Constant Craving

I have been craving pot pie......


I contemplated making one for the family.. but they are so labor intensive. I asked John to pick me up a Marie Calendar's individual sized one. I nearly fainted when I looked at the calories and fat... over 600 calories and 34 grams of fat... yikes.... I never would have purchased it had I been shopping. I thought I would save it for the weekend when I don't count calories... but after eating salads for the past few days, I really want a stick to your bones dinner.



what also makes it bad is that today is my rest day.. so I don't have the extra calories to spare so to speak. But it's all good.. I am going to have it and enjoy it.. I will be over my calories...but it's not the end of the world. I will prolly just make up for it by eating extra clean on the weekend which is my usual splurge time.



what have you been craving?

Pumpkin pie smoothie

My fav smoothie so far... a little backstory.. I love, love, love.. anything pumpkin... Pumpkin pie with plenty of whipped cream or ice cream is my very fav dessert. In fact I usually make a pie in the fall and have it for breakfast daily. This smoothie did not disappoint. It was so tasty and just what I needed today for lunch.


I had some eggs on sat morning.. Liv and I split a greasy spoon breakfast of eggs, hashbrowns and bacon and then my gall bladder stated acting up. Looks like I really need to avoid eggs... they seem to bring on gall bladder issues as does red meat.



283 calories, 7 gram fat, 14 gram protein, 8 gram fiber, 29 sugar



6 oz unsweetened almond milk

1/4 cup frozen pumpkin ( I just scoop out portions into freezer bags)

1 scoop vanilla whey powder

1/2 teaspoon flax ( working my way up to adding more flax)

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 tablespoon vanilla pudding dry mix ( really thickens up the smoothie, worth the extra cals)

4 ice cubes

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice



I think I will try to forgo the maple syrup next time... or add less.

I love a deal

I have been having protein shakes every morning for the past few weeks.... they are replacing my typical belvita bars and coffee at 6.30 am. I have basically cut out caffeine from my diet... not intentionally. I had some wicked headaches for the first week sans coffee. My whey powder of choice is $18 at Walgreens and one can makes 15 smoothies. ( 1st step pro wellness is the brand I prefer). I found it in the clearance section today for $8.99.. woot! I remembered I had a $2 off coupon at home and another $2 off coupon from the store... so I am hoping nobody snags the last can left so I can stock up tomorrow after work.

I find the vanilla flavor more versatile as I can easily make it chocolate flavored by adding baking cocoa.I just need to find a way to cut down the sugar in my shake.... I think getting unsweetened almond milk will help a lot. The protein powder has very little sugar 2 grams, while the milk has 10 grams. I am guessing it is just the natural sugars in fruit that make up the rest. I suppose I could add water.... but I like the calcium of almond milk. I am going to have to play around with different types of liquids. Liv really likes the Vanilla sweetened almond milk and prefers it to regular milk which she basically refuses to drink plain.

I want to start adding some ground flax to my smoothies... because it is supposed to be good for you. My reason for drinking protein shakes is all the positive research I am reading in favor of it. I also use my blender instead of just a blender bottle. The blender really gives it a great texture.


while I am not seeing any wow scale changes yet.. I do feel stronger & better.  also My skin, nails and hair look better and I am really enjoying playing around with different combos and recipes.

Here is what my typical day looks like

6.30 am Protien shake-  8 oz almond milk, 1 scoop whey powder,  assorted frozen fruit, ice ( extras- PB2 powder, teaspoon dry pudding mix, etc. = 280/300 calories, 5 gram fat, 8 gram fiber, 28 grams protein, 25 + gram sugar depending what fruit I add.


10 am- light snack- Fat free greek yogurt or triscut crackers & cottage cheese or granola bar


12- lunch ( salad, leftovers or a lean cuisine)

3- light snack- fruit or fiber one bar

5- dinner

7- snack if I have calories leftover and if I am hungry.  If It is a rest day than I typically don't have the calories left for a snack.


have you tried protein shakes?

Dinner

Yummo

2 tablespoons cool whip
1 tablespoon PB2 powder
( mixed together)
1 graham cracker

would be great with a banana slice added too...

117 cal and 3.5 gram of fat

Yeah it is here

I could not find this anywhere locally... ordered it from GNC... it was a little more expensive but they had $1 shipping special which made it cheaper in the long run compared to other vendors. I have been hearing about this for awhile... excited to try some of the recipes. Tonight I made a snack and tomorrow I will have a chocolate, banana, PB2 protein shake for brekkie.

Have you tried PB2?

protien shakes

I am loving my protein shakes.... I have had one every morning for the past few days... I drink it at 6.30 am and today I stayed full until lunch. How did I not know that you can freeze bananas? How amazing is that?




a few favs- The calories are roughly 250, 20 protein, 5 grams fat, 6 grams fiber and 36 carbs.

1 scoop vanilla protein powder- I like 1step wellness sold at Walgreen $18.00 ( used to cost $15.00..wtf?)
8 ounces 1 % milk
1/4 to 1/2 frozen banana
1 tablespoon cocoa powder ( the unsweetened baking kind)
1/2-1  tablespoon chocolate pudding mix- dry ( add's minimal calories, but great taste and texture)



1 scoop vanilla protein powder- I like 1step wellness sold at Walgreen $18.00 ( used to cost $15.00..wtf?)
8 ounces 1 % milk
1/2 frozen banana
1 tablespoon cocoa powder ( the unsweetened baking kind)
1/2-1  tablespoon chocolate pudding mix- dry ( add's minimal calories, but great taste and texture)
1  heaping spoonful of peanut butter or PB2 powder




1 scoop vanilla protein powder- I like 1step wellness sold at Walgreen $18.00 ( used to cost $15.00..wtf?)
8 ounces 1 % milk
1/2 frozen banana
frozen berries- strawberries
tablespoon of vanilla or banana dry pudding mix



I have a few others I want to try.. pumpkin spice, pina colada, orange creme.

Yummy snack

Lemon blueberry cake

120 calories and 4.5 fat ...10 gram sugar..20 grams carbs


I do a similar one with a fiber one brownie, fresh strawberries and vanilla fro-yo

Its very small... but a tasty little dessert that feels indulgent... this and skinny cow ice cream sammies are my go to treat snacks.

A staple in my diet

spinach salad with balsamic

Asian chicken salad

lots of hidden cals in this one from chick fil a.. ordered it at the drive through and it has 330 calories written next to it, but when you add the nuts, wontons dressing it was close to 550 calories... and the chicken was fried.... ya live ya learn... otherwise it was very tasty.. but I would order it with char-grilled chicken had I known.

Lunch

Lunch

tried the lean cuisine salad kit again.. for some reason I was less thrilled with it the second time around... the mushy red peppers really bugged me more so this time. I also purchased a different variety.. I will see if that one is any better.

Tilapia take 2

I liked this much better than the plain tilapia.. this was breaded and oven baked... still low fat but crispy & yummy. I made it just how I would make chicken. These fillets were tossed in seasoned flour, then dipped in beaten egg and then coated in a mixture of bread crumbs, corn meal and seasonings... baked at 450 for 20 min. Liv liked it as well.

Packing my lunch

We get lots of sweets donated to us at my office and I like to pack better options to keep at my desk. I still indulge here & there... but only a taste or a 1/2 of a portion. I love these Luna Mini's to stash in my purse... if I am held up at court I can discretely snack on one of these very quickly and they help tide me over until lunch. I always have one of these in my purse or a luna protein bar and they have saved me many times over. I tend to make poorer choices if I am not prepared and let myself get to that starving mode.


what does your typical lunch look like?

Dinner

Chicken sausage with peppers,onions and mushrooms

Lunch

Dinner...something new

This was really good.... a salad kit by lean cuisine. I picked the southwest chicken because I am a huge fan of taco salads. It was $3.69 and I had a $1 off coupon from my cooking light cravebox. You just add your own lettuce and I added green onion and a handful of cheese as well. You steam the chicken, corn, black bean, pepper packet in the microwave, thaw the dressing in a cup of water and then build your salad... yum. The chipotle ranch dressing was just spicy enough but not too spicy. I did not care for the texture of the peppers... but that is my only complaint. These would be good to have on hand when your getting bored of creating your typical salads..and I eat salads prolly three days a week.

I will stock up on these when I see them on sale. I think the total calories was around 300 and 9 grams of fat... not bad

Clean eating tilapia

Trying to be a big girl and eat healthier fish.. instead of breaded.. this has 1 gram of fat versus the 9 grams of fat in the pre-breaded panko fillets I normally buy. I was not a fan of this Tilapia dish... baked with lemon butter and seasonings... I have three more pieces in the freezer I can try to get creative with.. maybe fish tacos or a different recipe. Do you all have any fish recipes you like?

Much less clean

I eat out only one day a week...so I was really wanting soup instead of a salad

med soup, 6 nuggets,4 crackers 370 cals and not bad on fat....but fried and high in sodium

Dinner

trying a protein shake for dinner.. I have never done that before... we will see if it is filling enough to substitute a meal. I used 10 ounces of 2% milk ( I prefer 1% over skim, but sometimes 1% is hard to find in the store) and a few ice cubes and 1 scoop of EAS soy chocolate powder and my blender bottle.I much prefer 1st step wellness whey chocolate protein powder as its less sugar and taste like a malt. I thought I would try a soy over whey this time. Once I use this up I will go back to my preferred brand


I was so proud of myself that I declined a bakery treat a coworker brought in... and had a banana instead. I have to remind myself that every good choice counts..it all adds up and besides I want to save my splurges for weekends and something I really want. I am really trying to eat more fresh fruit.