A Hodge Podge of Eating

I woke up again to go to Pilates Class this morning…. I’m so glad I did.  I missed the class Monday, and with my eating highs and lows, I need this activity.

Tuesday turned into a really low day for eating right!!! Let’s start with the morning. I wasn’t able to make my juice, so I took it from a bottle of Bolthouse Farms Vedge Juice.

Breakfast 1tsp of Barley Max Powder mixed with 4-8oz of Distilled Water

Before I even had a chance to take my Mid Morning Juice… I was temped by the Donuts I bought for Mike ate a glazed donut.

Mid Morning 8oz Juice of Bolthouse Farms Vedge Juice

30 minutes before lunch 1tsp of Barley Max Powder mixed with 4-8oz of Distilled Water.

Then I warmed up yesterdays Minestrone Soup left overs… which were still delicious. I swear that soup at the Olive Garden was the best I’ve had since.

I was still a bit hungry, so I did a little digging in the freezer(BIG NO NO) and found two pieces of cheese and onion pizza from a couple of weeks ago. I poured some salsa on the plate  for dipping and proceeded to eat the pizza without taking the cheese off!

Mid Afternoon 8oz Juice TOTALLY SKIPPED

Instead I opted for a Yogurt and Cherry Sunday from Costco.  Eating both the cheese from the pizza and the yogurt sunday made me so bound up for the better part of the evening and into the morning. But that didn’t stop the madness.

30 minutes before dinner 1tsp of Barley Max Powder mixed with 4-8oz of Distilled Water.

Before we made it home, Mike picked up some Moby Dick Kabobs… so I ordered the Swordfish and Greek Salad. By the time we sat down to eat, I was not even hungry. My stomach was so heavy and uncomfortable it was weird. But I ended up eating half of the food anyway. I figured this lettuce and fish might help out the horrible situation going on in my stomach and make it better… 😦

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Food Revolutions!!!

St. Thomas Crab Claws

Breeze Salad & Cheese Less Veggie Quesadillas

This morning I can say, Mike and I went for a walk around the neighborhood together. It’s something we haven’t done in a while, and it’s something Mike did on his brand new bike. He’s like a kid in a candy shop after buying his used trail bike. 

Since I haven’t been able to get a Pilates schedule, I’ve decided to walk around the neighborhood for my exercise. This weekend I got back into the groove!!

After my walk, got home to take a shower and hit the road to Orlando. Mike wanted to get to his favorite restaurant, Bahama Breeze for his Chicken Kabobs and St. Thomas Crab Claws.

 I have to admit, I did have 3 of those Crab Claws before my Breeze Salad and Cheese less Veggie Quesadillas arrived. I was proud of myself, usually I get my Bahama Rita drink and this time I ordered Water with a Lemon.

Then we battled the rain to head over to Whole Foods where I got some Dried Cranberries, Raisins and some new TPV. Mike wanted to return the Honey I picked up a while back because it started crystallizing (not a good sign).

After engaging the navigation system, we found a Costco down in Orlando and picked up some more Agave and some other goods and headed home in the rain. By the time we got home, the rain had stopped and we were able to get all the groceries out without getting soaked.!!!

Fresh Vegetable Salad

Potato Medley Grill

Dinner was a mix of my Fresh Vegetable Salad, which I packed full of the leftover Kidney Beans and left over Chick Peas from the other day. Mike made his Potato Medley Grill.

After dinner we did the usual 60 Minutes and then Desperate Housewives. But afterwards, ABC aired something a little different. A show with Jamie Oliver called “Food Revolution”, where he goes to Huntington, W.V. and tries to reteach the way these people eat. Huntington was rated the city with the most obese people and city with horrible eating habits in the U.S. Very interested how the schools, families and community are killing themselves with all the fried, processed foods they’re eating.

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Meal At Home

After a couple of nights out… I decided to make something at home from the foods we have here. We spent the day out in Jacksonville,  and ate lunch at the P.F. Chang. I had the Buddha Feast Vegetable Bowl with Brown Rice and a hot tea. Then we went to Costco to load up on groceries and stuff… so coming home to eat from a day full of running around was nice.

I got into my VitaMix cookbook and whipped up a really spicy Tomato and Basil Pesto to pair with some steamed Cauliflower and Green Beans.

Tomato And Basil Pest

Tomato and Basil Pesto

Ingredients:

1/2Cup Olive Oil

4Ripe Tomatoes, quartered

1/2Cup Basil Leaves

1/2Cup Spinach, stemmed

6Garlic Cloves, peeled

1Tsp. Celtic Salt

1Cup Blanched Almonds

Directions:

Place all ingredients into the VitaMix container  in order listed and secure lid. Select Variable 1. Turn machine on and quickly increase speed to Variable 10, then to high. Blend for 30-45 seconds, using the tamper to press the ingredients into the blades.

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Vita-Mix Juicer and Hibachi Dinner

After a many hours in front of the computer, taking an online real estate course, I didn’t get a chance to eat. Then before I knew it I was running late for my 3pm appointment, and literally ran out the door. Luckily, Mike came with me and after the meeting I took a quick detour to Wendy’s while Mike went into Staples to get some office supplies.

I ate the Southwest Salad and asked for the Chili on the side and tried to pick off all the cheese I could. Once I went through all that effort, I realized the dressing was a creamy Southwestern Spicy Dressing. At that point I was so hungry, all I could do was mentally through my hands up in the air and eat my food.

That was around 4pm, because afterwards Mike headed to the interstate north. He had a piece of property up in Jacksonville that he wanted to see. So up north is where we headed to see some property, meet with his son, stop by Costco for the Vita-Mix Juicer and have dinner.

I had my eye on the Vita-Mix Juicer for some time, and it just so happened that Mike was thinking about getting the Juicer as well. So, luckily the gentleman at Costco was doing a demonstration of the Juicer and we were sold!!! I can’t wait to juice in it tomorrow.

Then we headed to Wasabi-Japanese Steakhouse for dinner and invited Mike’s son to join us. While we were waiting 45 minutes for our Grill side seats, I sat at the bar and ordered small Cold Sake. Then at the table, I ordered another one.

Something I thought was great! When the chef started to make the Fried Rice, I asked him to make a little with no egg in it. And he complied. I was thinking about asking him to use no butter on a handful of vegetables, but I thought I might be pushing my luck. So, I took what I got and was very happy (Inside I was jumping up and down!).

Then it was time for the hour-long ride home 😦

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Stiff Calves & Danish Leftovers

 

Boy, when I woke up it hurt to take my first step out of bed. My calves got such a workout yesterday; I didn’t realize it until I was walking away from the bed. I wanted to hit Pilates again this morning, but thought better of that idea. 🙂

So instead, I did something better (as I type facetiously).  I got a Starbucks Tall Pumpkin Spiced Iced Latte with Soy Milk instead. There’s 5 or 600 calories of sugar and fat I can’t get back!

Garden Green Salad

For lunch I made a Garden Green Salad with a bunch of great Vegetables in it. Today, I added Raisins and an Oil & White Balsamic Vinegar Dressing.

Garden Green Salad:

Ingredients:

1-Bag of Spring Salad

4 Mushrooms

4 Green Onions

1 Avocado

1 Orange Bell Pepper

1 Tomato

1/4Cup Raisins

Directions: Wash the Spinach and Baby Greens from the Salad Mix Bag. Wash and chop up the Vegetables. Add the Raisins and Dressing and serve.  

Oil & Vinegar Dressing:

Ingredients:

2 Tbls. Olive Oil

2 Tbls. White Balsamic Vinegar

I’ve got to say, my experimenting is getting better and better. I had just a little bit the Whole Grain Rigatoni left, so I heated it up and had that as well.

What's Left of Assorted Danish Cake

And I hate to say this, or even document it, but I had yet some more morsels of the Danish Assorted Cake Mike bought at Costco. This is what was left of the Assorted Danish Cake after I got my hands on it. Both Mike and I had a part to play in polishing off the tin of Danish. It’s ruining everything I’ve done so far by going to the Pilates classes this week.! But I’m happy to write, Mike ate the last of the Danish, so thankfully there are no more temptations.!!!

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Jump Board Pilates…WOW!

I took another class this morning at my Potomac Pilates Workout Gym… and this one really got me sweating.

It’s called Jump Board Pilates, and it’s geared to get your cardio up using the same Pilate moves. You’re basically lying down on the Reformer Machine, but it’s all high energy and you’re using a board to push off.

For an hour, I worked out all my body and really felt it!!!

After the hour, Mike picked me up from my class because he had an early morning meeting. From there, we ran to Costco for some office supplies and groceries, the post office and then to the local grocery store for more supplies.

Apple, Pear and Walnut Salad

Not to long ago we got back to the house, unloaded the car, I took a shower and then I ate some of my leftovers from yesterday. The Apple, Pear and Walnut Salad and the Whole Grain Rigatoni Dish were still as good today, as they were yesterday.    

Whole Grain Rigatoni

For an after lunch treat, I indulged on two small pieces of Jelly Danish that Mike bought at Costco. But to get the sweet tooth out of my system, I’m drinking some Vedge Juice. Which really tastes great. 

Vedge Juice

I’ve realized, in order to get the numbers going down on the scale I have to kick the sweets out.  And keep my portion control down. This sounds like a broken record, but it needs to be done. No matter what!!!!

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Bending Over W/Out Pain!!!

Vedge Juice

Green Beans & Vegetable Salad

I went to the beginners Pilates class this morning… and felt it wasn’t challenging enough. So I had a talk with the instructor to find my best fit. She suggested the intermediate class, which I did on Monday. That would be the best, based on how my back is feeling.

Today I realized I can bend down to my ankles without any pain…. yeah!!! But there’s still some throbbing going on and it bothers me. I really need to get an adjustment. It’s been months.

So anyway, when I got home I took my shower and decided to make something for lunch. I looked in the refrigerator and realized there were some foods in there that needed to be used before they went bad.

Like the Green Beans we bought at Costco several weeks ago. These Green Beans are a great way to get your greens for the day… even though they’re being blanched. And the recipe and prep time is less than 5 minutes. Sooo Good!

Green Bean Mix:

Ingredients:

1/2lb of Green Beans

2Tbls Olive Oil

1/4Tbls Garlic Powder

1/4Tbs Paprika

Handful of Almonds

Sea Salt

Directions:

Wash and cut the ends and blanched Green Beans in boiling water.  Then let it drain and mix with a nice Oil Dressing. Then chop up some Almonds and mixed them in too.

While the Green Beans were blanching, I cut up some Vegetables to make another Vegetable Salad, this time with an Oil & Vinegar Dressing. I love these Vegetable Salads I create with Veggies lying around. I think I like them so much because of two reasons. One it’s really good, and two it reminds me of my close friend Robin. She first made me a Vegetable Salad like this and I guess since I haven’t seen her in a while it makes me smile.

Vegetable Salad:

Ingredients:

1Tomato

1 Red Bell Pepper

4 Small Cucumbers

1Cup of Sweet Peas

1 Avocado

Oil & Vinegar Dressing:

2Tbls. Olive Oil

2Tbls. White Wine Vinegar

1/4Tbls. Paprika

4Tbls. Dried Onion Flakes

Sea Salt

Directions:

Chopped up Red Bell Pepper, Tomato, Small Cucumbers, Avocado, and remove Sweet Peas from shell. Mix with Oil & Vinegar Dressing.

In between, I drank a glass of Vedge Juice, snacked on some Almonds and also devoured a Dove Bar. I only ate the Dove Bar because I saw Mike eating one in front of me, and I had to have one. 😦

Later in the afternoon, I felt a little artistic and started to redecorate the living room. this little project put Mike on edge and left me little time to make dinner for us. So, Mike and his son had left over Kabobs, and I ate my left over Green Beans and Vegetable Salad.

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Taking it Easy

My back is feeling better. But I don’t want to take any chances this time. We’ve got tickets to go the Kennedy Center for New Year’s Eve. I’m very excited about that. So, I’m not moving around much today and staying on the heating pad.

I took my vitamins and am drinking Carrot Juice already… I’m a bit hungry and grabbed a piece of Whole Wheat Bread to nibble on with some Hummus. In a while I’ll go back down stairs to fix lunch…

Hummas Snack

Last night, I was feeling better and Mike wanted to go do some running around, so I geared up and got in the car. But what he wanted to do is go to Costco and shop and walk around. Well, my back was throbbing and I kind of let him know it! So we ended up fast forwarding through the Costco Experience and went straight home. Too much…. too soon!!

For dinner, I was in the kitchen unloading dishes from the dishwasher (another bright idea!) And Mike’s son wanted to make his own dinner… Pasta Alfredo! We bought some white sauce previously from Costco and already had the red sauce, so he mixed the two together to make a Tequila Sauce. I suggested he cut up some mushrooms and blanche them in the Pasta water… and there was his meal.

I made a bowl of the Green Salad and I wanted to bake a Sweet Potato but Mike wanted to grill the Potatoes with Onions. So I chopped up the Sweet Potatoes and Onions. Added Paprika, Garlic Powder and some Olive Oil and Mike took it to grill.

After I finished my salad, Mike wanted some and I asked him to serve himself. And after he ate his salad… he checked on the Potatoes and I made myself a bowl of them to eat. And straight up to the heating pad I went…. amazingly enough today my back doesn’t hurt as bad. Yeah!!!

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Injured Eating

Maybe my ticket was called, when I indulged in some Sherbet Friday night at the movies.?? Or did it start earlier than that, when I was dipping into the Whipped Topping with my Fresh Fruit Desserts???

Anyway you cut it, I’m laid up with back pain making getting around slower than usual.:( And it also means, I’m not hitting the Pilates Gym (since Thursday) getting my usual cardio workout and physical exercise. So eating has somewhat fallen by the wayside.:(

Mike and I have been making some hearty soups to eat, to help beat the colder temperatures and I’ve been tossing my Green Salads. We’re using all the Vegetables and goodies we’re buying at the Costco and Giants Grocery Store, but it’s the extras that are getting me down.

Monday night, I indulged in a bowl of Strawberry Ice Cream.
Sunday afternoon, I indulged in a block of Hershey’s Chocolate with Nuts and a spoonful of Peanut Butter. This was a repeated snack from Saturday Night. I just had the urge for chocolate (and there’s a reason why!)
In addition to all these indulgences I’ve also been over doing it on the Whole Wheat Bread and taking extra servings of all these great soups.

Mike’s Minestrone (Vegetable) Soup:
He called it Minestrone Soup with out the noodles. I didn’t make either, so I’m just going to list the ingredients.
Cabbage
Carrots
Parsnips
Yellow Onions
Spinach
Zucchini
Squash
Tomato Paste
Diced Tomatoes

Mike’s Barley & Carrot Soup:
He actually told me he got the idea to make this soup after he read my Raw Recipe Cook Book. After reading the Lentils & Barley Soup Recipe and the Carrot Soup Recipe he made this version.
Barley
Potato
Garlic
White Beans
Carrots
Lentils
Onions
Cabbage

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Back Wows

Shoveled Snow at House

Shoveled Snow at House

Friday night, the Washington D.C. metro area got hit with snow that didn’t stop until Saturday night. That means we got over 26 inches of snow. Before the snow came Friday, we went to go see a movie (Did You Hear About the Morgans?) in dry conditions and by the time the movie let out, it was snowing and traffic was backed up as far as the eye could see.

Luckily, we made it home slow and safe as we watched others on the commute who were so lucky. There were a handful of cars already on the side of the road and others sliding through traffic to make it to there destination.

Since I didn’t get my workout on Friday, Saturday I thought I’d get a workout by shoveling the 12 or so inches that had already fell. By this time everything was closed, so I figured so was the Pilates Gym. The snow didn’t stop until Sunday morning, so I went out again and started shoveling. But this time, I over did it and got hurt from lifting that heavy snow. 😦

So I took it really easy…. laying in bed with a heating pad and taking Advil. Monday, I was feeling much better and so we went to the Leesburg Outlet Mall… Did a bunch of walking and felt good. Today(Tuesday) we went out and got caught in a bunch of traffic while we dropped off drying cleaning, hit Costco, and stopped off at TJMaxx. Needless to say, not feeling too good, so I’m laying here with the heating pad and making my blog entry.

I don’t know when I’ll be able to get back on track with Pilates, or even doing some crunches and weights at home???? It’s a bit frustrating and makes eating a real challenge, because I’m not able to work it off.

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