Brrr…take out your boots, hats, gloves. I don’t know what it’s like where you live, but it was well under 60 degrees when I went out for my morning walk.
(FYI, I refuse to wear winter boots before November…call it my feeble attempt to hold on to that last bit of summer 
)
Despite the chilly, breezy, thick-sock-only kind of weather, I bowled up some cold “un”overnight oats (see breakfast page for recipe.) A frozen banana and some almond butter made this extra creamy. Extra delicious. 😀
I was pretty excited going into the highschool today (just finished my second week there! time flies!) The regional registered dietitian was coming in to do an audit on the menus’, making sure that they were all up to the government’s expectations, ensuring that all the meals being served were of good quality, and seeing if my preceptor (the food service director) had any issues, questions, concerns.
The RD was super nice, and I like the way she managed to stick to her nutrition roots and beliefs, while still listening to the food service director. She understood the business side of things and was open for conversation. And she was very much for promoting whole, natural foods rather then focusing solely on the nutrition label (i.e., just because something is high in fat, doesn’t necessarily make it a bad choice.) I really enjoyed talking with her and seeing what her job was all about.
Twas a good day. 😀
Last night, I doubled up on my salad that I had for dinner, and used it as today’s lunch. Easy peazy.
- mixed red and green leaf lettuce
- 1/2 green bell pepper
- 1 carrot
- 1 small tomato
- black olives, sliced
- 1/4 avocado
- olive oil + sea salt
And some kashi crackers + an apple. I’m working at finishing up these pink ladies before diving into the new bag of local macs.
I also packed…
…drum roll please…
The new Larabar flavor for a morning snack!! Okay, okay. Maybe this isn’t *new* new, but it certainly is to me. 😀
The price was a bit steep and the calorie count was a bit high for such a small snack. I could have easily eaten two of these things and still been hungry. 😉 But the flavor was delicious, and it was studded with rich, chocolate chips. I’m totally glad I tried it this once, but I don’t know that I would actually buy it again. Well. Maybe for a special treat now and then when my wallet allows it. 😉
All together now!
Afternoon Snack: whipped 1% cottage cheese and Natures Path Heritage Flakes
I really like this cereal. The first ingredient is Kamut Wheat Flour, and there’s organic wheat bran, barley, millet and quinoa following not far after. It’s nice and crunchy too. 😀
Beans are fabulous in so many dishes.
From salads, to hummus or bean dips, to chilis, to taco fillings. Anywhere meat belongs, beans can usually follow suit. And they don’t necessarily need to be a replacement, but they can definitely enhance your meal with flavor and nutrients and fiber.
One of my favorite ways to use up some nutrient rich beans: Homemade Black Bean Burgers! Served on a whole wheat bun with some tomato, lettuce and ketchup.
By the way, I love that one can of black beans makes four burgers. There were three people eating tonight which—of course—means (did you guess??) my lunch is made for tomorrow. Gotta love it. 😀
A side salad with Newmans Own Balsamic Viniagrette Dressing.
And chilled grapes for an antioxidant rich dessert. 😀
Normally I have Fridays off, but tomorrow I have a seminar to meet up with my fellow dietetic interns and dietetic director. I have to give a short blurp on whether non-food related rewards work well for long term weight loss. According to studies and research done, they don’t. But honestly, I think it depends on the person. I know for me, personally, a little reward like taking a bubble bath or splurging on a good magazine/book would be a fun reward. It wouldn’t necessarily aid in the weight loss per say, but it could definitely add to the motivation in keeping me going. Especially if there are other motivational factors besides.
I don’t know. What do you think?
Running To Slow Things Down 
I’m going to be honest and say that I don’t think people should reward themselves for trying to be healthier. That is something that should be a part of life, like taking a shower. Haha.
I totally think we should be rewarded for being healthy and achieving goals in terms of weight loss. A good massage or shopping spree can do wonders for your new found self-esteem! You are the second blog I read tonight that made homemade black bean burgers, I need to get on this train!
I think we should be “rewarding” ourselves every single day, weight loss or no weight loss. The amount of rewarding can be varied, but we really should treat ourselves right all the time, not just when we’re “good”. 🙂
My favorite “reward” to myself is just to curl up in bed day-dreaming.
Mmm…*good* points! 😀
I would think that people should do something for themselves in order to keep them motivated to stay on the healthy track, like take a fun cookery class or go on a group hillwalk or go to a spa or out to a new healthy restaraunt they havent tried. Something fun, relaxaing, enjoyable that incoorperated the new lifestyle they are trying. People neeed to not see healthy living as hard and also not get sick of it and give up.
x
Incorporating that new lifestyle or habit in a fun, new way sounds like such a great idea! 😀
Honestly, I think non-food related rewards are the only rewards that will have lasting effects for something like weight gain. People who diet or restrict their intake just so they can break down at the end of the week and dig into the pizza or chocolate cake that they’ve been thinking about generally don’t keep the weight off… and I personally don’t think it’s a healthy attempt at weight loss either.
It might not work for some people at all, but the ones who would appreciate a bubble bath or something fun and relaxing in order to reward themselves would probably be much healthier in the long run. Weight loss is about more than just food, it’s about your life and relaxing, or doing something enjoyable definitely falls into that category.
❤ Tat
I definitely think that rewards other than food work best. I know people personally who try to reward themselves with food… and then they end up binging and they feel the need to ‘start over’. But rewards other than foods (like the examples listed by other readers) are great motivators when you’re trying to reach a goal. Good luck on your blurp. 🙂
Aren’t frozen grapes fantastic?
I think rewards are important for morale, but not necessarily for weight loss.
I think rewarding ourselves for being healthy almost puts into your head that you need to punish yourself when you are not healthy (?) Maybe I’m not explaining that correctly — but that is why I have a hard time with the non-food rewards, mostly because unless I have unlimited money to buy me things as rewards, a bubble bath just isn’t enough to keep me going! And when we aren’t healthy, then we don’t get a reward which to me, is punishing myself.
I feel the same way about the new larabars — too expensive, high calories for 4-5 bites, etc. They sure do taste good though!
I think that people should want to lose weight for the sake of their health (if they need to lose it, that is), not to get a reward. Besides, we should reward ourselves everyday, not just for achieving weight loss goals! 😀