Day 21 - Much Better Than Yesterday!

Today has been great - I have my head back in it and I feel better than I did yesterday! After a really satisfying Meal 1, Ryan and I hung out around the house - cleaning, working, watching TV. But today I felt better about my food choices whereas yesterday something wasn't clicking and I couldn't stop snacking. We went out for a walk before lunch which made me so happy now that it is sunny and warmer. Even Haley looked cozy and relaxed today!

Meal 2 was a salad and I used THE LAST (I promise) Turkey and Blueberry Muffin. Those things have been so incredible during Whole30 and I should make more and find similar recipes for quick meals or on the go! I topped the salad with walnuts and instead of dressing, I used guacamole! It added a lot of flavor to the salad and had a creamy texture and a lot of spice (bought from Trader Joe's). I had some plantain chips, Zesty Nacho Kale Chips and some Hazelnuts on the side. I really didn't need the side snacks but I wanted to make sure I was thoroughly satisfied the rest of the afternoon since we would be out!

 

We had a great evening - it was a reception for prospective and admitted Clark University students. They will be the Class of 2018! 10 years after I received my Masters! That seems so crazy to me but it was a great experience to hear their stories and reasons for going to Clark as well as share our own; especially since Ryan and I met at Clark!

Meal 3 was a beautiful NY Strip Steak and grilled asparagus and onion and mushroom. I bought all of this at Trader Joe's this morning with the idea that it would be a quick 15 minute meal once we got home. I didn't want to have to spend a lot of time prepping or cleaning so I bought 1 steak (should have bought 2 for leftovers for lunch) and the pre-cut vegetables. I seasoned the steak with salt and pepper and heated ghee in a pan. I seared the steak for 3 minutes on each side, twice. Then I let it rest off the heat for 5 minutes and it was cooked perfectly! It melted in my mouth. This was probably my first successful steak (could even have been rarer) and it was special because it was so simple. No sauce, no marinade, just the food itself! I never thought I would stay easy and steak in the same sentence. On a night like tonight where we were out and didn't food prep, I would either have ordered in or made a microwave dinner. This to me is a real example of the changes I have made in my life! Easy and convenient are now real, whole foods!

I have been eating the most meat ever while doing Whole30 and I feel great. I know some people would argue I eat too much red meat now but I really do try to rotate between beef, chicken, turkey, seafood and vegetables each meal/day. I may have pork in the morning, turkey in the afternoon and beef at night. And I really try to get fresh seafood at least once a week to lighten my meals. But I feel fabulous and I see results in how my clothes are fitting, my skin is clearer, my hair is shinier. And I am happier.

I prepped a salad for lunch tomorrow. Vegetables, figs, almonds, asparagus and mushrooms (from tonight's dinner) and chicken breast from Trader Joe's pre-cooked in salt and pepper and oil! The pre-cooked meat helps on days when I don't have leftovers. I thought about buying a salad tomorrow but why, when I have perfectly fresh ingredients at home! And I brought guacamole for dressing. I have an event tomorrow night so I will bring an RxBar for emergency only depending on how late it gets. Today I was not tempted by any of the passing appetizers and had a sparkling water in my hand at all times to keep my hands busy so I wouldn't reach for the food without realizing what I was doing.

I have Bar Method early tomorrow morning and hope to have a great final Whole30 week.

XO

Day 19!

I feel like a teenager waiting for their big birthday to arrive - it's my last day as a "teen" and I am fully embracing turning 20 tomorrow...on Whole30 that is! It feels like forever ago that I was meal prepping the vegetable soup fearing I wouldn't have anything to eat the next 30 days. But now I can't imagine not having done Whole30. No sugar cravings, no sugar crashes, my energy is constant, my sleep is deeper and more regular, my skin has cleared, my clothes fit better and I feel motivated and determined in all aspects of my life.

With that said though, this week has been pretty crazy and I have not meal planned for next week - this is extremely not like me as I usually am scribbling recipes and meals the entire week before. But this week I was extremely busy with work and I decided to enjoy the week I was in with the food I was eating rather than jumping ahead. Today I am feeling a little set back though as I don't know what I am cooking this weekend or next week or what groceries to buy, but that is normal and that is what Whole30 has been for me - finding a new normal!

Last night's spin class with Pablo was really intense. The room was hot, everyone was sweating, we were breathing hard and Pablo just kept pushing us farther and higher and deeper than we thought we could go! I left feeling strong but tired and couldn't wait to get home and curl up on the couch with Ryan and watch True Detective.

Pre-workout meal was a hard boiled egg and a turkey blueberry muffin (don't worry I only have 2 left, but these lasted so long and were so great to have on hand). Post workout was a Blueberry Rx Bar which I ate so quickly on my bus ride home. And dinner was leftover Spaghetti Squash Pizza, the last remaining cashew cheese stuffed mushroom and some grape tomatoes and dates for added sweetness. I was really full after eating this which surprised me because after spinning I usually can't get enough food quick enough and that's when I start binging on cereal and cookies. I feel so much better than that I have controlled and regulated my eating habits and feel fuller longer as well as satisfied.

This mornings Bar Method class was tough because I was so sore from spin but it felt really good to stretch my muscles after such an intense ride. Pre workout I had my n'oatmeal frozen muffin and post workout I had a Pecan Pie LaraBar. Meal #1 is spaghetti squash pizza because I cannot get enough of it with some Trader Joe's Zesty Naco Kale Chips for some crunch as well as something green on my plate.

Meal 2 today is a walnut and vegetable salad that I bought because I was too tired to throw one together when I got home at 8pm last night. The salad was mixed greens with broccoli, asparagus, tomatoes, scallions, mushrooms, peppers, hard boiled egg, walnuts and grilled chicken with a balsamic vinegar dressing. I had a couple of plantain chips on the side but the salad was so filling that I didn't even need them!

Meal 3 was a delicious swordfish, it's Ryan's favorite, and his other favorite - brussel sprouts with bacon. We made dinner as soon as I got home from work which is a habit we have begun to break since starting Whole30, but we wanted to watch the last 2 episodes of True Detective and they are very long so we need all of the time we could get!

Ryan made dinner and I just helped prep! I love when he cooks because it is not as stressful as it used to be when I was weighing and measuring every ingredients. We made Seared Swordfish with Lemon Cashew Crust. It was so easy to make the crust with some cashews, lemon zest and basil and then we baked the swordfish for 15 minutes. The brussel sprouts were easy too, baked them for 40 minutes! We used coconut oil and balsamic vinegar as the marinade this time to change the flavors a bit from the usual ghee. They're always delicious and I love that we found a new love for a new food. The swordfish was my favorite way that we have ever made it. It is a steak and sometimes I treat it too much like a delicate filet of fish, which it's not. Baking it helped all of the flavors and juices come together and I didn't over or under cook it at all!

 

I hope everyone had a great day despite the rain and cloudy skies today!

XO

Day 17!

I can't believe it's Day 17 already. Who knew 30 days could go by so fast!

Today began early with Bar Method and it felt good to give my body a rest yesterday after doing Level 2 on Sunday and basically a Level 2 Monday with Brittany's double seat work! And now that I'm eating well, I don't feel so horrible on days when I don't work out. I used to feel crappy, sluggish, slow, bloated and out of control with my eating if I didn't work out one day but now my body is feels so much better and exercise is an added benefit to my nutrition rather than dictating it!

I had my frozen Lara Bit (N'oatmeal Muffin) pre-workout and a Lara Bar (Coconut Cream Pie - YUM) post-workout. I don't like to have the bars often because they are a treat but I used the turkey blueberry muffins as today's protein in my salad for lunch so I needed something else. Meal 1 was leftover spaghetti squash pizza and 2 stuffed mushrooms!

And Meal 2 was a huge salad with kale, spinach, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumber, pomegranate seeds, mango and avocado salsa, hard boiled egg and 2 turkey blueberry muffins.

I ordered and received my vegetable spiralizer yesterday so today I want to try to make zoodles! And I have leftover pesto and 1 more pork chop so it should be a simple meal to prep!

I hope everyone is having a great day!

XO

Day 4 and Rx Bars

I woke up this morning at 5:20am (on my own without my alarm clock - damn internal alarm clock) and rather than try to go back to sleep, fail and then be mad at myself for not waking up and going to Bar Method, I got my butt out of bed, dressed and out the door for the 6:30am class! And I am so glad I did!!!! I had a handful of nuts (almonds, cashew, walnut) on the bus crosstown which got my fully energized for class, and I packed a Coffee Cacao Rx Bar for post workout (it was really hard not to open it on the bus and sneak a bite).

I cannot even explain how good it felt to be at Bar Method today. I was smiling, happy, giddy and excited for class. And Amanda's class was a lot of fun (yes, fun at 6:30am does exist). Even during arabesque, when my standing leg was shaking and my glutes were burning and my eyes wanted to drop to the floor, I just kept thinking positive thoughts and pushed through (I can't tell you what these thoughts were because they were interspersed with a lot of cursing and internal crying of pain). It's only 3 minutes, right? I had such a great class, and walked out of the studio still smiling - I hope this is a permanent feeling because it really is amazing. I had my Rx Bar in the locker room while I got dressed - AMAZING, DELICIOUS - so satisfying. And while I was eating and getting ready a few girls started asking me about the product and about Whole30. When I told them it was a sugar, grain, gluten, dairy free program and lifestyle, they were shocked. A few said they couldn't live without cheese, and others said "well, I don't eat sugar anyway." Then we went on FreshDirect and looked at those 4 minute meals they eat and low and behold, the first few ingredients (besides grains and rice and wheat) were "sugar and rice malt" which Whole30 has deemed, sneaky sugars. They couldn't believe it, how could sugar be in their "real" food. Well if it has a barcode, it's most likely not real food. It was fun to talk about the program and reinforce my belief that Whole30 is changing my life, mentally and physically. I help helping my body and educating my mind.

The RxBar was the perfect post workout meal. It was sweet (from the dates and coconut and almonds) and had a great crunch and texture. I'm sure 4 days ago I would have said it was a bit bland and not "chocolatey" enough, but 4 days without sugar and it was really sweet to me! It kept me full for 2 hours after Bar Method when I made it to work and had an omelette with scallions, peppers, tomatoes, and spinach. I went to the omelette station and picked all of the vegetables they had and none of the meats or dairy. And no to homefries and toast - everyone in line looked at me like I was crazy, but the omelette was delicious. Meal #2 is soup and salad (and a mini larabar if I need it to hold me off until after the colonic. Since I have to stop eating at 2pm and I won't be home until 7:30pm, I just don't want to get a headache or dizzy from having such a wide gap in between meals).

 

Whole30 Approved stamped right on the packaging! Love it!

The Day 4 Whole30 Daily email was great to read this morning. It discusses cravings and how to differentiate between hunger and cravings. Basically, if steamed fish sounds good to you, you are really hungry and if not, step away from the chocolate! Walk away, fast, in fact, run!

I definitely battle with the "sugar dragon." I am a victim of what whole30 defines as HALT (eating when I am Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired). Especially at work between the hours of 2pm and 5pm. I may have just finished a large lunch, but then work slows, emails stop coming in, Facebook isn't distracting me, and I reach in my drawer for an apple, or even worse, a quest bar, chocolate kisses, or anything sweet. But really, I am not hungry. I read the book "The Power of Habits" which is mentioned in today's email - 3pm is my cue, reaching in my drawer for food is the routine, and the reward of pleasure and happiness comes with each bite of sugary goodness...but then the reward disappears and I feel guilty, angry, and disappointed in myself. The reward is never as good as it seems 5 minutes later. So I need to create better habits at 3pm when the sugar dragon shows up - talk a walk, drink water, have herbal tea...create new habits for the same cue (3pm). And sometimes I convince myself that a fruit is better than the chocolate, but our brains do not differentiate between fruit sugar and chocolate sugar, it's all the same, so giving in to the sugar dragon with fruit is just as bad. It has been 4 days and I have not had a piece of fruit. I know fruit is nutritious and beneficial, but my sugar addiction is so real that I know that if I have fruit, I will have a much harder time resisting other types of sugar. I am keeping it clean!

Tonight is my colonic and I am excited to continue cleaning out my body of toxins. I have been eating clean for 4 days and feel healthier, lighter, and more regular. The colonic will only help with the benefits of Whole30. I will be getting home late for dinner which is what makes me nervous. Normally, I would microwave something quick and easy, but Whole30 does not allow that. Luckily, I have a lot of soup at home, eggs and a lot of greens. Tonight might be a boring Meal #3 just to feed my body quickly and remain healthy and on program.

Tomorrow morning I am not doing Bar Method because my body will be healing from the colonic. I plan to make N'Oatmeal for breakfast and relax and even walk to the office since the weather is warming up. I have planned a week of meals for Week #2 and lunches will be leftovers - I don't want to get bored or redundant with salads so I am finding new ways to use leftovers rather than just microwaving them in their original form. Short ribs can become taco salads, almond chicken will make a great salad, etc. I know I am only on day 4, but this positive attitude will hopefully remain for the next 26 days! And sharing everything here is really helping! I am so used to tracking my food with Weight Watchers that writing it all here is helping me remain accountable and make sure that I eat enough to be full until the next meal, but not overeating.

Tomorrow is my last night with Ryan still traveling and I think I want to treat myself to sushi. That means, SASHIMI (no rice), no soy sauce and no spicy mayo or tempura. I love sushi and am craving it so I am going to get a whole lot of salmon, tuna and yellowtail to fill me up. It will be worth the splurge and since Ryan hates sushi, this is my chance! 

Have a great day!

XO

Update: I think I am going to make salmon cakes for dinner tonight. I know it will be late when I get home, but they will be great to have for dinner, lunch tomorrow and breakfast on Saturday with a fried egg! I have canned salmon from Trader Joe's (only ingredient is pink atlantic salmon), and will use an egg, almond flour to hold them together and some onions and lemon and salt and pepper. I will fry them up in coconut oil! Since dinner will be later, I will probably have 2 patties on a bed of kale (with soup if I am that hungry). Tomorrow for lunch I will make my usual vegetable salad and breakfast Saturday will be a salmon patty with fried egg! Yummmmm.

Lunch & Learn: Cosi deconstructed

We are meeting with a vendor at work and they ordered the staff lunch. I was helping set up the room and the food so I scouted the options and rather than not eat while everyone else was, I decided to deconstruct 2 sandwiches to make a salad. I started with the spinach salad which had pears and grapes. I then opened the veggie and hummus sandwhich and the fire roasted vegetable sandwhich. I added pineapple and strawberries and ended up with a really great looking salad!

I calculated the WW points of the cosi flatbread the sandwiches are made with and figured each half a sandwhich had 6 points of bread added to the value. The fire roasted veggie sandwhich was 11 points and I had half of one for a total of 5 points. With the oil used to cook the vegetables and the hummus from the vegetables sandwhich I felt good about the calculation. I had a bag of baby carrots instead of chips and some water and a diet peach snapple. I never have snapple and especially don't ever have soda but I needed something sweet besides the fruit so the snapple was a perfect option (0 WW points). All in all I am happy with the lunch and glad I ate with the group. Having food allergies or a living a healthy lifestyle should not mean feeling left out. It just means altering what already exists to make it work for you!

XO

Amazing Green Acai Bowl

This mornings bar classed kicked my butt! I didn't go to class last night so I knew I had to get up, bundle up and get to the studio no matter what! Amanda K. had me shaking during warm-ups so I knew it was going to be a good class. She pushed me deeper, made sure my form was perfect and got me so far into my stretches! The exercises themselves were great, but today, the stretches felt even better. In this cold weather, when all I do all day is sit at a desk and sit in my house, I needed to stretch. And after not going to class for 2 days (and only going Sunday and Tuesday this week), I wasn't as flexible as normal and Amanda helping to push my legs father apart during the final stretch is something I really needed (even though in my head I was screaming in pain).

Last night, Ryan and I had breakfast for dinner! Bacon and egg white and oatmeal pancakes. We both just wanted a warm and simple meal and this heat the spot. However, I followed this up with cereal and some dessert, so not my best eating moments. I was still full this morning from my late night snacking.

After class I headed to Juice Generation to get an Amazing Green Acai Bowl (9 WW Points) for breakfast and Coconut Cerviche (2 WW Points) and Daily Detox Juice (3 WW Points) for lunch. I just wanted clean, light and good foods today.

The bowl included acai, banana, spinach, kale, almond milk, hemp seeds and hemp granola. All of the Acai bowls are gluten free (though the hemp granola is not certified gluten free because the oats are made in a facility with other gluten products) and they are so filling and delicious. Don't let the green color turn you off; this bowl is sweet, crunchy and healthy!! The spinach and kale are not bitter like you would think, and it's like eating a green juice with a spoon. I love the crunch of the granola too. The green bowl is the lowers in WW points of all the bowls (PB Acai has 14) and I prefer to keep my points lower in the morning just so I can have a larger dinner or room to snack during the day, but the bowl keeps me full for a long time and I find myself not as hungry in the early afternoon so I can eat lunch later. I want to try Coco Acai next :)

Countdown to our move is officially 1 week and I could not be more ready - I am excited for a new start and ready to decorate and feel at home in a new place! I am overwhelmed with excitement and joy and happiness!!!

Tomorrow I have a busy day with bar method and packing and hopefully going to an LIU Brooklyn basketball game. I want to make a filet mignon wrapped in bacon for dinner too so let's see if I can get it all done!

Stay warm everyone - temperatures are still dropping and I keep piling on the layers! Welcome to the days of stretchy pants, leg warmers, bar socks and sweaters!!

XO

A Successful Week Begins With Meal Prep

Meal prepping takes time, energy and patience. But prepping for a few days at a time can mean the difference between staying on track or being tempted by sugary, gluten, high carb foods that surround us every day. Prepping means an effortless few days of knowing exactly what you are eating and how much. This doesn't mean you have to always eat that meal on that exact day because we all know things come up and plans change, but having a pre-portioned, gluten-free, clean meal prepared helps us stay focused and determined. With a meal in the fridge at work, we can still take part in the group lunch and bring our own rather then give in to the cheesy goodness of pizza or sandwiches or chinese food. I try to meal prep 2-3 meals at a time - this prevents salads from getting soggy and allows me the choice to treat myself 1-2 days a week.

After breakfast, Ryan and I went to Trader Joe's. We stuck to the perimeter of the store and didn't buy any frozen foods. Our cart was a rainbow of fresh produce for juicing and salads and we picked up healthy nuts. Ryan wants to start making oatmeal for breakfast so he isn't eating eggs and bacon everyday. Oatmeal is a great filling, delicious, warm meal and topping it with berries and walnuts/slivered almonds adds healthy omega-3 fats to the meal. Trader Joe's has a gluten-free, wheat-free bag of rolled oats. On the back of the bag is a recipe for gluten-free oatmeal pancakes that we might make for dessert one night this week!

When we got home with all of our fresh groceries, I decided to meal prep breakfast for the week and 2 lunches. Breakfast is my hardest meal all week because I am not home 4 mornings a week. My mornings begin at 5am with a spark and a glass of water. By 6:30am I am working out at Bar Method and by 8:30am I am headed to the office for breakfast. Meal replacement shakes have a lot of sugar and only keep me full for 2 hours. I tend to over eat when I have a meal replacement shake. And while Ryan is home juicing and eating oatmeal, I am at the office with very limited options since I can't cook. Quest bars are great because they have 20g of protein which helps my muscles heal after I work out, but protein bars are not great to eat every day! I was talking to my friend Victoria who has adopted a Paleo lifestyle. I asked what her breakfast consists of and she says she meal preps with crockpot oatmeal which can be stored and egg cups! I always prep lunch and never thought to prep breakfast so today I created a new habit.

I made scrambled egg with spinach and onion cups and packaged them up to bring to work with me tomorrow and have in the fridge for the week! They were extremely easy to prep and I hope they taste just as good as they look!

Scrambled Egg Cups
Servings: 2 Cups, makes 12 cups
Weight Watchers Points: 1

4 eggs
3/4 cup All Whites 100% Liquid Egg Whites
1 cup spinach, chopped
1/4 cup onion
salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

3. Line a muffin tin with cupcake/muffin liners or spray tin with oil.

4. Spoon egg and vegetable mixture evenly into muffin tin

5. Cook for 20 minutes until tops of cups begin to brown

6. Remove from oven and let cool before eating. Store in container in fridge for future meals!

Lunch was easy to prep. I made a grilled chicken salad cucmber, tomato, broccoli slaw, mesclun, Trader Joe's grilled chicken 2 oz: 2 points) with a side of red pepper hummus (2 tbsp: 2 points) and celery/carrots. I bought Trader Joe's Cilantro salad dressing for the salad (2 tbsp: 1 point)

I was so happy to have bought only fresh groceries. In the past, over half of what I purchased was frozen meals, but we are learning to buy fresh meats, fresh produce and nuts and plan our meals ahead of time so that we shop from a grocery list that is created from recipes. I love looking recipes up online and making them my own and Well Fed 2 has been a great addition to our cookbook collection. Victoria also recommended Against the Grain and I have already ordered it on Amazon today! I love having a friend to share recipes, struggles and successes with. Victoria and I met in college but have not seen each other since graduation 5 years ago. It is amazing to connect now over our similar lifestyles and be able to talk about food we love and how amazing we feel having adopted a gluten-free, clean eating lifestyle. Her transformations have been incredible and I love seeing the changes in other people, including Ryan. Eating clean is so easy and Ryan and I have never felt better! I have been following Victoria's story on her blog

Ryan and I are headed back out to buy fresh scallops and bacon to make a warm scallop and spinach, bacon salad for dinner tonight!

XO

Lunch Out With the Girls!

It's really good to get away from your workspace and eat lunch out - this doesn't mean you have to go out for lunch every day, but change your scenery. Eat in a different part of the office, go for a walk and eat in the park if it's warm enough, but whatever you do, try not to eat lunch at your desk. When we eat where we work we don't get a break from working or spending time on social media. We don't get to focus on the food itself which causes us to overeat or not feel full and satisfied when our meal is done. When we are on our computer, watching TV, or texting on our phones while we eat, we don't savor the moments and the flavors of our food.

I have a bad habit of eating lunch at my desk and watching TV when I eat dinner. I know not to, but it's hard to get up and tune out. My goal in 2014 is to eat dinner with the TV off. Ryan and I are always watching the news or a sports game when we eat but we need to turn it off and focus on our meal and the time spent together. I also eat at my desk which is the worst habit that I have. I sit on Facebook or news sites or gchat while I eat. Sometimes I don't even look down at my food to see what I am eating. I lose the enjoyment in my meal and when there is no food left, I tend to still be hungry. My body also begins to associate my desk with eating and I become hungry all the time.

Today I went out to lunch with a few girls from work and we got sushi! It was great to get out of the office and walk to the restaurant despite the frigid temperatures and eat at a table that did not have a cell phone or a computer on it. I ordered the sushi lunch which was 2 pieces of tuna, 2 pieces of salmon and 2 pieces of yellowtail sushi with a small salmon roll (9 WW points). I ordered it with salad (1 WW point for ginger dressing) instead of soup and ate it without soy sauce because that is one place gluten is always hiding. I loved being able to talk to people while I ate and not sit alone at my desk in silence. The food was good and the company was even better!

I have only a few points left for dinner tonight and without any vegetables in the house because we juiced everything it is hard to decide what to make that will keep my points low. I have a portobello mushroom cap left (no kale, spinach or peppers to stuff it with or to make a salad), but I might grill it and eat it on the side of a spinach or butternut squash garden lites. We are going to the basketball game so I want to be full so I can get through the night while avoiding the tempting smells of pizza, popcorn and chicken fingers! But Ryan and I always have a great time at college basketball games and tonight it's a battle for the bridge! Go Brooklyn!

Portobello Mushroom Stuffed Veggie Pizza and Green Blast

Portobello Mushroom Stuffed Veggie Pizza

Servings: 1

Weight Watchers Points: 5

1 portobello mushroom with stem removed (3oz.)

1 tsp coconut oil

1 tsp balsamic vinegar 

1/2 cup bell pepper chopped (use any color or a mix)

1/4 cup onion chopped

1/4 cup spinach

1/4 cup kale

1/4 cup Galaxy nutrition veggie shreds cheddar flavor (I use this to keep the recipe lactose free but you can use any flavor and type of cheese you prefer)

2 tbsp Hunts Tomato Sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

1) Preheat pan over medium heat. Spray with nonstick olive oil and add peppers and onions. Cook until softened and browning, about 3-5 minutes. 

2) Meanwhile, heat 1 tsp of coconut oil in microwave for 15 seconds until it becomes liquid. Mix with 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar. 

3) Brush the oil and vinegar mixture on both sides of portobello mushroom. Let it rest while the vegetables continue to cook. 

4) Add spinach and kale to pan with peppers and onions and cook them down until they begin to wilt. Remove vegetables from the pan and set aside. 

5) Add mushroom cap to the pan inside facing down. Cook for 3 minutes. 

6) Flip mushroom cap and add 2 tbsp tomato sauce. Spread it on the inside of the cap. 

7) Top with cooked vegetables and 1/4 cup cheese shreds. Cover and cook for 3 minutes until cheese begins to melt. 

8) Remove mushroom veggie pizza and serve warm. Any vegetables that fall off the sides can be eaten as a side "salad" (I added cooked broccoli to my plate). 

After eating dinner, I prepared lunch for tomorrow. It's going to be freezing temperatures again so I couldn't imagine going out to get something to eat. I made a kale, veggie, nut salad - a mix of a few different things we had. 

Kale, Veggie, Nut Salad

Servings: 1

Weight Watchera Points: 8

1 cup kale

1 cup mixed baby greens 

1/2 cup green beans

1/2 cup sliced cucumber

1/2 cup pea shoots 

1 egg white

1/4 cup Trader Joe's Trek Mix Antioxidant almond, cashew, cranberries blend

3 oz. Trader Joe's just grilled chicken strips

7gm goji berries

7 gm Trader Joe's roasted coconut chips

*points values does not include dressing

Dessert was a delicious nutribullet blast! A green one! 

Nutribullet Almond Green Blast

Servings: 1

Weight Watchers Points: 6

1 cup spinach

1 frozen banana

1/2 apple

1 tbsp chia seeds

1 cup Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Almond Milk, Unsweetened, Vanilla

Put all ingredients into the nutribullet. Put spinach at the bottom followed by banana, apple, chia seeds and almond milk. Blend for 40 seconds. Serve!

It was a sweet smoothie and satisfied my sweet tooth cravings. I could drink this every night! It reminded me of the malts and shakes my mom used to make for me as a kid. I love frozen bananas and make sure to always have a few in my freezer. My best advice for frozen bananas is to peel them and put in a ziploc bag before putting them in the freezer. If you already have bananas frozen, run them under warm water and slide the peel off under the running water. This can be a bit messy and can clog your drain (just ask Ryan, I tend I do this a lot)!

I had 9,000 steps today and earned 1 activity point. This is good, except I have been up and moving since 5am. Obviously I still lack movement during the work day. Since tomorrow is going to be so cold, I am going to have to force myself to walk the long way to the bathroom or use a different printer - anything to keep my body active!

Have a great night and stay warm tomorrow!!

XO

Snowy Day Kiddy Lunch

A snow day means making lunch from whatever I can find in my house! That means my lunch plate looks like a 5 year old's lunch! But it was gluten free and it was good.

I heated up 4 Gluten Free chicken nuggets (3 points) and a Spinach Garden Lites Souffle (4 points). I also had some frozen grapes in the freezer. The spinach souffle tasted great. It was a but more watery than the other ones I have had, but it was light, airy, and had a lot of flavor. At 140 calories per souffle I feel good eating it. I love frozen grapes. They are like dessert - cold, sweet and just all around fun to eat. I wish I could afford to always have them in the house but freezing them helps me control how fast Ryan and I eat grapes. I also love adding fresh grapes to salad when I want something juicy and sweet.

I am still torn between staying home tonight and going out to Long Island. I really want to see my friends and I think I will have a good time once I am there. It will also get me off the couch and dressed and outside. But should I really be outside when it is -15 degrees and the News says it is dangerously cold and has conditions for hypothermia? My fear is standing on the train tracks waiting for a train that could be delayed and freezing my butt off. I just want to be there or not. The traveling part is what I hate the most. I have to leave at 4:30pm if I decide I am going. Everyone is offering to pick me up from the train station because they really want me to come out, which is so nice and I am so appreciative. I just have to decide if I can physically bear going out in the frigid cold!