What I Ate Wednesday #132: Time For a Change

Heyooo! Look at me posting twice this week! Pretty exciting, huh? I’ve recently starting making a couple changes to my diet, so I figured a good WIAW post was in order.

I mentioned recently that I’ve had a bit of weight gain. Frustrating? You betcha! So I decided that I was going to make some changes to my workouts. I set a goal for myself; I wanted to lose 5 lbs by my anniversary. I know it’s not all about the number, but sometimes I find it helpful to have that goal.

I tried increasing my cardio, as that was what worked for me a couple years ago, but unfortunately, not this time. My next attempt was to go in the complete opposite direction. I started the 30 Day Kettlebell Challenge and while I’ve loved these workouts, I still haven’t seen the change I’m searching for.

Next change is diet. I reached out to my good blogger friend, Lindsay Cotter, who happens to be a fitness nutrition specialist. She’s been so helpful and I’m looking forward to seeing how her suggestions work out for me.

[Pre-Workout]
Half of a banana with almond butter and a cup of coffee is the perfect fuel for me these days. The workouts I’ve been doing are less than 30 minutes and this snack is just enough to tide me over.

[Breakfast]

Dude. Dude. You have to try these microwave grain-free english muffins! I don’t have any raisins, but these have been so good with some almond butter schmeer and have proven to be a great vessel for my sweet eggs. I also tried replacing half of the almond flour with protein powder on Tuesday and it turned out wonderfully!

[Morning Snack]
I had a busy morning so I wasn’t able to snap a picture of my smoothie, but it was lean, green, and protein-packed.. err mean? I used 1 scoop whey protein, 1 scoop Skoop Sweetgreens A Game, 10 cherries, 1 tbsp coconut oil, cucumber, ice, and a little almond milk to get things moving. The coconut oil in a smoothie was new for me but Lindsay said more fats, so I gave it a go and it was DEELISH.

[Lunch]

I was starved by the time I got home from work so I threw some kale, chicken, frozen butternut squash, and sugar snap peas into a pan with a little buffalo sauce and topped with avocado and ketchup.

[Afternoon Snack]
More fats? You got it. I went for an over-medium egg, a few almonds, and a carrot. A little #StrangeButGood action. And definitely not photo-worthy. You’re welcome.

[Dinner]

Coconut honey lime Filipino chicken with roasted red pepper and zucchini. All the protein and nice and light. I devoured it in between my evening clients.

[Evening Snack]

Oh heyyy, almond butter! I was happy to see it multiple times throughout the day. And apples and nut butters go together like.. well, nut butters go with everything.

The biggest changes I have here are breakfast and snacks. I definitely thought I’d miss my daily bowl of oats a little more than I do. I’m still getting used to the snacks, though; I’ve never been a big smoothie drinker and tend to grab a bar for convenience, but you have to make changes to see changes, yes? So far, so good this week; I’ll report back!

Food for Thought

What are your favorite protein-packed, grain-free breakfasts and snacks?

What I Ate Wednesday #125: After Effects of Vegan

My Valentine’s Day dinner was the first time going back to meat and dairy after 2 weeks of eating completely vegan. To be honest, I haven’t looked back. It wasn’t so much that I didn’t like my experience or could never fathom having a vegan meal again, but I just really enjoy pretty much all things meat and dairy. Egg whites in my oatmeal, crispy bits of roast chicken, a nice bowl of yogurt with bananas and cinnamon. YUM!

My experiences have adjusted the way I’ve been eating, however, and I’ve really been enjoying these changes. If you recall, Cyrus had me on a 70/15/15 diet focusing on 70% carbs coming from fruits and vegetables. I’ve been using MyFitnessPal to track my macros and am doing my best to try to hit that 70/15/15 breakdown but in reality have been getting closer to a 60/20/20 split; certainly not the end of the world! And aside from my oatmeal, I’ve been sticking with the fruits and veggies source of carbs.

[Breakfast]

I seriously missed my oatmeal with melty nut butters! The basic idea of this breakfast has remained the same but I’ve added some extra fruit on top. I will typically mash up 1/2 of a banana into the oats and now slice up the other half on top. Or I grab some frozen mango/papaya/pineapple frozen mix when I’m out of bananas.

[Lunch]

Lunch has definitely seen the biggest change. I’ve swapped my daily big ass salad for a bunch of roasted sweet potatoes and some source of protein on the side like quinoa beet burgers, tuna, or shredded chicken.

Cyrus mentioned that lunch is the time to really load up on carbs in order to fuel the rest of your day, A salad, while obviously healthy, is typically a lower carb option full of ingredients that will essentially fill space in your stomach but not provide the source of energy that your body needs. I’m in loveee with sweet potatoes so this has not posed any issue for me at all.

[Dinner]

Speaking of potatoes, we’ve basically been eating roasted russets every night with dinner. Nathan is certainly happy; variations on chicken and potatoes might be one of his favorite meals!

[Snacks]
Typical snacks throughout the day include bananas [sometimes up to 3 per day!], apples, and the occasional bar. I know bars aren’t always ideal and I definitely used to rely on them more than I do now. I didn’t want to have too much sugar, even the natural stuff, but since increasing my carbs, a banana is the perfect snack to take with me to work. And sometimes if I’m home, I’ll dip into a little nut butter too 😉

Any changes?
I was most curious to see if I’d notice any changes in my body, skin, weight, etc. by going vegan. In the first week, I lost 2 lbs and saw an increase in ab definition. I was also super crabby, low energy, having trouble getting through my workouts, and just generally exhausted by the end of the day. I wasn’t eating enough.

Cyrus explained to me that my RMR [Resting Metabolic Rate] is about 1600 calories per day and after adding in my workouts, active lifestyle, and simply the energy expended from my body digesting my food, I should be taking in about 3000 calories per day. I’m not sure I ever hit 3000 calories, but once I started eating more, the 2 lbs came back and the extra definition was lost. Was I bummed? A little. But at the same time, I actually had my energy back!

I plan on keeping up the increase in carbs, mostly because I love sweet potatoes and bananas. In terms of noticeable physical changes, I really don’t see a difference and I happen to be much happier not limiting myself in my diet. If I want a vegan meal, great! I’ll have one. If I want a huge cheesesteak [Nathan got one while I was eating vegan and said it was the best of his life], I’ll eat a huge cheesesteak! I just enjoy food and the experiences I have with Nathan trying new things entirely too much to give it up.

It was a great experiment and I’m glad I did it. I think it’s important for me to experience different diets, workouts, etc. to be able to speak to it if someone asks. I’m up for a challenge and I’d try another if the opportunity presents itself.

Food for Thought

What’s the most extreme change in diet you’ve tried before?

What I Ate Wednesday #124: Valentine’s Feasting

Valentine’s Day might be one of my favorite holidays. We don’t do the bouquet of roses, sappy cards, get dressed up for dinner kind of thing. We learned that wasn’t necessary many years ago. Not to mention, who wants to pay $200 for a dinner that takes HOURS to come out after ordering while 100 other people wait around you? Personally, I’m a fan of a quiet night at home, cooking together and drinking some good wine.

We cheated a little bit this year and bought our main dish. Last year, we went all out and made a pistachio-crusted lamb which turned out wonderfully. This year, however, we went to the farmers’ market the week before Valentine’s Day and saw that Roli Roti has a new rotisserie duck l’orange. We already love their rotisserie chicken, brussels, and potatoes, so how could we say no? We woke up on Valentine’s Day and got to the market as soon as they opened to get our duck.

It was so nice to relax rather than having to work on the main dish. So we broke out a bottle of Black Zeppelin, a 2009 Syrah blend, that we got in 2012. We bought 2 bottles and had the first right away. This bottle was even better than we remembered!

It was also gone pretty quickly!

I also made a cheesy [ha.. in both senses of the word] plate to snack on while the side dish was in the oven. Thank you very much, Cabot!

And what goes better with cheese than prosecco? Only the finest bottle in our house..

The main event.. it was better than I could have imagined! Did I mention that this was my first time eating meat in 2 weeks? Nathan’s idea for the dippy egg over top of the rosemary garlic roasted potatoes and brussels was killer. I was absolutely in heaven!

And if that wasn’t enough, I made a “single serving” [which really turned out to be a double. So we nicely shared.] of Smitten Kitchen’s blueberry crumb bars. I’d only made them once before, a couple years ago, and Nathan has been talking about them ever since. I decided Valentine’s Day was the perfect day to break it out again. We also bought some Tahitian Vanilla gelato from our favorite place, Lush, right down the street. It was the perfect topping.

Dinner was fabulous, as always, and we were more than full. Or as we like to say, fat and happy.

Food for Thought

Did you do anything special for Valentine’s Day?

What I Ate Wednesday #123: Vegan. Week 2.

Sunday I had a really serious conversation with my nutritionist, Cyrus. As you may recall, he has me experimenting with a high-carb [70% carb, 15% fat, 15% protein], vegan diet for 14 days. At the start of week 2, I met with him and told him my main concern—I’m not eating the right foods for lunch to hold me over; especially when I’m out of the house all day at work. I just ended up being completely exhausted by late afternoon. I’m just not packing enough. His solution? Eat more. And eat starchy! Lose the greens at lunch; they’re just taking up valuable real estate in my stomach that I need for energizing carbs.

This past week, I’ve made a few adjustments to my meals, in particular, eating more. Lots more! Yesterday was the big test; I was working 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. with just two 1-hour breaks in between hitting all 3 jobs. I knew it was important to pack a lot and really take into account what Cyrus had to say. And let me tell you, I found a way to just. keep. eating.

[Breakfast]
I’ve tried a couple breakfasts from Cyrus’ plan but this one was my staple.

• 2 bananas
• 1/2 papaya
• 1 mango OR a bunch of blueberries
• 2 tbsp chia seeds + 2 tbsp hemp protein soaked 10+ mins in 1/2 cup almond milk

Adding in the protein powder definitely helped keep me full longer. And you’re welcome for snapping a picture pre-chia/protein mix.

[Morning Snack]

I went to barre after training my first client, but unfortunately could only stay for 30 minutes before heading onto my next job. That said, it was a killer 30 minutes! and I was famished. Chick peas. Because apparently that’s a normal snack? But clearly not enough to hold me over for too long.. Cashew Cookie Larabar to the rescue!

Larabars have been great because they’re just fruit and nuts. No extra sweeteners, grains, etc.

[Lunch]

Admittedly, I’m still getting used to such a high starchy carb load, but eating a ton of sweet potatoes? I can’t really complain.. Seriously. Just straight roasted sweet potatoes. Twas delicious.

[Afternoon Snack……sssss]

I had a hell of a time staying full. Must have been all of my running around! In between job 2 and 3, I snacked on an apple with 1 tbsp peanut butter. A couple hours later, my very last Gingerbread Larabar made an appearance. And finally, a blood orange. I told you, I was hungry!

[Dinner]

A long day required an easy dinner. Same as the night before—mushrooms and lentils with mustard dressing over mixed greens.

[Evening Snack]
I must’ve really worked up an appetite because even after all of that, my stomach was still growling before bed. I reached for a banana.. might as well end the day in a similar fashion to how it started!

Damn. That’s a lot of carbs! Haha they are quite tasty, though, so it’s hard to argue. Just a few days left to finish off my 2 week experiment!

Food for Thought

Which meal would be your favorite?
Have you ever considered or tried a high carb diet?

What I Ate Wednesday #122: The ‘V’ Word

A few days ago, I started a little experiment. I’m currently working with the nutritionist at Truve, Cyrus Khambatta, on testing a different kind of diet. So if I’m going to do it, why not go balls to the wall? We’re talking 2 weeks vegan. And not only that, but Cyrus is a big proponent of a 70/15/15 diet. Yup, 70% carbs. Fruit and veggie carbs, though, not grains. This is a really drastic change in my diet and I’m finding it very interesting to see the way my body is reacting to it. I’m only on day 4 right now, but I’m looking forward to doing a full update at the end. For now, this is how some of my meals and snacks have been looking.

[Breakfast]

2 bananas, 1 mango, 1/2 papaya, cinnamon, & 2 tbsp chia seeds soaked in cashew milk

2 bananas, 10 strawberries, 2 handfuls of raisins, and 2 tbsp chia seeds soaked in cashew milk

That’s a lot of fruit! Breakfast is, of course, my favorite meal of the day and while I’m missing my oats and melty peanut butter, these breakfasts have been delicious and surprisingly have held me over for 3-4.5 hours.

[Lunch]

Sweet potatoes baked with olives, sun dried tomatoes, and onion

Roasted kabocha squash and fennel

Anyone that tells me to eat a huge plate of sweet potatoes or kabocha is good in my book!

[Dinner]

Mushrooms, bell pepper, and onion

Mushrooms, snow peas, and tomato

Dinner has admittedly been my least favorite meal. It’s usually at this point that I feel like I’d like to sneak a couple bites of Nathan’s chicken. Or have some kind of sauce to make it all more exciting. I know typically if I were just doing vegan on my own, I could play with flavors a bit more but because I’m trying to really follow Cyrus’ plan, I’m sticking with his recipes.

[Snacks]

Perfect because it’s just dates, nuts, and spices!

Blissful Eats Instant Boost Chocolate Bites

Holy moly. Those Blissful Eats bites are some of my new favorite snacks! I was lucky enough to win some samples but I have a feeling I’ll definitely be buying more in the [very near] future!

Also unpictured snacks have been chia pudding, apples, olives, and leftover kabocha squash.

Overall Feelings
So far, I feel like I’ve had ups and downs of feeling super full [hellooo kabocha!] and feeling downright ravenous. I’ve also noticed my energy levels being a bit low over the past couple of days. I’m interested to see if that turns around and if my body adjusts. I’m also curious to see if there are any changes in my body, though 2 weeks isn’t too long to see those changes.

It’s definitely an interesting experience thus far and I’m looking forward to seeing how the next week and a half goes, as well as if it changes my diet in the future.

Food for Thought

Have you ever tried eating vegan?
What are your thoughts on the 70/15/15 macro breakdown?

What I Ate Wednesday #121: Hell Week Eats

I love routine. I crave it. Some people are easily just go-with-the-flow kind of people. I’m not one of them. I guess you could say that’s something I miss about having a 9-5 job.. I could plan my workouts, plan my meal times.. even plan my spontaneity. I’m so fun, right?

This week is anything but routine. Will all of my jobs, today happens to be my latest start.. 7 a.m. Waking up at 3:45, 4:45, and 5:45 are totally throwing my eating schedule through a loop, not to mention, I have to work with when my breaks are scheduled at work. Monday was nuts; I worked one job from 6 a.m. – 1:45 p.m. and another from 4 – 6 p.m. I practically packed up my whole refrigerator to have the option to eat a meal or a snack, depending on my hunger, when I had a break. It was quite interesting.

[Breakfast #1]
I started with a scoop of Chocolate Peanut Butter TastyWHEY mixed with coffee. I even took a video 😉

I also noshed on a bar on my walk to work. These Santa Barbara bars are delicious and you should definitely get some if you can get your paws on ’em!

[Breakfast #2]

Luckily, my oatmeal packs up and reheats well. I’ve been making it the night before so I can eat it either before I leave, or during one of my breaks. And, of course, I have a jar of peanut butter with me at all times!

[Snack #1]
Trust me, I’m saving you by not snapping a picture of my cottage cheese. Ha! I did drizzle a little NuStevia Cocoa Syrup on top for a chocolatey treat.

[Lunch]

Balsamic vinegar, whole grain mustard, and a little EVOO is the best marinade for kale. I’m convinced the whole grain mustard helps with the massaging of the kale and gives it great flavor. I’ve been topping my salads this week with Beyond Beef Fiesty Crumbles and I have to say, it’s pretty darn tasty! It is a touch dry by itself, but I would absolutely use it in tacos, salads [obviously], etc. I’m also interested to try the Beyond Chicken now, too.

[Snack #2]
By the time I got home from job #1, I was super hungry [I don’t know how.. I’d been eating all day!] and feeling pretty snacky so I grabbed some cranberry almond bites from NatureBox and housed a bag of sugar snap peas.

[Dinner]

Thank goodness for easy, quick dinners. I had half of a roasted spaghetti squash and some chicken in the fridge. I tossed it together with some frozen beans, topped with lots of Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar and ketchup, and I was good to go!

[Snack #3]
I ended my night early with an apple and was in bed by 9:15.

At least it’s Wednesday and we’re almost to moving day. Just keep plugging along!

Food for Thought

Do you like to eat on a similar schedule everyday?

What I Ate Wednesday #120: Spicy & Smoky

Friends, if you have yet to try a barre class, get with the program! Better yet, if you’re in the Oakland area, join me at Truve for Teresa’s class! My 2-for-Tuesday line-up of Suspension Sculpt [TRX] followed by barre hurts so good. Teresa is also my comic relief in the morning. And sometimes we pretend that we’re ballerinas.

It’s good times.. promise. That said, my abs and hammies are on fire today! It’s the real deal.

Backtracking a day, Monday was a pretty normal day of eats but delicious, nonetheless.

[Breakfast]

It’s so hard for me to not make more nut butters as I run out, but it’s less to move. I’m almost down to 1 jar! The horror!

[Lunch]

I’m always much happier to bring my own salads to work for lunch than to go buy something. I’ve been on a serious kale kick lately. I massaged the kale with balsamic vinegar, a little EVOO, whole grain dijon, and a pinch of salt. It’s awesome. And Trader Joe’s chicken sausages have been making my life easier. They’re already cooked so I just slice one up real quick and we’re good to go!

[Afternoon Snack]

Over the weekend, I made Lindsay’s gluten-free cranberry white chocolate chip pumpkin bars and it was delicious broken up over some Greek yogurt.

[Dinner]

Dinner was a new one—chicken bacon fra diavolo with potato noodles. It was totally different from our usual dinner fare and quite tasty. Don’t fret.. the recipe will be up tomorrow 😉

[Evening Snack]
I decided to save you from the picture of my cottage cheese and apple. It’s not the prettiest sight you’d ever see but it’s a delicious combo!

And now? It’s back to packing! Happy hump day!

Food for Thought

What’s your favorite class at the gym you’ve taken?

What I Ate Wednesday #119: Lunch Date at BJ’s Brewhouse

On Monday, I mentioned going out to lunch with Nathan over the weekend. While we’re trying to stick within a little more strict than usual budget because of our upcoming move, we wanted to get out of the house for a bit. Luckily, I was recently contacted by BJ’s Brewhouse to visit one of their nearby restaurants and check out the Enlightened Menu. Obviously anytime someone offers me food and beer, I can’t say no!

The Enlightened menu is great for everyone in the crowd and, especially when we’re all trying to lighten the load a bit after the holidays, it’s a great option when you’re going out. Everything on this portion of the menu is 795 calories or less and offers much more than just a plain old salad.

Not to mention, the lighter calories leaves room for a little beverage 😉

And even though they do show quite a nice beer list, you could always go with a lighter option and tap into the fully-stocked bar.

For our entrees, I went with the Kale and Roasted Brussels Sprout Salad with flame-broiled salmon.

Baby kale, herb-roasted brussels sprouts, romaine, blueberries, red grapes, dried cranberries, goat cheese, cucumber, candied pecans, toasted pepitas and red onions tossed in strawberry vinaigrette.

The salmon was cooked perfectly and all of the elements of the salad came together really nicely. I especially liked the candied pecans, brussels [obviously..], and the crispy crunch on the salmon. It was a great option to choose instead of the typical house salad with chicken and I’d definitely recommend this dish.

Nathan ordered the Mediterranean Chicken Pita Tacos.

Grilled chicken breast seasoned with Big Poppa Smokers’ Desert Gold Rub, cucumber, Roma tomatoes, red onions, feta and fresh cilantro tossed in red wine vinaigrette and drizzled with Greek yogurt crema in a chargrilled pita. With Greek yogurt crema for dipping and seasonal bistro grains.

In comparison, I’d say his portion was a bit smaller than mine, mostly due to the huge hunk of salmon on my plate. Nathan enjoyed the tacos, though felt like he would have preferred some sort of veggie side dish over the couscous because there was already pita with the main part of the meal. That said, he did enjoy the couscous salad as well.

Seeing as how we were enjoying meals from the Enlightened menu, we opted to skip dessert. However, going back with friends, you bet we’ll have to try the Pizookie Trio! Those things look AMAZING!

If you have a BJ’s in your area, definitely go check out their Enlightened menu [and awesome beer list] when you get a chance.

Food for Thought

What would you order off of the Enlightened menu?

Disclaimer: BJ’s Brewhouse provided our meal complimentary but as always, all opinions are my own.

What I Ate Wednesday #118: Weekend Eats & Treats

I’m sure most people enjoy a few more treats here and there on the weekends. I know I do! I typically save my drinks for the weekend as well as going out to eat. We do a pretty darn good job around here cooking during the week so it’s nice to take a break and let someone else do the cooking for a couple of days. That said, I like to think I do a decent job of keep it balanced with my drinks, treats, and lots of salads.

[Friday]

Friday we tried a new place called Farm Burger. I’ve mentioned before that I’m not a big burger-eater, aside from making turkey burgers at home, but this place intrigued me. Probably the amazing sounding toppings.. and the kale salad with roasted beets. What can I say, I’m a sucker for a good salad!

I was also told that the fries were fabulous. We got a large order of garlic fries to start. And in case you’re wondering, that was enough to feed 4! Ha. But I made up for all the fries with my kale salad and chicken burger. One of the biggest things Nathan and I both noticed was the freshness of the ingredients; the chicken burger tasted just like something I’d make at home which we both found to be a nice change of pace from the typical burger place. I’d recommend it and we’ll be back!

[Saturday]

For lunch we hit up a little Mexican joint; more so because we didn’t have much food in the house and this was a pretty cheap option. The shrimp was seasoned well and there were a good number on the salad, but I could have used twice the number of veggies! Minor details..

The pizza. Oh, that was a good one! Topped with yukon gold potato, leeks, and gruyere cheese; oooh baby! Perfect with a beer [Southern Tier Pumking, of course] and nicely offset but huge amounts of kale and veggies 😉

[Sunday]

Lunch time. Korean style. My new favorite is dolsot bibimbop, no rice, extra veg. I’m aware that I order a rice bowl with no rice, but you still have to try it. I was more than happy to take some leftovers home for my lunch salad on Monday.

We ended the weekend on a lighter note—lettuce wrapped flank steak tacos. That plate of food + about 3 or 4 more of those little tacos!

Throw a little chocolate and some wine and I’d say we had ourselves a delicious and pretty well-balanced weekend. It’s all about the kale, right? 😉

Food for Thought

What’s your favorite pizza topping?

What I Ate Wednesday #117: Reset

I know, I know. I’ve been talking a lot over the past few weeks about getting back to normal, cutting out the extra snackage, etc. Well, some of that went down the tubes when I got sick. A kale salad just didn’t really appeal like a cheesy egg bagel sandwich. Can ya blame me?

This week, in honor of the new year [I guess?], I’m really making a strong effort to get my meals and workouts back on track. And even more, changing it up a little. I haven’t had oatmeal since Saturday. That’s just plain crazy talk! I do believe, however, that just like it’s important to change up your workouts to keep your body guessing, it’s important to change up your diet too. The body adapts, people. It’s true.

I got up Monday morning and hit the gym to get in my 30 minutes; I had big plans for my workout but also knew that I’d have to listen to my body. A week out of the gym and still not feeling 100% led to a workout cut short, but I was happy to get my sweat on as much as I did!

[Breakfast]

Were you prepared for this? I made a delicious mint chocolate chip protein pancake with a cocoa syrup swirl and peanut flour drizzle on top. It was just as good as it looks. And sounds!

[Morning Snack]

Pomelo.. ever had one? We saw someone cooking with it on tv and decided to grab one at the store. They taste a lot like grapefruit. And they’re just as messy!

[Lunch]

Kale salads started to sound good again this week so I took full advantage and jam-packed that container to take to work. I topped this guy with some Moroccan turkey meatballs that we had leftovers.

[Afternoon Snack]

It’s been a long time since I’ve had a chocolate ZICO. They’re so good! And that new Think Thin bar? Just as chewy and delicious as the rest. I don’t know how they keep coming up with so many new, delicious flavors but I’d happily be a taste-tester for them.

[Dinner]

Back to the cheesy, eggy goodness for dinner. A long day at work had me feeling a little off again. Leftovers were the plan anyway, so I sauteed up some zucchini, added cottage cheese [side note: always get Daisy. I got a store brand and it’s just not as good.], and topped it with an egg. Not the prettiest, but delicious nonetheless.

[Evening Snack]
Back to sticking to my apple. I’m really trying hard to cut out the extra snacking and I’ve been reaching for the sweets at night. This is where the willpower is tested but so far, so good!

Tonight, however, will be a different story. I hope you enjoy some good times with your loved ones ringing in 2015! Happy [almost] new year!

Food for Thought

Are you going out or staying in for New Years Eve?