ACIS Fitness Nationals

Hey-o!

It’s been a few days since I last posted so I have an overflow of good food pictures coming your way…

I briefly mentioned that I was attending the ACIS Fitness Nationals in Colorado Springs this passed weekend, but I wasn’t sure exactly what it would be like.  Let me tell you—it was a GREAT experience!  I’m so glad I was given the amazing opportunity to attend this event.

Let me explain…

This event was basically an invite-only fitness competition that involved 3 events: a mini-triathalon, tug-o-war, and “Swoosh Challenge” obstacle course. Four-person teams (2 females/2 males) were flown in from all over the country to compete against each other for the ultimate title of National Champion.

I got the chance to work the event with the ACIS staff and was in charge of set-up and tear-down, plus some regulation type stuff during the actual events.  Mostly I took a bunch of pictures:-)

Not only was this a paid weekend of work, but the organization was kind enough to pay for gas, hotel and FOOD.  Good food too.  Here’s the majority of my meals from the weekend.

Friday night catering was a pasta buffet:

On Saturday, lunches were brought in from a great little sandwich shop nearby.  I took the veggie option and was pleasantly surprised at the quality of ingredients.  HOLY SPROUTS… love those things.

They also threw in some of the best chips in the world…

Saturday dinner:  BBQ catered by Bennett’s. I’ve never heard of this place before but WOW!  I was really impressed by their sauce.  It wasn’t all thick and overly sweet like most chains are… it was spicy and flavorful and the meat was SOOOO tender.  Good salad too–always a plus.

After Saturday night’s closing festivities, we were able to hit a local pub for some fun.  I was so glad we got to just chill for the evening because Friday and Saturday were both really long and tiring days.  There was live music and 2-for-1 drinks at an Irish place called Dublin House.  Fun was had:

Great weekend!!!!!  And congrats to UNC’s crew for working so hard on Saturday.  They finished 7th overall!  These 2 guys were part of the team and they both did awesome.

It was another busy, busy weekend!  Needless to say, I’ve been eating light since returning home because the weekend was a low on exercise and heavy on food and drinks.

Breakfast: Egg, avocado, tomato, cheese, hummus wrap.

Lunch: No-fail green smoothie… Extra punch in this one due to the addition of Amazing Grass.  Felt like a million bucks!

Dinner: Jambalaya!!! Recipe soon to follow—it was incredibly easy and delicious.

Also had to take a study break for some TCBY.  I can’t help that I was really hungry all night because I ran a pretty decently paced 6 miles today!!  What better way to fill the calorie deficit than with frozen yogurt?  It was delicious and worth every bite.

I really need to get to bed because my tentative plan is to wake up and hit the gym before my 8 am class in the morning.  Let’s hope I can fall asleep sometime soon even though I drank coffee all afternoon.  I’m feeling lucky!!!!

Nighty night!

Eggs.

I’ve been eating a ton of eggs lately!!!  Hard-boiled from our Easter stash:

Who can guess what’s drawn in the picture below? Because I already asked one friend who had no idea… Come on Colorado people, don’t they teach you any geography when you’re in elementary school?

Scrambled…BTW, here’s the Easter brunch that I never got a chance to blog about.  It turned out pretty good!

I also just recently discovered that you can make a perfectly cooked over-easy egg in the microwave.  I know, I know it’s taken me 23 years to realize this… but using a ramekin instead of a skillet saves loads of time and dish-washing.  Perfect for my busy schedule!  This is my new go-to meal item.

***FYI, 30 seconds on high***

Also, have I mentioned the obsession I recently acquired with everything bagels?  You know, the kind that have onion, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, garlic… loads of other stuff that constitute the “everything” title.

Yes I know they’re made with white flour and don’t offer much nutritionally—but wow they are delicious.  I saw that Thomas’s were BOGO free at the store today so you know I had to pick some up.  Along with the 100% whole wheat ones of course… Moderation, right?

Anyways, the egg sandwich I made on it was nothing short of fabulous.  I had a mini-photo shoot because the lighting was really nice at the time I ate dinner.

No egg sandwich is complete without cholula.

I put roasted red pepper hummus and spinach on the other side.  Yum.

In my opinion, the yolk is the best part of an egg.  Great-tasting and it’s loaded with essential fatty acids and vitamins A, D, and B12. Granted the amount of cholesterol is high, I feel like the benefits outweigh that as long as you’re not overdoing it.  Thus concludes my post about the egg.

Conclusion: Don’t fear the yolk!

And because I was feeling artsy, here’s a picture of yesterday’s pre-dinner snack alongside some color.  Pretty flowers, hm?

I swear green smoothies are the most photogenic food there is…

I’m going to opening day at Coors Field to watch the Rockies play tomorrow!!! Anything legitimate excuse for missing a day of school is fine by me, but this is something I’m really excited for.  Hopefully the weather is on my side.  I’ll take tons of pictures!

TGIF!!!! (close enough)

“Real life is so lame”

And I’m back!

Don’t worry (I know you’re all so worried), I’ve been taking pictures even though I haven’t been around the past couple of days.  Let’s just say getting back on real life time is slightly difficult, and every opportunity that I would normally spend blogging, has been spent napping.  So lame, right? I’ve never been much of a napper because it seems like I either feel worse when I wake up, or I’m just plain crabby that I can’t sleep longer once I’ve fallen asleep in the first place.  This week has been a total exception.

That being said, eating habits have normalized for the most part.  We went to the organic food store that I mentioned the other day (SPROUTS) and stocked up on tons of healthy food to get back on track.

Day 1:

Cinnamon Raisin Ezekial + PB and cinnamon.  This bread is the shiz.

My beloved veggie wrap.  I picked up some house-made artichoke hummus from the store and it was really great… kinda made this wrap.  It’s also nice to have lot’s of different veggies on hand—FYI, avocado=creamy perfection.

Pita pizzas! I love making these because everyone can put whatever they want on top and it’s the perfect amount for one.  I loaded mine with:

• Garlicky red sauce
• Mushrooms (fave pizza topping EVER)
• Marinated kalamata olives
• Red onion
• Spinach
• Lemon Basil (grown by yours truly… thanks, Jessie!)
• Garden veggie cream cheese, mozz & parm

You’ll be seeing these again tomorrow when our friend Becky comes to town!  Wine and pita pizzas are the best for a solid ladies night

Day 2:

Optimum buckwheat waffles in a berry infused flavor of some sort.  These were good!  Waffles aren’t the most filling breakfast for me, but it’s fun to switch things up once in awhile.  Loaded them up with PB and fruit of course for extra staying power.  And real maple syrup for… deliciousness.

Staff appreciation lunch. Free Subway? Yes please.  And I’ve been craving sun chips lately so I was more than happy to see these.  I think the sub had turkey and ham?  It was one of those huge things that you just cut a piece off of.  Very generous of the Rec Center to treat us!

A salad with EVERYTHING but the kitchen sink, topped with Goddess and baked salmon.  Does it get any better than this?  Don’t think so.

Oats in the White Chocolate Wonderful jar + banana & granola. Not only really good, but also portable for mornings like today when I need to be at the gym by 6:30am and I don’t feel like making time to sit down and eat before I leave.  Which blogger actually came up with this idea? Genius.

Mid-day snacks don’t get any better than the green smoothie.  This one had vanilla soy, 1/2 banana, tropical frozen fruit mix, spinach and flax.

Perfect amount to hold me over until I did work on the un-pictured veggie burrito I ate for lunch.  It was a work fundraiser deal and I was sitting with a table of boys that I didn’t feel like explaining my food blogger skillz to.  I’ll photograph the leftover half I eat tomorrow—this thing was HUGE!  So huge, in fact, that I didn’t even need a real dinner, just veggies and hummus for a snack.

So THAT has been my week in food since getting back from vacation.  It’s amazing how wonderful real food tastes after not eating it for a week.  Still working on getting back into the exercise routine, but it’s coming.

SOOOOOOO excited for our  BFF Becky to land in Colorado tomorrow.  She’s visiting us until Tuesday so it will for sure be a great weekend!

There’s a nail-biting basketball game on right now that I need to watch.  K State vs. Xavier, SUPER intense!

Have a great evening and see you in the AM!

The countdown begins

I had a Green Smoothie today for the first time in aaaaaaaaages.  It’s been too long as far as I’m concerned. And it was de-lish as usual!  I need to start remembering to make these more because I feel like they give me a nice energy boost in the morning.

It had all of the usual suspects:

• 1 cup vanilla soy milk
• 2 handfuls raw spinach
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 T flax

Refreshing!

Sorry there was no dinner post last night!  I went to a friend’s house for a cook-out dinner last minute and didn’t bring my camera.  Can you believe it’s getting so nice outside that the grill is on the mind?  Yesterday was just a great day in general.  I’m definitely going to like having all of these sports on Sundays.  What better way to spend the day?

So my  countdown to Spring Break officially begins!  This is our last week of classes until we get a whole week off to NOT think about anything school related.  What a great concept… Whoever thought up Spring Break is a genius!

Of course, my classes need to go out with a bang,  so I have 2 tests, a quiz,  and a case study due between now and Friday. Makes the celebration that much sweeter  right?

I’m off to beautify myself for the day.  Be back tonight!

Gloomy type of day

Well it’s definitely not ideal weather for a Saturday in May… especially when I’ve been working all week and I finally get a day off!  I’m back in the coffee shop sipping on some hot tea and lounging on a comfy couch.  Not the worst way to spend a day!  Some day I will have my own coffee shop (I already have the menu planned out! haha).  That’s how much I love them!

Anyways, I have to admit that my race training hasn’t been going according to plan and it’s only the first week!  I ended up getting a really good opportunity to make some money cleaning at a resort and I’ve been working hard all day long.  BUT, I just ordered a brand spankin’ new I-pod shuffle and the 30 day Shred so I will get back on track as soon as the weather allows… Finally, right?  I have been without music for at least a month.  I’m ready for my tunes again!

Some of my fun eats this week:

Green smoothie w/vanilla soy milk, spinach, banana, flax.  Caitlin had me thinking about these things all week!

Bison burger topped with gouda cheese, roasted veggies.

I also tried this new brown rice protein powder sample by mixing it in with some oatmeal.

The nutrition info is really good.  I’m always searching for protein powders that aren’t loaded with artificial yuckiness and this certainly fit the bill.  It’s pure brown rice and natural vanilla flavor–nothing else.  Here are the stats:

This serving size was perfect for me because I’m just a little thing and I don’t need the normal 20 grams of protein that most whey powders offer, so I usually stick to 1/2 a serving.

Taste-wise?  Not as bad as I expected.  I had heard that this stuff wasn’t going to be delicious, but I think it was alright.  I don’t think that I would use it in oatmeal again because the texture was ruined which is one of oatmeal’s best qualities.

Although a bit chalky, I think this would be great in a smoothie and I can’t wait to try out the chocolate flavor in a healthy milkshake type concoction.  Stay tuned for the review!

Other eats have been go-to quick foods. Cereal, turkey sandwiches, fruit salad, clif bars, veggie pizza…  They feed me at the resort!  When I get on a actual schedule, I’ll be more organized with picture-taking.

Tristan picture:

Be back soon!

Random eats

So I’ve had a crazy day today and I’m going to do a super quick post so I can watch the Biggest Loser and do “research” for my class.  Thanks for all of the great opinions on the show!  I really appreciate the ideas… I basically agree with what everyone said, so we’ll see if anything crazy happens tonight.

FOOD TIME
Super early breakfast of PB and Banana oats:

Throughout the morning, I had a snack from our National Nutrition Month table (which I helped set up for my internship).  You may remember this item from the first week of my blog!  We served this dish at our health fair back in February and it went over so well, we had it again:

Flavored tofu wraps with mango salsa.  SO DELICIOUS!!  I had 2 of these plus an apple for a snack to hold me over until lunch, which I unfortunately couldn’t get a photo of today because it was consumed during Human Disease!  I had a great new sandwich though which included tuna, Sarah’s guac, and raisins.  If you haven’t tried raisins mixed with tuna, I highly recommend it!  I had a blueberry Oikos as well.

Moving on to random eats, I snacked on a few piece of banana bread (recipe from Veganomicon, my favorite!)  for study fuel …

… and made a smoothie before lab which was soooooooo green today.  My favorite combo yet!

This guy contained:

• The rest of my mango (YUM)
  
• 1/2 frozen banana ( I see a banana theme today??)
  
• Handful of spinach
• Vanilla soy milk
• Flax
  

Since I didn’t end up getting home from lab until after 8:00 and since I’m not super hungry, I’m chomping on a mug of the Optimum Bound cereal right now and I think after TBL I’ll just call it a night.

Tomorrow I’ll have something more exciting, I promise!!!!!!

It has arrived…

The weekend that is!  I’m so excited to have a relaxed Friday night.  After a go-go-go couple of weekends, I need a movie/popcorn type evening!

Today’s food was yummy even though I really need to make a trip to the grocery store.  Breakfast was bright and early (in bed!) with a cup of hot tea.  I was totally craving a big bowl of cereal and this stuff didn’t let me down:

It’s the Great Grains again which I have been loving!  I didn’t feel like having anything else and this held me off pretty well for cereal.  It’s nice that it has nuts and fruit mixed right in so it’s a little more substantial.  The nutritionals are pretty good too.

I had  a string cheese late morning because I couldn’t eat lunch until around 12:30, which was packed and super good!

Half an AB/J, the rest of my roasted veggies from last night, and a Pink Lady. I loved eating this!!

I had a great workout today as well.  Back-to-back circuits of lower body work and cardio drills… I felt like I was putting myself through sports training!

I’m not sure if it’s just me, but does anyone else feel like they are being watched while working out?? I feel like people who are doing their boring ab routines are staring at me when I’m flying all over the place, jumping, using steps…etc.  OH WELL. ha ha

After I got home I made this because I was in need of some refueling:

Green smoothie in the bullet folks!  I used the stuff below + 1/2 frozen banana and ice.

One thing I love about smoothies is that they take so long to finish.  If I were to just eat a bar for a snack, it would be gone in about 3 bites, plus it probably wouldn’t have much nutrition except fiber and protein (which I already get enough of anyway).  These green guys are a wonderful way to get some powerhouse veggies in before dinner time! Weeeeee

Dinner was a new creation that came about because of a salad I once had with blue cheese and craisins… I pulled out a piece of chicken from the back of the freezer and this is what I came up with:

BBQ Blue Cheese and Craisin stuffed Chicken Breast!  It was sooooooooo good!  I’ve always wanted to try this “stuffing” method because I never really get that excited about chicken.  This was great, I might even make a recipe page for this!  On the side I had WW couscous and steamed carrots (threw them in one pot to save time and dishes!).

This made for a good start to my Friday night in… A friend is coming over to watch a movie in a bit, so I better get going.  Have a great evening, see you tomorrow on my study breaks!

Go Greeeeeeeeen

I’m so excited that I got home early from lab!  I can post, get some hw done and get to SLEEP early! ha ha… yup, still tired!  I was really excited to post tonight though because I think I perfected the green smoothie for lunch and I made something different for dinner and it turned out great!  Here is my artistic display lol…

For some reason I was just craving toast this morning.  It was Sara Lee 100% whole wheat with honey bread that my mom bought for me.  I have to say it was really good!  I’m pretty picky about bread, but as far as I can remember this didn’t have funky ingredients in it and the taste was nice and hearty.  Topped with AB and J… just what I needed.

I snacked on an apple and string cheese to get me through my last class until I could make it home for…

Yes,  I tried the green smoothie again to see if I could do a better job and I think I hit a winner with this one.  I used LOTS of spinach, 1/2 an avocado, an overripe banana, milk, flax, honey + ice for extra coldness and volume.  It was soooooooo creamy and delicious.  Filling too! I’ll be having this again sometime soon.

Dinner was a spur of the moment creation:

Stuffed peppers!  I stuffed each half with brown rice, black beans, diced grape tomatoes, onion and garlic (all were sauteed in a skillet with EVOO and seasoned with chili powder, cumin and spiced paprika).

I boiled the peppers for a few minutes to soften them up, and added cheese on the top before popping the whole thing in the oven for about 10 minutes. I’m pretty proud of myself! ha ha

Thanks for all of the bean suggestions today, I still have a tiny bit left! I guess instead of 3.5 servings, I get just over 2 out of a can.

No workout today, I was too exhausted!  I know, I know, lame excuse… Tomorrow for sure.  Night!