Nuts for Carba Nada Noodles

I discovered Carba Nada noodles on Netrition.com about two months ago. I wasn’t sure how they would taste when I ordered them because they have significantly less carbs than typical pasta as well as more protein and fiber (each two ounce serving has 140 calories, 24g carbs and 12g protein per serving).

Carba Nada Noodles

(Here is my initial review of  Carba Nada noodles back in September.)

Since I first tried the noodles, I’ve ordered at least five additional packages. Ryan loves them too, so they’re even man-approved. 😉

Tonight our dinner consisted of Carba Nada noodles topped with lots of veggies including:

• Yellow squash
• Portobello mushroom
• Onion

Veggie Noodle Bowl

Don’t forget a half a cup of marinara sauce has an entire serving of veggies too. Yippee!

We also added some MorningStar Farms soy crumbles to the mix for additional protein and flava-flav.

My Bowl

My belly is pasta-full.

Wedding Question

Ryan and I are still in the process of looking at wedding venues and one that we are particularly in love with has offered us a decent discount if we were to get married on October 30. We initially were hoping for a November wedding, but October 30 is pretty darn close.

Do you think this date is too Halloweenie or has any negative connotations since it’s so close to Halloween? I’m thinkin’ it could be pretty amazing… 🙂

Onion Overload

Onions are delicious and add so much flavor to any dish that needs a little oomph. Case in point: a boring turkey sandwich.

Throw in an onion bagel and some sauteed red onions and your boring lunch staple is transformed!

Turkey on an Onion Bagel

Today’s lunch was a simple turkey bagel sandwich prepared on a fresh Alternative Bagel onion bagel with red onion, feta cheese, spinach, plum tomato and dijon mustard.

Holy Turkey!

Simple, easy, delicious.

Gemma Ward Quits Modeling Amid Weight Criticism

The latest news on the fashion front? Gemma Ward, the beautiful healthy-looking 22-year-old Australian supermodel, decided to quit modeling this week following attacks from the media about her weight gain.

Here is the picture that spawned the weight attacks:

(Photo from StyleList.com)

Call me crazy, but this looks like a healthy woman… not someone with even a teeny ounce of a weight problem. And we wonder why girls are always questioning their appearance rather than embracing their bodies…

Click here to read more about Gemma in my latest Examiner article.

Four C’s Breakfast

Today’s breakfast was a 4-C super meal: cocoa Cheerio cottage cheese! I could really get crazy and add in “crunchy” and “creamy” but let’s not take it too far. 😉

The base for my mornin’ meal was no salt added cottage cheese (terrible on it’s own, but delicious when blended) blended with sweetener and cocoa powder.

Pre-Blended Cocoa Cottage Cheese

Blended Chocolate Bowl

I used about a tablespoon of cocoa powder in this mix, so it was super chocolatey. Just the way I like it!

I then added a cup of Cheerios to the mix for some whole grains and that crunch I adore.

The One and Only Cheerios

Four "C" Delight

Creamy, crunchy and filling. Agreat Wednesday breakfast.

Workout

I have been attending BodyPump classes Monday, Wednesday and Fridays for a while now. I usually try to trade out one day of the class for my own total-body weight routine to keep my body guessing, but I was enjoying the Pump so much that I haven’t done that in a while.

Enter: this morning! After 25 minutes of light cardio on the elliptical (while browsing through The Popcorn Factory’s holiday catalog and salivating at every item), I hit the weight room for a total-body weight routine. My workout today looked like this:

• Step ups: 30 lbs., 15 reps per leg, 3 sets
• Shoulder raises: 20 lbs., 15 reps, 3 sets
• Deadlifts: 60 lbs. 15 reps, 3 sets
• Bicep curls: 30 lbs., 15 reps, 3 sets
• Tricep extensions: 20 lbs., 15 reps, 3 sets
• Side bends: 30 lbs., 15 reps each side, 3 sets
• Hamstring exercise ball curls: Body weight, 20 reps, 3 sets
• Abdominal work
• Leg extensions: 40 lbs., 15 reps, 3 sets

(Note: The weight listed is the total amount of weight used. For instance in the Bicep curls, I used a total of 30 lbs. with 15 lb. dumbbells in each hand.)

It felt good to change it up a bit!

What’s your favorite body part to work out in the gym?

My favorite is probably my shoulders or my abs. I really don’t like working out legs! Ughhh.