Monday again…

Hey All -

Thank goodness I put together the overnight oats Sunday evening or else  I would have been pretty out of luck for breakfast this morning.

Light vanilla soy milk, organic Trader Joe’s low fat vanilla yogurt (I’ll probably be getting plain next time – with the spices, vanilla soy milk, etc. I think it’ll taste better and less sugar…) 1/3 cup of oats and 1/8 cup of oat bran. It was a great combination. I added nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla and popped it into the fridge for the night.

While I was able to get up pretty early this morning, I spent my extra time getting ready (make up – what’s that!?) for work and decided to take my breakfast to – go. I did have enough sense to put coffee on and enjoy a cup at home this morning.

The oats were great at my desk as I was checking e-mails and catching up with things at the office.

By 11:30 I was soo hungry for lunch. But because I did not have time to go to the grocery store on Sunday (actually, I seriously try to avoid food shopping on Sunday due to the crowds) lunch was sort of a challenge.  Thankfully I had some wonderful Dakota bread from Great Harvest and it made a pretty wonderful peanut butter and jam sandwich.

All natural peanut butter and organic jam from Trader Joe’s (and no added sugar – sweet!)

I think Dakota bread might be my favorite from Great Harvest. It is 100% whole grain bread with sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, millet and sesame seeds mixed in.   I ate my sandwich at my desk and then went out side for a 25 minute walk, on my own today.  I was so glad to get outside today for some exercise, especially since it looks like the forecast is for rain for the next several days.   I feel like I cannot complain too much since we just had such a beautiful weekend with lots of outdoor activity…

At 3 o’clock in the afternoon I was hungry… I took a walk down to the vending machine because I really wanted a salty snack, and almost got a small bag of pretzels. I re-thought the temptation and walked back upstairs to my desk and settled for my GNU bar that I had already packed for part of my lunch.  It was chocolate brownie flavor… I’m not a huge fan of the chocolate bars, but this was good.

The consistency was very nice…

140 calories, 4 grams of fat, 12 grams of fiber and 4 grams of protein. It kept me going until dinner…

A report on dinner is coming soon. Ben, Lara and I went out to one of my favorite places in Brookline as sort of a good-bye get together for Lara, who is leaving us on Thursday after two fun years in Boston…

Is it Hump day already!?

Hey Guys-

Wow, I am such a blog slacker this week! I’m sorry. I do not know how it is Wednesday night already, and this is my first post of the week. Oh well. Things have been so busy – and I have accomplished a lot, so I guess that is a good thing.

This is going to be a basic catch up post… so forgive me if it is a little hard to read!

This week I have been enjoying oatmeal for breakfast. On Monday I had oatmeal at home before heading to work, I added a spoonful of peanut butter and a small amount of trail mix… here’s a picture:

This oatmeal was the best of the week – because I made it with skim milk instead of water. The milk adds more protein, and the peanut butter adds some protein and fat which keeps you full for a long time. Sweet!

Today I got to work before 8 o’clock (at 7:45 to be exact!) and had oatmeal before my two new interns started their first day. I was relieved that I got to work early enough to have breakfast before my super busy day started.  I even had enough time to snap a photo:

This oatmeal was sort of boring because it was made at work (with water – meh!) but the trail mix on top was pretty good… almonds, peanuts, dried raspberries (my favorite!) and little pieces of dark chocolate… For some reason I got super hungry at 11:15 this morning. I totally ate half a Cliff Bar!

This Blueberry Crisp flavor was awesome! I had not tried it before, and I really like it a lot. I can see how this will definitely be in my pack this summer while we are on hikes and camping trips.  I did not get around to having lunch until about 1 o’clock (so glad I had my mid-morning snack!) and my options were very limited. I decided on a tuna sandwich from the caf… and didn’t have time to take a picture. The protein was great though, it kept me going until I left work.

Yesterday after getting home from work I went on a three and a half mile run.  It was my first outdoor run in quite some time… and I’m feeling it today! Our neighborhood is sort of hilly… for those of you who follow the Boston Marathon – have you ever heard of Heart Break Hill? Well, that’s my neighborhood – and  I run that hill almost every time I run outside.   Yesterday I was so pleased to see  that my Road ID had arrived in the mail. I actually felt safer wearing it!

After the run, Ben and I went over to our friend Jenn’s house.  We had dinner (I had two pieces of pizza and one boneless chicken wing – and chips! SO glad I went out for that run before hand!) and we watched the Twilight movie. I had read the book – and I started reading the second book, and have not gotten through it yet, but I might just be inspired by the movie to give it a second try. The movie was really entertaining!

A couple of days ago, I picked up a load of bread from our neighborhood Great Harvest:

This bread was wonderful. I made turkey sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches and toast with this stuff. Yum.

Here is what I had for lunch the other day – an awesome salad, and a little while later a great Larabar.  As I have said before, I simply LOVE Larabars… because so often I am very hungry, and this bar is one of the few things that will fill me up for hours. LOVE IT!

Another reason I have not blogged in a while is that I have been reading some great books!  I have to say, I wish there were a few more hours in the day. After working, commuting, making breakfast, lunch and dinner, and exercising – there just IS NOT that much time left in the day. So I have been spending my extra hour or two a day reading instead of blogging – so sad that I have to choose, but that is life.

SO – right now I am reading Walking Home: A Woman’s Pilgrimage on the Appalachian Trail. I really like this book a lot – and if any of you like reading books about the outdoors, camping and hiking – I highly recommend it!  It will also make you appreciate your bed, WATER and food a lot   While I have been reading this book, I think about how you have to be a good writer to keep people interested while you are walking 2,100 miles in the forest!  But Kelly Winters definitely does it. She will keep you turning the pages. I am really enjoying it.

Well, I’m going to sign off for now and get back to my reading. I will be back tomorrow! Hope ya’ll are having a good week so far.

I made it to lunch on Tuesday

Well, judging by my earlier post today – I was starving by 12 Noon on Tuesday!  I have to say that my lunch was amazing and really filling! Here are some unattractive photos:

I think the grapes, almonds and apple really held me over most of the afternoon! Of course the bread was a fantastic partner to the Amy’s soup (the second serving from the can!)  I really love Great Harvest bread.

At 3:30 this afternoon, I was sort of ready for an afternoon snack – but I did not need the Chobani… instead I snacked on my 1/2 serving of the Trader Joe’s fiber cereal. (I love this stuff!)

Tonight Ben, Marilyn and I enjoyed watching the movie Get Smart.

I’m heading for bed – and I am so excited to be on vacation, yet again. Five days, and another snow storm heading our way… hmmm… I’m noticing a trend here.

Is it Lunch time yet!?

Hi Bloggies -

I have to say, even though I am working only two days this week – it is still hard to get through my last day of work. I am looking forward to another mini-vacation (5 days off)!

I started getting hungry for lunch around 10:45 today!  There are only a few more minutes until lunch now, and I guess I am really looking forward to what I’ve packed, because I’m super ready to eat!

Last night after the gym I stopped by Great Harvest for a loaf of their honey whole wheat bread. The name is slightly deceiving – because while I know they have honey in the recipe, the bread is NOT sweet (thank goodness!). I love this stuff, and I love that it is baked daily right down the street from my house!

Here is what I have for lunch today:

• 1 cup of Amy’s Tuscan Bean & Rice soup (one of my all time favorites!)
• 1 slice of honey whole wheat bread
• a bunch of grapes
• 1 apple
• a handful of almonds

YUM. I will post more later today – but just wanted to let you know that I am definitely looking forward to lunch time today!  I am also looking forward to my afternoon snack of another vanilla Chobani and TJ’s fiber cereal!

So, here is the deal with the question of the day: I will be posting a question of the day, and if you want you can use the comment feature on the blog to leave a reply!  And yes, you can still comment on yesterday’s question of the day if you haven’t had a chance to yet! 

Question of the day:

Do you usually take your lunch to work or buy your lunch? What are some of your favorite things for lunch?