A Day of Faves

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.....):

Will Power

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. 

Have a great Monday!  xo Shaina

Eating On The Run

Hey guys!  Happy Monday!  I hope everyone had a great weekend.  I enjoyed some fantastic summer weather at the end of January – definitely something I will never complain about.

One of the major pitfalls of people’s eating habits is lack of preparation…and it’s such an easy fix!  Always having healthy snacks on hand is key to keeping your blood sugar level, your metabolism cranking along, and most importantly – it keeps you from getting starving and having to make a quick decision about where/what to eat.  If you’re that hungry and you think “What am I in the mood for?”, let’s be real – chances are it isn’t a salad.  That cheeseburger smells pretty good doesn't it?

Taking a couple of small things in your bag when you’re running errands on the weekend or having a drawer in your desk/corner of the fridge at work stocked can be really easy.

Some snack ideas:

-homemade trail mix (raw or unsalted nuts, dried fruit, mini chocolate chips, etc - so easy to make in big batches ahead of time!)

-protein bars (I LOVE Lara bars - you can always find one in my purse.  Clif and Luna bars also have fantastic nutrition stats.)

-apple slices and 2 Tbsp of your favorite nut butter or low-fat string cheese

-any piece of fresh fruit

If you’re out around town and *have* to stop for a quick pick-me-up:

-smoothie (try to get something with protein in it – it will keep you full longer)

-small frozen yogurt with fresh fruit

-salad/soup bar at your local grocery store

-a pit stop at your local health food store

I’m off to enjoy the sunshine!  Have a fantastic Monday everyone.

xo  Shaina