Tasty Tuesday – Bento Style

Sweaty Stats: Monday was a rest day for me…I’m letting my legs recover from Sunday’s run.  I’m usually never sore after my runs, but I’m definitely feeling this one!  Tomorrow I’ll be back at it, though 🙂

It’s no secret that I love meal planning and keeping everything organized.  I must admit, I don’t always stick to the plan 100%….but hey, I try!  When I have a plan, it’s much easier for me stay on track and keep to my healthy ways.  When I don’t…well there’s good ‘ol guilt staring at me in the face when I look at my “weekly plan.”

Another biggie for me is visually appealing food.  I’m totally a visual person, and my food is no exception.  This is what brought me to building my bento-style snacks and meals.   I must say, this has become a total obsession!  Bento-style meals is a great way to keep serving sizes low, account for calories, and keep it looking pretty 🙂

So what do you need to get started?  

• Tupperware Containers- I use real Tupperware because they’re totally durable, environmentally friendly, and usually nest in each other nicely.  Bed Bath & Beyond has some good options for bento style lunch containers too.
• Silicone Cupcake Liners– No, I don’t eat cupcakes everyday…I wish.  These are perfect for keeping small foods all together.
• FOOD!  

Make sure you keep these things in mind.

1. Is this a snack or a meal?  Snack bentos should be in the 150 calorie range, whereas meals should have 300-400 calories depending on your diet (these are the calories that I shoot for).
2. Do you have most of your food groups represented?  A balance between healthy carbs, protein, and fruit/veggie is my goal.  Remember some foods double dip in the nutrition category, i.e. almonds are a healthy fat and a  source of protein.

Here are my go-to bento ingredients:

• Protein:  (remember, I don’t eat meat) Almonds, Hard Boiled Egg, Peanut Butter, Edamame, Hummus, Black Bean Dip.
• Cheese: Babybel Rounds, Laughing Cow Wedge, Tilamook Snack Squares, String Cheese.  (When I include cheese, I shoot for prepackaged portions so I can keep track of the calories, they add up quick!)
• Grains:  Whole Grain Crackers, Pita Bread, Whole Wheat Pretzels, Popcorn.
• Fruits and Veggies: Grapes, Strawberries, Blackberries, Sliced Apples, Baby Carrots, Grape Tomatoes, Sliced Cucumbers.

Here are a couple I’ve had recently:

Kashi Berry Muffin bar, 1 Hard Boiled Egg, A Handful of Berries, and a Snack Tilamook Cheese Square- 260 calories and 12 grams of protein.

This could be a breakfast bento, or big snack!  I had it as a big snack in lieu of lunch because I was having an early dinner.  Wasabi Almonds (about 14), Milton’s Multi-Grain Crackers, Babybel Cheese, and Grapes- 230 calories and 9 grams of protein.

1/4 cup Lowfat Cottage Cheese, 2 Tbl. Organic Granola, 1 slice of Alpine Valley Organic Bread, 1 Tbl. Peanut Butter, and Berries.  This is one of my favorite breakfasts…lots of filling food for just 300 calories with 15 grams of protein.

OK, Ready?!  Time to build your bento!!

Do you tend to meal plan, or wing it?

Have you tried bento meals before? 

If so, what’s your favorite combination? 

Meal Planning Monday and How to Eat Out Healthy

Sweaty Stats: Had a few good workouts these past few days…so much so that I’m still sore!  I did a short run and stairs workout with my running buddy on Friday.  Going with a friend really keeps my motivation high and makes the time pass by much faster!  I find that most people either LOVE working out with a friend, or HATE it.  Why?  Some like the solo time to think, reflect, etc.  Me?  I love chatting while I’m running!  I know this is awful for breathing, form, tracking pace, etc. but I figure that I’m not an elite athlete, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be OK.  Saturday I did a workout with my hubby, and as always….he kicked my booty! We ran and did some circuit training at a nearby park.  While he works on push-ups, pull-ups, and other “guy” stuff, I got my lunges, side lunges, squats, and abs ripped!  Well…maybe but not ripped, but I worked out hard.  Then we headed to the convention center stairs and did a few sets before calling it quits.  It was an amaze-balls workout that definitely got me back into my motivation mojo back!

I had quite the relaxing weekend catching up on a lot of TV!  My brother-in-law was in from out of town and that meant that my husband was off catching up with him while I got to chill out at home.

I caught up on the last few episode of Grey’s Anatomy.

Does anyone still watch this show anymore?  I feel like all my friends gave up on it a long time ago…if nothing else, I’m loyal. 

Then I watched the first episode of Girls on HBO.  The verdict, I was not impressed.  Should I give it another chance?

And finally, I saw Beyonce’s documentary on HBO “Life is But a Dream.”  I fell in love with Beyonce even more!  I gotta say, I love me some Sasha Fierce!

On Sunday we had a very important task on our “to-do” list…watch Silver Linings Playbook.  We set big goals for ourselves people.  Fortunately we made it to the 11am showing and it was only 5.75!  I couldn’t believe it.  So it looks like I’m going to be a matinee movie goer along with all the early morning movie fans.  Truth be told, there was only 1 other person in the theatre…maybe it’ll catch on 🙂 We saw Argo earlier in the week and LOVED it.  Silver Linings Playbook was good, but not great.  It was so intense and I’m stoked that Jennifer Lawrence won the Oscar for best actress, but I’m also ecstatic that Argo won for best picture.  Ben Affleck had the best acceptance speech by far!

So on to the good stuff…Meal Planning!! Yay! (Insert the fan fare).  This is kind of a weird week for us due to some evening family events, meetings etc.  This always makes eating healthy tricky because it’s so much easier to just stop by and pick something up when it’s late and you’re hungry.  Here’s what I’m planing, nothing fancy since it’s a busy week…just sticking to the basics.

• Pre-cooked chicken for quick stir-fry type dinners for the husband.  This makes it easy for me to make some dinners ahead of time so that all he has to do heat it up when he gets home.  This works for days when I’m getting home later.  
• I bought some frozen brown rice this week since I know we’ll be busy.  I usually make batched ahead of time and freeze portions, but didn’t have time this week.  It’s good and easy…is there anything “bad” in the frozen variation that I should be aware of?
• Washed and chopped veggies for anything!  Salad, stir-fry, etc.
• Washed and chopped fruit for topping cottage cheese and oatmeal.

I have a few tips that I try to follow when I know that I’ll be eating out:

1. Eat in Anticipation: I try to eat lean and clean even more so than usual during the day if I know that I’ll be eating a meal out.  This helps me plan for a few extra calories that are bound to be consumed at a restaurant.  I’m not saying to you can throw all caution to the wind, but we absolutely know that even the healthiest restaurant meals still have more calories than what we’d normally have at home.
2. Check the Menu:  I ALWAYS check the menu ahead of time when I know I’m going to be eating out.  Whether it’s a quick fast food place or a 5 star restaurant, looking at the menu helps me plan what I’m going to order before I even get there.  Doing this helps bypass the “I’m raging hungry and going to order whatever looks good” effect when you get to dinner after a long day at work.
3. Plan to take 1/2 home:  Unless it’s a salad or something specifically off of a calorie conscious menu, always plan on taking half of your dinner home.  If you have good will power you can just eat half and box it up at the end, but if you know you’ll power through the entire dish as soon as it hits the table, then have the server box up half before it even gets to you.

Aside from those 3 tips, always keep in mind your normal “healthy eating” lifestyle….and above all, have fun!  Chances are you’re eating out for a reason – so enjoy it 🙂

Did you watch the Oscar’s?  What were you most excited about?

Do you eat out often?  How do you manage sticking to your healthy eating goals while enjoying a meal out?

Shake it Baby!

Sweaty Stats:  Went on a lil run on Wednesday.  Still in a running and motivation funk…but I’m getting there.  Good ‘ol vacay’s will do that sometimes!  Fortunately my meal prepping on Tuesday set me up for a pretty healthy week. 

Speaking of meal prepping and planning, I feel that I always have my “bank” of meals that I recycle over and over again.  This works for me because it makes prepping and cooking easy with ingredients that I’m familiar with.  There’s nothing worse that buying something new to experiment with and seeing it go bad in the back of the fridge.  Occasionally I get a little adventurous and makes something new-to-me, but I’m a creature of habit. 

Breakfast is no exception.  I tend to rotate between cottage cheese bowls, Coach’s Oats topped with a lil PB and berries, Green Protein Pancakes, and my Enlightened Green protein shake. 

Cottage Cheese Bowl

Even though I am not a full vegetarian (because I eat seafood) I always try to get a good source of protein in each meal (especially breakfast).  Protein keeps you fuller longer, and doesn’t cause that spike and drop in insulin caused by sugary foods and too many carbs.   Protein shakes is something that I have always kept in my diet, but always felt weary about over-doing.  I mean come on, I’m no body builder and not trying to bulk up AT ALL!  So where does a normal gal like me draw the line?  In my own opinion, I incorporate more protein shakes as meals (usually breakfast) when I feel I am doing a lot of excercise.  I can’t seem to justify them when I’m doing a few medium effort workouts a week…yes, it happens to all of us!

An article that Fitness magazine just put out affirms that we may not need to overload on protein shakes to make us “healthy.” 

On the one hand:

1. You’re already getting enough protein:

 “The reality is, if you consume enough calories, you’re probably eating plenty of protein.” Most nutritionists agree that active women need about half a gram per pound a day, or approximately 65 grams for a 130-pound woman. And according to the USDA, most of us — even vegetarians — are eating 69 grams of protein daily, so we’re in the clear.”

Lean Protein Source

2. Protein helps you burn more calories…

“Every time you eat, your body uses up energy (aka calories) to break down your food and absorb its nutrients, which boosts your metabolism. When you tuck into fat or carbs, about 5 to 15 percent of those calories go toward the digestion process. With protein, it’s more like 20 to 30 percent.”

3. …But it can still make you fat.

“That metabolism spike doesn’t mean protein is a freebie. If you overeat, you’ll gain weight no matter where your calories come from.”

But on the other hand:

4. You’ll get more out of your workouts if you pound protein afterwards

“You don’t have to be a marathoner to benefit from a protein chaser. “Your muscles are like sponges for 30 to 45 minutes right after exercise, whether you’ve done cardio or strength training.  Pick a post-workout snack with 12 to 14 grams of protein and about 40 percent of the calories you’ve burned.”

So where does that leave your take on actual protein shakes?  Personally…I will continue to do the whole shake deal when I feel I’m working out hard!  But generally I tend to have a lowfat chocolate milk with 120-150 calories immediately following my sweaty session.   My favorite breakfast shake is definitely this guy:

So basically, do what feels good to you…some people swear by protein shakes in the morning and/or post-workouts, and other leave those powders to the pro’s.  If you are considering a modification to your nutrition and/or physical activity, be sure to consult a doctor because I’m just an English teacher…duh!  Yes, I read and research a lot of healthy living stuff, but that doesn’t make me an expert. Period.

What’s your take on protein intake?

Do you leave it to the good ‘ol fashion food intake, or amp it up with bars and shakes?