SCBR Week 3/Day 3 Food/Exercise Journal

7:45 am – Coffee – First Signs of Hunger (4)

* You may see new names for how I felt after each meal/snack. I'm supposed to be following the Hunger Continuum from Ellie's book to denote how I feel along with the numbers on the scale. I'll have to take a photo so it makes more sense.

I snoozed for the longest time again today…grr…this is turning into a bad habit! I started the morning with a nice hot cup of Fresh Market Almond Amaretto with sugar and 2% milk.

Check out my yummy cranberry + walnut bars in the background…yum! I wrapped them up individually last night and am planning to take them with me to work this week.

9:30 am – Pumpernickel Bagel, Plain Cream Cheese, + More Coffee – Content (5)

Since I had yesterday off, I didn't get my usual Monday bagel, so I celebrated MB Day today instead. I got a pumpernickel with plain cream cheese and a small flavored coffee – Toasted Almond w/ cream + sugar.

11:00 am – Water – Content (5)

After my bagel and more coffee, I was pretty parched, so I grabbed some water. Just after getting my water, I watched one of my co-workers stick their empty water bottle in the fridge's water dispenser, which kinda freaked out the germiphobe in me…Eww! I brushed it off and drank the water anyways.

11:45 am – Salad – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

NO PICTURE!

I am extremely peeved with my camera right now. Over the last few months, I've noticed a trend where my camera (my Nikon) will "DELETE" my pictures from time to time. Twice now, I've finally downloaded my pictures months after the fact. For example, the pictures I took while Christmas tree shopping (back in December) only just a couple weeks ago showed up on my import. What?!

Most days, I'll go to import my pictures and I'll get none or some. After downloading the "some" or un-docking the camera to verify that the camera truly has "none", I'll click the preview button on the camera and the screen will say "Memory card contains no images." To this, I reply, "Yes, you do! Give me my pictures you stupid camera!"

I've figured out that it seems I can get my pictures back if I pop both the battery and memory card out and then put them back in. However, tonight I tried that little trick and the camera will simply not give me my pictures from lunch, nor my snack! Grr.

I've been telling hubby I need a new camera, but we just got this one last May, so I'd feel silly getting a new one already. We bought it in the Bahamas over our honeymoon since our camera was lost/stolen at our reception, so it's not like we can take it back to the store (easily).

I think I may have to break down and get a new camera. Does any one have any suggestions, please?  *updated 2/18/09 to add that I meant to say that I'm looking for something small, like another point and shoot, that I can keep in my purse.  I have a DSLR and would love to take it with me everywhere, but it's a little big. 🙂 *

Anywho, as for lunch, I went to a local grocery store and hit up the salad bar.

Lunch eats:

• Mixed baby greens (about 2 cups)
• Baby Spinach (about 1/2 cup)
• Garbanzo beans
• Dried cranberries
• Sliced Red peppers
• A pickle
• A hard-boiled egg
• A sprinkling of bacon bits
• Sunflower seeds
• A sprinkling of sesame bits (I mis-read the bottle and thought they were going to be just sesame seeds, so I stopped pouring when I realized what was coming out)
• Cucumber slices
• Creamy balsamic dressing
• A 1/2 cup of macaroni salad

1:45 pm – Cranberry + Walnut Bar – Content (5)

Here's a picture from last night since my stupid camera deleted my photos (wah!).

I brought 2 of my EK bars I made yesterday to work today and managed to only eat one of them. They are so good and made a great snack…yum! I also had some pomegranate white tea with honey (no photo since it was deleted) and more water.

6:45 pm – Macaroni Grill – Full (7)

We rode the light rail to meet some friends for dinner, for the first time ever. The sky was so pretty during the whole ride over.

We went pretty late into the rush hour so the cars were pretty empty.

The light rail was definitely fast and convenient.

Once we found our friends at our stop, we headed straight for Macaroni Grill – one of our fave places to dine. I got water with my meal (I usually like to get a leaning bellini, but wasn't feeling it tonight) and kicked things off with what else but their delish bread with olive oil, fresh-cracked black pepper, and balsamic vinegar. Love that tangy BV!

When we go to Mac Grill, hubby and I almost always split 1 appetizer and 1 entree. We almost always get the spinach, shrimp, and artichoke dip…it's soo good…we can never resist.

My piece of app #1.

More bread…also dipped in the EVOO + BV mixture.

App #2.

Half garden salad.

Here's a shot of our entire entree. I could never eat this whole thing…look at all that food!

After we got some fresh-grated parm and fresh-cracked black pepper, I noticed something was missing…

…pinenuts! This dish wouldn't be the same without them…seriously. They make this meal! Luckily, we were able to get some.

Here's my portion – half the shrimp (3), some spinach, some pasta, and lots of pinenuts!

I ate almost everything on my plate leaving some mushrooms and pasta. It was soooo good!

8:45 pm – Kid's Soy Hot Cocoa – Full (7)

We were having such a good time with our friends, we decided to take our conversation to Starbucks. Since hubby and I worked in restaurants for a long time, we try to not take up waiter's sections too long. Not to mention, I think coffee shops have great environments for relaxing with good company and good conversation.

I got a kid's hot cocoa with soy milk, adult temp.

I got 2 new mugs while I was there…so excited! I've been eyeing these every time I see them at Starbucks and tonight they were on sale, so I grabbed up 2! Aren't the little hearts adorable?

9:30 pm – Pink Lady Apple – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I've heard eating raw fruits and veggies after a heavy meal (or fast food) can help you digest the food. I don't know if it's true, but I always try to eat a handful of baby carrots or a piece of fruit after eating fast food or a heavy meal and maybe it's mental, but it always makes me feel better.

One last post and I'm off to bed.