Veggie Tales

 

Who doesn’t love veggies?  I love colourful veggies.  More on that later.

Yesterday I decided to make some sort of chia pudding concoction.  I’ve used chia seeds in my morning smoothie but I’ve never tried soaking them in water.  That’s exactly what I did last night.  I mixed 1/3c chia seeds in 2c water with some cinnamon and a little honey.  I decided to mix them in with oatmeal this morning (oatmeal made with my own homemade honey almond butter)… and just to be fancy (and copy many others out there) I layered them and stuck some pear wedges in them.

I ate the rest of the pear on the side.  The whole thing was delicious and filling.

My AM snack was an apple

My lunch was a delicious salad

 

My afternoon snack was some PC Greek yogurt

Dinner was a stir fry FULL of veggies and some boneless skinless chicken breast with teriyaki sauce

I LOVE colourful food

 

For more specifics on what I ate today… remember to check out my food diary!

I leave you with one more photo.  I bought these 3 weeks ago when I was intrigued by this new, fabulous flavour.  I have yet to open them or try them.  I am a binge eater so I fear once I open them I will over indulge.  Once I feel I have total control, I may try them.  For now… it’s a slippery slope!

iPhone day

Today, I write my post solely on my iPhone. I forgot my camera at home but still wanted to take some pics of my food!

Refer to my food diary (top right of my blog) for specifics!

Today started out with a 20min bike ride before work and ended with 45min on the elliptical after work. Woohoo!

Confessions

I put a small spoonful of splenda in my smoothies. I know it doesn't make it the epitome of healthy. But it tastes so good to me... I don't think I can stop!

Another confession. I don't step on the scale right. I play around and shift my weight, lift my toes up... Do what ever I can to see how light I can make myself. That stopped today. I was 3 lbs higher than yesterday. It's time to be honest from here on out.

‘Tis the season!

Have I mentioned I adore living in a house?  For about 10 summers I dreamed of being able to BBQ.  I could smell people in houses near my apartment buildings BBQ’ing their dinners and my mouth watered.  The first thing my parents bought us when we moved in to this house was a BBQ. We moved in late October though… so BBQ season was short.

Yesterday we took the pup for a walk and came home and decided to enjoy a BBQ.  Alex took to the grill while I made a salad.  I had 2 chicken sausages in whole wheat buns with a salad on the side (romaine, tomato, cucumber, cheese, sun dried tomato and bacon bits).

Followed by fluff for dessert…

For more on my eats… just check out my food diary.

Today my challenge was lunch out with my cousin (who I haven’t seen in a year and a half!). We decided to meet half way between our houses to eat lunch at Wimpy’s diner.  Meeting half way meant only a 25min drive for each of us.  I wasn’t sure what I would have for lunch so I started the day out with a delicious and healthy smoothie

Turns out, my cousin has recently lost 40lbs and was being quite healthy.  She ordered a garden salad without any cheese or dressing.  Basically she had a bowl of lettuce, tomato and cucumber.  I had the same but added 3oz of grilled chicken breast and 2 tbsp of Italian dressing.

Tonight’s dinner was Indian food!

Tomorrow’s plan is a nice long bike ride in the morning.  Yesterday I pulled out a 50min bike ride, followed by half an hour of walking the dog!

Keeping track

We all know tracking works.  Before I started Weight Watchers in 2005 I thought I would never get used to tracking what I ate.  It seemed like so much work!  I quickly realized that writing down what you eat isn’t so hard and it’s a great way to get a visual of what you’ve consumed in a day (and deter you from going overboard and feeling like a p-i-g!). 

When I was at my most determined (and down 70lbs!) I was counting points AND counting calories.  I used The Daily Plate to track my calories.  I learned a lot about food as a whole, not just using calories, fibre and fat to count points. 

Fast forward to today.  I have discovered My Fitness Pal and am quite enjoying using it on my iPhone and on the net.  It’s so easy to quickly enter what I’m eating on my phone.  I’ve got quite the awesome support network on there and it’s quite fun.  I believe it was Lynn who first brought MFP to my attention (I was trying a few other iPhone apps for tracking).  It has quickly become my favourite and really works (as long as I’m working!).

I’ve made my food diary public… so now you don’t have to wait until I blog to see what I ate in a day! I warn you… sometimes on the blog I pick and choose what I tell you about eating.  My food diary won’t lie… you’ll see the good, the bad and the ugly that I ingested.

Lately I’ve been trying to add some decorations here and there in the house to make it feel a little more like home.  I think I’ve finally found the table centerpiece in the dining room… What do you think?

I attempted to make a flower arrangement for the living room (which is in the same space as the dining room).  I’m not sure I’m completely satisfied with it… but I’ll keep it for now and see if it grows on me. What do you think of it?

And finally I added a vase and some sort of dried flower arrangement in the window space above the TV

I leave you with a food photo… a huge salad I made for dinner at work on Monday.  It had a ton of stuff in it (including relish for crunch! Yum!) and I loved it.  I can’t wait to make more salads this week.

Don’t forget to check out my food diary.  I’ll likely link to it in my posts… but I’ve added a permanent link towards the top right of the page (under my weight loss badge).

See you soon!

That’s a wrap!

I have a new favourite breakfast (and actually dessert).  It’s a whole wheat tortilla with some natural crunchy peanut butter, unsweetened apple butter and a banana.  I am in love with this combo (the apple/PB/banana flavour is awesome to my mouth)

I had a noteworthy lunch the other day.  I was using up leftovers.  I had cooked some brown rice in some condensed tomato soup (and water).  I threw some beans in tomato sauce in the mix along with some black beans, corn and tomatoes.  I thought it might taste a little bland, but I didn’t add any spices or anything until I tried it.  Turned out, I liked it just the way it was… and the beans?  Quite filling!

Tonight I was using up more food in the fridge and made pita pizzas.  In the frying pan I cooked up some onion, garlic, mushrooms, peppers and turkey bacon.  I threw it on top of whole wheat pitas with BBQ sauce and topped it with mozzarella.  I had a simple salad on the side but the 1 pita pizza was so filling that I didn’t have time for the salad

I am happy to report I made it to the gym tonight after work.  I’m starting out slow, but at least I made it again!

Dinner

Dinner was at job #2 tonight & it was pretty good! Brown rice cooked in tomato soup, diced tomatoes, canned beans, black beans & corn!

Health… & safety

Today was a long day.  It started out with my alarm being my enemy this morning.  It was followed by 11 hours of nothing but Health and Safety work at the office (note: I work 7 hour days but I worked through my lunch and kept working from home tonight).

Today started out with coffee.  It was much needed.  I’m new to the coffee world.  I’m a pathetic coffee drinker actually. I buy the PC hazelnut coffee and the vanilla… then combine them and brew them up in my fancy empire red Kitchen Aid coffee maker.  I add a splash of skim milk and 2 heaping spoons of Splenda. I’m sure that’s enough to make most coffee lovers puke… but it’s how I can manage it and it wakes me up nicely!

When I got to the office I enjoyed a smoothie with: frozen fruit, 1/2 frozen banana, yogurt, skim milk, chocolate Amazing Grass, chia seeds & 1/2 scoop protein powder.  This thing kept me full from 8:30 until 1:30!

Lunch was one of my classic salads.  Romaine, baby spinach, shredded carrots & broccoli (bought in a pre-made bag), 1/4c black beans & corn, cucumber, 30g light old cheddar & 3oz boneless, skinless chicken breast.  The dressing was my old favourite… 2 tsp EVOO, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, frank’s hot sauce & garlic.

It was followed by some awesome PC Greek yogurt

Dinner was not photographed… but it was a Blue Menu chicken burger on a whole wheat bun, low fat superfries and peas with frank’s hot sauce.

I have a new favourite snack (but didn’t have time to eat it today). Baby carrots with Kraft Calorie Wise Poppyseed dressing.

The plan was to go to the gym today… but work was too exhausting.  Tomorrow is shaping up to be the same.  These are the days of our lives. I’m off to enjoy some Teen Mom 2!

Ready… set… Go!

Hello all.  I am back again!  When I last left you I was going on “vacation” to Chicago to help my sister for a week.  I got to “meet” my niece, Ivy (note: I did not get to hold her due to NICU restrictions at that hospital).

And I got to see my favourite little man…

I came back to reality 5 short days later and (in typical Jen fashion)… I took a while to get back in to the swing of things (specifically, tracking what I ate). 

In the last week, spring has arrived and the snow has disappeared. I took Friday off from work and had a renewed positive attitude. The sun was shining and I made my way back to the gym.  It was my first time visiting this location since I moved (for anyone keeping track… I moved October 29th!!).  I am severely out of shape so I started out easy.  I just aimed to do 30 minutes on the elliptical.  I am ashamed to admit – it was a killer.  I kept my heart rate up beyond my THR the entire time and I was sweating. It felt GRRRREAT!

Today, I start anew with my healthy intake.  Today, I start tracking again using My Fitness Pal app/website.  Tomorrow I head back to the gym again.

The last time I was blogging (in February) I was attempting to find my desire for a healthy life again… and hoped blogging would help me find it.  Today, I blog because I have that desire for a healthy life (and thinner one!) … and blogging is now the result of that desire.

Still with me?  If you are… I want to tell you about my breakfast.  It was divine.  It started with some coffee (who is this person? I drink coffee now??)

It was followed by some pancakes.  I have started reading blogs again (and will start commenting again!) and noticed a heck of a lot of pancakes and waffles out there. I wanted in on this action.  I made some Fiber One pancakes (bought in Chicago) and added 1/2 scoop of vanilla protein powder and a banana.  I whipped it up in the food processor (didn’t feel like chunks of banana today).  I topped the pancakes with 1 tbsp natural crunchy PB and 3 tbsp unsweetened apple butter.  Holy Hannah. It was SO filling and really yummy.

And now… it’s time to tackle making some healthy food for the rest of the day.  I can’t guarantee I’ll blog every day. I’m not going to pressure myself to do that.  But, I will try to blog often and will try to share my challenges and successes with you.

I plan to weigh in for the first time again on Friday and start my weight loss journey from there.  I have avoided the scale for almost 2 months.  It’s time to face the music.

In the mean time… Happy SPRING!