Cinch! Lunch

This mish mash of yogurtness contains non fat greek yogurt, almonds and blueberries. The Cinch! calls this the parfait but I just mixed it all together in a bowl. Also, I used blueberries instead of raspberries. The raspberries were a little to tart this morning and I did not want to pair it with already tart yogurt! Swapping out raspberries is acceptable on this plan, so no worries there.

How was your lunch?

Cinchtastic Breakfast

To get back into the healthy eating game, I've decided to do The Cinch! Fast forward plan this week. If you recall, I did this back in January and is sort of a detox, with real foods. ALL the weight I had lost while on the fast forward, I was able to keep it off! The fast forward is comprised of five foods:
Spinach
Eggs
Raspberries
Almonds
Yogurt

Last time, I did not find it difficult to do this and I expect this time to be same.

So, here's the deal for breakfast. I had one poached egg over saute'd spinach. On the side I had a cup of frozen berries with almonds! This was actually pretty refreshing for hot day!

What did you have for breakfast?

Monday Morning Pep Talk...

Good Morning All,

I hope you all had a great weekend! So, I'm still working on losing the few pounds that I gained. I was talking to a friend over the weekend and let him know that my weight gain is due to my own actions. For the past few weeks, I know I've been making unhealthy food choices and snacking mindlessly at times. Also, my workouts have been pretty sporadic.

In an effort to work on all this, I've made some changes. First off, I've given myself a 30 day fitness challenge. This means that no matter what the circumstances are, I need to find at least 30 minutes a day of exercising. Yesterday was day 1, and I got a 30 Day Shred workout in. Secondly, I'm going trying different workouts now. As much as I love INSANITY, it was time for a change. The 30 Day Shred really got me feeling sore today, which is something I've missed! Third - I'm definitely being mindful of what I eat. That means stop when I'm full, quit the excessive snacking, and make my diet more colorful!

My weight remained steady for a good six months and it remained this way from eating right and exercising CONSISTENTLY. As soon as I drop the bad habits I know the weight will come off!

So, what have we learned:
1. Make a conscience decision to eat right through out the day.
2. Quit the excessive snacking and binge eating.
3. Get your exercise in, everyday.

I can do this and if you are also trying to lose weight, so can you!

A Pret-alicious breakfast...

Morning All,

This morning I woke up to a bit of a crampy stomach :-( I wanted to keep breakfast light, so I went to Pret and picked up a strawberry parfait yogurt pot! Pret's yogurt pots are good because they are not overly loaded with sugar. I think I may start making my own yogurt pots in the morning!

Calories: 270

Snack Attack...

Rice Krispies treat. 90 calories. Not the most nutritionally sounding snack but hit the spot!

A Pret Breakfast...

I thank Pret for this mornings breakfast. I was craving something savory and hearty for breakfast this morning so I stopped by the Pret next to work and picked up a tomato, cream cheese and basil baguette. Breakfast was both filling and delicious, not bad for 270 calories!

What did you have for breakfast?

Chillin Dinner...

After my INSANITY Pure Cardio workout I needed something that packed a protein punch and was chilling, to cool me down! This is when I thought of making myself a thick, chocolatey protein smoothie bowl and this is exactly what I had!

Here are the deets:
1 frozen banana
1 scoop chocolate protein powder
1c unsweetened almond milk
2TB of chocolate PB
Ice

Preparation:
Blend all together till smooth. Pour in bowl and enjoy!

Calories: 365

Kanwal & Tika's Lunch Adventure...

Tika and I met up for lunch, but after last week's disaster we decided to keep it safe and went to Energy Kitchen.

I ordered the Mediterranean Salad with feta, cucumbers, kalamata olives, red onions, tomatoes, corn and romaine, all chopped up and tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette.

Tika ordered the veggie burger.

For our next lunch I'm trying to convince Tika to bring lunch and we'll eat in the park :-) Oh yes, save $$$ and time. Sorry Energy Kitchen, I love ya but sometimes I can't wait 20 minutes for a salad. Don't worry, I know it's because your popular :-)

Total lunch calories: 302

Desserty Breakfast

This morning breakfast tasted more like dessert :-)...you know that's a good thing! I had two slices of Ezekiel's toast smeared with Justin's Chocolate Almond Butter.

OMG, this was delicious and gone from my plate in 2 minutes.

Delish!

Calories: 340

Weigh in

135...Keep eating well and exercise!

Working out...

I am now onto week 2 of INSANITY. So far so good, but I'm starting to wonder if I should start a new Beachbody program, such as The Asylum, after finishing up month 2.

Have you guys tried any Beachbody workouts?

Blueberry Coconut Pudding

Snacks...

Today was a low snacking day. I had an orange between lunch and dinner!

Dessert: Blueberry Coconut Pudding

Just because there's no time to cook a healthy dinner, doesn't mean there's no time to whip up a healthy dessert!

Tonight's dessert was pretty darn easy and tasty. I took 1/3 cup of light coconut and blended this with 1/4 cup of frozen blueberries. I poured this in a bowl and let it sit in the refrigerator for half an hour to set. Not bad for a quick and easy dessert.

Healthy, delicious and fast!

Calories: 67

Dinner Tonight...

After my INSANITY workout, I didn't really have too much time to prepare dinner. So, I whipped out one of my emergency brown rice bowls! I'm a big fan of Amy's food products. I always rely on the Brown Rice Bowls when I need a quick and healthy dinner. Tonight I had a Black-Eyed Peas and Veggies bowl which was delicious and filling.

I love Amy's because you can pronounce all of the ingredients, which are organic, and the portions are just right.

My tasty meal ranked in at 290 calories.

Getting Pumped again!!

Today's lunch was brought to me by The Pump Energy Food...again! Ok..it was not brought to me, but I walked the few blocks in the sweltering heat to get my grub on. Actually, I wanted to get my slurp on and was really excited to have a Peanut Butter Dream smoothie BUT noticed the smoothie lady was not putting the correct ingredients in! Hellloooo....almond milk is not water...and you forgot the PB!!!

So, I got frustrated and walked over to the hot food counter and ordered the Calorie Counter. The Calorie Counter had roast turkey, cauliflower, spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes. This was ok, but it was no Peanut Butter Dream Smoothie!

My meal ranked in at 306 calories.

Breakfast: Peanut Butter Banana Toast

Good Morning All,

This morning I had a simple, filling breakfast of 2 slices of Ezekiel's toast with sliced banana and peanut butter.

This breakfast came out to 455 calories. I'm trying to keep track of my calorie consumption, just to keep my weight in check.

What did you have for breakfast?

Waking Up...

Starting my day with a cup full of waking up!

Starbucks Iced Coffee! Tall, unsweetened,perfect.

Weight check

137.2. All I can do is continue to eat right, make good food decisions and exercise.

Making up for lunch...

Since lunch was an unfilling disaster, I forced Tika to get a Pinkberry fro yo with me. To keep things in check we both got the mini size. I really feel this is the perfect size for a frozen yogurt or ice cream. This totally satisfies a craving!

I ordered a mini original with blueberries and slivered almonds. Tika ordered the chocolate with mango and choco crisps. YUM^2.

Kanwal & Tika's Lunch Adventure

Every week Tika (my college roomie and friend) try to find a good asian restaurant to go to. Luckily we work close enough together to meet up and explore the options in our area. The past few weeks we've had Korean, yet we still have not found a good place to eat!

Sometimes the food is bland, sometimes it's too salty and sometimes we just don't like the atmosphere! Today we went out on another adventure to find good asian food.

We wound up going to Tung Sing on 31st St. This place was bad. I'm talking really bad. We started off with miso soup and salad. The soup was OK, but the dressing on the salad was definitely bad. So that was disappointing. Next Tika and I decided to share our dishes. We ordered two rolls (avocado and eel and yellowtail (I think) ). We also ordered Shrimp with mixed veggies and brown rice.

The rolls were blah! The wasabi tasted like it lost it's wasa and the shrimp with "mixed" vegetables was basically broccoli and onions fried in an overly salty brown sauce. I was not too thrilled.

So, Tika and I are still on the prowl for a good asian restaurant near us. HELP!

Rebound Breakfast...

Rebounding from yesterday's binge I had a nice breakfast this morning. I made plain oatmeal which I souped up with almond milk, almonds and sliced banana. I am now full!

What did you have for breakfast?

Binge day...

Alright, I totally had a binge day after breakfast. It's OK. It happens. As long as it continues to not happen, I will be fine. I would say you are entitled to one binge day a week. I tend to keep mine for a Friday or Saturday, but today it was!

It all started during lunch, when I went out for BBQ. I ordered the brisket sandwich, which was delish! I then had some mac n cheese. Then some fries. Then some sweet potato fries. I washed it all down with a vanilla soft serve with chocolate sprinkles. Yum and more yum.

For dinner I had a slice of pizza. Followed by some chocolate covered pretzels and a nutella rice krispy treat :-)

To top it all off...no INSANITY today! Like I said, everyone has binge days and as long as they don't happen often you really won't get thrown off track. Tomorrow I will continue my day normally. I will workout and eat right and I will continue to be positive.

I had a great binge day..it's OK, it happens and I don't regret it.

Kulfi Pops...

Looking for a different recipe for ice pops?  Check out my article on TheAjnabee.com for Kulfi Pops!

On Repeat: Power Breakfast

Today's breakfast was on repeat and I was completely happy about this! I made another bowl of my Power Breakfast. A bowl fueled of yumminess with sliced banana, almonds, pumpkin seeds, muesli and almond milk.

YUM!

What did you guys have for breakfast?

Weigh In

This mornings weigh in came in at 133.5 :-) I'm getting there and on the right track!

Snacks...

Today's snacks:
Orange
Trail mix
Almond milk

Making Dinner into Dessert

Today's dinner was dessert :-) Again, on this hot day I wanted something cold. So, I decided on another yogurt bowl. Then I realized I ran out of peanut butter, so I went to the store next door to pick some up. This is where I found Justin's CHOCOLATE Almond Butter. This immediately made me :-) :-). Noticing that the nutritional stats were not too different from Justin's regular almond butter, I decided to try the chocolate one out.

I went back to my apartment and opened the jar of nut butter and ate a spoonful. O.M.G.!!! This stuff is deliciously dangerous. So nutty and chocolatey, ah, the best of both worlds! I quickly put some non fat Greek yogurt in a bowl, topped it with some chocolate almond butter, added some whole almonds(12) and a few chocolate chips. I stirred this baby up and finished it right up. This was seriously delicious. I am now afraid to have this jar of chocolate almond butter in my apartment. I fear this 16oz jar will be finished by tomorrow :-/ Ooooh, the goodness!

Do you guys eat a lot of peanut butter or almond butter?

INSANITY Day 3: Cardio Power and Resistance

After work I headed home to get my INSANITY on! Today is day 3 and I completed Cardio Power and Resistance. Honestly, I did not dread my workout at all. I realized once you get past the warm up and stretching, there's really only about 20 minutes of intense workout, with breaks in between. Also, maybe its because I completed hour long workouts in month two, which were very grueling, but I can seriously handle the intensity of month one. Yes, I still end each workout in a pool of sweat, but I do look forward to these workouts!

Latin Grill Lunch

Lunch today was a steak salad loaded with veggies from Lena's Latin Grill. This was a bit of a change for me since I rarely eat meat now.

The salad was delish! The base of the salad was romaine lettuce. I had mushrooms and string beans and corn added in. My only issue: the salad already came dressed and it was very oily.

All in all, as you can see from the before and after pic, I still enjoyed my lunch :-)

Power Breakfast...

This morning I woke up FAMISHED! I knew I needed to refuel with something healthy, that will keep me full till lunch. I was really craving a power cereal and that's exactly what I had.

In a bowl I sliced up a banana, added a few grapes, almonds(13), tablespoon of pumpkin seeds, 1/4c of some muesli that I bought and drowned it all in a cup of almond milk.

This breakfast definitely hit the spot! What did you have?

This morning weigh in

135.4. Staying on track...

Now it's time for breakfast :-)

Snack Attacks...

Here's what I snacked on today:
Small rice crispy treat
One orange
Two chocolate chip cookies

I only took a pic of the orange...my bad. Don't worry, I'm sure I'll get you a pic of the rice crispy treat tomorrow :-p

INSANITY: Day 2

I did manage to accomplish one of my two goals today. I completed my INSANITY workout. Yes, today was day 2 of month one and today we had Plyometric Cardio Circuit. This workout is 41 minutes long. There's the standard warm up followed by the standard stretching. Once you get through the stretching you have about 20 minutes of actual intense working out. Sean T gives you two sets of circuits which are done three times each. The second circuit is the hardest as they are all level one drills....fierce!
To my surprise I had a lot of energy for this workout. I know I put my all in and my form and reps were great. This could be because I'm already familiar with the workout. All in all, like most INSANITY workouts, the time flew by and before you knew it...I was dripping a pool of my own sweat. Gross, I know.

Did you get your workout in today?

And then there was dessert...

Even though my lunch was slightly off from the Cinch! I still managed to have a refreshing dessert to cool down the summer heat. The best part...I only used two ingredients! That's right people, I made a refreshing sorbet by blending frozen strawberries and a little bit of water. I then poured the puree in ramekins and placed in the freezer for half an hour. The result was a cool, light, refreshing treat!

Dinner tonight...

So, I managed to have a great dinner tonight. I made myself a filling salad with a butter lettuce base. My salad had sliced cucumbers, diced bell pepper, diced tomato and feta cheese. I dressed the salad with a tablespoon of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, freshly cracked black pepper and garlic powder. Mmmm...YUM!

Getting PUMPED for lunch...

Today I had a delicious lunch with my coworker, Elisa. Since I'm focusing on eating right, I suggested we go to The Pump Energy Food. All of the dishes at Pump are comprised of lean protein, complex carbs and nutrient dense vegetables and legumes. You can create your own or select from the many meals they have to offer.

As Elisa and I stared in awe at the delicious meals, we had a hard time deciding because we wanted it all:-) We finally had a brilliant idea(thank you, Elisa). We would order two dishes we liked and split them in half! Yay, we got the best of both worlds! I ordered the Spicy Diligan twist which is a wrap that has brown rice, spicy bison meatballs, cucumbers,tomatoes,peppers and onions with a yogurt dill sauce and "hot" hot sauce. Elisa ordered the Mondorito Twist which is a wrap with brown rice, mixed greens,marinated chicken, 3 bean veg chili, tomatoes, peppers and onions, grass fed cheddar, guacamole and "hot" hot sauce. Both wraps were delicious! I definitely had all the basics of the Cinch! In my meal, but I did have a lot more than expected. Here's the breakdown: Whole Grains: brown rice, wrap Protein: meatballs, chicken,beans, cheese Produce: tomatoes, cucumbers, mixed greens, onions, pepper Plant fat: guacamole So, I had an extra whole grain and two extra proteins. I will make this up by having a produce heavy salad for dinner. Now, onto some great news! My friend Elisa's wedding dance is being featured on The Martha Stewart website! Check out her video here :-) OK- I have two more goals to accomplish for today: get my INSANITY workout in, go for a run. How's your day going?

Cinchful Breakfast...

This mornings breakfast was easy an one. Still following the Cinch! guidelines I had a piece of Ezekiel's toast with a TB of peanut butter and sliced banana on top. I also had a cup of almond milk with some coffee in it.

Here's how this meal shaped up:
Whole Grain: Ezekiel toast
Plant Fat: peanut butter
Produce: banana
Protein: almond milk

What did you have for breakfast?

Morning

Good Morning,

OMG, it is soooo hot and humid outside! The high for today is 94. I love it! This is the type of weather that I LOVE and crave for. Now this would only be perfect if I were at the beach. Better yet an island. Fine, I won't be picky...a peninsula would do!

So, I meant to wake up early and get my INSANITY workout out of the way, but that didn't happen. I will have to work out later this evening or tonight. I did hop on the scale and was happy to see that I am down to 135.5! YES...down 2lbs from yesterday! Now, that is always great motivation to keep at it.

Ok, I'm off to get my mornin cup of joe and some breakfast!

Dinner tonight...

Dinner tonight was not really a meal but rather something that I had been craving. I had a huge yogurt bowl with some of my favorite goodies mixed in. Here's a looksy at the mix ins: mini chocolate chips, maple almond butter and granola. You, this yogurt bowl definitely hit the spot! I used plain Chobani 2% yogurt as my base.

This was so delish that I inhaled this and forgot to take a pic...my bad!

So, the day is coming to an end and I had a very healthy eating day and a very good exercise day. Now, I must repeat for tomorrow :-p

Hope your day went well...

Snack Attacks

I got a lil hungry between lunch and dinner today. I also needed a lil somethin somethin before my INSANITY Fit Test. I had a chocolate Larabar which definitely kept my hunger in track!

Fit Test: July 11

Keeping up with getting back in shape and losing the few pounds I gained, I started a new round of INSANITY today. The first day is always the Fit Test. By far, the shortest of all the INSANITY workouts. I've posted my results below.

Fit Test: July 11

Switch Kicks: 86
Power Jacks: 47
Power Knees: 81
Power Jumps: 24
Globe Jumps: 7(rotations)
Suicide Jumps: 10
Push-up Jacks: 14
Low Plank Obliques: 18

ENERGETIC lunch...

I know I said I wanted a veggie sandwich from Subway for lunch. When I met up with my friend I quickly changed my mind and was craving a lunch from Energy Kitchen. I LOVE Energy Kitchen! All of their food choices are pretty healthy and nutritious.

Keeping up with the Cinch! principles, I decided to have a Tuna Sandwich on a whole wheat bun with a side of steamed spinach and steamed broccoli. I only had half of the bun from my sandwich since most of the whole grain servings on the Cinch! only call for one slice of bread.

So, here's the meal, in a cinch :-p

Whole grain: bun
Lean protein: tuna
Plant fat: mayo
Produce: spinach, broccoli

Thoughts on lunch...

It's 12:10pm and now I'm starting to get hungry! I'll be meeting my friend Tika for a Subway lunch. I'm thinkin of a loaded veggie sandwich on whole wheat with a slice of swiss and some oil and vinegar!

What are you guys having for lunch?

My Cinch-tastic breakfast!

Starting my day off with a great Cinch-tastic breakfast. I had a bowl of sliced banana and whole almonds(12) in almond milk. I also had a slice of Ezekiel Sesame Seed toast.

Whole grain: Ezekiel toast
Produce: banana
Plant fat: almonds
Protein: almond milk

Breakfast eaten at 9:00am.

What are you having for breakfast?

First things first...

The most important part of my day is my morning coffee. If I don't get this in, my whole day is F'd up. I like my coffee black, unsweetened. Hot in the fall and winter. Iced in the spring and summer. I usually like to brew my own coffee but sometimes I love a Starbucks on the waterfront.

So, right now as I type and post this I am sipping my iced coffee from Starbucks and sitting on the waterfront, thinking about how my breakfast will be a Cinch! breakfast.

Monday Morning: A weighty issue...

Good Morning All,

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I know I had a fun filled, exciting weekends! I had an awesome evening down the shore and had a great time with great friends!

This morning I woke up and weighed myself and saw the scale read 137.8...YOWZA!!! So, I went away for a few days towards the end of June. For five days I really did not watch my diet, but I did manage to get a work out or two in. For five days I pretty much ate as much as I wanted and whatever I wanted. Those five days were enough to throw me off track once I got back. Yup, I never really returned to a regular workout program and I never returned to eating a healthy diet most days of the week. So, I completely understand why the scale reads six more pounds than usual. As my clothes are getting snug and my energy levels have slightly gone down, I feel it's best to get right back on track and start eating and exercising like I use to! I still have a month and a half of summer left and I plan on enjoying it to the fullest!

At the end of the day what really works for me is eating right and exercising. As far as eating right goes, following the Cinch! principles is what has really worked for me. Yes, each meal must consist of: lean protein, produce,plant fat and whole grain.

As far as exercising goes, I'm still in love with INSANITY. In fact, I last left off on the last week of month two. I'm now going to go ahead and start INSANITY all over again. That mean it's a Fit Test workout today! I just love the intensity of INSANITY. I love leaving a workout dripping in sweat and knowing I've accomplished something I thought I could never do. As grueling as INSANITY is, time flies by each workout.

I'm happy that I'm realizing now that I must get back on track. The old me would have been so discouraged that I would have continued on with my bad habits and let things spiral out of control. Now, I'm more realistic about things. Why did I gain weight: I continued to eat junk and not exercise. This was all my doing, but it's OK since I know what I need to do to get back on track.

Alright, so I will be documenting my exercise and eating habits. If any of you out there need to get back on track, hopefully you can join me or look to this as inspiration. At the end of the day it comes down to two things: eating right and exercising. You can do this!

Lunch Time...

Today's lunch was a Gardenburger Veggie Medley Veggie burger with a slice of muenster cheese on an Arnold's Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins.
I count the veggie patty as a vegetable since it's made with a bunch of different veggies. The cheese is my protein and the whole wheat thins is my whole grains. I'm missing a fat....maybe that's why I'm hungry, two hours later :-p

PB and Banana Breakfast

This morning's breakfast was a filling Peanut Butter Banana "Taco". So easy, here are the deets:

Ingredients:
One whole wheat sandwich thins
2TB of peanut butter
1 banana, cut in half

Preparation:
Spread PB on each whole wheat this half. Place banana on top. Fold up and eat up!