So I'm still having some trouble with sleeping. Friday night, I didn't get to sleep until about 2:30 (some of that was my own fault because I was up doing laundry until about 1:30 - I know, what a rocking Friday night!). Saturday, I didn't fall asleep until 4am. And even last night, it was 2am. Fortunately, I could sleep in, but it's meant that my days are a bit thrown off, which isn't great, and I'm sure I'll be suffering when I wake up early for work tomorrow.
When I woke up this morning, I did NOT feel like going for a run. I was tired and sluggish, the cold outside has a bitter feeling to it because we're expecting snow later, and it's cloudy and depressing.
But I'm a believer in suiting up and showing up, so I just put on my running clothes and had some oatmeal and gave myself a 1pm deadline to head out.
And I did. Today, I was ramping up to 90 seconds of running and two minutes of walking, and with the cold, I was definitely feeling punished. But I did it anyway and now I'm feeling good as a result.
I stuck with my healthier eating this weekend too - there were a couple of times where I wanted to give myself a treat and just take a whole day off from good eating, but it's only been a week of it, so I resisted the urge. I did make a key lime pie on Saturday night, but I've only had a small slice after dinner both days, and that's been enough of a treat for me.
I also picked up some more VitaTops - they're muffin tops made from whole grains, with 15 vitamins in them and only 100 calories. I get the dark chocolate ones, and they taste like brownies. No joke. Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm not into diet anything - I've never liked diet soda, anything that's low fat or low sugar tastes really fake to me, and I just prefer the full fat, full sugar versions of things.
But these really, honestly taste like brownies.
They come frozen, six to a package (apparently you can buy them online two, and I might think about it, since the only flavors they have at my grocery store are corn muffin and these chocolate ones), and I just microwave them for about 25 seconds, pour a small glass of skim milk, and I have a really delicious snack. I might go make one right now in fact!
Anyway.
I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself for running when I didn't feel like it, and continuing to eat well when I didn't feel like it. And as a result, I've lost 2.2 pounds in the last week. Woo hoo!
Now I just need to motivate myself beyond sitting on the couch for the rest of the afternoon. Because I'm still so darn tired lately!
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Struggling with sugar intake is pretty much a daily battle for me. When I've tracked it (I was working with a personal trainer who was concerned with my sugar intake), I was far, far exceeding what an adult should have in a given day. I have a pretty serious sweet tooth (particularly for baked goods, ice cream, etc), and I go through phases of trying to reduce my sugar intake (I know it is way too high now, and I fear my habits will lead to diabetes later in life).
ReplyDeleteWhen summer produce is at its finest, I can often eat massive amounts of super sweet fruit (berries, super ripe peaches, etc) for a while and somewhat avoid traditional sweets and feel better since fresh fruit has lots of other nutritional value, but honestly, most of the time, it doesn't do it for me.
Have you ever had the chocolate brownie z-bars? They are made by the Cliff Bar folks (and I totally dislike cliff bars), but are for kids and made with whole grains, no corn syrup or white sugar, stuff like that. They are 130 cal, 3.5 g fat, 3 g protein, 10 g sugar. Obviously not health food, but they are really chocolaty and brownie like and can be really satisfying. They also work really well for pre or post workout snacks.
If you are a tea drinker, the Celestial Seasonings English Toffee dessert tea SMELLS just like delicious dessert. I often pair it with a handful of honey roasted peanuts or small piece of peanut/almond brittle and it can do the trick.
Finally, if you are up for some baking, I'm a big fan of the healthy cookies and treats from ohsheglows.com, like these: http://ohsheglows.com/2010/11/02/healthy-cookie-bites, or these http://ohsheglows.com/2009/09/10/vegan-peanut-butter-and-jam-glo-bites/, or these http://ohsheglows.com/2010/12/02/chocolate-dipped-chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-balls/. You can browse through her recipes for tons more ideas. Most of her healthy cookies are less sweet than traditional cookies, and are loaded with extra nutrition (lots of flax, that sort of thing) which often make them really balanced and great pre/post workout snacks (or so I tell mysself ...).
And finally, if you are into soft serve ice cream, I really can't get over BANANA SOFT SERVE! Yes, it is still a lot of sugar since it is made with banana, but it tastes so much like regular soft serve and is so much healthier, it amazes me every time I make it. Super easy:
1. Whenever you have ripe bananas that you won't eat in time, peel them, stick in freezer. I always have a stockpile like this.
2. Take one banana per person out of freezer. Break into chunks.
3. Place in food processor with a splash of milk (cow, almond, whatever). This isn't 100% necessary, but I find that it processes easier if I add it.
4. Process for a few minutes. It will seem really weird at first, and then it will hit this magic point where it just turns into soft serve ice cream. Seriously. You'll want to stop a few times and scrape down the sides.
5. Add whatever toppings you want (or not). I personally love it with some chopped up walnuts and dark chocolate. I've heard a lot of people recommend blending in some peanut butter.
6. Eat immediately. It gets soft very fast.
This is obviously not EXACTLY like ice cream, but it is really, really close. Of course, you have to like bananas :)