Sat., Oct. 10 Menu

Breakfast - 8 am

2 Kashi Blueberry waffles with Blueberry Peach butter

Nutritional Info: 195 cal., 3g fat, 0g sat. fat, 0mg chl., 300mg sodium, 39g carbs, 6g fiber, 10g sugar, 8g protein

Workout 10 am - 12 pm

Lunch - 12 pm
EAS Protein Shake and a banana

Nutritional Info.: 215 cal., 3g fat, 0g sat. fat, 20mg chl., 261mg sodium, 868 mg potassium, 29g carbs, 4g fiber, 14g sugar (all unrefined from the banana), 18g protein

Friday, October 9th Menu

Breakfast - 6 am

Special K Fruit and Yogurt cereal w/ Light Soy milk
1 homemade banana nut muffin

Snack - 9 am

2 homemade banana nut muffins (yeah, I over-indulged in this tasty treat so, I'll pay for it later).

Lunch - 11:30 am
Since I went overboard on my snack I'm going light for lunch.

1 packet Wholly Guacamole with 14 Terra Exotic Vegetable chips

Nutritional Info: 250 cal, 17 g. fat, 2g sat. fat, 0mg chl., 200mg sodium, 21g carbs, 7g fiber, 4g sugar, 2g protein

Thursday, October 8th Menu

Breakfast: 6 am

Kashi Truly Vanilla Oatmeal with 1/4 cup dried cranberries and 1/4 cup fresh blueberries

Nutritional Info: 280 cal., 2g fat, 0g sat. fat, 0mg chl., 110mg sodium, 58g carbs, 34g sugar, 9g fiber, 9g protein (too much sugar -even if some of it is unrefined - for my preference in this one).

Wednesday, October 7th Menu

Breakfast - 6 am

2 Kashi blueberry waffles with blueberry-pomegranate butter

Snack - 9 am

Banana

Lunch - 12 pm

Chick-Fil-A Chicken sandwich on wheat bread, no pickles with light mayo and bottled water.

Snack - 3 pm

Honeycrisp apple

WORKOUT - 4-6 pm

Dinner - 6 pm

Special K Fruit and Yogurt cereal with Light Silk

Nutritional info: 190 cal., 3g fat, 0.5g sat. fat, 0mg chl., 255mg sodium, 35g carbs, 2g fiber, 17g sugar, 8g protein

Snack: 8 pm

1 cup red seedless grapes

Tuesday Octber 6th menu

Breakfast - 8 am

1/4 cup vanilla Greek yogurt with 1/4 cup tropical fruit trail mix from Good Sense
1 Nature's Own Multi Grain english muffin toasted and with spray butter.

Nutritional Info.: 300 cal., 14 g. fat, 2.5g sat. fat, 0mg chl., 363mg sodium, 39g carbs, 8g fiber, 10g sugar, 15g protein

Snack - 10 am

2 cups kettle corn

Lunch - 12 pm

Leftover chicken and fruit salad.
Jello sugar-free rice pudding cup (threw the carton away so I don't know the nutritional info for this).

Snack - 3 pm
Honey Crisp apple

Dinner - 5 pm
37 all-natural lightly seasoned rice crackers
2 servings Quaker caramel rice cakes. (Horrible dinner I know, but I wasn't hungry for anything else. lol!)

Monday October 5th Menu

Breakfast - 8 am

1/4 cup vanilla Greek yogurt with 1/4 cup tropical fruit trail mix from Good Sense
1 Nature's Own Multi Grain english muffin toasted and with spray butter.

Nutritional Info.: 300 cal., 14 g. fat, 2.5g sat. fat, 0mg chl., 363mg sodium, 39g carbs, 8g fiber, 10g sugar, 15g protein

Lunch - 1 pm

EAS chocolate protein shake and an apple

Nutritional info: 200 cal., 3g fat, 0g sat. fat, 20mg chl., 280mg sodium, 27g carbs, 9g fiber, 18g sugar (this is all unrefined all-natural sugars from the apple), 17g protein

Snack - 3pm

2 cups Kettle corn

Nutritional Info.: 130 cal., 5g fat, 0g sat. fat, 0mg chl., 130 mg. sodium, 21g carbs, 2g fiber, 6g sugar, 1g protein

Dinner - 5 pm

Homemade chicken and fruit salad with honey mustard dressing:
Salad:
1 cup raw Spinach leaves
1 grilled chicken breast
strawberries, quartered
grapes
mandarin orange sections
Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 T. balsamic vinegar
1 T. agave nectar or honey
1 T. orange juice
2 T. dijon mustard
Mix well and drizzle over salad ingredients.

Dessert - 6 pm

2 Schwan's oatmeal raisin cookies

Nutritional info: 220 cal, 6g fat, 3g sat. fat, 20mg chl., 200mg sodium, 36g carbs, 2g fiber, 22g sugar, 4g protein

Ok...

So, life is crazy. And I am one that usually requires a schedule.
I haven't had a schedule as of late. So, therefore, I have slacked on my blog updating duties.
To my followers and visitors, I apologize.

As a general update I have begun a rigorous workout schedule. I am going to school to become an EMT, then I'm on to paramedic school. So, in light of my job's physical requirements, I felt compelled to gain some muscle mass, rather than just be thin.

In gaining a balance between thin and muscular I have increased my caloric intake and my workout regime has become more rigid and demanding. I life weights every day for an hour or 2 and I run 1.5-2 miles daily, whether outside or on a treadmill.

With that said, I can obviously eat more and still stay within my weight goals because I'm burning more calories with my workout. My meals usually don't go over 400 calories each and I eat every 3 hours. My daily schedule is something like this:

Breakfast: 6 am (400 cal)
Mid-Morning snack: 9 am (200 cal)
Lunch: 12 pm (400 cal)
Mid-afternoon snack: 3 pm (100-200 cal)
Dinner: 6 pm (400 cal)
Dessert: 7 pm (less than 200 cal)

I still stick with my limited dessert intake and I don't eat anything after 7 pm. As you can see, my average daily calorie intake is only about 1700-1800. This is still a reasonable amount even if you're not exercising as strenuously as I am every day. It all depends on WHAT is making those calories add up!

My menu for today:

Breakfast - 6 am
1/4 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
1/4 cup dried tropical trail mix (Good Sense. It only has 3g of sugar.)
1 Nature's Own 100 calorie Multi-Grain english muffin with spray butter and 1 Tbl. of Polander All fruit spread.

Nutritional Info: 360 calories, 14g fat, 2.5 sat. fat, 365 mg sodium, 49g carbs, 0 chl., 18g. sugar (8 g come from fruit/fruit juice), 15g protein.

Snack: 10 am
2 oatmeal raisin cookies from Schwan's
(220 cal., 6g fat, 3g sat. fat, 20mg chl., 200mg sodium, 36g carbs, 2g fiber, 4g protein) for both

Lunch: 12 pm
Chicken Bacon and Ranch Flatbread Melt from Schwan's
(210 cal., 8g fat, 3.5g sat. fat, 15mg chl., 490mg sodium, 25g carbs, 1g fiber, 4g sugar, 10g protein)
Jello Sugar-free rice pudding
(70 cal., 2g fat, 1.5g sat. fat, 10mg chl., 180mg sodium, 13g carbs, 0g sugar, 2g protein)

Mid-afternoon snack and dinner (no dessert tonight as I had cookies for my snack) will be on the road. We are leaving for a weekend getaway tonight and won't be back till Sunday evening. So, I'll see you all on Monday!

Menu - March 10th

Breakfast:
1 strawberry granola bar
1 strawberry Atkins drink (you can find these by or in the pharmacy of Wal-Mart).

Workout - 8-9

Post workout snack:
banana

Lunch:
leftover rosemary herbed pork chops with apples and currants
succotash
asparagus and mushrooms

Snack:
Atkins chocolate bar

Dinner:
Bowl of Strawberry wheat squares cereal

Wed. Feb 25th menu

Breakfast: 6:15 am

Jimmy Dean's D-Lights turkey sausage, egg whites, potatoes and reduced-fat cheese bowl

Nutritional info:

230 calories, 70 fat calories, 7g fat, 3g sat. fat, 20 mg cholesterol, 730 mg sodium, 19 carbs, 2g fiber, 1 g sugar, 23 g protein (wow!)

I almost didn't buy this dish because of the sodium content but I am not usually in the mood for breakfast but I know it's the most important meal of the day so I make myself eat. However, I have a hard time finding a variety of things to eat for breakfast. I need something easy, filling and tasty. This was all 3 and an excellent source of protein, but it was high in sodium. I figure, I'll cut back the rest of the day on my salt intake and it will even out. 

30 minute workout: 

I had worked out yesterday and the day before quite heavily on the legs and they were super sore today. So, I opted for a quick abs-only day at the gym. 

20 straight leg raises on the VKR x 3

25  50lb. weighted crunches on the crunch machine x 3

Snack- 9 am

Fat Free Fig Newtons

Nutritional info: 190 calories, 5 fat calories, 0.5g fat, 0g sat. fat, 0mg Cholesterol, 260mg sodium, 45g carbs, 3g fiber, 25g sugar, 2g protein

These stick it to you on the sugar so eat them sparingly!

Lunch - 11:30 am

"Clean" Beans and Rice w/sugar-free rice pudding for dessert.

I was looking for a more affordable clean recipe that I could make using things I had at the house one day and ran across these ingredients that make a perfectly sized mexican entree that's super healthy and gives you tons of energy!

Ingredients:

2 tubs Ready to Eat Minute Rice, brown

1 can no salt, no sugar added sweet kernel corn, drained

1 can organic black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can low sodium chicken, drained

1 T. minced organic garlic

1 tsp. Chipotle Chile Pepper seasoning

1/2 cup On The Border mild salsa

1/3 cup Weight Watcher's shredded colby-jack cheese

1 avocado cut into 4 wedges

4 tsp. fat-free sour cream

Divide the rice evenly among 4 microwave safe bowls; set aside. In a skillet combine the corn, beans, chicken, garlic and seasoning. Cook, stirring often until corn kernels start to brown.  Remove from heat and divide evenly among the rice in the bowls. Top each bowl with a portion of the salsa and cheese. Microwave on high 1 minute or until cheese melts. Top each bowl with a teaspoon of sour cream and a diced avocado wedge. 

Serves 4

Nutritional Info per serving: 164 calories, 64 fat calories, 5g fat, 2g sat. fat, 12mg cholesterol, 248mg sodium, 20g carbs, 5g fiber, 2.5g sugar, 8g protein. 

You could leave off the avocado wedge and save 161 cal. and 5g fat but you'd also shave off 9 valuable grams of fiber. And keep in mind that avocados are full of the GOOD fats that your body needs. 

Snack - 2:30 pm

3 Musketeers Mint bar (if you're going to eat a candy bar, 3 Musketeers is the best choice out there. And always opt for dark chocolate over milk chocolate.)

 Nutritional Info: 150 calories, 50 fat calories, 5g fat, 3.5g sat. fat, 0mg chl., 65 mg sodium, 26g carbs, 1g fiber, 22g sugar, 1g protein

More later!

Long time no see...

*ahem* 

Well, I guess I did fall off the bandwagon a little, didn't I? A lot has happened in our lives that required much more of my time than I expected. That flu bug kept me down for quite some time, though. I haven't thrown up since I was a little girl. I can usually control it, as in mind over matter. This time mind over matter was out of the question. I had forgotten what an ordeal it is to throw up.

Wow.

Anyhow, have no fear! I am back and with a vengeance! 

Before you ask, yes. I have kept up with my diet AND have revved up my workout regime. But I will forewarn you, this blog will be a bit different than before because of how crazy life is for us right now. I may not have pictures all the time and I may not even post every day. But keep checking back. In fact, just follow my blog. That's an option right here on this page near the top right corner under the blog title. You can follow me by signing up for a google account. It's nothing other than giving your name to google so you can leave comments and follow people. You won't get any junk mail, I promise! However, you will receive updates in your email when I have posted again so you're not wasting time checking back every day to see "if she's posted today". 

Good to be back! Hope to hear from you all soon! And don't forget to check out my personal blog: www.carissamason.blogspot.com