Night in

Crazy day out, so I decided to spend the night in the dorm...
I'm really not a fan of dining hall dinners anyway, so I made myself a nice little meal with stuff I had in the dorm!

I had a gardenburger veggie burger (orgininal, 100 kcal, 3.5 g fat) on a whole wheat mini bagel (love these, perfect size!- 120 kcal, 1 g fat) with 1 slice reduced fat provolone (50 kcal, 3.5 g fat), some spinach leaves (10 kcal) and a bit of ketchup and djon mustard (15 kcal) VERY delicious!

On the side, I had a serving of baby carrots (not pictured, I munched while cooking my burger!, 40 kcal) and 1 cup pacific organic tomato soup (only 100 kcal, 2 g fat). I LOVE this soup, it's sooo yummy, and is a great low-cal source of veggies/dairy!





Total meal calories: ~450 kcal
This meal filled me for a good few hours, and I just snacked on a big apple (I sliced it using my awesome apple corer) sprinkled with cinnamon after doing my homework/dishes.



I've still got a bit of organizing/reading to do... I have the whole weekend for what's left but I want a head start so maybe I can make some plans this weekend!

On a side school-note: I just talked to my friend Carolyn, and thankfully (she's amazing) we're going to attempt to work together, with the other chem professor, to get through this class... Hopefully with a bit of extra help and a study buddy it won't be so bad!
I hope...

Good night for now =)

Whew... good to be back.

I have never been so happy to be back in my dorm, alone, to relax... just for a bit.
I have a LOT of work to do.

If today is any indication of how my Thursdays are going to be for the rest of the semester, I should officially declare thursdays "sleep day" and just not even go to class.
No, that would be bad. I'll go to class... but seriously, today was probably the most boring day of classes I have ever been to.
I got up early, ate 1/2 a banana for energy and went for a quick run, about 30 minutes, before getting ready and eating my breakfast.

I experimented with the satiating ability of greek yogurt +berries+almonds... it sure was yummy (1 0% fage, 1/2 cup blueberries and 1/4 cup almonds for 300 kcal) plus the other 1/2 of my banana (total ~120 kcal, big banana) and filling, but not for long.
I was very hungry by the time I went for lunch at 11... of course I was early getting there so I had to wait...




For lunch I devoured my favorite wrap from International Pockets... the baked falafel! It had hot sauce, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, banana peppers, tabbouleh, hummus, tahini, yogurt sauce, and some feta (plus the falafel) but I had the guy only use a bit (probably 2 tbsp) of each of the sauces and just a sprinkling of feta, so it wouldn't be overboard. It was so.freaking.good. I ended up taking off 1/2 the wrap (there were two layers) because I didn't need all the refined carbs (it's a white wrap... I should see if I can order it on whole wheat, I know they have them!) But I finished every last bite!
This is a hefty sandwich, HUGE as you can see, but it kept me full through my horribly boring chemistry class. A good amount of calories here... probably upwards of 700, but I need my fuel on Thursdays... I do a good bit of walking!





Chemistry is going to be horrible, I can already tell. The professor is awful, doesn't explain anything, speaks unclearly, his notes don't make sense and he doesn't even keep them up long enough to copy. Basically, I figure I'll be teaching myself.
The lab wasn't much better, but hopefully it will clarify some of the confusing points in class. My T.A. is nice, but he talks- a lot. Sooo... my safety lab, that took about 30 minutes last semester took two hours this semester. I'm predicting a longgggg Thursday from now on. =(
I guess I'll just have to stay on my toes! I'm VERY nervous about organic chem, it is NOT my strong point, but I'm planning on working hard at it... my goal is to get a solid grade, not just squeek by... this is a challenge, I know.

My only other problem for today was my lunch held me through chem... but I got RAVENOUS in the middle of chem lab! I had packed an apple in case I wanted it, but I wasn't feeling too hungry in between classes so I figured I'd be fine. Nope! Definately have to plan ahead next time and bring a snack to hold me over.

Right now I'm taking a break from the madness to have a nice big mug of sweet cinnamon spice tea to recover... from the day and the cold (it was snowing when I walked back!) then I'm in for a full night of studying, dishes... fun stuff! hehe

Time for an early dinner, like I said... I'm hungry!

Calm & Collected... for now.

I'm having a bit of trouble uploading pictures...
I've been attempting them, I promise! They're just sidekick photos, but they're a bit of a picture of what I'm eating =)

I had a late lunch, so I wasn't planning on a snack in the afternoon; but I got super hungry around 3:30/3:45, so I grabbed 6 apricots (1.5 oz, 100 kcals) to hold me until dinner with Danielle and Tyler at 5:15!

I had a great dinner! The company was the best part; I haven't seen Tyler in over a month, so it was great to catch up! And I haven't seen Miss Tira in a few days as well, so it's always good to see her =)

Dinner was yummy, and I tried to make it pretty healthy. I had 1 piece of lemon-pepper fish, which was lightly breaded, drizzled with some fresh lemon. I want to say this was probably only a 3-4 oz piece, because it was large but very thin. Maybe 200 kcals for this in total?
Along with this I grabbed a baked sweet potato, which was HUGE so I only ate half- about another 200 kcals. I also had about
.75 to 1 cup of "canton stir fry vegetables"... which I believe were fried in oil... but they were a "healthy" option... maybe 200 kcals, because it was veggies.
I'm estimating this dinner to be about 600 kcals. Not too bad, for dining hall food... and pretty balanced!
I didn't feel so full afterwards though, I always eat too little when I eat dinner at the hall, for fear of unknown fat and calories... not good! I'm definately going to have to save dining hall eating for special occasions.

After dinner, I got a special ride to Yoga from my AMAZING mother... Seriously, I don't know how to explain how awesome she's been. She knows I get nervous walking in the dark, and she agreed to bring me to Yoga tonight, and she even waited for me when the class went 15 minutes over! I can't thank her enough, the tea I brought her tonight just will not suffice. I guess I've gotta get her a damn good present for her birthday next wednesday =)

Needless to say, yoga was incredible- as always. I absolutely love Kundalini with Margaret... she's amazing, and I felt like I got both a really good workout, and a great relaxation... all in 90 minutes.
I can't wait to go again in 2 weeks! (Mom's birthday is next Wednesday, so I'll be stuffing my face at The Mews during class! hehe)

I came home, snacked on a Wallaby Yogurt- Pineapple coconut (sorry, yoga makes me ravenous... no picture here!) for 130 kcal, and now I'm going to settle down to bed... I've got a busy busy day tomorrow!

Early run, breakfast, Class 9:30-10:45, lunch afterwards, and then Chem 12:30-1:45, Chem lab 2-4:45... 4 hours of chemistry in a row! Yikes! How will I make it?? haha

Goodnight...


(Total days calories... totally estimated ~1925 kcal... A lot for someone my size, but I am en route to gaining a few pounds so I'm in a good range. (Goal for this month/next month... until I gain 5lbs is between 1800 and 2200 calories per day. Usually it's between 1600 and 1700.)

Light and filling lunch

So I survived my first Kinesiology class! It only took me about 8 minutes to get there, a lot less time than I had planned... so, like a nerd, I was the first one to class... almost 20 minutes early! hehe
Oh, well- I text messaged my mom and waited for everyone else to arrive.
It seems like it's going to be a really good class. The professor is great, she's really friendly and seems genuinely interested in teaching Kinesiology! The work doesn't look hard at all; it's all basic health concepts. I'm a little nervous about the 3 group presentations we have to do- but I guess as long as I prepare well for them I should be fine. Plus, we only have 3 exams and 4 quizzes the entire course. Not too bad!

After class, I walked to Hope (the dining hall) to grab a late lunch. My favorite part of Hope is their great salad bar... sooo many selections, it's hard to choose! Most of it's healthy too, I just try to steer clear of creamy dressings and mayonaise filled sides (such as the coleslaw they had out today... yuck)
I started with mixed spring greens, and loaded on the veggies: grape tomatoes, cucumbers, cauliflower, mushrooms, carrots... I also topped it with about 1/2 cup kidney beans and between 1.5 and 2 oz of feta cheese (estimated) for some protein. I know this was "real" feta... so I'm glad i only grabbed a little, but I decided to just top my salad with some balsamic vinegar instead of dressing to reduce the fat there; so it should even out.
I also had the BIGGEST BANANA I have ever seen in my life... seriously, it had to be 12 inches long. I'm talking a BIG banana. Nice and ripe, very yummy!
Altogether, I'm guessing the veggies were about 150 kcal, the vinegar 10 kcal, beans 100 kcal, and cheese another 150 kcal. The banana was huge; I'm figuring 130 kcal.
Total lunch calories: ~540 kcal

This was a big lunch for a salad; but filling, hopefully it will hold me the afternoon... I'm having dinner at 5 with Danielle before yoga!


I DID manage a picture of this meal!
Not very clear, because I figured whipping out a camera in the middle of the dining hall would be a bit awkward... so I discretely used my cell phone and got a quick shot.
It hasn't sent to my email yet though, I'll post it as soon as I recieve it! =)

Oh, and I wanted to show you guys this: I normally try to only have soda in small amounts a few times a week or less (only diet)... but I could not resist this when I found it... Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry Chocolate! Sooo yummy,it really did taste like cherry chocolate! Nice for a once-in-a-while sweet treat to keep your mouth/tummy satisfied between meals... thats what I used it for!

Relaxing morning

Let me tell you, if every one of my Wednesday mornings are THIS relaxing, it is not going to be hard to get used to!
I woke up at 7:30, drank some water and took my vitamins, and snacked on 1/2 clif bar (~110 kcal, 3 g fat) before heading to the gym at 8 for a nice run. I ran around the track for 40 minutes, and then walked one lap (1/6 mile) and used my walk back as a cooldown. It was a great workout! I usually like to include some sort of an incline to my runs, but the track is MUCH better than the boring treadmill, and the walk down to Mackall field house is only 3 minutes (I timed it!) so even in the cold it's not too much of a trek.
I figure on days I'm not doing yoga I'll probably hop on either the ellipical or the bike as well, to mix up my cardio, or maybe some weights as well. I like this morning workout idea!

When I came back, I showered and am pretty much ready for the day... even though I still don't have class for another hour and a half! It's a bit of a hike across campus though (brrr...) so I'll leave early.
For breakfast I went with a college staple- no, not ramen, cereal!
I had 1 1/2 cups of Kashi Go Lean Honey Almond Flax (my new fave! It has a good amount of calories and fat, but it's all HEALTHY... completely whole grain, the almond and the flax add healthy fats, and the honey makes it sweet! Plus, it has 9 grams of protein!) ~300 kcal, 7 g fat
I had this with 1 cup Low-fat VitaSoy (60 kcal, 2 g fat) and a yummy red anjou pear. (85 kcal)



My whole breakfast, clif bar included, was ~555 kcal, 12 g fat
A lot, but it will keep me going for the morning I hope!

I also tried something new today- Folgers Coffee Singles. I have never tried "instant" coffee before, and I must admit, as a coffee lover I was a bit skeptical. This stuff wasn't too bad though! It's good for cool mornings when I want my warm caffeine fix without having to walk across campus in the opposite direction to get it! I did brew it for much longer than it said to though; I like my coffee STRONG! =)

Busy Busy!

Well, today was definately the busiest out of all of my vacation days. Moving back in!
I spent the day moving, shopping, unpacking, moving more... I even managed a short run in the morning (35 minutes) and I worked 5 hours at night!

Unfortuately, it's already about midnight and I had planned to go to bed at 11 to get up early and run.
Oh, well... I'm still going to hit the gym!

Today I only took photos of breakfast, (I was running around like CRAZY!) I'm super-exhausted right now so I'll have to post them asap... but heres a quick run-down of my food for the day...

Breakfast- I made my mom and I my favorite Old-fashioned stove oats with Banana, walnuts and peanut butter- About 470 calories.




Lunch- I grabbed a quick yummy lunch of one GardenBurger Meatless Riblet, 2 cups of warm broccolli and an apple.
I LOVE these things- filling, tons of protein, and only 4.5 grams of fat, none saturated! Awesome for a meatless product. A bit more sugar than I would like... probably because of the BBQ sauce, but very tasty!
(Lunch: ~400 kcal)

While unpacking I snacked on 1/2 cup whipped cottage cheese with about 1/3 cup blackberries. (Snack: ~140 kcal)

For dinner at work, I had just over 2 cups of lentil soup (Progresso 99% fat free low sodium) with a serving (15) of kashi 7 grain crackers and 1/4 a bell pepper, sliced. (Dinner: ~525 kcal)
This didn't fill me too long though.... I was VERY hungry by the time I got home from work!
I snacked on 1/2 cup Fage 0% greek yogurt with 2 tbsp POM seeds. (Snack: ~80 kcal)

Total calories for my crazy day: ~1615 kcals

International!

I traveled around the world with my meals today!

Lunch was absolutely fantastic, I'm SO glad we stopped at Kabob & Curry!
I was very hungry when I got there (no whole grains at breakfast, protein only holds me so long...) so I ended up finishing my ENTIRE wrap! It was very delicious though, and not too big so I thought it was fine. Plus, the ingrediants were healthy!
I ordered the chickpea & portabella mushroom wrap, which was a spinach wrap that had some cheese, peppers, onions, lettuce and tomato in it as well. The chickpeas and mushrooms were in a very yummy, spicy sauce, which didn't seem too fatty, but you never know. It was served with a minty yogurt-cucumber sauce on the side, which I only drizzled a bit on the top of each half of the wrap before I devoured them! You don't need a lot for that zing!



It's hard to estimate this meal because I'm not sure how much cheese was in their or the contents of the sauce, and the size of the wrap. I want to say about 200 for the wrap, 100 for the veggies, 200 for the cheese, 100 for the chickpeas and maybe another 150 for the sauce. That makes it a hefty 750 kcal- so I might be overestimating, maybe not.

My mom and sister seemed to enjoy their meals as well, they both ordered the mango chicken which looked (and smelled) fantastic!

On the way home from shopping we grabbed tea at Tealuxe- I had butterscotch caramel (yum!) and I snacked on an apple in the car.

We made a couple more stops before we got home, so I was starving for dinner. Luccily, I chose a pretty simple recipe- Otsu by Heidi Swanson, which is Soba noodles with tofu in a sesame ginger sauce, with some stir fry veggies on the side.
I stir fried the veggies in a bit of olive oil spray and let them simmer in low sodium vegetable broth for some taste.

I knew 2 oz of pasta wouldn't cut it for dinner tonight, so I had 2.5 ounces of soba noodles (japanese buckwheat noodles) with 3.5 tablespoons of the sauce (which contained some lemon/zest, ginger, cayenne pepper, olive and sesame oils, rice vinegar and soy sauce), 3 oz of tofu, along with about 3/4 cup of the noodles.



Dinner calories: ~600 kcal
It was a good light meal for yoga (which was great tonight, I'm sad I won't be able to go Mondays any more because of classes), but I was pretty hungry after!
Sooo I made my fam a nice yummy dessert of baked pears (baked with 1 tsp brown sugar and a bunch of cinnamon) and 1/2 cup vanilla frozen yogurt.



Dessert calories: ~200 kcal

Total calories for the day were about 2,015. Woah! Thats a whole bunch, but it's good for me.
I know I need to up my calories even more to gain weight... but I'm at such a good balance it's so hard to send that off-kilter, on purpose nonetheless! But what has to be done has to be done. I know I need to be at a good BMI going into training for running in a couple months, so I'll be eating more this semester, not feeling guilty (it WILL be healthy stuff for the most part!) and gaining some healthy weight, then going back to my equilibrium.