Two Last Things to Go

Hey gang,

Today has been another productive day!

As soon as I got out of bed, I got to work on my breaky.

Pumpkin Oatbran

In the pot:

• 40 grams oatbran
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup UVAB
• 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 egg whites
• cinnamon
• nutmeg 
• cloves 

Toppings:

• 70 grams strawberries
• 1 T natural PB
• stevia
• cinnamon

After I ate this, I loaded up my books and drove to school to work on a project that's due tomorrow. My project took me way less time to finish than I thought it would. So at around 1:00 p.m. I left the library to get some lunch. I wasn't even hungry when I ate my lunch, but knew it had been 5 and a half hours since breakfast. 

I decided on Pita Pit, since it's so close to our home. This is their chicken breast pita with lots of veggies and honey mustard dressing. 

I was going to go to the gym soon after I ate my pita, but I fell asleep on the couch! Craziness. When I woke up I had to push myself off the couch and into my workout gear. I had a pretty good workout too! I love it when those are unexpected. 

I did 30 minutes on the stepper, 15 on the treadmill, and then I did some abs and stretched. 

Here are the stats:

Time - 58:35 minutes

Calorie burned - 555

Max heart rate - 187

Average heart rate - 162  

I came home and snacked on this. 

• 1/2 cup cottage cheese
• 100 grams of blueberry yogurt 

Dinner came quick. 

The same tomato shrimp dish I made a few weeks ago. 

I love the spinach in it. 

I know I'm gonna need something else tonight - I'm only at 1048 calories today... hmmm.....

Can't Wait

Hello - thanks for stopping by :)

I can't wait for this week to be over. Then I'm free for the summer! Whoot!

Before church this morning, I ate this beauty for breakfast.

• 30 grams oats
• 1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 1/2 banana
• 1 T UVAB
• 1 T natural PB

It's been awhile since I've had a breakfast cookie with banana in it. It was SO sweet! I almost went back to the fridge to put some plain yogurt on it to mellow it out, but I wanted to keep my breakfast calorie-light because I knew we were going out for lunch after church. 

I didn't bring my camera with me to the restaurant, I was just going to use my iphone to take a few pictures, unfortunately my iphone was dead. So I'm sorry to say, I have no pictures of my lunch. I had a poached egg sandwich with tomato and herb mayo with hashbrowns. It was face rockin. 

When we came home I got to work on a final project and snacked on this. 

• 1/2 cup cottage cheese
• 100 grams strawberry yogurt
• 4 small strawberries 

I kept working on my project, and then it was time to go to church for the evening service. 

I was starving by the time we got back to house, so I whipped up this salad. 

• 1 Italian chicken sausage 
• 1/2 cucumber
• 1/2 tomato
• 2 cups romaine 
• 1 cup mixed salad greens
• balsamic dressing 

It hit the spot. D's out riding his Harley around town with some of his friends. Time for me to get back to my books. 

Have a great night everyone! :) 

Hip Issues (again)

Well, it seems I did a number to my hip yesterday during my workout. I even did hip opening yoga last night to prevent this from happening, sadly I've been limping around all morning. I hate my hip problems. I think it may be time to seek out some physio therapy.

__________
On a lighter note, I enjoyed another awesome breaky this morning.

Chocolate Pumpkin Breakfast Cookie

• 30 grams oats
• 2 T pumpkin puree
• 1 T almond milk
• 1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder 
• 1 T almond butter

Mix it all up, spread on a plate, and let it sit in the fridge overnight. 

In the morning add any toppings you like. My favorite right now are strawberries (50 grams this morning) and yogurt (1/3 of a cup). 

__________

I was supposed to go on a 14 km run this morning with a few friends, but my hips aren't letting that happen. I'm thinking I'll do biceps and back instead. 

Have a great Saturday :) 

Blogger Fail :(

Hello bloggers!

It's a beautifully sunny morning where I am. This makes me so happy because I'm going on a run outside today!! Yes, that's right. I can workout again! Yesterday was the last day of my no-working-out for a week plan. I feel great. I did some stretches before bed last night to make sure I'm all loose and ready for a hard workout.

I have to say, I'm sorry for not posting yesterday. I was planning to do one big post last night, but I COMPLETELY forgot to take pictures of my dinner party last night :( I realized it after all our plates were cleaned off, and the food was gone. I'm sorry - blogger fail.

I do have photos from all my other meals though.

For breakfast I had another breakfast cookie (courtesy of the Fitnessista).

(chocolate pumpkin breakfast cookie with plain yogurt and strawberries - stay tuned for the recipe)

Lunch was cottage cheese mixed with yogurt and a few blueberries, veggies, light laughing cow cheese (I'm addicted to these), and an oatmeal to go bar.

I packed it all up to take to class with me.

When I got home, I snacked on this tasty treat. Half and banana with half a tablespoon of peanut butter.

I haven't been eating bananas much lately. I'm watching how much sugar I'm eating, so I usually only eat fruit once a day, if I eat it at all.

Dinner was just what I told you guys it would be. Lemon chicken, yam fries, and a green salad with goat feta, cranberries, and pine nuts. It was so good! I just wish the lemon would have absorbed more into the chicken (I used this recipe, but I changed up the chicken things for chicken breast, and only cooked it for about 30 minutes at 375 degrees).

This morning I made the same thing as yesterday.

Pumpkin Chocolate Breast Cookie 

• 40 grams of oats
• 1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 2 T pumpkin puree (any more and the cookie is still soft the next morning)
• 1 T UVAB
• 1 T natural peanut butter

Throw all the ingredients in a bowl and mix. Once it's all combined, spread it evenly on a plate, and place it in the fridge over night.

The next morning I like to put plain yogurt and strawberries on top.

Please don't be scared of the combination of chocolate and pumpkin. It works, trust me!

Ok... enough blogging. I'm itching to get active and workout! See you all soon :)

I'm Back! :)

I got my camera working!! I'm so excited. Turns out, all it needed was an update. Silly me ;)

This makes Shayna happy.

So what can I update you guys on...

Workouts

I'm taking a few days off. I felt like I was on the verge of overtraining, so I stopped before it was too late. I'm on my third day of "taking it easy," and I have two more to go. I'm itching to get sweat all over me! The first few days I was loving not always wearing my hair in a ponytail or having to shower sometimes twice a day, and I was getting worried I wouldn't be motivated to start training again. I'm not worried about this anymore!

Food

Although I don't have pictures of all the meals I've missed documenting, I do have this morning overnight oats.

Sorry, this picture is terrible! Where I live there's no sunlight at 6:30 a.m. Sucks - that's all there is to say about it.

Overnight Oats

In the bowl last night

• 30 grams oats
• 1.5 T chia seed
• 2/3 cup skim milk
• 1/2 banana
• 1/4 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
• cinnamon
• nutmeg 

Toppings

• Peanut butter
• 4 grams unsweetened shredded coconut 

Today's Plan

• Study
• Write my editing final

Those are the only two things on this girls mind. 

Have a great day everyone. It's great to be back :)

A Great Day

Morning!

I hope everyone's yesterdays were fantastic. Mine sure was! J and I went to our big mall in town and shopped till our hearts content. We both walked away with some fantastic purchases. Before the mall, we went to the gym. It was an awesome workout. I wish J lived here! She pushes me so hard. We did 30 minutes of cardio, and just under an hour of an arm and ab workout. Faaaantastic.

When we got back from the workout we ate this AMAZING lunch.

This was my plate.

I made the smoothie that's in that bowl.

• 1 cup berries
• 1 cup water
• 1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
• 1 T cocoa powder

(serves 2)

It was so good! I've been making all my smoothies in the food processor lately; it makes them so frothy! I might never go back to a blender. 

J made the salad. 

• lots of spinach
• red bell pepper
• mushroom
• tomato
• cucumber 
• leftover turkey sausages from last night
• balsamic dressing

It was just as good as the smoothie! Such a great lunch. 

We hit up the mall till around 6 pm. We were starving by the time we left! We went and picked up take out for dinner. 

J and I got the same thing - chicken teriyaki with sauce on the side, no rice, and extra veg. We picked D up a beef and chicken dish (similar looking to this one), and california rolls. 

Now, to this morning. 

(sorry the pick is so dark)

Pumpkin Oat Bran with "Baked" Apples

Pumpkin Oat Bran

• 30 grams oat bran (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup pumpkin
• 2 egg whites
• cinnamon
• nutmeg
• cloves

Baked Apples 

• 92 grams (half an) apple
• cinnamon

Place the ingredients in a bowl and microwave for about 40 seconds. 

It was so yummy. It fixed my grumbling tummy problems. 

I have two classes today. One is Intro to Lit, the other is Intro to Rhetoric. I love rhetoric! 

I'll chat with you all soon :)

A New Recipe for Pizza Crust

Morning gang,

We've been bussssy over here.

Let me quickly recap the eats from yesterday.

This was J and mine's lunch.

Check out how big it is! I named them veggie mountains instead of pizzas!

I made their crusts using this recipe. J cut up all those veggies, and we topped the pizzas with nutritional yeast and goat cheese.

I ate all the veg and cheese, but could only get through half of the crust. It was filling! 


The crust was more like a pancake. I don't know if I'll be repeating it, even though it is low carb.

Dinner was just as filling last night.

• 1/4 head of cabbage steamed with water, and sprinkled furiously with pepper
• red bell pepper
• onions
• tons of garlic
• chicken sausages 
• pickled veggie salad (I picked this up at the deli department in my grocery store)

This dinner had tons of spice. I'm so happy to have company over who loves spicy food as much (if not more) than I do. 

Last night I taught J how to make breakfast cookies. She's not out of bed yet, but I can't wait to see if she likes it! 

How could you not like this? I mean really... I'll let you know how it goes. 

Have a great morning folks! I'll try to get my updates coming in sooner.  

Pumpkin Delight

Hi folks,

Sorry I've been gone so long. I've been entertaining our company. D's cousin is back! She's staying with us for a week now. Exciting stuff! Plus my camera died. So I couldn't take photos for a good portion of the day yesterday, so I decided to take the day off from my camera!

J (that's what we'll call D's cousin) and I had an awesome workout yesterday. I brought my study notes, since I have a test today. We both spent about 45-50 minutes on the elliptical. My incline got to 20(!) and my resistance got to 15(!). Then I ran for just under a mile on the treadmill, but by then, my legs were already so tired. Awesome, awesome, awesome workout. 

Here's my breaky this morning.

Pumpkin Oat Bran 

• 50 grams oat bran (1/3 cup)
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 egg whites
• packet of stevia
• cinnamon
• cloves
• nutmeg  
• 1 T natural PB

and... COFFEE - much needed on a Monday. 

I gotta start studying. Talk to you all sooner than later I'm hoping! 

I Don't Wanna

Hi everyone,

I hope your Saturday has been going really well thus far. If you're like me, you've just had a chance to eat breakfast.

Chocolate Breakfast Cookie

• 40 grams oats
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1 T natural PB
• 1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
• 1/4 banana 

It was good stuff. If you still haven't tried one of Gina's breakfast cookies, I implore you! Try one! 

I gotta go get ready to go to my oil change, across THE OTHER END OF THE CITY! I hate driving far... 

Have a great day gang :)

New Plans

Hey gang,

I have a few things on my mind regarding fat loss. But before I get to them, let's discuss breakfast.

Pumpkin Oats

In the pot:

• 30 grams oats (that's a little less than half a cup. Half a cup is the equivalent to 40 grams in theory, but I weigh the oats, just to be sure I'm not getting more than I need)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 banana
• 1/3 cup pumpkin puree 
• 2 egg whites
• cinnamon 
• nutmeg
• cloves

Topping:

• 1 T natural PB
• 1 T 1% cottage cheese 

And coffee.

I had enough coffee to make half the amount I normally do. SUCCESS! 

The Few Things on my Mind

Carbs, Fats, and Protein

I've heard so many different things about carbs and fat loss. Some people forbid carbs in their diets, other eat them limitlessly. So I've decided the only way to see if less carbs are effective for fat loss is to try it out myself! 

Right now I eat about 55% carbs, 20% protein, and 25% fat. 

I'm thinking of switching to this combination - 30% carbs, 50% protein, and 20% fat. 

I'm not exactly sure if it's possible to do this as a vegetarian, without eating half a tub of protein powder a day. But I'm gonna give it a go! 

In a Rush

Morning!

This has gotta be super quick, since I have to be at school early to finish a project.

Yesterday's lunch and afternoon snack looked something like this.

That protein bar made me feel so sick.. yuck.

That was dinner. It as SO good. Love Amy's mac and cheese.

Here's dessert.

Grapefruit and chia pudding.

Breakfast this morning was so good.

Pumpkin oats - using the usual recipe.

Bye Bye :)

Snow - Go Away!

I woke up this morning to this view.

Snow....

I was less than impressed. Last night I was wearing flip flops, today is back to the uggs.

I made a breakfast cookie last night.

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1/2 banana
• 1 tbsp PB
• splash of rice milk
• goji berries

It's pretty darn tasty. Unfortunately I'm outta coffee, so it's only the gulp this morning. I might have to make a run to Bucks (a.k.a. Starbucks) to pick up my daily cup of joe. 

Time to hit the books... I'm going to be so happy to not have to say this in closing! Less than a month to go! Whoot Whoot.  

Slurp and Gulp Come Back

Morning!

D got up early to go to work this morning, and it was just not possible for me to go back to sleep. I hate it when that happens... my stomach started growling while I was still laying in bed, and I knew I had a breakfast cookie waiting for me. LOVE that.

For the cookie:

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 scoop protein powder
• 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp PB
• 1/2 banana
• splash of enriched rice milk

All you do is mix everything up in a bowl, lay it out on a plate, and stick in the fridge over night. 

Then all I have to do in the morning is make coffee, and I'm ready to eat! 

I still have a few more hours till I have to get ready for church.... what shall I do?

New Gear

Finally, I get a chance to spend some time with you!

Sorry I've been away, and missed a few posts. It's been a little busy over here.

We had friends over for dinner last night, and then this morning I left early to go to a wives get together for D's work. I gotta keep this top secret for the time being, but all will be revealed in time ;)

I did manage to scarf down a bowl of overnight oats before I left for the get together.

In the bowl overnight:

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 tbsp chia seeds
• 1/3 plain nonfat yogurt
• 1/3 cup enriched rice milk
• a few raisins 
• cinnamon

Toppings added in the morning:

• a little honey
• 1 tbsp natural PB

It was tasty. My favorite overnight oats ingredient is raisins. They make everything so sweet - naturally. 

Like I said, my meeting today is top secret, but I can't wait to tell you all about it! So I couldn't take any pictures of the lunch... my apologies, but I couldn't help it. 

Yesterday I bought shoes!! I'm so happy about them too. 

Aren't they gorgeous! Brand new asics. My old pair were over a year old, and I found these new ones on sale. 

Sale on shoes = happy happy Shayna 

I also found a pair of these on sale.

Nike Tempo shorts. 

LOVE these. They are my first pair, and I couldn't be happier with them. It's so tempting to go back and by one in every colour!

All this new running gear called for a great run! So I hit the gym for a 4.5 mile run. 

I did 4.5 miles in 41 minutes. Not too bad, eh? I was pretty proud of myself :)

• 1 cup enriched rice milk
• 2 cups spinach
• 1/2 scoop protein powder
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 1/2 cup mixed frozen berries

This is what I drank to refuel myself. I didn't make the mistake I made a few days ago. Liquids are so much better than protein bars after a tough workout! Lesson learned.

I think we're all caught up now. Time to study...  

A New Bowl!

First off, let me apologize for the lack of posts yesterday, and I don't even have pictures to show you. Shameful! I know... gotta do better by carrying my camera around with me!

D and I did go to The Bay last night. We had a few leftover items to pick up from our wedding. I fell in love with a bowl. I know... go figure Shayna. It is really beautiful. I used it today for my breakfast.

I was right, wasn't I? It's pretty.

Ok, Ok, Ok... Back to breaky - steel cut oats! YUM

In the pot:

• 1/4 cup steel cut oats
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 banana
• 2 egg whites (whisked in at the end for about 2 minutes)

Toppings:

• 1 tbsp natural PB (that sunk to the bottom haha!)
• few tbsp maple granola 
• cinnamon 

I love this combo.... never fails me people, it never does....

We're having a few new friends over for dinner tonight. I've decided on making butternut squash soup, chicken (and mushroom - for me) quesadillas, and a D's favorite salad. Kind of a mixture of foods, but we love all of them, so hopefully our guests will too! 

On today's to-do list:

• Run 4.5 miles
• Get groceries for tonight
• Tidy the house
• Work on a paper 

It's gonna be a busy one!