Day 3, Meal 3

Update: I didn't need an herbal tea at 3pm or 4pm...I was still satisfied from lunch and didn't have a craving for sweets. I drank a lot of water if I felt like I needed something and took a quick 5 minute walk! And it worked!

I got home to a lot of packages outside of my front door! My Rx Bars and Amazon order had arrived. I am so excited to try the Rx Bars, especially because the packages for the bars are resealable!!!! That means I have no excuse to eat a whole bar if I am not hungry because it is so easy now to save some for later! These will be a perfect post-workout meal...I may not be able to control myself only eating some, they look so good!

My amazon.com order contained ghee, dates, 100% cacao powder, unsweetened coconut, hemp seeds and the Whole30 book "It Starts With Food." As part of my Whole30 goals, I am going to read the book in the next 27 days so that I can gain more education and insight into the program and the idea of eating whole foods!

It was really nice to get home from work to an empty house and not feel rushed to cook dinner...I was on my own time and rather than cook right when I got home, I settled a little bit, prepped and then began cooking. It was really great not to have to eat dinner at 5:30pm with Ryan right when I walked in the door. Eating later is so much better, as long as I can hold off from lunch at 1:30pm, because then I am less tempted to go back for more food or something sweet! I am going to have to convince Ryan to eat better lunches that keep him fuller longer so we both can eat later and I don't feel rushed, or we just won't eat together, which is fine with me during the week since our schedules are so different. I just hope he isn't jealous of my meals that I have planned for next week!

I made coconut encrusted tilatpia tonight (unfortunately I only bought 1 filet so I don't have leftovers for lunch tomorrow), with steamed vegetables and instead of a salad, I had vegetable soup! The coconut, even though it was unsweetened, was perfect sweet and the fish was so flaky and cooked to perfection! I loved the smell of the coconut and the sharpness of the taste. It would be great with a ghee and balsamic dressing next time! I can't wait to make macaroons with the coconut!

Coconut Encrusted Tilapia

1 filet of tilapia
1/4 tsp coconut flour
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
coconut oil
1 egg white

1. Prep by having 1 egg white in a bowl, and mixing coconut flour and coconut flakes on a separate plate.

2. Heat pan over medium heat. When hot, add coconut oil (or fat of choice).

3. Dip tilapia in egg white and make sure it is coated completely.

4. Cover tilapia in coconut mixture, coating both sides evenly!

5. Place tilapia in pan. Cook for 4 minutes on each side. Be careful not to loose too much of the coconut when you flip the filet over.

6. Serve and enjoy!

Really easy recipe and can be made with other types of fish or meat!

I prepped my lunch for tomorrow - a vegetable salad and vegetable soup (basically the same dish, one hot, one cold). I added some hemp seeds, we will see how that tastes!

I am going for my first ever colonic tomorrow and part of the prep for the colonic is to not have animal products the day of. This means my protein at lunch is out, so I may have to have half of a larabar or an Rx Bar to make sure that I am full. I have to stop eating at 2pm and stop drinking at 4pm since my treatment is at 6pm so tomorrow may be a little more difficult than normal. I am not sure if I am going to go to Bar Method in the morning or sleep in and relax since my body will be pushed later in the afternoon. My session also isn't until 6pm so it will be a long day. But I am feeling antsy since I didn't workout today and I think going to Bar would be good for me. I really want to make N'Oatmeal for breakfast, I am getting a little tired of eggs, but if I go to Bar then I will have an RxBar and an omelette. N'Oatmeal is something I found online, it is various nuts pulsed in the food processor and cooked on the stove until "nutty" and then eggs whisked in until it becomes of a consistency of oatmeal (not scrambled eggs). I might make this on Friday morning since I have to eat light and clean the day after the colonic to help my body heal. I will set my alarm for Bar and see how I feel when I wake up - if I fall back asleep then I know it's a sign to sleep in. I feel good though, usually a day without working out I feel bloated and uncomfortable and "fat" but I feel healthy and satisfied and great when I look in the mirror so I am not as anxious to get to Bar. I don't want to push my body and make it tired if it already feels good right now.

Ryan landed in Houston and checked in to the hotel and is at the hotel restaurant having a burger and fries - not gluten free on this trip and that's okay, I just want him to enjoy his trip and relax. He has been so busy and he deserves the break, even if it is a work trip!

Have a great night everyone!

XO

Slow Cooked Turkey Meatballs

I love coming home to the smells of a home cooked meal. I think it was part of growing up - my mom would cook dinner every night for the family when we got home from school and the smell of it throughout the house is something I will never forget. And she always had fresh baked bread to go with the meal. On weekends, she would even make homemade bagels.

Last night I walked home from work. It was a little bit cold, but since I had been sitting at my desk all day and I hadn't done a morning bar class, I knew I needed a little activity! So I walked home (that got me to a total of 9,000 steps for the day and 1 WW activity point). I got home within 20 minutes and the turkey meatballs I had prepped in the morning were warming in the slow cooker. I love that I was able to cook them for 6 hours, but still keep them warm even though I wasn't home! Slow cooking is so easy and because I slow cook in large batches, we have leftovers for days! I was already thinking about all of the meal possibilities that we could make with left over meatballs (meatball parm or meatball wraps anyone)!

Ryan and I had meatballs with mashed potatoes (FreshDirect Sides in a Snap) and asparagus. I love crunchy, bright green asparagus and it was a nice break from our usual salad. 4 meatballs with sauce were 5 points and 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes were 5 points. The meat was dense, but still moist from having slow cooked for 6 hours. Next time I might even cook it for 4 or 5 hours since the meatballs are so small. Or I could make 12 meatballs instead of 24 so that 2 meatballs would be 4 points. However, eating more is a mind game so having 4 meatballs (small) instead of 2 (large) seems like a lot more to me. And if I think I am eating a lot more, then I stay fuller longer!

For dessert, I had a Yopa greek yogurt with dark chocolate bits that I had put in the freezer. It was just like eating ice cream, and I topped it with a banana.

Tonight I am going to SoHo for a Bar Method class. I really wanted to sleep in now that the upstairs neighbors haven't been so loud and I wanted to have breakfast with Ryan! He made ham and cheese on udi's gluten free bread with eggs over easy and I had an egg white omelette topped with powdered peanut butter, flax seeds and a banana! It was fun to sit around with Ryan, watching the morning news and getting ready on my own time. However, this morning, I am feeling not working out and I feel a little sluggish. I am excited for an evening class, but I am not excited about it being at 6:30pm. It means I won't be home until 8pm. I hope it warms up a bit so maybe I could bike home. It's been awhile since I took citibike since I got so used to the early morning bus/train commute, so it's about time I took a bike ride!

I also plan to go to spin tomorrow night. If I am going to complain about feeling bloated, sluggish, tired and not happy, then I need to do something about it. A good diet is great, but exercise helps get everything moving and sweating mentally tells me that I am doing something good for my body. I sweat a lot more in evening bar classes because the studios are warmed up, people have been in classes all day, and the air is not as fresh (sounds gross, but the morning classes have cold studios from not being used all night, so I don't break a sweat). It's all mental - I am not working any harder in an evening class than a morning one, but sweating makes me feel like I am pushing myself harder. I also am a bit more flexible at night because my body has been moving all day (well, not really since I sit for 8 hours). I feel more flexible, stronger, and more capable of going lower, tucking harder and even taking some of the challenges like raising my legs in flat back or the L shape in round back. I did hurt my shoulder last night, so unfortunately I will be modifying with push-ups at the bar tonight. I am going to have a Quest Cookies and Cream bar before class (my new favorite flavor) and a pre-made kale and grain FreshDirect salad when I get home for muscle recovery protein! Night classes usually energize me, so I hope that I will be able to fall asleep reasonably early. I have been feeling so refreshed lately now that I have been sleeping through the night!

I also worked to work this morning, again, it was cold, but it felt good to get in some activity before I sat around all day since I didn't do a morning bar class!

Below is the Turkey meatball recipe. Skinnytaste recipe can be found here! I used 99% fat free turkey breast and gluten free breadcrumbs. This can be made with turkey, chicken or beef (WW Points will vary). Enjoy.

Skinnytaste Crock Pot Italian Turkey Meatballs
Servings: 6 (4 meatballs)
Weight Watchers Points: 5

Meatballs
1 pound turkey breast, ground
3 tbsp Schar gluten free breadcrumbs
4 tbsp grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
1/4 cup parsley
1 egg
1 garlic clove, crushed
salt and pepper to taste

Sauce
1 tsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, crushed
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large bowl, combine turkey, breadcrumbs, egg, parsley, garlic and cheese. Mix all of the ingredients together.

2. Form small meatballs and set aside (24 meatballs)

3. Meanwhile, in a small pan, heat olive oil over medium heat.

4. Add garlic and saute until golden, be careful not to burn.

5. Pour crushed tomatoes into slow cooker with bay leaf. Add garlic and oil from pan.

6. Add meatballs to slow cooker.

7. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Serve and enjoy!

Warm Chai Cupcakes on a cold snowy night with a green pancake for breakfast!

A Nor'easter has come to NYC and it has brought winds, snow, ice, rain and a lot of unhappy commuters with it. I am so ready for winter to be over and for the warmer weather to be here! I hate being cold and bundled up and not being able to walk a lot! But in preparation for the storm, Ryan and I mad Carrot, Walnut, Chai cupcakes with a vanilla maple frosting. The chai mix was something I found at Home Goods last weekend with my mom. It is gluten free and if you use non-dairy milk, it is dairy free as well. I don't like to use mixes a lot but when I do, I love added my own ingredients to it to make it more special! To a chia mix, the thought of a walnut carrot addition sounded perfect. I used Wholesome Chow Chai Mix and Wholesome Chow Vanilla Frosting Mix and to the frosting I added maple syrup and vanilla extract. The cupcakes were so moist and the added carrot and walnut added so much to a simple mix and the maple in the frosting made this cupcake super delicious!

Carrot, Walnut Chai Cupcake with Maple Vanilla Frosting
Servings: 12 Cupcakes
Weight Watchers Points: 9 per cupcake

Cupcakes
Wholesome Chow Gluten Free Vegan Chia Spice Cake Mix
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cup Lactaid Milk 2% (Use non-dairy milk to make these dairy free)
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Frosting
Wholesome Chow GF Vegan Vanilla Frosting Mix
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp Lactaid Milk 2%
2 tbsp Pure Maple Syrup
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

TO MAKE CUPCAKES
1. Preheat oven to 35o degrees. Line or grease cupcake pan.

2. In a medium bowl, combine Milk and Apple Cider Vinegar. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes, until foamy.

3. Meanwhile, shred carrots and chop walnuts.

4. Add olive oil to milk and vinegar mixture and whisk well.

5. Whisk (or use stand mixer) baking mix with the liquid ingredients and blend until smooth, about 30 seconds.

6. Add carrots and walnuts and continue to mix until blended well..

7. Pour batter into cupcake pan and bake for 20 minutes.

8. Let cool before adding frosting.

TO MAKE FROSTING
1. In stand mixer, whip butter until creamy and smooth, about 2 minutes.

2. Add frosting mix, maple syrup, vanilla extract and milk, whip on low speed for 1 minute until mix is well combined.

3. Increase speed to high and beat for 5 minutes until frosting is fluffy.

TO PREPARE FROSTED CUPCAKES
After cupcakes are cool, add frosting to each. Frosting can be stored in fridge if not used immediately.

Serve and Enjoy!

It's snowing a lot and when I woke up this morning, a lot of my coworkers were working from home. Now that I moved so close to the office, I didn't think it was fair to not try to come in and work. But I did get to sleep in a little until 7am. I decided to make a warm breakfast at home before trekking out in the snow so I decided to make my usual egg white and oatmeal pancake. This time though, I added spinach to the mixture and blended all of the ingredients in the nutribullet (similar to my green eggs). I blended the oats as well, though next time I might blend all ingredients and add oats at the end. The batter was super green and Ryan even thought I was making a bullet to drink. 3 hours since breakfast and I am still full and satisfied which is my biggest struggle when I eat breakfast at home before coming to work. I try to eat lunch at 1pm to make the day spread out so that I am not starving by 3pm/4pm which is when I will start snacking and craving sugar. But that means I usually try to eat breakfast at 9:30am so I don't have to wait too long until my next meal. I cooked up the batter and topped it with almond butter, flax seeds and a banana. Ryan made corn bread for breakfast and a spinach, grape, orange and raspberry bullet! We ate breakfast together before I layered up to go to work.

Ryan is working from home and doing some work around the house. I don't mind being at the office when its a snow day - the work day is slow but its a different experience than when everyone is here and busy! We are ordering pizza for lunch and I got to order a separate salad since I am not eating pizza that isn't gluten free.

I hope everyone stays safe and warm and dry today in this crazy weather - just remember, the more snow storms we have, the closer we are to winter being over!!!!! My biggest problem with this weather is how little activity I have. I can't wait until its warm and I can start walking to and from work and biking more. I probably have to take the bus/train to Bar Method tomorrow morning - the citibikes are buried under 3 feet of snow right now!

XO