Back Status: Fading some, still there. Thanks for all of the well wishes! Haven’t exercised, but I think that staying busy kept my mind off of it.
Yesterday: mini Cliff bar (chocolate chip) for breakfast, apple with peanut butter for snack, stuffed pepper guts for dinner (I’m not a fan of the outside), recipe will be available when I eat the leftovers. I started to eat a blueberry crisp that I made, but about 2 bites in, it didn’t taste good (I ran out of sugar), so I tossed it. Which is great, usually, I would just drudge through it just for a taste of something sweet.
Today:
Breakfast: Overnight Oatmeal – The Elvis (banana, almond butter, honey for sweetness, chocolate protein powder)
Lunch: Chocolate cupcake from Cafe Carolina and Bakery, 1/2 diet coke + 1/2 coke mix (felt a headache coming on)
Dinner: Vegetable stir fry with brown rice (Using my super secret stir fry sauce)
Snack: 2 cups of milk (whole)
I never thought I would ever wear a pair of jeggings until I tried on these MOTO jeggings this morning at work (Denim and Lace). I liked them, but I never knew how they would look on my body, since I’m so short. But of course, as soon as I tried them on with those boots, I fell absolutely in love. The jeggings were $54 and the boots were regular $145 (Nicole Shy Boot in Tuscany), but ended up being 50% off. I felt so good in this outfit, which shows that sometimes, all you need is a good clothes to make you feel confident, no matter what you look like.
I also found out about this hot yoga studio in Raleigh that I’m pretty excited to check out. I never thought Raleigh could have something like that. I wanted to check it out next Monday, but forgot about the Eric Clapton concert! So I might do it this week, it should make my back feel good!
Anyone have any experience with hot yoga?
Today has been an interesting day. I meant to post earlier, but fell asleep. After work today, I was all dressed to go to the gym, but called my mom. See, I had been having a massive back ache in my mid back for the past week or so, but it escalated to the point today where standing brought tears to my eyes. It’s sort of like I somehow pulled a muscle. So of course, she suggested no gym. I listened and have spent the rest of my evening relaxing with my heated blanket and my lovely boyfriend.
I also picked up this great Hard Tail yoga top from Denim and Lace (photo from Hard Tail’s website). They hadn’t even finished unpacking everything when I fell in love with it. The fabric is just so soft and light, that I can’t wait to use it!
Okay, and now the meals!
Breakfast:
I prepared overnight oatmeal (1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup milk), and after microwaving it for 2 minutes, added 1 whole banana, 1/ scoop of chocolate protein powder, drizzle of honey and 2 tbsp. almond butter. This was amazing and filled me right up. I have dubbed it “The Elvis.”
Lunch:
1 apple (on the way home from work), 5 truffles from Godiva (I didn’t mean to, but since my back hurt so bad, I thought it would help. It did not, but the cheesecake truffle is amazing).
Dinner:
The boy and I stopped to Whole Foods for dinner. I spent about $25 on the stuff below, but could have gotten out a lot cheaper if I hadn’t spend $10 on some all-natural pain pills that do not work – Boiron?). I bought some more ground beef, cat food, milk, the pills (boo), blueberries for our pancakes, buttermilk pancake mix, and mac & cheese.
We fixed burgers and mac & cheese for dinner. My burger was one like last night’s while the boy decided to go with Cajun seasonings. I also had mine with some pickled beets and a beer called Shotgun Betty, which was decent. The boy served his burger on a bun and had a few different beers that he picked up. We watched Top Gun (I had never seen it before), then after a chocolate milkshake (which did ease the pain some) I drifted off to a pain filled sleep!
For me, it’s all about the little steps. Making substitutions in the foods I eat now. I don’t have a lot of money right now, so I can’t just throw out all of my unhealthy food. But what I can do is to try my hardest to balance the healthy and the unhealthy.
Breakfast:
2 Food Lion Brand Strawberry Poptarts (I just opened the box today, so you’ll see a few more poptarts in the feature. I’m trying to replace that crummy breakfast with fresh fruits and more oatmeal).
Lunch:
4 pieces of white toast w/ a small amount of butter and Food Lion Concord Grape Jelly (In the future, I hope to replace the bread (I have 4 hamburger buns and 6 slices left)with whole wheat, no butter, and use a more organic jelly that doesn’t contain as much processed sugars. Since the jelly is not mine, I can easily replace it.)
Dinner:
I gave the most thought to my dinner tonight. Originally, I was going to fix a potato/zucchini/squash torte to use up some leftover vegetables, but I decided to go with something a bit summery. Anyone who knows me knows that I hate the cold, and today, it even snowed for a few hours. So I wanted that taste of summer. My dinner was quick, which was great since I came home from work and was starving. I even managed to stop off to the grocery store to grab some essentials.
I ended up buying 3 bananas, 2 apples, one hothouse tomato, 1 packet ranch, 2 packets koolaid, .63 lb of hamburger, lettuce, a quart of whole milk, and chocolate ice cream. So the last two items weren’t exactly healthy, but every now and then, it helps to have a treat. I’ll be less likely to buy a soda or a Reese’s knowing that I have my favorite things at home. I spent about $14 on everything (no coupons).
So dinner!
I know that it doesn’t look like much, but believe me, it was exactly what I needed to beat away those winter blues. It was also the healthiest thing I had eaten all week. From preparing to table, it took 10 minutes. The chocolate milkshake was just a lovely bonus to reward me for a hard day’s work.
Quick and Easy Ranch Burgers
Since it’s not really a recipe, I’m going to write out what I did in steps.
- Preheat your George Foreman grill.
- Season your hamburger meat with dry Hidden Valley Ranch dressing and panko bread crumbs (to taste. The panko helps hold it together. Will replace with a whole wheat panko eventually).
- Cut until no longer pink in center. Toss a slice of cheese on top.
- Top with tomato, ketchup & lettuce (no bun to save those calories)
- Enjoy! I can definitely say I enjoyed this. Licked my plate clean. I still have enough hamburger left for another one tomorrow.
This is a fool-proof recipe, but if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below
