The Semester Is Winding Down

by Emily

The semester is winding down. Classes finished today and I’ve got a week of exams standing between me and summer. Of course, I only have two weeks of freedom before summer school starts, but I’ll take what I can get.

I’ve been having the hardest time getting out of bed in the morning and today was not the day that broke the streak. I’ll need to treat my two free weeks like a bedtime boot camp or I’m going to be hurting during summer school. I ran out of time to workout so instead I drove the dog with me while I parked the car and then walked him home from school.

It was nice to take him somewhere new, though I wish he would have found a better place to do his business than the middle of the quad!

I did a quick outfit change at home and then I was walking back to school, breakfast in hand.

This smoothie combo is a winner! 1.5 Tbsp chia seeds, 1 cup of lemonade, and 1 cup of frozen strawberries.

Frozen strawberry lemonade can’t be beat and the chia seeds give it a nice hit of omega-3s.

I had less time this morning because my statistics teacher let me come in early to check over the homework. All of my assignments are now in (a week early) and I finished today’s practice test and checked my answers (all correct!) before class was half over so I’m feeling good for the final.

Lunch was eaten in the car on the way to my last clinic observation of the semester. Bagelwiches are a nice, one-handed item.

I had a Cinnamon Raisin Bagel Thin with jalapeño cream cheese and Applegate Farms’ Smoked Turkey.

Plus an Empire apple.

My last day of clinic went great. I did another outpatient observation and I’m pretty much convinced I want to do outpatient when I grow up. I love the amount of interaction RDs get with their outpatient clients! While I was there we saw three patients, two type 2 diabetics and a GI issue. Getting an hour (+) with each of them was great; it seems like they all took a lot away from their appointments.

My last night class went well and suddenly, I was free! I didn’t have much time to workout; once I made it home and changed I could only get one loop around the block before it got dark. It was just was well though, I’m not sure I had a 2nd loop in me! 1.2 miles in 10:55. <– that’s more than a minute faster than any of my previous times!!

Dinner was easy peasy leftovers.

Bow tie pasta and roasted zucchini with peasy pesto, drizzled with 1 Tbsp evoo.

I’ve never been so glad to see a bowl of pasta in my life. The only thing I’m more excited about is getting my head on a pillow.

2May2012

Healthy or Happy

by Emily

Healthy and happy. I started my day with a run. My day started fairly late because I skipped snoozing and went straight to turning off my alarm clock, but that’s another story. I ran two loops around the block, 2.4 miles in 24:45. I did a negative split (by a couple of seconds) and it damn near killed me.

Healthy. I made myself a rehydration cocktail after my run.

Vita Coco Tropical Fruit Coconut Water and club soda.

It was pretty bad. I think using plain coconut water would have been better. But I was so hot that I took a cold shower so I knew I needed the fluid and electrolytes. I drank 80% before giving up.

It was neither happy nor healthy that I didn’t eat any solid food all day but that’s what happens when you sleep until the last possible minute and then have to hustle so fast to class that you’re practically skipping.

Healthy and happy. When I got home from school I ate a big pile of baby carrots with homemade 1000 island dressing for dipping.

I’m not sure what possessed me to make so much dressing but I used the leftovers to make Adam a sandwich so it’s all good.

I also ate a Golden Delicious apple.

Happy. I baked a batch of blondies to celebrate tomorrow being the last day of classes.

I ate three. Recipe should be up by noon tomorrow.

Healthy. I ate a salad before dinner.

Romaine topped with ground flax and bbq sauce.

Healthy and happy. We made homemade Hawaiian pizza for dinner.

We topped a Boboli Whole Wheat Crust with marinara, 2% shredded mozzarella, sliced pineapple, and “ham.”

The “ham” was actually honey turkey that I asked the deli counter to slice 1/4 inch thick.

The end result was very tasty.

Tell me one thing you did today for your health and/or happiness?

1May2012

Peasy Pesto Pasta

by Emily

It’s already after 11 pm and the alarm is going off before 6 am tomorrow, yikes! This day needs a speedy post.

Workout – 40 minutes on the stationary bike at random level 6

Breakfast – Banana brulee yogurt.

In a small skillet I cooked a sliced banana with 1/2 Tbsp butter and 2 tsp brown sugar. I put the gooey, caramelized banana on top of a bowl of Wegman’s 0% Plain Greek Yogurt.

The sweet and tangy tastes went perfectly together.

Lunch – a bagel sandwich.

A cinnamon raisin Bagel Thin topped with jalapeño cream cheese and two slices of Applegate Farms smoked turkey.

I ate a slice of turkey in the morning as I was assembling my sandwich, it’s great.

I also had a Golden Delicious apple.

Snack – a mini bag of kettle corn.

Dinner – 2 oz of bow tie pasta with slices of roasted zucchini and peasy pesto (see below).

I love pesto so flipping much! Bow ties with pesto are one of my major food memories from my childhood. My aunt makes the best pesto I’ve ever had but she’s a great cook so that’s not surprising.

Peasy Pesto, makes 4 – 8 servings

10 oz frozen peas, thawed and drained
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp salt

Place peas and oil in food processor and process until homogenous, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add remaining ingredients and pulse until well combined.

It was such a pretty green, I just couldn’t help taking pictures of it!

26Apr2012

Toasted Marshmallow Cheesecake Oatmeal (For Dinner)

by Emily

My book and beers were great last night but I woke up in a funk. Adam and I both just didn’t want to get out of bed. I snoozed for so long that suddenly there wasn’t enough time to both go to the gym and make the fun breakfast I was looking forward to. I knew I had to get it together before my bad mood ruined the whole day so I tried to pinpoint what was making me cranky – I was cold, I was tired, I was hungry.

Time to problem-solve! I decided I would make a mug of hot chocolate (calories, warmth, caffeine), go to the gym (endorphins), and eat my fun breakfast for dinner (anticipation).

The cocoa was pretty weak but my workout felt rewarding. 10 minutes on the treadmill (1 mile) and 20 minutes at level 6 random on the stationary bike (7 miles).

I had to hurry, but somehow my hair air-dried perfectly today!

Often one side curls under while the other flips up so this felt very fortuitous since I had to look nice for clinic.

For breakfast I cashed in the last of my Ashker’s smoothie Groupon on the walk to school.

I got a Lemon Zinger sans ginger; aka a carrot, peach, mango, and lemon smoothie. It was great!

Lunch included more carrots so it’s a good thing I’m a fan.

Also a Cinnamon Raisin Bagel Thin with two slices of Applegate Farm’s Smoked Turkey and a wedge of Light French Onion Laughing Cow.

And a 120-calorie pack of Skinny Cow Dreamy Clusters.

These were on super-sale so I took a chance and I ended up quite liking them. The serving was small but the caramel was nice and I liked the bit of crunch.

But I probably should have packed an additional item for lunch because I was inhaling this 100-calorie bag of kettle corn the minute I walked in the door at the end of the day.

My clinical hours today were at a Diabetic Education Course. The RD let me teach the portion on reading nutrition labels. She said I seemed knowledgable and confident which is awesome because on the inside I was screaming my head off! I’m considering becoming a certified diabetes educator (cde) some day so it was neat to get a taste of the experience.

I had to get through night class and then I finally had my much-anticipated ~~breakfast~~ dinner. What combination was I so excited about?

Toasted Marshmallow Cheesecake Oats!

So flipping good.

cooked: 3/4 cup skim milk, pinch salt, 1/4 cup oats

stirred in: 1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese (cheesecake), 4 toasted marshmallows (marshmallow!)

topped: 1 Tbsp melted Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter (crust)

The toasted marshmallows stirred into the mix and the bowl was like a giant, toasty, marshmallow!

When I originally planned this meal for breakfast I wanted to make sure it was nutritionally ready to get me through the day so I plugged the ingredients into an online calculator –

Not bad, not bad at all; especially for something that tasted like dessert.

What is your favorite decadent breakfast?

22Apr2012

Still Searching for ‘Rita

by Emily

Did you have a successful Saturday? Ours was sort of a wash. I did my to-do’s and had some fun with the husband but I also felt sick and spent many hours curled up in bed. I guess I’m just glad I was awake long enough to do what I needed to do.

For breakfast the husband took me to the new juice bar he spotted.

Code Blu was a win! Cute space and good juice.

*Hulk smash*

I got an “@Green.com” – spinach, kale, parsley, romaine, cucumber, celery, lemon, and apple.

Delicious! I liked how much it tasted like a lemonade. And there was combo on the menu with kale and watermelon so we’ll definitely be back.

We didn’t grocery shop at all for this week (only soda, cottage cheese, and fruit for Adam were purchased) so our errands were very quick but I was still complaining of hunger by the time we were done. I ate this handful of peanut m&m’s to try to stave off more whining.

Bletch; these only led to more complaining; why do they have such a terrible aftertaste?

When I woke up this morning the only thing I could think of was margaritas. I don’t even like tequilla so it was an odd craving but it was a strong one. Unfortunately none of the Mexican restaurants nearby were open for lunch (sidenote – I am flipping out over Cantina Loco‘s menu, I need to go there immediately). Then I remembered the free appetizer coupon I had for TGIFriday’s. I knew the margarita wouldn’t be the best ever, but I figured it was better than nothing.

Nothing would have been better. Adam and I split this skinny margarita and neither of us were fans.

The only redeeming thing I can say is that it had only 120 calories so at least I didn’t waste a meal’s worth of calories on the worst drink I’ve ever had. The sweetness level was sickening. Now I need to keep trying until I find a margarita that quenches my craving; I’m up to the task!

With our free appetizer coupon we got an order of pretzel sticks with beer cheese.

Beer cheese and pretzels are both always good things.

I ate 1.5 pretzels with cheese. We took one pretzel home for later but we probably should have just split it because the rest of lunch was a bust.

We split a cranberry jalapeño turkey reuben, no butter on the bread.

I loved this sandwich when I attended the tasting a few weeks back, but I couldn’t even finish my half today. It was too spicy and totally tasteless all at the same time.

I did eat most of my side salad with balsamic though.

Our meal came with dessert for only a dollar more so we took a chance on the “Oreo Madness.”

Yuck again. Adam actually ate most of it but I was unimpressed, and I’m the one who loves Oreos.

By the time we got home I was totally ill, a fact for which I blame the skinny sour mix in the margaritas. Not my best idea. But after a much-needed nap we pulled it together and switched out our closets and spring cleaned the storage containers. Go us!

Dinner ended up being a bag of popcorn.

No complaints there!

8Apr2012

Easter Dinner

by Emily

I hope everyone’s Easter, Passover, or April weekends have been full of family and fun. It’s been good being here in Ohio and seeing lots of familiar faces. I’m feeling pretty good too but definitely still in need of sleep so I’ll keep this quick.

Breakfast. Scrambled eggs, piece of turkey bacon, toast with butter.

Lunch. Pieced together as best I could.

Cup of carrots.

Cup of Sahale Snacks Almonds with Honey, Cranberry + Sea Salt.

Mid-afternoon snack/fun. We walked over to the Cracker Barrel gift shop to peruse the old-time goodies.

Adam and I split a Double Cola.

And I finally got to try divinity candy, a Southern treat made of sugar, corn syrup, and egg whites.

I had that piece shown x 3. Delicious but the back of my throat felt like it was burning with all of the sugar.

Appetizer. A bagel chip with blue cheese pecan spread. x2.

Drink. Bud Light with Lime.

Dinner.

Orzo salad.

Party potatoes.

Stir-fried veggies.

Pretzel roll with butter. x2.

Fruit salad.

Bed.

Did you decorate Easter eggs this year?

28Mar2012

Triple “O” Long

by Emily

Today was a lo-o-ong day! Out of the house from 9 am to 11 pm; whew. Not necessarily an exciting day, just a busy one. Class –> driving my mom to the mall –> clinic –> picking my mom up from the mall –> work –> Target for Easter basket goodies, the one fun stop of the day. I felt bad abandoning my guest all day but she did apparently have a very fun dinner at Moe’s with the husband.

Since our fridge is beyond bare and I was basically too busy to eat all day this recap will be quick. I ate a Peanut Honey Pretzel Luna Bar during Statistics.

It was good but not ridiculously good like I was expecting it to be.

And I inhaled a sandwich from the campus book store before work.

“Bourbon maple turkey, cheddar cheese, and herb and spinach spread on a whole wheat lavish bread.”

And a Starbucks Double Shot Energy in Coffee was split with the husband.

I’m a fan.

Tomorrow bring on all the food, especially the produce!

26Mar2012

Miles To Go Before I Sleep

by Emily

Technically the miles were already traveled but sleep somehow feels very far and very urgent! I had some great bites today but I’m going to keep my descriptions quick in favor of bed.

Breakfast – cereal mix with vanilla almond milk.