lunch

Lunchspiration and Zumba Gear!

/ foodsweatandbeers / 6 Comments

After coming back from a long weekend, it’s always hard for me to get back into the swing of eating things.  My cupboards are usually bare, I did my best to empty out the fridge before we left, and I’m so exhausted that the idea of a long grocery trip is often beaten by the idea of a nap.  These past few days were no different.

I flew back to RDU on a slightly later flight than usual and arrived around 1:25, so was able to be back to work by 2pm.  Truly, the Southwest Airlines route from RDU to Philly and back is unbelievably easy, frequently very cheap/on sale, and never takes longer than 1.5 hours.  I can’t even talk about how convenient it’s made living 300+ miles away from my family.  But, as they’ve yet to add personal masseuses and white noise machines on the flight, I still find myself tuckered out after a day of traveling.  I managed to grab some of the “essentials” last night at the store:

Most. Random. Essentials. Ever.

Truly, though, I was just getting what was on sale as I knew, fairly soon, the changing of the sales would occur (as it does every Wednesday).  That left me with a still fairly bare cupboard.  Then, right before lunch, it hit me.

Flatout Wrap: Unwrapped

The Full Monty

  • Flatout Wrap (light Italian)
  • Egg scramble inside with: red pepper slices, sauteed spinach, salt and peppah
  • Reduced fat Sargento 4 cheese blend
  • Carrot (cut myself!)
  • Sabra Hummus from yesterday’s shopping trip

I’ve tried hummus of all kinds, Athenos, non-name brand, Trader Joes, Harris Teeter…. they don’t hold a candle to the creaminess of Sabra, and the rich nutty taste of this particular flavor (Roasted Pine Nut).  Now it’s gluten free, too, which doesn’t really effect THIS GIRL too much, but worth mentioning for everyone else out there!

I also got an awesome package in the mail….

Zumba Nation, baby!

A brand new Zumba shirt (and bracelet, not pictured!) from the ladies over at Zumba Goodness.  Big thanks to the girls, Sarah and Kasey, and congratulations to them for a year in the Zum-biz!!

Can’t wait until next Tuesday when I can rock it out at Zumba class at O2 Fitness (the new instructor KICKED MY ASS last week, so I’m ready for her to bring it again.)

Workout plans tonight are a little tough, as I’m on call from 5pm-9am tomorrow morning and have to be by my phone/a computer all night…. maybe that’ll give me some time to whip up a healthy meal and finally unpack my life as I’ve been living out of my suitcase lately.

How do you get inspiration for lunch time variety? I’ll be honest, I saw a tweet from FlatoutBread and another from Sabra Hummus  and it just hit me.

Do you have any gear particular to the workouts you do?  I have seen instructors rocking the official Les Mills gear, and I want the Body Attack shirts SO BAD. So if anyone else wants a 6’1″ blonde (who’s currently rocking quite the suntan) to model their Les Mills attire…. just gimme a call.  Or a tweet.

Back to work, overtime today to make up for my unbearable lateness of being yesterday.

(If you caught that pun, you win!!)

A Lunch Fit for a… First Grader.

/ foodsweatandbeers / 4 Comments

Hello hello, friends and neighbors!  Hope everyone’s starting their week off on the right foot, and enjoyed my Six Pack Sunday post yesterday, tying up any/every loose end that could possibly exist from my week.  Unfortunately, rounding out date night last night, I started to feel… a bit off.  Part of my gum is swollen (maybe a piece of food stuck in there, maybe an infection, I am at a loss) and my throat is a little swollen, and I’ve just been feeling a little… light.  When I went to dinner with the beau, I assumed it would pass once I got some food in my belly.  To my chagrin, the opposite happened. I felt a little dizzy, like I was going to float off my chair and into outer space, so we took the rest of the food to go and rushed me home.  Luckily, part of that food was a fried ice cream and since my boyf suggested maybe my blood sugar was low, we nibbled on that slowly when we returned to the apartment (blood sugar is helped by actual sugar, right? Math.)

This morning, when I woke up for work, I knew I couldn’t go in at 8:15 as usual, so I slept for an extra hour-ish, packed up some stuff, and head off to work.  The very worst thing about this gum problem is that I have nearly no drive to eat at all, primarily because… well, it just hurts.  Breakfast was a few bites of beans from last night, as well as a wheat thin or two (anything that made me feel like a person again) and lunch… Well, here it is:

Don't worry, I didn't steal it from any kids on their way to school...

Sandwich thin with some lowfat cheese melted on it, some Progresso Vegetable and Barley Soup (a personal favorite), and a sugarfree Jell-o Berry cup. I felt like such a little kid making cheese toast, but I knew it wouldn’t upset my stomach too much, and that it’d just be nice to get some food in my belly.  As far as eating it, it’s been slow going, but I’m chugging along and can’t wait for that sweet Jello to get in my mouth.

Sidenote: yes, those are Camel advertisements on my desk. No, I don’t use any tobacco products, but I do try to educate kids about substance use and boost prevention for a living!

Anywho, today’s workout will obviously be an easy one, taking it light on the elliptical maybe, with some biking thrown in there.  Not trying to push myself to sickness here.

In other news, has anyone heard of this Dr. Pepper Ten craziness?

MANLIEST OF ALL DIET SODAS!

From the site:

Introducing Dr Pepper TEN. 10 bold tasting calories with the same authentic 23 flavors of Dr Pepper. That’s a whole lot of taste in one can. Try it today and see why Dr Pepper TEN is not for women.

Wait a minute. What?  Did y’all catch that?  Try it today and see why Dr Pepper TEN is not for women. Ok. I’ll admit, I’m not a big soda drinker. Sure, I’ll have a cocktail with diet soda every now and then, but for the most part, I live and die by whatever comes out of my Brita filter (and whatever comes out of a keg).  But now, part of me wants to make this my new drink of choice, if only to say to the folks at Dr. Pepper, “Hey, dudes. Suck it.”

I just don’t understand what their thought process was behind this.  “Women hate calories… even 10 of them?” “Putting the word BOLD on a can will make men flock to this?” It’s a mystery…  Sort of like how Pepsi advertised the “skinny can” for their diet soda, trying to appeal to women and suggesting that “skinny is better.”

Wow, this can is tall AND sassy. ::rushes off to buy out Target::

I kind of think that this type of advertising is a little sexist, and a little sneaky.  But, having worked with media literacy for the past 2 years, I feel a little hyper-aware of any suspicious activity in the media world…

What do you think about this kind of advertising?

Would you buy a product advertised at women or women just because of the advertisement? Do you want to try this Dr. Pepper 10?

Here’s an interesting article about the different Dr. Peppers undergoing a taste test, if you’re into that kind of thing: Serious Eats Taste Test

Workin’ It

/ foodsweatandbeers / 4 Comments

 

Hello out there fellow worker bees!!

If you’re like me at all, you MAY BE a 20-something YoPro (Young Professional, NOT yogurt professional, though that’d be glorious too…) And a common challenge in the world of my fellow YoPros (other than sitting on your booty for most of your entire day) is what to do for lunch.  I’ll admit, when I first entered the working world, I had recently broken my foot.  So my day to day thought process when it came to lunch was something sort of like this:

“Yeah… I could crutch over to the fridge, get some ingredients, put together an amazing dinner the night before work, put it in an adorable and eco-friendly lunch tote, and crutch to and from the fridge at work to retrieve it and eat with my homemade chopsticks… OR!! I could drive to Taco Bell for an easy to eat cheesy double beefy burrito with a side of 5 layer nachos and a soda!”

In my crippled state, my lazy bones aching with lazy, guess which one I chose?

First, you go in my mouth. Then, my hips. Sound like a plan?

When I started Weight Watchers, though, I realized that planning for your meals can actually SAVE you time, energy, and (hooray!) calories!  I don’t normally prepare anything too extravagant, but here are some of my usual go to guys for lunch treats:

  • Grilled, seasoned chicken breast – George Foreman = my secret lover. I grilled many en masse, and keep them safe and sound in my tupperware. You can add them to sammies, you can toss them in quesadillas, or just eat them plain!
  • Solid white albacore – A can of this, plus Hellman’s Low Fat Mayo (15 calories per serving), is a perfect sandwich filler for me!
  • Bird’s Eye Steam Fresh Vegetables – These are a total staple in my lunches.  One bag = 2 lunch sides for me, toss them in the microwave, and go to town. Some of them are pre-seasoned, which is nice, but all of them are delicious, seasonings be damned.
  • Arnold’s Sandwich Thins – I feel like, if there was some sort of unofficial sponsor of the healthy living blogosphere, these would be it. Totally versatile, totally delicious, a mix of textures and flavas, all great!
  • Laughing Cow Wedges – Again, a no-brainer. They are a dream to replace butter, cream cheese, mayo, etc. I use the queso fresco flavor on sandwiches with some lettuce and tomato for a spicy pick-me-up, and the blue cheese on sammies or wraps with some Frank’s Red Hot (Literally, I DO put that $*** on EVERYTHING!).
  • Jell-o Mousse Temptations – Best dessert that is portable that I know, to date. My favorite part? To quote Stifler: “I can taste the bubbles!” There are delicious little air bubbles that make it taste sorta like if pudding and tonic water had a love-child, and dipped that baby in caramel. (well that’s just the caramel flavor, but that’s my favorite).
  • Zatarain’s Red Beans and Rice – I know, you can’t prepare these at work a la minute, but prepare them the night before and you’ve got at LEAST two meals waiting for you in tupperware! Add some lean protein like shrimp or chicken breast, and you could definitely stretch it to three (I say two, and some people are probably like WHOAH THERE, Godzilla, that’s a heaping big serving… Yes. I like big meals. And I don’t think I’m the only one…)
  • Extra Dessert Delights (ESPECIALLY key lime pie flavor) – I had a 40 day span of time (some call it Lent) where I gave up sweets/desserts/the whole nine yards. These became my desserts.  I picked up a small carton at Sam’s Club once I realized how tasty they are, and never looked back. They maintain their flavor for a LONG time, and they rock for taking care of that sweet tooth.

While that’s not a comprehensive list by ANY means, those are some of my most frequent players in the game of lunch.  Curious about what I ate today? Well, after a breakfast of Chobani Champions Honey-Nana (love that name) with some Kashi Berry Blossoms and Tupelo Honey thrown in for texture, my lunch actually featured a fair amount of what I’ve listed.

Note the ADORABLE tote I brought it all in?

Toasted Flax Seed Sandwich thin, tuna sammy with that low fat mayo, some lettuce (thanks, Durham Farmers’ Market) and tomato, and a side of roasted veggies (also thanks to the DFM!!).  As for dessert, I’m still chewing it! (Yeah, it’s the Key Lime gum. Violet Beauregarde, eat your heart out!

If you’re a YoPro, what are your lunch staples? Or, if you stay/work at home, how does that change what you eat?

Do you think Violet Beauregarde is the most detestable character from the classic story of Willy Wonka’s baller factory?

Discuss.