Death March of the Instant Jello

I have a problem. I call it - new food obsession. As I mentioned in my previous post, I had fallen in love with adding a spoonful of Sugar-Free Instant Jello Pudding Mix to my greek yogurt to make a delicious and protein-filled dessert. However, I've been eating it about twice a day and with all the chemicals and artificial sweeteners (aspartame) in the mix, it hasn't been doing wonders for my digestive system. Let's just say yesterday was the last straw and this morning, with a clear mind, I had to tell the Jello good-bye:

Death March (chocolate, banana creme and butterscotch... )

Falling into the trash...

Goodbye! I will miss you!

Haha, sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. I'm sure this snack would be fine every once and a while (for those of you who can do such things), but this was just a step I had to take! I do, however, have a DELICIOUS dessert alternative for you later today (if I get a chance to make it) that is so easy and has nothing artificial! Get excited!!!

For breakfast this morning I made some oats with half a banana and a little PB2 powder, and then some scrambled egg whites on the side for added protein.

I then headed off to Core Power Yoga for Power Sculpt, which mixes yoga with weights and has upbeat music! I went to this class last week and it was somewhat traumatic; I wasn't expecting to get so sweaty! But this week I was more prepared with a big towel to put on my mat, some coconut water, and quick-dry clothing! (No white t-shirts!).

When I first went to this power sculpt class I left feeling very dehydrated and in need of a sports drink. However, I HATE the taste of sports drinks! I had heard a lot of people talking about coconut water so I decided to give it a try. I got some flavored Vita Coco and I've been drinking a little of that after my hot yoga classes.

Ironically, I came across an article this week in the New York Times by Anahad O'Conner about coconut water and whether it is really better for hydration. In his research, he found that Vita Coco and O.N.E. Coconut water, which are two of the most popular brands, contained less sodium and magnesium than advertised, while Zico did contain the same amount of sodium.

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However, even Zico did not contain as much sodium as many sports drinks. The article did conclude, however, that coconut water is just as hydrating as a sports drink, just not necessarily better. So if you are like me and prefer coconut water over sports drinks, then keep it up! Just remember to make sure the brand you've chosen has plenty of sodium!

Does anyone else have to get rid of certain foods in their house? I also can't keep crackers! I eat them like crazy!

Lazy Afternoon

After doing some blog work at Java Coast I headed to The Counter to meet my cousin, Allie, for lunch. Allie just moved to Chicago so I'm looking forward to getting to spend some time with her now that we're in the same city for the first time in about 9 years!

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I'd been to The Counter once before with my brother and sister-in-law and I definitely enjoy it because there are a million options! You can either order a burger off their regular menu, or you can make your own!

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Of course, I chose the make your own option. They have a regular burger, a turkey burger, chicken or a veggie burger. They also have a market selection which changes regularly; today it was a crab cake, and that's what Allie ordered! I went with the turkey burger, which I chose to do over a salad rather than on a bun. Then you get to pick your cheese, toppings, and sauce! They have a million options for each! I went with cole slaw, shaved carrots, scallions, and grilled pineapple with the apricot sauce! It was so good! Unfortunately I completely forgot to take a picture since I was so distracted by getting to see Allie! I promise I'll work on this problem of mine...

Later on in the afternoon I headed over to my brother and sister-in-law's condo to take their puppy, Molly, out to the park in an attempt to get some energy out! Did I mention they got a puppy? Because they did, last week, and she's adorable!!!! And vicious.... She's currently teething and thus finds it perfectly appropriate to chew every part of my body that she could get a hold on! She drew blood today!

But then you look at that cute puppy face and can't stay mad for long. Do you see that stick she found? (Okay, I found and shoved in her face to keep her from chewing on my thigh...). She's pretty darn cute, just can't wait for this biting phase to be over! Molly is an 8 week-old golden retriever and has tons of energy! One of my favorite things is getting stopped by people and pretending she's my dog. Haha, I love being "Aunt Katie"; all the fun and much less work! I recommend this method to everyone.

When I got home I was STARVING so I made up some Zucchini "Spaghetti". I'd heard of making spaghetti from zucchini and I'd been wanting to try it out for a long time. This also became a game of "what can we use up in Katie's kitchen?". I'm heading home to Kansas City on Friday for a week and I need to use up perishables!

To start, I used a peeler and peeled the skin off the zucchini and then kept using the peeler until I had peeled it into tons of thin slices! Took forever... I then steamed that in the microwave for about 3 minutes.

Once that was done, I put chopped broccoli, onions, green onions and chickpeas in a bowl and steamed that as well for about 2 minutes. I tossed it on top of the "spaghetti" and threw on some marinara sauce! It was absolutely delicious!

And, of course, I finished the evening off with some sugar free instant pudding mix in Greek yogurt (tonight was butter scotch!).

Does anyone else have/had/or know someone with a puppy? They can be adorable, but frustrating all at the same time! Anyone else have the same feelings?

All I can say, is I'm glad I'm "aunt" Katie. Kudos to my brother and sister-in-law for being such great, patient parents!

Goodnight!

Four posts in one day! Whew! Hopefully keeping up with this won't be as hard as starting!

So after lunch I headed back to the office, finished up some projects and said my goodbyes! After work I had intended to use my free week pass to Core Power Yoga and try out their power sculpt class. However, I was feeling pretty sore from my workout yesterday, so I decided to head to the gym to end out the afternoon with a little cardio. Before my workout, I had a GNU bar and half an apple:

I did 25 min on one elliptical, 15 minutes on another (I get too bored on one type of machine the whole time...) and then ended out with about 20 minutes of light biking while reading my book, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, by Lisa See.

So far I'm enjoying it, her writing is beautiful! I'm a big reader and will hopefully be sharing some book reviews soon! After my workout I snacked on the second half of my apple while I paroused World Market and Marshalls for some cute bowls, plates, or placemats for food photos but came up empty handed. I then went to GNC to re-stock on protein powder. This is my old kind:

Which I liked because it's very low in fat and sugar but has 30g of protein for 140 cal! Also, it made my smoothies very thick when I blended it long enough. However, the GNC employee convinced me to try a new kind:

It had slightly less fat but was otherwise the same. I can't say I'm a fan. I got a bag of Vanilla and Strawberry since it was buy one get one half off, and tried the strawberry. It definitely didn't produce the same thick, mousse-like quality. Any suggestions?

In my smoothie I added about 2 cups spinach, 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, half a banana, some frozen strawberries, a Stevia packet and the protein powder. I ate it with a ramekin full of Trader Joe's Bran Flakes.

I was still hungry after dinner (and dehydrated!) so I had half a cantaloupe and then finished my meal off with the little bit of plain non-fat greek yogurt I had left over with a scoop of sugar-free chocolate instant pudding mix! I discovered this recipe on a week ago on Peanut Butter Fingers and have been obsessed! So delicious! Also munched on some strawberries.

I hope you all are ready for the weekend, because I sure am! BEDTIME!!!