Big Blog News

I had mentioned a few days ago that I was working on some blog changes...

The blog has moved to CardioFoodie.com

I have moved all old posts and gotten the blog up and running! I am still working out a few kinks, playing with plug-ins and designs, and trying to build a blog with no technical skill but it is turning out well!

I am very excited for my blog and want to give a big thanks to all my readers!

Check out the New Blog!

Random Dinner

First I started the morning off with a large bowl of banana oats.  Topped with a few chunks of a granola bar and almond butter.  Filled me up!

Planned dinner for last night was Tofu Pad Thai.  However, I realized I was missing some key sauce ingredients and had to ditch the plan.  I ended up just throwing together some random foods.

First,

Fried Okra (this was pre-breaded and frozen).  Although I don't usually eat a lot of fried food this was fun and reminded me of home! (My mom makes some good fresh fried okra)

I also had about half a small roasted butternut squash!  Butternut squash is nature's candy I swear.

And I made both the hubby and small side salads.

Turned out to be a fun and tasty dinner.

Hopefully pad thai tonight.

Giveaway News

Head over to Crunches for Cupcakes and check out Crofter's Organic Giveaway

Lunch and the DVR

For lunch I decided to cook up one of Boca Burgers I bought.  I have never tried this flavor before.  It was okay, but the Black bean are still my favorite!

Topped with lettuce, apple, salsa, Laughing Cow, and spicy mustard.

And a sliced apple on the side!

So far today I have had two cups of hot chocolate (diet version)!  This chilly weather is giving me warm drink cravings

Rodeo!!!

Houston Rodeo has just announced its concert lineup!  I must decide which days I want to go...is everyday an option?!?!

Banana Oats and Diet Plan Review

Breakfast was oats with banana, almond butter, and a little bit of Clif Bar crumbled on top.  I apologize this picture uploaded sideways 3 times and I gave up!

Put that mix together...

Yum!!!

Are you starting a diet for the new year?

 I don't put myself on a "diet" but I do believe in learning to live healthy a lifestyle and eat a healthy diet.  There are many diet plans and food delivery out there so check out this article Diet Plan Review: Best Ways to Lose 20 Pounds to compare costs and results of some of the most popular plans.

Sunday Recap

After a lazy breakfast in bed we ran some errands and then took Trooper to the park!

My dog like to mark his territory everywhere!

 

It was only about 35 degrees when we went yesterday so the park was pretty dead

Peaceful.  It was really a beautiful day!

View up from the dog run. (I love those new condos)

They were setting up the Sunday market.

No other doggies for Trooper to play with today...

So we walked him around the park

Now onto food for the day...

Snack choice of the day.  Multiple handfuls were eaten.

Lunch:

 Variety of goodies from Whole Foods bar

and

Carrot sticks, grape salad (from Central Market) and then piece of toast spread with 1 Laughing Cow wedge.

Big lunch, I ate all except half the bread that Trooper enjoyed.

 

Afternoon snack/dessert was our cookies!  So good!

Dinner:

 

My favorite salad from Central Market.  I topped the pita bread with hummus, salad mix, and sauce.  I ate the topped bread and was too full to eat most of the salad.

Dessert was "baked apples".  (I had some apples on their last lives).

Dice one apple

Cover and heat in small sauce pan with sugar, cinnamon, 2 Tbsp water

Once reach desired level of tenderness pour into dessert cup

I always add a layer of crunchiness and then top with whipped cream!

Lazy Breakfast

This morning I had a bowl of Kashi with banana and a piece of toast.

It is only about 25 degrees here this morning so I am going to wait a bit before running.

Must come up with something to do today:  Whole Foods, Sams, Mall, Discovery Green?  Must decide.

Sweet Potato Goodness

Dinner was a sweet potato stuffed with apple chunks and topped with yogurt and cinnamon.

Here is my concoction all mixed up!

I cooked my sweet potato in the microwave.

Stuffed it with microwaved apple chunks, cinnamon, and sugar.

I then wrapped in tin foil and let it sit in oven while my hubby's dinner was in there cooking.

 

Dessert was fro-yo with chocolate (more than pictured here).

Box Lunches

Today was my last day of class and I now have my certificate to mediate family law disputes.  I am pretty excited about this!

I have been eating boxed lunches all week in class, so I am excited to do some lunch planning next week, but here is a look at the last two days:

Friday was a Chick Fil A box.  I was not too excited about the sandwich.  It was breaded and greasy.  On the plus side it came with lots of lettuce and tomato toppings.

The box included my a fruit cup, brownie, and my favorite chips again!  The sandwich was so BIG that I only ate the fruit cup.  I saved the chips and took the brownie to my hubby.

Dinner last night was more stuffed acorn squash-see below.

This morning we got up before the sun and ran 5.5 miles with a 15 degree windchill.  (Yes I am in still in Houston and yes it is crazy!)

Being proud of myself for running this morning I treated myself to a donut for breakfast:

My donut looked like this with walnuts on top.  I forgot to take a picture. (Picture by americanbagelcomapny.com)

Saturday was pizza.  I had a this slice of veggie pizza (plus 1/2 another) and a side salad.

I dug into the Baked Lays from yesterday as a snack.

Running Shoes: Hazardous to Your Joints?

Running Shoes: Hazardous to Your Joints?

This article was sent to me by a friend and I thought I would pass it along to all of you who have seen people running in those weird "barefoot shoe things" and wondered why.

Brrrrrrr

26 degrees in Houston my friends.  And colder tomorrow and Sunday.  There is something wrong with the world!

I hopped up this morning and hit the gym for a little elliptical.  I have a 4 mile run on the training schedule today and plan to do it after class this evening.  Anything over 3 I just can't force myself into boredom on the treadmill, so hopefully I can talk my hubby into taking me out to the park.  It gets dark here about 6pm, and I won't run by myself after dark for obvious safety reasons.  My training schedule and current 830-530 class do not mesh well!

I started this brisk morning with a bowl of pumpkin oats topped with granola, Kashi, and tiny scoop of almond butter!

Although getting home around 6 makes cooking dinner a bit more inconvenient (considering I still have homework to do!), I did manage to throw together stuffed acorn squash last night before the game.

I had already roasted the squash yesterday, so I added in a wedge of Laughing Cow.

Topped with a spoonful of ground turkey and pasta sauce.

I then topped this with Parmesan, Italian seasoning, and ground pepper.

I baked at 400 for about ten minutes to warm everything through, then put it under the broiler for just a minute because I like my cheese browned a bit!

Delicious!

There were also unpictured chips, salsa, and queso consumed (game food).  And the last two pieces of Christmas chocolate!

Hook Em Horns

The BCS Championship Game is tonight and since my beloved Boilers don't compete at that level, I am cheering for my adopted team:  Texas Longhorns!

Today was another day of class from 8:30 to 530ish.  I got out a bit early and am blogging until the hubby gets here to pick me up!

This morning I got up super early and hit the gym for about 50 mins.  30 minutes of slow running (but I did hills) and then 20 minutes on the elliptical.  My training schedule called for a 45 minute temp run, but I just cannot run for more than 30 minutes on the treadmill-it is too boring!

I worked on some blog things (hopefully to be announced soon!) and then headed to school.  The walk was very windy and reminded me that the temperature is dropping to 20 degrees with wind chills in the single digits tonight!!!  Can you believe that?  I live in Houston now people, it is supposed to be warm!  Good thing I hadn't boxed up all my winter gear from the holiday trip.

Lunch was a boxed lunch from Luby's that included a turkey sandwich (some guy got the last one with wheat bread!), fruit cup, Baked Lays Original (my favorite chip of all time!), and a cookie which I tucked back to bring the hubby.

I will likely not be posting tonight because I will be yelling at the TV and cheering on theLong Horns!!!

2009 Fit Hits

Need some new workout music?  (Who doesn't)

Click over to Fit Bottomed Girls and check out Fit Hits:  Best of 2009 playlist.

Class from 830-530

I signed up for a Family Law Mediation course during Intersession, which means I go to class from 830-530 for four days!  Although the hours are long, I get really good food and I will be certified to mediate divorces after!

Food from the day:

I apologize for the photos but I had to use my phone, as bringing a camera to a CLE full of attorneys is not really appropriate.

My snack was this Pria bar I got at the store last night.  I have never had this bar before but it was on closeout.  I didn't enjoy the bar-it had a weirdly strong mint aftertaste- and probably would not pay the 20 cents again.

Lunch was Amazing!  TreeBeards catered today and brought with them their famous (or just well known to the local downtown crowd) Chicken/Sausage Gumbo.  Yum Yum!  

I used willpower and ate in moderation!

I filled up half my plate with the amazing salad which was full of color:  radishes, yellow peppers, cherry tomatoes, spring mix, mushrooms, carrots.  I accidentally drown my salad in dressing because of the ladle, but it was still delicious!

I ended up only eating a bite of the french bread but saved room for dessert:

I am SO MAD this picture is blurry, but this little concoction was delicious!  It wasn't a brownie or a blondie.  It was very sweet and chewy and tasted like honey.  Anyone have any ideas?

Anyway lunch was good.

This morning I slept until 6 and by the time I checked on the gym it was packed!  (Later tonight will be rant on New Year Resolutionist who through a wrench in my regular routine!).  I hit my stationary bike and watched the news for 20 minutes. 

I have a 3 mile run and strength on the training schedule, but might make today a rest day instead.  I really shouldn't though!

We Went Grocery Shopping!!!!

Since we took a 2 week vacation to Indiana then NYE, we hadn't been to the grocery store in a little over a month!!  You could see wall behind every shelf of the pantry and were left with bread, 1/2 box pasta, and pasta sauce.  BUT NOW:  FULL Pantry!  Notice the shelf dedicated almost entirely to my hubby's ChefBoyrDee (better than fast food for lunch I suppose)

More grocery goods:

YUM:  an entire bowl of squash.  I am so ready for my spaghetti squash bake.

Apples and Bananas, i.e. my survival.

With all my new goods I finally had options for dinner.  But, I have been craving yogurt and banana for days!

So...

I diced up one medium banana and 1/4 large apple

Then topped with Dannon Light n Fit (it was on sale), 1 tsp almond butter, Kashi, cinnamon, and honey.  This was unbelievable and really hit the spot.

Also two pieces of toast trying to use up my old jelly.  I really didn't need this bread and probably shouldn't have eaten it, but oh well.  The dog did get about 3/4 of a slice.

Dessert:  (Yes I ate two desserts today) was a cup of Hot Chocolate.

Race Prep:

As I mentioned I really wanted to improve my diet in preparation for my race.  Ideally I would like to drop about 5 pounds (1 pound a week) because that is the race weight I feel best at, but....snacking and a sweet tooth may prevent that.  I still feel that my training is going well, but I am not getting faster so it may be time to buckle down and count the calories (ugh!).

2 in 1 Toners

Great Moves to Try by Women's Health

Taco Bell Diet?

For starters:  I had the last bowl of my tomato bisque with a cheese and pepper grilled sandwich.

I ate dessert with lunch:  1 pack 100 calorie Oreo Crisps

Taco Bell Drive-Thru Diet

If you have been watching TV lately you have probably seen the Taco Bell Drive-Thru Diet commercial with Christine as the new "Subway Jared".  Honestly, the first time I saw the commercial I thought it was a joke, sadly it was not.  Taco Bell as diet food?  Really?

I remember my love-affair with the T-Bell in college.  Every Friday night my roomie and I would have a T-Bell date and then after hitting the big 2-1 we would hit up T-Bell about 3am for a post-bar food run! Lucky for me I had a really fast metabolism and plenty of time for the gym, so those T-Bell pounds never packed on.  But, once I got engaged and entered wedding mode I gave up Taco Bell (and many other bad foods). 

I haven't given in to the T-Bell craving since college and don't know that this "Drive-Thru Diet" will make me change that.  Although I think it is a positive step to add healthy choices to fastfood menus because so many Americans rely on fastfood; I read with caution Christine's story. 

Being healthy is all about healthy choices and exercising.  As the find print at the bottom of the website points out, Christine made healthy choices and exercised for over two years! 

Overall?   I am glad T-Bell is offering healthier options.  I would like to see the 1,000+ calorie items nixed or fixed.  I still believe the only way to lose weight is simple:  Calories consumed - calories burned.  But if I am ever in a pinch, the Fresco Chicken Ranchero looks pretty good.

Check out the "Drive-Thru Diet" here.

abc News:  Subway Had Jared, Now Taco Bell's Got Christine

Your thoughts on the Taco Bell Diet?

Leftovers Creation

Lunch was an omelet (1 egg, 2 egg white) with salsa and cheese.  On the side Whole Grain bread with strawberry jam

What to do with that leftover veggie tray?

We had quite a full leftover veggie tray from our NYE party and needed to find a way to use it up before the veggies went bad.

Chopped up the leftovers, there was also a full carton of cherry tomatoes.

I cooked up whole grain shells while I roasted all the veggies with olive oil and pepper.

I cooked up two chicken breast.

Combined everything in pan.

Added a can of Cream of Mushroom.

Let it heat through, stirred in about 1/2 to 3/4 cup Parmesan Cheese.  (I really like Parmesan cheese).  Looks so good!

I ate half a chicken breast and picked out most of the tomatoes for myself (hehe)!

Dessert was this candy coated prune and 100 calorie pack of Oreo crisps.