Friday, November 14, 2008

Reporting from NYC...

I’m blogging from my sister’s apartment in NYC – so cool! This is my first mini-vacation since starting this blog (well I guess I did go to Maine a few weekends ago but there was no usable internet access there), so it’s kind of fun trying to sneak in a little time with my blog.

We are about to head out to dinner and then to a club, but I’ll give a quick review of today’s eats until now.

BREAKFAST

I woke up extra early to pack for the trip and while packing I realized that I was absolutely starving. I didn’t have an option – I had to stop and make breakfast. Thankfully I knew exactly what I wanted: oats! I haven’t had oatmeal in what seems like forever, but today the craving was back and I was happy to comply. Today’s bowl included 1/3 c rolled oats, 1/3 c skim milk, 1/3 c water, ½ banana, all microwaved for about 3+ minutes. *I noticed that when I make oatmeal right after putting it together it takes a lot longer to get the liquid all absorbed. Usually I either put everything in the bowl the night before or that morning (and microwave it at work which is probably 30 minutes later) so the oats have time to absorb some of the liquid before getting cooked and only need 2 minutes, sometimes even less, in the microwave to get to the consistency I like… Good to know!*

I topped the oats with some shredded almonds, some chocolate chips and shredded coconut + a spoonful of nonfat yogurt mixed in with agave nectar. I love the mixture of yogurt and oats, especially when the yogurt is sweetened. It really tastes like frosting on top of a dessert. Yum! Another discovery this morning: bananas and coconut do not really work together. I’ve made the same bowl before without banana and it was to-die for (btw, the original mixture needs to be credited to Tina of Carrots ‘N Cake)… definitely just like the almond joy candy bar. However in general I prefer my oats with a banana (they’re just so much creamier!) so today I combined the two. Note to self, not an ideal mixture. I’ll keep them separate going forward.



SNACKS

Breakfast was really early. After doing a bit of work this morning I got the munchies. I had a pear + coffee as the first snack.



And then right before hitting the gym, I was hungry so I grabbed 2 prunes (the idea was to give me energy without sitting in my stomach like a rock). I was still kind of hungry waiting for the class to begin, but forgot all about it once I started moving :)



WORKOUT

I took the same class at the gym as last Friday, called Journey to the Core. For some reason today it seemed harder. It was the same exact class (same set of exercises and all) but I was dripping sweat today like crazy! I’m not complaining though, hopefully I just pushed myself harder and that’s why.

LUNCH

Lunch today was just leftovers, nothing exciting, really. I made a little eggplant parm sandwich with broccoli on the side. Mid-way through eating I realized there was too much bread, so I threw away about ¼ of the English muffin and about ½ of the broccoli. I just wasn’t feeling it today and preferred to have a snack later instead of just finishing my plate, like I’m “supposed to.” Surprisingly despite being very low in calories, my lunch still filled me up quite a bit :)





MORE SNACKS

I was definitely fighting the urge to switch to “vacation mode” when I left work a little after 1pm. I passed by a few bakeries but kept on reminding myself that there will be plenty of treats once we get to NY. I did bring a few snacks with me for the train and couldn’t help myself and had a few of them…

Another TJ’s 100 calorie dark chocolate (sorry the picture is so blurry). Portable and delicious!



And a little bit later I was really dying to try this new kind of larabar, so I dug into it too :P





It was pretty good. There were a few larger chunks of almonds, which I really appreciated being a huge nut fan. I’d buy this one again :D

And when we got to my sister's, she had brownies made for us!!! Well, actually she made them for herself but she was nice enough to save some for us! These were made from the TJ's brownie mix, but she brilliantly replaced 1/2 of the oil with nonfat yogurt and added dried cherries. OMG, these were incredible! If I was left in the dark room with these babies, well, let's just say there wouldn't be any left anymore :D I had some green tea with it. Awesome snack! Thanks, Innz!!!



Ok, my husband is getting antsy... gotta go explore NY and all the delicious food it has to offer!!

6 comments:

Tina said...

Yum to the oats! That's a goodie! :)

Have fun in NY!

HangryPants said...

I have got to look for that dark chocolate at Trader Joe's!

Have a great time in NYC!

Joanna said...

uhhh those brownies look absolutely heavenly!!!!! i love cakey brownies- actually, any brownies will do haha

and i think you've given me an idea of my next raw bar. i'm gonna try to clone that larabar flavor now haha

Anonymous said...

Ooooh "vacation mode" is dangerous but you're doing great! Looks like a yummy balance of healthy foods and treats. Hope you're having a great time!

Kelly said...

That all looks delicious. Have fun exploring.

Anonymous said...

That eggplant parm sandwich sounds good!

Have fun in New York!!