2 halves

I feel semi strange posting the second half of my day from yesterday and this morning together. But that is what I have got for you. Together they aren't too long, kind of seem to be just the right length, however on their own they seem too short. And really, I don't want to make two posts today one right after the other.

I will recap starting with breakfast today and going back to yesterdays snack and dinner.

This mornings breakfast was really good. This I believe is mainly due to the over ripe nectarine I threw in. Green Monster!

2heaping cups in baby spinach, 1cup almond milk, 1/2 royal gala apple, 1whole nectarine, 5 strawberries, 1/2 banana & 2 tsp ground flax.

Just looking at the picture makes me want to have another. For more ideas as to making your own Green Monster, check out Angela's recipes here and for even more recipes check out the Green Monster's readers recipes here.

After my morning breakfast, I was zooming off to the gym for spin class. Now you may remember me talking about my struggles with the new/old instructor Joe (if not check out Tuesday's post). Joe has been teaching Thursday classes since I have started my early morning work outs, however just recently took over Tuesday morning spin from Allison. I didn't burn nearly as many calories in Tuesday's class, and generally never burnt all that many in Thursday's classes (compared to Allison's). Today I was determined to work hard and feel the burn!

Throughout the class I kept looking at my HRM, and not seeing the calories being burnt as quickly as I would have liked. I pushed myself hard, harder than I would have had I not set a goal for myself. I reached my goal of 400 calories burnt in spin class and was happy.

After spin class, I grabbed my Ipod and headed out to the gym floor. I did some leg work and worked my abs through some crunches and lots of planks! I am happy to report that I am starting to see some (though minor) definition in my abs that I am looking to achieve.

My stomach was telling me very loudly in the car ride to work that it needed food. I was determined however to hold out until 9am before eating my morning snack. This was simply because I didn't want to eat it at 8:30 and then be hungry before lunch hour at work. I didn't pack as many snacks with me today to work, as (HAPPY DANCE) I get to eat dinner at home tonight, no additional work after work! Luckily my coworker came into my office and we chatted for a good 15 minutes, which really helped the time pass.

9:10am came and I made a bee line for the work mini fridge. Grabbed my mini breakfast cookie for snack. To make this I made a whole breakfast cookie and just split it into two small Tupperware containers, hence the mini.

1/3cup of oats, 2 tbsp nut butter (I used almond), 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds 1tbsp sunflower seeds, 1/2 tbsp chia seeds & sesame seeds, 1/8 cup raisins, 2 tbsp goji berries & 1/2 banana.

My coworker came back into my office and chatted with me about an orientation session we plan on holding for next years university internship students, so I didn't just plough through this snack I was able to savour it and feel full after having it.

Yesterday, well I left off with my lunch and a cheese string snack. I left the rest of my snack to be eaten at my second job so that I wouldn't be tempted by all the chcocolately treats.

6 baby carrots, 3 stalks of celery and 1/3 red peppers with garlic hummus.

Last night, for dinner I had the last of my Chickpea, Tomato, Edamame and Couscous meal I had made several days ago.Not the prettiest picture, simply because it was the last of the batch and all the liquidy goodness was at the bottom. Still tasted just fine!

Because I had entered all my meals that I had planned for Wednesday on my food diary, I ended up seeing that I didn't have enough calories to get me through the day. This is another addition I had made to my packed lunch/dinner. I then got thinking. One of my very best friends is down in Florida on a family vaca right now. I have asked her already to bring me back some Chobani yogurt, but I have recently seen lots of Kashi cereals and other goodies on blogs I follow. Lots of these are not sold here in Canada. So I compiled some Kashi items I am going to add to my American Grocery Shopping List.

At work I was weak and had 6 chocolate Easter mini eggs. That's ok though I stayed within my calorie allowance.

WEDNESDAY'S Goals:

1. Swim for 30 mins after muscle moves. - No, swam only for 20 minutes then was exhausted.
2. Stay at or below calories for the day. - Yes
3. Be present, enjoy the moment & slow down. - Yes, did better than Tuesday
4. Go to be between 10 & 10:30pm. - Yes

Total water drank, 12, 8oz glasses.

Total calories burnt, 498.

Total calories eaten, 1,504.

THURSDAY'S Goals

1. Burn 400 calories in spin class.
2. Weight train and ab work after spin class.
3. No late night snacking.
4. Stay below calories.

Back in the pool

Rainy day number two. That is ok, I really don't mind the rain. It's actually good for my hair. I have curly hair and having all that moisture in the air keeps my curl looking healthy. I do not fight my curls anymore, so I embrace the rain. :-D

Here is what I have come to. Because of the busy work schedule I keep, and workouts that I try and keep regular, I have come to needing to plan out my week of foods and just so I know if I am working out too much I have added in my regular workouts that I do weekly. This way I know if, when I add extra workouts in, if I am not getting enough rest. Also with food it helps me to see what I am missing if anything from the food groups, and it helps me stay creative with my meals (well everything except breakfasts, I'm pretty happy with where my breakfasts are).

This is this week (April 5-11)
It's not actually that I couldn't remember what I ate Monday, or that I am trying to hide what I ate (it's posted here on my blog and in my food diary). The truth is, is that I made this up yesterday, and I couldn't be bothered to go back to either and check. 100% lazy! :-D

For breakfast I added a new spin to my breakfast cookie. Pumpkin!

1/3 oatmeal, 1/2 banana, 2tbsp pumpkin, sunflower seeds, 1tbsp raisins, 1tbsp chia and sesame seeds, 1/8cup pumpkin and 2 tbsp cashew butter. Topped with Greek yogurt.

Last night I worked hard on not rushing around to try and get everything completed. I even had time to crack nuts from their shell. I had this portion of my am snack as soon as I got to to work from the gym. I had done 40 mins of hard weights in my muscle moves class, and then swam for 20 minutes. My shoulders were sore and I was literally dragging my butt in the pool after 20 minutes. It was a great workout, I just wish I had more fight in me to have swam longer.

My fresh almonds and walnut.

Around 10:15 my stomach started to growl so I though I should eat my orange I packed to go along with my nuts.

This is one kitchen tool I could never again live without. Its a citrus peeler. I use it always on my oranges and grapefruits. Take the tooth part of it and score your fruit into 1/4's.

Then with nothing but ease peel the orange. It is scored just deep enough to only score the skin, no fruit is punctured.
Enjoy!

I was pretty busy at work doing March's stats. After getting that all done, I was not so much hungry as I knew it was just simply lunch time!

The last of my healthy homemade veggie pizza

I also had packed some yogurt for lunch (I actually had to look for more food to bring with me today to meet my daily required calories). I bulked up my yogurt with some granola.

Blackberry yogurt made even better with some sweet crunchy granola.

I am excited to get work over and done with tonight at my second job, as that means I will have my evenings to myself for the rest of work week. Yippeee!

Have a Happy Hump Day everyone!