Calorie Count

Breakfast

Steel cut oatmeal- 150 cal

¼ cup milk- 34.5 cal

1 egg- 90 cal

1 yogurt- 110 cal

Calories Consumed: 375 cal

Lunch

Flatbread- 55 cal

Black bean dip- 15 cal

Peanut butter- 75 cal

Celery- 0 cal

Broccoli- 70 cal

Rice- 170 cal

Curry- 200 cal

Calories Consumed: 585 cal

Calories Left: 340 cal

Calorie Count

Breakfast

½ tbsp peanut butter- 44.5 cal

¼ cup milk- 37.5 cal

1 serving steel cut oatmeal- 150 cal

1 yogurt- 110 cal

Calories Consumed: 342 cal

Lunch

Vegetable soup- 34.75 cal (cabbage)+79 cal= approx 110 cal

Flatbread- 120 cal

1 yogurt- 110 cal

Ovaltine with whole milk- 230 cal

Calories Consumed: 570 cal

Calories Left: 388 cal

¾ cup white rice-130 cal

Thai curry- 50 cal

Chicken- 33 cal

Yogurt- 110 cal

Flatbread-110 cal

Calories Consumed: 433 cal

XP I overate by a little. Oh well. I exercised a lot today, so it's alright.

Calorie Count

Breakfast:

1 serving steel-cut oatmeal- 150 cal

¼ cup milk- 35.5 cal

1 banana-100 cal

1 kiwi-50 cal

Calories Consumed: 335.5 cal

Workout: -500 cal in 42 min (exhausting!)

Post-Workout Snack

¼ cup milk, ½ cup Kashi Vive Probiotic Cereal- 111 cal

Calories Left: 853.5 cal

Lunch

1.5 apples- 100 cal

1 pizza slice- 250 cal (approximately)

Broccoli/cauliflower/carrot- 75 cal (approximately)

Calories Consumed: 425 cal

Calories Left: 428.5 cal

 

 

Calorie Count

Breakfast

1 egg+ egg whites- 120 cal

Broccoli- 70 cal

Chocolate soy milk- 120 cal

Calories Consumed: 310 cal

Lunch

Oatmeal stir fry- 150 cal

Whole grain cereal with 1/3 cup milk- 180 cal

Yogurt- 110 cal

Spinach- 30 cal

Calories Consumed: 450 cal

2 pieces of chocolate- 48 cal

1 banana- 100 cal

Calories Left: 392 cal

Slice of bread, black bean dip, cheese- 175 cal

Chocolate soy milk- 120 cal

Calories Left: 97 cal

Breakfast:

Hot cereal-130 cal

1/3 cup milk -50 cal

1 cup goat milk- 150 cal

Calories Consumed: 330 cal

 

Snack:

Banana bread- 200 cal

 

Pseudo-Lunch:

Cheese- 70 cal

Bread- 75 cal

Radish sprouts- 15 cal

Mayonnaise- 5 cal

Black bean dip- 10 cal

Calories Consumed:
170 cal

Calories Left:
600 cal

Breakfast Calorie Count

Last night, at 11:30, I made banana bread downstairs with some sisters. I left it there to bake (because my roommate was sleeping), and went downstairs this morning to eat breakfast with them. I ate a leftover cookie from last night and yogurt beforehand.

Breakfast

Yogurt- 110 cal

Cookie- 100 cal

Banana bread- 230 cal

Total Calories Consumed:
440 cal

Lunch

Not very hungry, so…

1 cup chocolate soy milk- 120 cal

Lettuce and turkey- 70 cal

Cookie- 100 cal

Calories Consumed: 290 cal

Oh dang. That's a lot of calories consumed so far.

Total Calories Left: 570 cal

Eh, not bad. I'll probably eat oatmeal later.

Post Workout Snack


I did cardio (treadmill and ellipse) for 45-50 min, did ~10 min of upper body work, and 10 min abs. Seeing as I only ate more banana bread before working out, I was hungry. So…
Banana bread- 100 cal
Apple- 80 cal
Kiwi- 50 cal
Snack Calories: 230 cal
Calories Left: 340 cal
Not bad, not bad.

Dinner

Salad, sandwich, burrito thing, fruit, zucchini bread... Okay, note to self: Eat only what's on your plate the first time around when eating at someone else's house. Don't go with the flow of other sisters when they get more food. Nope.

Calorie Count

Preclass snack
6 strawberries- 45 cal
1 slice of bread- 75 cal
Black bean dip- 10 cal
1 slice cheese- 70 cal
Calories Consumed: 200 cal
Calories Left: 225 cal
Looks like I’m eating a salad or a cookie for dinner.

Calorie Count

Breakfast

1 bowl steel cut oatmeal- 150 cal

Little bit of honey- 40 cal

1 banana- 100 cal

½ cup milk- 75 cal

1 cup black tea- 0 cal

Lettuce and turkey-35 cal

Calories Consumed: 400 cal

Lunch

1 yogurt- 110 cal

Lettuce and turkey- 35 cal

Black bean dip- 60 cal

Pizza- 150 cal

Chocolate soy milk- 120 cal

Calories Consumed: 475 cal

Calories Left: 425 cal

Dinner Calorie Count

Afternoon Snack:

1 cup goat milk- 150 cal
1 small cube green tea chocolate- 24 cal

Dinner:

Lettuce leaves+ turkey- 30 cal
Hot cereal+ ¼ cup milk- 162 cal
Chocolate soy milk- 120 cal

Calories consumed: 486 cal

Wow, I have calories left over.

This is how I actually ate my lunch...
I heated up the chowder (from Whole Foods), spread black bean dip on the ciabatta slices with radish sprouts, and wrapped small pieces of smoked turkey breast in huge leaves of romaine lettuce. It was good, easy, and filling. Then I ate my yogurt :) That was good, too.

...I'm not very good at writing this kind of blog. It's kinda boring to read, but it makes me keep track of what I eat and think about what I'm putting into myself.
I don't have time to make it interesting. I come home from class, cook, eat, write down what I ate, study, and go to class again. But oh well. The physical benefits outweigh the lack of entertainment.

My legs and butt hurt from yesterday's workout. I should've known it was a bad sign when I woke up achy, because it just intensified after lunch. I can barely sit down into a chair without wincing. But it's good! It means I'm building up muscle, burning calories... it just kinda hurts ;_;

The energy that I got after the workout was wonderful, though. It really made my studying more effective.

Calorie Count

Breakfast

1 bowl of hot cereal, ½ cup milk-205 cal

1 kiwi-50 cal

1 cup strawberries- 45 cal

Calories consumed: 300 cal

Lunch

5 lettuce leaves- 10 cal

½ serving turkey breast- 35 cal

2 small slices of ciabatta- 90 cal

1 tbsp spicy black bean dip-15 cal

6 ounces smoked salmon chowder- ?? let's say around 300 cal

Radish sprouts- practically 0

1 yogurt-110 cal

Calories consumed: 560 cal

Calories left: 535 cal

Looks like I'm eating a good dinner tonight! Yay!

Dinner Calorie Count

Dinner
Yeah, I said I wasn’t going to eat dinner, but I worked out for an hour! And was trembling afterwards, so I have to eat something.
Hot cereal with ¼ cup milk- 165 cal
1 stalk broccoli- 51 cal
1 cup spinach- 7 cal
1 cup strawberries- 45 cal
Calories consumed: 268 cal
Let’s see… can I eat yogurt? 110 cal?
That would make 378 cal. Sounds good! I’ll eat yogurt :)

Calorie Count

Breakfast

1 banana- 105 cal

1 bowl of hot cereal with ½ cup milk-205 cal

Calories consumed: 310 cal

Lunch

I went to WF with my mom and ate tons of samples, pizza, and some seafood chowder. Around 800 cal?

Leftover calories: 90 cal

L How sad. Looks like it's spinach for dinner again. And maybe strawberries. And a kiwi.

…hey! I need my sweet fix.

So much for eating spinach for dinner. Well, I did, but I added garlic, spicy black bean dip, a small piece of salmon (it was the size of a third of my palm) and a small (very small) slice of bread. I felt like I was eating with the tiny tiny portions and the multiple flavours. I also had a little bit of whole milk with malt for a semi-dessert.

Maybe it's a worthwhile trick, because I'm not craving anything right now.

Today’s Calorie Intake

Caloric Intake Goal: 1300 cal

Goal: No overly processed food, i.e. junk food

1 bowl of organic multigrain hot cereal with ½ cup milk- 205 cal

1 medium sized banana- 105 cal

1 kiwi- 50 cal

1 cup of tea

1 bottle of water

Total Breakfast Calories:
360 cal

Fiber so far: 10 g

Brought to school: 1 bottle of water

Plan after class: Workout on ellipse while studying Differential Equations…

Goal for lunch: no dessert! ¾ of the plate is to be veggies! Otherwise, it's too hard to count calories…

 

After class…

It's too cold to workout and then walk back home sweaty. I'd get a cold! So I'm eating a snack while studying.

1 slice of bread- 75 cal

1 tbsp of spicy black bean dip- 15 cal

Mozzarella cheese- ??

Chicken- 30 cal, around?

Jalapeno- 0 cal

Chocolate- 24 cal

1 apple- 70 cal

Total Snack Calories: approx. 214 cal

Total Calories left: 726 cal

Fiber so far: 10g+5g= 15g

Lunch…

I ate lunch with my RSG (bible study) group, and the only food was my mom's noodles.

I don't know how much I ate or how much oil my mom put in, but it was good. I'd estimate that it was around 400-500 cal.

And since I wasn't full and I need energy for my next class, I'm eating some more hot cereal with ¼ cup of milk—around 165 cal.

It seems like I'm out of calories for the day. Man, I need to schedule my meals better. I'm going to eat spinach for dinner.

But so far:

Total Calories left: around 80 cal.

Fiber so far: 22g

 

 

 

My Healthy Eating Tips

1. Always have vegetables in the cupboard, the refrigerator, and the freezer. Put them in places you won't expect (that much). You cannot run from the vegetables.
   
2. Chicken stock is lovely for impromptu vegetable soups.
   
3. Whenever you prep vegetables, wash a bit more than you need. Store the extra in a plastic bag in the fridge so you don't have an excuse to not eat vegetables.
   
4. Steel cut oatmeal isn't just breakfast food or sweet! It can be savory and for lunch, too! All that extra fiber is good for you.
   
5. What about the meat? I have a bag of relatively salty meatballs in the freezer, buffalo wings flavored. I drop around three to four pieces into soup, and there you have your seasoning and protein!
   
6. Egg whites are good, too, for soups and if you feel like eating one scrambled egg in the morning isn't enough.
   
7. Sweet potatoes, baked, for a sweet treat. Lots of fiber, but careful of portion sizes! There's more calories in a sweet potato than you think.
   
8. Think color when cooking—it helps with nutrition. I like tomatoes for red and purple cabbage for purple. Lots of green veggies.
   
9. Choose fruit that you like, but don't love. Me? When I have fruit that I love, I'll eat too much of it, leading to sugar highs (from fruit, which is a bit sad) and more calories than you know. My picks: apples, grapes, pears. I love pears, but they're so good that I can savor them; plus, I always think, "If I leave them for one more day, they'll be even sweeter and softer."
   
10. Stock up on tea, bottled water, and milk. Convenient, tasty, cheap, and healthy. No excuse for not drinking enough fluids!
    

    
     

    Learn to love veggies! Veggies are your friends.
    

    
     

Lil’ Kids

I just recently realized that I treat little kids differently than most people—I talk to them like adults, almost. I don't talk down to them, but rather, give them my full attention when they speak (unless I really can't understand what they're saying).

Take this Sunday. I was feeding an almost one-year-old (let's call him "T") a tangerine in slices. He doesn't really have enough teeth, but is so greedy for real food that when he sees food that he wants to eat, he starts crying until he gets it. He knows the good stuff from the bad. He wouldn't stop crying after we walked past the dessert table.

Me: "Here you go, "T". Eat slowly. Chew. Look at how much more you have to go!"

Timothy: *slurps the tangerine slice out of my hand*

Me: "T"! (really loudly)

"T": *stops chewing, looks at me with eyes open as big as he can get them. He's bemused that I'm talking to him. "I'm eating, and I'm a baby! No one ever looks at me when I'm eating! What's wrong with this sister? I'm eating!! People are happy when I eat! They talk to other grown-ups while I eat! They don't talk to me!"*

Me: (in a softer voice) You ate that too fast! You know, it took you three bites to get through that other slice. You can't slurp things up like that; you'll choke!

 

Or… I was skipping back to his older sister (five years old; "R") with a slice of chocolate pudding cake in my hands.

Me: *euphoric daze induced by chocolate* Want some?

"R": *looks at me like I'm crazy*

Me: It's so good *star-studded gaze*

"R": I don't like chocolate (she says it like she's berating me for even thinking about chocolate. I feel like a five year old being scolded by someone my age).

Me: …

 

Maybe it's just because they treat me like I'm their age. They're not that far off. It's really funny, though, when I have little kids guess my age. When I tell them how old I am (eighteen), their mouths gape open. And then they start calling me "Auntie" ;_;

Fruit Drops

Ever since I saw "The Grave of the Fireflies" in middle school, I've always had this morbid fascination with the tins of Meiji's Fruit Drops (フルーツドロップ). Whenever my best friend goes anywhere, she always brings a can of these back regardless of where she goes. As a result, I have a can sitting in my apartment on campus and one at home. Today, I was hankering for something sweet (despite it being Sunday and having fulfilled my chocolate cravings for the day. You know how it is with me: I eat something I like, and then I have to eat it for the rest of the day. So today I like sugar. I'll exercise it off. I have this crazy Taiwanese exercise DVD series… ). So when I was doing the traditional rummage through my cabinet, I found the nifty tin and thought, "Why not?"

I ate one, and immediately was transported to my childhood *_* I'd forgotten why I liked eating them before I watched that darn movie (that's really just propaganda in disguise).

Yummy.

Savory Oatmeal

This evening, I was thinking of a way to cook with color, vegetables, flavor, fiber, carbs, and protein while spending minimal time. My answer? Savory oatmeal.

I have tons of oatmeal in my kitchen cabinet (the other ones I share with my roommate). I have steel-cut oats, old-fashioned oats, and organic oats. I always bring them back to college with me because I think, "Fiber! I can eat fiber!" but I never really get around to eating it. I used the steel-cut, partly because it has more fiber and texture, and also because I saw Irish oats sitting on my professor's desk during office hours. I was inspired by the fact that she has a yoga mat and oatmeal in her office. I thought, "I want to be that healthy, too!" I think she's pretty awesome.

For color, I chose a variety of vegetables: sun-dried tomatoes, purple cabbage, and green beans. I have this huge bag of sun-dried tomatoes, julienned, with no idea of what to do with it, so I thought that I'd just throw some in there.

For protein, I opted for just a bit of beef already cooked and seasoned, as well as an egg (My parents had just sent eggs to me this morning, and I really love eating poached eggs in soups).

I think what really made the oatmeal nice was the Maldon salt, chicken broth (in place of water or milk), and the tomatoes (which were flavored too strongly to actually eat—I have to find some way to dispel some of that flavor!)

It wasn't bad. It was actually pretty good. I think this is something worth experimenting with, especially since I want to cut down on eating carbs that aren't as nutritionally dense as oatmeal (i.e. rice and bread).

Why I’m Tea Fiend

I drink tea like a drowning person breathes air: in great big gulps with equally great appreciation which dwindles away after a while until the next drowning episode.

Every time I'm about to drink tea, there's a moment of "Aw, I have to boil water and I barely have any milk…" That thought is promptly forgotten as I sit with a big mug of tea in front of me. I become struck with my fondness of tea and decide to make a second, third, even fourth mug of tea before I'm even done drinking the first. I'm happy sitting at a table by myself going through copious amounts of tea, coming up with ideas with what tea I should drink after the current mug is gone. Sometimes I even come up with tea menus for one (me), starting with a tea that will make me yearn for another cup, transitioning between cups with delicate-tasting teas and perhaps (if I'm lucky) a piece of cake, and ending with usually the same tea I start with (just to leave something to think about after I'm done, my belly filled to the uttermost with liquid).

It's not like I have gourmet teas; I just have normal tea bags. It's more the warm, relaxing effect tea has. I don't get annoyed with a sugar or caffeine rush that comes after drinking something like Starbucks or hot chocolate. I can work with a cup of tea (as I'm doing now), or I can cool down with one after a workout.

Of course, I really love the gourmet teas, too; I just don't drink lots of them (because they're expensive and I'm a college student). Even when I was an elementary school student, I had a profound appreciation for the Chinese teas that start out bitter, but then have a dry sweetness the more you drink. Not the typical fare for a 10 year old, but what can I say? I've had the habit of drinking tea since I was two or three. When my parents took me to Chinese restaurants, I wouldn't yearn for the sugary goodness of orange pop (though I wouldn't turn it down either if it was offered), but I'd usually drink tea happily, feeling very adult in the process. In recent years, my parents and I have developed a habit of afternoon tea and cake on the weekends. That's when the good stuff comes out.

…look, I've had two cups of tea already!