Thesis Eating

Sitting in front of a computer all day affects how you eat.

Normally, I like to think about meals I want to make hours, or even days, ahead of time. I

subscribe to food magazines (thanks M&N!!), own countless cookbooks, have more food sites bookmarked than anything else, and yet- I can not remember the last good/new meal I have made.

My meals on writing days go something like this:

1) Set up coffee first and foremost, no less than 8c (usually for both TE and myself)

2) Eat muffin (classic corn or lemon raspberry) or breakfast bar (lately )

3) Work, while refilling coffee, and maybe grab a snack if one is around: grapes, cookies...

4) Continue working until starving and jittery from the coffee-- make lunch (burrito, English muffin with peanut butter and apple butter, leftovers, or really anything I can microwave/toast/prepare quickly)

5) Work, diet soda and pretzels/crackers or veggies and dip, work, more liquids, work, eat something fabulous my husband (or friends!) has made, go back to work, bed....

Really- calorie-wise, it is not that bad, thanks to the fact it is summer and I have been trying to make more of an effort to have more fresh fruits/veggies around (TE brought me some home-grown, BEAUTIFUL Swiss chard and eggplants recently!) but I feel uninspired by the foods. Not something that can be changed, but once I am finished I have BIG food plans :) Meals I have in mind, pies with frozen summer fruits, and the best yet: I am taking a 2-class cake decorating class!

As a graduation gift to myself, and to inspire me to get back to cooking, I will be learning how to make my cakes look as good as they taste! (Have I mentioned lately how much I love cake?! Ha!)

Presentation -and following instructions!- have never been my strong suit- even though I usually pull it off, well enough--

This was my friend J's birthday cake- a vanilla cake with caramel whipped cream frosting and a caramel ganache (a ganache will save any ugly cake!). I will have to share all that I learn in the class here- I am sure it will be good fun!

But until then.... I just get to sit back (at my desk!) enjoy and appreciate all the great food everyone else has been cooking for me! Not too bad :)

New Breakfast

Thanks to Shannon, a fellow CALERIE participant (who is almost done! OMG where does the time go?!) I have a totally new idea for breakfast.

It is vegetarian (!!), protein rich, and leaves me full for hours!

Here is goes:

1/2 of an English muffin, toasted (50c)
1 veggie burger (boca is my preferred brand) (100c)
1 egg, poached (80c)

1 thick sliced tomato (5c)
1 thin slice of a mozzarella ball (I will need to weigh this next time) (est 50c)

I cooked these separately (and did not broil the tomato and mozz quite as much as I would have in cooler weather) since I could not imagine how to balance it all- but the taste is the same!

For around 280-300 calories, you can't get much better than that!

Mmmmm, thanks again Shannon!

Quick Update

I have some good things to post soon, and to keep me on task I thought I would highlight a few of them!

1) "My" new favorite breakfast (haha- thanks Shannon!)

2) Eating while writing thesis (not good!)

3) Yoga (at least I have yoga!)

4) What meals my wonderful husband has been cooking for me!

That is it for now- soon I will return!

Packing Light

I am on a bus. On my way to my hometown for the weekend. It is going to be a 6hr (at least!) bus ride. I tried to organize things so I could be very productive while riding... but alas, here I am, blogging :)

At least you get to benefit!

So I was waiting in line to get onto this bus, and I thought of a perfect topic to blog about!

This European couple came into the line behind me with nothing but a halfway filled back-pack and the girl's purse. I was curious (maybe they had shipped their luggage?) because this is not an overnight trip. Well I guess it could be, if you really loved spending your day on a bus... but really much more like a two day trip at the minimum. So it got me thinking... TE sent me a link to a great NYT article that I have made it halfway through, and this couple they interview in the beginning, lives with only 100 items (what??!!) TOTAL. I was thinking this couple could be like that. Or maybe it was because they are European... So I checked out all the other passengers in line with me and like me most had an overnight bag of ranging sizes and a personal items bag. Americans :)

Fascinating.

I tried to think of what I "really" needed this weekend (since I was in line with my suitcase, backpack and purse, all of which contents I will outline shortly).

I am going home for my best friend's bachelorette party weekend and we have a variety of things planned. But really all I need could probably fit into one bag. Probably.

So here it goes. Food items first :)

I am also going to calculate the calories since this is a diet blog (ha!). For reference this European couple came aboard with one diet Snapple (16oz?) and a single-bag box of chips ahoy. For.both.of.them.

Now let's compare.

Liz's Food For the 6hr trip
(Yes I am traveling alone, TE and the King Pup are hanging out at home this weekend!)

1) Sub.way footlong sub (ham and provolone, spinach, tomatoes, pickles, and jalapenos with mustard) and I know, I totally won't need a footlong, but who knows this trip may take 10hrs, better to be safe, and it was only $5... (see-- already excess) (670c - ish) (335c)
2) 3c watermelon (150c)
3) 1c Cheddar goldfish (~300c)
4) 1/2c Gluten free herb crackers (Amy's gone crackers?) (75c)
5) 1 Nature Valley peanut butter granola bar (170c)
6) 1 pack of raw fruits and nuts (TJs) (200c)
7) 1 bag of peanut M&Ms (250c)

and then...

for an emergency situation....
8) one of those gross (but so good) Little Debbie brownies (530c!!!)

I should be embarrassed by this...

I am a bit...

Grand total calories: 1815 without the brownie, 2345 with.
Oh my! How far I have fallen!
I, most likely, will not even eat half of it (packing waay more than I need) but still- why do I think I need 2300+ calories for 6 hours!?

I "bolded" the items i thought I would eat/have already eaten (watermelon and crackers) and that total is 810 calories. Better, but still- not great. I did only have breakfast and lunch so that fits into the 4- 400 calorie meal plan...
As long as I don't eat the brownie! :)

Which brings us to actual packing. I think I did pretty well considering my typical habits.

I fit all of my going out clothes (actually enough going out clothes for 3 girls...), beach clothes and towel, hanging out/causal clothes, PJs, 4 pairs of shoes (!!), and all my toiletries/makeup/hair stuff (I think that took up half the space) all into 1 normal sized suitcase!

Then I have my work and laptop in my backpack.

And my food and purse stuff in my purse.

So not minimalist- at all. Well, I never claimed to pack light!

Something to think about, I guess. Something other than my thesis... not what I should be doing. Alright-- back to work :)

Decisions

Well, I am on my way.

I have a job!!!

It has nothing to do with aging or calorie restriction.

I am very excited about it, despite those details.

I am doing something related to what I did before grad school and in undergrad. It is funny how much of that I still remember. I start the job November 1!

It took me a bit to get excited. But I am fully on board now. I have 6 weeks to turn in my thesis to my committee. That fact is making me crazy. I feel like a chicken without a head. Running around aimlessly, too many things needing attention, nothing actually getting adequate time or focus. I am repeating myself, forgetting who I have talked to about what, forgetting meetings and plans... etc.

So to all my family and friends out there who have suffered because of my chaos, I promise to be better-- in November :)

So for now, I will be cutting myself off. Or trying to. So far I have been unsuccessful at being productive (I needed to celebrate, right?!). But my experiments are ending. Whatever is done is done. Whatever is not, will not get done. And now the writing really begins. First the paper. That is getting sent out the week of labor day. That will also be a (the) major chapter of my thesis. Then I will focus on the rest of the thesis. The more I do, the more I feel like I have to do. I never feel like I get any closer to the end. But the end is coming whether I like it or not....

But how are my eating habits you wonder??

Terrible! I have to get myself back into some old CR habits. I have been drinking too much, sleeping too little, and stressing out way more than is helpful (which in turn causes me to eat too much junky food). I need to get back to my standard meals.

Breakfast: I need help with this one. I can not do cereal (I really overdid it...), PB on toast is getting old although I can eat it occasionally, I have not wanted yogurt and granola, and it is too hot for oatmeal. Maybe eggs will have to do. Egg white omelets. Ideas?

Lunch: I am getting back into the Amy's burrito phase again. Thankfully I recovered quickly from overdoing that one. Also sandwiches are good too. Change up the mustard and it all tastes different :)

Dinner: It has been wayyy too hot to cook and I bought stuff for salads the other week and never used them. I need to get over that and eat salad again. My vegetable intake has gone into free fall mode. Luckily I have a lot of friends who have been cooking for me lately and they cook vegetables for me and TE. I think a rule of one salad/day needs to be implemented.

Well- that is it for now. I am sorry for the absence recently. I will try to keep you all posted on my progress and keep thinking of meal ideas for me, I need all the help I can get right now!!