Let the Torture Begin!

Today was my first day of pool therapy.  It kicked my butt.  I was ready to call it a day at 1230pm.  I couldn't though - I still had to work.  Not sure why but I kinda had the idea that pool therapy would be like water aerobics.  I was VERY wrong.

For the first 30 min of therapy we did cardio.  We did scissor kicks, flutter kicks, running in place w/ hand weights, running the length of the pool as quick as we can, kick-boarding the length of the pool as quick as possible, side kick-boarding (kind of like a side swimming stroke, but with a kick board) the length of the pool, and then on our backs across the pool and back using only our legs.  Then we repeated the entire thing again. 

The 2nd half of therapy was muscle strengthening (I think.)  They divided us into groups based on our injuries.  My group did running in place, jumping jacks, hops, butt kicks, side steps, side hops, lunges and squats and other similar exercises.  The pool is 5ft deep at the most shallow part - lunges and squats cause you to go under water - its very weird.  Next time I am wearing goggles!!

So I was super tired after that.  I ate lunch in my car because I didn't have time to come home and change before I had to be back to my next work task.  I had to go to the DFAC (pronounced "d-Fac" & meaning dining facility) to help them with their end of year inventory.  So, basically I sat in the dry stock room while the Soldiers counted the items in there and wrote them down - I was there to make sure they were writing down the correct numbers of items and not cheating the system.  It  is required by Army regulation that a dis-interested person be present - today that person was me.  Fun stuff, right?

Now, lets get down to business - Food talk time!!

I tired a few new products today.  First, I tried Strawberry Chobani this morning.

It was very strawberry!  I'm not huge on strawberry but after trying pineapple with my pineapple chobani I wanted to try strawberry w/ strawberries.  Here is a pic of the mess I made (chobani, strawberries and fiber one cereal):

It was good, but I think I will stick with pineapple!!

Next up I tried this Gnu fiber bar:

This bar gets the following rating:  Eat if you are hungry and have nothing else to it.  It really was not bad, but it certainly was not great either.  I will not be purchasing any more.  I do, however, have another flavor, which I shall review once I get in a situation that requires a bar to hold me over.  In this bars defense it was only 140 calories and it does have 12 grams of fiber.

Dinner tonight was something I've been wanting for a week or so now.  Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup:

(Thanks Aunt Kay for the perfect dish set!)  I love this combo and the weather lately has made me want warm comforting food.  I used Progresso High Fiber Tomato Soup and the sandwich is made with double fiber bread (sprayed with I can't believe its not butter) and a slice of low-fat pepper jack cheese.  Yum yum. 

Status update:  Today was day 9 of sticking to the calorie limit recommended by the nutritionist.  It is getting easier to make it on this lower number of calories, but still frustrating sometimes.  Also I am only .6 lbs less than I was the first day of starting this.  Seems like a lot of work for such little results.  Hopefully it will start working soon!


Have a great night everyone.

Acorn Squash

Hey there.  I want to start off by showing you how stylish I was this morning.  We were told to go to PT in this uniform:

PT shirt, PT Shorts and Boots!!  Kinda funny looking, huh?
It's been raining all day today - again.  I think the weather is adversely affecting my leg.  Let me tell you one of the most annoying things that happens with my leg.  Because of the nerve damage that I have my leg goes back and forth being hypersensitive and being numb.  Sometimes when its numb I will have that feeling (thought?) that my leg is itchy - and I reach down to scratch it, but I cannot feel the scratch because its numb.  So, its pointless to scratch, right?  I don't scratch it - when its numb like that I am kinda afraid to touch it because I am not able to tell how much pressure I am putting on it.  The most annoying and confusing part is that I feel the itch but I cannot feel the scratch to make the itch go away.  Anyways - either its this all of a sudden cold and rainy weather that is making my leg go crazy or its the new pain meds not working - I'm trying my best to be patient and wait it out to see.

Tomorrow I get to start pool therapy!!  Its on our sister post - Pope Air Force Base.  They say its a very hard workout.  I am curious what they are going to have me doing for an hour since I get tired after a few min.  It will be nice to be in the water though because the water pressure in the pool helps your body push out excess water its holding on to.  Even though I am still eating 1600 calories a day my weight went up again - 3rd day in a row.  So, I'm retaining water - don't know exactly why.  Could be that my body is going into "oh no, I am starving" mode, or the meds are not keeping the inflammation in my leg under control. 

I like cooler weather because it gives me the chance to have all my warm foods and not have to sweat from eating them!  I had Turkey Chili for lunch - it was outstanding.  I am so many great ideas for soups once it really starts to get cold.  You guys might get tired of the soup variations!!  Also I need to start using the ole crock pot some more too.

For dinner tonight I made something new!  Roasted Acorn Squash.  I have never had Acorn Squash before.  Its pretty simple to make though - anyone can do it!!

Acorn Squash:
1) Get yourself an Acorn Squash, they look like this:

2) Wash it, cut it in half and then scoop out the seeds.

3) Cut the halves cross-ways:

4) Arrange them on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick spray.  Once all the squash is on the cookie sheet, mist them (or rub them) with Coconut Oil.

5) Bake at 400 degrees for about 40 min.

6) Put it on a plate w/ a protein and some green stuff and eat up!

1 serving of Acorn Squash is 1 cup cubed, or 205 grams; It has 115 calories, 0g fat, 30g carb, 9g fiber, 2g protein.  The nutritionist said I should think of winter squash as a carb - meaning don't have rice and squash, or squash and bread.  205 grams is more than you think - I ended up serving myself 150 grams and it was still a big portion!  I made it taste better by sprinkling it with sweet n' low.  Another option if you are not so concerned with calories is to use butter and brown sugar.  If you can stand it, eat the skin - that is where all the good for you stuff hides!!

Tonight I sauteed a whole bag of spinach - it was at its due date so I wanted to cook it all up before it went bad on me.  I used Coconut Oil to saute with and man did it come out good.  The Coconut Oil gave it a slight sweetness.  While we are talking about spinach let me tell you guys this - onions and garlic are supposed to help your body fight off colds.  So, if you start feeling like you are getting sick, get out the onions and garlic and spinach and saute it up and feel better!  Or, you could just eat onions and garlic, but I'm not such how good that would be.

Hope you guys have a great night!  "See" you tomorrow I hope!

Uninspired

Hello there!  Today was a pretty good day.  I am seriously starting to think that this new pain medicine (Mobic) is not working....but I am trying to wait it out and give it at least a week to see if it starts working.  Maybe not the smartest idea. 

Well, due to the pain I was tired sooner than normal.  Very uninspired this evening and therefore I totally took the easy way out and made French Toast for dinner.  Yes, it is the 3rd time I've had french toast for dinner during the last week...don't judge!  Everyone has their phases. 

I saw this scary guy inside the house this morning:

After much facebook discussion and some google-ing we discovered that he is just a normal harmless cricket.  He does however look completely different than any cricket I have ever seen up until this point.  Big differences between mid-west crickets and east coast crickets!

Today's eats were very Veggie heavy (veggie day!) and I tried to get a lot of fiber in too.  I've been eating good since last Thursday but I have gone up in weight the last two mornings - so trying to help my body cleanse by giving it the good stuff!

Since today was a Yoga day I was reminded of something that happened on Sunday - and I don't think I told you about it.  I made great progress in tree pose and warrior 3! Full Tree Pose is this (Pics from Yogajournal.com):

When you first start out you put your bent leg's foot at the ankle and then move it up slowly as you progress. Aslo different from this picture your hands would be in prayer in front of your body and head looking forward as that is easier than what the girl in the picture is doing.  I've been doing it with my foot on my calf right below my knee for a quite a while but on Sunday I was magically able to put my foot above my knee!  Progress!  Also I made noticeable progress in Warrior 3 which looks like this:

Well mine doesn't quite look like that yet.  Starting out you would take one foot slightly behind the other and the leg to the back is on its toes.  Then you would slowly start to rotate forward bringing back leg up and torso down.  My Warrior 3 was only about a foot off the ground, but then on Sunday I got to almost level like this guy in the picture!  It is hard to describe to you the joy that I felt when I realized I was improving.  Improvements are few and far between so I must celebrate them whenever they occur - even if they are small!

Ok friends that is all I have for now.  Tomorrow I have plans for cooking a new veggie - "see" you then!

Bringing Out the Big Guns

In the kitchen that is.  I made Spicy Turkey Chili for dinner tonight.  I always run out of it way to quickly so I doubled the recipe and used my biggest stock pot just to have enough room:

Since the last two times I've made it were not spicy enough for me I upped the spicy ingredients.  I used these peppers from my very own container garden:

Also in the spice mix: 1 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp red cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, and 1 small can of green chilies.  YUM.  Finished product turned out great:

Turned out that I could probably have used a smaller pot...but whatever.
Of course you know I had to make Broccoli Cornbread to go with it!

What a great meal.


I know this is in the wrong order but this morning I had Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Take 2!

This time I made 1 serving of oatmeal and used the entire apple for it.  It was very tasty.  I have never  been one for apple cinnamon flavored things, but making it myself it turns out to be good!!

Lunch today was simple - no pictures, sorry - Turkey Sandwich (I used realized I ate Turkey twice! oops) and chicken noodle soup.

Its been raining non-stop since about 2pm yesterday.  Its a real bummer when you have to stand outside for formation and end up being soaking wet.  This morning we were only outside for 20 min and I was so wet it was like I had got in the shower with all my clothes on! 

Nothing else much to talk about today.  Hope your day was less rainy than min.  "See" you tomorrow!

Lazy Sunday

Today was certainly a lazy day.  After yoga I took a shower and made some stir fry for lunch. 

Cookin' in the Kitchen!

 Since then I have done a whole lot of nothing!  I have watched iTunes and Hulu TV shows all day and I do not feel one bit guilty about it! 

Wait, I forgot about this....On my way to yoga the weirdest thing happened.  I was driving there and saw something in the street - as I got closer I saw these guys:

Here is another pic, closer:

Can you believe that in the middle of the city they were just crossing a busy street? 

Yoga kicked my butt as always - I was completely drenched afterward.  I went to Walmart on the way home to pick up some bananas and a few other items and man did Walmart ruin my yoga buzz.  No more Walmart stops after yoga - it takes away all my feel goods!

In spite of my laziness I did try two new products today! 

This one bottle was 120 calories which I think is pretty high, but if you drink just only once in a blue moon then it should be.  The nutritionist told me I need to occasionally drink something besides water and tea.  This juice is made with all natural ingredients and it actually had tiny pineapple pieces in it.  Kinda weird, but very tasty.

I also tried this:

All the avocados at the store were over-ripe so good thing they had these!  One Box comes with 3 packages:

You just peel them open and squeeze onto/into whatever you want.  I used it on this bad boy:

You can see the Guac between the fake chicken and the sandwich thin on the bottom!  I thought it was pretty good.  I thought it was not necessary to have such a huge amount - I could have used half, but I suppose 100 calories is a nice round number and other people might be using the packs on sandwiches.  Nice alternative to have in case you don't have any avocado.  Also good because I don't always want to eat the 2nd half of the avocado the day after I ate the 1st half but if I wait any longer then it goes bad -this way I don't have to worry about that.

New shows I've recently discovered and now like: Happy Town, Terriers, Outlaw and Lone Star (James Wolk is super cute!!).  Also Reaper is alright if I am completely bored.  I am also very glad that Supernatural is back.  My biggest celebrity crush is Jensen Ackles.  I don't have many celebrity crushes - probably Jensen Ackles and James Wolk would sum it up.  All this TV talk should indicate to you exactly how lazy I was today.  Don't judge me though, I was quite productive yesterday which enabled me to not have to do anything specific today.

Now, its time for me to make dinner.  I want something sweet so I've decided to make french toast.  I'd do pancakes but don't have any mix and do not feel like making them from scratch!  Hope you all had a great weekend. 

Sunday Morning Update

Happy Sunday to you!!  I've made it 4 days on my lower calories that the nutritionist recommended.  It is working - my weight is slowly going down, but I knew it would work I just didn't know how to keep myself from being super hungry on lower calories.

I've pretty much given up on eating whole foods as opposed to low-calorie foods.  A lot of lower calorie foods are made with lots of chemicals and ingredients that are unpronounceable.  My goal before was to eat only the natural healthy stuff but my body wasn't taking it right - it was taking it and wanting more and in the end it was causing me to overeat.  So, now if there is a lower calorie version of something that is what I am going to get.  Double Fiber Bread instead of Great Harvest Bread; Spray Butter (hopefully I don't become addicted like I have in the past - that stuff is good!) instead of regular butter; Popcorn as a snack -  very bulky food for relatively low calories.  Another thing I am going to do that I used to do is to have instant oatmeal as a snack.  Quaker has a lot of good oatmeal - they have the weight control kind, high fiber kind, and low sugar kind - all of which are good and only about 160 calories if you use water and not milk.  I had the Weight Control Maple Brown Sugar last night as a snack and it was SO VERY GOOD! 

I have not really done any cooking in the last few days - I've been slowly dwindling down my frozen leftovers.  Did I tell you guys that I have a separate freezer?  They really come in handy - you can store so much more when you have one.  I keep extra veggies, chicken strips, frozen meals I made and put into Glad plastic containers.  I keep the most used items in the freezer on the refrigerator and the other stuff is in the separate freezer.  Anyways, the point of all this was actually to tell you that I am going to cook today.  Stir Fry - I absolutely LOVE stir fry!  Its all veggies (when I make it at least) so its healthy and low calorie and I always have leftovers which is good because I can easily add a cup (or 2!) of veggies to anything else for an easy meal.  I am also going to make something new tonight - Hawaiian Inspired Vegetarian meal because today is a Yoga day and therefore a vegetarian day.  Don't worry meat eaters, tomorrow I am going tentatively planning to make some chili! 

In non-food news I went yesterday to the International Festival here that they are having downtown.  I was hoping to get some neat craft items and see some cool ethic stuff, but I tell you they probably had 100 different booths/vendors and probably 90 of them were food.  What a bust.  There was a stage with 30 min. increments for each country to do some sort of performance like dancing, etc, but it was so hot yesterday there was no way I was going to sit down and watch it and get a sunburn.  Be proud of me - I walked past all the festival food, and 2 dessert only shops downtown and I got out without buying anything!! 

Ok, I'm out of time with this post - time for me to go to Yoga.  I should be posting again later today so "see" you soon!

Apple Cinnamon Oats, County Fair & Biofeedback

Hey there!  This morning I made Apple Cinnamon Oats!  It was pretty good and I figured out a trick to help with lowering calories while still bulking up the meal!!

Apple Cinnamon Oats:
1) In a pan heat 1 tbsp butter and 1 apple chopped up.

2) Add cinnamon:

3)Stir and cook until apples are coated and butter is cooked away/absorbed:

4) Add water & Oats!  I used 1 3/4 cup water and 1/2 cup steel cut oats:

5) Cook between 10-20 min depending on how creamy you want it - more time = more creamy!  Then put it in a bowl and eat it!!

This makes 2 servings.  If its not sweet enough then you can add a packet of sweet n' low!  I used a granny smith apple which is my favorite but you can use any type of apple and it should come out good.  The trick to bulking it up is to use water for your oats and then have a glass of milk on the side.  I used to make the oats with the milk for the extra calcium and protein but this way you still get all the nutrients but more bulk to fill you up and keep you full longer.  Accordingly I had a glass of soy milk on the side!  I tried a new soy milk:

It was pretty good.  Since its vanilla flavored it is not as low calorie as it could be.  This particular brand/flavor is 70 calories for 1 cup.

This morning I went with the Fort Bragg BOSS program to the Cumberland County Fair - today was Senior Day at the Fair.  They allow all the seniors to come to the fair for free and they have special vendors come in for them (i.e. VA and AARP and other senior related vendors) and allow them to see the exhibits before the crowds come in at 5pm.  I only have 3 pics from my time at the fair.  The first one is the display of fall things that was outside the expo center:

Aren't those pumpkins huge?  Our whole group took a picture in front of this:

My last picture was from the EXPO hall when we were walking though - it wasn't open yet but I snapped a picture anyways:

Isn't that crazy?  Why in the world do they need such a big cow?

This afternoon was my first bio feedback appointment.  Bio feedback is part of my CAM treatment program.  What happens is that I am attached to monitors that track a lot of my bodily reactions - sweat, heart beat, breathing rate, temp, and muscle tension.  The monitors show up as a graph on a large TV screen  and the therapist teaches me how to react to stressful or painful situations in a way that will allow my body to relax.  For instance, when you are stressed your flight or fight reaction causes the blood to come out of your hands and feet to your internal organs, and therefore your hands and feet become cold.  My base line temp was 75 degrees and during my stressful situations it dropped and it never returned to normal; the therapist said that a good temp for a relaxed person is 90 degrees!  I am way off!!  The breath monitor teaches you to breath all the way into your diaphragm with consistent breaths.  So my sessions will be on breathing, muscle relation and overall stress reduction techniques.  In addition to helping me with my pain from surgery the muscle relation could help me manage my migraines as well which would be good.

After I got home from my appointment I fell asleep sitting at my desk.  I was so tired that I decided to get in the bed  - shoes and all (hanging off the edge of course)... I slept about 2 hours before I woke up.  I actually feel much better now.  I am sure dinner helped with that too.  Nothing normal meal like sounded good for dinner so I had a random assortment: 1/2 cup Lima beans, 1/2 cup lentil Bulgar squash mixture, and 1 can of green beans.  Green beans are good for bulk because you an have a whole can for only 60 calories.  Another veggie you can have a lot of for low calories is broccoli but I already eat that a lot anyways. 

After dinner I had a fiber one bar with my peppermint tea.  I've been doing good for 3 days now... not easy but I am making it work.  I have to - I am right on the weight limit for the Army and need to loose some weight before I am forced to weigh in.  Anyways... here is the last 3 days breakdown:
Wednesday - 1538.94 calories
Thursday - 1594 calories
Friday (Today) - 1634.5 calories


Tomorrow will be a challenge because I am supposed to go out to dinner with some friends... I will try to eat something low calories but filling before hand so I am not super hungry when I get there.  I will also do my best to make a good choice.  And I will try to get some exercise (pending leg pain.)  Other things on the agenda?  The International Festival - for the crafts.  And of course - some cooking - but I am not sure what yet.  Highly considering some Spicy Turkey Chili!

Well I know this post was super long so I will go ahead and call it quits for tonight.  Hope your had a great Friday and I will "see" you tomorrow.

Healthy French Toast

Today was a very stressful day, and I don't really care to talk about it so this will be a short post.  On the plus side I do have photos and a recipe for you today. 


Healthy French Toast
1) Pour 1/2 cup egg beaters in a bowl

2) Sprinkle Cinnamon in the bowl and stir it up:

3) Take 2 slices of Double Fiber Bread and one by one dip them in the egg beaters, turning them over so they are coated.

4) Cook them in a pan like regular french toast.  Then, cook the remaining egg beaters from the bowl - its a small amount but cook them and eat them for the protein!
5) Put it on a plate:

6) Pour on the (sugar free) Syrup:

7) Enjoy!!

This turned out to be 100 calories for the bread, 60 calories egg beaters, and 30 calories SF Syrup - also 80 calories veggie sausage but I don't think many people eat those besides me.  Not too bad for a quick, easy and tasty meal.

On the non-food front I got my Yoga Towel in the mail yesterday and used it tonight:

So, in favor of not making myself upset by talking about today's events, that is all I have for you today.  Hope your day was better than mine.  I will "see" you tomorrow.!!

Medical and Nutritional Updates

Hey guys.  Well my day today was filled with medical appointments.  I went to see the nutritionist at 830.  She said I am eating very healthy just too much.  No shock there I already knew that.  With the medications messing up my metabolism, hormones, and making me hungry all the time the nutritionist and I discussed how to feel fuller for less calories.  One thing she suggested was switching from Skim Milk to Almond Milk because it is lower in calories - the idea is 1 cup skim milk = 90 calories, but you get almost 2 cups of almond milk for the same calories.  We also discussed the whole bread issue - a filling high calorie bread versus a not filling low calorie bread.  We talked about how I can have 2 slices of Double Fiber Bread

for less calories than 1 slice of Ezekiel bread - and that 2 slices might be filling enough.  This was my bread of choice before discovering Great Harvest anyways, so no surprise.  I bought the bread after work today.  She also said try reducing my carbs/starches a bit and replacing with more veggies and fruits.  She said that veggies fill you up but it doesn't last long, but fruit will last longer so maybe try to eat more fruit.  So, at least I have some ideas.  I also really like the fact that she didn't treat me like I was stupid; there is a tendency for some Army Dr.s to do that - treat all patients like that.

I also had my CAM testing appointment today.  I filled out a bunch of surveys so they could get a good gauge of how depressed I was, how much pain I am typically in, and if I have PTSD or Traumatic Brain Injury. We talked about what is an acceptable level of pain on a 1-10 scale and I said 5 or 6 meaning that is about the worst pain I an tolerate and still attempt to function (worse than 6 I'd be sitting/laying down not doing anything else.)  She said that I was way off - 1 or maybe a 2 is acceptable.  She asked what activities I wanted to be able to do that I was not able to do.  I answered "I want to run.  Really, I want to be able to go a whole day without being exhausted by 2pm.  I just want to be able to do normal things again."  Then I started to cry.  I think I have become pretty good at not getting emotional about my injury - I mean typically I can talk about it or think about it and it doesn't upset me.  Occasionally it does but usually I can snap out of the funk easy.  Its impossible to hide like that in a therapist's office though.  I got scheduled for 3 bio feedback sessions and 6 pain management classes (6 more will be scheduled after that.)  She also scheduled me another therapy appointment which was good because it will be nice to be able to see her without having to wait a whole month!

I did good on the eating front - maybe it was the nutrition appointment that helped motivate me?  Who knows.  I had Pinacolada Overnight Oats for breakfast and 2nd breakfast was an egg scramble.  I think the eggs really work to hold me over.  I used to have eggs every morning for breakfast.  I changed my diet a lot when I quit running because I was eating to fuel lots of running - it wasnt necessary to eat the same when I could no longer workout like that.  Lunch was Jamaican Black Bean Cornbread w/ 1 cup of broccoli and 1 cup of cabbage (doing wonderful things for my intestines!)  Snack this afternoon was an apple w/ PB2.

After my snack I did something out of the ordinary - I went for a bike ride.  A girl I work with loaned me a bike pump last week so I could air my bike tires (shipping them from Korea they went flat.) So, today was my first ride.  I lasted a whole 14 min.  Seems like nothing but considering the fact that its hard for me to even get onto the bike 14 min is a good length of time to be riding around.  After that I decided to go for a walk - I walked about 5 min before I started to hurt.  I turned around and came home and was hurting pretty bad by the time I got home.  Walk lasted a total of 12 min.  See why my diet has to be so strict?  I am not able to burn any calories with exercise.  Maybe one day.  I will keep on doing yoga and being patient with my body and maybe one day I will be able to do things I used to do.

Dinner tonight was soup and sandwich.  My homemade red pepper carrot soup and a veggie sandwich made with sandwich thins, 1/2 an avocado, a laughing cow cheese, 1/2 a tomato, spinach, 3 bell pepper rings, and 1/2 ounce of chopped onions.  I tell you what that is a very good sandwich.  Laughing cow cheese spread on to a sandwich is so delicious.   I might have added a veggie chicken patty to it if I had enough calories left for the day.  I think breakfast needs to start shrinking a bit to leave more room for dinner. 

Calories consumed thus far: 1538.94 (yeah the Ipod calculates it to .00!)
I think I will manage to stay under my 1600 goal - I only have 1 hour left till bed time (4 am wake ups = 8 pm bed time) and I just had dinner.  I will also have another mug of tea so I should be good.  If not I will eat a few strawberries (4 calories each...not too shabby huh?)

Tomorrow is more medical appointments.  Physical therapy in the morning and then Orthopedics in the afternoon.  I will let you guys know how it goes!!

Today was day 2 of no meat for this week and since tomorrow is a Yoga day then there will be at least 4 days this week of no meat.  I really don't have too much of a craving for it right now for some reason.  I could totally go for some turkey chili but that would mean I have to cook it, so maybe this weekend when I have the time and energy.


Oh, yes one last thing - a Tea Review.  I tried "Red Rocks" tea from The Tea Spot. It looks like this (their picture, not mine):

I have had this tea for a while - I purchased a sampler pack, but I never tried any of the teas.  I was a bit disappointed because I really could not taste the vanilla or almonds that are supposed to be in this tea.  It tasted like regular black tea to me.  Not good enough for me to order again.  : (   So far this is the best tea I have tried - I will most likely be ordering it at some point, but for now I still have lots of tea from the samplers to try.

Ok friends, hope your day was good and your night is better.  "Talk" to you tomorrow.

Hummus Fail

Hey guys!  Today was a veggie day.... my body was fighting it too.  Not sure why.  I had same pre-pt breakfast as always: banana, toast and PB.  2nd Breakfast was typical as well - overnight oats cereal.  Lunch was even pretty typical: stir fry, quinoa, and veggie chick n' nuggets.  Then my body went crazy.  I had an apple for a snack at 2pm, and 30 min later carrots and celery.  And then broccoli, and cabbage and I was still HUNGRY so I gave in and had another piece of toast w/ PB because I knew it would keep me full.  So, add in dinner and I have eaten too many calories today.  I REALLY hope that the nutritionist can help me figure this out.  One thing I realized when talking to mom today was that perhaps I am so hungry as a side effect of my pain meds that I take every morning for my hip.  I am going to ask about that.  I wish I was healthy then I could just run a few miles and even things out and not have to worry about how much I was eating....well at least I wouldn't have to be so darn strict (which isn't working because my body is fighting it.)

I went to the Commissary today to see about party platters for a Sergeant Audie Murphy Club event that is coming up, and while I was there I grabbed some bananas.  I also saw a new hummus - well I have seen it before but never looked at it because Sabra Hummus is so very good.  But I checked out this new hummus and it had 20 calories less per serving so I decided to try it.  Here is a pic:

It was a bust.  I am highly disappointed.  It is not nearly as good as Sabra and it was WAY too salty.  I'm actually wondering what to do with this Hummus because I would feel bad throwing away a almost full container but I don't want to eat it!  This is when having a man around the house would come in handy, right?  Also I could use a guy to squash bugs for me - I hate bugs.  And Trash - I don't like trash.  I digress.

Yoga tonight was good, but I am not sure if I am getting a good workout - and its not relaxing enough to justify it by saying "at least I am reducing my stress."  I probably am getting a good workout but I didn't sweat so that kinda makes me wonder.  In Sunday Yoga class I am sweating within 10 min of class starting - I get such a good workout that I am usually sore all day Monday.  Not quite the same with this Tue/Thur class.  I guess I should be grateful though because I was having pain in my leg this morning so its not like I really needed to workout hard anyways.  It is just so hard for me to rest and no be able to exercise because my mind is still the same as when I was running 8 miles every Saturday - when I could do more Push ups than the guys... I wish I could get my mind to adjust to my body or my body adjust to my mind!

Well that is all I have for today.  Tomorrow I see the nutritionist and I get to have my testing for the CAM program!  I hope it is not a let down.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.  Think good thoughts.  Have a great night and I will see you tomorrow.

Meat Filled Monday

No meatless Monday today.  I tried something different today - well 2 things different.  1st I did not have oatmeal for 2nd breakfast, I had a big ole egg scramble w/ egg beaters, spinach, cherry tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers.  On top of that I put 1/2 ounce of cheese and 1/4 cup salsa.  It was might good.  Just to make sure I got enough fiber I had 30 grams of fiber one cereal in 1/2 cup coconut milk.  It lasted me till lunch time very well.  I was not feeling that "I'm so hungry I need to eat NOW" feeling that I normally do around lunch time.  Then at lunch I had a rather large lunch wanting to see if that made me want less for dinner.  I think it worked, sort of.  I had enchilada casserole for lunch it was sooo very good.  I also had some broccoli.  Snacks today were cottage cheese and pineapple and then later popcorn and chocolate milk.

Then for dinner I was not entirely hungry, but I was starting to feel bad so I knew I needed to eat.  But since I wasn't hungry I couldn't figure out what to eat.  Nothing sounded good.  Do you ever have days like that where nothing sounds good?  On top of nothing sounding good I was not feeling like making much of an effort so I needed something simple.  After probably 45 min of thinking about it I settled on a turkey sandwich on sandwich thins.  On the side I had some Terra chips and hummus.  It was a good meal.  It was enough, smaller than my usual dinners but enough. 

My headache (from this morning) is returning though which means I'll be lucky if I can make it to 8pm tonight.  I am already yawning.  In a way I feel ridiculous that I have to go to bed so early, but then I consider the fact that I get up at 4am ever day and really its going to bed early makes sense if you look at it that way.  Besides I know my body wants at least 8 hours of sleep each night so I should give it that.

Tomorrow is a meat free day to coincide with Yoga.  I was thinking if I am going to go meat free every time I do Yoga then I need to start doing it on Sundays as well because I do Yoga on Sunday.  So that would make me meat free for 3 days at week at least.  I think my body is still adjusting to the change in protein - it still doesn't take protein from beans quite as well as it takes protein from beef or chicken - but I'm sure it will eventually get its act together!

So that I am boring today, I'm just really feeling "blah" and kinda crappy.  Hopefully more interesting things to talk about tomorrow.  Have a great night.

Jamaican Style Black Bean & Coconut Cornbread Bake

Lots of food stuff to talk about today!  This morning I tried a new tea with breakfast:

and I drank it in my fancy cup from Jamaica:

It was actually my first time to drink tea from that tea cup.  I have a tendency to buy pretty things and then never use them, but that doesn't make sense right?  So, this morning I decided no more of that!  This was my first time to have French Breakfast tea, but it was nothing spectacular.  It was just like regular black tea.  When tea is just black tea and no special flavor I'd just a well have Lipton tea because its easy (comes in a tea bag) and its cheap and it tastes good too!

Anyways, this is what I had for breakfast:

 Veggie sausage, organic buckwheat waffles (sugar free syrup added after the photo) and egg beaters.  It was a very good meal.  Don't you just love my Halloween table cloth?

I got to Yoga 30 min early - for some reason I was thinking class started at 9am!  To pass the time I walked down the main strip downtown and peeked into some stores (none of the stores open on Sunday.)  I also happened to notice that some of the lofts downtown are available fro between 349K and 850K!  Can you believe that they want that much?  Craziness.

Yoga was a good workout.  I was sweating before we were even finished with the sun salutations - which is like the first 10 min of the class!  I can't wait until I get my sweat towel in the mail!

Lunch today was leftovers - nothing interesting.  So, of course dinner had to be something new.  Well not really but I did want to make something new so I could share it with you!  So, I made Black Bean Cornbread Bake - it is another Vegetariantimes.com recipe, but I will tell you how to make it so you can make it if you want!

Jamaican Style Black Bean & Coconut Cornbread Bake
1) Pre-heat oven to 350 and spray an 8x8 in baking dish with non-stick spray.
2) in a large bowl combine the following: 2 cans black beans rinsed and drained; 1 can corn drained; 1 can diced tomatoes (I would suggest draining this somewhat because I did not and I thought the end product was a bit runny); 1/2 tsp jerk seasoning; 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper; and some chilies if you want (I added 3!).

3)Stir it all up!

4) Dump it in the baking dish:

5) In the same bowl you just used add the following: 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (I used spelt flour); 1/2 cornmeal; 1 tbsp sugar (I used sucanat); 1 1/4 tsp baking powder; 2 tbsp olive oil; 2/3 cup light coconut milk.  Stir it all until combined but do not over stir.  Pour on top of bean mixture and spread out with a spatula.

6) Bake for 30 min or until cooked enough so that if you insert a toothpick in the center it comes out clean (a good trick for Lots of different baking items)

7)Put it on a plate and eat away! 

Because of the beans it has a lot of protein so you don't need to add protein but I wanted something extra so I had those veggie chick'n nuggets. 

Today I also put a spine on a book and made 4 new books - well I started them at least.  They are only 2 coats of glue in right now and they require about 5 coats.  I also finished this collage:

In addition to all of that, I did laundry and swept and mopped the kitchen.  I am beat now, and am going to spend the next few hours chilling watching TV and maybe searching for art classes online.  Hope you have a great night and I will see you tomorrow!