Greetings From Philly!

I’m in the airport, another $7.99 contributed to the wireless internet bank account! Flight this morning went well, and our client presentation went very well.

Breakfast

Started the day at 4:00 a.m. and was at the airport and through security by 5:30. I stopped in Starbucks for my latte = long line.

For breakfast I packed a PB + Banana + Honey portable sandwich.

It was great and although I was skeptical it would fill me up, I think in combo with the latte, it worked. I had this at 5:30 and we didn’t eat lunch until 12 and I was just getting hungry around that time. I did have a snack…see below.

Breakfast calories: ~450.  

Snack

I had some seltzer on the plane – no photo. It was boring. And half a mini box of raisins to tide my hunger around 9:30. I wasn’t really hungry, but worried I wouldn’t make it to lunch. I’m reading the book “Eating Well For Optimal Health” by Dr. Weil. It seems to be a great overview of nutrition, health, and wellness. I’ll give you updates as I make it through the chapters! I was reading about the glycemic index and noted that raisins have a GI of only 6, which is REALLY low. So I thought they’d make a good snack and they did!

Lunch

Apologies in advance. No photos. This was my first ever meeting with this client and we were all eating at a small table – I just didn’t feel comfortable pulling out my camera and telling them about the blog (which I usually have to do to explain myself – normally I like sharing, but this was a bit inappropriate). So here’s what I had:

Panera Bread Catering – thank GOODNESS it was something I liked!!

Half a Sierra Turkey sandwich. It had very minimal of the mayo they put on and no cheese. Seemed like a better choice than tuna salad (onions + full-fat mayo) and ham and cheese (more fat, cheese), plus I like turkey! I knew the sandwhich would be about 400 calories because I’m familiar with Panera’s nutritional stats, but 480!? For half! Damn! Turkey is pretty low-cal, so that means it was 400 calories worth of bread. I knew it would be high, but not that high. Oh well – it was yummy!

Had two generous portions of salad with cucumber, tomato, lettuce and a drizzle of balsamic. I tried to eat as many veggies as I could. Plus 2 pickles!

Lastly, I had 1/3 of an oatmeal cookie. It took all the willpower in the WORLD to not eating the whole thing. I wanted to eat 25% and ended up with 1/3. Ok with me! My client said I should eat 2 cookies because I was “thin enough to handle them.” I told him I was thin because I didn’t eat cookies!

I skipped the chips, the delicious looking baguette, and the 6 other kinds of cookies. Drool! It took a long time for my stomach to realize it had been fed. I wanted to keep eating, but knew I’d had enough. Finally, about an hour later, hunger went away. I wish I’d been able to have 1/2 that sandwich and a yogurt instead!

I thought I did pretty well, all things considered. Had I gotten a good workout in today, lunch would be no problem, but on a rest day it was a big high. Shouldn’t have eaten the cookie, but it’s a special occasion!

Lunch calories: ~670

Snack

At the airport now and had a hot tea with a touch of skim milk.

I’ll probably have the other half of my raisins and a bar or some almonds in an hour or so. Not sure about dinner yet. I want to go to my favorite salad bar, but I might be better off finding something at home. We’ll see! Let’s hope my flight is on-time….

See you later!

Kath

Breakfast!

I was sort of tired this morning and wanted to skip my workout, but as usual, the second I was on the elliptical I was happy! Like I say, there’s no better way to start the day.

Breakfast #1

Toast with jam. For some reason I was starving all through my workout. Perhaps I need to eat a little heavier today.

Workout

I ended up staying on the ET for 52 minutes – I was determined to finished my Health Magazine and rather than doing 40 minutes on one machine and switching to a bike or something, I just stayed on. I don’t like doing that much of just one exercise, but I did burn more calories than normal! I also did some abs and stretching. 450 calories burned.

Breakfast #2

Had an oatmeal pancake this morning, topped with PB, mashed banana, and a little Nature’s Path Hemp Plus Granola. I don’t eat granola often because it’s SO calorie dense for the portion but it’s nice to sprinkle on things at times. This one is only 140 calories per 1/2 a cup – hard to beat in the granola world. Yum!

Also had some mango slices, which I also prepared the night before to save time.

And a husband-made latte:

All together for ~460 calories:

Breakfast calories (including toast): 560.  

See you for my fantastic lunch!

Back to the Grind!

Got to bed just 30 minutes late so we slept in a bit. I’ll get to work when I get there!

Pre-workout Toast

Toast with jam:

Workout

30 minutes stairmaster, 11 ET, and 15 lifting = 475 calories burned. It was a high-HR day because of my travels, I suspect.

Breakfast

Apple Cinnamon Walnut Oatmeal with PB 

with coffee

Breakfast calories: ~530.

Off to work!

“Gourmet” Hotel Oatmeal

Workout

Got up at 5:30 and hit the hotel gym. 2.6 miles running on treadmill and 20 minutes on the ET. Plus some pushups. Great way to start the day! 444 calories burned. (My heart rate was higher than normal today – probably dehydration from flying?)

Had 2 bites of banana before I left….

Breakfast

Hotel Oatmeal (you all want the recipe for this, right!?!?)

• 2 packets plain instant oatmeal
• 1 banana
• 10 grams walnuts
• 1 cup hot water

Instructions: Mix together. Eat.

That’s my beat up bowl from home!

375 calories.  

Too bad the volume is so small on instant oatmeal. I decided to leave out the raisins and have them for a mid-morning snack.

Gotta run!

K

Early Morning!

Morning everyone! I’m just finishing up my big bowl of oats before I leave for the airport. I love one night business trips – I pack all my stuff in a backpack and big tote bag and don’t have to bother checking bags or anything. And I hate packing 2 or 3 or 4 of everything, so one night suites me fine

Had a big bowl of banana-walnut-PB oatmeal with cinnamon stirred in.

And Madascar Vanilla Tea…..

Breakfast calories: 389.

I’m going to try not to eat a snack until I get to work around noon, but I may need some nuts or something. Or perhaps a coffee at the Washington airport on my layover.

Back late this afternoon!

Breakfast!

Enjoying a leisurely Sunday morning I wanted to go running, but the husband said he was starving so we made banana oatmeal again. I topped mine with walnuts, flax meal and peanut butter. Yum! We’ll get our run in a little bit later.

Also had a blueberry cobbler coffee:

Total breakfast calories: 335.

Sunday Plans

Today’s plans include a grocery store trip (YAY!!!!!), a run, and Christmas tree shopping!! I almost forgot it was the season! I also need to address our Christmas cards for this year…I try to get a photo up of them!

More Before and Afters

Thought you guys would enjoy some more “Before” photos of me. I cannot believe that was how I looked!

The first is me winter of 2005 my senior year of college.

The second is husband and me on a cruise in January of 2005. It was during this cruise (when I was eating like 5,000 calories per day!) that I really said, “Oh my gosh I have to lose some weight.” I looked horrible in every photo I took and some of the clothes I’d packed didn’t fit! Yikes! I had my foot surgery in March and started really losing in June with graduation.

The third is also on the cruise. I think this is one of the worst pictures I have (that I didn’t delete first!)

And some Afters….

First is from March in Savannah for a black tie event.Probably around 122 lbs.

Second is my bachelorette night, right before the wedding in June – at about 119 lbs.

Third is me this October at Davidson – at goal of around 120.

I LOVE SATURDAYS!!!

Got up at 7:15 this morning, which is late for me!! But I enjoyed 8.5 hours of nice sleep We’re headed to see Davidson play Duke at noon today. Go Davidson! Go Duke! I’m torn!

I had a cup of tea when I got up.

Workout:
I was having fun working on a new project (which you all will see soon!) and all of a sudden it was 9:00!!! We had to get to the gym by 9 to be on time, so we rushed and got there at 9:30. I had a quick piece of toast with PB (the end piece – so it’s all funky shaped!)

Luckily, I got in a good workout – Stairmaster, ET, and weight lifting and burned a nice 465 calories!

Breakfast:
Of course we’re in a huge rush, so husband made banana oatmeal. WOW! It’s really good. He just added finely chopped banana while it was cooking and it kind of melted in. I’ll have to see exactly how he made it so I can post the recipe.

It’s 11:15 now and I’m just having breakfast (brunch??), so I added some walnuts and PB for more protein to hold me over until 2:30 when the game is over for a late lunch. I shouldn’t need a snack while at the game since this breakfast usually holds me over about 4-5 hours.

Breakfast calories (including pre-workout toast): ~550.

We’re headed to a wine tasting later this afternoon with 36 wines for sample, so it should be an interesting day!

See you then!

FRIDAY!!!!!!

Oatmeal with Peanut Butter, Almonds, Pear and Flax
made with Skim Milk and Water

I think I’m coming down with something. Woke up with a sore throat and that “I’m getting sick feeling” I’ll be sure to get 9-10 hours of sleep tonight.

Had toast before workout….

Went to my regular Friday morning hour-long cycle class to burn 475 calories!!! I feel so strong during cycle classes. And it’s always a great workout!

Breakfast was pear, almond and PB oatmeal with some ground flax and hot tea….

I’ve got a GREAT lunch and snack planned today (thanks to my handy husband who packed it for me b/c of my late class). I can’t wait to eat them already!

Off to the lightrail!!

Long Day Ahead!

Tonight I have my nutrition class, which I’m taking at a local university to learn more about the body and the physiology behind nutrition, so I won’t be home until 9 p.m. It’s gonna be a long day!! But I get to have dinner at the dining hall, which is always exciting and will try my best to post dinner after class.

Got great sleep last night. I told the husband I was NOT allowed to be on my computer past 8pm, so he had to pry my hands from the keyboard to get me off! I was so glad he did though, because 30 minutes of reading (I’m reading the novel Rise and Shine) was just what I needed to unwind. Lights out at 9:00, and I got a great 8 hours of sleep. Much improved from Tuesday!!

Workout:
I decided on half a Kashi bar before my workout this morning and saved the other half for a snack during class tonight. Mid-workout I started to get really hungry. Although my normal toast + jam isn’t that many more calories, it certainly holds over better.

Workout was ET and upper body lifting. It’s not good to have RAGE at 5:30 in the morning, but this woman on the ET beside me was hacking up a lung – rhythmically – and I just couldn’t take it anymore, so after 7 minutes I picked up my magazine and went to another ET in another room. Uggggg. If you can’t get through 2 breaths without eating your snot, GO HOME!!! Gross. 426 calories burned.

Breakfast:
Had my favorite: Peanut Butter + Walnut Oatmeal with a small amount of chopped pear and banana in there somewhere. It was quite filling!!

And decaf coffee:

Back to volumetrics, I just love oatmeal because it’s so voluminous (but not instant because then you get half the amount but the real kind!) and I’m always full when I finish it. Volume eaters love to feel full I just eat the Old Fashioned Oats, but I like the Quick Oats and Steel Cut as well. Quicks are better for oatmeal pancakes and steel cut when you have an hour to cook them, which isn’t often!

Breakfast calories: ~500 (not including half of Kashi bar for tonight’s snack)

I can’t take the lightrail today because of my class tonight, but I’ll be back on it tomorrow!

Morning in the Future!

As many of you know, I live in Charlotte, North Carolina. We just got our first form of mass transportation – a lightrail - and the first line opened over the weekend. I was scared to ride it, but the station is a mile from my house and goes right to my office building, so I knew I had to give it a try. The results? It took me 7 minutes longer to get to work (about 35 minutes door to door) but the stress level was GREAT!! I read SELF magazine and relaxed the whole trip. No traffic. No brakelights. Ahhhhhhh. I can’t ride tomorrow because I have my nutrition class, but I will again on Friday! I think the evening commute will be even better!

Workout:
Woke up a little sluggish this morning, but I got in by at 8:30 and was asleep by 9:15, so I should have gotten about 8 hours. Had a half serving (1/4 cup) of oatmeal with a bit of PB before the gym.

At the gym, I was so excited because I had a new magazine to read that I couldn’t wait to get there! I usually read magazines while I do cardio (even running sometimes!) and it makes me enjoy the time so much more. I get TONS of magazine subscriptions (all the health and fitness and all the home and garden), so they keep me busy

30 minutes Stairmaster, level 12
15 minutes stat bike
5 minutes abs + ab roller (my new favorite toy

= 415 calories burned!

“Part of This Complete Breakfast!”

I was craving eggs last night, so I had them for breakfast – and a little bit of everything! It reminded me of those commercials that say “Part of this Complete Breakfast.” All that was missing was the OJ – and I had a sip of the husband’s, which we only had on hand because of Thanksgiving guests.

Omlete made with 1 egg, 1/2 cup carton egg whites, spinach and 1/2 oz blue cheese (more leftovers!)

Grapefruit, which I sliced and prepped last night when I was making dinner.

Toast with jam…

And decaf coffee, which I guess should be a 6 oz glass of milk to be a true “complete” breakfast!

Breakfast calories: ~500.

I want to blog about volumetrics and food weight (I don’t think this breakfast is going to hold me very long because it wasn’t very “heavy” compared to my oatmeal) but I don’t have time!