Posts Tagged Amazing Meal

Everything But the Kitchen Sink

Hello blog friends!

Wahooo Thursday is here!  Travel day!  (woot woot!)  I am very excited to see my family tonight when I touch down in Michigan.  I’m also ready to just get out the door today and off to the airport so I can STOP THINKING I’m going to forget something.  I am an insane traveler, I swear.  I spend more time planning, packing, preparing and overthinking than I actually spend on any trip.  Even for short ones.  Do any of you do that too? 

I have been particularly overthinking this trip, as I will be spending a full week of my vacation in an RV and nowhere near a Whole Foods market!  And since I have been loving all the positive effects of the great nutrition plan I follow at home, I don’t want to miss out on that while travelling.  In the past, I have seemed to catch some sort of cold every time I’ve been on a plane.  So to a certain level, I feel I am kind of ‘testing’ my current food plan to see if it has boosted my immune system!  :)

I have vacuum-packed rice protein powder, Vega whole food optimizer, Amazing Meal, and nutritional yeast.  I have purchased what looks like a year’s supply of Larabars.  I’ve packed olive oil, almond butter and agave nectar into small containers, then vacuum packed the containers so they (hopefully) don’t leak.  I have Mary’s Gone Crackers, pepitas, sundried tomatoes, raisins, stevia.  If the plane crashes on a desert island a la “Lost” I’ll be SET! I am taking a small suitcase (besides my big suitcase) just for food and running shoes.  Am I crazy?  Maybe.  But no one can call me unprepared!

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Normally I’d just go on vacation and eat what everyone else is eating.  This has always led to severe bloating, cramping, gas and other unmentionables which seem to impact my fun.  Being in an RV with paper-thin bathroom walls is plenty of motivation to be a little freakish about packing my own food this time around.  ;) My brother has already been informed that we are going directly from the airport to the grocery store so I can stock up on green smoothie fixins for the road. 

I’m also very excited to get on the plane today because I’ve loaded the new Dan Brown book onto my Kindle and I’m itching to read it!  It’s been WAY too long since he released the “DaVinci Code”.  I hope this one lives up!

Yesterday’s feats & eats:

Weight Training (Legs/Shoulders):

  • TM Warmup + Ball Squats to get the blood flowing to the leg muscles
  • Side Steps with Exercise Band around ankles 3 sets of 30, 40, 40 reps
  • Weighted Step-Ups  3 sets of 15 reps per leg
  • Overhead Shoulder Press 3 sets of 15, 12, 12
  • Weighted Static Lunges 3 sets of 15 reps per leg
  • Single Leg Lying Hamstring Curls 2 sets of 15 reps per leg
  • 1-Arm Overhead Shoulder Press 3 sets of 15, 10, 15 reps per arm
  • Bicycles for Abs 3 sets of 30

Lots of hamstring and hip flexor stretching between sets this time too.

I got the dogs ready to go out for their ‘wog’ and made the mistake of taking them together.  We made it .12 mileThat decimal was not in the wrong spot.  We literally went 12/100 of a mile.  They were crazy beasts so we turned around and came back, lest I ‘accidentally’ unhook their leashes while near some open space and let them find their own way home.  It was that kind of morning with the spazoids.  I don’t understand how little creatures who can be so cute can drive me so absolutely up a wall sometimes!  :)   Moms out there, how do you do it with REAL kids? 

I had my JOE in my Denver Starbucks coffee mug this time, since it was my last full day here for awhile!

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Breakfast after my workout was a green smoothie with my diminishing stock of produce.  8 oz water, scoop of rice protein, 1/2 banana, 1/2 pear, one clementine, BIG fist o’spinach, 1/2 cucumber and 2 romaine lettuce leaves.  I think my pink cup makes the green smoothie even greener!

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Midmorning I was in the mood for something savory, so I plated up some Mary’s Gone Crackers and herbed goat cheese.

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For lunch I continued to clean out my fridge of leftovers, so this was the last of my Whole Foods Thai Lime Shrimp.  Although, there was no shrimp left so this was essentially flavored noodles :)   I added zucchini ribbons to bump up the veggies a bit.

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Afternoon snack was an unpictured small bowl of dry Mom’s Best Naturals cereal during my packing frenzy. 

Dinner was MSP’s favorite:  Chipotle.  He could eat there every day and never tire of it.  I like it once in a blue moon.  I ordered the veggie bowl with rice, green peppers & onions, black beans, salsa and guac.  At home, I plated some of it, and surrounded it with some Baked Tostito Scoops for the guac.  And sprinkled it with nutritional yeast for some cheesy flavor.

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Later in the evening I had a cup of herbal tea and half of a “Simply” chocolate chip cookie from a batch I made for MSP to snack on while I’m gone. 

* * * * *

When I had originally planned to start my blog, I figured I’d begin in October right after I return from my trip.  But because accountability is something I feel we can all benefit from in our health & fitness endeavors, I decided that blogging DURING this road trip would be the ultimate in accountability so that you the reader can see how I (attempt to) keep up with healthy eating and exercise while on vacation.

I hope to maintain my same blogging schedule while I’m “on the road” – it will be dependent upon internet and cell phone access.  I hope you’ll ‘join me’ as I take FitFeat on tour.  It should be interesting if not comical!

Thank you to everyone who has been reading the blog so far and thank you for commenting!  Keep spreading the word so we can get that first giveaway going when we have comments from 30 individuals!

Have a GREAT Thursday everyone and I’ll be back with an update from the road the first chance I get!

– Shari B. =)

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Don't Finish What You Start (dessert, that is!)

Hi fit peeps!  Hopefully you have the day off for the Labor Day holiday!  Mondays are great when you don’t have to head in to the office, right?  ;)

So my Sunday was delightful.  It was a planned rest day from exercise so I was pretty much a ‘lump on a log’ most of the day.  I did a little painting project and then finished a book I’d been reading on the Kindle.  (Hey speaking of Kindle, if you happen to own one:  Amazon seems to regularly offer a few books for free to drum up some buzz for authors.  The one I just finished was called “Raising Jake” which I originally got for free and is now out there for $9.60.   They also have a lot of classics for free download as well, like “Pride & Prejudice”.  Thought I’d share, since we all love to save some money!)

Sunday started much like every other day, with my favorite liquid, this time presented for your viewing pleasure in my DENVER mug (from Starbucks, of course!):

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And then (drum roll please……) my chocolate chip MUFFIN!

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(with a cup of almond milk in my “thumb mug”)  Oh wow has it been a long time since I’ve had one of these.  It was DEEE-LISH!  I ate about 2/3 and then realized I’d had my fill.  At that point, I noticed that I was eating it just because it tasted so good and no longer because I was hungry, so I stopped and the rest went to MSP, who gladly finished it off for me!

Throughout the morning I had a few leftover chickpeanuts, but the muffin was so filling I didn’t need anything substantial again until lunch.   When I finally did get hungry I had some of my leftover tofu chili with a side of veggies and hummus (there’s one of those wonky carrots again!):

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Shortly after I felt mostly full but could use a bite of something ‘desserty’ to change the taste some, so I broke off a piece of a Chocolate Coconut Larabar (about a third of the bar):

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Later we had a few errands to run and MSP treated me to one of my favorite ‘fast food’ places ever, Tokyo Joe’s! I use fast food lightly because it’s really a great place to get a quick healthy meal.  I chose the Hookipa Salad which has grilled salmon, ginger, greens, edamame, dried cranberries, pecans and a side of soy ginger dressing.   It comes stuffed to the brim in a huge bowl:

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So I cut the salmon in half and dished out half the salad onto a plate so that I have some for another time:

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Oh this salad is SOOOO good.  I just love it.  Tokyo Joe’s rocks.  If you have one nearby, you should go there today :)

MSP was craving rice krispy treats while we’d been out and about so we picked him up the goods to get it made in the evening.  He also wanted them to have chocolate topping, so he also bought a bag of chocolate chips to melt down and smear on top of his creation.  After they cooled he enjoyed his evening snack, while I munched on a few of the leftover chocolate chips.  Here’s something I was was surprised to learn:   Can you believe that Rice Krispies have high fructose corn syrup in them??? I mean really – it’s puffed rice for crying out loud!  What’s the point of ruining it with HFCS?  I don’t know why it surprised me so, but it did in this particular cereal.

Right at bedtime at 9:30 (yes, 9:30 on a weekend night – and that’s LATE for me!  I tell ya, my sleep is important to me!) I got really hungry, so I stirred a quick scoop of Amazing Grass “Amazing Meal” since I hadn’t had my green smoothie for the day.  This would have to suffice. :)   This is one of the few powdered green drinks I actually like.  It’s meant to be a meal replacement shake, as it’s balanced with protein, carbs and fat.  I like it because it’s easily portable – it doesn’t require a blender and it mixes really well with water.

AM_Original_Large140x257 Image from amazinggrass.com

So the FitFeature that I’d like to touch on today, especially as many of you may be heading to Labor Day BBQs and parties:  as I mentioned above, while I was enjoying my ‘planned cheat treat’ chocolate chip muffin, once I’d had my fill it was time to stop eating it.  If you are trying to lose weight or be fitter/healthier, this is a healthy habit to learn!  One of my personal training clients who then became one of my closest friends was great at this and I always admired her resolve.  When we’d meet for drinks or dinner, she would always order dessert.  She would have a few bites and then she was DONE.  She tasted it and had enough to enjoy it,  which kept her from feeling deprived of great foods and kept her from feeling like she was dieting.  So many foods taste GREAT in the first few bites, but then the ‘magic’ disappears.  Bethenny Frankel calls it “The Point of Diminishing Return”.

Don’t just continue to eat something because it tastes good – when  you are full, STOP EATING IT. :)   With high calorie decadent food, don’t finish what you start!

Alrighty friends, I’m off to start my day!  Have a sunny and safe Labor Day!  See ya next time!

– Shari B. =)

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Getting my feet wet (or should I say my "feat" wet?)

Hey there Fit Friends! 

As I compose my first ‘full’ post for my new blog (woot woot, so excited!), I am finding it surprising that I feel as energetic as I do tonight seeing how I have been up since 2:09 AM!  I woke up with my mind clicking away at high speed about the blog, so I went ahead and got up and continued working on the theme, widgets, etc.   I have been sleeping like a baby the last 4 months after a l-o-n-g bout with insomnia, so this was highly unusual and I’m crossing my fingers that I sleep well tonight. 

A blurb about the blog: I’ll be chronicling my food intake and exercise habits as a way to look back over time to see how I may have changed my approach, not to mention hopefully provide some insight and inspiration to readers (please see the “Disclaimer” tab).  My food philosophy has done a complete 180 over the years (see the “About” tab).  Makes me wonder if I’ll end up coming full circle over time or stay where I’m at.  I think it will be fun to come back to these early posts next year and compare.  I feel SO good right now with the way I’ve been eating.  In future posts, I’ll discuss further some of the food changes I made for health reasons and the results I’ve had.  As a personal trainer, clients have always been interested in what I eat and how I train.  I like to think I do a pretty good job at practicing what I preach teach (truly I don’t want to be ‘preachy’).  One thing to note for those of you following along:  I am currently eating at a maintenance level, which means I am not aiming to lose weight.  Should I decide that I need to lose any further bodyfat, you’ll see some changes to the daily ‘eats’ and an increase in training intensity.

Ironically today was a planned rest day from training, so not much to report on that front.  Tomorrow is legs and shoulders.  But plenty of eats to share!  Due to the lack of sleep it was a bit of a carb party today!

I at least waited till 5:00 AM to make my cup of coffee (the Diva mug baby!):

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 About an hour later I was hungry for my breakfast so I had a cup of Kashi GoLean with some unsweetened Almond Milk for breakfast:

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Mid-morning snack (not pictured) was 2 pieces of Ezekial 4:9 sprouted grain toast with raw almond butter and a drizzle of raw honey…. sweet carby goodness! 

Lunch was a dee-lish salad with leftover salmon from my trip to Tokyo Joe’s plus a hard-boiled egg, lots of spinach & romaine, a sprinkle of baked dulse, nutritional yeast, sundried tomatoes, raw pumpkin seeds, topped off with some macadamia nut oil and balsamic vinegar.  It was super filling!  And for dessert — a square of extra dark chocolate of course!Picture 014

 The little beggars dogs were waiting for something to drop, as usual.  Rascal (the MinPin) has become especially fond of green veggies these days, just like his mommy!  He loves cucumber, spines of romaine, zuchinni, you name it.  Although I’m pretty sure I could drop a styrofoam packing peanut and he’d snap it up like it’s the best thing he’s ever tasted.Picture 018

 I had two separate afternoon snacks today since I was extra hungry.  The first was a scoop each of Amazing Meal and rice protein.  Later I was still feeling hungry so I had a Wasa cracker with some raw goat cheddar.  Nothing exciting enough for a pic!I had a lazy girl dinner tonight since MSP (My Sweetie Pie) was at softball.  A can of Healthy Choice Country Veggie soup with an Ezekial ‘dipper’ on the side, topped with sprinkles of baked dulse and parmesan:Picture 024

 I think that covers day one!   Have a GREAT Friday tomorrow!

– Shari B.  =)

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