No sign of snow yet….. this anticipation is driving me nuts! There was no question that we would do the gym before breakfast today because “it might start snowing at any minute!!” But here were are at 10:45 and still no snow. They say it’s coming though!!
Sunrise Breakfast
I was up before the sunrise and had 2 rice cakes with PB. We’re out of bread and oatmeal pancakes so these were my only option! The husband is on a baking mission today (surprise, surprise 8) ) so we should have focaccia and ciabatta by lunchtime. Also had chai green tea (not my favorite 🙁 ) 110 kcal.
Workout
Great workout again today, but I felt a little tired from spinning yesterday. I think tomorrow (given the weather forecast) would be a good day to take a rest day. And then since I don’t have class Monday, I’ll do my long run then. Today I did 30 minutes on the stairmaster (upped it to level 12 recently, which is a big challenge!) and 10 minutes on the funky ET, and then 10 minutes pushups, pullups and dips. About a month ago the husband suggested we use the assisted pullup machine to do some of those and about once a week since we’ve been doing a routine of the three above. I have really noticed a difference in my arm definition, and I’m guessing adding this set is why. My entire upper body is exhausted when we finish (3 set of 10 of each exercise) and it takes much less time than doing a circuit of machines or free weights. I usually do upper body weights 3x a week – with one day for free weights, one day for machines and one for this. My hope is that all the different kinds of exercises will keep my body on its toes. 426 kcal burned today.
The Usual
How could I turn down oatmeal!? Yum. Made with banana, cinnamon, vanilla, brown sugar, flax, walnuts and PB.We got these cute bowls from my sister for my birthday and there’s a green one and a blue. My favorite color is green, and the husband’s blue so you can guess who uses each bowl every morning. Well today I surprised him and gave him the green one and took the blue for a change! I actually really enjoyed the blue
With tea (with no milk, just splenda). 410 kcal.
Today
Plans for the day include:
- Reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma (I LOVE M. Pollan and have to write a paper on one of the chapters for Cultural Foods!)
- Writing the paper. It’s a short 3ish page paper and just a summary of the chapter assigned to me. At Davidson they would have had us read the WHOLE book instead of just one chapter and write a 5 page paper analyzing all this stuff. But I’m not complaining! I do want to read the whole book though so I’ll probably read my section and chapter, write the paper, and then read the other 2 sections.
- Misc. homework!?
- Update the blog’s pages
- 2 loads of laundry
- Lunch of salmon salad and freshly baked bread!
- Dinner with Maran atM5 Mediterranean (if the weather isn’t disastrous!)
CB says
Hey Kath,
I just discovered your blog and I absolutely love it! I'm also 5'2'' and have been trying to reach the 120 mark for a while now…I've been stuck at around 129 for the longest time. Im just finishing up my last semester of undergrad so your blog has given me some great ideas! You and your husband are absolutely adorable!
I was also wondering what you went back to school for? Are you getting a master's in Nutrition? I appologize if this is listed somewhere on your site but I couldnt find it.
Tina says
Hi Kath- I was just wondering how YOU estimate the calories in a sushi roll. I looked at a few different websites but how do you do it? Roughly, how many calories would you think are in a tuna/salmon roll (about 6-8 pieces) with some avocado and rice?
Catie says
Hey Kath! What were some specific changes you made in your eating habits, when you first decided to lose weight after college? How is it different than your eating habits now? I love your blog by the way, thanks for sharing with us!!
Patricia says
Hi Kath!
Just one question… how much oatmeal do you eat every morning???
I started out eating one cup, but I'm trying to cut down slowly to 1/2 cup.
Your portions look really generous…
Erica says
Hi Kath,
As an oatmeal connoisseur and someone who likes volume why do you choose old fashion oats? I found that the instant actually have more volume. Do instant act as more refined grains? Anyone who has an opinion please also chime in!
Also, back to the soup you said that the carrot broth is your best trick-what do you mean?
Casey says
I have to agree with you about Green Chai. It sounds so intriguing, and I couldn't WAIT to try it, but the taste ended up being… odd.
Love Michael Pollan, too. Great interview with him in the NY Tmes this week!
Beth says
Omnivore's Dilemma is a great book. Enjoy!
rivermomx3 says
I went to Costco yesterday, too! As usual I spent way too much, but I do have a family of 5 and a dog to feed. I got Michael Pollan's other book, In Defense of Food. I'm so excited to read it! I also found these new Kashi Go Lean Roll bars. They look pretty interesting, I'm hoping the kids like them so they can just grab one and run for the bus. I also bought their probiotic cereal, its pretty good. Costco is right up there with Target for favorite stores. We even bought our coach there! But it can get pretty dangerous for me, I always find SO much stuff I have to have!
rivermomx3 says
I meant couch, by the way.
Anonymous says
Hey Kath,
I wanted to commend you on a great blog, and thank you for keeping up with it despite the busy life you have!
I was also wondering if "the husband" would mind posting some of his delicious-sounding bread recipes, i would love to try 'em out :).
Maria says
Pollan is hands-down my favourite journalist. You'll have to let us know what chapter you choose; I loved it all but the section on industrial organic agriculture was a big eye-opener for me (who knew that Earthbound Lettuce was such a massive agri-business venture!)
Have you read 'In Defense of Food' yet? I think it'd be right up your alley. 🙂
Am in total agreement with you and Casey … chai green tea is just a little off-tasting to me.
Karen L. says
Okay, Kath…I don't want to hear any gripes about any snow flurry action in N.C.! It is a very frigid 2 degrees below zero in Chicago today! Lucky for us, the sun is at least shining. I am always happy when the sun is shining in January!
Enjoy your weekend (s) everyone!
Marcy says
Kath, what are assisted pull-up and dips?
Also, you typically eat bananas in the morning. Is that just preference, do they keep you fuller longer, or fluff the oatmeal more than other fruit?
Enjoy you day!
Tina says
Marcy- assisted pull-ups and dips are done on a machine at the gym on which you are not "pulling up" or "dipping" your own entire body weight. Instead, you adjust the weight on the machine to assist you whereby the more weight you add, the easier it is to do a pull-up or dip because you are using less of your own body weight to pull yourself up or dip.
Kath says
CB,
I'm going back to get my R.D. as well as a masters in nutrition. I need to update the Kath page and am planning to do that this weekend!
Tina,
That's exactly what I do too – I look at a bunch of websites and get what I feel is a good average. If my roll seemed fancier or more elaborate I'd take a higher average or if it was store bought (which I never eat anyways) I'd go a little lower than a restaurant. Sushi is really hard to estimate so you just have to do the best you can. You could also try to break down the ingredients if there aren't too many (ex. about 1/4 cup rice, 2 oz smoked salmon, 3 tbsp cream cheese for a Philly roll). Good luck!
Catie,
Glad you like the blog!! The main difference between when I first started out and now is now my focus is more on eating whole foods and then I ate a lot more processed things (although never a ton). I've learned to cook a lot more ingredients and whereas before we cooked the same things over and over (pretty simple things or a favorite soup at least once a week) now we try to experiment and have more variety. I like a LOT more different kinds of vegetables now! I also think in the beginning (as in 2.5 years ago) I was more focused on counting calories and not so much where the calories were coming from. So I'd have a cookie or a sugary granola bar as long as it fit in. I've learned now that those things are a waste of good calories that could go towards foods that are not only more filling, but more satisfying too. Hope that helps answer your question!
Patricia,
I have 1/2 a cup of raw oats made with 1/2 a cup of water and 1/2 a cup of skim milk. Do you use old fashioned oats? I find the instant packets are much smaller portions (I think 1/3 a cup instead of 1/2).
Erica,
I haven't really noticed a difference in volume between rolled and quick oats, but I prefer the texture of rolled over all other oat kinds. The quick oats are par-boiled and chopped fine so I would think the rolled or steel cut would take longer to digest in the body and would be more filling. But that's mostly just my opinion.
See this page for the Pacific Soups. I use them as a base for homemade soups, which makes the whole soup more flavorful. https://www.katheats.com/?page_id=287
Maria,
I haven't read Defense of Food, but I hope to someday!
Karen,
Brrrrrrr is all I have to say!
Marcy,
Tina answered the dips question for me – I use a machine that just makes is so you aren't lifting your whole body. As a trainer at your gym to show you.
I eat bananas for breakfast because I love them in oatmeal. I'm sure the addition helps keep me more full AND bulk up the oats. I also use apple, pear, and blueberries in oats and haven't really paid attention to my stomach. My guess is they are all about the same if I use the same number of oz.
Kath