mandarin

Afternoon snack - a big juicy mandarin orange, that was particularly easy to peel. A little too old though - the skin was tough.

tuesday leftovers

I've run out of Vitasoy, so I've been making my lattes with (gasp) real milk - 2%. They aren't nearly as rich and creamy as the soy lattes, and not as sweet either, which means there must be quite a bit of sugar even in the plain soy milk.

Breakfast was the last of the yogurt mixed with pineapple bits and a bit of maple syrup, and sprinkled with bran.

This morning, for the first time in a couple months, there was a bit extra room between the waistband of my grey capris, and my belly!

Morning snack - banana, coffee with soy milk (the Edensoy - gotta use it up), followed by baby carrots (which tasted soapy - yuck) dipped in mustard.

Lunch was leftover Beef Rouladen with gravy, 3 little nugget potatoes, the last of the red cabbage, and some spinach.

So far I've held out on the very last mini ice-cream sandwich.

monday

The most on-track day ever!

Breakfast - soy latte with 2% milk, and a banana with yogurt, bran, almonds and raisins.

Snack 1 - coffee and a home-made banana-bran muffin

Snack 2 - banana

Snack 3 - mini ice-cream sandwich

Lunch - egg, mayo and spinach on ancient grains bread

Snack 4 - another home-made banana-bran muffin

Snack 4 - another egg, mayo and spinach on ancient grains bread

Rode to work, and then from work to Spanish Banks for volleyball. My legs were cooked! By the end of volleyball, which went 'til nearly 9, I was ravenous.

Had a relatively strenuous ride home.

Dinner - spinach salad with lemon, avocado and blue cheese (yummy)

Dessert - shortcake (which is basically just a biscuit) with berries and pineapple bits, yogurt and maple syrup

Went the whole day with no cake, cookies, or candy!

tuna burgers and rinds rouladen

a yummy food day!

Started with a soy latte, fruit and yogurt, nuts and raisins, and headed out to Burnaby Mountain to ride.

Had a trail mix bar at the top of Joe's - half after the first climb, the other half after the second.

Lunch at Pajo's - tuna burger and fries with the Moms, with a side of snide I didn't order.

Home at 4 to cook Father's Day dinner, which was a great success:

• seafood & cream cheese spread with Wasa crackers
  
• green salad with avocado, blue cheese, and lemon olive oil dressing
• Rinds Rouladen (Dad's favourite)
• red cabbage with apple and onion
  
• nugget potatoes and baby carrots
• homemade shortcake with mixed berries and cinnamon whip cream

Couldn't resist another piece of shortcake (without the berries and whip cream) as a bedtime snack!

chocolate croissant

Up early to tidy up and get ready for Sunday's big Father's Day dinner.

Started the day with a soy latte. It was so good I had another.

Breakfast was banana and apple with yogurt, bran and almonds.

Lunch time treat - a chocolate croissant from Superstore, and martini samples at the Broadway liquor store - a cosmo, and a chocolatini.

What the heck did I have for dinner? I totally forget.

Dessert was a pear cider at Cindy's (Sue's "bring-your-drink"), and a pint of Rickard's at the Copper Kettle.

Chatted with a bunch of new people, crashed a party in Kits, and had a fabulous time - even more fabulous considering I only had 2 drinks!

clear the clutter

Spent Friday night helping Warren clear the clutter. He finally got rid of heaps of corporate golf shirts, teal MEC fleeces, nylon baseball caps, and faded t-shirts.

Warren made us a spinach salad with lemon and tomato, and pasta with pesto to munch on while we watched Bull Durham and Robson Arms on the big screen.

I've forgotten what I had for a bedtime snack.

back on track

Just had banana and apple with yogurt, almonds and craisins - yum!

I took the delicious but evil cake upstairs to share. Great idea. Jean and Karen lit up when they saw the cake.

Sesame Street was right - it's always better to share.

coffee sponge cake

The train wreck continues today.

Started off okay, with two lattes and a tiny bit of muffin.

Got to the training room late and nobody was there. The trays of muffins and pastries called me over and forced me to take a raisin scone. Scooted back to my desk to quickly check my email (although really, I was just trying to hide the scone); ate half the scone and searched out the team, holed up in a little conference room listening to another endless Darren call.

Back in the training room, I scooped the last cornmeal muffin under the pretense of finding out why Chris is so addicted to them. Ate the top, and covered the rest under a napkin. Got hungry shortly afterwards (that damn sugar spike-crash again) and finished most of it. It really was too much - cakey and a bit undercooked, and painfully sweet; I made myself leave a few bites, which I squashed in the napkin, then tossed into the trash can so I wouldn't be tempted to finish them.

About 45 minutes later, despite the lattes and the half-cup of dreck coffee that morning, and still before noon, I was nodding off in class. I struggled to focus on what was being said.

12:30, class over, I waddle back to my desk, and once more, my best intentions go out the window as I scarf down the second half of the raisin scone, and follow it up by opening the coffee sponge cake I brought to share today. One slice for Alice, half a slice for me. Then the other half. Then another thin slice. I can't get enough of that sweet-salty frosting, and spongy cake.

It's 1:05 now - I'll try to turn things around for the afternoon.

potlucks are evil

All it takes is one day of "free food" and healthy eating goes out the window.

Dragged myself out of bed at 6:30 and managed to fumble the cappuccino maker on for my latte. Quick banana-bran-cranberry puck for breakfast.

Treats at the training class, so of course I took one of those giant cakey muffins. Ate the top and tossed the rest. Got hungry again before lunch though (sugar spike and plunge, no doubt) and snuck the last cheese scone.

Not hungry for lunch, and feeling guilty about all the empty calories, I waited 'til the afternoon coffee break to have half a banana and half an apple, topped with yogurt, raisins and almonds.

That kept me going for the rest of the afternoon, as I planned out my shopping list for the clothing swap and Father's Day dinner while half-listening to the Finance training.

Stopped at Costco to pick up a few things, and tried a generous sample of mozzarella, and a piece of M&M cookie.

At Cheryl's, all went out the window. Kim brought sushi, so I had a few rolls - california, dynamite, tempura. A few crackers with cream cheese and jalapeno jelly, and a few with peppered goat's cheese; a few tortilla chips (the hummus was off), some (but not nearly enough) edamame and radishes, lots of bread and hot crab dip.

After the swap, Judy and I did round two on the sushi and crab dip, and I finished the night with 3 chocolate chip cookies.

All washed down with cranberry and soda. Sugary, but held off on the wine - and still had a great fun time.

bad batch, and a fold

Just tried making bran muffins, and I altered the recipe a tad too much. Not enough flour, bit too much liquid, and I guessed at the baking time and temperature.

Had a couple to try them out, with melted butter, of course.

Tried some clothes on to rule them in or out for the clothing swap tomorrow. In the mirror, to my complete horror, I noticed my very first side fold. This morning at the gym, I weighed myself - 125.5 pounds, my heaviest yet. The fold proves beyond a doubt that it isn't all muscle. Ai yi yi!!

Now I'm drinking a glass of wine (red wine burns off calories, right?) and rethinking my input and output strategies. Glad I didn't go for that burger and fries tonight.

icing on crackers - healthy snack?

Was hungry after my ride home, so I heated up some pasta and sauce from last week. Added a tomato and some fresh pasta to stretch it a bit, ate half, and have as much leftover as I started with.

A couple crackers topped with icing on my way out the door to volleyball - yum!

I was planning on my Wednesday night regular - salmon burger and beer at Nevermind - but tension and dissent at volleyball meant we didn't go out. Felt pretty bad about it all (and narcissistically blamed it all on myself) and almost (almost!) went for a mcFlurry to space out.

Held back and had banana, yogurt, blueberries, bran, almonds and craisins instead.

Yum!!

eggs

second egg sandwich of the day. oh, and 2 gummy bears - an orange one, and a clear one.

cookie thief

Started the day with (what else) a soy latte. Stick girl mug was dirty though.

I tried a new soy milk - Edensoy - 'cause it was on sale at Capers for $2.20 (Vitasoy was $2.79 and not on sale). Well, third time unlucky - Edensoy is even worse than the last two I tried. Even after I heaped in some brown sugar to make it drinkable, it still tasted like raw soy beans. Blech. Back to Vitasoy, regardless of price.

Today's breakfast - a banana with yogurt, bran and chopped roasted almonds. Like having dessert in the morning, and the crunchy almonds are heavenly.

Biked to work today, arrived relatively early (8 am!) and spent 20 minutes stretching. My right hip flexor is still sore from yesterday, dammit! Didn't hurt while riding though, and I had my strongest ride to date.

I was hungry again by the time I got to my desk, so I mowed through my pumpkinseed bread with mayo, mustard and an egg, and a coffee with evaporated milk.

Did an interview today with Sandra A, and couldn't resist the tub of cookies on the manager's desk we sat at. Had one while we were reviewing our interviewees responses - "yeah, he shows great potential (munch munch), definitely give him a 5 on that answer (crunch)". On our way back in to do the role play I grabbed a second cookie. Mistake! "...are you going in there chewing??" asks Sandra, as one of the reps pipes up "hey, don't eat all our cookies!" and another says "there's lots to go around." Yep, I need to deal with this cookie problem.

After the interview - lunch! The last of mom's macaroni and cheese, with ketchup.

Back at my desk, another cup of coffee with evaporated milk, and one of the mini ice-cream sandwiches.

So far today - healthy breakfast, but downhill with the sugar from there.

beer

Well, the team decided to go out after Ultimate, and our Aussie team-mate (also on a bike) was too adorable to say no to. Even if he is 10 years younger, and taken.

So off we went to Dentry's (formerly Culpeppers); had a pint of beer, a Mexican veggie burger (was pretty damn good - covered in cheese and jalapenos), and salad instead of fries (oh, so dedicated).

Before my ride I had half a small canteloupe (organic, delish), and just before the game I had a trail mix bar, and wished I'd brought another.

I figure I'm still at a calorie deficit, since I spent an hour biking there, 2 hours running around like crazy, and another half hour riding home from 10th and Blanca. I'm still sweaty, and stinky beyond belief.

Love it.

more waffles

That waffle was just too good. Finished the batter by making another. Skipped the butter this time, had it with yogurt, blueberries, and maple syrup.

Could probably make it healthier by substituting the butter in the batter, and adding more bran or grains.

tuesday waffles

Started the morning with the usual soy latte, bit of cinnamon and sugar, in the stick-girl mug again. It's become my favourite mug.

Banana, yogurt, bran and chopped almonds for breakfast.

It was a relatively leisurely morning; noo commute, as I went to a training session downtown. I love it when I can walk to work! Basically got to sit back and listen for 3 hours

Treat on the way home was the $2 latte special at Caffe Sette, a new "art coffee" shop tucked away just past Blenz, on Burrard, that Dave told me about at the training session.

On the way home I passed a waffle shop, which gave me a craving for Belgian waffles. Found a wholewheat waffle recipe online; halved it and added some bran, cooked it up in my little-used waffle maker, topped it with hot maple syrup with melted butter, yogurt, and frozen blueberries - mmm delicious!

icing, icing, icing

Went to volleyball after all. The sun came out, the sand was warm, and things are coming together more. I could play for hours!!

Even though they're dryer than anything, I love those little energy pucks. Had two after work, and I'm having the last of the batch now, after volleyball.

In a moment of weakness, I also toasted a piece of cake and slathered icing on it. Had two bites then threw the rest 0ut - frozen crappy cake is still crappy cake, even with icing.

Was going to make dinner, but decided to just have fruit and yogurt while tidying up a bit. Ended up eating crackers with icing (cooked, so the icing metls) - 4 of 'em - plus a couple spoonfuls of icing on its own. Grazed a bit on a few raisins, craisins, and almonds, and one dried fig.

Overall for the day? Mostly healthy, with the exception of all that icing.

volleyball?

Should I go to volleyball today? Really I just want to go home and nest, but I'll feel so guilty about skipping the class.

moldy yogurt

First thing this morning - soy latte, topped with a little cinnamon and sugar, in the "girl" mug I bought at Superstore yesterday.

Breakfast - a banana, eaten while the milk was steaming, and a couple spoons of what turned out to be molding yogurt (blech), straight out of the container.

Coffee break, at my desk - drip coffee (not the good stuff), with evaporated milk and a bit of brown sugar, and a couple energy pucks from yesterday.

Snack 1, at my desk - the last of the baby carrots, dipped in mustard. Lunch, at my desk - ancient grains bread with mustard, mayo, a boiled egg, and a generous sprinkling of salt.

Snack 2, at my desk - another banana.

Snack 3, at my desk (holy crap I need to get out more) - golden delicious apple, from last week's Healthy Living fair. S

nack 4, still at my desk, 2 seaweed crackers from Annie. If they're Annie's, do they count?

Snack 5, desk, the second slice of ancient grains bread (that I was saving for tomorrow so I wouldn't have to toast some more, is that lazy or what). Skipped the egg this time, just ripped the bread apart and dipped it in mustard. Zingy!

It's now 4:53 p.m., no chocolate or cake today so far (has to be some sort of record), and I have sucessfully resisted the mini ice cream sandwiches stashed in the freezer.

energy pucks

An active day!

First thing in the morning was the usual soy latte. Breakfast was steel-cut oats cooked with half an apple, with bananas, raisins, almonds and soy on top. Oh, and a little maple syrup.

Used the last of the Bisquick for a batch of muffins, which turned out more like little hockey pucks. 3/4 cup of bisquick, 1 cup of wholewheat flour mixed with wholegrain cereal and oats, egg-whites (leftover from Friday's failed buttercream attempt), half'n'half, raisins, and almonds. Tried one out for quality control.

Had half a chocolate cupcake before we left for Squamish, and a quick stop for a second soy latte at Delany's.

Did the usual Squamish circuit, up Skyline and aroundpart of the Test of Metal course, ending at Roller Coaster. I tried 7-up at the end, walked at least half of it. Had two trailmix bars on the ride, another energy puck in the car, and a caramel oreo McFlurry on the way home. Best one ever!

Appetizer was a handful of peanut M&Ms.... Dinner was chopped spinach, lite Feta, garlic, chickpeas, rotini, and lemon and oil.

One cupcake for dessert, and an energy puck as a bedtime snack.

food - day one

This weekend, I found myself contemplating ingredients for my healthy ride snacks while devouring my third cupcake of the morning. My commitment to healthy eating and fear of sugar disappear in the presence of cake, ice cream or colourful martinis.

This healthy/junkfood dichotomy has me puzzled - I'm not sure whether I'm leading a healthy lifestyle, or not!

I figure if I track my habits for a week or so, I can either relax about it all, or make some changes.