One DELICIOUS Day
Hi all ~ it’s me again, just in case you were wondering 
I was up this morning at 4:17 am, not really by my bodies choice, but, my brain decided to be WIDE awake. What’s up with that?! I took FULL advantage of it though and hopped out of bed for a 3.5 mile run/walk using 5:1 ratios (5 minute jogging, 1 minute walking). I honestly wasn’t feeling the run this morning, but, I have to say having those 1 minute walking breaks every 5 minutes actually made it turn into a GREAT run with a faster time 
I probably waited way too many years before breakfast, since I didn’t have it until I got to work. I was STARVING, but, my SMOOTHIE Rocked!
It started out with TWO new products!
Trader Joe’s NOW makes a HUGE 1 lb container of 0% VANILLA Greek Yogurt (My favorite vanilla loving friend ~ I am so going to have to smuggle this one to ya!)
The stats might seem a little scary, but, if you calc it like the usual 6 oz containers (vs 8 oz in 1 cup) they are approximately the same.
Super THICK!
Product #2 ~ Sobe YumBerry (anyone know what that is?) Pomegranate Life Water. I only used a splash as the liquid to thin out my smoothie.
YUM BERRY SMOOTHIE!!!
1 c frozen blueberries & strawberries (the ones I froze during the summer!)
1/2 c TJ’s 0% Vanilla Greek Yogurt
1 small banana
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed
a few splashes of YUM BERRY Sobe Life Water
Whipped up into a frothy thickness using my Magic Bullet. My smoothie was so thick I had to spoon it and super tasty for only 4 pts!
The only problem I have with smoothies for breakfast when I am STARVING is that I feel like I haven’t “eaten” anything. I am sure I am just a mental case, but, I had the REST of the TJ’s Pita Puffs (x’s 2) for 2 pts.
I stayed full for my usual 2-3 hours, then, broke out the Kashi Chewy Trailmix bar I received in the mail.
You know what, it totally looks like the picture!
This bar was only 2 pts (score!) but I thought it was only OK. I felt like it needed some saltiness with the WHOLE almonds, bigger pieces of fruit and maybe some dark chocolate chips. Um, maybe, I just need a different bar 
I braved the rain at lunch to go to WalGreen’s and pick up the ice pack they talked about on Biggest Loser. Yes, I am a total sucker for the advertisement, but, since I use a towel and ace bandage to ice after every run, I thought an upgrade was needed
When I came back, it was time for another 7 point SAVORY WAFFLEWICH a la Melissa.
2 Kashi Strawberry Flax Waffles (s/b honey flax), toasted
1 Laughing Cow Lite Wedge
1 Morning Star Chick Patty, toasted in the toaster!
Handful of TJ’s Organic Herbed Mixed Greens
Cucumber Slices
Half #1 I LOVED the dill & cilantro in the mixed greens.
Half #2 ~ Spicy Buffalo Crispy Chick Patty!
Plus Triple Crunch on the side ~ Cucumbers, Carrots and…..
BBQ PopChips for 2 pts!
Lunch was SO, SO, SO good and worth every point! I can definitely see making this combination again and getting creative with the toppings. Different veggies, sauces, AVOCADO, etc. Thanks, Melissa ~ you are seriously a genius!
I wasn’t really hungry this afternoon, but, I wanted something sweet. I have been eyeing the Lacey DARK CHOCOLATE ALMOND TOFFEE Cookies ever since my co-worker brought them in AGAIN.
I LOVE that they are only 3 points for that ENTIRE cookie. 120% worth it all the way!
I figured I have been lacking in the recipe development department lately, so tonight’s dinner is all new for you all
We started off with a quick salad……
* 1/2 red & 1/2 green bell peppers, chopped
* 1 cucumber, halved and sliced
* Handful Cherry Tomatoes, halved
* Dashes of Garlic salt & freshly ground pepper
* Drizzles of Extra Virgin Olive Oil & White Balsamic Vinegar (about 1-2 tsp each)
Simple, delish and 0 points!
The main course was AWESOME!!!! It’s an old favorite that I renovated to be healthy ~ BUBBLE UP PIZZA CASSEROLE!!!
Total HEALTHY comfort food and one of the BEST spins ever on Pizza for 9 pts a svg! Should I keep you all guessing or post the recipe ASAP? Hmmmm…..I’ll post it for you all soon
I think we are watching a NETFLIX Movie tonight and they are both chic flicks – lucky Husband He will probably find something else on I am sure
So glad tomorrow is FRIDAY….now, if only the sun would come out it would be perfect!
Nite all!
I signed up for Half Marathon #2 ~ ahhhh! :)
Filed under: Daily Eats, Goals, Product Reviews, Workouts
Woohoo ~ I am posting twice in one day. Ok, well, that’s not really what the woohoo is for….THE BIGGEST LOSER is on ~ Woohooo! Yeah for not having to wait until spring for the next season. Ok, so this is going to be snappy because I want to sit down with my NEW BOOK (more on that in a sec) and indulge in the show
FIRST TIHNGS FIRST
Yesterday I signed up to run my SECOND ever HALF MARATHON! ~ The Shamrock Half Marathon on March 14, 2010!! I was first encourage by one of my AMAZIMG ex bosses who is for the first time ever running a half and now my AWESOME sister has decided to join in too! It is her first race and I am so pumped to do this together with them both….yeah! I am a bit nervous because I ran my first half marathon (Napa to Sonoma!) 3 years ago and did a Tri-Athlon (Tri-Girl-Tri) last year. But, THIS YEAR, I’ve done nothing, in fact, I took December off from exercising ~ oops! Anyway, I am PUMPED and ready to do it!
Here is my schedule EASING into things. I combined Hal Hidgon’s training plan with Jeff Galloway’s run-walk-run philosophy. I have a short time frame to work with so I modified it a bit I may throw in some speed work and/or hills, but, my main goal is really just to finish and maybe beat my prior year time
Feel free to share any thoughts, advice or what not. I’d LOVE to hear what you all have to say I NEED all the help I can get for sure. Ohhhh and if you are training for any event now, I am open to helping to motivate each other. Comment away, email, twitter, facebook, g-chat ~ all of the above anytime
NOW SPEED POST!!!
Ok, I guess I am not doing so good on the FAST POST part…so here it goes….onto my eats and workouts for the past few days
EATS:
Warm Oat-y-ness!
1/2 c old fashioned oats
1 c water
1 mini organic Fuji Apple
1 Tbsp ground flax seed
dashes of cinnamon and vanilla extract
TWO BEST TOPPINGS ever ~ 1 Tbsp Crunchy Almond Butter and 1 Tbsp Organic Apricot Preserves
The Husband surprised me by showing up and taking me to lunch ~ LOVE him! We went to Mamarella’s and I ordered their FANTASTIC Beet Salad with Grilled Chicken ~ delish!
After work I came home and hopped on the treadmill ~ 3 miles run/walk/run doing 5:1 intervals. Yup, I pretty much felt like I was going to keel over….I MUST remember to not take time off like that again
Dinner was FAST and easy involving some of my FAVORITE things since I wanted to watch The Bachelor
ANNIE’S PEACE PASTA!!!
I am a sucker for FUN shaped pastas. I LOVE this flavor as a change from the white and orange sauce, but, I still like the traditional versions best
New frozen veggie ~ This one is my FAVORITE I think it’s the roasted almond slivers:)
CLEAN INGREDIENTS!
GREAT STATS!!
I ate an entire box of green beans
Plus a serving of Annie’s Peace Pasta
with a Trader Joe’s Chile Lime Chicken Burger toped with tomato, cucumber chips, ketchup and mustard.
Delicious, fast and EASY!
TUESDAY!!!
I woke up starving and pretty sure my stomach was going to eat itself. I toasted up 2 Kashi Strawberry Flax Protein Waffles and topped one with Artisana Organic RAW Cashew Butter and the other with Crunchy Almond.
With some “banana chips”
I was STILL starving but held out a few hours for snack. My mom had these Flat Bread Wheat Thins out over Christmas and I actually LOVED them.
Decent stats ~ 1 point for 2 BIG crackers.
I am super proud of Nabisco for using some REAL ingredients and getting rid of the HFCS and using brown rice syrup instead.
Topped with 1 Laughing Cow Lite Cheese Wedge and a mini organic fuji apple.
I didn’t realize until now that I am the total product reviewer on this post I saw these Chicken-Less Stuffed Cutlets at Trader Joe’s the other day and had to try them. I was sold on them when I saw that they were stuffed with corn and black beans – YUM!
I have to admit they looked a little funky when they come out of the package.
But, I quickly remedied that by topping it with a slice of light provolone and my mom’s homemade chipotle salsa. I LOVED the combination ~ smokey, BBQ, cheesy good!
And since I didn’t seem to get enough green beans last night, I had some more
I was too full for my cuties, but, they still wanted their picture taken. I am missing the cute little stickers on this batch….don’t they know that is WHY people buy them?!
I am trying to fit in BOTH bananas and MILK since the potassium helps to get the lactic acid out of your muscles and relieve soreness.
We had a LONG afternoon meeting today so I knew that would require a Starbuck’s. I had a tall FF Chai Tea Latte for my afternoon snack.
TODAYS WORKOUT 2 easy miles run/walk/run with an easy 2:1 ratio since my legs are uber sore. My run was actually awesome and I felt great after lots of stretching.
Dinner tonight was a Pizza Compromise. The Husband wanted both Turkey Pepperoni and my FULLED LOADED VEGETABLE PIZZA. The top layer was turkey pepperoni and the bottom layer was all veggies
I had two slices (FYI – the turkey pepperoni only adds ONE Weight Watcher Point!)
Plus a side salad with Annie’s Cowgirl Ranch….delish!
Everyday should include a little chocolate especially when it is for a good cause, right? I received this bar as part of my Christmas present from one of my FAVORITE people ever
I had 3 squares and savored each one slowly. I LOVE it but you don’t really taste the blueberries 
NEW BOOK~ I LOVE Tosca Reno and have ALL of her books (and her cookbooks too!). She is the person who got me started eating clean with her very first book a few years back. She has updated her original book so I had to check it out! I will post a review for you all when I finish….Yeah!!!
P.S. AMAZON has it on sale super cheap ~ click HERE to check it out!
SPEED POST, RIGHT? Haha ~ oh well….Off to read, relax and enjoy The SHOW!!!
See you all tomorrow for a NEW YEARS GIVEAWAY!
NITE!
All good things must come to an end….
Happy Monday all! This weekend and my mini vacation flew by. The good news is we got a TON of stuff done around the house including add brick to our front and organizing/cleaning out every room, the garage and our storage! Do you all remember when we renovated our garage with the brick? I will have before and after pictures for you all of the front of our house too soon – it looks so good! I am sad to see it end and of course I want another day. Isn’t that funny ~ whenever you have time off, I always wish I had one more day I feel really accomplished but I also think “just one more day” and I’d have it all done. Ok, maybe not, since I didn’t spend anytime on my computer/blog….but, I think it was more important to organize my life. I guess all good tings must come to an end…..
Saturday my eats were not too exciting ~ it was pretty much the same thing you saw on Friday. I LOVE leftovers
Sunday started off with my FAVORITE thing….Almond butter on Cracked Wheat Sour Dough
Plus a banana and Starbuck’s Christmas coffee on the cute placemat The Husband’s mom made us. (5 points)
We didn’t stop for lunch until about 2 PM and I was STARVING. I had picked up these Eating Right BBQ Snacks at Safeway the other day to give them a try. I was wondering if they would be like my beloved PopChips.
I LOVE the ingredient list ~ look at all the great seeds (including Quinoa and Chia!)
SEEEDS!
Great stats.
You get a TON for a serving ~ this is 18 chips/28 grams. I always way my dry foods because I feel like you get more when you weigh versus counting them out
The verdict ~ I LOVED them. They do not taste like Popchips at all though. They sort of remind me of a rice cake a bit, but, they are super thin, light and airy. I really like the sweeter BBQ flavor they have. These were inhaled while I whipped up lunch.
I started off with a quick salad topped with Trader Joe’s LF Cranberry Gorgonzola Walnut dressing.
Then, I moved on to the MOST incredible burger ever.
TJ’s Chile Lime Chicken Burger (my favorite!)
Tomato
Cucumber slices
Annie’s Ketchup & Mustard
All on top of my new favorite bun from Earth Grains ~ Thin Buns. Seriously – who doesn’t love that name and want Thin Buns I actually like them better than the Orowheat/Arnold Thin versions because they taste more like whole wheat and are sweeter. They do NOT have that light bread taste to me either. 
All together, my 6 point lunch (not including my snack), hit the spot.
I am usually not a fan of all the 100 calorie snacks because they never satisfy me and always leave me wanting me. However, while we were busy working away, these were dropped off for us to try out. I LOVE salty/sweet things.
There are actually about 20 of these cute mini circles. They are pretty tasty, but, you have to remember to eat them slow or they go away fast.
I paired them with a little protein/dairy ~ Sargento LF Colby Cheese.
I was completely exhausted by the time we came inside and I only had about an hour to whip up something fast before the Iron Chef Super Chef challenge began. I cooked up another one of the frozen veggies I picked up a few weeks back.
I picked them up because the stats are great for a cheese vegetable, but, I was pretty bummed to realize I won’t be buying these anymore. Their ingredient list includes TRANSFATS ….Anytime you see the word “hydrogenated, it means it has transfats. I know alot of companies are replacing transfats with palm oil (which has saturated fat) so not sure really which is better *sigh*
My mom used to get me to eat veggies by putting cheese on them. So, this definitely brought back memories Love you Mom, yours are definitely better but these were tasty.
I served it up with Trader Joe’s 3 minute Organic Brown Rice (which I saw that Safeway is now carrying ~ FYI) and BBQ Chicken (topped with Annie’s Sweet & Spicy BBQ Sauce)
We ended the night watching the Iron Chef Super Chef Challenge and I passed out watching the Worst Cooks. Did you all watch either show? I LOVED them both (or what I saw of the second).
Have a great day all! I will be back later tonight with that Slow Cooker Lasagna Recipe and a New Year’s Giveaway is coming up this week!
For now….must go to work
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