Bittersweet Weekends

The weekends before finals are always so bittersweet.  Obviously they are wonderful because they are the weekends but there is a huge cloud hanging over my head knowing that I have to study, study and study some more.  I hadn't seen Keefer in almost a month so I decided to make my weekend a little better by studying in The Mitten with him!  It was also nice because we were done with classes and interning yesterday so I arrived last night.

On Tuesday morning I made some eggs and toast per usual however I needed a fruit too so I cut up a grapefruit.  It was SO delicious and juicy!  

After my work out I was in the mood for some fruits and veggies because my grapefruit was so good!  I munched on some carrots with roasted garlic hummus and another smoothie.  I can't get enough of those tropical fruit smoothies!

I was still a little hungry so I decided to make some roasted sweet potato wedges but unfortunately they didn't turn out as planned.  ):  I think I needed to bake them a tad longer.  I had them at 350 degrees for 20 minutes but I think 30 would have done the trick.  I hate wasting food but I hate wasting calories too so I didn't end up eating more than one :/

I was craving pasta and luckily I had some of my mom's spaghetti sauce stored in the freezer so it was a quick heat up.  Spaghetti is definitely one of those things that tastes different depending on who makes it, and I think everyone likes their moms the most.  At least I do!

After class I had a major sweet tooth so I grabbed the last skinny cow in my freezer.  Unfortunately it was a little stale so once again, I had to throw it away.  I opted for a yogurt with some cereal.

Yesterday before our final presentations I made some oatmeal.  I added flax seed, coconut, pumpkin, blueberries and whole grain drink.  It was still pretty tasty but not as filling as I'd like.  I may need to add the egg white again.  I really wish I liked pb in my oatmeal!

Last night I left right after my presentations to come here so I was pretty hungry when I arrived.  We were meeting up with some friends so we decided to make a quick meal of a tuna melt and asparagus.

I'm off to hit the books!

Tara (:

Rotten Potatoes

This morning I forgot to take a pic of breakfast!  Woops!  I made two eggs over easy and wheat toast though so you get the picture.  I also forgot to take pics of my snacks during class.  I had a blood orange, Pringles and a fiber bar.  I did another work out sesh with Hannah today but didn't push it as hard as I did last week because I wanted to be able to move my arms. haha  When I got home I finished off the rest of the pasta salad from last night.

I also finished off the last bit of my granola while I made some more!

I bringing this to Keefer tomorrow because he really liked it last time but I was going to read this so if he reads this before I get there, SURPRISE!  haha

While I was looking around for something to make before class I went to grab for a potato and realized they were rotten and stuck my finger right through one.  It was sooooo nasty.  One of the worst smells ever ugh!  Thennnn while I was reading my book today I noticed that THIRTY pages were missing so I had to run to the library so I wouldn't be out of a book to read in bed.  Thank goodness they had a second copy haha.  I ended up eating a bagel with cream cheese and cucumber with ranch.

After class I was ready for some food so I had chicken corn chowder soup and vanilla yogurt with Puffins.  Marie surprised me and brought down delicious sweet potato cookies.  They were SO good and I can't wait to try and make them myself.

I'm off to read some of my book with all of the pages!

Tara (:

Happy Fat Tuesday!

So unfortunately I didn't get to eat too fat on fat Tuesday.  (Or maybe fortunately, right?)  I was up and off to the hospital this morning.  Before I left I had some cream of wheat, banana and agave.  An english muffin with my new TJ's pb too.  The verdict is still out on Krema's competition. 

I alllllways forget to snap a pic of my lunch while I'm interning however today I just brought my leftover orzo recipe from last night, a fiber bar, celery sticks and a kiwi.  

The day started of rather slow while interning so I decided to pick a fellow intern's brain.  He has a previous degree in exercise physiology and is a personal trainer with a lot of experience, so he knows a lot more than I do about working out.  I told him about my recent challenge.  We talked for a long time and he went into a lot of detail but here's the summary:

• Every single time I go to the gym I do some type of cardio (usually running) and my body is getting "used" to it, therefore it is not as effective.
• Solution: 30 minutes of really pushing myself for cardio 2 days/week.  Eventually I can build up my speed and work up to 45 minutes perhaps even making it to five days a week if I have time.  However, that should be the absolute most cardio I would do and it would be very hard to find time in my schedule to do that in addition to my strength training.  These additions should take place slowly; approximately 2-3 weeks each time I want to add on.  (This isn't saying that cardio/running is not good, just that I need to switch it up a bit more.)  This is also not what I would do if I were to train for a race.
• I am not doing enough strength training during my workouts.  
• Solution:  I received a detailed work out regimen to focus on my strength training.  Each week I should increase by the number of reps or the amount of weight I'm lifting.  I do not want to get "bulky" but he assured me that this would result in fat burning and toning.  I don't think I'll be turning into a body builder any time soon.
• Stop eating carbs 3-4 hours before I go to bed.  (Note:  I did NOT say stop eating carbs all together.)
• Solution:  Stop eating carbs 3-4 hours before I go to bed!  There isn't much of a plan to this. I am always hungry when I get home from class and I am usually in the mood for cereals, bread, bagels or fruit.  ALL CARBS!  Ahhh!  I love carb containing foods and they are SO important in your body but because of how they are digested it really does make sense not to eat them before going to bed.  Tonight I tried to snack on almonds, cottage cheese and hummus with broccoli.  (Pics to follow.)  It was hard but I think I can do it.

I also would love to improve my balance.  I have TERRIBLE balance and the older I get it seems to get worse.  (I can only imagine what it will be like when I'm eighty years old!)  I can do some yoga and balance exercises on my two off days to help improve this!

Because my schedule is always changing and usually pretty busy I don't know if I can stick to this 100% but I am going to try my best and see what works for me and my lifestyle so I can feel the best about myself!

Because I didn't get home from my internship until later, I didn't have time to go work out so I caught up on a few things and made some dinner.  I had a done a Warfarin teaching today at the hospital so I was talking about leafy greens all day.  It got me craving a spinach salad.  I topped mine with onion, tomato, colby jack, dill, and my dressing was a mixture of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, dill and italian dressing.  It was tasty!  I also had a plop of cottage cheese with pepper and TJ's pesto tortellini topped with tomato sauce.  I hadn't tried TJ's tortellini before and I was very pleasantly surprised.  I will definitely try the other flavors.

After class I knew I was going to make an effort not to eat carbs, hoping my bedtime was in the near future.  Instead I snacked on these!

(and a little bit of cottage cheese too.)

I'm off to bed.  Nighty night!

Tara (: