The lunch that bit back.

This morning I watched a very powerful video that I think all of you out there should definitely WATCH.  It addresses the huge problem that exists among women today with body image.  You cannot lead a happy and fulfilling life if you do not first love yourself.  You cannot even lose that weight (or see that you have no weight to lose) if you do not learn to love yourself.  You are not a number on a scale, you are a beautifulperson with the whole world laid out in front of you.  You can be anything and do anything you put your mind to… regardless of age… but you must first love and accept yourself.

I signed the Fat Talk Free Week challenge – you should too!

For lunch today I pulled out the lunch I had prepared for yesterday and heated it up for a minute in the microwave.  It was absolutely delicious!!        

Spicy Mustard Mescla:

• 4 oz. poached chicken, diced
• 1 c. steamed broccoli, cut into strips
• about 8 baby carrots, diced
• 1 plum tomato, diced
• 4 oz. cooked lentils
• 1 oz. cooked brown rice (it was all I had leftover)
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1.5 tsp dried, ground mustard + 3 tbsp water, combined
• 1 tbsp Tabasco sauce

I seriously wish I could better convey how TASTY this was.  Between the spicy Dijon mustard and the Tabasco sauce, this had the most excellent bite to it.  Perfect fall lunch… especially in my cold little cubicle. I’m craving something sweet to top off my meal though – I think I’ll run down to the street fruit vendor in a bit and get a banana or apple.  Depends on what looks best!

I spent some time reading about the Raw Food Movement on Kristen’s Raw today.  It sounds so wonderful, but honestly I think it would take all the fun out of food for me.  No more oatmeal, pizza, soup, sushi (the rice is cooked even in veggie rolls) or pie??  Eeek, I think I would die!!  Love the benefits she talks about; but I also love the taste of warm, cooked food.  What do you think?  Could you go raw?

Make mine a decaf!

Last night I was pretty wiped, so I crawled into bed around 10 o’clock.  The only problem was I couldn’t actually fall asleep, regardless of how tired I felt!  I lay awake tossing and turning for what feltlike all nigh, although judging by how awake I felt at 6:30am it probably wasn’t alll night.  I thought it was my pillows at first, because my back and neck started hurting and I couldn’t seem to find a comfortable position, yet then I realized that I had been sleeping on those same pillows for the past two weeks and never had any problems before… well except for one or two days I guess.  Then this morning it hit me – caffeine!!  Yesterday and probably the days that I didn’t sleep well, I had tons and tons of caffeine!  Now I’m not a coffee drinker, so I’m not used to it at all and yet still had cup after cup of caffeinated English Breakfast tea, and even a latte!

I did a little research this morning and apparently studies have shown that even caffeine consumed in the morning can have adverse effects on sleep: increasing the number of time you wake up in the night, preventing you from falling asleep, and interfering with deep sleep.  Sounds like my night!  Also, one article I read from the Mayo Clinic said that people can have different caffeine sensitivity levels.  This sensitivity depends on factors such as (taken from the Mayo Clinic article):

• Body mass: people with smaller body masses feel the effects of caffeine sooner than those with bigger masses
• History of use: People who don’t regularly consume caffeine tend to be more susceptible to its negative  effects
• Stress: All types of stress (heat, mental physical) can increase sensitivity

Well, seeing as I’m tiny and am not a coffee drinker I think it’s best I try to steer clear of caffeine!  I’m switching to decaf English Breakfast tea this morning and all during the upcoming week and see if I notice a different in my sleep quality!

After a greatworkout this morning – 2.4 miles on the treadmill, lots of crunches, 15 reps bicep curl (10 lbs), 10 reps bicep curl (12.5 lbs), 15 reps tricep extensions (15 lbs), 15 reps tricep kickbacks (12.5 lbs), 10 reps tricep kickbacks (12.5 lbs)… I made some PB&J Oats!!  Did you notice I actually learned the names of some arm exercises to do??  

My PB&J Oats consisted of the following:

• 1 small banana, sliced very thin
• 1/3 c. oats, 1/3 c. water, 1/3 c. skim milk
• pinch salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Toppings:  dollop of plain yogurt mixed with strawberry jam and topped with a roasted peanut.  Plus a spoonful of Trader Joe’s crunchy salted PB.  YUMMM!