Windy City

My run went alright this morning. I did about 4.7 miles in 45 minutes. For the majority of the time I was running, I battled strong winds. I guess I didn't realize how windy it was before I left for my run. Chicago may be the Windy City, but the Twin Cities give it a run for its money. Half of the time I felt like I wasn't moving forward. It was frustrating because the wind raised my heart rate too fast. Oh well, you can't control the weather. 

I wasn't too hungry for lunch when I got home but I opted to eat before I showered. I loved the sandwich I made last Friday so much that I made another one for lunch today. Hummus, spinach, alfalfa sprouts, and chipotle sauce on a toasted hemp bagel. Mmm, I love these bagels. 

I was going to have something else, but I felt satisfied and jumped in the shower instead. 

Lunch: 340 cals, 12g fat, 15g fiber, 45g protein

This morning before my run, I baked a fun treat. When Tina, from Carrots & Cake, posted her Coconut-Date Cookies to Die For, I knew I wanted to try them. Seeing them on Kath's blog yesterday, reminded me about them so this morning I made Coconut-Date Balls. I followed Kath's lead and used raisins because I didn't have any dates. I made them into balls after they baked because I didn't grease the cookie sheet and they stuck pretty badly. I was able to scrape them off, but they looked deformed so I just shaped them into balls. They are more fun to eat this way!

I made 23 balls and figured each ball to be about 30 calories. These are sticky, but good! I'm excited to try them with dates next time. I had 2 of these after my shower! 

Now I'm off to study at the coffee shop. I'm craving an iced coffee so I'm sure I will have 1 (or 2!) of those and a snack while I study. 

Greetings from Duluth!

Hi all! I have been having a great weekend so far and even got to sleep in this morning.

Here's a recap of yesterday:

I did a short 2.25 mile run yesterday. I had been planning on running double that, but after my long run on Thursday night my legs were tired. I decided not to fight it and cleaned the inside of my car instead. By the time I was finished cleaning, packing and showered it was after 12. At this point I was really hungry since my breakfast was so small this morning.

Lunch was really really good. The other day at Whole Foods, I picked up a bag of healthy hemp sprouted bagels. Seeing as how much I like the bread, I've been dying to try the bagels. I toasted the bagel and spread it with hummus, chipotle sauce, spinach, and alfalfa sprouts. I also had baby carrots on the side. I LOVED this sandwich. The nuttiness and chew of the bagel combined with the creamy hummus and crunchy veggies paired very nicely.


Lunch total: 375 cals, 12g fat, 16g fiber, 46g protein

On my way out of town, I stopped at Sati Coffee for driving fuel. A large iced cold pressed coffee latte.I love cold pressed coffee, it's so good! I actually had 1.5x this because while I was talking to my friend who works there, I drank half. He refilled my cup for the drive.



Iced skim latte (1.5x): 220 cals, 1g fat, 20g protein

I got into Duluth at about 4pm. The 2 and a 1/2 hour drive was smooth and quick. The weather was nice enough for me to have the sunroof open the whole time. To me, one of the most stunning visuals is driving into Duluth. Driving up from the South, you come to the top of the hill, and see the huge harbor down below. Lake Superior is huge. It looks like the sea at some points because you can't see land on the other side.

For dinner, I had another sandwich, this time from Erberts & Gerberts. Turkey, avocado, alfalfa sprouts, tomato, and lettuce on a wheat sub. I was really hungry so on the car ride back to Chris' house I ate half the big of chips. For this reason I only ate half of my sub and saved the rest for later. I was proud of myself because the old me would have eaten it anyway, but the new me is more in tune with hunger and satiety cues.


Dinner totals (whole sandwich & chips): 613 cals, 15.5g fat, 8g fiber, 24 g protein

We met up with Chris' roommates and friends down by the waterfront at Old Chicago. I was in the mood for a Margarita but instead I chose the only beer I like: Leinenkugel's Honey Weiss. This beer isn't a light beer so it's really filling. But over the course of 5 hours I had two. They ordered a third one for me but I couldn't drink it so I told Chris to finish it off for me. When we got back to his house, I ate the other half of my sandwich.

Friday total (minus beer): 1468 cals, 37g fat, 31g fiber, 102 g protein

It was a very fun night but this morning I feel dehydrated and my head hurts. I'm already on my second big glass of ice cold water. Chris is still sleeping so we'll see what he wants to do today. I would love to walk around the waterfront and check out the race course for the half marathon I'll be running next month. Unfortunately the forecast calls for scattered clouds and a chance of rain with a high of 65.

Have a wonderful day!

I'm Spoiled

My mom is the greatest. She made my lunch last night. She makes lunch for herself, my dad and sister every night but I usually prefer to make my own. What she was making last night looked good, so she offered to make one for me as well. Yes, I am spoiled.

Smoked salmon, cream cheese, and spinach sandwich on hemp bread.

I didn't bring a plate with me today so I had to use the baggie as a plate.

I also had leftover salad from last night: spinach, shredded carrots, and few pieces of pear. I made a simple dressing this weekend using a fig infused white balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. It has a really nice light, fresh, slightly sweet flavor.




Last Friday I posted about my love for Fit & Fresh salad containers. Em, from Gliding Calm, asked if I could take a picture of the lid. So here you go!

A shot of the whole thing

View from top, when you turn the dial the dressing spills out.

Underside of the lid

I highly recommend this investment if you eat a lot of salads!

I'm feeling pretty sluggish this afternoon. It's raining so the weather isn't exactly lifting my mood. I have no desire to run this afternoon, but with the Half coming up in a couple of weeks, I can't afford to take too many days off. Hopefully my snack will energize me and get me through the workout.

*EDIT: I completely forgot to add that I had half of a grapefruit for a midmorning snack. Lunch and snack combined came out to about 492 calories, 16g fat, 15g fiber, and 31g protein. Whoa, the hemp bread adds 10g of fiber and 14g of protein alone!

Better Start Looking!

My breakfast kept me full for over 4 hours! Since my stomach was content and I was busy, time passed quickly this morning. I glanced up and noticed it was almost 1! I wasn't hungry but I decided it would be smart to eat since it had been 4 hours.

I made a great sandwich last night to bring for lunch. I used healthy hemp bread to make a delicious roasted red pepper and veggie sandwich. This sandwich was especially good because I could taste a thick layer of hummus. I think it helped that I only added a little bit of baby spinach and broccoli slaw. I tend to over stuff sandwiches/wraps/tacos so sometimes the hummus gets lost with everything else. Not today.




I had some baby carrots and half of a grapefruit along the side to round out my lunch.




As a kid, I would always eat grapefruit the traditional way. Cut in half and sprinkled with sugar. I grew up in Texas so we always had plenty of Ruby Reds. Only recently have I gotten back into grapefruit. I love it now and can't get enough. I think I actually prefer it over oranges and other citrus. My favorite way to eat it is like an orange.

Big News

The office found a new receptionist! My last day is Thursday. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I am excited because that means my days will be free to work on my nutrition class, bake, read, exercise when I want, etc. But on the other hand, no job equals no income. I know I can still help my parents out at the sales office, but I need to find something else. It's hard because I want to start school full-time in the fall, so I don't want a full-time job. But all of the part-time, summer jobs are either in the food industry or retail. Eh, I wish I could find something in the nutrition field, but so far everything I've found requires a R.D. status. Guess I better start looking for a new job...

Simple Lunch

I wasn't very excited for lunch today since I packed a simple, plain old sandwich and a piece of fruit. Kind of reminded me of a brown bag school lunch. Not the most exciting.

I don't usually pack sandwiches for lunch because I prefer warm sandwiches. Also, I have a soggy-bread phobia. I always worry I will end up with soggy sandwich bread by the time lunch rolls around.

Last night the idea of a sandwich for lunch sounded really good so I decided to conquer my fear and make one ;) I spread some avocado on one of the bread slices, and spicy mustard on the other. Then I added 2 slices of turkey, alfafa sprouts, and spinach.

And the verdict... yum! The bread wasn't soggy at all, just perfectly soft. I love adding avocado to my sandwiches, it makes for a much more interesting turkey sandwich. I was actually full from the sandwich alone, but I decided to have the orange when my sweet tooth kicked in.

Turkey + avocado + alfafa sprouts + spinach on multigrain bread and a juicy orange to finish.

I'm not sure what the plan for dinner is. I want to try the dish out of Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan but I'll see what my mom and sister feel like. My dad is traveling for work so we have more freedom to eat whatever we want since he isn't as adventurous. Maybe I will try the vegan cheeze sauce but I don't know where I would find nutritional yeast...hmm, I guess dinner will be a surprise for all!

By the way, we are having another fabulous weather day. I can't wait to get outside and strech my legs after work.

Where did April go?

Whoa this month has flown by. In general, I feel like this last year has disappeared right before my eyes. Nonetheless, I'm happy it's the last day of April because maybe now we'll have nicer weather. I'll gladly be done with rain/snow/cold.

This morning I changed up my usual oatmeal breakfast. I woke up still full from last night's dinner so I didn't want anything too heavy. I decided on a yogurt granola parfait. Basically, I layered a cup of lowfat plain yogurt, 1/2 cup peanut butter granola, and a sliced banana in a bowl. This breakfast had about the same amount of calories as my usual oats, about 400, but since it doesn't have as much volume I thought I would need a mid-morning snack. Suprisingly, the granola-yogurt combo kept me full until I had my lunch at 1. It must have been the right ratio of carbs-protein-fat. Love it when that happens!

I bought a veggie-hummus wrap for lunch. It was pretty good but I wish it had more hummus, I couldn't really taste it.

I also had a large cold press coffee with a splash of milk.



I brought an apple but I'm satisfied right now so I'll probably have that as a snack this afternoon IF I need it. But I might not because...

Today is my dad's 50th birthday! (Happy Birthday Dad!) So that means, this afternoon is going to be filled with lots of cake. We are having marble cake here at the office, and then carrot cake at home. I never turn down cake ;)

*EDIT* I did have the apple at around 4 because I was getting hungry and I thought it would prevent me from overeating cake...it didn't work.

Almost done!

I'm glad the end of work is near since I'm finding it difficult to sit indoors and be productive on such a beautiful day.

For lunch I had plain yogurt with kiwi, a hummus-veggie pita, and a few baby carrots. The pita was falling apart because it was one of those small ones and I stuffed it too full! Oops.


For an afternoon snack (and excuse to get outside!) I went to my favorite coffee shop, Coffee Bene. I LOVE this cafe. It is located right by St. Thomas' campus and I used to walk there almost everyday when I lived in the neighborhood. I miss living there. Of course, when I lived there I always wished I was living back in the suburbs. Sigh, I guess the grass is always greener on the other side.

My love affair with Coffee Bene started when I discovered their fat free, low calorie bran muffins (they have awesome coffee too). I had these for breakfasts several times a month during college. The thing about bran muffins is that they are either too dry or full of fat. But these are moist, dense and delicious. I have no idea how they make them so big and dense, yet low cal. They remind of Trader Joe's bran muffins, but taste much better.

Look at the size of this thing...


Because this muffin is so dense and heavy it fills you up almost instantly and thanks to the fiber, keeps you full for a long time. I also had an iced coffee with a splash of soy milk to wash it down.


My stomach is very full right now, but happy.

Spicy Start, Sweet Finish

Running today was so hard. We ran outside and did speed intervals: 3 minutes running 5 beats below AT, 2 minutes at AT, 1 minute over AT, 2 minute recovery, 2 minutes above AT, 2 min recovery. We had to do that 3 times against the wind. Needless to say, I was exhausted by the end.

Before my run, I had a photo shoot with Brody ;)

For dinner, I needed something quick and easy because I did not feel like cooking tonight. I made a falafel-hummus sandwich on hemp bread. I added a little bit of greek yogurt-chipotle sauce. It was okay, the falafels were kind of dry since I made them a week ago. My tastebuds experienced a spice explosion from the spices in the falafel and chipotle.

This sandwich filled me up. It had so much protein from the bread alone- 14g!

French Meadow Bakery's Healthy Hemp bread is AWESOME. I'm not sure if it is available outside of the Minnesota area, but the good news is you can order it online. It works best to keep it in the fridge/frozen and then toasting it when you need a slice or two. The bread is sprouted and yeast free so it's easy to digest. The nutrition facts are amazing. Per 2 slices: 190 calories, 4g fat, 10g fiber, 14g protein! You should really try this bread!

For a sweet ending I had a bowl of cantaloupe. Sweet and juicy. I love melons because they are low calorie so you can eat a lot! This whole bowl was only 75 calories.

I also had 2 small Hershey Bliss chocolates.

I still have somethings to do tonight. I need to try and get some studying done for my independent learning nutrition course, pack tomorrow's lunch, and prep tomorrow nights dinner. I'm hoping I can still get to bed at a decent time. Night ya'll!