‘challenge’ Category

Day 30: Jess (WE DID IT!)

March 3rd, 2010


Yay! High five @Ash. We made it to day 3-0 of eating right (for the most part) and working out! I’ve finally found a sustainable way to incorporate workouts into my everyday routine. I weigh exactly the same (which is actually 7 pounds lighter than I weighed six months ago), but I feel better and my clothes fit better. Not to mention at least 5 people have commented that I look like I’ve lost weight.

Here’s a breakdown.

Lost weight: no
Lost fat: yes
Gained muscle: yes
Goals = Met!

Hip Hip Hooray!
What I ate:
breakfast: whole wheat toast with peanut butter and banana
snack: raisins and almonds
snack: 1/4 tuna sandwich and a oatmeal cookie
lunch: black bean chili
snack: pickle
snack: 2 percent Greek yogurt with blueberries and strawberries
dinner: sauteed sweet potato, garlic and spinach
snack: raisins and nuts
fluids: four 8oz glasses of h2o
Workout situation: Soon come.
Highlight: Day 30
Lowlight: Day 30 =(

Posted in challenge by jessica | 2 Comments »

Day 29: Ash

March 2nd, 2010

Wow…has it been a month already?

here’s what I ate:
Breakfast: 2 cream biscuits
Snack: apple
Snack 2: 2 club crackers (I stole them from the salad bar at school)
Snack 3: Pistachios
Lunch: 1 slice of Zachary’s Pizza (the last one!)
Dinner: Minimal Stir Fry w/ loads of veggies, brown rice, sliced grilled beef
Snack 4: two teeny tiny mini peanut butter cups
I found my Nalgene and finished 32+ ozs today!

Exercise: Ran 2.2 miles in 18 minutes this morning before work (that’s about a 8:10 mile!)

Highlight: Exercise in the morning was pretty refreshing
Lowlight: None today really…

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Day 29: Jess (almost there)

March 2nd, 2010

what I ate:
breakfast: whole wheat toast with peanut butter and banana
snack: almonds and raisins
lunch: 3/4 cup of chili
snack: 1 piece of leftover pizza
dinner: 1/2 cup of chili
snack: 2 percent Greek yogurt with strawberries, blueberries and granola
dinner 2: 1/2 cup of chili
snack: granola
Fluids: four 8oz glasses of h2o

Workout situation: Running a Marathon. NOT!
Highlight: Pizza was still yummy three days later
Lowlight: A little too much chili

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Day 28: Jess (still sore)

March 2nd, 2010


What I ate:
breakfast: whole wheat toast with peanut butter and banana
lunch 1: sauteed spinach and 1/2 baked sweet potato
lunch 2: veggies in a tortilla
lunch 3: leftover slice of pizza
dinner: 1/2 cup of vegetarian chili
snack: serving of carob covered raisins

Chili How-to:
This chili was inspired by this recipe, but I changed it up quite a bit.
What you need:
1 zucchini
1 summer squash (yellow)
1/8 cup of chili powder (or more)
1/8 cup of berebre spice
1/3 cup of olive oil
1-28oz can of crushed tomato
1 cup of water
3 cans of black beans
2 large white onions
pinch of cinnamon
2 tablespoons of honey
5 cloves of chopped garlic
Optional: Mozzarella cheese and an avocado (now that I think of it, cilantro could be good too)

What you do:
step 1: saute onion, chili powder and berbere in Olive Oil
step two: add tomato, garlic, squash, zucchini, honey (bring to boil and simmer with the lid on for 30 minutes)
step 3: add beans, water, cinnamon (remove lid and let reduce for 30 minutes)
step 5: add cheese and chopped avocados

Workout Situation: Not so much
Highlight: My chili
Lowlight: Could have used more protein, possibly

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Day 27: Jess (Best italian food restaurant …PEROD.)

March 2nd, 2010





Last time my Cali girls visited Brooklyn, we discovered the BEST Italian restaurant ever. I haven’t eaten there in over a month and a half, but I never stop thinking about that place. On day 27 I decided it was time to make a special trip to the restaurant (so sorry I forget the name, but it was on Vanderbilt near Atlantic in Prospect Heights).

what I ate:
breakfast: whole wheat toast with a piece of banana and peanut butter
snack: two eggs and some strawberries
dinner: half of a garden salad, two pieces of garlic bread, 1 cup of baked ziti and one slice of fresh basil, olive oil, tomato and motz pizza (thin crust). Speechless.
snack: 1 cup of baked ziti (leftover)

Workout situation: Hour long workout with my homegirl (included cardio and weights).

Highlight: Ittttalliaaaaaannoooo.

Lowlight: Not enough veggies

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Ash: Day 28

March 1st, 2010

Sunday…more blah…still not enough food.

Breakfast/Lunch: 2 Merguez Sausages, Basmati Rice, Roasted Brussel Sprouts, Grilled Tomato
Snack: Apple, handful of cornuts
Snack 2: 2 cream biscuits (same recipe, I am addicted) w/strawberry preserves
Dinner: 1/2 cup Grape Nuts Flakes w/soya

Exercise: Housecleaning…

Highlight: Finding that Merguez sausage…it had been too long.
Lowlight: Still not enough food. Not enough veggies. Not enough a lot of stuff…I’m working on it.

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Ash: Day 27

March 1st, 2010

My Aunt passed away this past weekend, so today was her funeral. Needless to say it didn’t help the fact that I haven’t been eating enough for the past few days.

Here’s what I ate:

Breakfast: Small slice of leftover mushroom/spinach pizza from last night
Snack: Apple
Lunch: Sizzler! HAHAHA. Okay I made two trips to the salad bar: two small tacos filled with beans, pico de gallo, lettuce, cheese, salad + I ate 1/3 of my “steak” and half of my baked potato. I went up for the frozen yogurt after wards, but I didn’t even eat it. It was reminding me wayyy to much of dorm food. Yuck. But good times w/fam.
Dinner: A Chick Wang Thang @ Art Nelson’s. Fried Chicken, Beer, Rice and Veggies. Delicious!

Exercise: not much…

Highlight: Chicken Wangs!
Lowlight: Chicken Wangs! (this is becoming a pattern)

Posted in challenge by jessica | 1 Comment »

Day 26: Jess (when all else fails, make tacos!)

February 27th, 2010

(Garbanzo bean tacos!)

Tofu stir-fry. The tofu looks like chicken (maybe because it was homemade and not so perfectly square? )
Today we experienced a major snowstorm (actually the fourth biggest snowstorm we have had in NYC ever.) I was snowed in and had to make a dollar out of 15 cents, in terms of my meals. (I didn’t feel like braving the blizzard to buy groceries.)

What I ate:
breakfast: whole wheat toast with peanut butter and a banana
snack: apple
snack: raisins and almonds
lunch: leftover tofu, Swiss chard stir-fry and brown rice
dinner: two garbanzo bean tacos (beans, onions, lettuce and tomatoes on a corn tortilla…I spiced the beans with garlic cumin, red pepper flakes, pepper and thyme. Then I sprinkled the top with a little Parmesan cheese.)
snack: two more tacos
snack: half of a strawberry cupcake
fluids: four 8oz glasses of H2O and one glass of red wine
OOPS: I forgot to add that yesterday I had a large serving of carob covered raisins and a small handful of corn nuts
Workout situation: 10 minutes of dancing in my apartment followed by an hour of dancing at a lounge
Highlight: My meals were all satisfying.
Lowlight: I had to “fry” the taco shells in oil.

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Ash: Day 26

February 27th, 2010

I think I am sick of Mexican Food. (I can’t believe I am saying this)

What I ate:

Breakfast: 1/2 cup dry Whole Grain High Fiber Joes O’s
Snack: 1/3 Lara Bar (Cashew Cookie)
Lunch: Chicken/Veggie Chimichanga, Rice, Beans, Guac (I threw more than half of it away, and I am pretty sure it was good.)
Dinner: 2 slices of mushroom spinach pizza from Zachary’s Famous Chicago Style Pizza, Salad

Highlight: Hella good pizza
Lowlight: Hella good pizza

Exercise: I walked 3 miles today, I wore a pedometer! :)

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Day 25: Jess (Beef, It's what's for dinner. NOT!)

February 26th, 2010


Today was a first for me. I had to cook MEAT (steak! beeeeeeef!) in my food science lab. I’m not a dramatic person, but I practically threw up in my mouth and had to excuse myself to go to the LR (Ladies Room). I also wore gloves when handling the carcass. God it stunk so bad! I asked my professor if I should wash it. She said no, cooking kills the germs. I washed it anyway.

Then I had to mechanically tenderize it by covering it with plastic wrap and pounding it with a wooden device. Grokie. I have not eaten meat in 15 years, and now I am even more certain about why. There was so much fat on my little piece. I asked the professor what to do with it and she said just leave it there. Then when it was done cooking the fat had melted all into the steak. I felt myself starting to hyperventilate. It was all bubbly and juicy, but dry looking at the same time. After it was all said and done, my classmates did taste test evaluations (other folks in the class prepared different kinds of fish and chicken).

I’m trying not to be one of those annoying vegetarian haters (too late?) so kudos to all of you who have the strength to handle that on the regular. I was absolutely traumatized.

what I ate:

breakfast: whole wheat toast with peanut butter and a banana on top
snack: almonds and raisins
lunch: leftover swiss chard and tofu stir-fry with brown rice
snack: 2 percent greek yogurt with nuts, raisins, and strawberries
dinner: 1 egg one small potato fritatta with a spinach and apple salad (btw a fritatta is when you heat up something – potatoes, whatever – and then once it is cooked you put eggs on top of it and cover it. You sort of let the eggs steam. Or at least that is how I make it. Here are other instructions.)
snack: apple, nuts and raisins
fluids: four (or five?) 8oz glasses of H2O
Workout situation: 30 Minutes of Namaste yoga via FitTV
Highlight: The snow was nice at first
Lowlight: The snow got ugly real fast

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