Since You’ve Been Gone…
Rather, since I’ve been gone… I have had so much to do! Thank you everyone for keeping up with my posts this week despite the randomness of posting times. The first full week of classes was really busy but helped me figure out when I will be able to post (3 times a day if I bring my laptop with me) and if I needed to bring my laptop to campus ( yes!). On that note, I need to buy myself a quality bookbag to lug “Food for Fifty” by Mary Molt around along with all the others like Nutrition Assessments text. Anyone know of really good ones? I kind of feel like a 10 year old that MUST have that super cool transformer backpack or something…
Anyhow, this will be a photograph full post of my eats this week! I will be back to a shorter , more frequent posting schedule now that I have my wits about me for courses.
Monday Breakfast:
Started the week out right with a bowl of Bulgur Wheat with Soy, made with bananas, pineapples, milk and water. Chocolate PB2 for dipping! I love the lower calorie, higher nutrient content of this grain! As I have said before I’m sure, it has 10 g of protein, 5 g of fiber and about 110 kcal per serving (1/4 cup, dry) so that is awesome to stick with me through long morning classes!
Lunch:
This was a quick decision because I had come back home, forgetting things for the gym and very hungry! I heated up a can of Split Pea Soup with Ham after I added my own veggies to this, here is what it looked like:
And here is what the can photo looks like:
Not only do those vegetables look bigger and better on the can but so does the ham.. Interesting marketing Healthy Choice… mine looks much less colorful even after I added extra veggies to it! It would be healthier to make a large batch of homemade soup to freeze, however, this canned soup is approximately 480 mg of sodium ( much less than most other brands of canned soup). Also, We were out of town this weekend so it was an easy option that was easy to eat ( yes my wisdom teeth removal does still hurt so I am trying to take it easy when I can)
Monday Dinner:
I did a quick stir fry with fresh and LOCAL bean sprouts & green snow peas, mushrooms and some frozen veggies as well. For the “rice” I made Kashi Original Pilaf ( non-instant but it only takes 20 minutes or so ) which had great grains like wheatberries and barley. The protein came from chicken breasts that I had cooked in a skillet with a sesame-ginger , low sodium, HFCS free marinade and salt & pepper. It was quite tasty!
Green Smoothie for Breakfast (Tuesday)
Another fresh start!
I love having breakfast ( a learned habit!) because I usually wake up really hungry and it starts your day with a source of excellent fuel. If the rest of your day can just follow in that healthy direction, you’d be all set! I used frozen pineapple, frozen cherries, Locally Grown Kale, Frozen Spinach, milk and protein powder. I really enjoy the freshness the kale and spinach bring, but it does taste a little veggie so beware if you make it!
My mom had bought me a few of these bars to try, and I grabbed one on the way to class for lunch/snack
It has quite the “protein” taste that may be bitter if you aren’t used to higher protein bars and it was quite gooey for some reason. When I came home, I had some fresh fruit (black plum) and veggies to round it out a bit.
Dinner was Vegetarian Style…
I took kidney beans, mushrooms and local bean sprouts and heated them up in a skillet. After steaming some locally grown Kale with lemon juice, I added that on top of the beans and such. Then, I put it all inside a whole wheat wrap with a side of veggies.
This was so tasty and satisfying! Tons of filling fiber from the veggies, wrap, and beans! I love kidney beans in wraps and I especially loved the Kale steamed in lemon juice! The bean sprouts were crunchy, the kale was chewy, the beans were mushy, and I did sprinkle some melty cheese inside too.
Body:
- - 4 mile walk with Jack (Monday) + Yoga ( detox from yogadownload)
- 30 Day Shred Level 2 and Level 3 (Tuesday) – I did this back in April for 30 days and did get fantastic results, unfortunately, it made it more difficult to run because of all the quad moves. I love to have it on hand for at home workouts!
- Gym (Wednesday)- Elliptical, Abs, Bike ( 10 minute cool down)
Mind:
Oral Surgeon Appointment in the morning to remove the clover oil things from my dry-sockets. Right after that , I had to head to campus to meet with my advisor about my thesis/ practicum to graduate this spring! We discussed options, if I do the thesis it usually makes me more profitable for PhD. programs, however, if I do the practicum- I finally get some actual experience in the field which I really need! I need to decide which option I want to do, but I did find a few ways to use blogging as part either! Isn’t that interesting? When I have a set proposal, I will discuss more on here for sure!Right after that meeting, I had Medical Nutrition Therapy Class! Such a busy morning…I am drafting a post about that class this week!
Food Service Class on Tuesday was all lecture, no cooking yet! We discussed menu planning, types of menus ( static vs. cycle, selective, etc.).
A la carte: price food items separately, customer chooses menu items individually
Table de hôte: complete meal at a fixed price
Pre fixe: the price for the meal is fixed but there may be choices within menu categories
Soul:
This week was so busy, the yoga really helped me de-stress and focus my spirit. Classes this week really made me feel kind of lost! I hate to say it, but the focus seemed to just be “ solving the nutritional problems” of the U.S. Fighting adult obesity, childhood obesity, “excessibility” of food (my own made up term for the excess of access to unhealthy food in the U.S such as vending machines on every floor of buildings). At the same time, we need to be fighting malnutrition within obese adults, hunger for the impoverished, fighting the government for health care reform because most of the top chronic diseases in the country are diet-related… It is all such an overwhelming task for the field of nutrition to conquer, and for me, I see the big picture and want to fight it all. My purpose in life seems to be different than what I thought it would be and I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do about all these issues I am passionate about!
What are you passionate about?
