Wonderful Afternoon!!

Panko Parmesan Baked Tilapia

with Sauteed Butternut Squash and Broccoli and Brown Rice

I had a great afternoon, despite the fact that I spent way too much money on groceries! We’re really trying to watch how much we spend, and I went to Trader Joe’s for cheap walnuts and came home with $70 worth of kashi crackers, cheap cereal, pistachios, walnuts, almonds, and frozen salmon! Yikes! Then I went to Harris Teeter for the regular groceries and spent another $100….I have no idea how (well, I did buy his/hers vitamins and a big frozen turkey breast and lots of canned tuna/salmon). I told the husband with the exception of bread, milk, bananas, and handful of fresh fruit/veggies, these groceries have to last us 2 weeks at least!!

I got home from the grocery store at 4:45 and we had to turn around and go back out to get our Christmas tree before the lot closed (although it might have been open all night – but we didn’t want to risk it!) I was pretty hungry at this point but I knew we’d be back soon. The salmon casserole held me over quite well!

Snack

Once back with our tree, I had a clementine and some soy nuts I found from last year when I was cleaning out the pantry!! Sounds gross, but they were quite delicious. Made me want to buy them again, but I guess if they were a year old they must not be one of my regulars

Christmas Tree

We spent the next hour decorating the house! Here’s our tree - it’s the same size as me!

And some funky ornaments I hung in the kitchen:

And a centerpiece I made from the tree clippings and holiday nuts, plus the cute husband!

I gave myself an extra 100 calories today because of all the movement shopping, decorating, cleaning and packing for my trip.

Dinner

We got a late start on dinner and were pretty hungry when we finally sat down. I don’t think we ate until 8:00! This dinner was FABULOUS!!!!! And we just kind of put it together on a whim. We decided to have fish last night and thawed out some frozen tilapia, then we had a butternut squash to use up and I wanted to try sauteeing it. I got some broccoli at the store for something green. Since I was pretty hungry, we decided to add brown rice too! It was a lot of food but I had the room tonight.

Panko-Parmesan Tilapia

We pressed the panko bread crumbs (1/4 a cup between the two of us) and about 2 tbsp (12 grams) of grated parmesan cheese onto the fish, sprayed with cooking spray and then baked it for 15 minutes. It didn’t need any fat and was DELICIOUS!!!

Sauteed butternut squash and broccoli, seasoned with lemon juice and dill. We did use a little EVOO on the veggies. And salt and pepper.

And short grain brown rice with a dollop of plain yogurt (which is great on rice! It holds it together and makes is creamy.)

Total dinner calories: 550. Like I said, it was high, but I had more than enough room. On a normal night I would have had a half serving of rice and reduced the amount of squash to pull it back to about 400 calories.

Total Sunday calories: 1515.

-526 through run and activity

=net of 990. Yikes that’s low. I would love some pumpkin pie dessert, but I HAVE to get to bed and still have unanswered questions. I might have a small glass of milk – I’ll let you know in the AM!

Edited to add that I had a glass of milk – add 100 calories to everything!

Travel

One last thing – I’m headed to Syracuse tomorrow for work (our company is headquartered there and we’re having our annual PR retreat). My flight leaves at 8 a.m. so I’m getting up at 5 (normal time!). I’m all packed and organized and ready to go. I should be able to get all three meals posted and will definitely take my camera I will not be able to workout tomorrow and we have a fancy dinner planned for the evening. I’m planning on a club soda during cocktail hour and wine with dinner (1 glass). I did get to choose my entree tomorrow night – salmon - so I know it’ll be somewhat healthy. Lunch is catered sandwiches, so that should be OK too. We have an hour break and I am going to try hard to get some walking around the hotel, if it looks safe.

I do have all my workout gear packed and plan on getting up at 5:30 or 5 on Tuesday to workout in the hotel gym before we have to be ready at 7:45 or so. Although breakfast is catered, I would rather eat my favorite oatmeal than risk it just being bagels and pasteries, so I’m bringing a banana, walnuts and plain instant oatmeal to make with hot water in my room. I have a whole array of snacks packed too! You just never know what will be available! So that’s my strategy of tackling the real world, real food style!

See you all tomorrow!

Dreary Lunch

I wish it weren’t so dreary out there!!

Run

After pittering around the house all morning, the husband and I set out on our run around 11:30. We did a really nice 5.2 miles – my legs felt strong and my body was in a running mood. Actually, I think it was the socks I was wearing that are extra cushy, unlike my normal athletic socks. They gave me an extra spring or something!! 426 calories burned

Lunch

After showers and dressing, it was 1:30 and we were starving!

I had leftover salmon casserole. You can see the recipe here! It was good, but it’s not the most filling dish for 325 calories. Perhaps I need to serve it over a spinach salad? I didn’t use whole wheat egg noodles because the only ones my store had weren’t the right shape, but I’m all out and will get them regardless next time.

Also had a half serving of Kashis

And kiwi with 4 oz plain yogurt and 10 grams Fiber One for some more fiber

All together for 525 calories:

Off to two grocery stores!!  But it’s a shame – I’m headed to Syracuse, NY on Monday and Tuesday for work, then I have my class on Thursday, then I’m flying to Philly for the day on Friday so I only have ONE dinner I get to plan this week

 

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.

Welcome to the New Blog!!

I’ve been working hard on this all week (hence being so busy!) I hope you guys like the content, photos, and expanded information. And of course, the old blog is all here! Let me know if you have any suggestions!

Now here’s the bad news……….

For the first time in 3 months of blogging, I accidentally deleted all of my photos for the day. I’m seriously on the verge of tears because I had so many great photos to share tonight!!

I’ll give a quick recap of my day, but I know it’s not the same without photos!

Here’s the ONLY photo that made it!!! Me on the lightrail platform in my college outfit

The Game

Duke won, but only by a few points! While there I had an acid water (Diet Coke) and 2 sips of the husbands beer (insert good picture here!).

Lunch

We got home around 2:30 and I was pretty hungry. We made chicken, avocado, spinach and tomato sandwiches and had apple slices. I had a great photo!

Lunch calories: 369

Wine Tasting

We went to a wine tasting with my college roommate and her boyfriend (insert another cute picture here!) As predicted, I drank too much. But not too-too much! I’m guessing I had about 2 glasses. The wines were all high-quality and I just couldn’t resist when I tried one Pinot and the person suggested I try the contrasting region’s version. You can tell, wine tastings are a weakness of mine! Anyways, I tried about 20-25 wines, but I did pour some out and they do only pour about 1/3 an oz-1/2 an oz per taste. I was more than a little tipsy when we got home, and didn’t really want to be, but it passed soon enough.

At the tasting I had 2 flatbread triangles, a bunch of grapes, a bite of brie and an orange slice.

Tasting calories: ~400. Yikes!

Dinner

Husband and I made salmon casserole. Sadly, the beautiful photos are gone and I don’t have the heart to explain the recipe. We basically used the one on the back of the Cream of Celery soup can but bulked it up with mushrooms and peppers. I do have leftovers, so you’ll get to see those tomorrow.

And I had hot tea after dinner….

Dinner calories: 350

We were going to walk to the movie rental store to rent Waitress but I just had to finish this new blog tonight so to the computer it was! But sadly, I missed my afternoon walk
Total Saturday calories: 1672

-465 through morning workout

= net of 1207.

I’m sorry to say too many calories came from wine today. Tomorrow I’ll focus on getting some fresh, healthy meals!

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 Night Treat :)

Mac and Cheese
with Mushrooms, Broccoli, Zucchini and Roasted Red Peppers
Topped with Bleu Cheese Crumbles

Egg Nog Ice Cream
My two loves in the same photo

Rode the lightrail home from work! It was fun again and flew by with my novel in hand. Once home, the husband and I went on a 20-minute walk to the grocery store for dinner vegetables and bread for tomorrow’s lunch. We live right around the corner from a Harris Teeter, so it’s very convenient to make ourselves walk. Of course we brought our reusable BHappy Bags along for the ride! While we were there, I spotted Edy’s Slow Churned EGG NOG Ice Cream. Mmmmmm. Now I can’t tell you how many times I’ve stopped in the ice cream aisle and almost bought it. I LOVE egg nog and get one carton of this every year. I knew I had room for it today, so we splurged!

Volumetrics:

So as many of you know, I’m a volume eater. Which means I just like to eat good food, and lots of it!! You’ve probably also heard of Barbara Rolls, the infamous author of Volumetrics. Here’s a passage from her book that TOTALLY makes sense:

Research shows that over a day or two, a person will eat about the same weight of food. Obviously, there is some variability – on days that someone eats out, for example, she may eat more food. But in general, when scientists have looked at what people report they eat, or when food intake has been measured in the lab, the weight of food a person eats is more similar from day to day than the number of calories consumed. It seems that we have learned how much food it takes to satisfy our hunger, and that is what we choose to eat…..

My takeaway message from these studies is that by choosing foods that have fewer calories in your usual weight of food you will end up eating fewer calories. And you won’t feel any hungrier! -The Volumetrics Eating Plan, p. 8

So Barbara says it best: if you want to be healthy and keep your calories in check, choose foods that are low in energy density, namely, lots of vegetables!

I didn’t use to like many vegetables when I was growing up. I ate broccoli, corn, potatoes. That was about it. But in my adult life, I’ve experimented with SO many kinds of veggies – particularly the cooking style – and found that I just LOVE them!! I love that I can eat a lot of them and that they’re not going to derail my diet.

So volumetrics is the concept behind my vegetable mac and cheese, although I really shouldn’t say “my” mac and cheese because this is probably the most well-known thing to do to mac and cheese to lower the calorie density!!

Dinner:
I really like the Annie’s brand mac and cheese’s – I’ve tried both whole wheat kinds. I have to say I like the Wisconsin Cheddar one better (it has the same nutritional information but it makes 3.5 servings instead of 2.5, so we have to pull one out instead of just splitting the box). But this one was good!

Add to it whatever veggies you like – sautée them first in a pan with whatever seasonings you might want to add. Mushrooms, broccoli, zucchini and roasted red pepper from a can:

And voila! A yummy dinner! Topped with just a few crumbles of bleu cheese.

This was actually a HUGE portion (we have big bowls ) About half way through it didn’t even look like I’d made a dent!

Dinner calories: ~415.

Dessert:
Husband and I settled on the couch to watch March of the Penguins (cute movie – I can’t believe how long they go without food!!). And for dessert we had our egg nog ice cream!! I had a full cup (I had the room) and got in my holiday egg nog fix. I have to say, for 110 calories a cup, this is better than the real stuff!!

I try to avoid processed foods and “fake” things, but I thought for ice cream this one had pretty good stats, particularly for a once-in-a-while treat.

INGREDIENTS: milk, skim milk, cream, corn syrup, sugar, egg yolks, whey protein, tapioca maltodextrin, natural flavor, nutmeg, cellulose gum, annatto color, mono and diglycerides, turmeric color, guar gum, carrageenan, dextrose, vitamin A palmitate

I also had hot tea to balance out the coldness!! It’s not exactly the season for ice cream

Dessert calories: 220.

This afternoon I also snacked on a mini box of raisins, as my banana didn’t do very well to fill me up I didn’t want anything filling since dinner was looming, and these were perfect to tide hunger.

Total Friday calories: 1901

-661 through workout and 2 walks

= net of 1241. Just over my daily goal of 1226, and no biggie since I was under a few days this week. And I did get lots of exercise today!

Tomorrow we’re getting up to hit the gym before we head into town to watch our alma mater, Davidson College, play Duke. I’m not sure which team I’m routing for, as I was a huge Duke fan growing up (and still am…). May the best team win!

Afternoon Snack

I always have bananas in the mornings, so I never want to have them for a snack too. This morning I had pear, so I packed a banana! Also had a few Kashi crackers….

Another view of the Charlotte skyline!

Having vegetable mac-n-cheese for dinner!! And getting in a walk to the grocery store to pick up some ingredients first!!

Cute Lunch!

The husband made my lunch today since my class went late last night. I asked him for a half sandwich and spinach salad made with some leftover chicken and he came up with the cutest lunch!

Spinach salad with carrots, apples, almonds, and 1.5 oz diced white meat chicken. Plus a homemade walnut oil-lime-honey dressing.

Cranberry sauce in low-fat plain yogurt with flax (it looks kind of gross!)

Half a pimento cheese sandwich on Ezekiel bread:

Apple slices with cinnamon:

All together for ~550 calories:

After lunch I went on a 30 minute walk. It was sunny and chilly out there, but so refreshing. -111 calories more.

Thanks for all of your comments! I promise I’ll get to them this weekend….I’m really busy and need to work this afternoon!

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!!

Dining Hall CLOSED = Unexpected Bad Situation

No time to type!!!! Here’s a photo recap. The dining hall was closed so my mother in law raved this place with homemade soups only for us to get there and find it out it was a smoky bar with pub food. Ewwww.

I had vegetarian black bean chili, which I guessed was 200 calories. 100 for 1/2 cup of beans and 100 for the rest of the cup (all veggies, cooked). I ate the 2 saltines it came with.

Also had a salad of iceburg lettuce, bell peppers, homemade croutons, and raspberry dressing (which I think was low-cal because it was really runny).

Also had two sips of husband’s beer!

I think I did a great job making the best of a bad situation. I ordered my salad without cheese or creamy dressing and the healthiest soup I could find. But the bad part was it only added up to about 300 calories, including saltines and beer sips, so I was pretty hungry when I got home.

Had some toast with jam:

Dinner 1 + Dinner 2 (toast) Calories: 405.

I also ate the other half of my Kashi bar during class, but that was already accounted for!

AND, I got in about 15 minutes more walking across the campus.

Afternoon Snack:

Total Thursday calories: 1616 (man, this has been a low week!)

- 571 thru walks and workout

= net of 1045. Geez. I’ll eat a little more tomorrow!

Night!!