Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Running and Food!

Eeeee! I am so excited to post this! I made my running goal today! I actually ran for 15 minutes straight. Which, I know doesn't sound like a lot, especially to people who have been running for a long time. But, this is a huge feat for me, because back in May, I honestly could not run for 2 minutes (probably less than that) straight, let alone 15!
It was also after I just finished The Shred workout, so my quads were already worked to the max. Inshaallah (God willing), tomorrow I think I will skip the video and just do treadmill, and see if I can beat my 15 minute record.


Also, I always get asked about how I eat, and what I have done to be successful so far, so I have been working on a post that records what I've been eating these past few months. And, since it's usually the same thing since I'm a creature of habit, the list has been easy to compile. :)


So, here is a rough list of what I typically eat in a week:

Breakfast:
100-110 calorie bagel thin or sandwich thin
about 1/4-1/2 c. liquid egg whites (or the white of 2 eggs. I actually prefer the taste of the liquid whites for some reason)
chopped green pepper or spinach (I don't know how much, about 1.5-2 tblsp cut up)
1/2 of a roma tomato, seeded and cut up
about a tsp of chopped up onion

I mix the whites and the veggies with salt and pepper in a bowl, and then I pour it into my saute pan, into an egg corral (my FAVE kitchen gadget EVER-thanks, mom!!!!) and let it cook on med low until it's ready to be flipped.

Meanwhile, I toast the bagel/bread and then spread a very tiny amount of cream cheese on it. Like, no more than a tblsp.

Then, I assemble the sandwich and have it with coffee!

If I don't have this sandwich for breakfast (which is not often, LOL), then I will have a bowl of oatmeal or cereal, or a whole wheat waffle with peanut butter. And always coffee. :)

LUNCH:
I am very ashamed to admit that I am still eating a lot of 'Smart Ones' for lunch. My plan when I first started this journey, was that I would only eat them until I lost a significant amount of weight, and then 'wean' myself off of them and eat more clean and healthy lunches. But, here I am, 60 lbs later, and I am finding it harder than I thought to not eat them. They are just so perfectly packaged and counted out, they actually taste good (the 2 kinds I buy, anyway), and are super convenient.
BUT, When the budget allows, I do LOOOVE to buy Amy's Light and Lean meals. The spinach lasagna is awesome and is under 300 calories, so you can't beat it. Plus it has NO preservatives and it is packaged in a paper package, rather than plastic.

So, pretty much, my lunches are still frozen meals, but sometimes I will make a salad or have a small portion of whatever my husband or kids are having.

DINNER:
This is what I have the hardest time with, still. I usually have a small portion of whatever the guys are eating. In the beginning, I would have sauted veggies and grilled chicken. Sometimes I would add a small amount of pasta to the veggies, and put some spaghetti sauce in it, and eat it with the chicken. That was always very satisfying and still low-cal. But, lately, I've just been eating small portions of whatever is for dinner.
I also like Morning Star black bean burgers. They not only make great meat-free (and low calorie) burgers, but they also make great taco 'meat' and are awesome in low carb/high fiber wraps.

SNACKS: My usual after-breakfast-before-lunch snack is a sliced apple or peach, about 1/4 c cottage cheese and 16 quaker rice chips. I also have a huge glass of water with lemon, and this sometimes ends up being my lunch because it is so filling.

I try to not snack after dinner, but if I do, it is either fruit, homemade popcorn, a handful of dry cereal, a cheese stick, a skinny cow treat or coffee.

I also depend soooo much on this raspberry flavored seltzer water made by Canada Dry. Depending on the person, it might require and aquired taste, but if you are realllly jonesing for something bubbly or soda-ey, it does the trick. Aside from having no calories or sodium, it also has no artificial coloring. Just the water and the raspberry flavor.


So....that's pretty much it. I still have about 20 more pounds to go until my original goal, so I am far from done and am no expert, by far. But, I hope this helps whoever is reading this and wants to start eating better!


7 comments:

Unknown said...

WTG!!! And, I don't blame you for sticking with the frozen stuff for lunch. With kids, it's hard to try to cook them a meal and yourself one - just for lunch. Though I'm not dieting, I am working on eliminating processed foods from the kitchen. I've done alright with that, but I still rely on quickie stuff for lunch. like condensed soups and mac & cheese in the blue box.

Yasmine said...

you are on your way nicole... why? because you are working on your discipline first. In order to form a habit we need to conquer ourselves that is our laziness and discipline ourselves. In the same manner we have to acquire good akhlaq before we can acquire knowledge.

I try to always boost up my fitness level and for that I have to say my eating is what is responsible of my fitness. I eat veggies, fruit and protein (fish and legumes and quinoa) and I can drop easy weight ( i dont check my weight but I see my body dramatically change). I have been trying to work on my abs for the longest time and when I stick to my regimen and not eat sugar, bread or rice; i can totally see how my muscles are more defined. I used to think my weight was already fixed and can't really loose weight but I guess I do because I have been loosing weight... anyways thats my challenge and I hope it works for you insha'Allah.

My housemate is trying to loose wight and she is really overweight. She has been juicing and just eating veggies, protein, and fruits and she says she sees a dramatic change and I see it too. She ran with me twice 9 miles and so if she can do it im sure you can.

Anonymous said...

You are such an inspiration, Masha'Allah! I love flavored sparkling water. Whole Foods has a wide variety of flavors, all with just the wonderful taste of fruit. No sugar or other craziness added.

Nicole said...

Alicia- I know, it's really so much easier to just pop something in the microwave, esp for lunch!!

Yasmine-That's awesome about your roomie running 9 miles, mashaallah! I hope to achieve that one day too, inshaallah! How do you cook your quinoa? I have been so curious to try that, but I have no idea how to prepare it.
I hope you continue your success with your challenges too!!! :)

Bohemian Hijabi- Thank you!! You know, I always forget to check for the seltzer water at Whole Foods! I will have to check it out, because I can only find the Canada Dry one at my Publix down the street! PS- You are my coupon inspiration!!!! :)

Cindy said...

So proud of my daughter!! You are strong and determined...great combo! You look fab..but you were, and are beautiful inside & out! Keep up the hard work. I love you, Mom

Nicole said...

Love you too, mama <3

Julie said...

Yeah, lunch is hard when you are trying to eat a certain way and you don't have a lot of time to cook..I wouldn't survive without Amy's!!! About the quinoa, we eat it atleast 1x a week as a protein for dinner. It reminds me of couscous in a way..So versatile you can season it any way and add anything to it you want! (like couscous.) I get ours usually from walmart because the same box at publix is a couple bucks more. It's in the light blue box-the nice thing about this brand is that it is pre-washed and pre-soaked. If not, you have to wash and soak to get a slight bitter taste off of it. It only takes like 15 mins to cook and is the only grain that is a complete protein. I **love** it!!