I Just Ate a Days Worth of Calories…

IN ABOUT AN HOUR!!

No joke! Today hasn’t been he greatest food day for me from the start.

Breakfast was an oatmeal pancake (with chocolate chips) and a glass of skim milk.

My morning snack, before hitting the gym for my Skinny Jeans Workout, was an Eat Clean Chocolate Hazelnut Crispy Square – which I whipped up this morning along with a pan of regular rice krispie squares (recipe to follow).

Lunch was a Turkey Chipotle Sandwich from Tim Horton’s.

Afternoon snack was another Eat Clean Chocolate Hazelnut Crispy Square.

Dinner was half of a McCains Ultra Thin Crust Chicken and Red Pepper Pizza.

Really, up to that point it wasn’t too bad, but 8 o’clock hit and I was crazy hungry. It was all down hill from there!

I started out with a few PC Mini Chocolate Eggs, which quickly turned into a small up full – about 300 calories!

And ANOTHER Eat Clean Chocolate Hazelnut Crispy Square – about 180 calories

Then I had a bowl of Red Pepper and Garlic Tostitos – about 220 calories

And then another bowl….another 220 calories

With a can of Coke – another 140 calories!

Yep, I’d say that’s close to a whole days calories in about an hour! Can you say DISGUSTING!!!

Back on track tomorrow….AGAIN!

Three Things Thursday…

1. My Fitness Pal – I absolutely LOVE this app! If you are at all interested in improving your health, then this app is for you! It is a diet and exercise log that has the most extensive database ever! It tracks your progress, allows you to connect with friends, and has a ‘news feed’ that highlights the accomplishments of you and your friends. It has a web component and you can sink it with Facebook and twitter. It’s available for iPad, iPhone, Android and Blackberry and the best part…it’s FREE!

Do you keep a diet and exercise log? What tool(s) do you use?

2. My Training Schedule – since stating the Skinny Jeans Challenge almost 2 weeks ago, my training schedule no longer has rest days, and I’m starting to feel it. My current training schedule looks like this:

Monday – 30 minute personal training session

Tuesday – Intensity workout – tempo/hills/speed/interval running

Wednesday – Cross Training -BodyAttack

Thursday – 4 mile run

Friday – 30 minute personal training session

Saturday – Long run

Sunday – Cross Training – BodyAttack

My original thought was that a 30 minute personal training session would not have much of an impact on my body and that I would be able to continue on as is…wow, was I wrong! After the first 3 sessions, I must admit that I have been sore for at least a day, more like two after each workout. This makes Tuesday’s hill and Wednesday’s cross training difficult, as well as Saturday’s long run following Friday’s workout. So, I need to figure out what I’m going to get rid of and how I’m going to hang in for 8 more weeks of marathons training.

Any suggestions?

3. It’s Me Time! – This Saturday I am leaving the kids at home with my husband (for the first time) and going Scrapbooking for the day. I can’t wait! I am looking forward to having some me time, hanging out with my sister and Scrapbooking. What makes it even better is that it’s a pot luck lunch…so many yummy things to eat! From what I’ve seen, the menu looks pretty good, I should be able to make some healthy choices. I’m bringing Skinny Coconut Cupcakes, Ryan and I will be baking them tomorrow afternoon so check out tomorrows post for more info 🙂 Here’s a little teaser!

Dinner Sharesies

It seems like few breakfasts (besides the oatmeal pancake) actually give me the energy I need to feel great for my entire morning workout. Well, I can now add the Eat Clean Bake-Ahead Breakfast Quiche to that very short list. Not only were they super easy to make, they were AWESOME and I felt great through the whole BodyAttack class this morning. Check out yesterday’s post (Hills and Fish….Don’t Love Either) for the recipe – they are de-lish!!

So, after the gym I headed home, fed Tanner, threw some snacks in the diaper bag, and Tanner and I went to the movies! Yep, mommy and baby movies – we went to see The Hunger Games! This was exciting for a couple of reasons…one, I haven’t been to the movies in f.o.r.e.v.e.r – I think the last movie I saw was Cowboys and Aliens (I know, brutal!), and two, I absolutely LOVED the book and really, really, really, wanted to see the movie 🙂 It was great!

Tanner was awesome throughout the whole movie…some would say he wasn’t much of a date, but after his little nap, he actually watched!

Have you seen The Hunger Games? What did you think of it?

After the movie, we had a bit of time to waist before picking up my daughter. It was at this point that I realized I had no idea what we were going to have for dinner. We headed to the grocery store, and left empty-handed….nothing caught my eye. So, feeling incredibly lazy, I decided I would just pull a Delissio Pizza out of the freezer and that would have to do.

But….when I picked my daughter up, her daycare provider handed me a little Tupperware container…inside was a stuffed pepper!! This is what I am now calling ‘dinner sharesies’! This morning I gave her leftovers from our dinner last night, since she is a fish lover, and I am not,  I hoped she might enjoy what was left of our Tilapia Stuffed Baked Manicotti. She also had leftovers from her dinner last night and thought I might like to try it. Well, we both absolutely loved each others leftovers and got away with not making dinner…sweet deal! We have decided it would be nice to do ‘dinner sharesies’ once a week. WooHoo!

Don’t you agree that there is only so many times you can eat something as leftovers? Why not trade them with a friend? 🙂

Hills and Fish…Don’t Love Either!

Today’s workout according to my Half Marathon Training Schedule is 5 hills 😦 I really have no idea how to run hills on a treadmill, so I stuck with the same format as last week, and just added one hill. After a 1 mile warm-up, I did 5 hills at a pace of 5.5 mph and an incline of 15 (the highest the treadmill will go). I don’t think hills that steep actually exist in this world, so I’m thinking I will be good and ready for any hills that pop up on race day.With a 2 minute rest (walking) after each hill, I actually didn’t feel too bad! I finished the run off with a 1 mile cool down and called it a day!

After the gym, it was time to get cooking! If you checked out this weeks Motivational Monday post, you would know that I desperately need to clean up my eating! Today I made two things from the March 2011 issue of Clean Eating Magazine: Easy Make-Ahead Breakfast Quiche (p. 24) and Baked Manicotti Bundles (p. 72).

I figured I’d make the quiches to have for breakfast tomorrow and to have for snacks over the next couple of days. I haven’t tried them yet, but they sure look yummy! They were very quick and easy to make: saute red and yellow peppers and green onion (the recipe called for mushrooms…yuck!), put in bottom of ramekin, cover with lightly beaten egg, top with goat cheese and a sprinkle of parm and put in the oven at 350 for 25 minutes.

The Baked Manicotti Bundles are stuffed with tilapia and mozzerella cheese. I’m kinda surprised I made these since I’m not a big fan of fish, but since its so good for you, I thought I’d give it a try.

All things considered, these weren’t too bad! If you actually like fish, you will probably love them! They did however, take a little more work to prepare, but overall were pretty easy to make.

Click here to see the recipe.

So, today’s hill workout actually got me thinking a little bit about the race. It’s 2 months away to the day, and I have no idea what the route is like. My main concern: hills! Is it a hilly route? Here’s the elevation map – check out that hill…ya, I’m talking about the one that starts at km 11 and peaks just before km 14….YIKES! Hill training is a must! Have you ever done hill training on a treadmill? I’d love to know how to do it properly!

Motivational Monday and Weekend Review

This weeks Motivational Monday is a selfish one…. I totally need motivation to get back on track with my eating. I can honestly say I ate my way through the weekend, and really, there were times when it wasn’t pretty!

I know I’ve mentioned before how carefree my husband is when it comes to what he eats, well, that combined with my lack of willpower, made for some pretty poor food choices this weekend.

Saturday. Knowing I was heading to the gym for a 7 mile run, I started the day with an oatmeal pancake and glass of skim milk. Not bad considering I really felt like it was going to take a lot to help me get through those 7 miles. I was crazy sore from Friday’s Skinny Jeans Workout and super tired because my son was up all night…literally, ALL night!

I think this was the worst run I’ve had since starting my training. I pretty much struggled through every mile, and dreaded all 77 minutes of it! Good thing I made those yummy granola bars on Friday, they (yes…I had 2 post-run!) totally made me feel better!

Since I had survived my run and burned a ton of calories (totally ignoring the fact that I just replaced about 500 by eating those two granola bars), I was totally on board when my husband suggested McDonald’s for lunch. I chose a Quarter Pounder meal with medium fries and a coke. The fries and coke were soooo yummy, but I think I’d rather have a Big Mac over a Quarter Pounder. Anyways, 1035 calories later, I didn’t feel at all guilty about the meal 🙂

At least one day on the weekend we try to have “family naptime” at our house. Usually when my daughter Ryan goes down for a nap, my husband and I try to sneak one in too. It’s not as easy now that we have Tanner, but we brought him in bed with us, and 3 hours later, we got up! It was awesome! First nap I’ve had in a long time! And to top it off, I woke up to a dinner invite at my sister’s house 🙂

Dinner was de-lish! Since my sister is also trying to eat healthier, she made Eat Clean Buffalo Chicken Salad (check out her blog for recipes & cooking instructions – mypursuitofhappinessandskinnyjeans.wordpress.com). Dinner was super healthy and the Corona I had was super yummy!

Sunday. Usually Sunday mornings I get up with the kids, have breakfast and go to BodyAttack at the gym. This past Sunday we our got off to a slow start and I sort of felt like I could use the rest so we didn’t go 😦 Kind of a Bummer! It’s the first workout I’ve missed since starting this blog. Anyways, we had some running around to do before family came over for the afternoon and dinner. And guess where we ate lunch….yep, you guessed it…McDonald’s….AGAIN! Two days in a row…YUCK! This time I only had a McBistro BLT, it was good, but I would have preferred to eat something a little healthier!

I think since I had only the sandwich for lunch, I totally threw off my eating for the day. I was soooo hungry all afternoon that I pretty much ate anything I could get my hands on! I had two giant bowls of Tostitos, a Coke, 2 homemade Granola Bars, a Corona….all before dinner!

Dinner was an open-faced (on garlic french bread) Pulled-Pork sandwich, with sweet potato fries and onion rings. Not so healthy, but really, really, good! After dinner I was stuffed!

But if you know me at all, you know that dessert is my favourite meal! Good thing my sister brought over Eat Clean Chocolate Banana Frozen Pie – again, check out her blog, she posted the recipe 🙂 At least I finished off the day with something on the healthy side!

So, ya, not the best weekend in terms of healthy eating. Time to get back on track! Here is my motivation!

I’ve been working pretty hard at the gym to get in shape and lose the baby weight. Now it’s time to work hard in the kitchen!

How do you get back on track after a day, or weekend, of poor eating?

Fun Friday!

Happy Friday everyone!

Originally Friday was a rest day for me in my training schedule, but not anymore (will write more about that soon)… Friday’s are now Skinny Jeans Challenge workouts with my personal trainer Kari. Today’s workout was great! It’s crazy how hard I work and how much I sweat in just 30 minutes!

Today we did another circuit style workout…a quick 2 minute warm-up and then right at it! 30 second bursts of 4 different exercises with no rest between exercises. Once all 4 exercises were done it was time for a quick water break, and I mean quick…only 1 minute! Back to it with a second and third set of those same exercises, with drink breaks between each set. After that we switched up the exercises and did it two more times. Crazy fast, crazy intense, crazy effective! I loved it!

Home from the gym to have some lunch – leftover Eat Clean Spinach and Turkey Sausage Pizza (see Hill Training and Eat Clean Pizza post for recipe) – put my daughter down for her nap, and spent some quality time working on getting my son to take a bottle…..SUCCESS!!!

My daughter Ryan is home with me in Thursdays and Fridays and we usually try to bake something at least one of those two days. So, after nap time it was time to make a yummy treat – Chocolate Chip Granola Bars. I followed a recipe that my friend Meagan posted on her blog Megified (you should check it out, she ‘cleans’ up some of your favorite recipes).

With our ingredients all set out, we were ready to go!

Add some ingredients and stir it up…

Almost done…

Pat it into the pan, and put it in the oven.

Taaadaaa

Yummy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars.

And not to bad for you either… 1/16 of the recipe is:

258 calories, 7 grams of fat, 46 grams of carbs, and 4 grams of protein.

Great for after a workout, or anytime! I might even have one mid-run tomorrow as I tackle another 7 miles 🙂

Three Things Thursday

Today is the beginning of my Three Things Thursday! A weekly blog entry about three random things. This weeks random things are:

1. Yesterday I had my first massage since I had my son Tanner at the beginning of January. Today, I am ridiculously sore! I know there were a few knots here and there that needed to be worked out, but man, I didn’t expect to hurt this much! I think I might take an Epsom salts bath!

2. Tonight before heading to bed, I am going to attempt to make crockpot oatmeal. I’ve heard good things about it, but have been hesitant to try it because I don’t want to be eating it forever! For some reason I have it in my head that it makes a ton!

3. Today is apparently the last day this beautiful summer weather 😦 As I sit outside on the deck and write this blog, it is a gorgeous 22 degrees Celsius. I hope my husband gets home from work early enough to enjoy a beer with me on the deck after the kids are in bed. I am so ready for summer! Bring on the heat!

Hill Training and Eat Clean Pizza

Today was the first time I’ve run hills in a LONG time! And the first time I’ve ever done hills on a treadmill!

Feeling a little tired and sore from yesterday’s workout, I started out with a 1 mile warm-up at a nice comfy pace of 5.5 mph. After the warm-up it was time for the ‘hills’ so I jacked the treadmill up to an incline of 15 and gave’er for 1 minute – talk about tiring!! Then, after a 2 minute walk break, I did it all over again…and again…and again! I finished the workout off with another easy mile and 36 minutes later, I was done! Woo Hoo! Time to get out and enjoy the gorgeous weather!

So after a few hours on the back deck finishing Catching Fire (the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy), it was time to head inside and get started on tonight’s dinner, Eat Clean Spinach and Turkey Sausage Pizza.

So, with the help of my assistant, I get at it!

We stared out sautéing up some turkey sausage that I took out of the casing broke into little chunks.

Then sautéed some spinach in a little olive oil and garlic.

After that,I rolled out the pizza dough that I picked up at our local Nino Da’Versa Bakery.

And added the toppings: 1 cup of diced tomatoes (drained), 6 ounces of sautéed spinach, the 2 sautéed turkey sausage and 3/4 cup of grated mozzarella cheese.

And tossed it in the oven (on the bottom rack) at 450. 20 minutes later it was ready to eat.

Oops, forgot to take the picture before I cut it up and started to serve it! I’m such a rookie!

The pizza was delicious! The recipe was super easy to follow and took very little time to prepare, and there are leftovers for lunch tomorrow…my kinda meal! The only problem was that some of the crust stuck to the pizza stone – I guess I should have greased it or something???

I’ve come to the realization that cooking isn’t so bad if you have time and are prepared. Stay tuned for tomorrows dinner…Eat Clean Tropical Chicken Tacos….Yummo!

What are your favorite Eat Clean recipes? I’m looking for new ideas, so please do share 🙂

 

 

 

 

Skinny Jeans Challenge – Day 1

Today marks the beginning of the Skinny Jeans Challenge at my local gym.

The Skinny Jeans Challenge is a 14 week program involving pre and post challenge assessments (weight, measurements, strength, flexibility, and endurance tests), 2 personal training sessions a week, a challenge success journal, weekly weigh-ins, weekly healthy recipes, motivational emails, and 24 hour email support from the trainer.

At the end of the 14 weeks, prizes will be awarded for highest percentage of weight loss, highest percentage of inches lost, largest percentage of increase in number of push-ups completed, largest increase in percentage of length of plank time completed, and most number of workouts. I have no idea what the prizes are, but I LOOOOOVE prizes!

Before we started today’s workout, I had baseline measurements taken. Despite being only 5 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight, I am so far off in terms of body composition it’s scary! Having my measurements taken was a real eye opener, and definitely serves as a motivator for me to start eating healthier!

I’ve never done personal training before, and I’d have to say it was awesome! Today’s workout was fun and challenging. I can honestly say that if I did that same workout in my own, I would have definitely slacked off, maybe even quit before finishing. Kari (the personal trainer) is super motivating and made sure everyone (there were 5 of us) had a great workout despite varying levels of fitness.

Another part of the Challenge is keeping a food and exercise journal. Writing down what you eat definitely makes you more aware and accountable, but having to show your journal to someone else, wow, holy motivator! I definitely thought about what I put in my mouth today, and I actually sat down and planned healthy meals for the whole week. Tonight’s dinner- pork tenderloin, asparagus and sweet potatoes, and let me tell you, it was super yummy! Looking forward to leftovers for lunch tomorrow….that’s if my husband doesn’t get to it first!

So, ya, that’s the Skinny Jeans Challenge. I’m very much looking forward to Friday’s workout and a week of healthy eating! Stay tuned for weekly updates!

Motivational Monday! Do You Have UMPH?