Thursday, September 24, 2015

Resetting for Fall

All I want for Christmas is to not feel so damn unhealthy! Ever since I left for my work trip at the end of May - it's been a whole lot of false starts getting back on the healthy train. Which was fine for making the most of summer. But for the next 95 days (that's how soon Christmas is, crazy huh?) I'm attempting to chillll on the all you can eat dinners, fancy and indulgent restaurants (unless they're healthy...) and beer guzzling nights. 


(Normal for the past few months)

(Oops)

I may be sad to say goodbye to summer, but with the fall season I'm welcoming weekends spent running and immediately snuggling back into bed. Weekdays where an outdoor happy hour isn't tempting me after work. 

Some things I really want to focus on are drinking more water! And cutting out fake sugar - I am addicted to aspartame and I know it's SO BAD. 

MORE VEGGIES! Yes I eat a ton of carrots and avocados, but I need to be better about broccoli and string beans and spinach and all that good stuff. I'm a fruit girl. And eating a lot of fruit is fine, but it's a ton of sugar. And it's not that I don't like vegetables, so I should definitely make the fruit to veggie ratio a little more even. 

Less alcohol. Sadly, it needs to be done. And no, "I'll just have a few glasses of wine." No, I need to learn to go out and confidently hold my glass of water with lemon, still having a great time. Or, you know, more Netflix dates. 

Stop eating so late at night! I have a really bad habit of eating dinner around 8:30 every night, sometimes as late as 10 if I wait until the end of a shift at the running store to eat dinner. No more! It always leaves me super hungry in the morning.

As I sit here at my desk snacking on dry Special K cereal - I know this is the BIGGEST habit I need to break. Not as much snacking! And NO BUYING CEREAL AND GRANOLA! It is way too easy for me to not even realize I'm eating an entire box of it in 2 days when it's sitting at my desk. 

So to kick things off this week- 

Breakfast was some Chobani yogurt with pecans, half a banana and chia seeds to keep me full longer! 



I may have also snacked on some Special K - once the box is gone I'll be better, promise ;)

Lunch was a Juice Press protein shake. The. best. flavor. 




Pre-running store snack was a huge, juicy Gala apple and Spark! There were a bunch of free samples of Spark in our work pantry one day and I actually love it - I actually notice that I have more energy after drinking it. 

For dinner I made myself a delicious salad FULL of greens. My problem with salads is they usually end up a total mish mash of random ingredients. I guess that's not really a problem but Sunday night at the grocery store I tried to pick a theme for my salad - Asian! Mmmm. 

Spinach
Broccoli
Snow Peas steamed with Bragg's Liquid Aminos and Chili Flakes
Avocado
BABY CORN
Cashews
Annie's Lite Gingerly Vinaigrette 




It turned out so good! And there's definitely something to be said for not just tossing a ton of random crap in with your spinach. 

When I got home at 10:30 I knew I should eat, but I was HUNGRY. So instead of grabbing chocolate, which is what I really wanted, a made a bowl with frozen banana slices, a scoop of peanut butter, a dollop of plain Greek yogurt and a sprinkle of cinnamon. It totally hit the spot and got rid of any dessert cravings, plus filled me up! 




Today, I also finally checked out Vitacost - a website so many fitness and health bloggers I follow use to buy their healthy kitchen staples. 

Living in Manhattan, I was definitely pleasantly surprised by the prices! For sure cheaper than Fairway, Whole Foods, Morton Williams, etc. 

Here's what I ordered: 

1) QuestBars - Double Chocolate Chunk
These are my favorite. I eat them as dessert or breakfast - heated up in the toaster oven. I've been eating them for about 3 years, but recently they've becoming SUPER popular - 7 Eleven even sells them now if you want to try all the different flavors instead of ordering a box of just one kind - but you do save money buying them in bulk! They're full of protein, low on carbs and sugar, under 200 calories, and delicious. They totally fulfill my sweets cravings without making me feel guilty. 


2) Bragg Premium Nutritional Yeast Seasoning
I've been meaning to pick up a container of this for awhile now - ever since Rebecca used it in delicious spinach dip and Kayla used it to season roasted cauliflower! It makes things taste super cheesy - without using cheese! 


3) Vitacost Peanut Butter SLIM
This is essentially a generic brand of PB2 powdered peanut butter, which I used to use CONSTANTLY and have been meaning to restock in my cabinets. I mainly add it to my oatmeal or smoothies instead of spoonfuls of actual peanut butter because it's literally half of the calories and still tastes great. We'll see if this brand is a good substitute for PB2! 


4) Let's Do Organic COconut FInely Shredded Flakes (Unsweetened)
I used to hate coconut, but now, it's nice to add some shredded coconut to my oatmeal, chia seed pudding, yogurt and smoothies! 


5) Desert Essence Natural Tea Tree Oil Facial Cleansing Pads
I've been hitting the gym a lot during my lunch breaks to do my Kayla Itsines circuits (yay, 30 minutes and done!) - and don't always have a chance for a full on shower afterwards, usually just a rinse. I don't want that to translate into awful breakouts - so I thought I would give these a try - seems easy enough to toss the container in my backpack and use them to wash off my face after each workout. 


Item(s) Ordered Qty. Price Discount Total
Quest Nutrition QuestBar Protein Bar Double Chocolate Chunk -- 12 Bars1$ 24.99  $ 24.99
Item No: QST 9000241
Bragg Premium Nutritional Yeast Seasoning -- 4.5 oz1$ 5.59  $ 5.59
Item No: BRA 5066054
Desert Essence Natural Tea Tree Oil Facial Cleansing Pads - Original -- 50 Pads1$ 5.39  $ 5.39
Item No: DES 4220406
Vitacost Peanut Butter SLIM(tm) Powdered - NON-GMO - Gluten Free -- 6.5 oz1$ 3.25  $ 3.25
Item No: VCT 7019670
Let's Do Organic Coconut Finely Shredded Flakes Unsweetened -- 8 oz1$ 2.29  $ 2.29
Item No: LSD 2005203


Can't wait for my goodies to arrive :) 

One thing I was thinking of ordering but held off on is a protein powder to use in smoothies- any recommendations out there? 

If you click this link and make an account on Vitacost, you'll get $10 off your first order! STOCK UP! 


0 comments:

Post a Comment

Runspiration

Who of us hasn't considered how our peers will react to our performance in a given race, whether good or bad? And in those moments, whom are we ultimately running for? The sport is difficult enough as it is; doing it for anyone but ourselves makes it unsustainable.

Be My Friend!

Follow on Bloglovin