Almost there...

Hey guys, happy Thursday. We're almost to the weekend, thank goodness. I'm going to do a special post on last night's dinner soon, but I thought I'd give you today's eats in the meantime.

This morning was a repeat of yesterday's breakie - oats with banana and almond butter along with an iced coffee.


I got super hungry right around 11 so I had half an apple with some white chocolate pb. I've been splitting a lot of my snacks in half so I get the same flavor and taste and can split it up during the day. It works quite well!


Lunch consisted of the other half of my apple and a sandwich thin smeared with spinach and artichoke hummus and topped with a curried veggie burger (Dr. Praeger). The burger was really tasty - I enjoyed it.


Snack was a vanilla chobani with go lean crunch. I forgot to take a picture until I was almost finished - but you've seen it a lot recently anyhow.


I've munched on a couple small handfulls of go lean crunch throughout the afternoon. I'm a hungry girl today.

I'm not sure what the plan is for tonight. I'm going to go to the gym and ride the spin bike and then hopefully home for some yoga. A bunch of friends are getting together for the Celtics game but I've had another rough day and I'm not sure I'm in the best mood for it. We'll see how it goes - maybe exercising will knock me out of it.

Hope you guys have a great afternoon.

Em

Dinner and Celtics Game

Hey guys! I'm so glad that I went to the gym and did some spinning - it really made me feel so much better. I did 40 minutes alternating between 5 minutes seated and 5 minutes hard standing. I was beat (and sweaty) by the end of it AND most importantly, I had worked out all of my stress! :)

When I got home I got started on dinner - a version of a sweet potato peanut African Style stew. I first sauteed some garlic and added a can of diced tomatoes and black eyed peas. I then stirred in some frozen spinach an diced sweet potato and sprinkled it with cumin, red pepper flake, and black pepper. I let it simmer for a while and then added Peanut Padang sauce from the grocery store. I like it peanut-y so I was pretty liberal.

While it was all simmering together, I did a 20 minute flexibility yoga session with Rodney. It felt really good to stretch my spin-bike tired mus-kles.

I made some quick instant brown rice and hoovered dinner down - I was HUNGRY! Here is a picture of the stew...


Have you guys noticed that on certain days, its like we're all craving the same things?? I just read Kath's dinner post from last night - check out how similar it is to my dinner!!

I quickly did the dishes and rushed to meet Brian at our friend Jake's house for the second half of the Celtics game. I know I've said this before, but WOW, this series is amazing. It went into a third overtime! Unfortunately, the Celtics couldn't pull it out so there will be one more game here in Boston on Saturday night - the winner of which moves on. Yikes!

While we were watching, Jake's girlfriend Emily made us some awesome dessert - angel food cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, strawberries, a drizzle of chocolate sauce and a spoon of lite cool whip. It was so pretty and SO DELICIOUS, but I forgot my camera! Bummer...

Is it the Weekend Yet?

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of post yesterday. I forgot my camera at home and so I didn't have it all day. It was also another crazy one for me - lots of pre-new job tasks and cleaning up and of course, the Celtics game. Is anyone else near panic attack while watching these games!? It has been such a close series.

Anywho, nothing too exciting yesterday - started off with an egg and spinach sandwich on a cinnamon raisin bagel (which was a leftover from the breakfast on Monday), morning snack was half a nanner with AB, lunch was leftover tempeh sandwich on a sandwich thin with hummus and lettuce and some red pepper and cuc on the side, afternoon snack was a plain chobani with some go lean and the other half of the nanner.

Yesterday's workout was 20 minutes on the stairclimber and 20 minutes on the Arc Trainer followed up with some ab and arm exercises. It was great to be inside out of the 90 degree heat!

I do have a picture of dinner which was a simple salad and the last of the tempeh. It was so tasty that it didn't take me long at all to eat it up. I'm sure I'll be buying some more again soon. Along with the cuc, red pepper and tempeh salad I had some kashis and roasted red pepper hummus.


After the game, dessert was a mini hersheys krackle and two of my whole wheat fig bars.

This morning I was feeling the need for the comfort of oats and they really did the trick. This mix was oats, low fat milk, water, a nanner and some AB. I washed it down with an iced coffee.


Lunch consisted of half of a sandwich thin with hummus, a bowl of Amy's minestrone, and an apple.


Snack was predicatable - a blueberry chobani with some go lean stirred in. I really like how the yogurt softens the go lean a little, but not too much!


Its been a pretty stressful day today at work. Not everyone is handling my move as well as I had hoped and so its been a bit emotional and tough. I know that it is the right thing for me, but the group I'm leaving is not so sure. I can't wait until this transition is over!

Tonight is my first night without a Wednesday class in six weeks and since a new class starts up again next week, Brian and I are planning on celebrating with a nice meal and some relaxation. I think you guys will recognize some of our dinner ingredients...so be sure to check back later.

One More Thing!

One more thing before I go: check out the Fitnessista's Peta College Cookbook Giveaway!!! There's going to be macaroons as well! :)

Its Time for Iced Coffee and Good News

Yep, its time for the seasonal switch from hot to iced morning coffees. I had mine with some splenda and low fat milk (and a straw). Delicious.


Today was our monthly departmental breakfast which was a really nice surprise. We basically get together to have a nice breakfast and to get to know one another better. Its great. Today, there was vegetable quiche that looked amazing, so I had a little piece of that with a lot of fruit salad. Mmm...


And now for the good news - I was offered a new position at work which focuses on creating an educational product for corporations who desire to "Go Green." Our company is very environmentally conscious, and as a research provider, this new initiative is super exciting. Not everyone at work knew so I couldn't share it just in case. I've been working on writing "How To" documents for my old job but its happy work because I can't wait to start on the new project. :) I realize its probably no where near as exciting for you as it is for me, but I feel like I share so much that I was excited to share this.

Anywho, my morning flew by with the breakfast and then with the new job prep and before I knew it, it was lunch. I brought a salad with cuc, red pepper and edamame along with some garlic herb dressing. Of course, for some crunch and flava I had some kashis and hummus along side. I always feel like my cracker/hummus pictures look like a standoff...who will move first, hummus or cracker??


I got hungry again around 2 and so I had half of a nanner with white chocolate pb.


Later, before leaving, I had a plain chobani Gina style (with the other half of banana sandwiched with almond butter and cut up - I think she put it in her oats this way, but it worked great in yogurt!).


Once I got home, I took out a piece of tempeh to marinade. I cut up two cloves of garlic and used a mix of soy and peanut sauce with black pepper and red pepper flake. I put it in a baggie and left it in the fridge and went out for my run.


I didn't want to go too far today after a pretty high mileage weekend so I did about 3.5 miles. I was feeling really good and my Ipod was really spurring me on (I was listening to Radiohead's In Rainbows) so I decided to do a fartlek-style run. These types of runs are really fun. Basically, you just jog for a bit and pick landmarks (or song parts) to pick it up to a sprint. You feel really fast and you definitely work harder than you would just maintaining a steady pace.

Once I got back, I sliced a sweet potato and placed the tempeh in a baking dish with the marinade on top.


I put it in a 400 degree oven and went to do a 20 minute yoga session with Rodney. Yoga was so hard but great today. I was sweating bullets. My downward dog feels like its getting much easier and deeper though which is really awesome.

Once I was finished, I took out the sweet tater and tempeh and hopped in the shower. (I am not showing a pic of the finished tempeh as the sugar in the soy and peanut sauce kind of adhered (read burnt) to the dish. The tempeh was NOT burnt, happily. :)

For some greens, I defrosted a bunch of spinach and some peas. I crumbled the tempeh on top fo the spinach/pea pile and then had the sweet potato on the side. So yummy. I loved the way the tempeh tasted - the outside was crispy and flavorful and the inside was almost creamy but crunchy at the same time.


The best part is that I have two more pieces of tempeh to use (I ate half of the piece today, and have split the rest into 2 1/4 pieces. I'm planning on having a sandwich for lunch tomorrow and can't wait!

My Dad's birthday is Thursday so tonight is going to be dedicated to card making. I'll probably post pictures of the finished product as well as some dessert later. Hope you guys have a great one!

EM

Edited to add: Dessert consisted of 2 Barbara's whole wheat fig bars smeared with a bit of crunchy pb (confession time - I went back for another one). :) They are so good! It tastes like a whole fig stuffed into delicious whole wheat dough. Yum.



My Dad's card came out well - I tied a little note in there which is what you see peeking out. I hope he likes it! :)

Summer-Like Weekend

Hey guys, Happy Sunday. We have had absolutely beautiful weather here in the boston area this weekend - its been 80 degrees and sunny = AMAZING. I spent the night in Somerville on Friday and woke up to a delicious Culla (Brian's nickname) breakfast - scrambled eggs and fresh sourdough smeared with a bit of blackberry jam.


The boy had ultimate frisbee practice so I hit the road and did some necessary returns to Old Navy (amazing, I left with more than I went in with to return). On the way I picked up an iced latte lite from DD which was really good. Then I commenced the outdoor celebration. I started off by cleaning off the back porch of the house so that we can enjoy the lake. (I live right on a little lake on the north shore - I'm pretty spoiled). After that, I had a banana with some peanut butter to fuel me for a great run.


It was so sunny and awesome to be out. I ran my new favorite loop through the woods which is about 5.6 miles. I felt great. I was so hungry by the time I got back so I kind of made up a recipe for black bean burgers. I used a can of black beans in the food processor with a clove of garlic, cumin, chili powder and black pepper until it made a kind of bean paste. I then spooned it into a bowl and added some oatmeal until it was nice and thick. I then made patties and coated them in bread crumbs before sauteeing them in some olive oil in a wok.

I also made some sweet potato chips in the oven - I just sliced a farm fresh sweet potato thin and baked the pieces until they were crispy. They came out great. I really liked the burger too, but it needed more of a binder - not sure if an egg white would do the trick or what - any suggestions?

I had it all with half of a tomato fresh from the local farm stand and some ketchup. Delish lunch!


A bit later, I decided I wanted to take my kayak out for the first ride but I was feeling a bit hungry and had a slice of cheddar cheese first. Yum!

The kayak trip was short but great. The water is still really cold but it made me so excited for the summer.

After kayaking, I hopped in the shower and made my way back to Somerville to see the boy. He picked me up a cobb salad (minus the bacon) with feta, egg, avocado, roasted red pepper, and balsamic vinaigrette. Along with a side of sourdough bread spread with smart balance, it was a great meal.



The night was so nice that we went for a 20 minute walk to get some ice cream. I got a small malted cookie dough low fat yogurt with a sugar cone. So delicious. We also rented Role Models which was really funny - I recommend it if you can deal with some crewd humor. :)

I got a bit hungry again before bed so I had a few mixed nuts to please my tummy.

We woke up early this morning - another early practice day for Brian and went over to the local coffee shop for breakfast beforehand. I had a medium iced with milk and splenda along with an awesome bagel - honeywheat toasted with hummus, tomato, and sprouts. It really tasted good and felt like a good way to start the day.


Instead of heading right home, I stopped at the Bradley Palmer State Park to get a run in. I really like Bradley Palmer because there are a ton of great trails through the woods, but it also has some paved trails in case you are easily lost (like me). The area around the park is amazingly beautiful - its almost like being in Europe with rolling hills and sheep and farms. So, it was almost easy (read "less hard") to get 6 miles in. :)

In a bout of ultimate efficiency, I stopped at the grocery store on the way home and picked up the weeks goods. I'm excited to eat salads and lighter fair with the weather nicer - I always crave heavier foods during the winter - do you?

When I got back, I made an awesome lunch - pepper, cuc, edamame, golden raisin, mixed green salad with garlic herb dressing and a plain chobani with go lean crunch. Delicious.


I did some house cleaning and then met Brian at a friend's place for a picnic. I had a new to me bar - Balance Pure Chocolate Cashew on the way and it was really good. Almost like a smaller, less fruity larabar.


For an early dinner (I was ready) I had a veggie burger with peppers and onions on a fresh roll along with some organic tortilla chips and hummus. I washed it all down with a delightfully chilled Ipswich Summer Ale.

Brian and I are not at home and I'm hungry again! I'm going to make him a homemade black bean burger (he wants to try it after I explained it to him - I'll let ya know his review) and I'll probably have a sandwich thin with pb and banana.

I hope you guys had a great weekend. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Em

Sad Day

There are so many hearts going out to you and your family, Jenna. Best wishes for you and your family during this very difficult time.

Happy Happy Day!

Hey guys, Happy Friday AND Happy Birthday Brian!! :) Yay for a beautifully sunny day and the start to what is supposed to be an even more beautiful weekend! :)

I always feel like an old radio program when I say this but, "When I last left you" yesterday I was on my way home to go for a run. I kept passing my yoga dvds when I was getting ready and realized how much I felt the need to do some so I decided to do a shorter run and then some yoga after. I ended up running about 4.2 miles in 35 minutes. It was really nice to get out and get some cardio in. I felt good out there. :)

As planned, I followed my run up with 20 minutes of Rodney's Strength & Flexibility yoga session which was awesome and difficult. I loved every minute of it.

I showered, packed up an overnight bag, and got to making some dinner. I decided on Bombay Potatoes with brown rice and spinach. Its so easy and so delicious. I have tried quite a few other Tasty Bite Indian meals, but this one is by far my favorite. The spices, heat, potatoes, garbanzos and sauce are all perfect - and, mixed with some spinach and brown rice, its quite healthy as well!


After eating and cleaning up, it was off to Somerville to watch the Celtics . I brought two chocolate vitamuffins for the boy to enjoy during the game. I topped them off with some PB "frosting" which was quite awesome. The game was amazing, after the first two games which were so close, it was incredible to watch such a shut out. Well done, boys! :)

Thursday is here!

Hey everyone! Happy Thursday! I hope your weeks are going well. Even though mine is a short one, it seems to be seriously dragging! However, my marketing class is finished and I'm really proud of the great job we did on our presentation last night. Now I have a couple weeks to avoid thinking about homework - Yay for that!

To back up a bit to yesterday's eats though, I broke down and got an orange vitamin water around 10:30 as a pick me up. I really enjoyed getting a run in before work, but it made me kind of sleepy. The vitamin water did help to make me feel more replenished and ready to go though.


Lunch was a buffet type platter with nibbles of a lot of different flavors. I had a few leftover pretzels and some kashi's, 40 spices hummus, some baby carrots, and an apple with white chocolate pb. It was really good and took me a while to crunch on.


The theme for snack was "very blueberry." I broke open my first Optimum Flax blueberry bar and put half of it in a blueberry chobani. It was really really tasty. I was a bit worried about turning into Violet Beauregarde though. :)



I knew I would need some serious presentation fuel before class so I made a grilled cheese with light oat bran bread, and some super stringy and delicious low fat mozz cheese which I proceeded to dip in my favorite Amy's soup, Minestrone. It was great. I also picked up another iced coffee on my way to school.


We got out of class early - around 9, and headed to a bar/restaurant called Beverly Depot to have some drinks. I ate the other half of my blueberry bar on the way. I was so excited to realize that the Beverly Depot is run by the same company which runs one of my family's favorite restaurants in Albany. It was almost like being home! I'll definitely be going back to try their delicious seafood. Last night though, I stuck to a Harpoon IPA and later a diet coke. It was great to hang out with my classmates and celebrate.

I was worried about my chances of getting up and feeling OK this morning since I had such a late night (I didn't get home until 12!), but I felt surprisingly good! I was pretty hungry though and so couldn't wait to have breakfast - vanilla chobani with banana, heart to heart and almond butter.


My friend Nan was going to get some tea at the coffee shop so I used it as an excuse to treat myself to a small fat free latte. Deliciousness.


I really didn't want soup for lunch today and so went to the caf and got a salad from the salad bar. This baby had mixed lettuce, tomato, carrot, purple onion, edamame, cucumber, broccoli, a bit of boiled egg, two small fresh mozz balls, black pepper, raspberry dressing and hummus. I ate it along with some kashis.


Snack today was an apple and my favorite chocolate raspberry luna bar. Mmmm....



I'm about to head home for a run and to pick up some clothes so that I can head into Somerville and watch the Celtics game with Brian. Its sure to be another great game and I'm excited to watch.

Are any of you basketball fans? Who are you rooting for?

At Long Last!

Hey guys,

I'm sorry I've been MIA for the past couple of days; I've been on the go non-stop with class coming to an end tonight (final project, hello!) and the job excitement its been crazy! Anywhoo, without further delay, I give you my eats from Marathon Monday on. :)

Marathon Monday

Brian and I set two alarms to try and get up to work out before leaving to watch the marathon at 9:30, however, the snooze button seemed like a much better decision so we slept in and went to get breakfast before instead. :) We just went to the little local bagel shop in town - I got a multi-grain with crunchy peanut butter and a medium coffee with fat free half and half and some splenda.

And then, we were off! Brian is a huge fan of the elite American runner, Ryan Hall, so along with a couple of his friends who were running, we were getting text message updates of their times, paces, etc. It was so neat to be there for the second year in a row - we watched in the same spot as last year as well - mile 20 right below heartbreak hill.

The first athletes to pass are the wheel chair runners - they are amazing. They have specialized bikes which allow them to "pedal" with their arms. I cannot imagine doing that for 26.2 miles of up and down hills. They are truly inspiring.

Next came the elite women. Brian and I were really rooting for Kara Goucher and she did a great job. The end of the women's race was a three way sprint to the finish - Kara got third which is awesome. She's young so I think we'll be seeing more of her. :)

The elite men weren't far behind - when he passed us, Hall was looking good and was in the front pack (minus Deriba Merga who had a pretty good lead already). Hall ended up coming in third also, but I'm feeling quite confident that he'll be back and looking for first.

All of our friends did great and it was so inspiring and awesome to be there cheering everyone on. Yay for that!

As for food, Brian and I packed lunches. I had an Arnold's Sandwich Thin with roasted veggie hummus, some fresh strawberries and three fig newtons while we were there. It was a LONG day in the sun and by 3:00, Brian and I were both exhausted.

Somehow I managed to drag myself to the gym when we got back. I did 35 sweaty minutes on the spin bike and then did about 15 minutes of ab and arm exercises.

After that I was definitely ready for some food! I hurried home and made the food I crave most after a workout (because its tasty and fast!) - eggs! I made a 1 egg and 2 egg white omelette with spinach and low fat mozz cheese along with a teriyaki rice cake and a couple pieces of toast. It was delicious.


I ended up going back to Brian's parents' house to watch the Celtics game with the boy and I was STARVING! I seriously felt as if I had run the marathon! :) I had two organic oreos, a few mixed nuts, and a vanilla chobani with half a banana. Phew, after that, I was FINALLY full and got to really enjoy game 2. I was quite proud of my favorite - Ray Allen; he did amazingly well and really turned it on in the second half to take over the Bills. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we steer clear of more injuries and can really get into a groove!

Tuesday

Back to work day! I was still feeling exhausted from Monday but managed to perk myself up with some oats (oats, banana, almond butter, and low fat milk) and some chocolate cappucino coffee. It really hit the spot!


Lunch consisted of V8 vegetable broccoli soup with some kashi crackers and a diet coke. I had a super headache and really wanted the coke - it did help (whether it was in my head or not).


Snack was a strawberry chobani and a bit later, before the gym, a white chocolate macademia nut luna bar.


I had to meet up with my marketing class group at 6:30 yesterday night so I hurried to the gym after work and did 20 minutes on the arc trainer (hill routine, level 5) followed by 20 minutes on the stairclimber (aerobic routine, level 9). It was a great workout and it was nice to be inside out of the pouring rain!

I was planning on heading back home before group time to have some dinner, but I ended up short on time and so got to stop at my trusty natural foods store for some dinner. I decided to try their Mediterranean salad. It was delicious, with 2 pieces of crispy lettuce, a big scoop of hummus, a few baby carrots, 2 stuffed grape leaves, 2 falafel balls and a pita. I also got an iced coffee which was delicious.


I ended up using the lettuce leaves as wraps for a hummus and falafel roll up and it was so good! I only had half of the pita and ate everything else.


The grape leaves were quite tasty - stuffed with rice and spices.

Verdict? YUM!

We ended up working much later than I had planned on and by the time I got home (around 10) I was starving! I toasted a couple slices of oat bran bread and topped it with natural pb and some raisins. It did the trick!


And now to today:

I am so excited that today is Wednesday and that it is the last marketing class! We are all so excited to have a brief break to not think about school work. I'm sure there will be some celebratory drinks going on later tonight!

Because I'm going to have a busy day and the sun was only supposed to be out this morning, I decided to get up early to go running. It was a great decision - such a nice way to start the day! I went out for 20 minutes and back for 20 minutes and felt pretty good. I was definitely taking my time, but got a great workout in with a bunch of hills. I also did some crunches and push ups when I got back.

For breakfast, I was really craving some cereal so thats what I had - heart to heart topped with banana and low fat milk. Washed down with some chocolate cappucino coffee, its pretty much heaven! :)


Phew, well that was a long post, thanks for hanging in there with me! Hope you guys have a great day!

Em