I felt the need to redeem myself for dinner last night after yesterday's epic failure for breakfast. I was in the mood for protein pancakes but wanted to change it up a little bit. I chopped an apple, tossed it with a little honey and cinnamon and threw that mixture on the stove to brown a little bit and soften the apples.
So far so good. I should have just used that as pancake topping. Instead I decided to put it in the pancake batter. Looks harmless enough:
You try flipping that. It was really just a pile of cooked pancake batter mixed with cinnamon apples. Still delicious, but not the presentation I was looking for (to present to myself of course).
After work, I was brainstorming: something veggie...cold...protein...not tofu...a quinoa salad! It was pretty freaking delish - possibly horn tooting quality.
While the 3/4 cup of quinoa was cooking, I sauteed some chopped mushrooms, 1/4 yellow onion and some garlic. Once that was done, I put it in a mixing bowl with 3 diced roma tomatoes, fresh chopped mint (from our plant!), 1/2 diced cucumber, and 1/2 package of TJ's steamed lentils (cold). I let the quinoa cool a little bit and mixed it into the bowl, along with a little bit of balsamic vinegar. The idea was to eat it cold (mint...cucumber...refreshing...you get the idea) but it was pretty bangin the way it was at room temp - straight out of the mixing bowl. I knew I'd get to test the chilled version today for lunch so I went for it.
While all that was going on, I had some kale chips in the oven too.
Even better than last time. I prepped the kale as usual, but this time, I came up with a magical seasoning blend.
Verdict: my half is gone. ;-) I had to save some for Colleen though.
Morning!How was everyone’s Monday?Its definitely a warm beverage kind of morning over here:
half a cup of vanilla VIA drowned with almond milk. Yum.
Yesterday included lots of my favorite things: exercise, shopping, babies and
kale chips! I walked the Rose Bowl (with maybe a couple stretches of jogging in there to shake out the legs), Colleen and I made a trip to lululemon to get some OHmazing pants, and then visited with one of her friends and her two beautiful babies.I *love* snuggling babies – can’t wait until ours makes its debut!
So the kale chips…so easy!Break the leaves off the spine into big chunks.Rinse thoroughly and pat dry with a paper towel.Spray a cookie sheet lightly, dump the kale and spread into a thick layer.(If you cook a whole head, the pieces will overlap.That’s okay.)Dust with a thin layer of olive oil spray, sprinkle some sea salt and cook at 350⁰ for about 10 minutes or until they start to get crispy.
My only problem (if you can even call it that) is that I have to eat the whole batch I just made because I find they don’t store well – they get soggy or wilted.Anyone have a solution for that besides getting a dehydrator and cooking them that way?I actually plan on doing that in the next few months, but I was just curious.
More recent eats:
breakfast burrito with 2 eggs, veganaise, daiya (vegan cheese), greens and copious amounts of hot sauce
BLT wrap (with facon of course) with avocado, veganaise and daiya
half a sweet potato with goat cheese crumbles, roasted broccoli and pasta salad.
Time for some breakfast and then its off to work!xo Shaina
Something to think about (pardon the French, but seriously.....):
Hey hey everyone! How ‘bout those GMEN?!?!?!Sorry Tom Brady fans.Maybe next year. :-)
Hope everyone had a great weekend, regardless of their football team.It was absolutely gorgeous here in SoCal!You will never hear me complain about summer weather in February…ever.
It occurred to me while at a Super Bowl party yesterday that we should talk about will power.I probably should have posted this *before* the weekend, but there will always be parties coming up.Fat Tuesday, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter family get-togethers, summer cookouts….always an excuse to cheat right?Especially when you walk in to this schmorgesborg (does anyone know how to spell that?):
Here are some little tricks I’ve tried out that seem to work pretty well for me –
1.Work out earlier that day.We all know it’s not happening after the party, so go ahead and give yourself a calorie deficit so you don’t feel quite as bad about what you eat.You also tend to be more aware of what you’re eating after a good workout and are less likely to pig out.Win win.
2.Preemptive strike: eat something before you go.Walking into the party ravenous isn’t going to help your cause.I made a wrap yesterday about an hour and a half before we went.Nothing huge, but just enough.
3.If you’re bringing food to the party, make your contribution a healthy one so you know there will at least be one option there for you to keep snacking on if you’re really hungry.My contribution yesterday (a la Fitnessista):
They were a hit!I bought a-little-bigger-than-bite-sized tomatoes at the Farmer’s Market, cut them in half, and added a piece of buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil, a little olive oil and sea salt.So easy, so good and so healthy!Vegans can easily sub vegan cheese in there.
4.Alcohol: alternate with water.You want to make sure you’re drinking plenty of water when you’re continually snacking and this will cut your liquid calorie consumption in half. :-) Easy peasy.
Until the desserts come out….
Pick one and stick with it OR have *a bite* of two or three.No need to have 3 full-sized portions – normally a bite or two will satisfy the sweet craving.
My plate from last night:
plus a few more tomatoes, a few more carrots and a little more bean dip.For dessert, I rolled with the brownie.Chocolate never fails me.
Sing with me now: Its Friday, Friday, Friday……okay that’s enough.Happy Friday everyone! J
Yesterday, I was in serious need of some vegetation after the delicious dinner and dessert extravaganza we had courtesy of the MIL & Porto’s on Wednesday night:
I sampled most of them - awful idea and almost never worth it. Eh, it happens. I woke up still in a sugar coma, so I committed to eating lots of veggies yesterday (normally not a problem for me, but I really didn’t feel like eating anything at all).This led me to a grilling experiment around lunch time…BBQ’d lettuce!
*Sidenote: I normally call stuff from the grill “grilled” because, to me, BBQ’d means its slathered with sauce, but “grilled lettuce” made me think I was supposed to see fancy grill markings on there and that didn’t work – so I rolled with the West Coast lingo.Sorry East Coasters.
I digress.It was really good!I heard about it from a lady I met a few weeks ago.I tore the leaves apart and rinsed them off.Next, I drizzled a little olive oil and salted/peppered them.Onto the grill they went!You only need to leave them on each side for about 45 seconds or so – unless wilted lettuce is your thing.I cut some tomatoes, added some goat cheese & balsamic and viola! A fantastic summer salad….in February haha.
After a necessary afternoon nap, I headed to the Farmer’s Market.I love me some Farmer’s Market produce.I like knowing that my food is super fresh, organic and local…can’t beat it.I stocked up on some earthy goodness for this week
and got the crepe of my dreams for dinner (arugula, tomato, artichoke, mushrooms, avocado and cheese).I normally am not a fan of cow dairy, but I make exceptions.I’m a big fan of veggie wraps, and this was just a delicious, warm version.
I’m off to spinning class!Have a fantastic day everyone! xo Shaina
**DISCLAIMER:Speak with your doctor before making any changes to your eating or exercise routines.**
I despise the word “diet.”I get asked all the time how I lost 35 pounds and kept it off.It’s a very complex routine that I came up with and you would never come up with it on your own, so I’ll share it with you: change your eating habits and commit to exercising smarter.JThat’s it!
I’ve heard calories in < calories out, but I don’t like the emphasis on counting calories – a lot of people think as long as they stay under that magic number, it doesn’t matter what the calories are made of (um, no).I’ve also heard eat less, move more.Its not necessarily true that you need to eat less, because a lot of people don’t eat enough to start off with.I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard from a trainer “You aren’t eating enough to lose those last few pounds, so your body is hanging on to everything.”Moving more isn’t necessarily going to help either – you could end up hurting yourself.You have to be smart about the changes you make.Quality over quantity is key.You can go lift weights for an hour and a half, but if you aren’t diversifying your exercises or your form is terrible – it probably isn’t doing you a lot of good.I’ve also seen a lot of healthy, capable-of-exercise people on the treadmill that have fooled themselves into thinking that strolling for 30 minutes while talking on their cell phone is going to get them anywhere.If you can talk on your cell phone, you’re not exercising.Don’t get me started.
Change your eating habits and commit to exercising smarter! “Diet” has a short-term connotation.Make a lifestyle change and keep up your good habits to keep the weight from coming back.
What are some easy changes to make?It’s pretty simple actually.
1.Drink more water.If you think you’re drinking enough, drink more.It is HIGHLY unlikely that you would consume enough water to actually harm yourself. (Coffee, tea, juice, etc. don't count as water because they have water in them.) A good rule to go by is 1 ounce for every 2 pounds of body weight.For example, if you weigh 160 pounds, you should be drinking at least 80 ounces of water a day.
2.If you’re drinking soda every day, cut back.If you must, have it once or twice a week– but no soda is better.I won’t even begin to talk about all the crap that’s in there that is bad for your organs, nevermind your waistline.Diet soda isn’t really any better.
3.Make as much from scratch as you can.Frozen foods and meals from a box have become staples in busy households.Planning your week out and cooking some stuff ahead of time with fresh ingredients can really help, as can the slow cooker (greatest invention ever).I’ll definitely make an effort to post some recipes that work well for this.
4.Drink more water.
5.Portion size is so key.If you don’t know what a serving size looks like, start measuring your food at home.I have a food scale and take out the measuring cups on a regular basis.It only takes about 2 weeks of measuring consistently to get the hang of it and know when you have too much.If you’re still hungry after plate #1 (and you probably will be in the beginning because you’ve been eating way more than 1 serving), drink some water and go back for veggies.No more carbs and protein, you’ve had enough.
6.Snack throughout the day – but smartly!Take a piece of fresh fruit and a baggie of raw nuts in addition to your lunch.If you wait until it’s time for the next meal, chances are you’re ravenous and you’ll eat much more than you should.It’s never a good idea to be hungry and not be prepared – when you reach for something convenient and cheap, it probably isn’t healthy.
7.Drink more water.
8.Don’t restrict yourself.In order to have a well-balanced diet, you should be eating a little bit of everything – carbs, proteins, fats, etc.Some people (including me) don’t eat meat for health/religious/moral reasons – and that’s okay – just make sure you’re getting enough protein from other sources.If you completely cut something out of your diet, your body is going to want it more.When you give in, watch out.
9.Drink more water.
10.Pick an exercise activity or two that you enjoy and will stick with.If you hate running, chances are you’ll give it up after a week.Having a workout buddy makes things more fun as well.
Simple, easy-to-stick-to habits that can really make a difference.For some of you, all of these are a bunch of no-brainers – but do you practice them??
If anyone out there has lost weight and successfully kept it off, what helped you stick to your plan?What helped you keep the weight from coming back?
