What I Ate Wednesday #7 - A Simple Day on Plan

Long time no blog! Most bloggers provide an excuse here >< as to why they have been on a blog hiatus. I don't really have an excuse, I've just been neglecting this hobby of mine. With my triumphant blog return I thought I'd give you readers something I know you enjoy, and that is creeping my daily eating habits! I find these posts are always quite popular. So without further ado....
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Today I was able to stay on plan and within my daily point limits. My entire eats for the day came to 37 Points+. Here is how I did it:

Breakfast, 8 Points+: 

• 2 slices of WW multi-grain bread
• 2 poached eggs
• 1 tsp low-calorie margarine 
• Eggs were topped with shredded asiago for flavor

Morning Snack, 7 Points+:

• 13 Mary's gluten free crackers
• 2 Babybel Gouda cheese pieces
• plum

Lunch, 5 Points+: 

• 1/2 chicken breast on a WW wrap
• Topped with lettuce, tomatoes and Franks Red Hot Buffalo Wing sauce

Afternoon Snack, 3 Points+: 

• Oikos Greek yogurt
• pear

Pre-Dinner Snack:

• Banana

Dinner, 14 Points+:

• 1 cup long grain rice
• 1/2 cup arugula topped with chicken/pepper saute & asiago shreds 
• (Saute- Chicken breast, bell peppers, onion, kalamata olives, EVOO, Italian dressing)

Evening Snack, 1 Points+:

• 1 white cheddar rice cake

Today I dipped into my weekly points and have no guilt. I like to use my 49 points throughout the week to keep me satisfied. This is opposed to eating them all at once.

How do you manage your weekly points?

What I Ate Wednesday #6 - Too Many Carbs!

Carbs - they are nasty little buggers aren't they?

I don't know what came over me today, but I was craving them like crazy. Fortunately I stayed within my allocated WW points; but now I'm left feeling full, blah and bloated.

Here were my eats for the day:

Breakfast, 8 Points+ (7:30 am):

• Mango smoothie; 1 cup skim milk, 1 tbsp chia seeds, 1 cup frozen mango, 1/2 cup frozen strawberries, 1/2 banana
• Tea
• Vitamins 

I think breakfast was my downfall today, I normally would add protein powder but I was out of vanilla whey. When I don't start my day with a good dose of protein I tend to get really hungry come noon and in the evening.

Snack, 2 Points+ (10:00 am):

• Fibre 1 - 100 calorie peanut butter bar
• Banana

Lunch,  11 Points+ (12:30 pm):

• Subway 6 Inch Ham sub with all the fixin's.

This is always my treat meal after each weekly weigh-in.

Snack, 2 Points+ (3:00 pm):

• Oiko's Greek Yogurt - Cherry 0%

Dinner, 13 Points+ (6:00 pm):

• WW recipe; Sweet Corn and Shrimp cakes. This was a recipe FAIL. I was really hoping to blog about it, but frankly - it tasted gross.

So to satisfy my taste buds, I finished off my dinner with:

• 4 triscuits
• 1 piece light laughing cow cheese
• Kellogg's Crisp Bar

Total Points+ used: 36

You live and learn while on this plan. All foods are not created equal. Though you may stay on track and stay within your daily points, you can still make food choices that may not work for you and your body. That's exactly what I did today and I can't wait until tomorrow to make better choices.

On that note, let me leave you with this quote which I find most inspiring on days like this:

 

Have a great evening everyone!

What I Ate Wednesday #5 - WW Edition

Happy Wednesday!

I hope you are all recovering from New Years and are back on track after the holidays.

My WIAW format has changed now that I am tracking with WW again. So instead of the calorie count and distribution I will be noting my meal points and daily points instead. I hope this gives some other WW member's an idea of what a daily menu should look like (or on my bad days, perhaps what your day should not look like). I try my best to stay on top of this weekly post, but usually fail as I have a hard time remembering to take photo's of my food. That being said, one of my blog resolutions for 2013 is to post my WIAW weekly.

For my weight, height and weight loss goal I have been allocated 29 points to consume per day. In addition, 49 weekly points to be distributed throughout the week however I may choose. I personally like to split these up during the week eating about 30-35 points per day, and any remaining weeklies and activity points I consume on the weekend.

Here were my eats for the day:

Breakfast, 9 Points+ (7:30 am):

• Banana bread quinoa  I used Almond milk to sub in for creamer to lower the WW points. I had a large serving of 1 1/4 cup.
• Tea
• Vitamins

Snack, 3 Points+ (10:00 am):

 

• 1 container PC blue menu Finesse 0% yogurt
• 1/2 cup strawberries
• 1 TBSP chia seeds

Lunch, 5 Points+ (12:30 pm):

 

• Salad; 2 slices Roast beef deli-meat, 2 cups arugula, 1/4 cup green beans, small handful croutons, 1 TBSP blue cheese dressing
• 2 pieces light laughing cow cheese

Snack, 3 Points+ (3:00 pm):

 

• Kellogg's thin crisp bar
• Apple

Dinner, 11 Points+ (6:00 pm):

 

• 1 piece grilled chicken breast
• 1/4 cup brown rice
• Cranberry sweet-potato bake
• 1 TBSP Kraft fig balsamic dressing

Post Workout Snack, 4 Points+ (8:30 pm):

 

• 1 cup skim milk
• 1/4 piece raw avocado

Total Points+ used: 35

Activity points earned: 5 - treadmill running

What are you doing to get back on track after the holidays?

What I Ate Wednesday - Anniversary Edition!

This is my special 4th edition of "What I Ate Wednesday".

Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary and our 12 years together. It seems like just yesterday we were teenagers passing each other notes in the middle of class. Now we are married with a house, careers and two fur babies. I can't wait to see what the future holds for us.

We decided to keep our celebrations simple this year and stay at home for the evening. Dan had plans to make me the perfect meal, and he certainly did (recipe will follow below). I planned a Pinterest surprise which ended in an utter fail. The plan was this: buy a helium balloon for each year we've been together and tie a memory to the bottom of each balloon.

 

Cute right?

 

Well it would be a cute idea if their wasn't a worldwide helium shortage! Yep, you heard that right. How come I feel like I was the only one who didn't know this has been going on all year? The party shop had a nice little sign on their front door saying that they were not taking balloon orders.

 

Great. I guess this is my first Pinterest fail.

 

Regardless, we had a wonderful evening together. Helium balloons could not have made it any better!

Here were my eats for the day:

 

Breakfast (6:30 am):

• Black peppercorn encrusted bacon
• Toast
• 2 Eggs over easy
• Hash brown patties

I work up early and treated Dan to this super grease filled, artery clogging breakfast. This is far from my regular breakfast of Cheerios's or oatmeal. I didn't feel right till about 1 p.m. after eating this. It was worth it though!


Snack (10:00 am):

• none

I felt to ill to eat my snack. Darn grease!


Lunch (12:30 pm):

• Oikos key lime Greek yogurt
• Banana
• Dole "Live Well" bites

These were supposed to be my snacks for the day, but my full appetite wasn't back from breakfast yet.


Dinner (8:30 pm):

• Lobster pizza... Seriously, the best dish of my life
• Creme Brulee

I did NOT track my nutritional details for the day.

When I got home from work Dan was in a frantic state in the middle of a messy kitchen. He still had his work clothes on and was elbow deep in pizza dough. He immediately told me "I think I'm in over my head".

Poor guy.

He was following two recipes he found online and was tweaking them with the ingredients he was able to find. He managed to persevere and pull it off! Everything was just amazing. He really has cooking talent even if he won't admit it.

Here is the recipe for the best damn pizza in this world:

Lobster Pizza

Makes one 10 inch pizza pie

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup white wine
1 bay leaf
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 small onion
5 garlic cloves
1/2 cup olive oil
2 shallots
6-8 lobster tails
1 bag pre-made pizza dough (Hubby got ours at Sobeys and it was amazing)
At least* 2 cups of ricotta
Fresh chunks of Parmesan

1. In a pan, heat up the olive oil with 2 shallots and 3 garlic cloves, let it rest when done
2. Blanche lobster (about 4-5 minutes), remove meat and let cool
3. Sauté onion and 2 cloves of garlic, bay leaf, peppercorns, and ½ cup of white wine. Add lobster shell/body and then add 2 cups of cream and 1 Tbs, tomato paste. Cook, reducing to one cup, then strain and cool. Add lobster meat.
4. Place pizza dough on pizza stone. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Spread ricotta and grated parm on pizza dough, be generous!
6. Add diced lobster cream to next layer.
7. Sprinkle shallot garlic mixture on top
8. Bake for 15 minutes.

Recipe adapted from Real Food Traveler

 

We paired the pizza with Flat Rock's 2009 Rogue Pinot Noir. A match made in heaven - just like us!

What I Ate Wednesday Edition #3

I'm excited to be posting another edition of WIAW!

This is your opportunity to get a glimpse of my daily eating habits. Hopefully it will inspire you and your daily meal plans. I was inspired by many other WIAW writers, and it helped me bust out of many daily eating ruts and encouraged me to focus on healthy eating.

 

I'm sure many of you can relate; some days life is busy from the moment you wake up. That was my day yesterday!

I had a meal plan and tried to stick to it as best as possible. I failed in the sense that I got so busy I didn't eat as much food as I wanted to. I skipped my afternoon snack since I was busy in meetings, but paid for it in the evening when I was starving at 5:30 pm. When it came to dinner, I was so hungry but could only eat half of my meal. This was not intentional, I think it was due to the combination of eating so late and skipping my afternoon snack.

Every meal and snack is important to keep up your metabolism during the day. That's why I "try" to stay consistent with my meal times and I "try" to fall into these good snacking habits.

Here were my eats for the day:

 

Breakfast (8:30 am):

• 1 1/2 cups of pure orange juice with pulp
• Homemade yogurt blueberry bran muffin

Snack (10:00 am):

• Healthy homemade granola bar
• Green tea, black

Lunch (12:30 pm):

• Salad from a local salad bar with caesar dressing
• Kaiser bun... carb load!

Pre-Workout Fuel (5:30 pm):

• Banana and 2 tbsp's crunchy peanut butter
• Oiko's Greek yogurt, key lime

Dinner (8:30 pm):

• 1 homemade chicken enchilada

Snack (10:00 pm):

• Handful of dried cranberries

These are my nutritional details for the day:

Calories: 2,029

Fat:  81.9 grams
Sodium:  1780 grams
Carbs: 270.7 grams
Fibre:  28.1 grams
Sugars:  127.4 grams
Protein: 69 grams

Core Nutrient Breakdown:

Fat: 35.1% of calories
Carbs: 51.7% of calories
Protein: 13.2% of calories

Calories burnt during run: 785. This was my last run before my marathon!

Do you fall into any good habits during the autumn months?

What I Ate Wednesday Edition #2

Welcome to my second instalment of:
 
Fortunately, my run club finished early Tuesday night, so I had time to prep and plan my meals for the day. Eating clean is always easier for me when I have the time to plan in advance. I was able to log all of my food, and make adjustments where necessary. i.e. add more protein, reduce sodium.

Here were my eats:

Breakfast (7:30 am):

• Whole wheat English muffin with no-salt margarine
• 1 fried egg
• 2 slices of turkey bacon; a great lean way to get protein in the morning
• Green tea, plain
• Vitamins
• Oil of oregano. I've been on the verge of a cold for the past couple of days, so I've been doing my best to take the oil 3 X daily
• Pumpkin spice tea with a splash of milk to go

Snack (10:00 am):

• Banana
• Oikos greek yogurt

Lunch (12:00 pm):

• Spicy hummus roti wrap with pea shoots
• Big salad; mixed greens, pea shoots, mushrooms, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, light feta cheese with Kraft classic herb dressing
• Oil of oregano

Snack (4:00 pm):

• Mixed berry nutri-grain bar
• Snap peas and strawberries

Pre-Workout Fuel (5:30 pm):

• 5 prunes

Dinner (8:30 pm):

• Open faced sandwich of pesto, brie & veggies on sourdough bread. I just have to say this was one of the YUMMIEST things I have eaten in a long time.

Ingredients:

Four slices of eggplant
1/2 red pepper
2 slices of red onion
1 tsp olive oil
40 grams of brie cheese
1 tsp pesto
2 slices of sour dough bread

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a pan heated at medium heat, saute the veggies with the olive oil for about 10 minutes. On a separate pan, spread margarine on the bottom side of the bread and spread pesto on the top. Layer veggies on top of pesto bread and then top with cheese. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Yum. Yum. Yum.


Snack (10:00 pm):

• Grapes
• More brie cheese... I cannot control myself when this stuff is in the house!

These are my nutritional details for the day:

Calories: 1918

Fat:  74.2 grams
Sodium:  2718 grams
Carbs: 405 grams
Fibre:  26.2 grams
Sugars:  91.1 grams
Protein: 77 grams

Core Nutrient Breakdown:

Fat: 25.7% of calories
Carbs: 62.4% of calories
Protein: 11.9% of calories

Calories burnt during run: 736

According to Anytime Health:

Below are some guidelines on how much of each nutrient you should be consuming each day.

Total Fat: Keep fat intake between 20% and 35% of total calories.
Saturated Fat: Consume less than 10% of calories as saturated.
Cholesterol: Consume less than 300 mgs / day.
Sodium: Consume less than 2,300 mgs / day.
Total Carbohydrate: Keep intake between 45% and 65% of total calories.
Total Protein: Keep intake between 10% and 35% of total calories.
Fiber: At least 25 g for women and 38 g for men daily.

My sodium was on the high end of the spectrum. This was due to the extra indulgence of cheese. I'm not that upset about it. :)

I need to get ready for work now. So, I hope you all have a wonderful, healthy Thanksgiving weekend!

What I Ate Wednesday Edition #1

Welcome to my first edition of:

This weekly food diary is a way for me to look back at my healthy (or not so healthy) eats for the day. I also hope it inspires me and others to get out of a rut and make things a little fun. Wednesday's are always my run club night, so I've had to plan my meals accordingly. Hopefully, I can show you how to eat healthy even if you are pressed on time.

Today I was presented with the opportunity to sway away from my food plan. I woke up early, made my lunch and snacks for the day and then input my entire day of food into my tracker on my Anytime Health profile.

Side Note: I started at our local Anytime Fitness gym last year and do not use their website as much as a I should. It has a great food tracker that I'll be using for my Wednesday eats so you can see how my day stacks up.

Anyways, I tracked all of my food, got to work, went to eat my mid-day snack and realized I forgot my lunch. How many times have we all done that before? Luckily I had an apple in my desk so I didn't perish. Come lunch time I was ready to drive to Pizza Pizza, but I stayed strong and drove home to eat my homemade lunch there. My body does not function well when I don't have my morning snack with some protein. I can see why I was starving and was craving bad carbs.

This was my day:

Breakfast (7:30 am):

• Whole wheat English muffin with no-salt margarine
• 2 poached eggs - 1 whole and 1 egg white
• Small coffee with a splash of skim milk and 1/2 tsp of sugar
• Glass of water with liquid chlorophyll
• Vitamins

Snack (10:00 am):

• Apple

Lunch (12:00 pm):

• Rosemary ham sandwich on multi grain rye bread, with arugula and dijon mustard
• 3 strawberries
• Oikos Greek yogurt

Snack (3:00 pm):

• 8 ish dried apricots, small handful of unsalted walnut pieces
• Banana

Pre-Workout Fuel (5:30 pm):

• Cherry-Pomegranate Nutri-grain bar
• 1 ounce low fat cheddar cheese

Dinner (8:30 pm):

• Arugula, tomato saute; I cooked up some brown rice and then put it into my frying pan with a tsp of oil. I added grape tomatoes, arugula, lemon juice and some crushed red pepper flakes. I sauteed this for about 5 minutes. I then took it off the heat and added some light feta cheese and my 3-6-9 omega oil supplement. I do not calculate my omega oil supplements into my calorie total for the day as it is a vitamin replacement.

These are my nutritional details for the day:

Calories: 1734

Fat: 51.3 grams
Sodium: 1616 grams
Carbs: 259 grams
Fibre: 28 grams
Sugars: 84 grams
Protein: 72 grams

Calories burnt during run: 750

What does your day look like when you have a busy schedule? Do you stick to a plan or just wing it?

I hope you all had a great Wednesday!