Won't let myself make mistakes like this very often!

For dinner tonight I'm planning on picking up a burrito bowl from Chipotle (I know, not the healthiest) to bring to babysit for one of my little kiddies I do therapy with, but I'm going to ask for little rice, and no cheese or sour cream.  And no chips and salsa.  Problem solved.

I also just came across a yummy looking guacamole recipe that was tweeted by Shape Magazine that I will have to try.

                                                           via SimpleRecipes

 Andrew makes scrumptious guacamole, but it would be nice to have my own recipe to contribute!

Day Three

Today was a hard day.  I was/am stressed out about my anatomy class (and thus life and grad school).  I didn't wake up for my 8 am lecture, felt guilty and then started to feel guilty about not studying enough for the exams (lab & lecture) I have coming up next week.  So I just did something a little bad diet-wise:  I ate multiple handfuls of wheat thins and  some of Andrew's leftover Chick-fil-a waffle fries.  Oops.

For breakfast, I had an organic granola bar and iced green tea.

For lunch, I planned to have whole wheat pasta with peas, but didn't have enough time to eat before I had to get to shadowing.  I had a few bites and then finished it when I got home at six.

I need to figure out how to fit in these important things and cut out bad habits (like excessive internet) in order to get these things done as well as lay out enough time to study.  Time management wasn't always my strong suit, although I've never missed a deadline!

Day Two

For breakfast, a slice of whole wheat bread, coffee and water.

I didn't necessarily have lunch today, but I had two snacks:  a Cascadian Farms organic dark chocolate almond chewy bar around 11 am and then some dry Raisin Bran whole wheat cereal out of the box when I got off at three.

For dinner, I want to order out the vegetable plate from the Mediterranean Tea Room.  It's a combination platter of tabbouleh, hummus, falafel, pickles, olives and feta cheese served with pita bread.  It's the best thing ever.  And it's huge so I'll have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

I plan on doing as much of my favorite pilates DVD as I can in a bit.  I like doing the arms and lower body workouts when I don't have time to do the full hour video, but I think I'll do the arms, abs, some of the lower body and stretching this time.

Day One

One of my first orders of business is buying these new shoes.  It's time for a new pair, BUT my left foot is currently fractured and I am not allowed to do any sort of weight-baring exercises for another two to four weeks.  Hopefully more on the two side.  I've been debating ordering the shoes now, or waiting until my foot is closer to healed (I have a slight feeling that if I have the new shoes, I'm going to be tempted to use them and forego my healing process.  Not smart).  Needless to say, I have not bought them yet.

I can do exercises that do not involve putting weight on my foot or flexing it in any way.  I'm thinking strength training for my arms and certain yoga or pilates moves.

I'm also asking for a new bike and possibly roller blades for Christmas this year.  Two of my favorite work outs that are super fun.  Could do them for days.

For breakfast, I had a slice of toasted multi-grain bread with peanut butter and a glass of iced green tea with a packet of sweetener before my anatomy lecture class at 8 am.  After class, I came home and made myself an iced coffee before heading off to shadowing.

For lunch,  I made myself a protein shake with EAS 100% whey protein in chocolate and light original flavored soy milk.  I know you're supposed to have a protein shake right after a work out, but I feel like shadowing this morning could be called a work out!  I also couldn't help myself to a few large black olives in the fridge.

For a snack, I had a handful of non-butter popcorn.

For dinner, Andrew (boyfriend) just made some whole wheat pita pizzas with either a tomato or olive oil base with fresh mozzarella and basil last night and I think there are left over ingredients.  So yummy.

The Start

I've been noticing a change in the way I look and feel lately, and after a recent trip to the beach with my family, I have come to the conclusion that I've gained a little too many pounds for comfort.  I think I may be the heaviest I've ever been, and know exactly the reasons why.  I drink too much alcohol and exercise far less than I should.  Now, being a senior in college this past year, my excuse was that I had little time left to live this sort of 'go out every night, have onion strings or fried banana peppers or ramen noodles at two in the morning' lifestyle.

That being said, I am no longer a college student and have got to get back on track.  With my friend count in Columbia cut down to basically zero, I've been sort of saved from myself and my poor choices.  I no longer drink so heavily, I don't go to happy hour or dinner out as often and I am much more aware of what I put into my body.  I already feel a slight change in the way I feel, but I could be doing way better.

So, I was talking to my good friend Nancy last night and she's thinking many of the same things that I am.  She proposed that we give each other daily reports on our meals and exercise in order to help each other stay on track and get ourselves in gear!

Here goes:

First off, I like eating healthy.  I like my fruits and vegetables, and I get my allotted servings.  I mainly just need to focus on cutting certain items out, decreasing portion size and inserting more exercise.  My plan is to eat five or six small meals a day.

These are the options I've come up with:

For breakfast:
-steel-cut oatmeal with soy milk and one packet of Stevia sweetener
-egg whites
-Greek yogurt & walnuts or granola
-coffee (hot or iced), green tea (hot or iced)

For lunch:
-salad (spinach leaves, tomato, avocado, walnuts, feta, chickpeas, onion, olives, egg, etc.), vary the veggies I choose to keep it new & dress with extra virgin olive oil
-veggie soup (V8 brand in broccoli, tomato or butternut squash)
-hummus & whole wheat pita or veggies
-fish & veggies
-green tea/juice

For dinner:
-salad
-veggie soup
-fish & veggies & brown rice or whole wheat couscous
-whole wheat pasta & veggies
-small portions of meat
-tabbouleh

For snacks:
-hummus
-pistachios
-yogurt
-whole grain goldfish
-protein shake with soy milk
-cottage cheese

I think the key for me is going to be variety.  These are all things I've been obsessed with in the past, ate everyday and got tired of.  I need to keep things novel and just make sure I'm eating real food.