Hi Friends, life has been busy. I love blogging. I love sharing real food nutrition info with all of you. Unfortunately, until my dream career takes off, I have to work a very full, full-time job. Life has just been crazy and I apologize for not posting more frequently. I have two blog posts in the works/ almost done that I promise will be here soon! I am curious, what do you all do to balance work and home obligations with "personal" time? I find myself with a huge to-do list yet still seeking out more things to do! It really doesn't make much sense at all. But on the other hand, I have this mentality that I can always do more/ be better/ improve my skill set and this ambitiousness I believe will help me move toward the life I envision for myself. In fact, my most recent venture towards expanding myself and my future career is an exciting one. I reached out to a personal trainer at my gym asking about if they had a dietitian/nutritionist on staff. A resume, a few meetings and we made things happen. I am beyond excited to lead my first ever nutrition seminar free to members at my gym. It is going to be a wonderful learning experience and will be a big step in expanding my personal career. In addition, I am working on putting together an Amazon page so that I can easily share my favorite food items and cooking utensils with all of you!
Is there something you've been wanting to do or try? What's holding you back?
In the meantime, while I work on getting my life better under control, I thought I'd share some of my eats. I don't know about you, but one of my favorite things about Instagram is seeing what other people eat. New products, meal and food combos- it is all actually quite inspiring! I find recipe links and unique food pairings all the time! Today is a "what I ate Wednesday" of sorts. Hope you find some simple meal ideas to use.
a day in the life
5:00 alarm- ignore; 5:03 alarm- ignore; 5:05 alarm- ignore; 5:10 alarm- ignore
5:15 AM alarm- fine.....Yes I set about 5 alarms...The funny thing is a few years ago I would have vowed that if I had to get up before 6AM for the gym that it wouldn't happen. Now, most days, I know that if I don't get up I lose out on my Courtney time. So I go, usually 3 weekday mornings. I don't work out half as long as I used to (see my about page for more on that) but I try and keep the intensity up for a ~30 minute workout/circuit. If I am exhausted, as I was yesterday, I sleep in and go for a walk or jog after work. This option is much more appealing now that it is getting warmer and the sun is staying up past 7:00 PM.
Since I don't work out long enough to be totally zonked, I get home and get in the shower. If you are a morning exerciser and feel clueless about if you should eat, check out this post where I answer all of your questions.
I take my breakfast to work with me, sometimes I eat some fruit or drink my smoothie (on a smoothie day) in the car.
8:15 AM Breakfast. Grapefruit and strawberries. Egg bake made with fresh made breakfast sausage from Whole foods and topped with my favorite grass-fed butter. Find the recipe I have been mimicking lately here. Or check out my egg bake recipe here. Veggies in this include onion, pepper, and spinach.
tupperware is the greatest invention. ever
Then I got a coffee. Today I went to Starbucks with a friend/ co-worker. I get a Grande Americano with steamed heavy cream and top with lots of cinnamon. I went on rounds with my team at work from 9:30-12:30. Around 12 I was starving. This typically happens on rounds. I don't know what everyone else does that they aren't ready to hit the floor but I seriously hit that 3 1/2 - 4 hrs after breakfast mark and my body is sending out danger signals. I paused for a granola bar.
Cut this into lots of smaller bars and take to work in a ziploc baggie so its easy to eat.
11:50 AM Snack. This recipe is a homemade Snickerdoodle Larabar recipe and it is coming to you soon!
1:30 PM Lunch. Yum lunch today was so good, I can't wait to eat it again tomorrow. On Sunday I cubed a butternut squash and roasted seasoned with only olive oil, salt and pepper. The key is to use simple seasonings with your sides so that you can mix and match with any meal throughout the week. This week I cooked up some green beans, also olive oil, salt, pepper. I cooked one pound of organic ground turkey in a skillet seasoned with salt, pepper, oregano, parsley, Italian seasoning and then stirred in some pasta sauce when it was cooked through. Cooking this turkey took max 5 minutes and is a great protein option to pack up for lunches! So my lunch was the above mentioned parts: turkey (protein), butternut squash (carb), green beans (carb), parm cheese (fat), olives (fat), olive oil (fat), fresh spinach and more pasta sauce (carb). It was SO YUMMY!!!!
drooling....
Then I rushed through notes, had a meeting and rushed to leave because the dog wasn't feeling good yesterday and I was worried.
No this wasn't my snack quantity, this is the big batch I made. SO good.
4:50. Snack. On the drive home I had my snack of Chai, almond milk, cinnamon, raisin quinoa (a mouthful, I know) which I batch cooked on Sunday, with some almond butter mixed in. I will need to share my take on it soon. The recipe that I base it off of can be found linked to on my FB page.
I came home and did some cleaning up. Family is staying with us this weekend and there is just so much to do!! Then it was dinner time.
6:00 PM Dinner. My usual salad in my favorite salad bowl: Spring mix + feta + avocado + olives + pepitas + Bubbies Sauerkraut + S&P + EVOO + balsamic + oregano. On the side I had some organic chicken drumsticks that I had cooked in the slow cooker on Sunday using a simple seasoning blend. Again...simple is the key to meal prep because basic seasoned meats and veggies can be dressed to fit your mood or craving on any given day. It is a win win!
these bowls just make the meal. thanks Pier 1
Dessert. A dark chocolate mini PB cup from Trader Joes. If you have never had these...stop everything you are doing and go buy them- now.
To finish the night I am blogging (found some free time, yay!), I will do laundry, clean and, of course, pack up my foods for my day tomorrow. Thinking I will end my night with some hot lemon water...mmmmm.
Well that's it. Isn't that so incredibly boring? The life of a real food dietitian working in a hospital. Most of my weekdays look similar food-wise just veggies and meats and healthy fats that I sub in an out. I continue to advocate for meal prep on any scale as it will improve your week days substantially.
Until next time...
