For The Health Of It {photo food log day 5}

Well, apparently the weekends are not my strong suit as far as healthy eating goes.

I'll just start by saying that.

Started out with my morning chai.

We made Valentine's for Isaiah's friends,

So you know I had a caramel kiss, or two.

We planned to walk to our local coffee shop for breakfast, but it was 20 degrees this morning - I'm definitely not that hard core - so we drove instead.

I had a toasted everything bagel with cream cheese, and it was delish.

You can also bet that I had a few bites of Isaiah's giant snickerdoodle cookie.

Later in the afternoon I had a small-ish bowl of cereal

{which is probably what a real serving size looks like}

And a rice cake with peanut butter and jelly.

I know.

Apparently, having a bagel for breakfast makes me want more carbs because I HAD to have them today.

We had our usual Sunday night dinner with my parents, which always means lots of food and eating more than I need.

I had roasted veggies, mashed potatoes, a slice of bread and some salad.

I'm still stuffed.

Waaaaaay too much food today.

And tomorrow I jump back on the bandwagon!

For The Health Of It {photo food log day 4}

Today was lots of fun...I love the weekends.

I didn't do pilates, and I didn't have breakfast,

but I did start the day with a warm cup of chai :)

Isaiah's friend had a birthday party today {so fun!} and I had a slice of cheese pizza and some peanut butter filled pretzels - right up my alley - for lunch.

I'm sure I had at least double that amount of pretzels...they're soooo good!

I also finished off Isaiah's chocolate pudding and had a few gummy worms too :)

We came home and let Isaiah take his nap.

Hubby and I did some organizing and when Isaiah woke up we headed out for a walk!

We all took an apple on the way out the door.

We walked a little over 3 1/2 miles and stopped at an elementary school so Isaiah could play.

I whipped up a gigantic salad with a black bean burger on top and it totally hit the spot!

Hubby and I are about to curl up and watch a movie.

A lovely Saturday indeed.

For The Health Of It {photo food log day 3}

Yesterday was kinda funky.

I had to do fasting blood work, so breakfast kinda went by the wayside.

I did start out the day with my 20 minute pilates video though.

After getting my blood drawn and running errands,

I came home and was basically starving.

I came home and had a spoonful of chunky peanut butter

And a few pistachios while I was making Isaiah's lunch.

Wasn't quite disciplined enough to take a picture before hand, but after isn't too bad, right?

Fruit salad for lunch: pineapple, green grapes, strawberries, blueberries and 1/2 a banana.

followed by a rolo and caramel kiss - which is essentially a rolo, but whatever.

For dinner I had two slices of vegetarian pizza with a side salad.

Confession: I did have a small handful of chocolate covered acai berries at my work staff meeting, and no, I did not take a picture. Whoops.

Not too bad, but lots of snacking.

Currently sipping on my morning cup of chai, and it is delish.

For The Health Of It {photo food log day 2}

Alright, day 2 of my photo-food-journal-ing efforts.

Despite feeling like I ate pretty well yesterday, I actually gained 1/2 a pound. Annoying.

I'm gonna go ahead and chalk it up to the fact that I'm retaining water, or something like that.

Here's what I ate today:

I started out the day with a 20 minute pilates video and chai tea.

{good earth vanilla chai, two packets of truvia and a splash of 1% milk}

After showering and getting ready for the day I ate two pieces of Dave's Killer Bread...my absolute favorite!

Around 11 or so I snacked on a handful of candy conversation hearts. This is the first time I've had them all season. Clearly, I'm a fan of the yellow and orange.

While I was making my lunch I snacked on 1/4 cup of pistachios.

For lunch I had a fruit salad made up of pineapple, strawberries, grapes and 1/2 a banana.

After Isaiah's nap we went on a 3 mile walk {and stopped to play at a park}

I came home and had the other 1/2 of my spaghetti squash with a little olive oil, salt & pepper and some grated parmesan cheese, served along with a salad and some left over asparagus.

And for good measure, I polished off the rest of Isaiah's snack cup.

I actually didn't eat the pretzels, but I did eat the raisins, peanuts and bunnies.

On to tomorrow.

If the scale goes up again I'm gonna be pissed.

Just sayin'

For The Health Of It {in photos}

I love food.
There, I said it.
{In case anyone didn't already know this little tid bit about me}

So, I've run into a little issue. I've gained 8 pounds. EIGHT pounds, people.
While I was going through everything I was also eating everything. Turns out, the holidays are a super convenient time to find junk food.

Anyway, I'm ready to get rid of it.
In the past I've been able to cut back for a few days, be disciplined and then the weight comes right off.
Well, not this time. I can't even get to the 'be disciplined' part because I'm too busy eating.

I've tried tracking my food and calories through my fitness pal, but it hasn't worked. So, I thought about doing an online program like weight watchers.

The thing both of these have in common? Measuring out/weighing/knowing how many calories are in EVERYTHING you eat.

Let's just be honest, I'm having a hard time putting down the peanut butter and pretzels....how am I supposed to track every single calorie?!

So, my compromise? Pictures. Yep.
Instead of making a food log, or measuring everything out, I'm just going to take a quick cell phone picture of everything I eat. I don't take a picture of it, I don't eat it. Good enough in theory, right? I don't plan to go all crazy and deprive myself, just looking to get a little self control back. If I want a treat, I'm going to have one...just not 61984.

Until then,  you can look forward to daily posts including all the food I've eaten.
Exciting, I know.

Here's to kissing these 8 pounds{and maybe even a few more} goodbye!
If any of you have fitness tips & tricks, healthy recipes or anything along those lines I'd love to hear from you! alex.heater@hotmail.com It would be super fun to do some fitness features on the blog!

Let's get started with what I ate today:

Breakfast: Green Smoothie

Mid-Morning Snack: grapes and strawberries 

Lunch: peanut butter lara bar and an apple

Afternoon Snack: carrot sticks and sugar snap peas with tatziki dip

Dinner: 1/2 a small spaghetti squash with veggie-packed sauce and salad

I finished things up with a mug of hot chocolate and a rolo :)

Confession: I did have about 5 pretzels and a little bit of peanut butter {ugh, why is that so good?!} in between lunch and my afternoon snack. Really, that's a vast improvement from yesterday. Hey, Rome wasn't built in a day!

On to tomorrow!