June 6, 2008

Not Myself

Posted by winningfriendswithsalad under Dinner | Tags: , , , |
[5] Comments 

Hey guys, I’ve been feeling kind of off all afternoon.  Weird appetite, really tired – just in a funk.  Quick post and then off to bed.

The CSA pickup was a breeze.  Unfortunately because of a cold spring, the first few weeks will be small this year.  Here’s this week’s bounty:

From left to right: radishes, broccoli rabe, lettuce and braising mix.  It all looks and smells delicious!  I’m assured that next week’s crop will be much bigger.

After that I had a Luna bar:

Snack was 180 calories, 25g carb, 5g fat, and 10g protein.

I had intended this to be a pre workout snack, but I couldn’t get it together to go the gym.  I’ve been feeling sickly and feverish all afternoon.  So I’ve been snacking off and on and not really tracking it.  I really need to make sure that I’m okay for the surgery on Monday – so that’s my number one priority.  Hopefully I’ll be feeling better tomorrow to have a more normal day calorie and exercise wise.  Night!

 

June 3, 2008

Around Town Afternoon

Posted by winningfriendswithsalad under Lunch | Tags: , , , , |
[4] Comments 

Jeesh, I think I walked almost 3 miles this afternoon! I had to go get a blood test for my upcoming surgery. I found a lab a few blocks away and headed there during lunch. Well, when I got to the location, there was no lab to be found! Then I looked closer at the address and realized it was on the EAST side, not the WEST side. I guess since I’m always on the west side, I just assumed it was over here. To make matters worse, it was really east. Like as east as you can go. But since I needed the test results ASAP, I had no choice but to walk there and back. Ah well. A little walking never hurt anyone. I knew lunch was going to be scattered, so before I left I had my sandwich: chickpea cutlet with laughing cow wedge, mustard, and spinach on rye bread:

Yum, so good. My last cutlet this batch. :(

I had a new Luna bar while walking, Berry Almond:

This was good, but stained my fingers, boo. Lunch was 544 calories, 74g carbs, 14g fat, and 30g protein.

I hate getting blood taken, but this was pretty painless – I was in and out! On the walk back, I got a treat:

Looking back, this was kind of hard on my stomach. I would have been better off with an iced tea or iced water even!

The plan for this afternoon is to clean my fridge! The first CSA bounty arrives on Thurs and I have a way overpacked and overcrowded fridge, with lots of expired products, I’m sure. My new goal is to be more cautious about using what I have and not superfluously buying groceries! Plus gym and a snack – I’m due for some fruits and veggies. TTFN!

 

June 2, 2008

Poor Planning, USA or How I Ended Up with Incredibly Caloric Whole Wheat Vegan Pound Cake

Posted by winningfriendswithsalad under Snack | Tags: , , , , |
[10] Comments 

Yikes.  This afternoon was definitely a lesson in the need to plan ahead! Before I left work, I had a Luna Bar:

Snack was 180 calories, 24g carbs, 5g fat, and 10g protein.

I got out of work early and managed to get the laundry and do my chores on time.  I was in my gym clothes about to walk out the door when I decided that, yes, I definitely did want to bake something tonight.  I looked around the kitchen and noticed we only had about 1/4c of sugar left.  So it had to be something that didn’t need a bunch of sugar.  I grabbed Veganomicon and flipped through it, finding a recipe for Vanilla-Yogurt Pound Cake that used firm tofu.  Well, I knew I had a block of tofu that was on it’s way out  – so even though I can take or leave pound cake, I decided on that.  I was reading through the recipe and saw that you needed to whip the tofu before using it.  And before I knew what I was doing, I was elbow deep in whipped tofu, when I was supposed to be at the gym!  Grr!  So fine, I’m making the recipe, cruising along, and I go to add the next ingredient, I find to my surprise that it’s 1 1/4c sugar!  Grr again!  So in the middle of the recipe (Martha Stewart would be appalled), I had to run next door to the expensive grocery store (Balducci’s) for an extremely overpriced bag of sugar (Grr three times!).  When I finally got it in the oven, it took over an hour to bake, keeping me trapped in the apt all that time.  During the baking, I calculated the recipe and was shocked to find that a thin slice was 207 calories, 30g carbs, 8g fat, 4g protein, and 18g sugar!! Grr, grr, GRR!  After it finally got out of the oven, it occurred to me that most pound cakes are light blond, and mine was dark – because I had used whole wheat flour!!  Oyy.  And although the cake is pretty good (Peter loved it),  there were just too many mistakes involved for me to be happy with it.  (Plus I don’t even love pound cake that much.)  Here’s the cake cooling:

And here’s Peter’s piece, smothered in warm raspberries:

I saved three pieces and am bringing the rest to the office tomorrow.  Between bowl liking and crumble snacking, I’m assuming I ate about 3/4 of a piece.  Snack was 155 calories, 23g carbs, 6g fat, and 3g protein.

While the cake was cooling, I grabbed a Pre Workout Snack of Cinnamon Raisin Ezekiel Bread with a tbsp peanut butter:

Pre Workout Snack was 175 calories, 21g carbs, 9g fat, and 7g protein.

I had a great workout at the gym!  I did a Cardio Smorgas: treadmill with weights, Cardio Wave, Step mill, and Elliptical.  The real star of the workout was the Cardio Wave.  I had such a great burn on that guy!  Towards the end, I was really in a great groove on the Elliptical – total workout high!  I was on my last song – one of my favorite cardio jams – when I got a bad case of Elliptical foot.  You know, that painful, twitchy feeling in your feet after too many machines?  Ow!  I worked through it though.  Cardio Smorgas – 506 calories burned.

When I got home, I had minimal appetite, as per usual after a hard workout.  But I needed something, so I grabbed a yogurt and threw in some berries:

I ate about 3/4 of this.  Snack was 90 calories, 17g carbs, 0g fat, 5g protein.

I’m exhausted!  Night guys!

 

June 1, 2008

Simple Dinner

Posted by winningfriendswithsalad under Dinner, Snack | Tags: , , |
[4] Comments 

P bought a bunch of deli meats and cheeses last week, and I need to start using them up!  Expect to see alot of sandwiches in the future.  I’m exhausted from this weekend’s activities – so is P. I had some scheduling communication problems with my friend Eva regarding tonight’s event, and we ended up missing it!  Definitely a shame, but we both needed a rest.  This afternoon I had a new flavor of Luna bar, Iced Oatmeal Raisin:

This was good.  I usually don’t like to eat bars while I’m in the house – they’re more for an on-the-go thing.  But again, – exhausted, so I just grabbed what was around.  Snack was 170 calories, 27g carbs, 4g fat, and 10g protein.

For dinner, I made a honey turkey sandwich with American cheese, mustard, and spinach on an Ezekiel bun.  Served with some strawberries on the side.

This totally hit the spot.  Lots of fresh, hearty foods.  I totally could have eaten more.  Dinner was 338 calories, 10g fat, and 22g protein.

When I went to finish up my calorie count for the day, I saw that I was way under.  So I needed a snack.  I made a berry crisp, following Kath’s recipe, which I basically followed using half blackberries and half raspberries except for adding a tbsp of sugar instead of Splenda.  I also added a tbsp of almond butter for a little extra protein.

So good.  I might have let it cook for an additional 5 min to get a golden brown crust, but it was good.  I really also dug the almond butter on the side – like a fancy PB&J!  Snack was 347 calories, 60g carbs, 9g fat, and 10g protein.

Low calorie count today, but I’m too tired to eat more.  Plus, with such a caloricly-laden weekend, I don’t think that’s such a bad thing.  Have a great night everyone!

 

May 29, 2008

Mix It Up Sally

Posted by winningfriendswithsalad under Dinner, Snack | Tags: , , , , |
[8] Comments 

I think one of the biggest reasons why I’ve been successful with weight loss this time around, and not in any of my previous attempts, is my new-found ability to change up my strategies. I used to think that if a certain strategy worked in the past, that’s the only strategy that will ever work for me. I remember for 6 months during Freshman year in college I worked out for 60 min on the elliptical at 6 AM. Not that it’s a bad workout schedule, but there was no room for flexibility. If I was sick, or had a late night studying (or partying) or whatever, it didn’t matter – I had to be at the gym at 6 AM for 60 min on the elliptical. I remember one time the gym was closed unexpectedly and I freaked out. It was that rigidness that made it impossible to keep up. It wasn’t a lifestyle – it was a schedule, and a rigorous one at that.

I bring this up because lately I’ve been getting crazy hungry after work because I’ve been waiting until after I work out to eat dinner. But by the time I get home from the gym, I ’ve lost my appetite and end up eating just to eat, which prevents me from trying new things or having fun with my meals. So I switched things up today in order to stay happy and satisfied all afternoon and evening. I had a small snack at the office, then another snack, dinner, then had my workout snack, then worked out. MUCH better! Here’s the breakdown:

Towards the end of the workday, my stomach began to growl. So I had about 7 raw cashews:

Snack was 55 calories, 3g carbs, 4g fat, and 2g protein.  That held me over.

Once I got out of work, I ran some errands including getting a polish change (to Galapa-ghost, a peachy-white) and hitting the drugstore. I had a new Lunabar along the way: Cookies n’ Cream Delight:

Snack was 180 calories, 26g carbs, 5g fat, and 10g protein.  This was a good flavor!  I am LOVING my quest for Luna bar flavors.  It makes snacking so fun! :)   (Love the deli flowers in the background!)

Once I got back home, I decided to have dinner! And because it was earlier in the evening, I had the energy to try a new recipe! I made black bean burgers from Veganomicon, served on a Ezekiel hamburger bun (seriously the best bun in the history of the world – go and buy some today!  You will not be sorry) alongside some blackberries and ketchup for dipping:

Even though I loved loved loved this burger, I realized after the fact that I messed up the proportions of the recipe.  Oh well.  Mine was still delicious (and actually less caloric!).  Dinner was 428 calories, 79g carbs, 3g fat, and 29g protein.  I have one of these burgers left…this will definitely be a repeat recipe.

So the last part of my switchup was my workout!  A few hrs after dinner I had a slice Cinnamon Raisin Ezekiel Bread with a tbsp PB:

Pre Workout Snack was 175 calories, 21g carbs, 9g fat, and 7g protein.

At the gym, I did half my workout on the step mill, but got bored.  So I got off.  Switching it up again!  Who says I can only do the stepmill?  It’s a big gym – I can do whatever I feel like!  So I finished up with treadmill with weights, Cardio Wave, and elliptical.  Cardio Smorgas = 458 calories burned.

So now I’m home and feeling great.  The plan worked!….for today.  Who knows if it will work tomorrow?  But I do know that my ability to adapt to my changing needs that will keep me healthy for years to come. :)

 

May 29, 2008

Best T-Shirt Ever.

Posted by winningfriendswithsalad under Dinner | Tags: , , |
[10] Comments 

Continuing in the spirit of the best day ever, I received the best t-shirt ever in the mail today. Here’s me on my way to the gym modeling the coolest t-shirt in creation:

Name the reference and I’ll give you special blog props. Or, you know, a good prize. Either one.

So if this isn’t the greatest day ever – I don’t know what is! I got home pretty early today – but still managed to put off the gym until the last possible moment. At some point in the afternoon I had a new flavor of Luna bar: Peanut Butter Cookie:

Cute story: Peter picked up some stuff grocery items last night and got a couple flavors of Luna bar that I’ve never tried before. I remarked that it was such a coincidence that he got only flavors I’ve never had and he said it was no coincidence – he’s been reading the blog and knew which types I have and haven’t had! So considerate! Pre Workout Snack was 180 calories, 23g carbs, 6g fat, and 10g protein.

As I said, I procrastinated again and did another last minute power session at the gym: fast and furious on the stepmill with a Podfitness workout. Stepmill = 475 calories burned.

When I got home, I made a huge smoothie: enough for servings for dinner and lunch tomorrow.

Dinner was 281 calories, 56g carbs, 3g fat, and 10g protein.

Night guys!

 

May 28, 2008

Procrastinator Jones

Posted by winningfriendswithsalad under Dinner, Snack | Tags: , , , , |
[3] Comments 

That’s me! After an annoyingly, stupidly stressful afternoon of errands I got home and did a whole bunch of goofing around at home. The gym was definitely on the agenda, but it took me a good couple hours to work up the motivation/strength to go – especially once Peter and I got home and were having some great catch-up time. During my crazy afternoon I had a Luna Bar on the street:

New flavor! Definitely a good one, although it might have been a little sickly sweet almost. Snack was 180 calories, 28g carbs, 4g fat, and 10g protein.

Back at the house, it was nearly 10 PM before I got it together to go to the gym. Before I left I had a Pre Workout Snack of 1/2c nonfat vanilla yogurt and 1/4 cup Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin Cereal:

Pre Workout Snack was 175 calories, 36g carbs, 1g fat, and 9g protein.

Since I only had 30 min at they gym before it closed at 11, I had to make it count! I did a really intense workout on the stepmill. I was POURING sweat the ENTIRE time. Even though I burned a normal amount of calories, I did it in a much shorter period of time. It really made me feel great! Stepmill= 473 calories burned.

I have to admit, I am kind of on the fence these days about CP vs. NYSC. Even though CP is amazing, and I really like all they have to offer: great classes, SWIMMING (which I’ve really enjoyed), great pilates instruction, rock climbing, boxing, the list goes on…NYSC has one thing going for it: LOCATION. It is right across the street. This allows me to procrastinate all night, but still get in a great workout…or sleep late and still make it to the gym and work on time – both things I’ve been known to do. I don’t know. I’m going to take some time to think about it. NYSC is so easy for my schedule that I can’t NOT workout. But CP is such an experience – really taking my fitness to a new level. Sigh. I guess it’s quality vs. quantity. What would you do?

I wasn’t really hungry for dinner, so I let P determine the menu. His creation was turkey and cheese on rye with mustard – typical boy sandwich. :)

Dinner was approximately 400 calories.

Night everyone – I’m exhausted from that workout!

 

May 27, 2008

The Quintessential Dinner

Posted by winningfriendswithsalad under Dinner, Snack | Tags: , , , , , |
[14] Comments 

Hey guys! My sunburn kicked in full force this afternoon, and I could barely move, let alone go to the gym. :( Two days in a row without the gym is unheard of for me, so I’m a little bummed. Although I feel that I’m at a place with my lifestyle where two days sans gym doesn’t equal ‘falling off the wagon’ or a huge failure on my part. I’m secure enough in myself and my dedication to my health that I know two days don’t define me. I hope I’m feeling better tomorrow – I’m definitely ready to be back in the workout groove!
Peter slept the day away, with an early early early morning flight and no sleep last night. So I cleaned the apartment and caught up on magazines – definitely a restful holiday. At some point in the afternoon I went out and got some snacks for us. I had a Luna bar:

And then a bit later I had a whole wheat tortilla with a tbsp almond butter:

Snacks were 450 calories, 57g carbs, 20g fat, and 19g protein.

For Peter’s welcome back dinner, we went to a reader-recommended restaurant, Quintessence.  Many thanks to Margherita for the thoughtful recommendation!  (Hi Margherita!)  Quintessence is located in the east village in a tiny little space on a tiny little street.  Very sweet.  To start, P and I split the chip and dip platter:

This was ’spicy tomato-cilantro salsa, dairy-free sour cream and guacamole served with home-made corn chips and flax crackers’. The crackers were good, and the guacamole was great!  For an entree, I had the Scallion Roll:

I had two of the four rolls.  These were ‘light yet satisfying nori rolls filled with scalion creme cheese, avocado, bell pepper, cucumber, caramelized onion, tomato and sprouts.’ These were really tasty – I’m going to have the other two rolls for lunch tomorrow.  And for dessert, P and I split the dessert platter:

From top left, clockwise: Chocolate Pecan Pudding Cake, Coconut Banana Creme Pie, Chia Seed Pudding, and Lemon Yam Cake.  They all sounded delicious, but both P and I were really disappointed – none of them were that good!  The best one was the Lemon Yam Cake, and even that wasn’t great.  P was so disappointed that he stopped for a Cookies and Cream milkshake on the way home (which I stole a few sips from). :)

I’m estimating dinner at 600 calories. Well, I’ve certainly had a restful holiday – I hope you have too!  Night!

 

May 24, 2008

My Kind of Saturday

Posted by winningfriendswithsalad under Brunch | Tags: , , , , , |
[4] Comments 

Hey all! Sorry for the late post, I’ve been taking it easy this morning. Well, last night was both a success and not-a-success (’failure’ is too harsh). At the bar, I expected Jeff and I to have two rounds of drinks – standard, right? I cleverly (or so I thought) sat out the first round, opting for a club soda with lime, intending to get my vodka soda the next round. Well, the bar we were at was doing table service, and our server was SOOOOOO slow. After the first round Jeff ordered fried calamari, which I can take or leave, so no real sacrifice there – but since the server never came back for our second round of drinks, we decided just to call it a night. So when I got home I realized I had a good 150~ calories to spare. Well, I dug into the chocolate chip bag and ended up snacking on 1/2c. Grr. It was totally emotional – by the end of it, I didn’t want any more, but the bag was almost done and I just wanted it out of the house, so I kept eating. Midnight Snack was 431 calories, 50g carbs, 26g fat, and 6g protein. On the flip side, if I had the cocktail during the first round, I might have eaten the calamari, gone to the bar for a second drink, and eaten the chocolate chips when I got home. So I don’t know – what do you think I should have done?

Anyway, despite my late night slip up, I had a good weigh in this morning at the gym. Even though I’m still maintaining at 168 lbs, I lost an inch around my waist and an inch around my hips. I’ve only recently (within the past two months) started measuring myself. When I first started losing, I was losing a couple lbs a week, so it was a big difference. But now that I have less weight to lose and are incorporating weight training, measuring has become more integral to keeping me seeing results. As we all know, muscle weighs more than fat, so it’s important for me to see that even though the scale is the same, I am getting smaller. Anyway, today I worked with weights, did some matwork, walked the track, and did a Podfitness workout on the Elliptical. Before I got started I had a new flavor of Luna Bar: Chai Tea:

Kind of a weird flavor for a bar. It tasted exactly like Chai Tea – but not necessarily in a good way. Meh, it was okay. Pre Workout Snack was 180 calories, 25g carbs, 5g fat, and 10g protein.

Workout was good – not much to report there. I had planned to go swimming, but when I went to change I realized I forgot my goggles, and by that time it was 12:30 PM, so I just wanted to get started with the day. Elliptical and Weights = 501 calories burned.

On my walk home, I got myself a treat:

Swoon. (Obviously this was full when I got it.) When I got home I made myself a brunch of an Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin English Muffin with 2 tbsp almond butter and a banana:

Yum. Brunch was 448 calories, 67g carbs, 18g fat, and 15g protein.

Not sure what the day holds – I have it all to myself! I may lay out and read a bunch of magazines. I also have a 20% off card for Banana Republic. Hmm…what decadent options! Have a great Saturday!

 

May 22, 2008

Smoked Salmon Tortilla

Posted by winningfriendswithsalad under Dinner | Tags: , , , , , |
[8] Comments 

Well I had another victory against the office goodies this afternoon, wahoo! It’s funny – for months they didn’t bother me, and now I’m back under their spell. Just goes to show you – weight loss is an ongoing battle! It definitely knows how to humble you. I also succeeded at the going away party! On the way there I had my pre workout snack: a new flavor of Luna Bar, Nutz Over Chocolate.

It was great! Luna is definitely my favorite type of bar. (Excuse my desperate need for a fresh manicure!) Pre Workout Snack was 180 calories, 24g carbs, 5g fat, and 10g protein.

At the bar I had my club soda and lime as planned. I didn’t miss a beat with the rest of my coworkers who were drinking and no one even noticed that I didn’t take a shot with the rest of the gang. Definitely a success!

Afterwards I headed over to CP to hit up some cardio. I really couldn’t keep focused on cardio today! I must have worked on every type of cardio machine – twice! Plus I ran the track and used free weights, did mat work – people must have thought I was crazy! After that I swam for a good 30 min. I loved it! Cardio Smorgas = 483 Calories Burned.

When I got home I made a quick dinner of smoked salmon, feta, tomatoes, capers, and spinach on a whole wheat tortilla.

I also had some frozen strawberries and frozen blueberries heated up over some 0% Fage with a little unsweetened coconut.

Dinner was 507 calories, 64g carbs, 17g fat, and 27g protein.

I’m really pleased with myself today – I did a good job meeting my goals! On my walk over to CP I noticed an exciting sign a few blocks from my apt:

If that’s not something sweet to dream about, I don’t know what is! Night!

 

Next Page »