Not that I speak from experience, of course.  I’ll just say that there were times yesterday when I really wished my dad would have taught me Chinese.

Yesterday morning I woke up to a special treat:  Justin.

Some of you may remember my encounter (ok, Deb was there too ) with the hunky Justin himself back in January.  For those of you who don’t, here’s a reminder:

I decided to finally break into his parting gift to me while packing my lunch.

See all that delicious almond butter stuck on the foil lid wrapper?  Most people let that go to waste.

Most people.

It’s been so long since I’ve had to pack a lunch to go.  My only starting point was the almond butter.  I decided to make an almond butter “dip” based on Deb’s recipe featured here.  My mix was not so sophisticated though, just 1 T of almond butter and 1 T almond milk, mixed into a paste and refrigerated to make it extra-gooey.

To go with my dip I packed carrot sticks, a Balance Bar, and a soy yogurt.  It doesn’t look like much but this lunch was exactly 500 calories.

All packed up in my fun lunch bag, another gift from my sweet friend Michelle!

Lunch held me over for a solid five hours before I had to dip into an apple on the train ride home.  Really, getting to that train was so stressful that an apple martini would have been more appropriate, but an apple was all I had access to

Dinner had to be quick so I didn’t kill someone for their food.  I seriously contemplated stopping at In-N-Out on the way home, but decided against it in favor of defrosted spaghetti sauce, wholewheat pasta and sautéed zucchini.

Job done!

A few of you have asked about my new gig in the city.  I am so excited about it and grateful for your well wishes.  I’m not quite ready to announce it yet, but I promise to break the news soon

Question:  What are your staples for healthy packed lunches? I’ve forgotten all my old tricks and need some advice!

Possibly related posts:

1. Ladies Who Lunch
2. Thank You’s
3. Confessional Thursday

I needed a satiating breakfast this morning, and yoats did just the trick!

Lately I’ve been making my oats on the stovetop with a combination of almond milk, water, cinnamon and an egg white stirred in at the end.  A smaller portion of oats is so delicious with greek yogurt, banana, and pecan butter.  It must have been the protein + fat + fiber combination, because I was full for hours.

Today I put on my City Girl hat and hopped the train to San Francisco! 

Details are forthcoming, but I am excited to say that this is going to be a regular commute!

What better lunch to have on a windy day in the city than a big bowl of soup?

San Francisco Soup Company is a great little chain in the city that specializes in…you guessed it…soup.  They use whole, local ingredients (some organic options available) and have a huge selection of fresh soups on any given day.

Today I chose the special black bean chili (Key ingredients: Black Beans, Tomatoes, Green Bell Peppers, Onions, Roasted Corn, Pasilla Peppers, Garlic, Ancho Chiles, Toasted Cumin, Cayenne, Oregano), which was marked as vegetarian, lowfat, and dairy-free.  

It was so nice to be able to come home tonight and find nutritional information posted on the SF Soup Co’s website!  I am back on the calorie-counting train, so this makes it so easy.  The soup came with a roll and I also got a hard-boiled egg for extra protein.

By the time I caught the train back home, it was 6pm and I needed a snack.  Luckily I had this mini bar stashed in my purse for emergencies, because we didn’t eat dinner until 8pm!

Matthew deserves full credit for making dinner happen tonight.  Well, 90% of the credit.  I had planned the meal beforehand and made sure we had all of the ingredients, and was then able to bark orders at guide him while I showered and checked my email

Being British, I knew he’d do a great job with our baked “jacket” potatoes with baked beans!

We had this meal so often when we were living in the UK but I’d forgotten all about it these past few months for some reason.  It will definitely be back in our dinner rotation.  It’s cheap, vegetarian, healthy, and easy….what’s not to like?  I found the baked beans from Trader Joe’s.  Though they are different from the Heinz brand we bought in the UK, these are actually more delicious because they are sweeter with a strong hickory flavor. 

Now I’m munching on a couple Girl Scout cookies and contemplating bed.  Tomorrow morning I have to get a cavity filled, and then I’m off to the city again!

I do have one last giveaway to celebrate my birthday, but that will have to wait for later in the week   Stay tuned…

Question:  Are you a city slicker or a small-town girl/guy?  I grew up in a small town but increasingly seem to find myself in big cities as I grow older!

Possibly related posts:

1. The Best Chili
2. What’s For Dinner?
3. The Accidental Veggie

And the winner of the food scale is….

That would be Abby (Nibble, Nourish, Run)!

It was Abby’s tweet that was chosen as the winner, but here is what she said about what she would weigh:

Oh yay! I’ve wanted a food scale forever! Number one thing I would use it to measure would be proteins! I can never tell how big a piece of meat is…!

Abby, please email me with your address so I can get your new food scale to you! 

I’ve enjoyed some great food this weekend, indulging a bit but not going too overboard.  I’m posting my eats from Saturday because it’s a good snapshot of how I ate all weekend.

After seeing Caitlin’s pancakes on Saturday morning, I had to make some for myself!  I used Quaker Oatmeal Pancake Mix, mixed with egg whites and almond milk. 

Wholegrain oatmeal pancakes with sugar-free syrup, fried egg, and a clementine

I think the Quaker mix is great.  Whole grain, fast, and tasty.  The pancakes are almost sweet. 

My favorite thing to eat with pancakes is fried eggs, and my favorite thing to eat with eggs is citrus, and thus this breakfast was created!

For lunch I stumbled upon a new creation that is absolutely delicious.  You must try it.

Take half of a low carb tortilla and spread with hummus.  Wrap around a Morningstar Garden Vegetable Patty and top with lowfat swiss cheese.  260 calories.  21g of protein.  Goes great with vegetables (how about some stir-fried brussel sprouts in coconut oil?) and fruit:

Soy yogurt wrapped it all up for a great lunch-dessert!

It must have been the sunshine because Matthew and I both got a craving for Jamba Juice while we were out on Saturday.  I hadn’t had a Jamba Juice in two years, so this was sort of random!  I ordered from their “light” menu, and got the “Berry Fulfilling.”  

Let’s just say I do not think it’s aptly named.  I don’t think I will order this flavor again.  I like the idea of a 150-calorie smoothie, but this had an odd aftertaste and was very tart.

Dinner was an experiment in “breading” fish with almond meal.  I have tried this a few times before and have decided it is impossible to do without using some sort of bread or flour.  This was the closest I have come to success: 

     

Almond-crusted tilapia with brown rice and steamed vegetables

Almond-crusted Tilapia

• 3 tilapia fillets
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup almond meal
• 2 T grated parmesan cheese
• 1 slice of wholewheat bread, ground (I used the coffee grinder)
• Dried herb mix
• 1 T coconut oil  (I use Tropical Traditions)

Mix almond meal, parmesan, bread crumbs, and herbs together.  Set aside.  Dip tilapia fillets in egg, then into the almond mixture.  Fry in hot coconut oil until fish is flaky and cooked through.

I think to make a proper “breading” you would need to use flour, and a lot of it, but the homemade bread crumbs did the trick just fine.

I have a busy week ahead so I will sign off here and see you tomorrow for another giveaway announcement!  This will be the last one to celebrate my birthday and blog anniversary at the end of the week!

Question:  Do you find it easier to eat healthy on the weekends or during the week?

Possibly related posts:

1. What’s For Dinner?
2. Sweet Saturday
3. The Verdict & Giveaway Reminder

After a glass of wine and a handful of delicious garlic fries, I am proud to say that we called it a night and came home to eat responsibly:

Morningstar veggie burger with swiss & avocado, zucchini and steamed broccoli

Usually for me, it’s a tough road once I get started on eating junk.  Making a U-turn somehow seems impossible once anything “bad” touches my mouth.  I am glad to report that that wasn’t the case last night!

Question:  Do you have to avoid junk food altogether to maintain a healthy diet, or are you able to indulge and then easily resume better habits?

Giveaway Reminder

Today is the last day to enter my food scale giveaway!  Winner to be announced on Sunday!

Possibly related posts:

1. Reminder: Giveaway Ends Today!
2. Food Scale Giveaway!
3. Attune Chocolate Review & Giveaway!

Exhibit A:

"Yoats" = creamy oats mixed with Greek yogurt and nut butter

Craving oats for breakfast but knowing that my sore arms needed protein, I decided to try Janetha’s famous yoats.  That’s yogurt + oats, and in case you haven’t tried this yet, it’s a delicious combination.  I made mine this morning with almond milk and water mixed with 1/3 cup of oats.  Then I added an egg white toward the end to fluff it up.  The warm oats are such a nice contrast to the cold side of yogurt (I use Trader Joe’s 0% Greek).  Oh, and I topped the whole thing with a glob of Deb’s homemade pecan butter, which is so good that I have to ration it to make it last as long as possible.

Exhibit B:

This measly little 1/2 apple came from the back of my refrigerator drawer.  Desperate times call for desperate measures.  

Low carb tortilla with hummus and chicken + apple and peanut butter

I had that combination plus a defrosted bowl of The Best Chili.

Hey, defrosted, reheated, but formerly canned tomatoes can still count as produce, right?

Exhibit C:

Well, I’m not going to complain about having no choice but to snack on half of a Cookie Dough Balance Bar

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go decide between Happy Hour or the grocery store.  Any guesses on what the verdict will be?

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Possibly related posts:

1. Is It Friday Yet?
2. Keeping Up Appearances
3. The Hangover

Which is why I consider it a victory that I completely fooled him into thinking we were having real chicken nuggets tonight.

Just look at his sweet innocent face, enjoying his “chicken” and wondering why I was photographing him instead of my food.

Afterward I asked, “So how did you like this brand of nuggets compared to the last brand we had?”  He replied that he liked them better.  When I was too shocked to respond with anything but “REALLY?!”  he caught on and asked if they were “fake.”  Busted. 

As I type this, he is claiming that he knew all along.  I assure you that is not true, because in England, there is no Morningstar Farms.  He claims the tip-off was the green box:  “Green means vegetables, not chicken.”

At any rate, victory is mine!  I am certainly not a vegetarian, but I think we need to go meat-free at dinner more often around here.

I don’t have much other news tonight because I have been really horrible about photographing my food!  I did have a great day yesterday, though.  I got to meet up with my lovely friend Michelle for some frozen yogurt and coffee.

Michelle is currently training for her first figure competition!  She is inspiring to me in so many ways.  On a separate note, I am burning that sweater.

Later in the afternoon, I met up with Andrea for a workout at her fancy gym! 

Andrea is so slender, but boy is she STRONG!  She lifts heavy, and it was great for me to workout with her and push myself harder with weights.  We did a full upper body weight workout, followed by 15 minutes on the stepper to finish.  I am so sore today!

I got some crazy looks for asking someone to take our picture in the locker room.  It also got the attention of a fellow blogger who I didn’t know was in the room…Linda!

On the way home last night, I got pulled over.  For the record, I have now been pulled over twice in my entire life, and both times happened in the last two months since moving to The Bay Area!  Oh, and both times I have talked my way out of the ticket

By popular request on Twitter, here are my newly acquired tips for getting out of a ticket: 

1)  First and foremost, always feign ignorance about why you are being pulled over.  Never, under any circumstances, presume to know what this craziness is all about. 

2) Be insanely kind and innocent.  Being new to the area helps, as does being able to claim that you just moved from another country.  It should also be noted that batting eyelashes and the flipping of wedding bands to the other hand is not above me.

3)  When all else fails, beg.

In summary, you can get away with more than you think.  Just pull out your chick’n nuggets

You still have two more days to enter my food scale giveaway!  Thank you to all who have entered so far!

Possibly related posts:

1. Meeting Michael Pollan
2. Thank You’s
3. Winner, Winner, Burger Dinner

I’m all about the classic accessories.

Three cups of coffee and a bowl of oats later, I was ready to rock and roll.

I’m trying to figure out what is bothering me about the above photo.  Is it that you can’t see my gray blouse and therefore the gray shoes look odd?  Not quite.  I think I’ve got it:  my pants are too short.  I always have this problem.  This is why I had to wear flats, which are not nearly as fun or flattering as heels. Note to self:  Longer pants, higher heels, less coffee.

It was a bit of a whirlwind that took me from the big city…

…to the small town in just a few hours.

I couldn’t spend as much time planning or preparing my meals as I usually do, and it was a great exercise in eating healthy on the go.   

Lunch was a brown rice vegetable sushi roll:

Whole Foods, I love that you offer brown rice sushi, but I wish you provided better menu labeling!  I found myself hungry just a couple hours after I ate this, and had trouble gauging what to have as a snack.  I decided on a Balance Bar (cookie dough, of course), and two clementines.

By the time I headed home, cooking anything too intricate was out of the question.  Instead, I picked up a rotisserie chicken, sautéed some vegetables, threw together a salad, and called it a dinner.

I have such a weakness for rotisserie chickens.  If you stick to breast meat and don’t eat the skin, I really don’t think it’s a bad “quick meal” choice. 

What are your go-to “quick meals”?  In college, my answer would have been a Cup of Noodles and a banana.  Nowadays I like to think I’ve got a better hang on making healthy decisions on the go!

Pssst…don’t forget to enter my food scale giveaway!  You have until this Saturday, March 6 at 11pm PST to enter.  Please remember to leave separate comments for each entry. 

Possibly related posts:

1. Thank You’s
2. Reminder: Giveaway Ends Today!
3. What’s For Dinner?

Owning and using a food scale is incredibly enlightening.  As I said in a recent post on my weight loss essentials, it was crucial to help me lose the last few pounds, when every calorie counts.  Even now, it is helping me with maintenance.  I use it every single day, multiple times a day.  I really believe that every household can benefit from owning a small scale like this, whether it’s used to weigh out your morning cereal or just to calculate postage!

EatSmart Products have been generous enough to offer one of their Precision Pro Digital Scales to one lucky Thinspired reader! 

You may recall that I reviewed this specific scale back in November.  At the time of the review I already owned a Salter food scale, and used it to compare with the EatSmart scale.

For the last three months, I have used the EatSmart scale exclusively.  It is much more precise with its measurements, and the numbers are large and easy to read.  I feel great about giving away a product that I believe in so much that I use it daily!

To enter (US addresses only, please):

1)  Leave a comment and tell me what foods you are mostly likely to weigh on the food scale.  (I’m curious!)  This will earn you one entry.

2)  If you have a Twitter account, please re-tweet the following:  “ I want to win a food scale from @ThinspiredBlog!  http://bit.ly/cMIz8D #giveaway  #freestuff ”  Come back and comment that you tweeted for another entry.

3)  If you have a blog, mentioning this giveaway will make me smile, as well as counting for another entry!  Please come back and comment with the link.

Contest ends Saturday, March 6 at 11pm PST.  Good luck!

Possibly related posts:

1. Review: EatSmart Kitchen Scale
2. The Verdict & Giveaway Reminder
3. Reminder: Giveaway Ends Today!

This morning I am sore everywhere!  I didn’t know one’s RIBS could be sore, but apparently they can be.  I am glad I tried something new and challenged my body like that.  Thank you Andrea, for making, er, taking me along

I am blaming it on the workout, but I was very hungry all day yesterday.  Matthew and I have been wanting to visit The Counter for a long time now, and we decided that last night was the perfect night.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with The Counter, it is an insanely delicious burger joint with many, many options.  I could have eaten pretty low-cal, but I was feeling indulgent last night and definitely did not.  They offer hormone/antibiotic-free beef burgers, turkey burgers, chicken burgers, and veggie burgers, plus about four different types of buns (or a salad), and countless toppings and sauces.  Like my bootcamp class, it is intense.  Click the menu thumbnail if you want to see what I was up against.

There must have been a little angel on one shoulder last night, and the devil on the other.  The angel told me to order the veggie burger on a salad.

The devil told me to order a beef burger.  On a bun.  With all the fixings.  And a Diet Sprite.

Guess who emerged as the winner?

1/3 lb angus beef burger on a "honey wheat” bun (really, at this point, why bother with the wheat charade?), grilled onions, grilled pineapple, organic mixed greens, black olives, and Tillamook cheddar.  Olives are a random addition, I know, but I love ‘em.

Actually, the above is not an accurate portrayal.  We also ordered a 50/50 order of fries and sweet potato fries.

OH, that’s why my baked sweet potato fries don’t taste as good as these…you mean you have to FRY them?!

You know, it was so good, I don’t even feel guilty.  It was totally worth every sinful bite.

Today calls for a long walk or run (not sure what my sore muscles will be able to handle), and cleaning our little apartment.  There is a possibility that my clothes from last night still smell like burgers.  Nice.

Have you been to The Counter?

Winner, Winner!

Thank you to all who entered my Attune Chocolate giveaway!  Please click here to see the winner, and come back later to enter another awesome giveaway!

Possibly related posts:

1. The Verdict & Giveaway Reminder
2. Getting Away With It…
3. Reminder: Giveaway Ends Today!

Thank you to everyone who has entered so far!  Good luck, and hope everyone is having a great weekend. 

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s new giveaway announcement!

Possibly related posts:

1. The Verdict & Giveaway Reminder
2. Food Scale Giveaway!
3. Attune Chocolate Review & Giveaway!

Steamer

Before we moved, I had an amazing electric steamer.  I used it all the time for quick dinners that were easy to clean up.  Lately I have just been using a basket steamer, since I couldn’t bring any electrical items with me back to the US.  The basket steamer just sits on top of a pot of boiling water.  That works great, too, but it doesn’t give as much freedom as a three-tiered electric steamer does. 

I use this to steam vegetables, fish, and even rice.  It’s healthy AND easy!

This one is on my birthday wish list (hint hint if The Husband is reading!).

Blender

Sure, you could use it to make a milkshake.  Or you could use it make green smoothies, creamy soups without having to use cream, and protein shakes. 

We just bought this blender a couple weeks ago and I love it so far!

Food Scale

If you are new to weight loss and portion control, I believe you really need to use a food scale.  In fact, despite knowing portion sizes pretty well at this point, I am consistently surprised when I measure things like nut butters or oats.  Also, weighing something is a lot more accurate than measuring its volume.  A 1/2 cup of brown rice can weigh anywhere from 85 to 100 grams, depending on how full you pack that 1/2 cup.  Even if it’s just to use as weight loss “training wheels”, weighing your food will make a huge difference.

I reviewed this scale a while back and will have more news about it next week

Bathroom Scale

I think scales have been taking a lot of unnecessary hits lately with so much increased attention to eating disorders and extreme dieters.  Personally, I believe in weighing yourself.  Not obsessively.  But, like with weighing your food, knowledge is power.  You need to know where you stand.  When I was losing weight, I found it really motivating to weigh in every morning.  In maintenance mode, I go for about once a week to check in with myself.

We recently bought this scale from Target to replace my broken Health Station.  It calculates body weight, water weight, muscle mass, body fat, and BMI.

Measuring Cups/Spoons

For liquid measurements or when you can’t be bothered to use the food scale.  When I was losing weight, I would get up every morning and measure out 1/2 cup of soymilk for my coffee.  It became second nature after a while, but the measuring cups are a great visual.

These were a wedding gift that get used every day!

Lunchbox Cooler

Back in the days when I was gainfully employed, I liked to take my lunch to work.  Cheap AND healthy, I would plan my lunch the night before, estimate the calories, and then work breakfast and dinner around lunch.  The cooler is so helpful because it allows you to pack more than a soggy sandwich:  salads, yogurt, leftovers, etc.

Frozen Produce

Ok, so this isn’t a “tool” per se, but frozen fruits and vegetables make weight loss a heck of a lot easier.  A diet heavy in fruit and vegetables can get pricey, and buying frozen helps me stick with it without breaking the bank.  Plus I actually prefer frozen fruit in smoothies for texture without adding ice.

I like to stock up at Costco for this kind of thing.  It eases my mind that in the event of a world crisis, Matthew and I will be able to at least feast on frozen peas and berries.

Hand Weights

I wish I had the resources for a home gym, but since I don’t, I keep hand weights under the sofa.  I haven’t been so great about it lately, but back when I was losing weight, I would use them after dinner while Matthew and I watched TV instead of snacking.

SparkPeople and SparkRecipes

In my opinion, SparkPeople is the best site for tracking your calories and other statistics related to your intake.  It’s very intuitive and allows you to input your own products if your favorite foods are not in their database.  I love it because it’s user-friendly and provides a breakdown of nutrients.  When I look at my nutrition report for today, the analysis tells me that I exceeded my recommendations for fat, fiber (I’m always over on fiber!), and sodium.  Oops.

SparkRecipes is a more recent discovery.  If I make some of The Best Chili, for example, rather than logging all of the ingredients separately into my nutrition tracker, the recipe site lets me input the whole recipe and then divide it to get the nutritional information per serving.  

Fit From Within, by Victoria Moran

This is, hands-down, the best health/diet/weight book I have ever read.  It is not an exaggeration to say that reading this little book changed my relationship with food.  It focuses on the inner aspect of weight problems and sets reasonable, logical guidelines to help forge a healthier relationship with food and our bodies.  I really recommend it to anyone who might want some perspective on dieting and body image.

That’s my list of “healthy helpers.”  What’s on yours?

Possibly related posts:

1. The Great Balancing Act
2. Fun to the Finish
3. Food Scale Giveaway!

I’ve discussed it a bit before, and no, my battles with this are not over.  Better, but not over.

Let’s say (as a purely hypothetical example), that you have a rough Monday and make the brilliant decision to have strawberry margaritas and a pile of homemade nachos for dinner.

Again, purely hypothetical.

Let’s say you had already knowingly overeaten earlier in the afternoon, but continued to eat the nachos, anyway.

Let’s say you actually felt physically sick afterward, ridden with guilt and disgust. 

Let’s say tears were shed and your husband seriously considered calling the crazy house.

Well, here are my best tips for this (hypothetical, of course) situation…

After the fall:

• Stop.  This is the most obvious solution, and yet somehow the hardest to actually execute.  Think of it this way:  there does eventually have to be a stopping point.  It may as well be the moment you put down the nacho and start to contemplate your situation.
• Ask for help.  There is no shame in asking for help.  Ever.  This is especially true with matters that we feel are beyond our control in a moment of weakness.
• Find comfort.  This is likely happening because you are trying to comfort yourself.  Your body is trying to speak to you.  Think about what you really want (in my case, it was a nap), and comfort yourself in another way.  Sleep, water, hot tea, a good friend, or a hug.  These are all things I have wanted in the past but have been unable to articulate.
• Give up the guilt.  Guilt, in my opinion, is the most useless human emotion.  It does nothing to change your circumstances.
• Start over.  It doesn’t need to be tomorrow.  It doesn’t even have to be your next meal.  Just forgive yourself and give yourself permission to start fresh right now.
• Reflect.  Just because you’re starting fresh doesn’t mean you can’t reflect on what just happened and why.  Try to look at the situation objectively, without any judgment.  Merely make a mental note of what might have triggered the behavior and how to best avoid that situation in the future. 

A (hypothetical) example of an objective reflection might be: “That’s interesting.  When I deprived myself of taking a much-needed nap, I felt the need to eat and made the decision to eat cereal and watch Oprah instead.  I thought taking a nap was too indulgent but I ended up making a poorer choice in the big picture.” 

My “starting fresh” happened to occur late at night, so my first opportunity to get back on track was this morning.

• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 cup water
• 1 packet Amazing Meal Chocolate Infusion
• 1 frozen banana
• 1/3 cup frozen blueberries
• ~3 cups fresh spinach
• 1T ground flaxseed

Then I spent the day being extra nice to myself.  This is the opposite from the behavior I would have had a year ago, which would be to spend the day feeling guilty and beating myself up.

Today I focused on my “to-do” list and felt a great sense of pride when it was all done, went for a walk, took a bath, called my mother, and took the time to make a healthy but comforting lunch and dinner.

Here’s dinner:

I’m sure you’re wondering:  How can Paula Dean’s recipe for Classic Meatloaf be considered remotely healthy? 

Easy!  Just leave off the sugary topping and use ground turkey breast meat instead of ground beef. 

For the record, this recipe is WAY better than Lara’s Lean Meatloaf.  It turns out Paula really knows her stuff.

Attune Giveaway

Thank you to all of you who have entered my probiotic chocolate bar giveaway thus far!  A few things that I forgot to mention:

1. If you are not on Twitter but you do have a blog, for a second entry, you can post about the giveaway on your blog.  Thanks to Tina for bringing this to my attention!
2. Attune products are sold in grocery stores nationwide in the yogurt/dairy section.  Click here for a list of store retailers.  You can also buy the products directly from the company website here.
3. Lastly, I’d like to encourage you to become an Attune fan on facebook!  It’s a great fan page with coupon opportunities and fun health links!

Possibly related posts:

1. Reminder: Giveaway Ends Today!
2. Attune Chocolate Review & Giveaway!

Better yet, who likes HEALTHY chocolate?!

Attune Foods kindly offered to send me some of their Chocolate Probiotic Wellness Bars to sample.

Free chocolate?  Free HEALTHY chocolate?  Yes please!

I received three flavors to try:

• Dark Chocolate
• Chocolate Crisp
• Mint Chocolate

Since I don’t like mint + chocolate, I sent that one with Matthew in his lunchbox.  He came home from work and said it was “delicious.”  However, he thinks all chocolate is delicious, so I didn’t think much of it.

Then we went to see “Valentine’s Day,” and I wanted a sweet snack to throw in my purse.  I reached for the Chocolate Crisp flavor, and almost started making inappropriate noises in the theatre, it was so good:

When I was young and naive about calories and pure sugar, one of my favorite candy bars was the Nestle Crunch Bar.

Mmm.  The blue wrapper still excites me.

You know where I’m heading with this…Attune’s Chocolate Crisp is a dead ringer for the Nestle Crunch bar. 

I swear.  I would not lie to you about these serious matters.

But the best part in all of this is that the Attune Bar is actually GOOD for you!

Besides being only 80-90 calories a bar, these chocolate bars also contain probiotics.  Probiotics, among other things, are good for our digestive system and help protect against harmful bacteria…AND probiotics work best when consumed regularly, i.e. daily, which means…yes…

You should eat this chocolate every day.

At least, that is how I am interpreting all of this

Want to try some?

In celebration of my birthday (March 13), and my 2nd Blog Anniversary (March 14), I am giving away a little something to my readers each week from now until then.  That means this is the first of three giveaways in the next three weeks!

Attune Chocolate Probiotic Wellness Bar Giveaway

The winner will receive a 14-day pack of chocolate probiotic bars in two flavors of their choice.  That is two weeks of chocolate!

Two ways to enter:

1)  Check out Attune’s website and select the two flavors you would like to receive should you win.  Come back and tell me in the comments section the two flavors of your choice.

2)  Re-tweet the following to spread the word on this giveaway: “RT @ThinspiredBlog is giving away @attune_foods chocolate bars to celebrate her birthday month:  http://bit.ly/cUGB3I” and come back and tell me when you’ve re-tweeted (if you can provide the link to the tweet, that would save me a lot of time!)

Contest is open to US residents only, please, and will run until Saturday February 27 at 11pm (PST).

If you are able, I would love it if you would mention the giveaway on your blog if you have one!  But that won’t be necessary for an entry on this

A separate note:

I know it seems like I have reviewed many products in recent weeks since I moved back to the US.  I want my readers to know that I will always disclose when I receive free products for review, and I will always give an honest review of what I think of the products.

Furthermore, I am really excited about the things I am giving away in the coming weeks.  They are all companies I really like and believe in.  In fact, I sort of wish I could keep the things for myself!

Thank you for entering!

Possibly related posts:

1. Reminder: Giveaway Ends Today!
2. Review: Bora Bora Bars
3. Food Scale Giveaway!

Have you tried maca?  I hadn’t either, until this morning.  I have the lovely Deb to thank for sending me some in a little clear baggie, because I was too cheap nervous to buy a whole tub without trying it.  Hmm, would this be classified as something new or something borrowed?

Maca is a cruciferous root, and everything I read about it tells me that it is a total superfood that I need to be consuming regularly.  Macaroot.com has a wealth of information.  I also found a great blog called The Nourishing Gourmet that did a “maca project,” chronicling the experience and a post on the power of maca.

More research on maca brought up this summary of benefits:  (source)

Male:

• Increases energy (Chronic Fatigue)
• Treat sexual dysfunction (Loss of Libido)
• Increases stamina & athletic performance
• Nourishes glandular system
• Fertility enhancement
• Improves physical and emotional well being
• Promotes mental clarity
• Balance hormones

Female:

• Treat PMS (Mood Swings)
• Menopause symptom relief (Hot Flashes)
• Sexual stimulation
• Nourishes glandular system
• HRT alternative(Hormone Replacement Therapy)
• Increases stamina & athletic performance
• Increases energy (Chronic Fatigue)
• Balance hormones

I didn’t quite know how to use maca, but seeing that it came from the Smoothie Queen, I figured a blender concoction would be appropriate:

• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 cup water
• 1 packet Amazing Meal
• 1/2 cup frozen wild blueberries (something blue?)
• Frozen banana
• 1T maca powder
• Ice

I loved it!  The maca added a malt-like taste and texture to the smoothie.  It wasn’t too strong at all, and actually brought all the other flavors in the smoothie together.  I looked at the Amazing Meal packet and what do you know, there is maca in that, too!  So I can’t wait to see how my energy levels are today after a double dose of the wonder root.

On to yesterday’s eats:

I have one more confession for today, just because now I’m kind of on a roll…

Even when I photograph my yogurt mess breakfast staged like this…

Soy yogurt mixed with vanilla protein powder, topped with banana, blueberries, almonds, and walnuts

…I actually eat it in a manner more like this: (note the placemat pushed aside, and the sloppily mixed yogurt concoction which I downed while reading the latest GOOP newsletter.)

Ok, and one more:

There was only one valentine purchased in our house in time for Valentine’s Day, and I didn’t buy it.  Oops.

Thanks, honey.

I did try to make amends for it by packing a very late valentine in his lunch yesterday morning.

It had chocolates, too!

Thank you, Target.

Lunch was another delicious stir-fry (at this point definitely something old) and a new combination: turkey + hummus wrap! 

Why haven’t I tried turkey paired with hummus before?  It is delicious. 

I tried a few other new products yesterday afternoon.  This post is going to look like major product placement, but in reality, only the Amazing Grass was sent to me for free to review.  In case you were wondering, Mr. FTC

For a snack I mixed a packet of Chocolate Green Superfood with a cup of almond milk and a little water.  I was a little scared to try this without hiding it in a smoothie, but I really, really liked it!  It almost tasted like chocolate milk.  Almost.  I will likely buy more of this when I run out of samples.  It’s only 30 calories a serving and I felt very “green” after drinking it. 

I had the ThinkThin bar a little bit later (also a new product for me!).  I picked up a box of these “bites” at Whole Foods the other day because they were on sale.  100 calories, no sugar, 5g protein.  The only problem?  When they say it’s a “bite,” they really mean it!  These were so tiny, similar to the size of a Fig Newton!  But the texture and flavor was delicious: soft chocolate on the inside with a white chocolate coating on the outside.  These could be addictive.

Dinner brought yet another something new, Pasta Slim noodles that I snagged at the Fancy Food Show. 

Actually, that food show was a while ago.  Perhaps these would be more old than new.

I was so nervous to try these!  I have heard so many mixed reviews around blog world about shirataki noodles.  They’re low calorie, low carb, low fat, low protein…I can’t help but wonder what they actually are?!  Air? 

Ingredients:  Water, pulmuone tofu (water, non-gmo), soybeans, calcium sulfate, glucono delta lactone, Konjac flour, spinach powder

To make them into a meal, I made an “alfredo” sauce with a teaspoon of Earth Balance, a Laughing Cow cheese wedge, 2T lowfat cream cheese, 1% milk, spices & herbs, and a little corn starch.

How was it?  Edible.  Slimy, but edible.  Very slimy.  I don’t know if I will eat the other pack in my fridge.  They’re white noodles and they really freak me out. 

For dessert I had some lowfat cottage cheese with Jello pudding mix.  It’s perhaps even more un-photogenic than the “noodle” dinner.

What new products have you tried recently?

And, for fun:  If you are married, what were your old/new/borrowed/blue items? 

My dress was actually vintage, so that was something old, as well as a broach that belonged to Matthew’s grandmother that I attached to my bouquet.  Essentially the rest of my attire was new, except for my earrings and bracelet, which I borrowed from my mother (also worn by my sister when she got married), and I had blue in my undergarments!

Possibly related posts:

1. A Case For Produce
2. Typical, Atypical…
3. Keeping Up Appearances

Oats made with almond milk, cottage cheese, and liquid stevia, topped with banana, raisins, and walnuts.

I finally tried Mae’s pizza cheese to make a tortilla pizza at lunch and it was very tasty.  I used 2T hummus + 2T nutritional yeast + a little water to make a cheesy paste.  Spread with marinara sauce on a La Tortilla factory tortilla and top with spinach, pop in the broiler, and you have lunch.

Or, if you’re me, you have half a lunch.  I also had some stir-fried veggies:

Confession:  I realized yesterday that my running endurance is not what it used to be (and that’s not saying much).  I could only run a mile and a half before taking a two minute break to run another half mile.  I feel there is great room for improvement here.

Lunch was good but lacking a little in protein.  I got hungry before dinner and mixed some protein powder with soy yogurt for a snack.

Confession:  I also added some sugar-free, fat-free Jello pudding mix.  It did not blend well.

I still ate it.  Along with a healthy dinner…

…which was quickly negated by the consumption of the aforementioned popcorn and some cherries.

Since I came clean about the sugar-free Jello, I may as well confess my other artificial sweetener relapses, including my hidden Splenda stash,

…as well as a new purchase that I have been secretly enjoying:  

Most people consume sugar-free syrup and then discover 100% pure maple.  I did it backwards.

Confession:  I may have had a minor meltdown when I learned that Matthew accidentally packed my last Balance Bar (top shelf, that is now an empty box) in his lunch instead of a granola bar (bottom shelf).  (Seriously, how can you confuse them?  Two separate boxes.  Two separate shelves.) 

This suggests that I should resume packing my husband’s lunches.  And also, perhaps, that I need to get a grip.

Any confessions you want to share today?  I think I have a few more to get off my chest later today.  It feels good!

Possibly related posts:

1. Hummus Maximus
2. Saturday Snapshot
3. Birthdays and Baby Yoga

I started my 24th year feeling great.  I would like to start my 25th feeling the same.  Overall, since moving back to California, I have been living and eating much more moderately.  However, I have not completely been able to let go of my emotional eating demons, and some days are better than others.

I realize I haven’t written very much about “serious” food or weight issues lately.  That is because I am trying not to think too much about my them, one way or the other:  some days I count calories; some days I eat intuitively; some days I binge.  I am trying not to give the slip-ups too much power and just move on when they happen.  Because they do happen.  I have been telling myself, “Just do the right thing,” meaning…whatever just happened, whatever you are worried about might happen in the future…just do the right thing now.  Make the best dietary decision you can right now.

This approach seems to be working.  Not giving myself the luxury to worry and analyze episodes of overeating takes away any excuses for continuing bad behavior at the next turn.  It disarms the entire, “Well, I already screwed up so I may as well just keep eating,” mind trap.

With that said, I want to make the most of the next 25 days.  I want to set myself up for my best 25th year possible, and much of that depends on how I feel about my body and my relationship with food.

I kicked things off this morning with another amazing breakfast.

Almond milk, frozen banana, frozen blueberries, water, Amazing Meal Original Blend.

I have now tried all three of the Amazing Meal flavors.  Original Blend and Chocolate Infusion get a thumbs-up.  Pomegranate Mango Infusion, however, does not.  I could just taste that artificial fruit flavor and that is not my cup of tea smoothie.

Lunch was another Heather-inspired stir-fry.  I grew up eating stir-fries, but I call these Heather-inspired because they are not drenched in gravy or a sauce of some sort.  Heather has taught me that simple can be delicious.

Carrots, brussel sprouts, red onion, and spinach, stir-fried in 1 tsp. coconut oil.

I even cooked the vegetables in some coconut oil (thanks again, Tropical Traditions) instead of my usual cooking spray.  It made SUCH a difference in the flavor of the vegetables!  The taste of the coconut oil seemed to sweeten the vegetables and help them cook more evenly.  I am hooked.

To go with my veggies I had some fruit and a sandwich thin.  One side was spread with hummus and the other with lowfat cream cheese…just for fun

True story:  I love cream cheese so much that when I was little, I would eat it straight from the tub with my finger.  To stop this habit, my big sister told me that if I kept doing it, my fingers would turn blue.  I don’t know how she did it, but one day I woke up with blue fingers (I suspect one of my smelly marker pens were involved) and I have never again eaten cream cheese straight from the container.

Hummus, on the other hand, is a different story

Other eats from the day included a Bora Bora bar:

And for dinner, my attempt at chicken parmesan.  I would not call it a success.

It actually tasted better than it looked.  I took chicken breast tenders and dipped them in egg before “breading” them in an almond meal and parmesan cheese mixture.  I baked them for about a half an hour and served with sautéed zucchini, onions, and mushrooms with marinara sauce:

Dessert was a bowl o’ cherries and some cottage cheese.

Look what I found at Target!

It’s a handy magnet notepad with the days of the week.  It’s getting some excellent use since I started planning the week’s dinners.

So for the next 25 days (and beyond, but I can only handle the immediate future right now) I hope to eat similarly to how I ate today: balanced, tasty, satisfying, and relatively “clean.”  I think in my attempts not to be overly restrictive with how I eat, I have actually gone the other direction in the last year and loosened up more than I planned or wanted.  Today’s eats were a return to a good middle ground of healthy eating for me.

The countdown begins…

Possibly related posts:

1. Saturday Snapshot
2. Eating Without Measure
3. One-Pot Wonder

And together with our boys,

We visited The Winchester Mystery House!

Before we set off, I had a soy yogurt breakfast mess:

Then for lunch I made a big batch of The Best Chili.  It wasn’t my best batch though…I think I used a little too much water.  It was still good fuel for the day ahead, which was filled with running around,

…and spooky stories of the giant, maze of a mansion.

The Winchester Mystery House is a mansion that is now classified as a California landmark.  It belonged to Sarah Winchester, who demanded continuous construction of the house she believed to be haunted for 38 years.

…and my family thinks that I am high-maintenance?!

After our tour, the five of us stopped at a fun Mexican restaurant for some margaritas.

Well, margaritas + a Roy Rogers

Dinner was some delicious take-out pizza and a big green salad:

With nephew D at our place, Matthew had the perfect companion for Wii Pajama Parties.

Eventually I joined in for a round of boxing!

Action shot!

Valentine’s Day was low-key but lovely, made up of pancake-making, book-browsing,

Trail-hiking,

Champagne-drinking, Chinese food-eating,

Wii-obsessing,

Chocolate-indulging,

Couch-cuddling, non-makeup-wearing FUN!

Hope everyone had a Happy Valentine’s Day and a great three-day weekend!

Possibly related posts:

1. Typical, Atypical…
2. Sweet Saturday
3. Keeping Up Appearances

I suppose it is sort of an odd combination, but I have made it before and all of the foods seem to go well together!

The frittata “recipe” that I make is based on Kath’s Apple-Cheddar-Bacon Frittata, which I have now made variations of several times and we just love it. 

Tonight’s combination was based on leftovers of what we had from earlier in the week:

• 4 eggs
• 1 T 1% milk
• 1/2 large apple, chopped
• 3-4 small white mushrooms, slices
• 2 slices turkey bacon
• 1 Laughing Cow Light Garlic Herb cheese triangle
• ~1/4 cup 2% shredded cheddar jack cheese
• S+P
• Dried mixed herbs
• Cooking spray to coat the frying pan

Sauté the apple until soft, add bacon and mushrooms until browned.  Add the eggs (already whipped with the milk, S+P, and herbs), and allow to cook from the bottom a bit.  Break the Laughing Cow into little bits and drop around the pan.  When the frittata is all but cooked on top, sprinkle on the shredded cheese and then broil until golden on top. 

To make the frittata more dinner-friendly and less like something you might find at a breakfast buffet, I served it with Gena’s carrot fries, steamed broccoli and brussel sprouts:

Carrot fries are so delicious!  I was finally able to make them properly thanks to Tropical Traditions, who were kind enough to send me a jar of their Organic Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil to sample. 

I have only used this oil (so far) to make carrot fries.  Let me tell you, I tried making carrot fries once before with olive oil, and they are not even remotely as good as they are when I make them with coconut oil.  The coconut oil adds almost a sweetness to the fries that make them more fry-like, and also seemed to help them crisp.

I did a little research and it seems that coconut oil is a great oil to use in high temperatures.  Many people also use it in their beauty regime, including as a hair conditioner or skin smoother!  Wow!

Thank you, Tropical Traditions, for sharing your product with me!  I can’t wait to make other things with this coconut oil.  I’m already searching the company’s free recipe website for more ideas.

Dessert

We bought a Wii today, and already Matthew is completely sucked into it!  I just called over to him to ask if he wanted some dessert, and he quickly responded, “Yeah, the frittata was good.”  HUH? 

Oh well, I guess I’ll have to enjoy a bowl of Chocolate Moose Tracks all to myself

Do you have a Wii?  Have you been able to have a conversation with your husband/partner/roommate since you got it?  At this rate I will no longer need to worry about birth control.

Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Possibly related posts:

1. Review: Bora Bora Bars
2. An Amazing Breakfast
3. Saturday Snapshot

In case you missed it, I answered an FAQ about how we met in a post last summer.

It is also (more or less), Chinese New Year! 

2004

So we have many things to celebrate this weekend, including four straight days that Matthew doesn’t have to work!  It’s a Chinese New Year miracle!

In honor of the Year of the Tiger, I hope to eat some form of Chinese food this weekend   We contemplated driving to see my parents (which would have meant delicious, authentic Chinese cuisine!), but there is just too much stuff to get done at our place, so we’re staying here instead.

I thought I would post all of today’s eats!

Breakfast

I used to eat soy yogurt all of the time.  “Used to,” meaning, when I was thinner.  For some reason I stopped buying it; perhaps I just got burnt out. At any rate, it has returned to my life.  Shockingly this brand is not as good as the kind I used to buy in England, but it will have to do.  I like my “yogurt messes” with (frozen) blueberries, banana, almonds, and walnuts.  This breakfast keeps me full for a surprisingly long time considering the lack of fiber.

Lunch

I was sort of a grazer this afternoon!  This is so unlike me.  I really like my three big meals.  Today though, it just worked out that I had lunch in two parts:

Part I:  Sautéed zucchini and onions topped with marinara and parmesan cheese

Everything is better with marinara sauce on it!

Part II (a couple hours later):  I am experimenting with new protein powders, since my old brand is not sold in the US.  I am open to suggestions!  According to Jillian Michaels (the goddess that she is), I should be looking for a whey protein isolate with branch chain amino acids.  This Biochem stuff meets those requirements and is cheaper than the rest at Whole Foods!

I used it to make a quick smoothie with almond milk, ice, and 1/2 banana.  I wanted to throw in some spinach, but it just felt wrong for some reason today. 

The protein powder was pretty good, though I did taste stevia in the aftertaste, which I am not used to.  I might buy it again, but not before I sample some other brands.

Big Gym Challenge

I’ve been on the workout wagon this week!  I’ve made good on my promise to go to a group fitness class everyday.  It has not necessarily been a different class everyday, but a daily class nonetheless.  Today I even ran before my class, eeking out a little over two miles before my yoga class.

I feel very proud and accomplished!  It’s hard to "cheat” in a workout when you do a class, and I’m doing some moves (i.e. lunges, squats) that I rarely make myself do when I am on my own.

However, besides the classes, I truly despise the rest of the big gym environment.  It smells, and it is always PACKED.  I really do prefer cardio in my little gym.

After my workout I ate an apple while running errands.  I knew we wouldn’t be eating dinner until nearly 8 and I needed a snack.

Dinner

Since it was a special day for us, we had Hawaiian pizza for dinner.  This is “our” pizza, because it’s one of the first meals we had together.  Cheesy, I know.  Just like our pizza.

I used the Boboli Wholewheat crust again to make our pizza.  For the sauce I used the sundried tomato & olive tomato sauce from Safeway, which is SO delicious!  I also topped it with lowfat cheese, spinach, mushrooms, ham and pineapple.

Plus a big salad with hummus and balsamic vinegar:

Do you have any “special meals” that you only eat on special occasions?  We rarely have ham & pineapple pizza, and when we do it’s usually a special occasion.  It often accompanies our favorite movie, which completes the sacred tradition that we started eight years ago.

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1. The Hangover
2. Chinese Times Two!
3. Confessional Thursday

The folks at Amazing Grass were kind enough to send me some samples of their products.  I have been wanting to try their bars and powders for a long time after seeing their stuff featured on so many blogs!

If you are new to Amazing Grass, they make “organic green superfoods,” mainly in the form of powders and energy bars, to supplement a healthy diet.  They are based out of San Francisco (hey, that makes them local for me!), and all of their products are certified organic.

To test out my new blender yesterday morning, I decided to try a sample of their Amazing Meal “Chocolate Infusion”:

Here is the low-down from the company’s website:

“Amazing Meal Chocolate Infusion is a naturally balanced source of protein, antioxidant & phytonutrient rich superfoods, cleansing fiber, digestive enzymes and probiotics. Infused with chocolate to give this drink powder one powerful chocolate punch.”

Some of the ingredients in this product (all organic):

• Hemp Protein Powder
• Rice Protein
• Wheat Grass
• Kale
• Barley Grass
• Alfalfa
• Acai
• Carrot Powder
• Blueberries
• Goji Berries
• Maca
• Rose Hips
• Banana
• Flax Seed Powder
• DIgestive Enzyme and Active Culture Probiotic blend

If that ingredient list doesn’t make you want to make a smoothie, I don’t know what does.

Actually, if I’m being honest, just this blender is enough to make me want a smoothie.

In my smoothie mix:

• 1 pack Amazing Meal Chocolate Infusion
• 2 cups Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 1/2 cup frozen wild blueberries
• Ice (about 5 cubes)

My thoughts:

For being so darn packed full of greens, I think the taste is actually very good.  The texture is a little grainy, but I can live with that so long as the flavor is there.  For me, things start to taste better when I know they are good for me.  I think that is how I feel about Amazing Meal:  I probably wouldn’t eat it if it weren’t so healthy, but knowing how great it is for my body, it suddenly tastes nice.  Plus, anything chocolate-flavored automatically makes greens easier to swallow, right?

Really, what I like most about this product is the ingredient list and the convenience.  It really did feel good to start the day knowing I had so many nutrients in my breakfast.  I am looking forward to trying the other flavors and products, and will let you guys know if I have a favorite!

Want to try some for yourself?  To receive 15% off any order, just visit the company’s website and use the coupon code ‘healthy123.’

Thank you, Amazing Grass, for the opportunity to try your products!

Big Gym Challenge

I still can’t decide if I want to join the “big gym” or stick it out with my little gym.

To help facilitate a decision, I have resolved to visit a group fitness class every day this week!  On Monday, I took the Turbo Kick class.  Tonight I will get my yoga on.  My trial membership expires soon, so I’m fitting in as much as I can before then.

Meals This Week

Monday:  Almond-crusted tilapia with steamed broccoli, green salad and carrot fries

Tuesday:  Chicken sausage stir-fry

Wednesday:  Salmon with vegetables and brown rice medley

Thursday:  Undecided, perhaps a homemade Hawaiian pizza?

Friday:  Apple bacon frittata with carrot fries and brussel sprouts

Blog Happenings

**The newly-engaged Janetha is hosting an organic milk giveaway here!**

**Smoothie Girl Deb is having a fun Good, Bad, Ugly photo contest to win some of her fabulous homemade nut butters.  Trust me, you WANT to win these!**

**Zesty Cook is asking readers to vote to help him donate $1,000 to the food charity Heifer International.  Check out the details here.**

What is your “go-to” breakfast to get the day started right?

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2. After the Fall
3. Vegan For a Day