Summer Shape Up Day 2: Meals, Running, and an NTC Workout!

Breakfast:
Scrambled Egg Muffins (makes 12 muffins)

9 eggs = 630 calories
2 handfuls of spinach ~ 15 calories (didn't measure)
1/3 cup skim milk = 30 calories
1/3 cup whole wheat flour = 133 calories
1/4 cup Lucerne Mild shredded Cheddar Cheese = 120 calories
a few shakes of basil
2 scoops of diced tomatoes from a can ~ 25 calories (didn't measure)
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper

Calorie Total for 12 muffins = 953 calories. Divided by 12, that's about 80 calories per muffin! Not bad, not bad at all!

Lunch:
Creamy Tomato Basil Soup (makes 2.5 cups of soup)

1 clove minced garlic = 3 calories
1 Tbsp olive oil = 120 calories
a few spoonfuls of diced tomatoes from a can ~ 50 calories (didn't measure)
a few shakes of basil
a few shakes of pepper
2 cups low sodium vegetable broth = 40 calories
1/2 cup Fage 0% Greek Yogurt = 65 calories

Avocado Toast

1/3 Avocado ~ 83 calories (didn't measure)
1 slice Whole Wheat Chia Bread = 100 calories

Calorie Total = 278 for the soup + 183 for the toast= 461 calories. I made myself a 3/4 cup serving of soup, making it 84 + 183 = 267 calories. 

I admit, this wasn't my favorite meal - soup in the summer is a little too warm for me - but it was a nice blend of flavors and as always, fun to try something new.

Exercise:
3 mile run - not my favorite! For some reason, I felt so sluggish and off. I was happy to get it out of the way.

Dinner:
Mexican Lasagna

I felt so hungry after running, I had to eat! I couldn't resist!! I happily scarfed down another fourth of the Mexican Lasagna I made yesterday after reheating it in the microwave. Mmmm it was so good!

Snack:
My Homemade Trail Mix

I had this on the way home from my voice lesson! (First one since January!)

Snack #2:
Almond Butter + Toast

2 Tbsp unsalted almond butter = 190 calories
1 slice Whole Wheat Chia Bread = 100 calories

Calorie Total = 290 calories

Exercise, Round 2:
Nike+ Training Club

After my snack, I completed the NTC workout called Beginner Get Strong Pump Station. What a name! It was 45 minutes, made me sweat, and I was happy when it was over. Now I'm all caught up on half marathon training!

Smoothie:
Tropical Island Smoothie

3/4 cup Almond Breeze Almond Coconut Milk = 33.75 calories
1 cup frozen strawberries = 50 calories
1 single serving (5.3 oz) blueberry Fage Greek Yogurt (Fruyo) = 140 calories

Calorie Total = 224 calories

Alright, alright. I admit that I jumped the gun on tomorrow's breakfast. But I just couldn't not eat anything - running gave me some more calories to work with for the day, so I went ahead and felt 0 guilt while using them all up in this smoothie! It was SO refreshing after my workout - this might be my new go-to post-workout smoothie! It's that good!

Whew! What a day!

Summer Shape Up, Day 1

Ever since we got back from our epic vacations, I've been in a total food rut. I haven't had any inspiration in the kitchen, and after going out for all of our meals for 3 weeks straight, it was really hard for me to not grab Panera Bread on the way home or go to Chipotle with JW whenever we were feeling lazy.

Fortunately, Anne at fANNEtastic food and Gina at fitnessista are hosting the Summer Shape Up, and I've decided to participate! (at least, in the food part! I'll probably do something different with the fitness.)

It officially started yesterday, but I realized there was enough leeway to be able to catch up and not be too behind. So, last night I went grocery shopping and got just about everything I needed to fill our pantry. I must say, it's really exciting to see our pantry full of food! Usually it's pretty sad.

Yay! I love seeing it so stocked!

I’ll be doing the plan a little bit differently, since most of the recipes are for 4+ servings and it’ll most likely only be me for breakfast and lunch – so some days I’ll just have leftovers from the day before so I don’t waste anything. I'm thinking I'll probably be on Week 1 for about double the time.

I’ll also be counting calories as much as I can because that’s the only way that I can keep myself on track! This isn’t Anne’s suggestion, though.

The first recipe on the plan for breakfast was called Simple Baked Oatmeal. Click to see her original recipe and instructions! Mine came out like this:

What's inside (aka how I tweaked the recipe):

Dry:
1 cup uncooked, extra-thick whole grain rolled oats = 380 calories
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed = 209 calories
3 small chopped prunes = 60 calories
1/8 cup chopped almonds = 80 calories
1 Tbsp. cinnamon = 20 calories
1/2 tsp. baking powder = 0 calories

Wet:
3/4 cup skim milk = 68 calories
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce = 25 calories
1 chopped banana = 90 calories
1 Tbsp. oil = 120 calories
1/2 egg, beaten (since I halved everything else, I needed to half this as well! I just dumped the other egg half.) = 35 calories

Calorie Total: a whopping 1,087 calories. Yikes! So even though I halved the recipe, I still had to fourth it to make it a reasonably caloric breakfast.

1/4 of the recipe: 272 calories. I wanted to add some Fage Greek Yogurt on top, so plopped a 1/4 cup on top, adding 33 calories, to make this breakfast a total of 305 calories.

Not very pretty! It kind of fell apart while I was trying to get it out of its pan.

Flavor: Really sweet. Unfortunately, I decided to pair it with my Mocha coffee (sweetened with Truvia), so I think I just overdid it on the sweetness. Some tea would have been great with this. But I might try putting in even less brown sugar (1/8 of a cup maybe??) next time. To make this less caloric, don't add nuts!

Don't get me wrong, it sure was yummy! I know what I'll be having for breakfast for the next three days...