"We usually know what we can do, but temptation shows us who we are."

BREAKFAST

We had some bread lying around and I wanted to get rid of my egg whites and half a pear so french toast it was. Unfortunately this bread soaked up way more of the egg, apple sauce, cinnamon, vanilla concoction than I anticipated. A little soggy french toast never hurt anyone I suppose. I topped it with a half a pear and tbsp. of Skippy's crunchy PB for extra protein.

As I was packing up my rice krispies from last night I decided to have one. After some research I found out these 2X2 squares run only around 100 calories. Nice!

I'm off to get a work out in before I get ready to go out this evening with my friends. Pizza Hut pizza is lunch/dinner tonight.

"Progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing toward what will be."

My laptop is FINALLY fixed! Countless hours of my mother trying to fix it and we ended up taking the easy root and reformatting it. Where do these worms come from? I may never know, but it feels nice to have a clean slate on my computer.

FRIDAY

BREAKFAST

3/4 cup yogurt

1 medium banana, sliced

2 homemade oatmeal raisin vegan cookies

"LUNCH"

 

I was determined to find a recipe to use up some ground turkey and whole wheat penne I had so after some intensive searching I came up with this recipe...

Baked Turkey Penne Pasta:  

14 oz. whole wheat penne pasta
1lb. ground turkey
2 jars preferred tomato/spaghetti sauce  (24-32 ounces, I like mine extra saucy)

Onion and green pepper to taste
Seasonings: basil, oregano, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese (I was unfortunately out!)
Heavy sprinkling of parmesan cheese

Brown turkey in pan with onion and green pepper along with seasonings. While turkey is browning cook pasta according to directions and preheat oven to 350 degrees. When turkey is browned pour in spaghetti/tomato sauce and cook until heated thoroughly. Drain pasta and add to pan. Spray vegetable spray in 3 qt. Pyrex dish and pour in half of pasta mixture. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella cheese on top and layer the rest of pasta. Top mixture with rest of mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

 

My portion along with a slice of bread and a simple salad dressed with balsamic vinegar. 

SNACKS  

Of course having homemade cookies in your house makes you a huge cookie monster. Nom, nom, nom. I had one before having my light "dinner".

Yes, I used my Christmas mug with the hot cocoa my coworker gave me topped with a mound of lite whipped cream. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the full cup because the flavor wasn't doing it for me. Snicker doodle hot chocolate is a no go.

DINNER

1/2 cup yogurt

Small apple

Homemade oatmeal raisin vegan cookie

After feeling so stuffed I went with something light and sweet. I have an addiction to yogurt and apples, sorry they appear so frequently.

TODAY JANUARY 9

BREAKFAST

Eggs:
1/2 cup egg whites
Green pepper and onion
2 pinches turmeric powder  

Topped with Chi Chi's salsa
Slice of toast from last nights dinner
1 medium orange

LUNCH

I neglected to photograph this one...I had a bowl of baked penne leftover's and a side of steamed broccoli. I feel as if these left overs will last forever. My Dad really enjoyed the dish, but my Mom was too in her world of "I need some fat in my dish". My efforts in making my parents see there are healthier options isn't extremely successful. At times I suppose I try to shove it down their throat so to speak, but it's all from my experience with food. Of course we all get a little out of hand and crave unhealthy foods, but I want them to realize baby steps will be rewarding.

DINNER

If this were anymore delicious I may have shed a tear of joy. 

1 cup Kashi Vive cereal  

1/2 cup yogurt

1 medium gala apple

2 tbsp. Skippy's Natural chunky peanut butter

Cinnamon to taste

  

Yet another steal at Big Lots...the Kashi cereal. This was my first time trying this cereal and when I saw 1 1/4 cups is only 170 calories I was sold. I only went with 1 cup because other wise I would be too full. The vanilla flavor doesn't shine through strongly, but it still gave enough flavor so that it wasn't plain. There were maybe three or four different types of cereal in the box, variety is always good for me in a cereal. One thing I did notice is that the cereal got a little more soggy than others that I have used with yogurt, but I was still fine with it because I know I take a long time to eat and that sort of thing happens. Yet again, the peanut butter shined! Usually I don't crave peanut butter, especially chunky, but my tastes change more than I can keep up with anymore. 

There is so much more I could say, but I am thinking this post is long enough for today. I skipped a work out yesterday out of blah feelings, so I need to jump at the opportunity!

"A man too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools."

Saturday update

BREAKFAST

3/4 cup yogurt

1/4 cup Bear Naked apple cinnamon granola

1 small apple

Extra cinnamon is always a must

SNACK

While watching the Penguins play Matt made some popcorn so I decided to have about a cup. It was Orville's microwave butter popcorn.

LUNCH

Later after watching Indian Jones Matt and I were really hungry and we invited his sister along. We decided to go to IHOP. I have only been there a few times and was never very impressed...until today! I never had their pancakes and decided I would go all out. I had multi-gran and nut pancakes with apple comote and whipped cream. Mmmm, mmmm, mmm. Best pancakes ever. The pancake alone was good, much better than the usual buttermilk pancake. I ate 3 of the 4 and had absolutely no regrets. I probably would have eaten all  if I could. ;p

DINNER

When I came home there was Little Caesars pizza calling my name. Would I dare say no to Little Caesars? No way. They recently opened up a shop right in town so expect to see it more often on the blog. Normally I am not much of a pizza person, but who can resist a delicious $5 medium pizza and crazy bread? If you don't have one of these in your town I am sorry. I ate a slice cold and heated up a crazy bread stick. My cousin stayed over and we played Guitar Hero for awhile and somehow I managed to eat another slice...opps.

TODAY

BREAKFAST

 

Eggs:

1 egg

1 egg white

Tomato, onion, pepper

1 medium/large apple sprinkled with cinnamon

LUNCH

Again, my parents made a ton of sauerkraut and I hate seeing so much of it go to waste. No one ever eats the hot dogs it seems, so I had 2 with sauerkraut and spicy brown mustard in Arnold Thins.

DINNER

Sammie:

Arnold Thins spread with 1/2 Laughing Cow cheese wedge

Lots of iceberg lettuce, tomato, and onion

I also have an obsession with ground black pepper

1 cup Amy's black bean and veggie soup 

This was my first time trying Amy's soup and I really enjoyed it. Personally the flavor was that of chili and re-fried beans mixed with veggies. The consistency was creamy, not watery like most canned soups. Amy's brand just may become a new favorite.

Currently I am working on an exercise plan with Shape.com and from various blogs I have been reading. I am not sure how much my body can handle so this is difficult. I will be starting out simple, so you won't be impressed when I begin recording them. In all honesty too I am thinking of saving for an elliptical or treadmill, any recommendations? In general do you have any recommendations for work out beginners?

"Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of."

Holiday/Post-Holiday Recap aka Mega-post

Sorry for the lack of pictures! I've been a bit too busy to think about wiping out my camera every moment. I thoroughly enjoyed my holiday and hope everyone else did too. I'm excited to wear all of the new clothes I got. =] It's a big confidence booster to fit into the sizes I wear now and such a motivator to stay this way. 

Christmas Eve 
BREAKFAST
I kept it super light due to the fact we were eating "dinner" so close to us waking up and didn't want to be too full to eat the goods. I had a banana and a cup of coffee with a tablespoon of cocoa, a teaspoon of nondairy creamer, and a packet of Splenda.

LUNCH

Mashed potatoes, tons of mixed veggies, and a giant dinner roll! I don't eat ham, so I didn't exactly have a way to incorporate any meat or protein into my meal. After I finish my plate I took some time to socialize before digging into my Dad's wonderful decadent homemade dark chocolate mousse. The recipe he uses is by far some of the better, if not the best chocolate mousse I have ever had. If my body could handle it, I just may have eaten to entire bowl. ;) But, mousse is rich, especially dark chocolate mousse, so I may have had about a half cup.

DINNER

This is when I realized my eating was getting a bit out of control....I had about a 1/4 piece of my paps kaibasi on an Arnold Thin (Which I have recently tried and absolutely love! How have I lived without these babies?!) and some spicey brown mustard. Well, for dessert I had a nice big slice of my grandma's pumpkin roll.

Day after Christmas

BREAKFAST

A banana, which was ripened to my perfection, Danon Light and Fit yogurt, and some Special K Protein Plus. Mix together and yum. 
LUNCH

Matt's aunt had a big Christmas party and this woman is a fantastic cook! She use to own a Cornucopia, but now she just does catering. No, she does not do the ordinary rigatoni and fried chicken catering. I should have taken a shot of her fabulous buffet if nothing else. I had the best roast beef I have tasted on a roll, lots of fresh veggies, and two giant slices of my favorite fruit...cantaloupe. Of course I couldn't pass up the table of sweets either! The first thing that caught my eye was toffee cheesecake. I could have went with the usual piece of chocolate or cookie to save on calories, but I figured what the hey. Delicious! Man, I sure was stuffed. We didn't stay long because we had some things to get done, but it was a nice short visit. Sometimes Matt thinks I don't enjoy doing things with his family, but I'm really shy when I don't know people. I love that he's a family man and would do anything with his family.

SNACK

Matt decided after not really eating any of the fabulous food his aunt made he'd go to Taco Bell after our crazy day returning things at the mall, shopping, and going to Sam's Club. They didn't have the apple empinada so they gave him two cinnamon twists....guess who ate a bag? Me.

DINNER

Alright, lets pretend this section does not exist. I told myself after today I would get back on track so i went crazy eating everything! I had some sandwich spread on an Arnold Thin, a piece of leftover crazy bread, and a piece of pumpkin roll. No...it didn't stop there. As I was passing the living room I noticed my bag of Lindor truffles and took them with me upstairs....this is the part where I get disgustingly sick. I will be saving my 60% cocoa heavenly truffles for a time in the future where I can begin to handle sweets again.

All in all I feel good that I can blog what I have eaten to motivate me to do better in the future. We all have our slips, even major ones. I am doing my best to stay positive with this and get back on track. Recently I have found many great blogs and really feel inspired! Food blogging is helping me more than you may know. 

Today--December 27

BREAKFAST

1 medium banana

1/2 to 2/3 cup Dannon Light and Fit vanilla yogurt

(I scraped out the last bit so it would all be used before pitching it)

1/4 cup Bear Naked apple cinnamon granola

Bear Naked All Natural Granola Apple Cinnamon (12oz) All Natural Granola

Made with REAL whole grains.
Hand-crafted in small batches, yielding unique, soft-baked texture
Voted "Best-Tasting Granola in the Country" (Men’s Health, Mar 2005 & Organic Style, Nov 2004)
All-Natural, Bearly Processed and Utterly Naked Ingredients... that you can actually pronounce!
Vegetarian friendly
Kosher certified
Bear Naked products are priced at a premium level, because Bear Naked sources the best-tasting, highest quality ingredients they can find. For example, they use whole almonds and walnut halves, not almond and walnut pieces. In addition, Bare Naked granola is still made by hand, which is labor intensive. Bear Naked products are all natural and, by definition, all natural products cannot contain preservatives. As a result, Bear Naked does not use any artificial ingredients or preservatives, including MSG.

Bear Naked® is naturally sweetened with just a kiss of honey. They selected to use honey in their recipe because studies have shown it is low on the glycemic index, providing a long, steady source of energy instead of a spike and crash. Honey is also a natural source of antioxidants.

I give this product a big thumbs up! The taste is unbelievably good and sweet. The granola is in tiny clusters, some is broken up though, and I love the dried apples. I actually got my bag for only $3 at our local Big Lots store. This product usually runs around $5 a bag. 1/4 cup is 140 calories so I enjoyed mixing mine with the yogurt and will continue to use their line of products. If you check out their website: eatbearnaked.com you can view their product information and order if you like. By saving bags you can earn points to cash in for a t-shirt or a reusable bag. Nice.

LUNCH

Turkey sammie:

1 toasted Arnold Thin

Peppered deli turkey

Lettuce

Tomato

I can't wait to have another one of these tomorrow. I'm boring, I could eat these every day.

1 small/medium apple

1/8 cup walnut halves

Cinnamon

1tsp vanilla extract

SNACK

Sorry for the terrible photo. I need to run these back downstairs because they tempt me. I had only one and it was delicious. Lindor truffles are one of my ultimate chocolate favorites!

DINNER
I was in the mood for eggs tonight and I came up with this tasty combo...

Sammie:

1 Arnold Thin (I'm on my last one. Oh no!)

1/2 cup egg beaters with onion and ground black pepper

2 slices of tomato

1 slice yellow American cheese

Side of small apple slices with cinnamon

My fruit choices with cinnamon are repetitious, I know. This is the first time using this sandwich combo and it just may become a regular. Mmmm so good. I love sandwiches and never find them boring as most people do. Personally, I don't need very much variety in my diet to be happy.

As much as I don't like to admit it, I was a coach potato today. Naturally I go to bed late so I will be working out tonight. Yesterday I took a day off of working out, although I don't have much of a routine anyway. One thing I'm working on is becoming knowledgeable about exercise. Baby steps!

"Self-sabotage is the smartest thing you can do if you're sabotaging a self that is not really you."

I know that I am blogging late, but it's been a long day. Finally got a hair cut today after quite a number of months I believe, saw A Christmas Carol in Pittsburgh, and had a nice free dinner at Marks Grille so it was an over-all good day.

BREAKFAST

1 whole wheat tortilla wrap

1 small apple

1/2 slice sharp cheddar cheese

Lettuce

1/2 tbsp. fat-free Philadelphia cream cheese

(I some how mixed my lunch and breakfast around.)

LUNCH

(Not pictured, although I thought I took one.)

Omelet:

1/2 cup Egg Beaters

Onion, broccoli, tomato in omelet

1 Small Apple

About 1/8 cup cottage cheese 

This was my first time trying cottage cheese and I did not like it! I kept trying to convince myself that it was an acquired taste, but more than anything I hated the texture. I will not be eating this again any time soon.

DINNER 

(Not pictured)

1 about "4 roast beef lunch meat sandwich with lettuce and tomato

Raw veggies: 

carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower

2 slices of tomato flavored with olive oil and parmesan, I believe

1/2 of a giant oatmeal raisin cookie (equal of about a regular large cookie)

This meal was made after seeing A Christmas Carol at Marks Grille in Pittsburgh. Matt's professor reserved us a room and had it catered. Some of the foods there were: mini tacos, chicken strips, bacon and cheddar potato skins, chips, veggie tray, cheese and cracker tray, roast beef sandwiches, cold cut combo sandwiches, various giant cookies, etc. I ate tons of veggies to fill up so I wouldn't be as tempted to try the fried foods or actually eat the entire cookie. At the end of the day I do feel a little bloated for some reason...I'm thinking I had too much sodium or maybe more calories than I intended at Mark's. The show and dinner were a treat though, I'm very thankful Matt's musical theatre professor was kind enough to let me tag along with the class the past two shows. Tomorrow I'm thinking of making a "taco" with a veggie burger and another tortilla, but am unsure what to have with it.

"Do-so" is more important than "say-so."

I'm starting this blog in hopes to inspire and get ideas from others on healthy living. I also think that a visual food journal will be more helpful in my journey. While searching on Self.com I came across a food blog written by their nutritionist and will be using similar ideas in my own blog. Each day I will track my food intake along with pictures if possible. Not only is this blog about food intake, it's about over-all health--fitness and emotional well being included.

BRUNCH

 

Scrambled eggs: 

1/2 cup Egg Beaters, chopped broccoli, onion, tomato, and ground black pepper

1 slice Sara Lee Whole Wheat toasted bread

1/2 macintosh apple sliced

1 tall glass water flavored with sugar free Great Value cranberry drink mix 

Estimate calories: 194

DINNER

Not a very good picture, sorry.

1/2 oven roasted chicken breast with seasoning (Half of portion shown)

About 1 cup roasted vegetables with seasoning

1 tall glass of cranberry flavored water 

Estimated calories: 302

DESSERT

(Not pictured) 1 large home made chocolate chip cookie

Estimated calories: 196

SNACKS 

(Not pictured) I had a little slip while seeing A Christmas Carol tonight and had half of a snickers bar. 

Estimated calories: 140 

1/2 apple from brunch sprinkled with cinnamon

Estimated calories: 54

OVER-ALL CALORIC INTAKE: 879

Tomorrow I plan on taking the half of portion of chicken I didn't finish from dinner and make a chicken salad. Yum, yum. I will try to stray away from the sweets tomorrow, but they really are my down fall!