Comfort Lunch

I'm not having a very good day : ( I'm sleep deprived, my skirt ripped as I got out of my car, we had a mini-PR crisis when I got in, the sky is cloudy, I can't go for a lunch walk, I'm hungrier than usual as a result of the sleep deprivation, and I had to eat lunch quickly because I'm leaving early today. Hmph! Someone just pass me some chocolate, please!

My breakfast today didn't do much for my hunger. I was really hungry during my run too, and missed out on some coffee, which helps feed fullness, so I got hungry around 10:30. I waited until 11 to have a Gnu Fiber bar. These are great! An A+ product all around for flavor and nutritional status. I order them from the Gnu website, which is easy enough to do. ALL of the flavors are delicious too! www.gnufoods.com



I also had 4 almonds:



Tried a new product for lunch: Lifelight's Smart Chili. It's one of those soy chilis that I found in the soy section of the grocery store. It's high in protein and fiber and really low in fat, but it is high in sodium and is a processed product. Here's the info:

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size:
1 cup (236g)
Servings per package:
about 1

Calories 260
Calories from Fat 5
Fat 0.5g
Saturated Fat 0g
Trans Fatty Acids 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 820mg
Potassium 1230mg
Carbohydrate 44g
Fiber 12g
Sugar 12g
Protein 19g

My rating: A-. It was actually pretty good, although it was really sweet. Like BBQ sauce with sugar in it. But the soy tasted like real meat and the kidney beans were yummy. The portion was rather small too, but for 250 calories and a relatively good nutrition label, I gave it a pretty good score overall. However, I don't think I'll buy it again. I just don't like eating processed foods, and leftover homemade chili would have been much more satisfying, I think. Perhaps I'll get it if I'm in a hurry, but there are so many things that take no time to pack for lunch that I don't think this would be my number one choice.

So here was lunch:

Chopped raw veggies that I ate most of while the chili was cooking and then added to it when it was ready.



Health TIP: I chop up a bunch of veggies on Sunday so I can use them for salads, soups, dipping in things, etc. It saves lots of time not having to get out a cutting board each time! I found that I LOVE raw squash. I've always loved raw bell peppers, and I'm working on loving cucumber, but it's my least favorite. There's some celery in there too, I think. So these are the remainder of this week's batch.

Half a leftover biscuit and a Fage 0% yogurt



All together with a cup of water:



Although it was filling and provided a balance of food groups, lunch was very unsatisfying on the palate. I prefer to have a bunch of little things (like my park picnics!), and this was just a little boring : (

So to cheer myself in typical bad-relationship-with-food fashion, I had a chocolate truffle. It was small, but I didn't need it! But you know what? It's the second-to-last in a box of truffles a co-worker gave me back in February, so it's something that I've been able to make the box last that long!



Snack calories: 150
Lunch calories: ~525

• Chili - 260
• Veggies - 25
• Fage - 80
• Biscuit - 90
• Chocolate - 70

I've got my nutrition course tonight at Queens and am leaving work at 4:30 to get there and eat dinner. I decided I'm eating in the dining hall - $6.50 for all you can eat! What a deal!! I discovered that they use a dining service company that has all the nutritional info online for ALL of their foods!! And there's the menu of course, so I think I'm going to have a big salad, cauliflower soup, and perhaps the tofu-lettuce wrap depending on what it looks like. It will take everything I've got not to take one of the buffet desserts, but since I'm headed to nutrition class, I bet that will help me resist : ) Buffets are my weakness. I would never buy a dessert, but since it's free, I'm tempted to try ALL of them!! But that's unacceptable and if i find I can't handle the dining hall, I simply won't go back.

But I think I can handle it ; o )

K