It rained all. day. long. Crazy! The Valley of the Sun is currently taking a holiday hiatus. I hope it returns soon – I mean, I will be seeing plenty of cold weather once I get back to school!
I want to start the post by answering some questions that came up recently from blog reader Jessica (hey!):
These are both great questions, and ones that I have never specifically addressed on the blog before. I’m thinking of adding an FAQ section for the future. But for now…
1) In terms of eating out, there are several options I go for that allow me to enjoy a reasonably healthy meal without sacrificing the fun that is eating out. I am a BIG fan of bread – it’s one of my favorite foods – so I like to enjoy the bread basket instead of turning it away. I also order a lot of soups and salads – with dressing on the side, otherwise they glob it on and it doesn’t even taste good – and fill up on both before the entree. And when it comes to the main meal, I usually opt for chicken or fish and make sure that there is a veggie or grain side dish in there somewhere!
Basically, I follow the same guidelines that you would follow if you were making the meal yourself – but I also keep in mind that I am eating out and therefore have no control of EXACTLY what is going into my food, so I tend to eat more of items such as soup and salad and bring any extra leftovers home for Bobby to enjoy later.
2) I am going to start posting a more detailed description of my workout in my posts – and may add a workout tab to the blog. My “New Year’s Resolution” – or really, just my newest goal because it has nothing to do with the new year at all – is to start writing down and logging my workouts, so what better way to do it than through the blog?!
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Ok, enough with the massive block of text! I completely understand if you just skipped over that part, but I wanted to make sure I answered a comment – I’ve been slacking lately 😳 If you have a question that I never answered, please leave me a comment again. I promise I will get back to you this time!
Onto the food! Breakfast today was incredibly indulgent, if I do say so myself. I’m calling it Peanut Butter Cup Oatmeal.
Why yes, those are Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Drops in my oatmeal! I know, I’m insane – but I couldn’t stop thinking about them after last night, so I figured why not get the craving out of the way first thing?! This bowl contained the following:
- 1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup unsweetened original almond milk
- 1/4 cup Kashi Go Lean cereal
- 2 tbsp. peanut butter (one mixed in while cooking, one on the spoon)
- 3 Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Drops
Wow, it was good – how could it not be? The milk chocolate melted into the oats while I was eating, and combined with the peanut butter, my mouth was in heaven. I probably couldn’t handle the intensity of this bowl every day, but when the craving strikes – you gotta give in (especially on a rainy day)! On the side, I had the usual mug of Coffee Cocoa.
Kelly T. mentioned I should have a mug giveaway. I’m thinking of trying to contact this company and see if they would let me because I love these things so much! I’ll let you know if I hear back!
I spent the morning responding to emails and reading some more of The Host – it’s so interesting! Stephenie Meyer is such a great writer! I also received a knock on the door – a delivery man with an exciting package!
Rena from Arnold Bread was kind enough to send me the other two versions from their new Grains & More line. You can check out my review of the first two by clicking here. I can’t wait to try these, too! Thanks, Rena!
Eventually, I decided to burn off some of the energy from that breakfast, so I hopped on the elliptical for 30 minutes. Typically, when I do the elliptical, I do intervals to ensure I keep my heart rate up. It looks something like this:
0:00-5:00: Level 9, Resistance 9, Alternating 30 sec. rest/1 min. sprint
5:00-10:00: Level 20, Resistance 10, Pedaling backwards
10:00-15:00: Level 16, Resistance 9, Alternating 30 sec. rest/1 min. sprint
15:00-20:00: Level 9, Resistance 9, Alternating 30 sec. rest/1 min. sprint
20:00-25:00: Level 19, Resistance 10, Pedaling backwards
25:00-30:00: Level 6, Resistance 9, Alternating 30 sec. rest/1 min. sprint
I adjust the ratio of intervals and pedaling backward based on how long I stay on the elliptical. Today was just a short workout because it was technically an “active rest” day – but since it was rainy outside, it kind of took active out of the equation! So I had to improvise.
After the workout, I cleaned up and made a mish mosh lunch. I started with a very familiar looking combination of Greek yogurt, pomegranate seeds and blackberries. You must try pom seeds with Greek yogurt ASAP if you haven’t already – the double tart/sweet thang goin’ on is out of this world!
I also had a microwaved egg white – pictured below in the container I use to actually microwave it! I spray the green thing with cooking spray and the egg literally slides out when it’s ready. I found a pair at Bed Bath & Beyond – I love that store!
And last but not least, a serving of Lundberg Barbecue Rice Chips. My mom loves these so they are always in our house – I just realized how yummy they are!
Not long after lunch, I picked up my brother from school and we did a little shopping for an additional gift for my mom. It was something she had mentioned a while ago, so hopefully it will be a surprise! And hopefully she will not be reading this post 😉 Oh well, I’m not giving too much away! When we got back, I did some more reading and warmed up with another Coffee Cocoa.
Dinner tonight was extremely satisfying. Grilled chicken topped with a flavorful gravy with a vegetable medley on the side.
The chicken turned out perfectly moist and the gravy sauce was incredible! It provided such an intense flavor – almost like a vegetable soup topping!
As for the veggies – they were that just-right tender consistency that I love. It included carrots, broccoli, green beans, cauliflower and chopped sweet potato.
After dinner, my mom and I watched The Biggest Loser finale – what a great one! Honestly, everyone looked amazing! It’s really incredible how hard they push themselves. While we were watching, I had a “cup” – literally! – of raspberries topped with Kashi Go Lean and almond milk.
I’ve still got some night left ahead of me, so I’m going to hang out with my mom and eventually read some more of my book!
Sweet dreams – what are your hump day plans?!
What do you usually do when eating out, like what tips do you have to really choose great stuff, without the guilt and the grease!? haha!AND, just curious, what do you typically do with working out?? Or whatever are your most common weekly workouts or favorite ones that go by the fastest?! I am just like you, I constantly have to change my cardio routine or else I get BORED!