Back in the Swing of Things

Coming back from vacation is always a little bit of a downer, especially when you're coming back from such a nice and (mostly) relaxing place. But there is also something to be said for getting back home. The beach has been home for me this summer and since my time here is coming to an end, I should try and appreciate it a little more in my last 9 days at the shore.

With that being said. Last night was a lot of fun. The guys made chicken parm for a fam dinner while I heated up some vegetable soup (made by Select Harvest-low sodium), and cut up an apple for my own meal. In addition, one of the guys made a delicious kale salad. Definitely try it out. It's really easy and really healthy. 

Kale Salad: 

several bunches of fresh kale leaves
carrots

red peppers
broccoli

feta cheese
combine lemon juice and olive oil to taste for the dressing

Easy as that! 

Today's eats started off with a bowl of Oat Bran for breakfast that I made over the stove with light vanilla soy milk t. I topped it with ground flax seed, cinnamon, and a cut up peach. I also had a bowl of berries and a green tea with it.

You may be wondering what the difference is between Oat Bran and oatmeal. I never really knew this either, but I did a little research to find out. Basically Oat Bran has 130 calories for 1/3cup, where as oatmeal has slightly less coming in at 100 calories for 1/3 cup, but Oat Bran has twice as much fiber, as well as more protein and iron content so it will keep you fuller longer. The texture of Oat Bran is a little different than oatmeal in that, if you make it on the stove with milk (as opposed to making it in the microwave with water), it's creamier--almost like a cream of wheat. The flavor is, in my opinion, pretty much the exact same as oatmeal. Sweeten it up just like you would oatmeal with agave nectar, brown sugar, or cinnamon! Give it a try!

Lunch was a small salad, a few carrots with hummus, and a farmers market granola bar (orange pistachio cardamom fig). 

That dressing is one of the only store bought ones that I really like. You can find it at most grocery stores so definitely give it a try if you like raspberry vinaigrettes. 

It was back to working for hours in a local coffee shop tonight so my dinner was packed to go and pretty unsubstantial. I really need to go to the store tomorrow. 

Workouts: 

Yesterday (Thursday) I woke up early to get in a run around the island because there is just such pretty scenery there, and I wanted to give my legs a chance to work off some energy before sitting down in cars and planes for the rest of my travel day. A nice and easy (= pretty slow) 50 minute run in Georgia's "cool" morning air.

This morning I woke up to pouring rain and I'd say I've had my fair share of rain this week (kayaking flashback...) so I headed to the gym to workout indoors. I was only planning on doing 4 quick miles on the treadmill, but my body felt pretty good so I did 3 more and finished with a total of 7 miles. Not my fastest day, but not too bad. 

I got in another ten minutes of abs and a little stretching--which I'll be doing more of later--before hurrying home. 

I promised to tell you guys about what I learned from the chef/nutritionist lady who I met with during my spa day. Some of it you guys would probably already know, but a lot of it was really useful! 

This was a really cool visual that shows a perfectly balanced meal with examples for each of the three categories-fruits and veggies, protein, and complex carbohydrates. It's pretty self-explanatory and makes it easy to see what/how much should be going into each meal. 

She also gave me a list of the fruits and a list of veggies that lists them in order of their nutrient level. 

On the fruit side, guava, watermelon, pink/red grapefruit, kiwi, cantaloupe, and all of the berries ranked at the top of the list. Plums, bananas, cherries, peaches, pears, apples ,and pineapple are still great choices, they just don't pack as much nutrients in them as the others. 

For veggies, leafy greens such as collards, spinach, and kale are at the very top. Then comes things like red/green/yellow peppers, sweet potato, pumpkin, carrots, broccoli, and brussels sprouts. At the bottom of the list were corn, cucumber, onions, mushrooms, and eggplant. Again, these last ones are of course still super healthy!

I also got a few easy recipes that sound delicious. I'm going to try some this coming week so I'll post the recipes then!