Smoothies, soreness, and self-confidence - Oh my!

Hello there peeps!

Smoothies:
First, thank you SO much for your comments and suggestions on what you do to make the most out of your breakfast smoothies.  Two great sites that I've heard about (in case you're interested) are: Pimp My Protein Shake (although her recipes can be a bit complicated) and Green Monster Movement.

I have to say that I am super excited to try all of the things that I've found.  The thing that would make my life easier is to not have to blend the ice...mostly because we only have cubes available, not crushed ice.  My bullet is doing okay with it, it just takes awhile to blend, especially because I only blend for a minute at a time, so as to not overheat the motor.

I'm SO excited to tell you about my newest love.  I used about two cups of spinach, a cup of low fat organic chocolate milk, and a scoop of some whey protein powder (french vanilla creme) that Joe has.  I blended all the ingredients and then kept adding ice cubes as needed until I got this:

[Side note?  We totally need to get more light in our place.  It's like a cave which doesn't work well when taking pictures with my phone.]



Anyway, it was FABULOUS.  It was just under 300 calories and had a TON of protein in it.  Also?  It tasted like a chocolatey vanillaish milkshake. 

I know what you may be thinking - 300 calories is a lot.  And it is - or at least, it can be.  Someone could use a cup of fat free milk (at 90 calories a cup versus 190 in the chocolate milk for a cup) to reduce the calories to around 200.  But I enjoyed this yummy shake in the evening, after my 30 Day Shred workout, as a meal.  I wasn't super hungry after my workout, and I really didn't feel like fixing something intricate. So 300 calories chalk full of good stuff for me?  It was great and it fit my needs at the time.  I won't be having this often - or as a breakfast smoothie.  If something is chocolatey in the morning, I tend to crave sweets all day long after that. 

My next idea is to incorporate some sort of fiber into it to make it 1) even more filling and 2) even more deserving of the category "The Green Movement." 

Soreness:

Y'all... I'm not going to lie to you.   Doing the 30 Day Shred video every day so far has pretty much been horrible.  For the last three days, I wanted to grunt and moan in pain pretty much all the time.  I can't believe a) how sore I am - my quads ache from just walking! and b) how out of shape I am (hello!  My quads ache from just walking??). 

In fact, Joe commented on my pain yesterday morning when I got up to shred and grunted in pain.  He asked, "Why are you doing this again?"  I explained my pledge to myself and you guys - to do this Godforsaken video every day for 30 days.

And I meant it - a promise is a promise. 

This morning, I woke up and I was less sore than I have been - which means that I'm making progress.  Which means that I'm less likely to complain about my sore muscles (note: I said less complaining, I'm not a robot, people!) :) 

I'm proud that I've decided to jump into this plan wholeheartedly.  I'm accomplishing something - even if I have to switch to just one weight sometimes, even if end each workout with some not-very-happy-pants words directed at her.

Self-confidence:

I had my second interview with a company yesterday.  I woke up a bit nervous, but after finishing the workout yesterday morning, I had gotten rid of some of my nervous energy.  I love how exercise can do that for a person.

The interview went pretty well.  To be honest, I'm not quite sure if I'll like the job or not...it's pretty much like the same stuff I do now.  Only instead of working with dirty piece of metal, I'll be working with another.  It is more pay and I hope if I'm given the job, I can negotiate more time off too.

I had a moment of panic when I realized that movement, in general, causes me to grimace slightly due to the soreness (we're out of ibuprofen and I never remember this until I realize I'm walking like a zombie).  How will that play to an interview board?

But then I remembered that by doing the shred, I've had a new found confidence in me - I've done something so far that few even attempt.  And I know I will be successful.

So when I walked in, I had confidence in myself.  I remembered that I don't need that job (which is a different situation than a lot of other people I know).  I have a job that most days I don't mind.  I like my life the way it is, for the most part.  So I don't need to sell myself desperately to them.  I just need to show them me.  They'll either recognize the quality or not.  We'll either click, or we won't.

Funny, but that was the same attitude I had when I met Joe at the speed dating event over a year and a half ago.

Confidence is pretty amazing stuff, no?

Breakfast Smoothies

I like to mix up my breakfasts...for a while, I was enjoying a toasted double fiber english muffin with peanut butter and bananas.  Then, I made an oatmeal that was chocolatey and hearty.  Recently, I've been going old school and enjoying quick oats, milk, and raisins (microwaved together) for a breakfast that I can make in the office.

But I've still been hungry before lunch...and that is presenting a bit of a problem.

See, since I've had this new, longer commute, I've been snacking on some almonds in the car.  The raw almonds are there to fend off the HAM phase, so the container isn't quite big enough to be able to munch on all week long.   

So after I munch on almonds, I come into the office and drink some tea or coffee.  I'm not really full - or satisfied.  At this point, I'm just no longer hungry.  Around 10ish I start to get really hungry.  It's kind of too early to eat my lunch, but it's a bit too late to eat the oatmeal - because I know that that will fill me up until later.  I wish I could find something that would help me feel full in the morning and then last all morning long. 

Limiting factors: I don't like to get up early to make breakfast.  Even if I did, Joe doesn't get up as early as I do.  I our tiny loft sounds travel like crazy (I blame it on the fact that we don't have "ceilings" to top off the wall partitions in our place...think of it as us living in a cubicle environment).  And oh yeah, at work, we have a fridge and a microwave so I can't get too creative there.

I feel better and more satisfied, all day, if I have a hearty and filling breakfast in the morning.

But I want to lose weight, too.  So eating a few handful of almonds (I'm not measuring) isn't exactly the "best" thing I could do...and certainly snacking from 10 to noon isn't helping.  I started bringing fruit in, but I don't usually turn to it for some reason.

And then I got to thinking about Roni's smoothies that she's done.  And I started thinking about how I could do that too.

We do have a blender, but ours is big and bulky.  And I knew that if I had to drag that thing out every day, I would eventually not do it.  Add that to the fact that it doesn't blend things completely and you get an unappealing option (for me at least).

So I went to researching on the internets and found (what I feel) is the best option.

Monday, I bought what Roni uses to make her smoothies in - the Magic Bullet from Costco.  I know the Costco site says that they're on sale until January 30th for $39.99, but it was only $34 at my local Costco - with an instant manufacturers rebate. You *can* buy the exact same kit it from Amazon, but it's a bit more expensive.  Around the same price as at Costco, you can get a bit of a different kit on Amazon, but it doesn't have the "on the go" tops which make it easier to not slosh around in your car.  I drink mine through a straw while in the car, but the top makes it easier for me to walk the few blocks to my car without spillage.

The people from Magic Bullet have in no way compensated me - they don't even know that I'm writing this...heck, they don't even know who I am.  But I figure if you've been searching for the same thing as I have, you might be curious to know what I like and what I don't like.  To be clear, I haven't used it for anything else (although apparently there are many things you can do with it)...I've just made smoothies. :)

I've had two breakfast smoothies since then in the Magic Bullet and here are the things that I really like:

1. I LOVE that it's a smaller gadget.  We don't have much room so anything that doesn't take up much space is handy.  The base is about the size of a coffee grinder.  Of course, you do have to find room for the mugs and tops.
2. I love that you can mix the drinks right in the mug - without having to wash more stuff.  I don't have much time in the mornings and I don't love washing out stuff that I'm just going to use again the next day.  With this, I just use one mug for each day - and the mug I used goes right in the wash.  There is a new mug/blender assembly waiting for me the next day.
3. Your drink is already proportioned.  I'd hate to make a whole smoothie and then not have enough space in my mug/glass to fit it all in.  This way, what you fit in the mug is it's capacity.  So nothing goes to waste.
4. It blends everything really smoothly.  Admittedly, the first time, it wasn't so smooth...and I had bits of spinach and blueberries that I couldn't just swallow without chewing a bit (it should be noted that I actually hate pulpy orange juice for this same reason- so this is my issue, maybe not yours).  The second time, I made sure that I blended everything for longer...and it was perfect!  As far as the ice, it's smoothed out completely - no huge chunks like our traditional blender.

Things I'm not a huge fan of:

1. The smell.  It has a hot or burning smell sometimes - usually when I hold it down for long periods of time (go figure!).  I just try to pulse it when it gets to this point.  I've read other reviewers complain of the same thing...and it makes me doubt the longevity of the product. I just ease up for a few seconds and then go at it again and it blends just fine after that.  But so far, so good.
2. You have to be kind of careful about how you add everything.  I find it best to add the fruit/veggies first to blend it all smoothly and THEN add the ice to make it a smoothie. 

ANYWAY, no matter what appliance you make your smoothie with, there are now countless options for me!

My first smoothie was made with: blueberries, a spear of pineapple, probably a half of a cup of spinach leaves, and non-fat plain greek yogurt.  It's pictured to the left.  As you can see, there are some small chunkies of blueberry skins and veins of spinach leaves in there (as I mentioned previously).  The next time I vowed to blend more. According to other blogs, I add more spinach, it's supposed to greener (making it a "Green Monster") versus the purple-ish/brownish color that is displayed here.

In my second smoothie (in addition to blending more thoroughly), I added some healthy oils, a strawberry, and a small bit of agave nectar (the yogurt that I use is plain and has a bit of a tarter taste than what I'd ideally like). 

So far, so good.  When I got to work, I was completely satisfied and have enjoyed water each morning until lunchtime .  What's more, I feel fantastic that I have used healthy ingredients to make a healthy and delicious morning treat.  It's fast, easy, doesn't take up a lot of room, and is something that I can enjoy on the go.

For all you Weight Watchers, if you make it with just fruit and veggies, I guess this would be a 0 point drink (although I don't know because I'm not a member...perhaps this is something you should take to your leader :) ).
I'm looking into maybe adding some protein powders to it, or some nut butters, or perhaps a bit of flax seed.  Something to give me more protein or boost it's nutritional value.

Do you enjoy smoothies?  If so, what do you put in them?  Do you add any powders or mixes to boost the nutritional value or are you a fruit/veggie purist?

I can't wait to hear from you guys - this is something I'm super excited about and I'd love to know what more of you all are using or have used.  So PUHLEEZE chime in!

Let's talk about POOP, Baby!

This is a circle of trust, right?  A circle where we can all be real and be our authentic, true selves?

Okay then.

I read on someone's blog recently this quote: Food is just food, and then it's poop.

Apparently, Allan coined that phrase... but it's totally and completely true.  When I read it, I laughed and then thought about how it's silly that something that we initially care so much about turns into something that we don't want anything to do with or even admit to.

Short aside: In David Sedaris's book, "Dress Your Family in Coudoroy and Denim" he talks about how his sister used to grunt while on the phone with him...and he always just assumed that she was opening up a jar of pickles or something...until she told him otherwise.  He was scarred for life.  Gross?  Yes.  Funny?  Also yes.  While I don't grunt on or off the phone, we thought this was funny and have decided that Joe is the only one who poops in our house; I open up jars of pickles. :)

My younger sister has never been over a size 10 in her life.  Sure, she has an awesome metabolism, but she also has a chronic case of IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). So in her case, the above saying should be changed to be "Food is food but then Ohmygoodnessit'spooprightnow!"  She, in general, has poor eating habits, but her disease keeps her trim, thin, and lonely in bathrooms.

I, on the other hand feel like my body says "Food is food and then it's in your system for eleventy days and then it THINKS about being poop, but it probably never WILL be poop." 

So, what to do about it?

FIBER.

When I followed Weight Watchers, I learned that fiber was great.  The more fiber you eat in something, the fewer points it had, which meant that you got to eat more.  I liked that.  I didn't care about much beyond that.

But then I realized something awesome.  When I eat more fiber, things move.  And when things move, I feel amazing.  You know how good you feel after a sneeze or an orgasm?  I'm just saying...there are lots of kinds of release that feels awesome.  Fiber may not make you open jars more often but it makes opening the jar much easier.  Kind of like when you tap the edge of the top on the counter before opening it.

Here are a few of my favorite ways to get fiber in my system:

1) Fruits and veggies.  (duh)

2) Wheat Thins "Fiber Selects" - these have 5g of fiber in each serving and taste better (more salty, less sweet) than the Reduced Fat Wheat Thins.  For 13 crackers, you get 120 calories, 4.5g of fat, and 5g of fiber.  Plus, they're tasty.

3) Chocolate cupcakes. I haven't done this in a long time, but you can also take a package of chocolate cake mix (devil's food seems to work the best) and mix it with a can of pumpkin (not the seasoned kind...just regular canned pumpkin).  I know...you're going to think that you should add other ingredients...but don't.  Just combine the dry mix with the canned pumpkin.  They'll be thicker than what you're used to, but don't worry.  Divvy them up in the muffin tins and cook them per the directions on the box.  When done, you can store them in the fridge and they taste marvelous cold.  When I did this, there was only one point per muffin (again, due to the fiber).  You can't taste the pumpkin at all and the cake is really moist.  All of the boyfriends I've had have loved these.

4) Fiber One Muffin Mix.  I actually take this a step further and mix one box of muffin mix with that can of pumpkin trick from above.  These come out slightly orange (as to be expected), but still don't taste like pumpkin.  I think the grams of fiber is about 18 billion, but you might want to check the side of the box. 

5) All Bran Fiber Drink Mix.  I'll be honest.  I haven't seen these in stores in a long time. But when you mix it with a bottle of water, it tastes awesome - a pink lemonde treat.  10 grams of fiber in each packet with only 20 calories and 0g of sugar.  I'm looking for a suitable replacement, so if you have any ideas, I'm all ears.

6) Oatmeal.  There's something about a filling meal of oatmeal...it helps me feel satisfied on a lot of levels.  Joe eats the high fiber kind by Quaker Oats (little instant packages) and likes it just as much as the other instant flavors.

Now it's your turn...help a sister (or brother) out. 

What do you do on a regular (get it?  REGULAR?  I kill me) basis to keep things moving and feeling great? 

[Updated: I originally asked who wrote the poop phrase and Allan took credit...which sounded about right.  So I updated this post to give credit where credit is due.]

Lesson RE-learned

Sometimes I think that I'm so smart. It was one of the few things I was praised over and over about as a kid. So I know that I'm able to see solutions to things before other people. I know that I'm able to apply logic and get an answer that will solve a problem.

But it's SO hard to see that when it's happening *to* me. I have weeks like this past week...weeks where I knew that I was off track but couldn't quite remember how to reign it in. Have I been through this before? Undoubtedly, but I couldn't quite remember how to refocus.

Turns out, one of the key things I had to do was have my own healthy breakfast.

I mentioned before of how I just hadn't gone to the grocery store to get my normal staples. And since I'm leaving town on Sunday for a week, I have been reluctant to go to the store to get them - afraid that they would somehow spoil. My mindset went something like this: Why buy things that could spoil and waste your money? Best to eat crap on the go and end up paying for a few more weeks of Weight Watchers. Alright...that's not quite how logical I was being, but that basically is the end result.

So, I went ahead and bought fruit, some veggies, and bread that could spoil anyway.

And I'm amazed (again!) at how eating my own healthy breakfast - one that is filled with fiber, fruit, and protein - keeps me satisfied. When I'm satisfied, I don't seem to crave the sugar as much. Being able to look at the clock, realize that it's 11:30 and that I haven't snacked all morning is a fantastic feeling.

When I don't pack my breakfast, I end up snacking on things throughout the morning...which just gets me in a snacky/munchy mood and I feel sort of "off" the rest of the day. I don't reach for the fiber filled foods - instead I raid a co-workers candy jar or eat the bagels in the lunchroom. Those sugar and simple carbs have an initial high and then leave me feeling drained and groggy...such that I return to the simple carbs again and again. For me, it perpetuates the "So what?" feeling and indulge in ways that are not healthy.

Reigning it in -with my own go-to and planned breakfast - helps me feel back in the routine of things. I have a few of those breakfasts up my sleeve and I'm happy to share one of them with you.

My current breakfast was adapted from the Hungry Girl's Choco-Monkey Oatmeal. I referred to it in this post.

It is:
1/3 cup of oatmeal (quick, not instant)
a dash of cinnamon
two dashes of salt
1/2 a banana, smushed
1 or 2 tbsp of reduced fat peanut butter
1 packet of diet cocoa (25 calories per packet)

Mix the cocoa with 1/4 cup of hot water. Once dissolved, mix in the other dry ingredients and add another 1/4 cup of cooler water. Add the smushed banana half and then microwave for 1:30- 2:00 minutes. While you're waiting, have the other half of a banana (seriously, does anyone save a half a banana?). :)

Take out of the microwave and stir or add water to achieve the consistency you like in your oatmeal (I like mine a bit thicker so I usually add only a bit more water here). Stir in the desired amount of peanut butter (on days where I worked out in the morning, I usually have 2 tbsp, but one is plenty for the taste). Enjoy!

It ends up tasting pretty good. I mean, I wouldn't serve it as a Christmas Brunch or anything, but it's tasty, filling, something that I can prepare with only a microwave, and it looks like a lot (so my eyeballs feel satisfied too). With only one tbsp of peanut butter, you're talking 5 points for the whole thing (6 if you do like me and eat the other half of the banana). The original recipe didn't have the peanut butter and did have a packet of sugar substitute, but I find that I like more savory things than sweet in the morning...so the addition of the peanut butter and an extra dash of salt makes it better.

The best thing about this recipe, in my opinion, is that I can pre-mix the dry goods in a baggie and use the peanut butter in my drawer at work and I can mix it up quickly. I find that if I eat before I leave the house, I'm hungrier in the morning and I don't get everything done at home that I want to do before I leave. Having a breakfast that I can take with me is crucial and with this, I reach into my pantry, grab a baggie, a packet of cocoa, and a banana and breakfast is taken care of.

I do know that there are dangers of sugar substitute - including those it the diet cocoa. I'm not saying that I'll "cook" like this every day for the rest of my life, but for now it's doing the trick. I'll likely experiment with eliminating the cocoa (which is my least favorite part) and adding something else to make it feel just as satisfying, both in my belly and to my eyes but I don't quite know what to do to make that a tasty, lower point, and satisfying breakfast...do you have any suggestions?