A kind of love story...

I am in love yet again.  (Yes, I still love Mark Bittman, but amazingly, this is not about him.)

In recent months, I have experienced a training program called the Corporate Athlete.  It's not training in terms of sports (though there is a "movement" component), but it's rather about energy management.  Everyone always talks about time management, but sometimes time is out of your hands and there is a finite number of hours in the day.  Your energy, on the other hand, is something that you always have control over.

That sounds a little more New Age-y than it is...I promise.  You have to build on your physical or basic energy in order to optimize your other energy (emotional, mental, and spiritual).  It's very Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs for all you nerds out there. 

And while I love the Corporate Athlete program (and desperately would love to be a certified instructor), this is not about that program either.  This post is about Kind Bars. 

While in this Corporate Athlete program, one of my co-workers who was leading the training mentioned finding Kind Bars.  It took me a while until I tried one.  And as soon as I did, it was love. ...But first let me tell you a story....

I was working out with a trainer (a trainer trainer, not a Corporate Athlete trainer, sadly) and she suggested I try one of those protein bars as a good supplement to the cardio and weight training she was having me do.  This was a woman who was supposed to have my overall health in mind.  A woman who was helping me trim down.  I tried the protein bar she suggested.  "I like the chocolate chip cookie dough flavor."  (That should have been the first red flag.)  It had the texture of all those other protein bars - chewy beyond belief, a serious test for any dental work.  And sweet.  Good lord was it sweet.  So I turned it over to check out the ingredients.

And there they were.  The first five ingredients.  (And remember, this was supposed to SUPPORT my HEALTH and help me LOSE WEIGHT.)  #1- corn syrup.  #2- high fructose corn syrup.  #3- calcium caseinate.  #4- sugar.  #5-fractionated palm kernel oil.  Did I mention this young woman said she was getting a masters in nutrition??

Okay.  Out of the first five we've got two kinds of corn syrup, one of the worst oils we can get, something I can't pronounce, and good ole sugar.  No wonder it was sweet.  yikes.

Now back to the Kind Bar.  Basically, it's made of things that not only can be pronounced but also are actually good for you.  The first one I had was the Cranberry Almond bar.  Tasty doesn't begin to describe it.  It tastes like...well...what it should taste like - cranberries and almonds.  If you look at the first five ingredients (there are a total of 9 compared to 40 in the other bar)  they are #1-almonds. #2-dried cranberries. #3-macadamias. #4-honey. Okay...the fifth ingredient seems to be basically just a nicer way to say corn syrup (from what I can tell), but at least it's not genetically modified.  :-)

The next two bars I have tried by them (I have about another 8 waiting on my kitchen counter) were equally delicious.  For breakfast one morning when in a rush, I had the Fruits and Nuts in Yogurt bar.  Yum.  And then tonight for dessert (when I really wanted to go out and get some ice cream), I had the Sesame and Peanuts with Chocolate bar.  Certainly healthier than a pint of Blue Bell. 

Tomorrow I'm going to try to continue my Kind affair with a Almonds & Apricots bar.  It is, indeed, love.

That new year enthusiasm

As with many other people, I start the new year with an enthusiasm that is, let's face it, bound to wear off. That said, I'm celebrating my small wins.

Today, I didn't have too many wins on the breakfast or afternoon snack front. In my previous post, I mentioned my work is having a celebration where we had free breakfast tacos and free cupcakes. I had two of each.

However, the wins began shortly after work. I had worked too late to get to my pilates class on time, but that didn't stop me. I went to the gym and made sure to sign up for pilates classes on each of the Tuesdays and Thursdays for the rest of the month (it's a sign up class at the gym).

But signing up was not the win. I got on the treadmill. It wasn't the world's best workout, but let's be honest, I usually bite off more than I can true, so slow and steady is my new motto. I did 30 mins: a 5 min walking warm-up and then did 3 minutes running and 1 minute walking. I didn't remember to look at the distance I covered, but all in all, I was pleased.

The wins continued at the grocery store where I didn't buy too much (a SERIOUS win), I didn't have any impulse purchases (unless you count pickles and soy sauce), and everything I purchased was healthy.

Another win was dinner. Super healthy. Preheat oven at 350 (ahhh...the good ole all-purpose 350). Two packets made from foil - one had a
salmon fillet (technically larger than I'm supposed to have, but hey), seafood seasoning, and slices of lemon. The other had two medium zucchini sliced in 1/4 inch slices, a little bit of olive oil, and some herbes de provence. The two packets stayed in the oven for 20 mins and came out perfect. Delicious.


The last win of the evening (b/c clearly going to bed early isn't happening) was preparing my meals for tomorrow. 
In my Oots lunch box (as shown from top to bottom), I packed breakfast, lunch, and a snack.  Breakfast is Fage fat-free Greek yogurt, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, wheat germ, and ground flax seed.  Lunch is three beans (black, kidney, and green) and brown rice with a bit of italian dressing on it.  Hearty, tasty, and full of fiber. On the left is one of my latest favorite "desserts"...it's really just apples and dried cranberries in a skillet with some water and cinnamon stewed down until the apples are really soft and the cranberries are somewhat rehydrated.  It's so delicious.  And, technically, the only bad thing for you is the sugar in the cranberries. 


The next row down is the snack row.  18 (one serving) of All-bran crackers and two pieces(?) of Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss.  Each of those are only 35 calories and they're super tasty.  Lastly, one of my favorite things is dill pickles.  This is two spears of Vlasic dill pickles.  Recently my boyfriend read that they have a lot of potassium (some runners/bikers drink pickle juice to avoid cramping), and since I'm getting back into working out, why not eat more pickles?  (In truth, I just like them.)



I also prepared (somewhat) for tomorrow night's dinner.  It will be chicken and brown rice stir fry. I've got chicken breasts in the fridge defrosting, I've got brown rice in the pantry, and tonight I purchased three different bell peppers, an onion, and some shredded carrots. I'm excited to make dinner tomorrow night. ...with my impulse buy...soy sauce. :-)

Yay new year enthusiasm!  And with that, good night.