Lessons

Last week and over the weekend, I learned some pretty important lessons. On Thursday night, I was feeling pretty lazy, and didn’t feel like preparing a lunch for Friday. When Friday came around, I was tired, and all I wanted was junk food. So I decided to have a cheat day. I started off the day with a Dunkin Donuts iced coffee and an egg white veggie sandwich – not too bad. Then, as lunch rolled around, I was in a rush, and quickly ordered a tuna sandwich from a deli with chips. Normally, I would NEVER get a tuna sandwich from anywhere if I didn’t make it myself (too risky), but here I was, on a no meat Friday of Lent, and in a bind. Hey, it’s a cheat day, why not right? I ended up feeling sick to my stomach all night, and basically ALL WEEKEND.

Lesson One: PLAN AHEAD! Even if I didn’t FEEL like making lunch, I should have taken the 10 minutes to do so. Not taking the time to plan ahead basically cost me the whole weekend, and gave me the excuse to eat like crap all day on Friday. I could have even taken 2 minutes to look through the freezer and pick out a vegetarian frozen meal, but apparently I was too lazy to do that too. Lesson learned.

Lesson Two: No excuses! Even though I didn’t plan ahead, it really shouldn’t have given me the excuse to eat like crap the entire day. A mayonnaise filled tuna sandwich? CHIPS? Really?! The second that tuna hit my stomach, I knew I made a mistake.

I ended up going to see The Strokes at Madison Square Garden on Friday night, and after a few servings of Emetrol (anti-nausea medicine), ginger ale, and a slice of pizza, I ended up having a great time at the concert! (Thank God) But my stomach wasn’t right for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday I was a waste of life. I sat on the couch and munched on pretzels and ginger ale until Walter and I went to a friend’s house to watch final four basketball. I didn’t do a bracket this year, so I didn’t even know who was playing! I was feeling better, so I managed to eat some cheese and crackers, roast pork, and baked ziti. I usually don’t do dessert, but there were mini red velvet cupcakes that looked amazing, so I had one – it was great!

Sunday I was also a waste. I hung around the house, cleaning, and took Molly for a walk. I ate a breakfast sandwich, soup, and some pork, mashed potatoes, and brussels sprouts for dinner. I finally felt better last night!

This morning, I finally got to try the mango Chobani yogurt! When I bought the mango and pineapple flavors, I didn’t realize they were both 2%. I haven’t tried 2% yet either, so it was a total new experience for me! Sadly, the mango was just OK. The yogurt was tooooo thick (thanks 2%!) I am used to Dannon Light n Fit, and I just recently started with greek yogurt, so I wasn’t the biggest fan of the texture. I was also hoping for more of a mango flavor, but it was basically plain yogurt with mango pieces mixed in. I made a yogurt bowl with banana, Bear Naked granola, and some Kashi Go Lean cereal.

Funny enough, I didn’t prepare a lunch for today either!!! I went to boil some chicken breasts to make another buffalo chicken salad, when I realized I bought chicken thighs by mistake, and ran out of lettuce! I will probably run to the grocery store during lunch to pick up those items, and make a salad from their awesome salad bar! Alright, time to buckle down and finish off this dreary Monday!

Molly's 1st Birthday!

Monday was Molly's FIRST Birthday!

Isn' she cute? Her day started when Walter and I got home from work, and we took her on a long walk in the park by the house. She ran, chased ducks, tried out her new harness, and had a great time! 

Next was dinner, where she had some chicken in her bowl as an extra birthday treat. I have never seen her eat so fast in my life!

THEN..... Dessert!

 She saw it and became pretty interested...

 But after I unwrapped it she HAD to have it!

 She wanted this treat so badly she JUMPED ON THE TABLE! If it wasn't her birthday, she would have been in big trouble!

After she licked half the icing off, and i broke off the very top piece of the cookie for her to eat (it was huge!) she let out the looooooongest burp!!! I guess she is becoming less modest with age? :)

Next we gave her some toys:

 Surprisingly enough, the red ring only lasted about 15 minutes. She ate off all the little red bumps so we had to throw it out. Oh well! But good thing I couldn't stop at one toy, because the next one was a winner.

Lastly, we gave her a bone that she was OBSESSED with. She woke up every hour throughout the night to re-hide it because she loved it so much! (she did that last night too, so the bone has since been removed from our room)

 Needless to say, the next morning she was POOPED! She was definitely spoiled on her birthday!

Back on Track!

Happy Tuesday! In going along with getting back on track, Saturday evening was spent at Trader Joes buying healthy food (you know, after our sushi dinner!), and Sunday was spent prepping healthy food for the week. I turned on some music, and spent a few hours in the kitchen prepping some meals:

·    Crock Pot Chicken and Mushrooms

·   Spicy Beef Udon Soup (tasted awesome on Sunday for lunch... not so  much for dinner tonight. WAY too spicy!)

·   Washed and cut all the lettuce for the week for salads

·   Washed a bag of kale and made Kale Chips

·   Baked Beer bread (mostly for Walter)

·   Buffalo Chicken Salad for Monday’s Lunch – I saw an easy buffalo chicken dinner made here, and wanted to try and recreate it on my own! I threw a chicken breast in water and boiled it up, pulled it apart (put some aside for Molly’s birthday dinner), and added franks red hot. Walter and I tasted some, and it was excellent! I threw it in a Tupperware with lettuce, onion, black beans, and low fat ranch for lunch. It was DELICIOUS! I want to make a whole batch now!

It feels so good to have healthy meals waiting for me in the kitchen for the week. I feel so ahead of the game now!

Monday's Eats:
Breakfast - Whole wheat bagle thin with banana and Dark Chocolate Dreams Peanut Butter - SO GOOD!!!

Lunch - My awesome buffalo chicken salad. I seriously want to mass produce this buffalo chicken and eat it every day forever!

Dinner - Pizza! We got a pre made flatbread pizza dough from Trader Joes for about $3 already seasoned with sea salt and italian seasoning i think?

We brushed the crust with olive oil, and topped the pizza with sauteed mushrooms and onions, goat cheese and shaved parmesean. It was DELICIOUS! I also left some plain to see how the flatbread tasted on its own. It was good! We ended up dipping it in ricotta and olive oil. The dough was crispy on the outside, and doughy on the inside. So good, and dinner was cooked and on the table in about 15 minutes!

Today's Eats:

Breakfast - a luna bar and a yogurt. The Luna Chocolate Peppermint Stick bars are my fave! Some of the other ones can be a little bland.

Lunch - Salad with walnuts and craisins, and leftover pizza

Dinner - Spicy Beef Udon Soup - not a fan reheated. Its a shame too, because I was craving it for weeks! At least i got my fix on Sunday when it was fresh and not too spicy!

Starting FRESH!

So I have gone on a couple vacations, taken a break from working out and dieting, and now i am officially BACK on the dieting, exercising, healthy way of life I was loving so much before!

I have still been hovering around the 10 pound weight loss since I last weighed in (I hope - lets see what my weigh in says on Thursday!)

I started my healthy eating off RIGHT yesterday morning with a delicious yogurt bowl for breakfast.

 In the mix: a nectarine, Light n Fit raspberry yogurt, Special K, and chia seeds!

I think Molly wanted some too :)

Lunch was a corned beef sandwich on a whole wheat bagel thin with provolone and a pickle slice. And i may have gotten a little out of hand with hummus and multigrain chips, but they are muntigrain, right??? :)

Dinner was whole wheat pasta with sausage, sauce, and a scoop of fat feww ricotta. I also had a side of green beans and a small salad as my appy.

This mornings breakfast was another yogurt bowl! This one included Light n Fit raspberry yogurt, 1/2 banana, Bear Naked Fit granola, and chia seeds!

I am going to stasy committed to my weight loss goals this time, I mean it!

I'm Back!!!

I have been so busy I disappeared for the last few weeks! It is so easy to get caught up in the day to day that  I put the blog (and the gym) on the back burner. I have been hovering around a 10 pound weight loss for the last few weeks, which i consider a huge success because i had a friend in town, and went on a vacation! Here is a recap of the last few weeks in photos:

Valentines Day - Wine Tasting in NJ:

My friend Mary visited and we had a NYC weekend! Chelsea Brewery:

Chelsea Piers:

NYC Pizza:

Empire State Building, and later - Korean BBQ!

Walter and I saw the White Rabbits at Maxwell's in Hoboken:

and saw an amazing view of the city!

I went to FL for the weekend for my best friend's baby shower (pics coming soon!) 

We went strawberry picking:

and sunflower picking!

I am finally getting back into the swing of things, getting my eating back on track, and getting my butt back into the GYM! I am back to making my weight loss #1!

Weigh In #8

So on Thursday I weighed in...and GAINED. Ever have one of those days where you feel bloated and just heavier? That was Thursday. I weighed in at my scale at home, and I was up a POUND. When I weighed in at work, i was up 1.2 pounds. I was frustrated all day, angry because i gained while working out so much and eating right. Friday morning I weighed myself again, and i was 2.6 pounds down from the day before! I guess Thursday was just one of those days. So, for purposes of motivation, and because it makes me feel better, I am using my Friday weight loss for my weigh in this week ;)

Total weight loss: 1.6 pounds

Weight Loss Remaining: 41 pounds

Only 1 pound to go to reach 10 pounds!!!!!


This week some notable meals included Chili Mango Chicken

 Salad

 Pollo Picante from Cubanu ( I split this in half and ate it for 2 meals.

And tons of yogurt, fruit, oatmeal, more salad, and an egg sandwich shortly :)

Superbowl Sunday: the game

My superbowl was pretty laid back this year. I stayed home and watched with Walter and his dad. For eats, we had dinner, and then apps! We started off with a pizza and sausage bread – I had ½ a slice of pizza and 2 small slices of sausage bread. Then, during half time we moved on to the good stuff… the apps!

Walter and I hit up Trader Joe’s earlier in the day, and we picked up 2 dips we thought would be good:

Trader Joe's Taco Seasoned Beef, Bean, & Cheese Dip

I threw this in the microwave for 5 minutes, and was done! It kindof looked like a TV dinner, but tasted awesome! This was everyones favorite.

Trader Joe's Creamy Spinach & Atrichoke Dip

This one I threw into a bowl, and microwaved for 3 minutes. Also delicious, and by the time I was done, I thought the dips were equally good. But I am always a sucker for spinach artichoke dip!

We had both dips with a bag of multigrain tortilla chips, and i had 2 servings! Both dips were demolishesd by the time the 3rd quarter started.

Before the superbowl, i did a little meal prepping for the week by making another batch of my Chili Mango Chicken. It seriously could not wait another day, because my mando was on it's way out and the chicken was sitting in the fridge since thursday, waiting to be cooked! Here is the exact recipe, since I didn't write it our last time:

Chili-Mango Chicken

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into ½ inch pieces

1 Tbsp cornstarch

1 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

¼ Tbso sesame oil

½ Tbsp peanut or canola oil

1 red onion, chopped

1 Tbsp grated or chopped fresh ginger (I used dried, and it was fine)

2 cups sugar snap peas

1 mango pitted, pealed, and chopped

1 tbsp chili garlic sauce

Black pepper to taste

1.       Combine the chicken, cornstarch, soy sauce, and sesame oil in a mixing bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.

2.       Heat the peanut oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add the onion and ginger and cook for 1-2 minutes until the onion is translucent. Add the sugar snaps and stir fry for 1 minute, using a metal spatula to keep the veggies in near-constant motion. Add the chicken, along with its marinade, and stir fry for about 2 minutes, until the meat begins to brown on the outside. Add the mango, chili sauce, and black pepper, and stir fry for 1 minute longer, until the chicken is cooked through and the mango has softened to a near sauce-like consistency. Serve over brown rice.

Makes 4 servings – 280 calories per serving – 8 g fat – 410 mg sodium

Happy Monday!

Superbowl Sunday

Happy Sunday! I was shocked to wake up to the sun beaming through my window... I almost forgot what it looked like! Since I last posted, I completed week 2 of the Couch to 5K program! I went to the gym Thursday night and Sunday, and I feel great! I think I will start week 3 tomorrow morning before work.


Yesterday I had a cheat day - Walter and I went to the International Great Beer Expo in Secaucus with some friends. Despite the weather, we had a great time! We tried many types of beer, but my eating wasn't the best :(


My eats have been pretty standard since I last posted on Thursday:


THURSDAY
L - Chili over salad
D - Salad topped with a black bean morning star burger, tomato, avocado, hot sauce, and ranch


FRIDAY
B - Yogurt w/granola and pear

L - Grilled chicken sandwich on ww bread with roasted peppers, lettuce, and basil mayo (whoops!) with soy crisps
D - One (!) slice of pizza


SATURDAY
B - A monster orange and breakfast sandwich: ww english muffin, an egg, roasted peppers, lettuce, balsamic, laughing cow cheese wedge. (recipe to follow)
S - Handful of Puffins Cereal, 1/2 granola bar
L - soft pretzel, 2 bites of Walter's cheese steak
D - tons of beer, a chicken finger, some disco fries, spinach artichoke dip


SUNDAY
B - English muffin w/apple butter
L - 1/2 Qudoba burrito bowl with rice, black beans, peppers, onions, pulled pork, mild salsa, guac.

AMAZING BREAKFAST SANDWICHES
I wanted to go through the "step by step" and ingredients in my breakfast sandwiches I have been raving about lately. For this one, I changed it up a bit, which made me realize the ingredients to my favorite sandwich!

For bread, I use these Thomas light multi grain english muffins. I take one and throw it in the toaster...

They only have 100 calories each and are really good!

Then I spray a small pan with Pam, and cook an egg over easy. I actually poke a few holes in the yolk and then flip the egg, because I don't like a runny yolk. If you do (Walter), you don't have to flip the egg.

Here are my toppings for this sandwich. Lettuce, roasted peppers, a laughing cow cheese wedge, and later - balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

 Once everything is done, assemble, and EAT!

 My favorite breakfast sandwich by FAR includes the following:

• English muffin
• Over easy egg
• Laughing cow cheese wedge
• Tomato
• Avocado
• Cilantro
• Hot sauce

These sandwiches are easy to make, and taste great! The sandwich I made above had 300 calories including the orange on the side. I think these are a perfect weekend breakfast, because they break up the oatmeals and yogurts of my life, and i look forward to eating them all week! 

After breakfast, Molly and I played for awhile. She tried hiding from me, but i found her...

 There she is!

 Here she is chewing her favorite red ball:

 And posing with it. Doesn't it look like she has a mustache?!

I actually had to throw that ball away, because she started tearing little pieces of plastic off and eating it. I now owe her a new favorite ball. Happy Super Bowl watching!