What is Wrong With My Appetite?!

Good afternoon blog friends,

Today has been an great day! I went to the gym shortly after finishing my breakfast this morning.

I did a biceps and triceps workout:

• warm up - 5 min elliptical 
• overhead tricep extensions (using one 17.5 lb dumbbell) 
• 21s (12.5 lb dumbbells)
• dips 
• hammer curls (10 lb dumbbells)
• tricep pushups
• dumbbell concentration curls (10 lb dumbbells)
• one arm kickbacks (10 lb dumbbells)

After I warmed up, I did 12 reps of each exercise three times. My arms were shaking by the end! 

This came after the workout. 

Green smoothie:

• 3 cups spinach
• 1 cup vanilla unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
• 1/2 banana
• 5 ice cubes

I downed it fast, so I wouldn't be late for class. I packed up a few things for lunch. 

A key lime larabar, a pear and more goldfish (I seem to be a tad bit obsessed with these lately). 

After my class I hit the gym again. This time for a little cardio sesh. I did 20 minutes on the stair climber and stretched out really really good. It felt great. That stair climber works my legs like nothing else. I was huffing and puffing, while my legs were on fire! 

When I came home I snacked AGAIN! I usually don't eat this much. It much be the two-a-day that's got me starved. 

• 1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese
• 1/4 granola 

Now I'm catching up on some blogs and emails. I may or may not be snacking (again), on a bowl of goldfish. Have a great afternoon! 

The Breakfast of Champions

I could not be more happy with the way my slurp and gulp turned out this morning! Both were incredibly delish. Let's check them out in reverse order.

The gulp

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 scoop whey protein powder
• 1 tbsp natural peanut butter
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 tbsp chia seeds
• 4 grams goji berries 
• splash of almond milk 

The slurp 

• coffee with about 2 tbsp of almond milk mixed in 

Such a good, powerful breakfast. I'm so grateful to Gina for inventing the breakfast cookie. 

Have a great morning every one! 

From Morning to Evening

Good evening reader,

I hope your day was fantastic. Mine was pretty good. Before I went to class at 2:00, I went to workout. I did 50 minutes of cardio.

• 5 min. warm up - walking 4.0 mph
• 20 min. run - 2.12 miles
• 20 min. stair climber 
• 5 min. cool down - walking 4.0 mph
• stretching 

It was fantastic. I love sweat filled workouts. I snacked on this when I came home.

• 1/4 banana 
• 2 sliced dried apricots
• 1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese

This really didn't do much to stall my appetite, so I ate lunch about an hour later. 

This was 1/4 package of firm tofu. Usually I restrict all soy products from my diet, but I wanted to try tofu. My curiosity got the better of me because I loved it! The sauce in the middle was BBQ sauce. MmmmMmmm good. 

This baby followed the tofu. A mixed green, spinach salad with cucumber, cilantro, avocado and balsamic dressing. 

Such an amazing lunch! 

Then it was time to go to class - copyediting and proofreading. Yuck! This snack made it a little better. 

• 1/2 cup maple granola I made earlier in the day
• 1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt 
• 1/4 cup mixed berries

Dinner was leftovers again! It's taking longer than I thought it would to get rid of this soup. Not that I'm complaining. It is really delicious. 

Chickpea soup and another salad. It hit the spot :)

The Bachelor is on tonight! The last show of the season. I'm so excited. We're having a few friends over to watch it with us, so I'll talk to you all tomorrow. Nighty night. 

Introducing the Slurp and Gulp

Good morning!

It feels so good to be awake this morning! I had such a great sleep; I even woke up before my alarm.

Next up - SLURP AND GULP 

This is the slurp.

Coffee with a little bit of almond milk. 

Me slurping. Sorry about the frumpy appearance. I just woke up. 

This is the gulp.  

My breakfast cookie! 

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 banana
• 1 tbsp natural peanut butter
• 1/2 scoop vanilla whey powder
• 6 grams raisins 
• cinnamon 
• splash of unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Then this morning I added:

• 1/2 tbsp chia seeds
• more cinnamon 
• sprinkle of unsweetened shredded coconut 

I like to call my coffee and breakfast cookie the slurp and gulp because that's how I eat it. I slurp a little coffee then I gulp a little cookie. It's perfect! :) 

Have a great day everyone! 

It's All Orange

This is going to be a short post because frankly, I don't have much to say.

D and I watched the Canada - US game today! Go Canada Go! During the last part of the game, I snacked on these

I love goldfish. :)

Dinner was also orange.

The leftover chickpea soup from the other day. It was so good. I love that recipe.

I'll see you all in the morning with a little slurp and gulp breakfast cookie :) :)

There's No Beating a Breakfast Cookie

Hey kids,

Today has been relaxing day thus far. I woke up to the new bag of spelt flakes waiting for me in the kitchen. This made me a little sad. I was craving a chilled breakfast cookie. The spelt flakes don't really look that different from regular rolled oats.

They certainly cook faster though. I'm wondering if I got the equivalent to "quick cooking oats"? I doubt it because of the way they tasted. They had a lot of texture, which I loved.

In the bowl was:

• 1/2 cup spelt flakes
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 tbsp chia seeds
• 1/2 banana
• 1 tbsp natural peanut butter 

I wanted this bowl of spelt to be pretty plain so I could see the different between spelt and oats. It certainly had more texture, and I think it could have used a little more liquid to help it get creamy. 

Lunch was superb! D and I went out with my parents to a restaurant downtown. I got the Omega Eggs Benny on spinach and portobello mushrooms, with no hollandaise sauce.  It was incredible. 

They served a vegetable harsh (potatoes, eggplant, peppers, and onion) and fruit on the side. 

I didn't think we were going to go out to eat after church, so I didn't bring my camera. I'll have to get better at this! That's two days in a row now. You have my apologies. 

I'll chat with you all soon :)

Saturday Perfectness

Hey-O

I've had such an awesome day today. I woke up pretty early (considering it's Saturday), and ate another chocolate breakfast cookie. I guess I'm not over the chocolatey goodness just yet.

And thank goodness! It's just that good. I've eaten the same concoction three days this week! That's nearly unheard of for this girl. I also figured out the best way to eat them. See that beautiful cup? Well I fill it with coffee and sip it in-between each bite of my cookie. Mmmmmm.... I get goosebumps just thinking about it ;)

Shortly after this, I headed to other side of the city for a two hour workout at Prime Fitness. It was incredible! I haven't been that tired from a workout in a long long time. Just after an hour into it, it felt like I nothing left to give. It was awesome.

We did over 200 pushups, tons of lunges, squats, different variations of sit-ups, burpies, skipping... It was crazy - I'll leave it at that.

Then my mother and I went out for lunch to a place called Cafe Mosaics. It's a vegetarian restaurant located in one Edmonton's most eccentric neighborhoods, Whyte Avenue. My mom got the Pho Soup and I got the Cowgirl Breakfast. It was pretty darn good. I'd like to go back for dinner.

Since I was out of chia seeds and my mom needed a few things from Planet Organic, we decided to make a quick stop. But who can really make a stop at Planet Organic "quick"? Not us.

Here's what I got.

Almond milk in both chocolate and vanilla flavors, spelt flakes, chia seeds (!), and onions. I can't wait to see what the spelt flakes are like. We'll found out tomorrow.

Well I'm off to clean the house. I hope your Saturday turns out great! Chat soon.