Calorie Density 101

CALORIE DENSITY

What the heck is calorie density?  This is something I've been meaning to write about and I hope it comes in handy when it comes to your food choices.  It's quite simple.  An article I will link you to is going to explain it very well, but here is the gist...

1 cup of strawberries is 50 calories

1 donut hole also equals 50 calories

In order for you to feel fuller, you would have to eat the cup of strawberries instead of the one donut hole even though the caloric intake was the same.  Comprende?    Another example is to measure out 300 calories of broccoli as opposed to 300 calories of Oreos.  Which food would give you more of?

For more info, check out:

article - http://www.calorieking.com/learnabouts/What-Is-Calorie-Density_MTAyMg.html

great video! - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gTLpTq1nQk Finishing off Wednesday, February 20th

Finishing out Wednesday, February 20th
Popcorn
Greek Yogurt topped with strawberries and honey

Thursday, February 21st

Breakfast:  Kashi Go Lean and Special K with berries mixed; frozen berries; almond milk; coffee; creamer

Morning Snack:  Apple; Mini LARABAR UBER Salted Nut Roll

Lunch:  Egg Harbor Sweet Potato Tot Skillet (sweet potato tots, cheese, egg beaters; English muffin with butter and awesome jam); water

Tonight I helped celebrate a friend's birthday at a place in Hinsdale called CINE.  I highly recommend eating here because the food and atmosphere are great.  Come with your family, friends, date, etc...  We split everything because it's really hard to pick just one thing.  So this is what we split between 5 girls.

Appetizers:
Chips; salsa; guacamole - Yes, I loved and ate probably too much.
Trio of Empenadas

Entres:
Carne Asada
Chile Rellano
White Mole
CRUD...I think they're was a 4th entre and can't remember.

Dessert:
Cinnamon Churros with Chocolate and Blackberries

Drink:
Pre-dinner drink before our cabbie picked us up:  Paloma and so good.  Cine serves it as well.
Pride and Passion Drink
Margarita
Blue Moon

Post-Dessert when I got home:  One of those stupid Chocolate Chip Cookies Wade brought home from Corner Bakery.  Just gotta keep them out of the house!

Friday, February 22nd


Breakfast:  Kashi Go Lean and Special K with berries mixed; frozen berries; almond milk; coffee; creamer

Lunch:  Turkey Chili with a dollop of Greek yogurt

Snack:  I shared a banana and an apple with my son.  I dipped mine into the PB2, but he didn't like it.  I don't mind, because it's a mommy snack.  Just a side note:  PB2 appears to be kind of expensive, however, I have to remember that I still have to mix it with water which makes it a bit more than what it appears to be.

Pre-dinner drink:  Miller Lite

Dinner:  Wade and I took the kids to Salseria in Elmhurst.  I had a Hornitos Margarita, beans, and 1/2 of my tilapia burrito.  Oh, yes, and chips and salsa.  Water too.

Bunco treats:  I had 2 Spotted Cow beers; 8 peanut butter stuffed pretzels; too many chocolate granola yogurt bites; 3 small pieces of chocolate; a few sweet potato chips, and this really good chip dip with tortilla chips.  This was throughout the evening, and too much in my opinion.

Saturday, February 23rd

Breakfast:  Kashi Go Lean and Special K with berries mixed; frozen berries; almond milk; coffee; creamer

Late Morning Lunch:  This morning we had a surprise 7AM TRX class for our clients.  I came in, taught the class, then returned before 10AM for an amazing presentation by Dr. Dana Celar.  She shared with our clients what foods to eat in 2013.  She brought in samples and shared her recipes with us.  I brought my daughter in as well, and boy oh boy, was she loving all the healthy eats.  Here is what we enjoyed:

Kale Chips; Tumeric-Ginger Cauliflower; Blueberry Banana Smoothie with Flax Seed; Acai Breakfast Bowls Cereal; Quinoa Pilaf;  and 60% Cacao Dark Chocolate.

Snack:  Apple/Banana split with my son; PB2

Dinner:  Long story short...all of you Elmhurstians should've gotten something in the mail from the Elmhurst City Centre about if you spend $200 in a restaurant that accepts Elmhurst City Centre Gift Certificates, you'll get a $25 Elmhurst City Centre gift certificate.  WOW...I'm not writing that sentence again, but it's a long one.  Anywho, they offered this incentive to Elmhurst City Centre merchants before this program went out to the public.  Jen and I went crazy, and then invited another business to join us in our craziness to see if we could get the maximum amount of gift certificates possible.  The only difference is that it wasn't limited to restaurants only...in was any business that was part of the Elmhurst City Centre program.  OK...this story is longer than I expected.  We collected $300 in gift certificates.  THE END.

So we took these GC's, grabbed our husbands, and headed off to 100 South for dinner.  I started off with a Ketel One Dirty Martini with Blue Cheese Olives.  We split a couple appetizers which were clams and oysters.  I love the heel of a loaf of bread, so I cut a very small piece.  My dad loves the heels too:)  I then ordered a side salad with balsamic vinaigrette and an Effin Cherry Vodka with Sprite.  For my entre, I enjoyed the Filet trio with a baked potato (sour cream only) and broccoli.  My drink topper for dinner was a Cool Collins.  The entire meal was fantastic.  I also downed quite a bit of water as well.

This was my meal.  I scraped 1/2 the sour cream off the potato, and ate 2 1/2 of the filets.  The middle one with blue cheese was my least favorite.

This beauty was Veal Parmesan, I think.  This picture is taken because quite honestly, it's the biggest plate of food I have ever seen.  Seriously, this pic does not do justice.  I think 4 meals were eaten due to this massive plate of food!

Did anyone watch Desperate Housewives?  If so, remember the scene where Bree's son brought home his girlfriend for dinner?  She took a picture of her food.  I thought it was weird like a lot of people probably did.  Well...I'm that girl now.

We headed to Pints after dinner and I had a vodka tonic.  We also bought SOCO Lime shots for the table.

Then, we had a few people who'd never been to The Club.  Helloooo????  You so need to go to The Club, and if you go there, we must bring you in through the BACK DOOR.  I had a Blue Moon.  What a fun night!  My cheeks hurt from laughing.  Never a dull moment.

Sunday, February 24th

Breakfast:  Kashi Go Lean; frozen berries; almond milk; coffee; creamer

Lunch:  Better 'n Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jam Sandwich on Whole Wheat bread

Snack:  apple; pb2; 1/4 c. cottage cheese; pistachios

Dinner:  Birthday Dinner for my mother in law.  Baked Chicken breaded with smashed French Onion; potato salad; a few potato chips; lots of mixed fruit; carrot cake and ice cream.  I DID NOT eat the bread and butter.

Monday, February 25th

Breakfast:  Kashi Go Lean cereal; frozen berries; almond milk; coffee; creamer

Late-Morning Run:  Jen and I ran 5.39 miles.  Yes, I add that .39 in there because at first I only agreed to run 5.  See?  There she goes again...slave driver.  She knows I'm kidding...or am I?  I'm thankful for her, because I don't know if I'd be ready for this weekend's run if it wasn't for her encouragement to get out and train.

This weekend we are supporting a fundraiser called The No Frills Fun Run.  The cool thing about this run is that it's a 1/2 marathon course, but you're only asked to run what you feel comfortable doing.  My husband and I are going to run 1/2 of the 1/2.  It might be a slushy, snowy course, but honestly, who cares...if it helps a worthy family through a tough time, then I'm game!

Lunch:  Seafood 'n Crab Salad from Subway

Snack:  Apple; pb2; pistachios

Dinner:  A repeat from breakfast.

Tuesday, February 26th

Breakfast:  Kashi Go Lean cereal; frozen berries; almond milk; coffee; creamer

Morning Snack:  Kiwi (I knew this was a healthy choice, but didn't realize just how fantastic it is until Dr. Celar told us!); coffee; creamer

For more info on the benefits of kiwi: Click here!

Dr. Celar was telling us about how people in the US don't typically eat the skin of a kiwi.  I mean it is rather hairy if you ask me.  However, I have been known to chomp right through it...skin and all:)  Like I did this time.  People in Australia and New Zealand do it, so why don't we?

Lunch:  Chipotle Chicken Bowl; I'm really careful about how these are prepared.  I decrease the brown rice, increase the black beans, and drastically reduce the amount of sour cream and cheese.

Snack:  Oatmeal with Flax Seed.  After microwaving it, I throw in frozen berries for yumminess and to decrease the temperature.

Dinner:  Baked Chicken; cooked spinach; potato salad; and 3 Samoa girl scout cookies.

Evening Snack:  Popcorn and a piece of gum

Wednesday, February 27th

Breakfast:  I mixed Special K with berries and Kashi GoLean together; almond milk; frozen berries; coffee; creamer

Snack:  Kiwi (skin and all) and a Cashew Cookie mini LARABAR

Lunch:  Lunch was at 2:15, so thank goodness I had that morning snack at 9:00am.  My breakfast was at 5:15am before boot camp, so the morning snack was needed, plus it helped me get through my busy day.  A haircut and taxes were during the lunch hours so they needed to get done first.  OK, lunch was the rest of my Turkey Chili with a dollop of Greek yogurt.

Dinner:  On Sunday, I made some meals for my in-laws and had some leftover "filling" for a chicken pot pie.  I didn't have biscuits, flour, pancake mix, or pie crust to finish out the dish.  So tonight I see it in the fridge and realize I had cornbread mix in the pantry.  I whipped some up, covered the chicken and veggies, threw it in the oven, and set the timer for 25 minutes.  I was starting to feel hungry so instead of eating the tortilla chips or graham crackers staring at me, I ate an apple.  After 25 minutes, the pot pie was not done.  I'm guessing because the filling was cold from being in the fridge and the cornbread wouldn't bake as fast because of that.  I set it for 8 more minutes.  I'm hungry.  So, I make a spinach salad with goat cheese, sunflower seeds, yellow and red peppers I chopped up, and dressing.  I gobble that up.  I check the pot pie.  Still not done.  I set the timer for 7 more minutes.  What can I do instead of invading the tortilla chips?  YES, I'll start a load of laundry.  Done.  The timer goes off, and FINALLY I can eat the pot pie!  It was great. After my meal, I did have 3 Samoas (a high calorie dense food, ugh...).

Oil is not just for cooking anymore!

Ending Friday, February 15th

Dinner:  Homemade pizza with whole wheat crust (yuck!), cheese, and 7 thick sliced pepperonis.  I burnt the roof of my mouth BADLY (Today is Wednesday, and I still need to chew gently).  I stuck to 2 pieces, and to avoid eating a 3rd, I made a spinach salad with red onion and red peppers and poppy seed dressing.  I also enjoyed 1 Samoa cookie.

Evening Snack:  popcorn and water

Saturday, February 16th

Breakfast:  1/2 Special K with Red Berries Cereal and 1/2 Kashi Triple Berry Crumble; frozen berries; almond milk; coffee; creamer

Lunch:  Chicken salad sandwich on whole wheat bread.

Snack:  Apple; Apple Pie Larabar

Dinner:  I took the kids to Fratello's (kids eat free on Tuesdays!) for dinner.  I ordered the Salmon Chopped Salad, and when it came I began to eat it.  After a few bites, I realized they gave me the wrong salad.  They fixed the screw up, and I gobbled it right up.  water

Evening Snack:  PB2 and an apple

Sunday, February 17th

Breakfast:  Kashi Triple Berry Crumble; frozen berries; almond milk; coffee; creamer

Lunch:  Roasted tomato soup with oyster crackers; pineapple; 2 samoa cookies

Afternoon treat:  Elijah's non-fat Cafe au Lait with cherry almond syrup; apple

Dinner:  I had leftover BBQ chicken so I looked up online to see if I could find a recipe for BBQ Chicken Salad.  Google is awesome.  Found one.  I cut up 1 BBQ chicken breast and added red onion, celery, 1 T. light miracle whip, and 2 T. BBQ sauce.  Mix and enjoy.  I had it between 2 pieces of whole wheat bread.  1/2 cup cottage cheese with pineapple chunks on top.

Evening Snack:  Popcorn

Monday, February 18th

Breakfast:  Kashi Triple Berry Crumble; frozen berries; almond milk; coffee; creamer

Morning Snack:  apple

Lunch:  Subway Seafood 'n Crab Salad; unsweetened tea mixed with lemonade

Afternoon snacks:  coffee and a Kind Dark Chocolate Cinnamon Pecan Bar;  The bar was put in the flowers I got from Wade on Valentine's Day.  I'm glad they did, because it was good!

Dinner:  I made Turkey Chili in the crock pot.  I substituted sour cream for Greek Yogurt in the chili.  You would never know the difference.  1/2 of a Better 'n Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jam Sandwich.

Turkey Chili  - 7 servings

1 1/2 lbs. ground turkey (browned)

1/4 c. onion - diced

1 celery stalk - diced

1/4 c. red pepper - diced

1 can black beans

1 can stewed tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce

1/2 can - water (I filled the tomato sauce can 1/2 way)

 

Heat in the crock pot on low for 6-8 hours.  1 serving is 191 calories.  If I put the dollop of greek yogurt, that might add an additional 20 calories maybe?  I say 7 servings, but I'm wondering if it's a bit more.

Evening Snack:  We ate dinner early, then headed to watch Marco play hockey.  When we got back, I had a small bowl of Kashi Triple Berry Crumble cereal with frozen berries and almond milk.  I just love that stuff!

Tuesday, February 19th

Breakfast:  EEEEKKKK!!!!!  I'm out of frozen berries:(  I had Special K with Red Berries cereal with almond milk; coffee; creamer

Morning Snack:  I had clients all morning and I was starving by 10:30.  Anyway, the only thing in the studio to eat are these protein bars.  Sidebar:  Come to think of it, I forgot about all of the Larabars we have.  Damn!  Anywho, back to the protein bars.  These bars have 310 calories.  That's just way too much for a snack, so I took a less than 1/2 of it and ate it.  Maybe 130 calories worth.  What's left of it is sitting next to me as I type.  Looks good, but nope, I'm not eating it even if it's loaded with protein.

Lunch:  Turkey chili with a dollop of Greek Yogurt

Afternoon Snack:  Apple

Dinner:  I went to Mike's Meat Market (OMG...the best place!) and bought twice baked potatoes with cheese and bacon and chicken breast stuffed with fresh vegetables and asiago cheese.  So this is what I had:

1 stuffed chicken breast with veggies - the cheese all melted out of it and was all over the pan
1/2 twice baked potato (these are big and so fantastic)
2 helpings:  Mixed greens salad with almonds, feta cheese, red onion, and pear - champagne dressing This salad was sooo good!
Shredded carrots and grape tomatoes sauteed in grape seed oil (very tasty)
Wine

Speaking of Grape Seed Oil, I'd like to share other uses for it.  As well as, Coconut Oil.
101 Uses for Coconut Oil
Other Uses for Grape Seed Oil

Dessert:  I was telling a couple friends about the PB2 and PB2 Chocolate so I mixed some up and served it with apples.

Evening Splurge that I blame on the wine:  Pistachios; 2 graham crackers with PB2 spread over it and drizzled with chocolate chips.  So awesome, but probably not the best choice since I had a couple more handfuls of chocolate chips afterwards!

Wednesday, February 20th

Breakfast:  I ran to Costco and bought more berries!  The crumbs of Kashi Triple Berry cereal mixed with Special K with Berries Cereal; frozen berries; almond milk; coffee; creamer

Lunch: Turkey Chili with a dollop of Greek yogurt

Snack:  Apple; rest of the protein bar I was talking about earlier.

Dinner:  1/2 of a leftover stuffed chicken breast from last night.  I ate it cold, because nuked chicken makes me gag.  A leftover twice baked potato; and leftover salad from last night too.  Probably the best leftovers I've had in a long time!!!!

Enjoy your evening!  I'm off to a TRX class soon at the studio.  Gonna get a good workout compliments of Vince!  I need it.  It's been tough getting my workouts in lately.

Guilt + Gluttony = Valentine's Day

Monday, February 11th

Breakfast:  Special K with Berries; frozen berries; almond milk; coffee; creamer

Lunch:  3/4 of my seafood 'n crab Subway salad

Run:  Now I know why Jen is so good at what she does.  While I hmmmm'd and hawwww'd about the fact that she wanted to go for a run, she basically said, "Let's go.  30 minutes."  I wasn't on the same wave length, but her "Pressure" got me out there and I did it.  Man, I gotta get going!  I've got a 10k in a couple weeks.

Snack:  The last 1/4 of my salad; mini apple pie larabar

Dinner:  Homemade roasted tomato soup; homemade cheese scone (blah tasting, but I know next time how to make it better; spinach salad with poppyseed dressing and veggies; I also had 4 triscuits with the chicken salad I made.

Dessert:  1 Chocolate Peppermint cookie

Evening Snack:  I made Chocolate Pumpkin Oatmeal mini muffins for the morning boot camp crew.  I've been called out on the fact that I make food for the Monday - Wednesday crew, but often forget about the Tuesday - Thursday crew.  So....it's Fat Tuesday...they get these muffins...however, they are only 35 calories a pop:)  I ate 2 this evening.

Tuesday, February 12th

Breakfast:  Kashi Triple Berry Crumble; frozen berries; almond milk; coffee; creamer

Lunch:  I put the chicken salad on top of 1 whole wheat piece of 35 calorie bread; roasted tomato soup; 1 mini muffin

Have I mentioned that I substituted chicken for the tuna in this salad?  I actually like it better as the tuna salad, but the chicken is great too.

Snack:  Apple with PB2

Dinner: 1/2 Pork Chop; mixed vegetables; brown rice.  I wasn't quite full so I had a few triscuits with the chicken salad; 4 mini muffins (whoops!)

Evening Snack:  popcorn

Wednesday, February 13th (not a day I'm proud of starting after 5pm)

Breakfast:   Kashi Triple Berry Crumble; frozen berries; almond milk; 5oz coffee; creamer

Morning snack:  apple

Lunch:  Chicken salad with triscuits

Snack:  Banana and 1/4 cup of oatmeal made by one of my awesome boot campers.

Snack 1 hour later:  Lots of pistachios...me and the kids had a pistachio party, and I probably should've taken a picture of the mound of shells.

Dinner:  BBQ chicken made in the crock pot; quinoa and brown rice; spinach salad

Dessert:  Only 150 calories, so read carefully...1 graham cracker smothered with 1 serving of PB2 Chocolate.  Then add a sprinking of marshmallows to the top.  This was really good, and I so wanted to make another, but I held off.  Maybe I should've considering what I did later in the evening.

OK, here's where the day fell apart:  I blame it on guilt and Valentine's Day.  Let me just say that first.

My daughter was having a Valentine's Day party at school the next day.  I did not volunteer my time due to work, but also failed to respond to let people know she'd be bringing anything.  This is where the guilt set in. So, I say to myself, "What do I have in the house, that would make a great Valentine's Day treat?"  I go on Pinterest, and find nothing in my cupboards to make any of the amazing treats.  I then google, Honey Nut Cheerio's treats.  Ding, Ding, Ding!!!  I had Cheerio's, butter, and marshmallows.  I make 1/2 the recipe, press it down in a pan, then grab a heart shape cookie cutter and voila!, they are super cute.  And if that's not enough, I was going to dip them in white chocolate that I put red food coloring in.  I reach into the drawer to get my food coloring, and the red is empty.  Who puts an empty container of red food coloring back in the box?  Probably me.  So, I find red sugar and dump a bunch in the white chocolate.  I dip the bottom part of the Cheerio's Treat into the chocolate and done.

Guilt and Gluttony Time:  I ate so much of the Cheerio's treats.  Seriously, I loved this stuff.  Which is why I don't bake or make treats often, especially when I'm food journaling.  Come to think of it, I've made 2 types of muffins and now these all in the span of a week.  Whoa...  The real challenge for many is to just eat a serving and not a smathering of the yummy concoctions.  For example, last night I ate one Girl Scout Samoa Cookie.  I could've had 4, but I had one.  That's the secret!  Stick to a serving, not 1/2 of the box or bag.

Needless to say, my daughter brought them to school, and she said they were awesome!  Yes!  She liked the Honey Nut Cheerio's Treats!  If anything, I had a happy little girl...and a few more calories in my belly:)

Thursday, February 14th - Happy Valentine's Day

Breakfast:  3/4 cup of the Oatmeal; Very small serving of the Kashi Triple Berry Crumble; frozen berries; almond milk; coffee; creamer

Overnight Oatmeal - Compliments of Bonnie and Eating Well

• 8 cups water
• 2 cups steel-cut oats (do not subsititute regualr rolled oats)
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup dried apricots, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Combine water, oats, dried cranberries, dried apricots and salt in a 5 or 6 quart slow cooker.  Turn heat to low.  Put the lid on and cook until the oats are tender and the porridge is creamy, 7 to 8 hours.

Lunch:  Chicken salad sandwich; apple

Workout:  I'm not feeling 100% so I headed to Y to ride the elliptical for 45 minutes.  While on it, I remember that I need to get my 37 burpees in.  So I ride for 15 minutes, do 13 burpees, ride for another 15, do 12 burpees, then ride the final 15 minutes, then end with the last 12 burpees.  Done, and it felt good!  I often wonder what the Y patrons think of my workouts.  It's much smaller than The Courts, and dropping and doing burpees is probably something not seen often.  Correct me if I'm wrong.

Snack:  Peanut Butter Cookie Luna Bar

My kids came home with hoards of Valentine's candy.  Not even interested in this stuff since it's pure sugar.  Now if it's chocolate, that's a whole new story.  HA!  Just saying...

Dinner:  My family went to Armand's for dinner.  I skipped the bread (good, girl); ate fried calamari (the kids also loved); ate a side salad with blue cheese dressing on the side, and you should've seen the vat of blue cheese they gave me.  Seriously, people, I'm not going to eat a 1/3 cup of this stuff; I ate 1/2 of the stuffed chicken with spinach and roasted red peppers and cheese on the top; 1/2 of the mashed potatoes; and mixed vegetables; 1 Corona Light beer.

It was good!  Glad I ate 1/2 of the chicken, because this was a large meal.

Dessert:  One Girl Scout Samoa Cookie...so awesome, but this little morsal is 75 calories.  It'll take me weeks to eat all of these cookies.

Friday, February 15th

Breakfast:  Kashi Triple Berry Crumble; frozen berries; almond milk; coffee; creamer

Lunch:  Better 'n Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jam Sandwich; Better 'n Peanut Butter is only 100 calories a serving versus Jif Peanut Butter at 190 calories.  I admit it's not as good, but not bad when paired with the jam.

Snack:  Apple Cinnamon Chobani Greek Yogurt with Kashi Triple Berry Crumble Cereal mixed in it.  Total of 230 calories.  Remember, light lunch allows you to have a heavier snack.

Dinner:  I'll get back to you on the dinner.  The plan is homemade pizza and salad.  To be continued...

FITNESS TIDBIT

Below are two links about High Intensity Interval Training, aka HITT.  Now, I personally won't do 30 straight minutes of  HITT Training, but I will incorporate this type of training in my own workouts or workouts with personal training clients or groups.  More bang for your buck...and you won't need to spend 1+ hours at the gym.  We are busy people.  Who has time to be in a gym for 2 hours?

8 benefits of HIIT Training

4 benefits of Interval Training

Nash Trash, Segways, and Muffins!

Oh my gosh!  Where did the time go?  Luckily, everything is written down and a couple days are a real doozie!  Let me just say, that everything written today is guilt-free, because we have to live a little, right?

Throughout the week, I've had a lot of thoughts about how this blog entry was going to fly.  I've seen and read a lot about people's personal struggles with "dieting", and I'll be honest with you, I have never gone on a diet.  Instead, I went through a major lifestyle change.  That's what it's all about.  Please don't set yourself up to fail, and make yourself do things that are not feasible.  Healthy lifestyle choices will get you where you want to be when coupled with a positive attitude.  Try it...

OK, onto the week...bear with me.

Monday, February 4th

Breakfast:  Kashi Blackberry Hills Cereal; almond milk; frozen berries; coffee; creamer

Lunch:  Subway Chopped Salad - Seafood 'n Crab with lots of veggies; a bit of oil and vinegar; spices

Snack:  Apple; Cherry Pie Mini Larabar

Dinner:  Pita with ham, hummus, tomato and lettuce; pistachios

Evening snack:  Popcorn with a bit of Garrett's Chicago Mix sprinkled in.

Tuesday, February 5th

Breakfast:  Kashi Blackberry Hills Cereal; almond milk; frozen berries; coffee; creamer

Lunch:  Apple; Nutz over Chocolate Luna Bar

Snack:  Pistachios

Dinner:  Chicken stuffed with turkey bacon and a slice of swiss cheese on the top; quinoa and brown rice; 1 orange slice stolen from my son.  While making dinner...I polished off the popcorn from Garrett's.

Evening Snack:  I made these amazing Pomegranate Pumpkin Muffins.  I made mini ones for my boot campers and also made a few normal size for the family.  I ate some batter and also consumed 3 mini muffins.  The mini muffins are about 30-35 calories a pop, and the regular sized muffins are about 130 calories or so.

Muffin recipe - Now I did make adjustments.  For instance, I didn't have grape nuts so I crushed up the Kashi Blackberry Hills cereal.  I also didn't have wheat flour, so I just used all white flour instead.  Lastly, I didn't have buttermilk or soured milk, so I just mixed 3/4 c. skim milk with 1/4 c. greek yogurt.

Wednesday, February 6th

Breakfast: 1/2 Kashi Blackberry Hills cereal; 1/2 Special K with berries; frozen berries; almond milk; coffee; creamer

Lunch:  Better 'n Peanut Butter and Grape Jam Sandwich; apple

Snack:  Bananas Foster Mini Larabar

Dinner:  Turkey Burger on 1 piece of whole wheat bread; baked potato served with cottage cheese

Evening Snack:  Mini muffin (Pomegranate Pumpkin)

Thursday, February 7th

Breakfast:  Special K with Berries; frozen berries; almond milk; coffee; creamer

Lunch:  I had Egg Beaters in the fridge so I made an egg beaters, onion, cheese, and avocado scrambled eggs.  I also had 2 pieces of toast with Better 'n Peanut Butter.

Snack:  Bowl of Special K with Berries; frozen berries; almond milk

Long weekend vacation starts here...read without judgment...

GOT IT?

Plane ride:  I ordered a cranberry and vodka.  I got a can of cranberry and apple juice with a cute little vodka bottle.  After consuming most of the juice...I decided to read the label.  One can had 220 calories!  What the heck?

Pre-dinner at the hotel:  We were starving and our hotel had apples and Nutella on the counter!  Yep...dipped that fantastic apple into the Nutella...heaven.

Dinner:  Fish tacos; sweet potato chips eaten off of a friend's plate (thanks, friend!); and 2 beers.  These beers had to of had a high alcohol content.  Holy Schnike's...  

Friday, February 8th

Breakfast:  Vanilla Cafe au Lait with skim milk and 7 grain oatmeal.  Be careful when choosing oatmeal.  I had to go through all of the flavors to find one under 320 calories.  I think the one I chose had 200 calories.

We were asked if we wanted Starbucks or "real coffee".  We chose "real coffee" which led us to this diamond in the rough.  Great coffee and treats!

Lunch:  What lunch?  I was still full from the late breakfast and coffee.  

We went on this really fun Segway Tour of Nashville.  What a great way to see a city.  These babies cruise up to 13.4 MPH according to my speedometer.  Tennessee is proud of their history, and wow, it was really fantastic seeing what they've done to show off their pride.  What do they say....Tennessee Pride?  If my sister is reading this, I just want to tell her that I did not clench my butt cheeks together during the tour like she says people do on Segways.  Just sayin...

Happy Hour:  A Coors Light and an orange found in the hotel lobby.  Not literally "found", but offered as a nice gesture.

Dinner:  I have never, ever in my life seen a group of girls make such a snap decision on where to eat dinner. This was hysterical.  We asked the concierge where to eat dinner down by all of the bars on 4th and Broadway in Nashville.  Basically, they said there really are no restaurants.  Rather bars that serve food because Tennessee has a law that if you serve alcohol, you must serve food.  So we cab it down and we are dropped off at....drum roll please...Jack's BBQ!  It was the first place we see, and these ravenous women are like savages.  It's a cafeteria style place that serves beer.  DONE!  I order up a smoked turkey (dipped in BBQ sauce) sandwich, mac 'n cheese, and a Coors Light.  I don't believe a word was uttered for the first 5 minutes.  These ladies are hungry!

Evening Drinks:  Coors lights for the evening, coupled with a round of Soco Lime shots.  Make these double shots...geez Louise...they were huge.  I'll be honest with you...I have no idea how many beers I had...but we danced and laughed together all night and that's all that mattered.

Late Night Munchies:  We ordered up appetizers before we headed back to the hotel.  I had a 1/2 pretzel  stick dipped in sauce; a few nachos; chips with guacamole; and a mozzarella stick.  Of course another beer too.

Late Late Night Munchie:  Our hotel had a freezer full of ice cream snacks.  I went through what they had and the most "responsible" choice was a Skinny Cow Vanilla low fat ice cream sandwich.  Yes, I just "had to have it."

Saturday, February 9th

Breakfast:  We walked back to Casablanca coffee, and I enjoyed a non-fat Cafe au Lait with toasted marshmallow syrup and blueberry crumb cake.

Lunch:  Chipotle Carnitas Bowl

Saturday Tour of Nashville aka comedy on a big pink bus.

Seriously, one of the funniest things I have ever experienced.  If you go to Nashville, please take this tour.  It's more comedy than a tour, but you do get some interesting Nashville facts at times.  It's a raunchy good time and not for those who can't handle people who are insanely politically incorrect!  HA!!!  I now know what a crotch pot is, and I am too embarrassed to say what was marinated in it.  I'm not going any further so to get more info you'll just have to take the tour.  For their appetizer, they serve Ritz crackers and Easy Cheese.  No, I didn't have any crackers and cheese.

Too top it off, I got a phone call from Sheryl Lynn and she informed me that we were late for the tour.  WHAT!? I thought it started at 2:30...not 2:00.  Now I'm scared I'll be made fun of.  As she put it, "Haul your asses down here quick!  We're leaving soon."  Um, ok..we got there in 15 minutes.  Come to find out, it wasn't my fault.  They gave me the wrong time, but now I wonder if it was all a part of their comedy act to make one group late on purpose.  I was super embarrassed.  Oh, yes, I had 3 beers.

Happy Hour:  Bloody Mary with a green olive

Burpees:  As many of you may have seen on facebook, I knocked out 63 burpees in the hotel bar.  I forgot Friday's burpees so tacked them onto Saturday's.  Thanks to my husband's text...he reminded me.

Dinner:  We ate at the Germantown Cafe.

Our first drink was this pomegranate cranberry vodka cocktail and the second one was a cranberry and vodka.  For appetizers, our group shared the pork belly tator tots and the Fried Green Tomatoes.  The Nash Trash ladies highly recommended the French Onion Soup and it was fantastic!  Couldn't finish all of the cheese.  My main entree was the pan seared trout with white cheddar grits, sautéed kale & tomatoes topped with sweet corn coulis.  All very good.  Let's not forget the awesome little roll too.

Evening Fun:  We headed back to Broadway and hit a bar called The Stage.  Last night we bar hopped, and tonight we stayed here the entire time.  The Kangs were playing and they were fantastic!  We made friends with people and even ran into people we met the evening before.  The bartender could probably tell you how many drinks I had.  I wasn't there to count...just there to enjoy the evening and listen to seriously awesome live music.

Evening Treat:  Raided the hotel freezer again.  I made out with a free Skinny Cow sandwich again.  The hotel manager just looked at us and shook his head.  No need to pay...just go to your room.  YES...free food!

Sunday, February 10th

Breakfast:  Starbucks grande non-fat vanilla Misto; oatmeal

Our flight left around 11:20am.  Apparently weather was making it difficult to get into Chicago, so we circled around into Wisconsin and finally landed around 1:30.  I was starving and my poor friend suffered the consequences of what happens when I get hungry.  Poor thing...now she's a true friend.  I feel sorry for those who experience "hungry Jill".  

Late lunch:  Tuna salad on a croissant.  I don't remember the last time I ate a croissant, but this sandwich was awesome.  All $10 of it...damn airport!

My family picked us up and we headed to Portillo's.  I took what was left of the sandwich and I ate a few Portillo's fries with it.  My daughter also won some peppermint chocolate cookies at the school Winter Wonderfest and I consumed 2 of them.  Who ever made them is simply awesome!

Dinner:  Special K with berries; frozen berries; almond milk

Tomorrow is a new day...and I'm back to the real world.  Now off to plan this week's classes and do my 33 burpees.

Garrett's Popcorn and Pavlov's Dogs

Blogging is weird.  I've got a bunch of people reading this from several different countries and it's just surreal.  I've bypassed 6,000 views since it's inception which is even crazier.  I wonder if I can get to 10,000 before the end of this 10 weeks?  Highly doubtful, but social media is crazier and if people share and pass along you never know what will happen.

You know what else is weird?  How you start to salivate when something sounds fantastic to eat.  Case in point...Garrett's Popcorn!  It's like Pavlov's dogs.  The mere thought of the Chicago Mix from this place literally makes my mouth think it's holding the Mississippi River inside.  Instant salivating!

Yesterday, my family went into the city to do some pretty cool stuff.  We started out heading to Soldier(s) Field and skated on the hockey rink they constructed right in the middle of the football field.  Afterwards, we promised the kids that we'd check out the Chicago Blackhawks store and another store for my daughter to get some new duds.  Of course, my son made out on the deal too.  It all started when mommy and daughter stood out in the cold for the skating tickets on Soldier Field.  We froze and all she could say was, "Daddy owes us big!"  I guess "owes us big" means taking her shopping!  You go, girl!

Anyway, this story DOES take us to Garrett's eventually.  You see, I told her about this great popcorn place and promised to take her there.  NEVER EVER make a promise you can't keep.  She'll never let you live it down.  I told her "I couldn't find the place."  In reality, it was just to damn cold and I really wanted to get to the car.  Guess what...on the way back to the car...we stumbled upon Garrett's Popcorn.  Phew!  We ordered up the Chicago Mix which is a fantastic mix of caramel corn and cheese popcorn.  Unbelievable.

OK, onto the food journal which will include some of this yummy stuff.  But first, I need to back track a bit.

Friday, February 1st

Breakfast:  Peanut Butter Puffins; frozen berries; almond milk; coffee; creamer

Lunch:  A piece of leftover Turkey Meatloaf and Pirate Booty

Snack:  Smore's Luna Bar

Dinner: Baked Tilapia with the Lemonaise coating the top of the fish; gnocchi from Trader Joe's (kids loved)

Evening appetizers:  I went out this evening and I had a few tortilla chips with this allegedly fat free dip.  Damn the person that told me it was fat free, because I probably dipped 3 more chips into it because of that fact.  Then I had this pastry looking thing with cheese and some jalapenos (?) in it.  Good, but should've passed up.  I didn't need it.  Lastly, I had this amazing piece of chocolate cake with strawberry flavored frosting.  

Evening drinks:  1 Leine's Berry Weis; 2 pomegranate vodka drinks; and 3 more glasses of beer.  Water too!

Late Snack:  Kashi Fruitful Berry Shredded Wheat Cereal; frozen berries; coconut milk.  I thought it was a good idea because I had to wake up early to teach classes.

Saturday, February 2nd

Breakfast:  What breakfast?  Oh, yes, the one I ate 6 hours earlier!

Workout:  I taught 2 TRX suspension training classes this morning.  I did most of the first one.  I believe my clients left satisfied as I have received a few text messages and emails:)  Love that!

Lunch:  Jimmy John's Mini #7 (turkey and provolone with lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion, and this spicy cherry tomato relish); Sea Salt and Vinegar Jimmy Chips (I love these!); unsweetened ice tea with a lemon

Drink:  Hot Chocolate at Soldier Field...it was FREEZING, but my drink was warm.

Pre-dinner:  Garrett's Chicago Mix Popcorn (probably about a cup or 2, and another reason to measure things out and not just dip your fingers in.)

Dinner:  De Campana in Elmhurst; I had chips and salsa; Taco Salad; margarita on the rocks (no salt)

Post-dinner:  Garrett's Chicago Mix Popcorn; I was full, but this stuff is tough to pass up.  Where's my will power?  And not Will Power the race car driver!

Sunday, February 3rd

Breakfast:  Kashi Fruitful Berry shredded wheat cereal; frozen berries; coconut milk; coffee; creamer

Snacks:  Caribou Small Nonfat Vanilla Latte; apple with PB2 Chocolate

Today, we went to my son's hockey jamboree in Oak Park.  Afterwards, we came home and my husband went to the store and brought home:

Eggs - I asked for them
Almond Milk - Again, I asked and he called me from the store because there's like 5 different kinds.
Hot Dog Buns - I don't eat, therefore, I don't buy.
French Onion Dip - UGH...when it's in the house, I can't stay away from.  We shall see...
2 bags Lays REDUCED FAT potato chips - Wade made a point of saying they were reduced fat.  God love him:)
2 cases of Diet Coke - haven't drank in a year and proud of it!  I've accidentally drank his once thinking it was my iced tea and it tasted horrid.

Lunch:  I polished off the tuna salad with a 1/2 whole wheat pita.  The Garrett's popcorn is staring at me!  I want some, but I'm going to wait til later when the Super Bowl starts.  Might be good after I eat some Lou Malnati's pizza.  Oh boy, I'm preparing myself for a few calories later on!  Will power at it's greatest!

Afternoon Snack:  Blueberry Banana PB Smoothie
Skinnytaste.com 
Servings: 1  • Size: 1 tall glass • Old Pts: 5 pts • Weight Watchers Points+: 7 pts
Calories: 261 • Fat: 4 g • Protein: 13 g • Carb: 48.5 g • Fiber: 8 g • Sugar: 26.5 g
Sodium: 212.4 mg

Ingredients:

• 1 medium banana (frozen)
• 1/2 cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt 
• 1/2 cup plain unsweetened almond milk
• 2/3 cup unsweetened frozen blueberries (I used mixed frozen berries)
• 2 tbsp PB2
• 1/2 cup ice (my banana was frozen so no need to add ice)

Directions:
Put everything in the blender and blend until smooth.

Dinner:  Lou Malnati's Pepperoni Deep Dish Pizza - 1 1/2 pieces; Garrett's Popcorn - too much, but boy oh boy, so good.

Evening Snack:  I think I had enough for the day so I popped a piece of Trident and drank more water.

Workout:  26 Burpee Push Ups during the Super Bowl power outage.

Recipes and Cereal Box Marketing

Tuesday, January 29

Breakfast:  Peanut Butter Puffins; frozen berries; almond milk; coffee; creamer

Morning Snack:  Orange

Lunch:  Whole wheat Pita dipped in Sabra Supremely Spicy Hummus (they're not kidding...HOT); banana

Snack:  PB2 Chocolate; apple

Dinner:  Ground Turkey Meatloaf; French bread with margarine; spinach/romaine salad with croutons, grape tomatoes, poppy seed dressing

Turkey Meatloaf
1 lb. ground turkey
1 cup tomato juice (I used tomato sauce because I didn't have juice)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 cup oatmeal
2 eggs

Mix all together and bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.  I divided this up into 6 servings and it's 183 calories per serving.  Not too shabby for something so great and comforting!

Evening Snack:  Popcorn

Wednesday, January 30

Breakfast:  Kashi Berry Fruitful Yield Cereal; mixed frozen berries; almond milk; coffee; creamer

Morning Snack:  Peanut Honey Pretzel LunaBar

Lunch:  Tuna Salad; whole wheat pita; romaine leaf

Snack:  PB2; banana

Dinner:  Tuna Salad; 10 saltines

Evening Snack:  Popcorn

About this Tuna Salad...it is just simply awesome.  I received it from one of FITT-RX's clients who has her own personal chef business.  I almost feel special having the recipe.  She told me she only measures when she bakes, so this is what I put in my tuna salad which may vary from what she told me a bit.

Tuna Salad Recipe
Tuna - I had Chicken of the Sea Light Tuna in my cabinet
Lemonaise - bought at Whole Foods
Black Beans - bought cajun style black beans at whole foods
Corn
Red Onion
Avocado
Salsa - I didn't have salsa so I threw in chopped grape tomatoes
Cumin
Cayenne
Cilantro - I had dried, but fresh would be better
Fresh lime juice

Here's her information:

Homemade To Your Door

Denise Serpico Ortiz

homemade2yourdoor@yahoo.com

Oftentimes, she posts pictures of her meals on her Facebook page and they all look fantastic!

Thursday, January 31

Breakfast:  Kashi Berry Fruitful Cereal; almond milk; frozen mixed berries; coffee; creamer

At first, I wanted to show what a "serving" looks like.  Not much if you ask me.  I usually have about a serving and a half or even a bit more.  THEN, I noticed the bowl of cereal on the box.  Look how big that is!    Maybe 2 or even 3 servings.  Misleading!  All I gotta say is that a picture of what my bowl looks like would not sell as well as what's on the box....however...with my fruit and milk, maybe it would?

Lunch:  You may have guessed it!  Tuna Salad Lettuce Wraps

Afternoon snacks:  White Chocolate Macadamia LunaBar; coffee; creamer; apple

Dinner:  Tuna Salad; whole wheat pita; romaine leaves stuck in the pita.  I'm not even tuna'd out yet:)

Dessert:  Frozen Greek Yogurt Gelato

Evening Snack:  Honey Nut Cheerios; frozen berries; coconut milk

I've been back to food journaling for 5 1/2 weeks now.  I noticed I haven't eaten as many sweets since starting this back up again.  Not even craving them.  I'm guessing it's because I'm sharing with lots of people my food intake and the pressure helps.  BUT, I don't feel pressure.  Weird.  I'd love to keep this up.

Have a great weekend!