Sprint 2 the Table

Appetites and Adventures

Chili-Lime Crab Salad + WIAW

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I’m full of it.

 

I also love a dual meaning..

No, today I am full of protein and carbs.  Last week I talked about my new, carb-heavy plan in effort to gain.  I also get a daily “cheat” vs. the one cheat day I was getting before.  At first I thought this was awesome, but I now realize that one full day of cheats was better.  It gave my brain a break from measuring out fat-carbs-protein 7x a day.

Which brings me to one reason I love my trainer: he’s open to changing strategy.  We talked about diet last night (during a brutal leg workout), and made a couple of adjustments:

  1. I don’t have to eat if I’m miserable – 6 meals is ok as long as I’m getting in the protein/calories needed to gain (read: no salad for dinner)
  2. Two 1/2 day cheats per week rather than the daily cheat – there wasn’t a point in the daily cheat when I was too full to even take it

 

Of course after complaining I wasn’t hungry at all and nothing sounded good, he killed my legs and I was ready to eat my arm by the time I got home.

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I’m working hard on fueling my body right via my Kitchen Workout (have you joined?) and my training plan.  Jenn must have read my mind, but my goals fit perfectly with this month’s What I Ate Wednesday theme: healthy holiday recipes.  Below is one day of delicious, healthy eats.

 

Be sure to click here to head over to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons and see how everyone else is eating healthy during the season of temptation joy.

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Meal 1:

Of course I enjoyed my morning cocktail (mix of Apple Cider Vinegar, Glutamine, and Fitmixer Aminos), followed by a 2 mile incline walk.  I take a treadmill walk every morning while I’m going through my Reader and commenting on blogs and catching up on the royal baby gossip.

Today was an odd breakfast day.  I didn’t know what I wanted!  I was hot after the brisk walk, so I wasn’t relishing the thought of a warm breakfast.  However, I don’t like to have shakes or yogurt for breakfast (I have no idea when/why this started).  After drinking an ice water, I settled on a favorite: runny egg with a P28 protein bagel.  Cooked in truffle oil and served with a side of blackberries.

 

 

Meal 2:

If you follow my on Instagram, you may notice that I ate the same thing for meal 2 yesterday.  This combo was a winner!  Lindsay put the chili-lime flavor combo in my head Sunday night.  Eyeing my fridge, I decided that sounded like a great flavor for my lump crab meat.

 

Chili-Lime Mango Crab Salad

  • 3 oz crab
  • 1/4 large mango, cubed
  • 1/2 C edamame
  • Pumpkin seeds
  • Juice from 1/4 fresh lime
  • Cayenne pepper, to taste
  • Cilantro

 

 

Meal 3:

Nothing sounded good to me this afternoon.  I ate meal 3 (lunch) at 2:30.  Chicken Burgers, seasoned with my Mediterranean spice blend and mixed mushrooms and onions.  It was actually really good.  I’m glad I made 2 so I can have it again when I’m more excited about eating.  I ate it on an Ezekial pita with spinach hummus and cucumber slices sprinkled with pepper and paprika.

 

 

 

Meal 4:

Because I was so annoyed at my lack of appetite, I moved up my appointment with my trainer.  Leg day is a great cure for anti-hunger, right?  I whipped up a Zucchini Bread Protein Shake to have post-workout.  I mixed in oats for my carb.

(Random fact: I’ve always loved raw oatmeal.  I even ate them out of the Quaker container as a kid.)

 

Sorry for the bad terrible  pic.  I drank it in the car on the way home and it gets dark early!  And leg day so thoroughly cured my lack of appetite that I nearly forgot a pic.

 

 

Meal 5:

Dinner was leftovers.  This pic is a left over too… ’cause it was much prettier right out of the pot.  I have no real recipe – this Curried Tomato Chicken and Eggplant bowl was a “throw-together” dinner winner.

It involved curry powder, other Indian spices, ground chicken, fire-roasted tomatoes, Thai eggplant, onion, red pepper, and cilantro.  I ate it over shirataki noodles. 

 

 

Meal 6:

I repeated again.  Last week I made my beloved Carrot Cake Batter, using cottage cheese in place of the Greek yogurt.  This week I did it again, but also crumbled a salt-free rice cake into it and topped with a little sugar-free caramel (it’s by Walden Farms… and no, it’s isn’t near as good as the real deal). 

Meal 7:

When I drafted this post earlier in the day, I was ready to announce that I failed again at eating meal 7.  Behold, the power of leg day.  Meal 7 was an old favorite: 150 Calorie Chocolate Microwave Protein Cake.  Lots pf protein with cherries on top.

 

***

The protein count for the day: 167.3g.

My 2 shameless plugs: I’d love it if you’d click here and “Like” my new Facebook page.  Also, don’t forget to enter the giveaway for a $25 gift certificate to Open Sky!

Are you a fan of “cheat” meals?  Would you rather have it all in one day, or spread out over the week?

How are you keeping it (mostly) clean this season?

 

Comments

  2. Wait, whaaaaat? HOW are you able to walk on the treadmill and comment on blogs?!? I tried that once and it didn’t work out so well, but talk about a time-saver. And I really hate the days where I have no appetite because I’m never sure if I should be eating or not… I honestly think I hate them more than the days where I seem to be insatiable.

    • I put it on a good incline ad keep the speed slower (around 3.5). It does take some getting used to!

  4. I’m a big fan of cheat meals because I like going out once or twice on the weekend worry-free. They work well with my social calendar. 🙂

    I like the idea of the morning cocktail. What brands of glutamine and aminos do you prefer?

    • Haha – my social calendar is another reason I just want 2 half cheat days. 😉

      I think my glutamine is AllMax. I just heard to be sure you get Japanese grade. The BCAAs are my FItMixer (linked above).

  7. alright for FB page! i have yet to get one up. I think i might be a bit much for me. I can’t multitask that well. LOL.
    But i can with food. And that chili lime combo crab. Glad i spurred you on to make it. You were referring to this Lindsay, yes?
    😉

  8. Great WIAW hunnie 🙂 I always look forward to yours 🙂 I can’t have smoothies for breakfast either! They would NEVER keep me full!

  9. Those zucchini bread protein shake and carrot cake batter concoctions sound so tasty! I love things that taste like baked goods and their respective batters 🙂 Oh, and I was also one of those children who ate raw oatmeal from the container. And spaghetti.

  11. Lifting more than the guy next to you is always awesome. I feel that way about bootcamp or spinning class.

    I love your yolk porn (that sounds creepy) and meal # 5 sounds amazing with all those lovely spices and huge hunks of fresh cilantro. I’m salivating….

    I don’t do calculated cheat days or meals since my whole thing is eat what I want, when I want, so long as it’s real whole ingredients and in moderation. Obviously if I find myself eating sugar at every meal, I switch it up so there’s some level of good versus bad (cheat vs non) going into it, but I don’t have a conscious plan. Does that make any sense? I’m struggling with words here….good thing I don’t write to express myself…oh crap.

    • I can’t figure out why the guys at my gym use such light weight – especially on the leg press. Are they scared?! 😉

      You crack me up. Love your writing and your food. 🙂

  12. I’ve got Tony on a one day cheat day. He loves it and looks forward to it each week. I don’t really call mine cheat days or meals, but I have been cycling in more calories when I run these days since I’ve added more distance.

  13. Personally, I don’t like thinking about it as a cheat meal/day/food/etc. I see that in your case you’re following a strict plan, so it may be necessary for you to think of it that way. But for someone like me, I just think of it as an indulgence. BUT I try to plan the indulgence out, even if its just piece of chocolate after dinner, because it gives me something to look forward to and helps me eat better the rest of the day!

    • That’s why I’m loving the 2 half day approach. Enough to make me happy rather than sluggish. 🙂

  15. I definitely would rather have a cheat meal than a cheat day. I like to have something sweet almost every day (if that’s considered cheating) and if I do have an unhealthy meal, I am likely to follow it up with something healthy so the cheat day would probably be wasted in my case.

    Is sushi your cheat meal today? I’m excited.

  16. I get so frustrated on days when I don’t have much of an appetite! I’m never sure whether I should force something down or just wait it out.

    I don’t consider cheat meals or days because I much prefer “eating what I want”…right now, I find that if I try to implement a once weekly cheat meal or day I tend to go a little nuts with it – It’s better for me right now to have a little something sweet whenever I crave it during the week, and otherwise focus on eating whole, nutritious food.

  17. Nice! Always love your WIAW! I used to shun whole wheat bread as a kid because of the oatmeal topping… raw oats? No way!! (Unless soaked overnight)… Btw, I have also gone into microwave protein cake mode… my version will be posted next week… I love experimenting with every new batch. 🙂

  19. Love the eats…You always have great recipes!

    Life is about balance and so I do enjoy indulging from time to time with my favourite eats 🙂

  20. to your questions – i would never get to the point of having a “cheat” meal or day because I would never be able to do a strict diet. 🙂

    I want to try one of your eggs one day.

  21. That’s awesome that your trainer is so open to changing things up to make it work for you! That mug cake looks fabulous too. I’m going to have to check out that recipe!

  24. Despite technically only getting one “cheat” meal (so far)…I go ahead and take two. One on Wed or Thurs, one on Sat. No way I can go a whole week without–but I also wouldn’t do well with a daily. Looove the look of that breakfast (since, you know, breakfast kick over here and all).

  27. chili lime everywhere! this salad looks so SO good – I love mango + edamame in a fresh salad – great flavors and textures, and looks so pretty!

    tee hee, I love the “lifting more than the guy next to you” – and yep, just straight up awesome. I was recently telling Jason about my “old” lifting days in college (when I coached a special olympics lifting team), and I could lift more than the coach working with the other team… a guy that was much bigger than me… 😉

    yay for cheat half days and flexibility!

  28. You have the best throw together meals… the eggplant chicken curry whatever else dish looks awesome. Glad you’re finding a balance with your diet, and figuring out what works!

  30. That cherry cake looks so pretty! Well one on the food porn 😉 I absolutely love crab. Unfortunately, it’s a little much for my student budget, so I stick to the fake crab when I eat it. Not quite as good, but neither is living on Kraft Dinner to feed a crab habit 🙂

    • I’ve never had the fake – does it taste the same? I’m lucky to have a market near by that sells it for 2/3 of the Whole Foods price.

  31. Aaah, what a mix of colours in your meals once again, Laura! Do you consciously combine them that way :)?

    While I don’t categorize my meals in “cheat” and “non-cheat” ones if I did I’d rather have them spread over the week. Just like I’m now having sweets every day balanced out by healthy, vegetable-filled dishes and whole grains.

    • I don’t do it on purpose, but my mom always told us to “eat the rainbow.” I guess I did listen to her?!

    • I think I’d eat it every day if I didn’t have such a problem with repetition… 🙂

  34. I’m with you about raw oats- I absolutely love the stuff, especially mixed with yogurt! I’m the opposite of you when it comes to cheat days- I rather a bit every day as opposed a full-on blow-out day! Although when doing competition prep, I definitely can see the benefits of the latter- hopefully it gets all your cravings outta your system for the next 6 days ;)!

  35. Hooray for when you do food posts. 🙂 These are my favorite, even if I can’t (well, won’t) eat most of what you make, it is always inspirational!

    Also, my cousins and I went through a random phase one summer where we ate raw oats, then graduated to putting just a bit of milk on them. These were the oats in the packets, and we walked around with them in our hands. Now, in retrospect, I realize we were just channeling in the Swiss and their muesli. I still love raw muesli and will eat it by the fingerful from the box.

    • LOL! Today’s SP Pie has a vegan option, just for you. 😉

      I have to ban myself from muesli after this box. I’m insatiable!

  37. mm that curried chicken eggplant tomato meal looks delicious 🙂 i have so many recipes i want to try! leg day always makes me starving too!

  38. I’m definitely a spread-it-all-out kinda girl. But then again I don’t consider any foods “cheating” cause I’m not on any specific diet. If I were confined to certain things though I think I’d be all for the cheat meal!

    That dessert looks incredible!

  39. You’re killing me with all the things you’re cooking in truffle oil… I need to buy some! Throw together dinners are my favorite except the fact that I always forget what I did and how I made them…

    As far as cheat days… I think I’d prefer 1 day to spreading it out because of the same reasons you said above. I’m like you in the whole either do it all or do none thing (what I’m trying to say is… cold turkey or i cant do it… does that make sense)

  40. I’m glad your trainer is willing to work with you and with how you’re taking things! That is the sign of a good trainer!

  45. For me, I’d rather have one cheat day than a cheat meal once a day. Its easier to go one full day when you have the momentum to eat better, and then on your “cheat” day you can really just let go and eat whatever you want (within reason)- usually Saturday for me. Random, throw together meals always seem to taste the best don’t they?

  46. Mmm, I need to get my hands on some truffle oil…THAT is what my eggs are missing! And girl, that crab salad is pornorific…new word, you like? 😉 But seriously, gorgeous! And I still have some lump crab meat that I bought when I said I was going to make your gazpacho but never did…FAIL!

    I’ve never really given much thought to the cheat day thing, but it totally makes sense that it would be easier/less stressful to just make it one whole day instead of breaking the mentality for only part of the day…hmm. I’m definitely having a hard time keeping it even part of the way clean for the last couple of weeks…I swear I ate so much over my birthday weekend that my stomach is STILL stretched out! I’ve been trying to compensate for my overindulgence with plenty of fresh fruits, veggies, and water but my co-workers are KILLING me with the cookies! Can’t.say.no.must.eat.all.the.cookies!!! Bahaha!

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