Saturday, May 22, 2010

Lost the motivation

I kind of don't feel like blogging anymore. I've lost my motivation and it lost its exciting new appeal. I'm going to take a break from it, at least for now.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Failure to adjust my sleep schedule

I've still been getting up between 1-2pm, such a disaster. Last night I considered staying up all night so that I would fall asleep earlier tonight. I stayed up until 6 am but then ended up going to bed. I ruined it! I start my internship on Tuesday so I need to fix this, I will have to be leaving the house around 8:15-8:30 in the morning so there is no way I can continue this cycle.

Yesterday when I got up I of course wasn't hungry right away. I eventually had a plain Chobani with some Muesli mixed in, topped with blueberries and cinnamon. YUMMY! I had a half a cup of coffee on the side just because it had been a while and I wanted the taste.



Some of my afternoon was spent out in the sun reading the new Health and Self magazines that arrived. Then I got an urge to make muffins so using the frozen blueberries that we've had for a while I made some Blueberry Orange muffins. Yeah I threw in some orange zest to spice it up a little. When I bake I tend to put in the least amount of sugar and the most amount of healthy pantry ingredients I can find. They definitely don't come out sticky sweet but I am fine with that, it's everyone else that I'm pretty sure thinks whatever I bake is gross. I admit the Carrot Oatmeal cookies last month didn't turn out very well but hey that is what experimentation is about. As for my muffins, I really like them so here are the ingredients:
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup oats
  • 1/4 cup flaxseed meal
  • 1 scoop protein powder
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • zest of 1 orange
  • 1 single serve unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/2 cup 2% plain Chobani (would have used nonfat but I have to use up the 2%)
  • 2 egg whites
  • splash of vanilla extract
  • 1 cup frozen blueberries
Baked for 20 minutes at 375 degrees. Ta-da!



I had to taste test one of course hehe. I also had another for dessert later on : )

Dinner was some leftover salmon with black beans and brown rice. I like to eat fish more than twice a week so I usually split it up into smaller 3-4 oz portions so I can have it more times. Works fine for me!


Snack monster throughout the night (keep in mind I was up until 6!) Glass of nonfat milk, then a mini whole wheat bagel with Teddie Unsalted P.B. topped with some Craisins, then later a light mini Babybel. Not too bad considering. A day lacking in veggies though. I just seem to be craving carbs and dairy lately and it's hard for me to want a salad in the middle of the night, ya know?



Thursday, May 20, 2010

Nighttime Snacker

Alright I have a SERIOUS problem. I am such a nighttime snacker! I just can't seem to stop myself. Yesterday I at least managed to get up a little earlier, at a whopping 1 pm...... While watching DAYS, my breakfast/lunch was an arepa w/ american cheese and low sodium ham. Not exactly the healthiest but I haven't had one in a really long time.

I can't even remember what I did yesterday. Must have not been very important......We didn't really have much food in the house yesterday before peapod delivered later in the evening so my bf wanted to go check out a restaurant that one of his friends goes to all the time. It's called Bamboo and it's in Dedham. It was alright, nothing special for a Chinese /Japanese place. It was extremely clean though which was nice. We ordered crab rangoons for appetizers and then split a plate of lemon chicken and a side of house fried rice. I am really not a huge fan of any of the fried rices mostly just because I don't like things mixed in. I would much rather just eat plain rice on the side.





I did manage to complete some assignments for my classes but I still have a lot to do before next week. I was lucky that I doubled checked one thing though because apparently even though the essay is due Monday, a discussion post needed to be submitted by 11 last night. I saw that at 10:30......I was definitely panicked but I managed to submit it on time.

While working I made a snack of a plain Chobani with blueberries and the last of my maple cocoa nibs. They changed the color of the nonfat plain from pink to blue! I liked the pink better :( I scooped it out into a bowl though so you can't see that here.


This is where the problem starts. I stay up so late that I just keep getting hungry. After midnight I ended up having some ice cream and wheat thins. Serious snacking issues here. I already know my solution is to start going to bed earlier. I really need to do that because I hate wasting the day now. I was doing so well adjusting my schedule before and now it's all messed up again! It's very frustrating....

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Summer classes

I have not been keeping up with the photo taking or anything. It's been pretty bad. I came back to Boston last Thursday afternoon and basically didn't have internet until yesterday so I just didn't keep track of basically anything. I went to the movies over the weekend and saw Robin Hood, it wasn't that good. I'd give it 5 or 6 out of 10. Pizza, chips, donuts. Lot of junk food, staying up all night and sleeping all day. I'm set to get back on track though.

Today started out super duper late around 3. I rushed off to school so I could get to the parking office before it closed even though my class didn't start til 5:30. My packed supply of food ended up being a Kashi granola bar, a bag of grapes, and a smartpop popcorn. I accidentally burned the popcorn  though so I only ended up eating about half. Not really the best mix of foods but it's what I could grab running out the door.

My summer classes are Advanced Topics in Preventive Nutrition (Tues. & Thurs. nights for only 6 weeks) and online Global Health Promotion for 12 weeks. Tonight's preventive nutrition class started out with the best quote: "Genes load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger" I really like that one. Most of the class we went over nutrition for pregnancy. I can't wait for the whole marriage & babies scenario! Everyone always says that is ridiculous for someone my age (22) but I just can't help myself. I'm old for my age I guess.

When I got home I was surprised to find some dinner leftover for me! I had a small piece of cod and some lentil soup which was definitely a better laid out meal than everything else I ate today. I've got Chobani on the brain for my nighttime snack. Class is canceled for Thursday so no more class for the week but lots of homework to do. I've got to remember to bring my camera with me all the time now too. Blogging is a lot harder than I thought it would be!

Monday, May 17, 2010

Technical Difficulties

I was having some internet issues over the past week but I'm up and running now. I won't cover everything but I will start posting again later!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Cleaning and Procrastination

This morning I went grocery shopping with my mom. I sipped on a coffee with nonfat milk and Truvia on the way there. For the sales we made several different stops. Mid trip I grabbed a banana right after it went on the scanner LOL I didn't even wait for us to take the groceries out of the store! At Price Chopper I showed my mom the NuVal scores and got her to "trade up" some items, including spaghetti sauce. d

We got home and only missed a couple minutes of DAYS. I'm a little disappointed with the daytime emmy nominations but I'm stoked that James Scott is nominated for outstanding lead actor! I really hope he wins it :) Lunch was leftover stir fry and brown rice. Yeah there was still some of that left, ugh. No one else is eating it so I figured I should try to finish it up.

My dad wanted oatmeal raisin cookies so I modified the recipe on the oat box. With no specific measurements the ingredients included
  • quick rolled oats
  • oat bran flour
  • 50/50 whole wheat & white flour
  • baking soda
  • cinnamon
  • 1 egg + 1 white
  • canola oil
  • honey
  • brown sugar
  • almond extract
  • walnuts
  • raisins
  • nonfat milk
I think that was everything. My dad didn't complain about how they turned out so that is good. Though he did mention wanting maple syrup.....I just don't know haha. I ended up eating 4 of those cookies today! I also had a granny smith apple for a snack.

Dinner was a turkey burger on a whole wheat bun with onion, tomato, and avocado along with a side of sweet potato fries. I only ate about 3/4 of my burger though because it kept falling apart and I got annoyed.

Cleaning for today included giving Lena a bath and finally cleaning up my room. I still have to clean up all the dog hair in the bathroom so my dad doesn't throw a fit hehe

I'm heading back to Boston in the morning! I will finally get to properly charge my phone and my camera battery! OMG, my other dilema.....last night I took the battery out of my phone and then when I turned it back on it asked for my lock code! I set it when I first got the phone just playing around and now I have no idea what it is. I tried every combination I can think of but it is useless. Ugh....So now my boyfriend is going to try to fix it when I get back to Boston. It's just one thing after another I swear!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Bottomless Pit

After dinner last night  I felt like a bottomless pit. Granted I eat dinner around 6 and stay up till sometime between midnight and 2 am so usually I need a snack but last night was ridiculous. I had a small bowl of muesli with nonfat milk, then a piece of mint dark chocolate, then 2 laughing cow cheese wedges with reduced fat triscuits, then finally another piece of dark chocolate. I've kind of had the that constantly hungry feeling today too.

To top it off I am also camera-less right now because I forgot to bring my charger home. I forgot both my cell phone and my camera charger. Not cool.

Breakfast this morning was a very large cup of coffee with Truvia and nonfat milk. I wasn't very hungry, probably from all the snacks the night before. My SIL brought my nephew over for me to babysit for a little while. My car was still at the shop so I couldn't go anywhere anyway. First words out of his mouth at 10 in the morning were "can I have some candy?" UH NO! haha. I did end up giving him a popsicle eventually LOL.

After he was picked back up, I made breakfast for lunch.
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1 cup nonfat milk
  • 1 banana
  • cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup blueberries
  • squeeze of honey
Even with my usually filling meal, I felt hungry shortly after. I held out for a while and then made a version of ants on a log. I cut up 3 celery sticks, filled in with some Teddie unsalted p.b. and put on some dried cherries because we didn't have any raisins!

Dinner was a beautiful creation of a walnut and herb crusted mahi mahi. Sides included a white bean and tomato mix and sauteed zucchini. Then again with the hunger! I first had a Edy's Lemonade popsicle and then a granny smith apple. I'm hoping that I don't feel the need to have anything else for the night, especially since I've been a lazy bum and haven't been working out like I should. Besides eating I don't think I accomplished anything today. I need to get back on a set schedule....

Grocery shopping with  mi madre in the morning, something to look forward to!

Monday, May 10, 2010

A Busy Mother's Day

Mother's day started with breakfast at the Taghkanic Diner with my parent's and my brother and sister-in-law. We used to go to the diner for breakfast after church all the time when I was in high school but since my church has moved around since we really haven't gone there in a while. I forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures, it was too early for me to function quite yet :) I had an order of the sweet potato pancakes (it came with 3) and a fruit bowl on the side with a cup of coffee.

After breakfast we had a little break before we headed up to my great-grandmother's for lunch. Lots and lots of family were there and it was nice to see everyone. They all wanted to know what I was going to do for the summer so I pretty much said the same story over and over lol. Over the early afternoon I had two glasses of red wine - a Cabernet - and a sampling plate of some of the different dishes. There was a ton of food. Meatballs, Pepperoni, Rolls, Turkey, Ham, Potato Salad, Macaroni Salad, Baked Ziti, Baked Beans...I can't remember much else. But I realized that no one made any vegetables or salad. What a sad sad day for me. There were also cookies and brownie sundaes for dessert.




I also snapped a wonderful photo of my great-grandmother and my cousin's baby - the oldest (95 yrs) and youngest (6 months) of the family.


Towards the end of the afternoon we headed over to my other grandparent's house to visit with them for a little while. I was talking with my grandma about family and travel and found out something very interesting. My family on my paternal grandmother's side came to Canada from France in 1650 and it was my grandmother's parents who first came to NY from Canada. My grandma is into genealogy which is really cool.

For dinner I had vanilla Chobani with Muesli and strawberries (no pic) and then later on I snacked on a smashed avocado with baby carrots and celery. I finished up the avocado with a couple of baked tortilla chips too.



This morning I had an appointment to get my other cat Snickers checked out. She's been pulling out the hair at the base of her tail and I could tell she lost some weight. So we pulled some blood and I will have the results in a few days.  She did lose 1.2 lbs since last May which is pretty significant for a cat but she has no lumps, bumps, or lesions so that is good. Plus she has a ridiculous appetite so I'm just hoping it's a thyroid issue. Breakfast on the way to the vet was a Special K Protein Shake.


When I got home I dropped the cat off and immediately headed back out to bring my car to the autoshop. My service engine light has been going on and off for a month plus my inspection is due so it basically needs a full workup. I'm car-less right now and it's sad :( I hope it's ready by tomorrow. Luckily my mom was free to bring me back home.

Lunch was my cup of coffee (FINALLY!) with nonfat milk and Truvia, a flax-apple muffin, and a large salad w/ spinach, shredded red cabbage, shredded carrots, cucumber, and a packet of salmon. I didn't quite finish the salad but close enough.




I tried cleaning the house some more for my mom this afternoon but I didn't get much done besides dusting. The vacuum was just way too loud for me LOL. I had a pre-dinner glass of nonfat milk with a squirt of hershey's syrup. I like the dark chocolate variety but we didn't have that right now so it was just the original.


Me, being the good daughter that I am, peeled the potatoes for my mom to help out before she got home. I ended up making the mashed potatoes while she cooked the steak out on the grill. I have absolutely no idea how to use a grill. Add that to my list of things I need to learn. The potatoes turned out good (we always use skim milk and I added some chives and garlic powder for flavor).


My room REALLY needs to be cleaned too. But I have until I go back to Boston on Thursday to do that hehe. Not really sure what I'm doing with the rest of my night. Maybe go for a walk but the wind has been ridiculous. I'm not a fan. Also not a fan of the cold weather right now. Record low for tomorrow morning will be 29 degrees. Ugh. I hope my garden is okay out at my boyfriend's house. I also have to make sure he's been watering it for me.....

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Photographics Solution

Yesterday afternoon was so beautiful I decided to take full advantage. Happy Clown (our local ice cream shop) opened up for the season and I wanted to get something while I was home for the week. So I leashed up Lena and took her for a walk. Unfortunately I made the horrible decision of wearing my flip flops for the roughly 5 mile round trip and ended up with blisters on the bottoms of my feet. I purchased a vanilla kiddie cone for Lena and I, though I must admit I did eat most of it...and even though I brought my camera, I couldn't really snap a picture with a leash in one hand and the cone in the other. I guess I should have gotten a dish. Here is a pic of Happy Clown though.


After I got home I decided to make dinner since my mom was working the afternoon shift. I made chicken stir fry with brown rice.
  • chicken breast cut into cubes
  • carrots
  • red bell pepper
  • broccoli
  • water chestnuts
  • pineapple
  • rice vinegar
  • low sodium soy sauce
I didn't think my mom had any ginger so I didn't add any. I found out later that she really did but oh well it still tasted fine to me. You can't see it in the picture but there is some brown rice under there.


This morning my brother asked me to help him out with his Mother's day photoshoots. He's an amazing photographer. If you don't believe me just check out his website www.photographicssolution.com. Before I left breakfast was a repeat of yesterday. Coffee, Vanilla Chobani, Muesli, and Strawberries. Lunch was really just a snack I grabbed at the convenience store down the street from the studio. I drank some nonfat milk and had a GoLean Crunch bar to hold me over til I would have a real lunch later in the afternoon.



I ended up leaving the studio early to go get a Mother's day card and present for my mom. I know I'm so last minute! When I got home I just had leftover stir fry and brown rice, followed by green tea and an orange and almond dark chocolate bar. Yum Yum!



While having my delicious late afternoon treat, I checked through the mail and look who's on the cover of Prevention: "Dr. Lisa Cuddy"!!! I love House, it's one of my fav shows, though I really wish Kal Penn never left. He's so funny!


My parent's went out to a 50th birthday party tonight so I was just going to relax and hang out by myself for the night. I ended up scrubbing and cleaning out the refrigerator though because it SERIOUSLY needed it. Just a little extra Mother's day present for my super awesome mama. It took me like 3 hours and I only did the refrigerator side. I was so exhausted and starving I never even made it to the freezer side but I don't think that side is too bad. I was feeling pretty crumby so I downed a glass of grape juice to up my blood sugar quick. Then I ate a hard boiled egg to hold me over until I could decide on what I really wanted to eat.



After all that cleaning of the fridge I really wasn't in the mood to prepare anything and I already had the leftover stir fry earlier so I headed to the basement to see what frozen meals we had. It was either enchiladas or stir frys haha. I ended up choosing the beef and broccoli lean cuisine because it had the lowest sodium of all my choices. I still paired it with a large glass of water and a banana for dessert.


My parent's are still out partying the night away. How sad for me haha. I hate being home alone at night though, no matter where I am living at the moment. (I had a complete breakdown in my Worcester apartment 2 years ago when my boyfriend went back to Boston and I was left alone. I thought someone was going to break in and attack me for sure. I think I have some issues lol) So now I am home alone but this time at my parent's house in the middle of the country. No one is even close to coming here yet I still jump at every little sound. It doesn't help that there are like tornado gust winds outside. I'm such a pansy sometimes really.

I guess I'll just head to bed, after I get done watching Betty White on SNL that is! Goodnight!

Friday, May 7, 2010

Cinco de Mayo y Mas

Well I decided to wait a little while to post because I didn't want to have more short, boring ones. However, I think I waited too long this time....Here goes.

Tuesday 

I tried studying all afternoon and night but I kept getting distracted and just didn't really feel like doing it. I wanted it to be over already. I made an omelot in the afternoon. Spinach, garlic, and reduced fat cheese.


I also got REALLY distracted when my boyfriend wanted me to go to downtown crossing to see Gumball 3000. It's some sort of race with really expensive cars that is usually over in Europe but this time they started over there and then flew the cars over here. We waited around for about 2 hours and the cars never showed up. We found out later on that they landed in Maine for some reason and were driving down to Boston so instead of being there at 6 when it was scheduled they arrived at like 10. We at at UFood and I got the Turkey Burger with Unfries. Then it was back to studying.....

Wednesday (Cinco de Mayo!)

I had my MNT/Pathophysiology final at 9AM. I ate a slice of whole wheat bread with peanut butter to hold me over during the exam. Surprisingly I think it went okay. I was worried because I was having a hard time concentrating on studying. When I got up I made real breakfast for lunch. I had gotten this free sample at the MDA conference last month so I finally made it. I used nonfat milk instead of water and then added some raw almonds and craisins at the end. It was quite creamy and I enjoyed it a lot.



I was going to head home right away but I decided to cuddle up and watch a movie with my boyfriend, have a little QT before we were apart for a week. Then I had a 3 hour drive ahead of me! Luckily we were having a Cinco de Mayo party at my Sis-in-law's so I had something to look forward to. I made the guac and brought baked tortilla chips. We also had taco pie, regular tacos, and margaritas!







It was a great night hanging out with my brothers and my sisters-in-law and my nephew. He is the cutest little boy. Quotes of the night: "Are you ready for this!" and "Welcome to Georgia!"

Thursday

Look how cute my puppy is! My baby Lena LOVES her tennis ball. And yes she is allowed on the furniture. She is very spoiled hehe.


 I slept in A LOT yesterday. Woke up around lunchtime so I finished up the guac with some baked tortilla chips. Really yesterday was a whole lot of nothing for me. I didn't have anything that needed to be accomplished so I just didn't do anything for once. It was nice. Well I did do a bunch of laundry. It was so windy I almost lost one of my good dresses off the clothesline! Dinner was chicken enchiladas with whole wheat wraps and black beans and a little cheese (I convinced my mom she didn't need to put on more, which she was going to do! She gets so mad at my food inputs sometimes haha), topped with some lite sour cream and on the side was some steamed broccoli.


 My mom also cut out a recipe for whole wheat-flax apple muffins. It was on the back of a box of flaxseed she bought.
  • 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 3/4 cup oat bran flour
  • 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup nonfat milk
  • 2 tbsp canola oil
  • 1 1/2 cup chopped apples
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Baked at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. They came out a little dry so I think next time I will add a little more milk. I also sprinkled some rolled oats on the top before baking to make them look more fancy.


 

 For my nighttime snack I ended up having a muffin and a banana with some Teddie Unsalted Smooth Peanut Butter on the side and a glass of milk.


 I used last night to catch up on a bunch of shows I was behind on. Fringe, House, ANTM.....

Friday (Today)

I was conveniently woken up by my nephew at 8 this morning. My brother dropped him off for my mom to babysit for a couple hours. "Aunt Chrissy, Are you up?"....."I am now" hahaha. I downed 2 cups of coffee with nonfat milk and Truvia. For breakfast I had 1/2 cup vanilla Chobani with 1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Muesli and a side of 3 large strawberries diced up.




 Then it was off to my hair appt! For summer, I got some highlights ;) Not that great of a picture though. I HATE taking pictures of myself in a mirror like that. I'm not a big fan of having my picture taken at all really so I don't have many LOL


 When I got home I made a salad with what I could find in the veggie drawer. The spinach smelled awful so I ended up using iceberg lettuce as my base. I don't ever use iceberg if I don't have to because it has the least nutritional bang. I threw on some carrots, red bell pepper, and celery and then a hefty scoop of guac my mom made last night. The avocado wasn't ready though so it wasn't creamy and smooth but more choppy. I also had an apple muffin with Teddie PB.



 Spending the afternoon with my pup pup! Sorry for such a long post!