What A Sunday!

Wow, what a day!

Tampa, work, gym, Orlando. I feel like I have my foot in two different cities right now! As you know, this morning I drove back here to go to work at 10:00. When I got here I went to Starbucks for my caffeine hit (tall coffee with splenda and half & half) and went to work. I packed a rather boring lunch but its all I could find in my parent’s kitchen last night that didn’t need to be kept cold because I didn’t have my ice packs. I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and an apple….sometimes I measure out my peanut butter to be 1 tbsp and sometimes I just eyeball. This was one of those “eyeball” it moments. I think it was about a tbsp though. To be honest, I’m rather sick of measuring out everything! Sometimes I get in these kicks where I like to be exact in what I eat to just “know”—–but really, who cares? If you are off, you are probably only off by a calorie or two (if you have been doing it awhile) and that really won’t make or break your waistline AT ALL! Measuring to me is a tad restrictive and I encourage everyone to try a day without it and see how you feel. I feel better already! I think this idea really hit home when I was reading the new Shape magazine and in the beginning “Editor’s Note”, Valerie Latona, the Editor in Chief, wrote:

“The other day, my 3-year-old so resolutely pushed away his half-finished dinner plate and said, ‘I’m full.’ What a novel concept, I thought. How many of us continue to stuff ourselves when a dish just tastes too good to resit—losing tack of that childhood black-and-white sensibility we all used to have—-or mindlessly munch on snacks when we’re stressed, tired, or emotionally spent?….Fruits, vegetables, proteins, grains and other healthy foods are here to fuel our bodies so we can get through the day, run that extra mile, and lift those extra weights. But, somewhere along the way, food has taken on another identity: that of a villain that contributes to weight gain and must be controlled at all costs. By getting back to basics, all of would be a lot slimmer, healthier and happier.” WELL SAID VALERIE!

I’m just like you guys. I don’t want to gain weight…I worry about if my jeans are sometimes too tight on my butt and how my arms look in the mirror. Sometimes I wonder why in the world did I have to eat that extra cookie—I didn’t need it! But….I feel like measuring out every single thing exactly can also become a vicious cycle that won’t improve the situation. I feel (and this is a personal feeling, you don’t have to agree with me or anything I’m blabbing about right now but this is a blog after all!) that it only restricts us more and leads to more negative and anxious feelings! I felt such relief today eating my sandwich knowing its just a peanut butter sandwich….healthy fats combined with whole grains to sustain my body. I didn’t need to smooth out my peanut butter in a plastic tablespoon to get that result. And I know what some of you may think—“yeah, well she has never had a weight problem before; she doesn’t understand!” Well guys, I DO understand! I understand what its like feel like if I just lost five more pounds I would live a happier life. But, thank God, it doesn’t work that way and some way, some how, I finally broke myself out of that negative thinking and evolved into a much more positive, happy way of life (yoga!!)!

Okay…I’m getting off my soapbox now. I hope that didn’t inspire any negative comments to come around. I just like to tell you all how I feel! The calories on my meal can never be completely exact to the fraction of a number…they are just general estimates and should be treated as such. Just so you know!

ANYWAYS! 🙂

Later on at work I tried a new bar that I found at the store (always looking for fun new things!): A Quaker Simple Harvest granola bar. I was skeptical just looking at this, thinking it would be filled with sugar and strange things, but surprisingly it wasn’t at all! I could easily pronounce all the ingredients, which included whole grains and nuts, and it didn’t contain a crazy amount of sugar either. About the same as a Kashi bar, I believe (7 grams). It was tasty but not very filling—I don’t really get filled up by any bar though so I wasn’t expecting it. It was good for the moment though! I also had a clementine, but about 2 hours after the bar.

After I got off work I went immediately to the gym to get a strength workout in. I did pushups, leaping squats on the bosu ball, crunches and various arm exercises for about 30 minutes (I never stay very long! haha!). When I got home I was STARVING! I made the quickest and healthiest dinner I knew how to: a regular college staple! Scrambled tofu with veggies over couscous. 🙂 This isn’t really so much of a “recipe” as it is just dumping things in a skillet that you have on hand! Here’s what I did—and I didn’t measure anything—just eyeballed it all.

I heated up about 1 tsp olive oil in a cast iron skillet. I then sauteed a little chopped onion for a few minutes before adding a minced garlic clove, a large handful of mushrooms and another large handful of frozen sliced bell pepper strips. I let that all cook together for a few minutes (about 5 minutes) before crumbling in about 4 ounces (a block) of tofu. I added a dash of tumeric, some salt and PLENTY of hot sauce and stirred it all together. I served it over a bed of fluffy couscous (I did actually measure this in a measuring cup–1/4 cup dry couscous = 1 serving size). It was great…I like to add parmesan cheese to this but didn’t have any on hand so I went without. Still good though and perfect when you need dinner in a hurry (hey, it’s vegan too!).

I’m sure I’ll be back for dessert later…..

About 445 calories

160 calories

(clementine not pictured!~~total snack= 215 calories with it though)

About 366 calories.

~~Oh, and I know a lot of you all also read my friend Kath’s blog as well. My little “measuring blab” has absolutely NOTHING to do with her blog and how she does things. She’s been getting a ton of unnecessary negativity lately on her comments and just reading people’s cruelty makes me so sad.  I highly respect Kath and think she does an amazing job and she will make a great RD. We keep in touch and I get tons of great ideas from her meals! I read her blog every day! There are many ways to do everything and no one has the “right” way….so I encourage you all to try different methods (calorie counting or not) and see what works for your body. Kath and I merely show two different ways of healthy eating without depriving ourselves.  There is no “right or wrong” because it is different for everyone! 🙂