Sweet Tooth Gets Healthy

Hello from Colorado!

I’m here for a couple of days for work. I had to catch an insanely early flight this morning (7 am!) and had a layover, but the trip wasn’t too bad. It’s so nice to be near some mountains again. I’m from Nevada, so it reminds me of home. I even have a mountain view from my hotel room.

In the airport, I stopped by Potbelly and grabbed some steel-cut oatmeal with brown sugar, a banana, and coffee. I had only had steel-cut oatmeal once before, and I really liked it. But I was starving a couple hours later, so I think this meal was lacking in protein.

I only had a few minutes for my layover, so I grabbed a nonfat chai and a piece of banana bread from Starbucks. Probably not the best choice, but it sure tasted good!

By the time I met up with my coworkers and got to our hotel it was about 3 in the afternoon, so we decided to hold off on dinner for a couple of hours. I had a Clif Builder’s mint chocolate protein bar. These things seriously taste like Thin Mints.

For dinner, we went to an Irish pub, where I had water and the Shepard’s Pie. It was soooo good. I didn’t take a picture because I don’t want my coworkers to think I’m crazy

I was planning on doing a run in the hotel gym, but I’m feeling really full from dinner, so I don’t think running would be the best idea right now. I also missed my run on Friday, so I think I might have to repeat this week in my training plan. I’d rather do that than increase my mileage too quickly and get injured.

How I plan to stay on track while traveling:

• I brought workout clothes and my running shoes. I plan on working out in the hotel gym each morning. I have a 2 hour time difference in my favor, so hopefully it won’t be too hard waking up early. I already set my clothes out for tomorrow morning.

• We stopped at Whole Foods to stock up on some healthy snacks and breakfast food since our hotel doesn’t have continental breakfast. Unfortunately, my room doesn’t have a fridge, but I picked up bananas, apples, almond butter, raw almonds, and protein bars.

• I’ve been slacking on tracking my food intake lately, so I need to get back in the habit of doing that. I plan on using my phone to track my calories.

Hopefully having a plan will help me stay on track!

So, my computer won’t recognize that my camera is plugged in, so this will be a quick post sans pictures. Hopefully I’ll get that squared away soon!

Workout

Session with my trainer. She increased my weight on a lot of exercises, so I’m sure I’ll feel it tomorrow. At least I didn’t have to do burpees!

Breakfast

I made high protein oats with sliced banana and almond butter on top. Nice and filling!

Lunch + Snacks

I had some greek yogurt and a bunch of cherries in the morning. I didn’t have any leftovers to eat for lunch, so I had a lean cuisine pizza with mushrooms and spinach on top. Not my favorite, but I did get some veggies!

In the afternoon, I had a chocolate mint Builder’s Bar. These are seriously addictive.

Dinner

After working out, I wasn’t really feeling like cooking. But I persevered and made a quick dinner instead of buying something on the way home. Really, it was more me being cheap than wanting to be healthy. I made this summer pasta skillet. I’m not a big fan of tomatoes so I replaced them with summer squash. This was so good. Very satisfying, and it actually ended up being pretty quick to make. Plus I got a big helping of zucchini and summer squash, which helps with my goal to eat more veggies!

Aaaaand I’m falling asleep, so I think that’s a sign that I should step away from the computer. Have a great Friday!

Today is Monday, which means it’s my weigh-in day. And let me tell you, it wasn’t pretty. I fell off the wagon hardcore this weekend. I didn’t track my calories, so I acted as if none of the food I ate counted. Lots of ice cream and cupcakes were involved. To be honest, I’ve been debating whether I should even post my weight this week. I’m embarrassed.  But I started this blog because I wanted to be accountable. And losing this weight isn’t going to be without setbacks. So here goes nothing.

Weight 7/9/12: 169.6

Change since last week: 2.6

Change overall: 1.2

Ugh. Not good. I’d like to say that this was enough of a wake up call to get back to healthy eating today. But when I got to work this morning, someone had brought in red velvet cupcakes. And I had to walk past them every time I left my desk. Sooooo I had one two. On top of that, it was a coworker’s birthday, so someone brought in chocolate cake. I had a piece, even though I’m not a huge fan of chocolate cake. I guess I figured my day was screwed already, so why not? I also feel weird turning down desserts when I’m in a group like that. Maybe I’m too much of a people pleaser?

Besides my breakfast (overnight oats), I didn’t have a real meal, and just various pieces of cake and some pasta salad. I felt the worst that I have in weeks. Sluggish, and my digestion was messed up.

After work, I had a meeting with my dissertation advisor and had to run some errands, so I didn’t get home until about 7. Normally after a day like this, I would have skipped my workout and grabbed Chipotle for dinner. But I knew I would feel terrible if I skipped my run on top of everything, so I dragged myself outside. The weather was so nice. It’s the first time I’ve felt comfortable going outside in weeks. I was feeling really  good during my run until I had about 7 minutes left. It felt like my gas tank was empty. I didn’t understand what the deal was…I had just been feeling so good! Then I realized that it must have been because I hadn’t eaten anything before my run. Duh!

Today sucked, but tomorrow I’m going to get back on the wagon.

Happy weekend! Do you have any plans? It’s supposed to be 103 here in NoVa today, so I’m planning on staying inside as much as possible!

Yesterday’s Workout

Ran on the treadmill at 1% incline for 30 minutes (2.7 miles). I hate running on the treadmill, but it was already 85 degrees out by the time I started the run. I’m so ready for this heat wave to be over!

Breakfast

I made a batch of oats and threw in some berries that were left over from a fruit salad I made for the 4th of July. Turns out when you add ripe blueberries to oats, this is what happens!

They ended up being a lot more edible than they looked. The dollop of almond butter didn’t hurt!

Lunch + Snacks

I had a turkey sandwich on wheat with provolone for lunch (brought from home) and pistachios and greek yogurt for snacks.

Dinner

Tom and I made Chicken Cordon Bleu for dinner. It turned out really well! We used a recipe we found in one of his cookbooks. It ended up being really easy!

• Slice two boneless skinless chicken breasts in half, and use a tenderize to make them more thin if necessary.
• Add one slice of swiss cheese and one slice of ham to each breast, roll up.
• Secure with two toothpicks.
• Dip in one egg, then cover in seasoned breadcrumbs.
• Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

On the side I had mashed potatoes and green beans.

And then I may or may not have had some ice cream for dessert!

Have a great weekend!

Looky looky what arrived today!

I’ve been using a mac for the past five years, but when it started acting up a couple months ago, it was hard to justify the cost of a new one. Especially since I don’t do any fancy design stuff that requires me to have a mac. So a PC it is! I still have to transfer my files, but hopefully the transition will go smoothly!

I also couldn’t resist taking a pic of the view from my desk.

I’m moving to the suburbs in about a month. I’m really excited about my new place, but I’m gonna miss this view!

Workout

I was supposed to have a session with my trainer, but she had to cancel at the last minute. And…..then I lost my motivation. I guess I’ll take a rest day today and then get a workout in on Saturday.

I know I’m not always going to stick to my workout schedule 100%, but this did get me thinking about how I’ll stick to my weight lifting workouts once I finish working with my trainer in a few weeks. I think that using a training program with a specific progression of workouts will be a good idea. I like having a plan! I think I’m going to start with The New Rules of Lifting for Women.

Breakfast

I got home late last night and didn’t sleep well, so I was pretty much a zombie when I was making my breakfast this morning. I meant to make peanut butter toast. But I started spreading the peanut butter on the bread before I even put it in the toaster. So PB+J sandwich it was!

Lunch + Snacks

For lunch, I had the last of my Superfood Salad leftovers. They kept really well, but the avocado looked less than appetizing by today. Still tasted good, though!

Dinner

I was really on a roll tonight. Not only did I skip my workout, I also didn’t cook dinner like I was planning to! Chipotle sounded soooo good though. Plus it had been at least two weeks since I had eaten there. It was time.

I got my usual: a burrito bowl with rice, pinto beans, barbacoa, hot salsa, and cheese.

Maybe I should think about adding some veggies next time…

I hope those of you in the U.S. had a great Independence Day!