What I'm Eating

The day has flown past me! 

This morning, my alarm went off at 5:15 and I reluctantly kicked the covers off my toasty toes and slipped out of bed to put on my workout gear.  Yea, as soon as I workout I feel great, but until the adrenaline hits, who really wants to wake up early and workout?  I was dressed and off to the gym to get in the Crush Cardio workout from the Love Your Body series by TIU. 

When I first looked at this workout on Sunday, I said out loud, “Oh HECK no!”  Sprints, intervals, for over 50 minutes!  Are you kidding me?  Then I got control of myself and told myself that I was dedicated to this workout series.  I have other women counting on me to stick to this plan with them.  I am the one that convinced many of them to do it with me, so I can’t pansy out now!

It only took me through my 2^nd sprinting/recovery set to realize that I actually really liked this workout pretty well.  It’s manageable.  You sprint, you recover, you sprint, you recover, your sprint & recover.  Repeat.  Not bad at all.  I sprinted from 8.5 – 9.5 on the speed.  Normally, I wouldn’t consider that too much of a sprint, but when I knew I had over 55 minutes, I didn’t want to wear myself out.  Now I know what I can do next time Karena & Katrina (TIU Trainers) tell us to do the Cardio Crush.

 When I got home, Neal had breakfast ready:  cheese eggs, turkey bacon, and orange juice.  Perfect!

 I worked, ate 1 slice of leftover thin crust chicken parm pizza from Papa Murphy’s, ½ and avocado with honey & sunflower seeds for lunch, did a 40 minute session of yoga with my friend Erica (also doing the TIU plan!), and then cooked up some dinner for my hubs and myself before taking a much longed for bath!  The perfect day!

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As for the rest of the week, I need to food plan.  Typically I get groceries on Sunday or Monday, but this month is the Fresh Markets 2.99 Antibiotic Free Boneless Chicken Breasts and Ground Chuck Tuesdays, so I will be shopping tomorrow.

I plan on getting salad makings so I can have salads at lunch.  Here’s some of my favorite salad toppings:

·         Black beans

·         Corn

·         Avocado

·         Peppers (especially the little sweet ones & roasted ones)

·         Feta

·         Fresh Parmesan Cheese

·         Strawberries

·         Apple slices

·         Toasted nuts (pecans, almonds)

·         Dried fruits (really into dried blueberries right now!)

·         Hard boiled egg

·         Bacon (fresh, baked by you!)

Strawberry Dreams

 Favorite salad combinations

·         Strawberry Dreams:  found here – combines spinach, feta, strawberries, and chocolate.  The dressing is even a chocolate balsamic, homemade of course!

·         Southwestern Salad w/ Pesto Ranch found here:  Onions black beans, feta pine nuts, celery, avocado, feta, and dressing of Olive oil mayo, sour cream, milk, & basil pesto.

·         No fuss salad:  fresh greens, toasted nuts, dried fruit and dressing made by combining equal parts of balsamic oil & extra virgin olive oil seasoned with salt and pepper to taste.

·         Warmed spinach salad: shrimp, chicken, or turkey sausage cooked with seasoning (I like Creole with the shrimp).  Mix in toasted almonds & roasted red peppers on the stove top with your meat, then toss in 2 heaping handfuls of spinach and 1/8^th cup of freshly shredded parm.  Cook until it’s lightly wilted and enjoy!

What’s there to eat besides salad?  Glad you asked!

This week we are making:

·         Tuesday: We are going out tomorrow for Neal’s birthday!  He wants something with a good marinara, and since we can’t make that for ourselves anymore (I’m allergic to tomatoes) we are going to go out and find him something yummy and then I can eat something within my restrictions.

·         Wednesday:  Seared Salmon with Caramelized Apples & Onions (From October edition of Shape Magazine)

·         Thursday: Burgers like in this post (although we are doing beef instead of turkey)

·         Friday:  Spaghetti Squash with Pesto Alfredo Sauce and Chicken.  I really miss tomatoes, but still can’t eat them, or this would be with homemade marinara sauce.  The TIU girls show how to cook up some killer spaghetti squash here. 

Go to snacks:

·         Plain Organic Yogurt/Greek Yogurt with homemade granola

·         ½ an avocado with honey and sunflower seeds

·         Hot tea with honey

·         Banana

·         Smoothies (also sometimes for breakfast)

·         Apples with cinnamon sprinkled on top

·         Apple sandwiches (also sometimes for lunch) apple slices with peanut butter, dried fruit & granola in between them

What’s some of your weekly meal plans?  Do you think you will try any of the above?