Weekday Family Breakfast

Well I did it, I slept in until 6am. Now I know what you're thinking - that's sleeping in? Well it is when my alarm usually goes off before 5am. I was sore this morning, I was doing cobra stretch and oblique stretches in bed before I could even think to roll out of it. I guess a night class can help change my body along with my usual morning classes. It is important to change your workout routine so that you constantly surprise your muscles and they don't get bored and used to the routine. This also means changing what time of day you work out. During the holiday vacation I took late morning bar classes and I found them more challenging than my usual 6:30am class. This is because my body was not used to working out at this hour and my muscles were fatiguing faster. So my usual Bar Method schedule is now:

Monday: 6:30am
Tuesday: 7:30am
Wednesday: 6:00pm
Thursday: Off (or 6:00pm
Friday: 6:30am (or 7:00am)
Saturday: 8:30am
Sunday Off (or 8:30am)

It is good to have some variation and be able to have a few mornings to sleep in and I loved eating breakfast with Ryan and Haley.

Today we made an extra large fresh orange juice to share. He had scrambled eggs with bacon (no bread) and I had an egg white omelet with kale and tomato. I was planning to have my favorite egg white and oatmeal pancake but I wanted to keep my daily points low early in the morning and since I was having a juice, I had a vegetable egg white omelet instead. Fruit and vegetables are only 0 WW points when eaten whole but once you change their original state by cooking or juicing them, they count as points. And fruit has a lot of sugar so it raises the points for a juice very quickly. I prefer my juices to have 1 piece of fruit for every 2 vegetables, but Ryan has juiced everything in our fridge and we used the last of our produce from Sunday's groceries.

Ryan and Leslie's Morning Juice
Servings: 2
Weight Watchers Points per serving: 4

1/2 cup Kale
2 oranges
1 apple
2 beets
2 carrots
2 apricots

Kale and Tomato Egg White Omelet
Servings: 1
Weight Watchers Points: 2

1/2 cup All Whites 100% Liquid Egg Whites
1/2 cup kale
1/2 plum tomato

I topped the finished omelet with flax seeds for added omega-3 benefits and enjoyed with a side of sliced banana.

I am not used to eating so early (7:30am) so I was worried I would be hungrier sooner for lunch than my usual 1:00pm timing, but I am still full and satisfied from the juice and omelet. I was going to surprise Ryan with Almond Flour pancakes for breakfast this morning but he wanted to stick to a healthier, more protein filled weekday breakfast and save the pancakes for this weekend. Again, loss of words but I am so happy. I am going out with friends for sushi for lunch today and can't wait!

Tomorrow is my last day on the Advocare 10-Day cleanse and then I go back to taking the MNS Trim line products. I feel like the cleanse was a great way to start the new year. It helped me get back on track with eating gluten free and with eating clean. I will take measurements tomorrow and compare to January 1. I am going to wait to weigh myself until mid-January - as a Weight Watchers Lifetime Member I have to weigh in once a month and be within 2 pounds of my goal weight. When we got back from Italy on November 11th, I had gained 6 pounds and had to drop 4 to be within my range. It was a hard 2 weeks but I managed to drop the 4 pounds by December 23rd - right in time for the Holiday season. I want to give my body a break from the holidays and be able to process this new diet of gluten free and clean eating and weigh in at the end of the month. Again, I'm less worried about the number on the scale now but in order to receive Weight Watchers tracking and membership for free, I do have to hop on the scale at least once a month. But since doing this cleanse and changing my eating habits, my clothes are fitting much better and I feel more confident when I look at my body. I don't need the numbers to define how I should feel. My size 2 pants still fit and I feel good wearing them. I just hope to be able to improve my activity as the weather warms up and balance my good eating habits with good workout and activity habits. And now that I have a partner in the kitchen who eats clean and is starting to measure his serving sizes, maybe I will also have a partner to remain active with. Ryan and I love taking evening walks together and he is loving taking monthly Bar Method classes - maybe he'll even join me for a 6:30am class one day soon!!

My coworker tried the Nibblr snack Apple of my Pie which I gave her since it contains wheat. She said it was absolutely delicious and wants to buy more! I love having the delivery of these healthy snacks to my office. Even if they just start stockpiling in drawer, it is great to know that I can always reach for a healthy pre-portioned snack. And I love being able to share these snacks with other people!

Have a great day!

XO

Snowed In!

Even with a late email from HR telling us that the NY offices are closed, I am excited to have a snow day. I'm only sad that I woke up, showered, got dressed, and was almost out the door when the notification came in! But I had a delicious breakfast and spent the morning watching the news with Ryan, and that's rare during the week, so I'm happy.

This morning's breakfast consisted of my daily spark, my third and final Advocare fiber drink (until Tuesday - drink it on the first and last 3 days of the cleanse), and a delicious egg white and oatmeal pancake with chia seeds and topped with chocolate powdered peanut butter.

The pancake was really easy to make.

Egg White and Oatmeal Pancake with Chia Seeds
1 cup egg whites (I used All White 100% Liquid Egg Whites)
1/3 cup oats (Bob's Red Mill Old Fashioned Rolled Oats Whole Grain) - not instant
1 packet stevia
1 tsp chia seeds (can use more, I kept it to 1 tsp to keep my WW points lower)
cinnamon

Mix all of the ingredients and pour into pan to make 1 large pancake. Flip and serve warm!

I have become obsessed with this breakfast. It is so filling, healthy, clean, gluten free and delicious. I was worried it would either taste to eggy or too thick from the oats, but it is the perfect combination of both and the pancake itself is light and fluffy and airy. If it wasn't snowing, I would have gone out and gotten fresh fruit to go along with it but today is not the day to go out food shopping.

The powdered peanut butter is really easy to make. It is 2 tbsp of powdered peanut butter - make sure to round off your measuring spoon to make it exactly a tbsp and not a heaping tbsp. Just add 1 tbsp of water and mix. The great thing about powdered peanut butter is you control the consistency. With a little more water, it can become watery and with less than a tbsp of water, it is thicker. I like to mix it up a bit depending on what I am using it for - with the pancakes I kept it thick because it melted when I topped the warm pancake with it, and I use a little more water when I use it with fruit.

I quickly chugged my fiber drink down, happy it's the last day for awhile I have to drink this!

The news is saying it's 10 degrees which feels like it is in the -8 with the windchill! I can't believe Ryan is going into the office but as the Program Manager he feels responsible to get work done since his staff will be staying home. Our oven has been broken for a week and our landlord is very slow to get it repaired so I can't spend the day baking and cooking like I would like to. I will probably clean and watch the news all morning. I was supposed to go to Long Island for a friends birthday party, but I doubt I can make it there on the LIRR. I am sad I can't go - I haven't seen my friends from Fire Island since October before I left for Italy and I was hoping to see everyone and spend some time out of the city. I am disappointed I can't go and since they are all already on Long Island they can still hang out, and I feel left out, but better safe then stuck out there with no way to get home.

I hope Ryan is safe and warm on his way to work today. Hopefully he comes home early so we can watch Weeds and hang out. I have to figure out what to cook for dinner for us and what to have for lunch because I brought a Leslie's Lunchables to the office yesterday for today and left it there last night. It will probably be a garden lites for lunch!

It will be another day with no activity! Bar Method SoHo studios were closed this morning. Is it sad that I hope they open so I can go in for a class? My daily steps goal is 10,000 and I strive for 2 activity points a day. Since the New Year I have not reached that goal (that is 3 days including today) so I really need to get up and move. I hate feeling "fat" even if I eat clean and gluten free - exercise definitely plays a big role in my feeling good. I love walking, I love moving, and I love Bar Method and I hate when I am stuck inside. Cleaning my apartment will get me moving a bit but with -8 degrees, I doubt I am going outside anytime soon! The news is now warning of frostbite if you go outside for too long.

Be safe and warm everyone!!