Hump Day Blues

Yesterday I read this post about winter getting the best of folks. All day long I definitely felt like the leftover blizzard snow, clouds, cold, and wind were sucking the energy out of me. I did get to enjoy some delicious and nutritious eats which helped, plus I got moving just a little bit - endorphins never hurt :-)

I jumped on the chia bandwagon, curious to see if / how these little seeds make a difference.

I added 1/2 tablespoon to my favorite sweet potato blueberry hot cereal. They added a bit more fluff and softened during the cooking (microwaving) process and they added another fun texture to bowl. Other than that, I didn't notice any difference.

For lunch, I ate with a bunch of co-workers after a meeting. We ordered from a Chinese restaurant where I got vegetable soup, brown rice, and seaweed salad. No picture because it would have been awkward, but I had about 1/2c each of rice and seaweed salad.

My afternoon snack was a Pink Lady apply with the last few of these baked rice crackers.

Still hungry, I headed to the student union to make myself a salad. I just love beets and enjoyed giving them center stage.

I ran a few errands after work and then convinced myself to do something else active for the day. I did 20 minutes of my Biggest Loser workout dvd - 10 minutes cardio and 10 minutes of arm. That was all I could muster and had to fight myself to do that amount. I guess you win some, you lose some.

I got to work right away prepping and roasted up some veggies for dinner: brussel sprouts, butternut squash, and kale. I had servings of each, along with some baked tofu dipped in BBQ sauce for dinner. This meal hit the spot and finally filled me up for a couple of hours!

 

  

 

Are any of you watching the Olympics? While I like the summer games much more, I do have my favorite winter sports to watch, and they all happened to be on last night! I watched speed skating, skiing, and the snowboarding halfpipe. Americans won gold in each event which was exciting! Munched on a pear and some cereal while I watched and then it was off to bed.  I am still trying to catch up from a busy weekend! Good thing the next one will be here soon!

We survived!

The snow finally let up yesterday evening and left behind quite a lot of snow! 

On Friday, the university closed early and I made my way home just as the snow, which had been falling since late morning, was beginning to stick. It was a pretty low-key night and I whipped up a light dinner to enjoy. I had a salad with beets and carrots and a "veggie sampler" plate of 1/4c of my brussel sprout risotto, peas, and the rest of my roasted kale and brussels.

I decided to go for a walk before things got too bad - I was curious to see what the accumulating snow looked like. I soon found out!!

 

  

 

I thawed out watching a movie and went to bed kind of early.

When I woke up yesterday the snow was still falling!  The inches definitely started to pile up!

I had a huge craving for something nice and warm for breakfast and made a bowl of blueberry hot cereal. In the mix: 1/4c BRM hot cereal, a generous 1/4c frozen blueberries, smashed sweet potato, cinnamon, vanilla, and 1/2T PB.

After tackling some of my snowed-in to-do list, I bundled up in plenty of layers and headed outside for another walk. Destination: Dupont Circle for the snowball fight. I had no desire to participate but it was definitely fun to watch! And, I found a friend!

 

  

 

Lunch was nice and warm - a cup of Amy's Chunky tomato soup and a serving of greens. The storm is a great chance to use up all of my leftovers!

I tackled a few more to-dos and then it was time for some exercise. The plan: Jillian Michael's 30-Day Shred and using the 10 floors of stairs in my building.  After taking much of this week off from the gym because of feeling under the weather, this 20 minute workout definitely kicked my butt!  I started feeling sore as soon as I finished the workout.  I ran the stairs twice and cooled down, quite literally, by watching the sun set and surveying the snow damage from the roof! It's quite the scene!

 

  

 

Dinner was a turkey burger with a lettuce bun and a mix of roasted beets, parsnip, and acorn squash.

Cabin fever kicked in and I'm about to head out with friends for a birthday party!

Made it home

Today was one of those travel nightmare days, thanks to all of the snow. However, rather than complaining any more, I will just say that I'm glad that I was able to finally get out of DC and arrive safely at home where it's warmer, there's no snow, and temperatures will be in the 60s tomorrow!

On tap is a day with the grandparents including the gym (I'm in dire need of a workout or 2 after being cooped up during the blizzard and airport adventure), lunch, a trip to the nail salon, and some holiday errands with Mom.

Other highlights for the week will include:

• Texas barbeque
• Mexican food
• a quick trip to Houston
• X-mas Eve Chinese food and a movie

and much, much more!

More to come soon. To those of you still in DC, enjoy your snow day tomorrow!!

DC's Snowpocalypse 2009

The snow has arrived!! The thundersnow began around 9pm last night and I don't think it's stopped since then. I was kind of excited to see how much snow we'd get overnight, but it doesn't look too different from my last peek at 1:30am. Then again, I have a birds'-eye view.

The winter wonderland is quite pretty and I actually enjoyed being out in the storm on my way to and from my party last night. I had a great time - it was soooo nice to catch up with my Cali friends and old neighbors after not seeing them for a few months!

Here's some pictures I took on my "hike" to and from the party. You can definitely tell the different in accumulation after just a few hours!

I hope that those of you who have snow are staying warm and safe. If you're in warmer weather, I'm pretty jealous :-)

Today's agenda consists of:

• ABC Family's holiday movie line up - currently watching Home Alone 2, next up is Happy Feet!
  
• cleaning the apartment
• writing a couple of special blog posts
• playing in the snow!!!
• working out in my apartment - maybe pilates or a workout DVD, courtesy of youtube
• lots of hot tea and warm, cozy foods
• packing for Texas tomorrow!!
  

Almost at the finish line!

I'm a bit behind in my blogging so will do my best to recap. There's been a lot of excitement over the past few days, some healthy eats, and some special treats for the holiday season. I have been trying out my newly learned tips for healthy eats and have sometimes been successful and at other times, I've enjoyed whatever I've had!

Wednesday's festivities began nice and light with a pear, PB toast, and an egg white. I headed into work and was productive up until a holiday potluck. I actually ate lunch before hand because I didn't think that there would be much for me to eat at the party and it ended up being a good decision! I had a stir fry which consisted of tofu, corn, asparagus, edamame, and bell peppers. It was yummy and a bit spicy! At the part I had one of my peanut butter cookies with the frosting from a cupcake and the toppings of a slice of Mediterranean pizza.

I worked right up until the end of the day and then headed to dinner at a new restaurant. My friend S and I tried BGR which just opened in our neighborhood. I had a burger (no bun) and actually used lettuce as my bun instead which worked quite well. We tried their Yukon fries (yum) and grilled asparagus (double yum) which were great compliments to our burgers. We then headed to a Chanukah party for more festivities!

I came home to the tail-end of my building's party and brought up a little treat to enjoy for my evening snack.

Thursday started bright and early with 1/4c yogurt with a bit of Gorilla Munch and AB before a morning Cardio Sculpt class. I was still sore from class on Tuesday but wanted to make sure to get a workout in after some of the junk foods I ate the day before. I definitely wasn't feeling as pumped up throughout it, but I felt really good after the workout.

I came home and had another breakfast of sweet potato hot cereal (see Monday's post), then headed off to work a bit later. I had a lunch date which was great (repeat of lunch Tuesday except with a plain garden salad) and then had another late evening of work.

I came home and snacked on an apple with AB, contemplated doing workout #2 and instead decided to catch up on sleep, life, and have a quiet night in. Dinner was baked beans, acorn squash, 3oz red potatoes and some salad. It was the perfect night for how I was feeling and I finally got some good sleep!

Is it Friday yet?

Whew, the past 2 days have been a whirlwind. A 12hr workday and a crazy sleep schedule will do that though. I'm hoping to get to bed soon and try to get back on a somewhat normal schedule so here's a brief recap with eats throughout.

Yesterday morning began around 10am with an egg white and BRM hot cereal with raisins, 1/4c frozen blueberries, and 1/2tbsp PB. I used the rest of my morning to take care of errands and chores before heading in to work in the afternoon.

I spent the first part of my time at work preparing for that night's program I was a part of. Work hosts an annual student event where staff and faculty feed students a late-night breakfast and there are a host of activities happening as well. This year's theme was "back to elementary school" and there was finger painting, games, Rock Band, and my event - Are you Smarter than a Professor, amongst other activities. For lunch I had a Greek yogurt with a chopped Gala apple and a few almonds mixed in. This meal, while light, kept me surprisingly full through the afternoon.

Before heading out to run another errand, I had a clementine quickly. I don't normally buy these, but always enjoy this yummy little treat. I convinced myself that a box of these "darling clementines" will last a while and are worth the investment. It's also nice to have some variety in the fruits I'm eating.

I had dinner while I was out running errands - another meal at Noodles! This time I had a small bangkok curry, heavy on the veggies, light on the noodles, with a chicken breast. I only managed to eat half so I brought the rest with me to fuel me through a late night of work.

I was preparing for, facilitating, and cleaning up for this event from 7pm until 1:30am when I got home. I was proud I didn't snack on much besides the 2nd half of my dinner and an 1/8c of raisins! By the time I got home, I had a bit of cereal, showered and crashed, it was close to 2:30am! oy...

I woke up around noon today and wasn't hungry at all. Wishing I could go back to sleep, I instead dragged myself to work. I had a pear while getting ready to help me wake up a bit. My appetite returned mid-afternoon and I had 1/4c lentils, 1/4c brown rice with a cup of my roasted veggies, topped w/ some parm and hot sauce. Yum!

I had another clementine before meeting up with a new friend from my old job for tea. From there, I met up with Dallas friends for dinner at an Asian restaurant called Cafe Asia. I was starving when we sat down and was excited about my Gway Tio with vegetables. No picture, sorry - I was too hungry. Much like my dinner last night, I ate all my veggies and skipped most of the noodles.

Tonight I relaxed, watched last night's episode of Glee, and finished up the rest of this Greek yogurt (about 2 tbsp) with a chopped apple, a light drizzle of AB, and some cereal.

Off to bed for this one. I'm exhausted. I think that the ridiculously cold weather that descended upon DC this afternoon may have something to do with my desire to crawl into bed! I'm excited to get back into the gym after a 2-day hiatus and finally take care of some life tasks after a week full of work!