Food Addiction

You know by now that I don’t shy away from leftovers!

Last night Ryan and I enjoyed al fresco sweet Italian chicken sausage with peppers and onions for dinner and I used leftovers to make a sausage, onion and pepper hoagie for lunch today.

Here’s the food preparation process from last night…

Freshly Chopped Green and Red Peppers and Onions

Ryan Slicin' Onions

Ryan is the onion slicer in our house. They make me cry!

We put the peppers, onions and sliced chicken sausage in the oven at 400 degrees for 40 minutes, stirring half-way through.

Sausage + Peppers

The leftovers made an excellent lunch today!

Sausage, Pepper & Onion Hoagie

Monday's Lunch

Addicted to Food???

Many people claim they are “addicted to food.” Whether they are addicted to the food itself or the feeling they derive from eating the food is often debated.

Do you feel like you’re addicted to food? Do you know someone who is?

I don’t believe I am addicted to food, but I will admit that when I start eating ice cream or certain other indulgent foods, I sometimes feel a little out of control. I consider these foods my “trigger foods” and I know myself enough to know that one little “taste” simply will not do. I know that once I take one bite of ice cream or break a teeny piece off a freshly baked cookie, I’ll immediately go back for more.

A recently published study examined two groups of rats. One group was fed junk food while the other group was fed a healthy diet.

Results from the study showed that the rats eating junk food continued to compulsively eat the calorie-dense food even when they knew they’d receive an electric shock (Those poor rats!). Those eating the healthy foods stopped eating when they knew a shock would occur.

Interesting, huh? I’m not sure if this really applies to people, but it’s pretty interesting nonetheless.

For more details on this study, click here to read my latest Examiner article.

A Can of Whoop Ass

Since I opened up a can of whoop ass chickpeas to include in my lunch today, I wanted to use the little guys in my dinner, too.

Side note: Who remembers the “open up a can of whoop ass” days? According to UrbanDictionary.com the saying is “one of the most over used and lamest of all sayings. Bears little meaning anymore. In the same outdated category as terms ‘don’t go there’ and ‘talk to the hand.'”

I also enjoyed this definition of a can of whoop ass: “Something Chuck Norris never has to open because he makes his own.”

 

Chuck Norris

Those Chuck Norris “facts” entertain me for days. Some favorites include:

• Chuck Norris can divide by zero.
• Chuck Norris can touch MC Hammer.
• It takes Chuck Norris 20 minutes to watch 60 Minutes.
• Chuck Norris can win a game of Connect Four in three moves.
• Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door.

Feel free to share your favorite Chuck Norris “facts.” 😀

Okay, I think I got a little off track there… a can of whoop ass and Chuck Norris will do that to ya, I guess.

Dinner

Dinner tonight incorporated the aforementioned chickpeas into a pasta bowl.

Chickpeas!

Along with Carba Nada egg fettuccine noodles, I added scallops, yellow squash, spinach, chickpeas, marinara sauce and Parmesan cheese to my noodle-y meal.

Pasta + Scallops

Sizzlin' Veggies

Marinara Sauce

Parmesan Cheese, Please!

To me, pasta is one of the most satisfying meals in the universe.

Monday Night Dinner

Free Fresco Taco

As you may have heard, Taco Bell recently launched a Drive-Thru Diet ad campaign, featuring one woman who lost 54 pounds while eating select Taco Bell menu items.

The Drive-Thru Diet contains seven menu items with 340 calories or less.

Taco Bell's Fresco Taco

As part of the campaign, Taco Bell is offering a free fresco taco! Click here to read my latest Examiner article about the Drive-Thru diet and receive your free taco. Yum!

Rethinking Resolutions

I don’t have any New Year’s Resolutions this year… at least I don’t have any yet.

🙂

Ryan and I were talking about resolutions this morning and we’re both drawing a bit of a blank.

Of course there’s the fall back “I’ll live a healthier life” blah, blah, blah, but I like to make my resolutions tangible and exciting. I’ll put some thought into my goals for the upcoming year and get back to ya. Right now I’m thinking my main goal is to plan a beautiful wedding without getting stressed out and caught up in the little things. (All you former brides are probably thinking “easier said than done…”)

What are your New Year’s resolutions?

My latest Examiner article addresses weight loss resolutions and a new way to approach them, so those hoping to lose weight might actually succeed. By rethinking weight loss resolutions and putting a healthy spin on vows to lose weight, long-term results are much more likely to occur. Click here to check it out!

Today

It’s another cold day in Florida! Brrr.

After getting to the gym in time for my typical Wednesday 5:45 a.m. BodyPump class, I noticed the teacher’s weights and bench were not set up and she was nowhere to be seen. Not good! Unfortunately we learned her car broke down so no BodyPump for me this morning.

Instead I decided to jump around the gym, hopping from weights to cardio machines and back:

• 10 min. stair master
• Leg press
• Leg extensions
• 10 min. stair master
• Bicep curls
• Shoulder presses
• Tricep dips
• Deadlifts
• 5 min. elliptical
• Bridges (aka the most awkward exercise to do in the gym ever)
• Ab work

After that I was hungry!

Canadian Bacon and Colby Jack Cheese Breakfast Sandwich

Breakfast was a hot Canadian bacon and Colby jack cheese sandwich on an Arnold whole wheat sandwich thin.

Wednesday's Breakfast

Warm and tasty!

Interview

If you have a minute today, head on over to Ali’s awesome blog. She posted an interview with me  on Monday (amid her yummy-lookin’ holiday pictures). 🙂

Cheap Magazine Subscriptions

Didn’t get the subscription to that magazine you wanted over the holidays? Click here and use the code afterxmas09 to receive an additional $5 discount off already discounted magazine subscriptions.

Women's Health Magazine

You can get Women’s Health for only $5.95! Sweet deal, huh?

Sandwich vs. Sammie Showdown

Yahoo! Today is my last day of work before four days off for Christmas!

I am so excited and anxious to get home to spend some quality time with my family, Ryan and Ryan’s family. I made sure to pack up my bags last night so we can grab-and-go when I get off work today.

Dead Gym

This morning the gym was a ghost town. There was only a handful of people there gettin’ their sweat on.

After BodyPump, I once again I listened to my sister’s iPod during my cardio session. Notable song of the day: “You’re The One That I Want” from Grease. A classic, for sure!

"You're the one that I want, You are the one I want, O o o honey!"

“I’ve got chiiiiiills, they’re multiplyin’! And I’m loooooosing contro-ol…”

Breakfast

I did it! I made it throughout this mini-week at home without going to the grocery store.

Breakfast today made use of food we had on hand. I enjoyed a Canadian bacon and Colby jack cheese breakfast sandwich on an Arnold honey wheat sandwich thin.

Breakfast Sandwich

These sandwich thins are delicious. I love how doughy they are.

Notice how I called this a sandwich and not a sammie. Well, Ryan forbid me from calling anything a sammie anymore because he says the word is ridiculous.

To be totally honest, I completely agree with him and had a bit of a blonde moment over this particular word. I honestly figured a sammie was like a mini sandwich.

What food slang do you think is ridiculous?

When I think of a sandwich I think of something really substantial with lots of meat, veggies and cheese. A sammie, to me, was just a toned-down sandwich.

After Googling the word, it seems like this particular variation on the word sandwich annoys a lot of people. It annoyed me too just to write it, but I thought I was differentiating between a big ol’ sandwich and a little baby sammie.

Now that I know I’m not, I’m back to enjoying sandwiches. 🙂

Healthy Holiday Appetizers

With the holiday season in full swing, parties and potlucks are springing up on everyone’s calendars. In my latest Examiner article I’ve included a list of healthy holiday appetizer recipes so you can bring a yummy dish that’s also good for you to your holiday parties!

Lemon Garlic Marinated Shrimp Appetizer (EatingWell.com)

Click here to check it out. 😀

Cheese Sammie and Runny Veggies

Don’t you hate it when the sauce or liquid from one food runs into another food on your plate, altering the flavor completely?

Well that almost happened to me today!

Creepin' Sauce

See that veggie sauce creepin’ up on my cheese sammie?

Fortunately I saved my sammie just in time!

Safe!

The Culprit

I enjoyed my non-soggy cheese sammie with a box of Green Giant Healthy Vision veggies.

I always try to keep some frozen veggies on hand to incorporate into a meal if I don’t have time to saute some green goodies or bake something the night before when I pack my lunch to bring to work. The Healthy Vision veggies are my favorite of the Green Giant flavors because I love the mix of green beans, zucchini and carrots.

National Chocolate Covered Anything Day

Did you know that today is National Chocolate Covered Anything Day!?

The Classic: A Chocolate-Covered Strawberry

It’s true! I wrote an article about this fantastic reason to indulge in chocolate for Examiner today. Click here to read more about it in my article and get some great ideas for foods you should try covered in chocolate.

What’s your favorite chocolate-covered food?

I love chocolate covered nuts… any and all kinds! I also adore chocolate covered raisins.

On a side note, how awesome would National Peanut Butter Covered Anything Day be? Sign me up!

Sisterly Shopping

Tonight my sister is coming in town to hit up the stores with me for some Christmas shopping! I’m excited for sisterly bonding and hope to check some people off my “still gotta get ’em a gift” list.

Giveaway

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to enter my giveaway today! Yummy popcorn and almonds are up for grabs. 😀