My Own Metabolism Experiment

Happy Halloween!

On Friday, I mentioned Alysia’s post about her metabolism experiment. After having considered doing the same thing for a while, I decided to give it a shot. Like Alysia, on rest days I find myself wondering if I’m eating too much so I thought this would be a great way to figure it out. I like knowing numbers and of course, I knew that no matter what, I would compare my number to her’s, but hey, that’s just the name of the game sometimes! Knowing that going into it helped me stay out of the comparison trap.

So how did it go..?

Hmm..

Well, to be completely honest, I was a little disappointed. My day started out strong. I noticed for the first few hours in the morning, I was averaging about 100 calories per hour. I didn’t think that would hold up throughout the day, even though I had some errands to run, but I was definitely surprised by how much it slowed down as the day progressed.

My day looked a little something like this:
7:45 am – Wake up and strap on the heart rate monitor
8:30 am – Time for breakfast!

Carrots ‘N’ Cake sweet breakfast scramble with pumpkin, topped with nut butters and granola

9:30 am – Haircut
11:00 am – Nail appointment [and a little Target shopping..]
1:00 pm – Lunch and baking time!

Awesome huge salad!

Snickerdoodle biscotti with white chocolate drizzle [recipe soon!]

3:00 pm – House stuff.. laundry, dishes, etc.
6:30 pm – Heading out to a fabulous dinner and drinks!

Verde Pizza

10:30 pm – Hit the hay! Yes, we’re old farts.
7:45 am – Wake up and take off heart rate monitor.

That is usually about the amount of activity I have an on rest day. So while Alysia found that an average 2000 calorie/day diet is about right for her, I’m wondering what I could do to help speed up my metabolism on rest days. I feel like 1700 calories is a decent amount, but I’m always looking to improve!

I also wonder if it had anything to do with having a harder week with my workouts. I felt like the quality of my workouts last week were not up to par and it makes me think that if I had a stronger week of workouts, that maybe the results would be different. I may try the experiment again in a few months to see if anything has changed, but in the mean time, I’ll continue to work on listening to my body and feeding it right!

Food for Thought

Have you ever considered trying this kind of metabolism experiment?

If you’ve done this before, was the calorie burn higher or lower than you expected?

Any tips on speeding up my metabolism on rest days?

Are you dressing up for Halloween?

What I Ate Wednesday #60: The. Best. Pizza.

This is not a joke. We found the best pizza in Baltimore. Saturday night Nathan and I decided to knock another restaurant off of our bucket list and headed over to Verde Pizza. This is another relatively new spot in town and we had pretty high hopes after seeing some amazing-looking pictures on their facebook page.

Margherita Pizza

Vedura Delizia – smoked bufala mozzarella, roasted butternut squash cream, zucchini, roasted red peppers, basil & evoo

Hard to argue with the looks of those pizzas, right? Right. So we made our way over.

The kitchen was pretty open and there were 2 chefs making the pizzas right up front. I always love watching the food being made!

Open kitchen

I sipped on a glass of Nero D’Avola as we waited for our appetizers. It was a great choice; very easy drinking, light tannins, and a little bit fruity. I loved it!

In case you don’t know what a glass of red wine looks like..

Appetizers

Tre Porcellini – Roasted vegetable trio of red pepper, eggplant, and mushroom,
served with homemade foccacia

The Tre Porcellini consisted of three roasted vegetables—that night they offered mushrooms, red peppers, and eggplant—served with homemade foccacia. They were all great, but the slightly-sweet red pepper was my favorite. The eggplant, however, had a little extra olive oil on it that was perfect for dipping the bread in!

Insalata Mista – Spring mix with grape tomatoes, EVOO, and balsamic glaze

We also split the Insalata Mista. Such a simple salad but all of the ingredients were so fresh. The grape tomatoes were like candy and the balsamic glaze was just sweet enough. We also got a little parmesan on the side to sprinkle on top. I would highly recommend that!

Pizza

The best way to test a pizza place is to get their margherita pizza. That was our original plan, but when my pizza-loving husband set his eyes on the menu, it was quickly decided that we would be ordering 2 pizzas. Another night to take home leftovers! [It’s kind of our thing now.. ;)]

Margherita – Tomato sauce, homemade mozzarella, basil, EVOO

As soon as Nathan took his first bite he said he was immediately transported back to Gusta Pizza, our favorite pizza in Italy. The crust is so light and perfectly crisp. We loved the char on the outer edges from the brick oven, there was the perfect amount of the rich, flavorful tomato sauce, and the homemade mozzarella was so creamy.

Salsiccia e Funghi – Tomato sauce, homemade mozzarella, sausage, wild mushrooms,
fresh ricotta, basil, EVOO

When I asked the waitress how the Salsiccia e Funghi pizza is, she replied “you know, standard awesome.” She was spot on. The sausage was just a little bit smokey which paired well with the meaty mushrooms. The dollop of homemade ricotta cheese in the middle might have been my favorite part. I don’t think I’ve ever had such creamy, melty ricotta before and I could have gone for more on top!

I know I said we made this bucket list so we could get to a bunch of restaurants before we head to California, but we are seriously considering heading back to Verde again. Can’t you see it in Nathan’s face? 😉

So pensive.

Food for Thought

Have you ever tasted a dish that transported you back to another time in your life?

What’s the best pizza you’ve ever had?

What I Ate Wednesday #51: Pinterest is My BFF

I really do have entirely too many recipes pinned and sometimes I get into a kick where I want to make everything! Unfortunately, most of the time I have high hopes and it just doesn’t pan out. This past week, however, I’ve been making, baking, and devouring! It’s been fun.. especially the devouring part 😉

For Lunches – Kale, Edamame, and Quinoa Salad from Ambitious Kitchen.

Kale, Edamame, & Quinoa Salad – Ambitious Kitchen

Kale, Edamame, & Quinoa Salad – Ambitious Kitchen

I pinned this recipe forever ago. Seriously, my board says it was pinned 43 weeks ago. That’s almost 11 months ago and I still had yet to make it! It looked like a perfect, summery salad so I added the ingredients to my shopping list and had this salad for lunch for two days. I added beets and feta on day one and left out the mango because it wasn’t ripe yet. Day two had the mango and beets, no feta. Either way, it was dynamite! A definite repeat.

For Dinner – Roasted Vegetable and Quinoa Salad from Bev Cooks.

Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Salad – Bev Cooks

As good as it looks. Actually, it’s better than it looks. The recipe says that it serves 4 and after consulting with Bev, herself, it was noted that is for a side serving. I added some sweet potato to the mix and doubled up my side for dinner! Best of all, I had 2 side servings leftover which I’m turning into lunches by topping a bunch of swiss chard with it and adding a few extra things like tomato and mango. Another success!

For Snacks – Paleo Bread from Elana’s Pantry. Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Fudge from Ingredients of a Fit Chick.

Paleo Bread – Elana’s Pantry

I saw this bread in Gina’s post last week and was very intrigued by it. I’ve never made paleo bread before but the idea of bread out of almond flour sounded wonderful! I thought I had all of the ingredients but ended up having to sub half of the almond flour for brown rice flour when I ran out but it still came out great! I think I could have taken it out of the oven a couple minutes earlier since it is a little bit dry, but I guess that just means I have to smother it with peanut butter, right? 😉 [The other half of that broken piece in the middle didn’t last much longer than this picture!]

Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Fudge – Ingredients of a Fit Chick

My sweet tooth has been out of control lately and when I saw this sweet treat a couple weeks ago, I knew it would come in handy! I love having snacks like this at my fingertips for when the cravings hit. Let’s see how long they last!

I have also found one of my most favorite salads at a restaurant ever. Most of the time when I order a salad, I’m disappointed by the size. I understand not everyone eats salads out of mixing bowls, but apparently at Looney’s, they are all for it! The picture doesn’t do the size of this salad any justice. Nathan’s friend told me if I couldn’t finish it, he would be happy to help. He must not know me very well..

Greek Salad with Grilled Chicken – Looney’s Pub

If you ever find yourself at Looney’s Pub, the Greek salad topped with grilled chicken is highly recommended!

Food for Thought

How often do you go back through the recipes you’ve pinned to make something new?

Are you a “normal-sized” salad eater or do you go for the mixing bowl?

Taking a Deep Breath

It has been a crazy two weeks and I’ve been a terrible blogger because of it. Between work and wedding planning, I haven’t had time to breathe, let alone blog! Meetings were lined up for every night last week after work and I didn’t get home before 9:30 pm. But there is definite progress that has been made and I have, however, had time to eat. Lots and lots of delicious food!

As the week winds down and I gear up for another weekend of wedding crashing (otherwise known as band shopping), I am finally catching a moment, albeit a brief moment, to take a deep breath. And to share one of my wonderful dining experiences from last week!

As an engagement gift from a few of Nathan’s friends, we received a gift certificate to Annabel Lee Tavern, a cute little local tavern celebrating the legen(wait for it)dary poet, Edgar Allen Poe. We’d never been there before so we were psyched to try it!

I started out with the Morella.

Hendrick’s Gin, St Germain Liqueur, Muddled Cucumber and a dash of Simple Syrup

I’m a sucker for any cucumber drink so I knew I had to try this and I’m so glad I did. It’s a dangerously delicious drink that goes down far too easily!

We always ask for recommendations on the menu and as appetizers go, the nachos were hugely recommended. And when I say huge, I mean oh-my-gosh-we’ll-never-finish-that huge!

Nachos with House-Made Pico de Gallo, Cheddar, Black Olives, Jalapenos, and Sour Cream

Not only was every chip covered with cheddar cheese, there was another creamy cheese underneath all of that goodness that gave it an extra kick of something special.

After devouring a good portion of the nachos, we moved onto entrees. Once again, sticking to recommendations, I went with the Crab Cake Platter. Ladies and gents, I have found my new favorite crab cake. And as a native Marylander, that is hugely successful!

Crab Cake Platter with Blackened Asparagus

It was all lump crab meat with very little filler just to hold it together. Cooked perfectly so that the outside had just the right amount of crispness and the inside was tender and creamy. And it was seasoned absolutely wonderfully. Served with blackened asparagus (I skipped on the mashed potatoes), it was nice and light and the perfect amount of food.

I immediately texted my mom to let her know that I’ve found the new crab cake place. It’s clearly very important in our lives.

And because we just weren’t quite full enough, Nathan made me get dessert. Alright, so all he had to do was say chocolate and I was sold. But you should be sold, too, for the Edgar Allen Pate.

Tri-chocolate Pate served with Madeira Raspberry Sauce and Whipped Cream

Our final course, once again, recommended, and for good reason! The perfect sharing size and a wonderfully decadent way to end a great meal.

And with that, I prepare myself to eat my way through the weekend and will bring you more fantastic bites soon! 🙂 And don’t forget to breathe!

Speak Up!

Any big plans for the weekend? Maybe hitting up your favorite local tavern?