Nutritional Relief & Cheat Days

What in the world was I thinking, starting a health Challenge now right when the holidays are about to be in full swing?  Oh. My. Goodness!  The Pumpkin Spice Lattes, the Salted Caramel Mocha, the caramel hot chocolates.... the yumminess of the holiday season has just started up and I'm having to have "come-to-Jesus meetings" with myself every day (multiple times a day) to stay away.  I'd be lying if I said I find it easy to say no to the delicious sugary goodness of the Starbucks holiday drinks; in fact, I've caved a couple times already.  (Yikes)

Momentary Relief

When you're eating oatmeal in the morning on a lean diet, the goal isn't to get that yummy, sweet buttery flavor.  It really is just oats and water, and some cinnamon if you'd like.  But no sugar, no milk and no butter.  And no salt.  So basically, blah.  When I eat it, I keep telling myself "This too shall pass," and think of the comforting feeling it's going to provide my hungry stomach rather the whining my taste buds are doing. 

One of the really cool things about promoting Vi is the incredible people that you get to meet. One such sweet person, Darlene, had mentioned something to me in the gym about adding her Vi protein to her morning oatmeal. So I tried it, and it was pretty good!  Vi is naturally a little sweet, with less than 1g of sugar and 5g of fiber, so I got extra protein and fiber with my complex carbs (oats are complex carbs).



Vi protein added to oatmeal

Yummy Protein Shakes

After my morning workouts, I usually grab a protein shake with some added glutamine.  One of my favorites is the Caramel Frap.  I also do this one in the afternoon sometimes (minus the glutamine) for an afternoon snack.  If I don't, I would end up eating some candy or chips from the vending machine.  This way, I get in the calories and protein that I need and it's yummy!

About to blend one of my favorites at work, the Caramel Frap protein shake!

I've been asked how I make this shake, so I'd made a video showing how I usually make it (without the glutamine).  This is without a doubt one of our biggest hits; it's soooo good!  Right now though, I'm not using any creamer at all in my shakes; trying to avoid the extra sugars and other simple carbs as much as possible.

 

Tricks for the Palate

While in Target yesterday morning, I made a super cool discovery!  Sugar free coffee syrups for the holidays!  The Pumpkin Spice one has 0 calories, fats, sugars, carbs and protein, and 5mg of sodium (in 2 Tbsp).  It doesn't taste exactly the same as the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte, but it gets close enough to do the trick!  I'm thinking of trying this one instead of the caramel syrup in the Caramel Frap to see how that goes.

Sugar free coffee syrups for the holidays!

My sweet friend, Michelle, found these Starbucks VIA in Pumpkin Spice!  They only have 13g of sugar!!!  This is sooooo much better than the 46g+ or so that are in just a tall (even nonfat, no whip).  I ran all over before I found some to buy this weekend and I can't wait until my next cheat day to have them!  Thank you so much, Michelle!



Pumpkin Spice VIA

Pumpkin Spice VIA

Cheat Days

It is hard for me to sit still today.  Yesterday was my cheat day for the week.  Oh yeah, I totally had a nonfat , no whip tall Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL).  And I even ate some chips after dinner too.  I am really, really not use to this whole cheat day thing though; I feel terrible that I've done that. 

The concept of cheat days (or meals) is it helps you stay with your diet by giving you something rewarding to look forward to that will satisfy those cravings and therefore keep you sticking with your diet and reaching for your goals.  But... that being said, I still feel like I threw it all away by doing that this weekend.  In fact, I felt so guilty that I went and did some cardio this morning, even though I wasn't suppose to.  I didn't do much because I ended up having to do some other things that came up, but I almost went back for more this afternoon.  

I kept thinking of my problem areas this whole weekend.  Every sip of my PSL went down slowly.  Yah, there were small voices telling me I was ruining everything Natasha has done with me this week.  But I'm not going to give up; here's to eating clean this week and leaning up a bit more!  Now where's that chicken breast and green beans?

=) Amanda