Pumpkin Crazy

Hey gang,

Today has been one of those quietly busy days. D and I got so much done, but it felt so relaxing at the same time!

My breakfast didn't stay with me very long. About 3 hours after I ate my breakfast cookie, I chowed down into a small bowl of cottage cheese, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

I poured a little sugar free maple syrup over the top.

Then lunch came about an hour later.

Leftover potatoes (102 grams) with ketchup (1 T)

and the same lunch I ate yesterday.

It was pretty darn tasty. Right after this, D and I got going on our errands. We went to Sears to get a fan for our bedroom. Then we dropped D's car off to get new tires put on. And after that, we hit the gym. I did a biceps and back workout.

• 21's - 30 pounds, 3 sets
• bent over row - 40 pounds, 3 sets of 12
• hammer curls - 12 pound dumbbells, 3 sets of 20
• lat pull downs - 70 pounds, 3 sets of 12
• back extensions - 3 sets of 25
• seated close grip row - 50 pounds, 3 sets of 12

My stats looked something like this:

Time - 40 minutes

Calories burned - 169

Max heart rate - 142

Average heart rate - 110

Usually I would be disappointed with the lack of calories I burned, but I didn't want to push too hard with my hips in the state they're in.  

As soon as we came home, I devoured this bowl of food. 

• 1/2 cup cottage cheese 
• 2/3 cup plain yogurt 
• 2 T pumpkin puree 
• 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder 
• cinnamon 
• nutmeg 

Can you tell I love pumpkin?

Dinner was alright tonight - not amazing. 

Chicken Caesar Salad

• 4 cups romaine 
• 5.5 ounces chicken breast 
• 7 grams croutons 
• 1 1/2 T caesar salad dressing 
• lots of lemon juice

I usually don't even like caesar salad, but I've been craving summer foods lately (e.i. burgers last night). 

I'm still hungry... what shall I eat, what shall I eat? I'm not sure yet. 

Have a great night everyone :) 

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! 

Pumpkin Power

Hey gang,

How was your night? I had the strangest dream. In it, my sister had a helicopter that she kept parked on my balcony at out parents house. Weird, right?

This is the pumpkin power breaky.

In the pot:

• 40 grams oats (1/2 cup)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 banana
• 1/3 pumpkin puree
• 2 egg whites
• cinnamon 
• cloves
• nutmeg 

Topping:

• 1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese 

I'm going to hit the gym in about an hour. My arms (and legs - I have no idea why) are sore. So I'm just gonna do some cardio, and maybe concentrate a little on the abs. Until then, I have a paper to finish. Yippy! 

See ya soon :)

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! 

A Labor of Love

This morning it was time to pull out the steel-cut oats. Sometimes I just don't have the patience steel cut oats require. I mean we're talking 30-45 minutes plus on the cooking time of these things. That's a little much when my stomach is growling in the background! 

So I found a little trick to compensate for the cooking time. All I do is boil the oats for about two minutes the night before and leave them sit overnight. In my experience, this procedure cuts the cook time in half. This is what it looks like the next morning.

Here's what my oats looked like.

Pumpkin Steel Cut Oats with Coconut and Raisins

• 1/4 (40g) cup steel cut oats
• 1.5 cups water (could drop this down to 1 cup)
• 1/2 banana
• 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup cottage cheese
• cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg - all to taste
• 4 grams raisins
• sprinkling of coconut 

Here it is after I smothered it in natural peanut butter. 

It was creamy, and sweet - just the way I like my oatmeal. 

Sunrise, Sunrise

Good morning,

Today looks like it's going to be another crazy busy day - at least that means the day will go by quickly!

So let's start at the beginning... a bowl of oats.

This beautiful bowl had:

1/2 cup oats
1 cup water
6 grams (1/2 tbsp) chia seeds
1/2 banana
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
2 egg whites
a boatload of cinnamon
1 tbsp almond butter

This is one of my favorite combinations.

Time to get going! See you later.

A Bowl of Goodness

Goooooood Morning!

I'm pleased to say that I'm enjoying one of my favorite bowls of oats right now - pumpkin pecan. So tasty.

This bowl contained:

1/2 cup of oats
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
6 grams chia seeds
1/2 banana
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
2 egg whites
0.2 ounces pecans
1 tbsp almond butter
cinnamon
nutmeg
cloves

D gave me these tulips as part of my valentines day present. I love them. :)

Today is a high calorie day for me. YES! I've been waiting for this day all week!