Tag Archives | food choices

Few Things Friday + Giveaway Winner

By on May 3, 2013 in food

1. The winner of the Bestowed Box is #21- Cathy!

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Congratulations Cathy! Please send me an email at jennifer@knackfornutrition.com with your address so I can get your box on the way!

2. Moving right along… TGIF!! I don’t know how things are going on your end but I seriously thought the weekend would never get here. it was one of those weeks that just dragged on and on you know? I feel really behind on things in my life and look forward to having the weekend to catch up and slow down a bit.  

3. Ashley gifted me a bunch of spare Vitatops she had laying around her freezer and I can’t stop eating them.

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This is my first go-around with the carrot cake flavor as I am more of a chocolate kind of girl but the wheels are already turning as to how I am going to incorporate these into some delicious, low-calorie desserts!

4. I kind of glazed over this week, doing the bare minimum to get by. Therefore meals have been easy, quick, and transportable.

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Not my best work but I do what I can. The yogurt, granola, banana concoction has done a great job of keeping my hunger at bay all morning long. Too bad I ran out yesterday because I could really go for some right about now!

With that, I am off for what promises to be a busy day!

Question: What is your favorite flavor Vitatop and/or muffin? I am a classic blueberry kind of girl!

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WTF Wednesday: Caffeinated Gum

By on May 1, 2013 in food

Have you guys heard the latest and greatest way to get your caffeine fix? GUM. I know these types of products have been around for a while but it wasn’t until Brian Williams told me all about it last night that my attention was peaked. When this guy talks, you listen.

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I digress…so caffeinated gum has recently caught the eye of the FDA as more and more companies have developed products that provide an extra jolt. The abundance of products that are easily accessible is apparently the point at which regulation needs to come into play. The government agency will be investigating the affects of caffeine on teens and kids specifically.

Seeing as a single piece of gum can have as much as 1/2 cup of coffee I can definitely see where the concern lies. It is so easy to become dependent on such an accessible source of energy.

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It seems like caffeine is added to just about everything and anything these days. From energy bars to chocolate you can’t help but wonder if we are stretched too thin and reliant on fake sources of energy for a boost. Personally, I see this as the more glaring issue. I am not sure it is the government’s place to regulate what individual’s (kids included) do or do not eat.

Personally, I try to limit my caffeine intake as I see a direct correlation to my ability to fall asleep. But I know others are not so sensitive to a coffee and soda. I am interested to hear your take on this news story.

Questions: Where do you stand? Would you ever purchase caffeinated gum and/or other caffeinated products? Should the FDA get involved?

*Images are from Google

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Favorite Healthy Foods + Giveaway

By on April 29, 2013 in giveaway

Let’s start off the week on a good note, shall we? Today I want to talk about some of your favorite healthy food. Not the fresh stuff, because lord knows fresh fruits and veggies never gets old, but the best foodie finds on the market.

Some of my favorites include chia seeds, flaxseed meal, and every kind of nut butter under the sun! What are your favorites?

I wish I had all day to roam supermarkets looking for the next great food find but that just isn’t reality. Who has time for that when you are so busy doing other things? Enter Bestowed: A monthly care-package subscription that sends you the latest and greatest healthy food and lifestyle products on the market with no effort required.

When they reached out and offered to send me one of their boxes to review it was a no brainer. A few days later look at what arrived on my doorstep!

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The first thing that caught my eye is the one sheeter of information the company includes in the box. I think this is great so that you can learn more about the products but also be wary in case of food allergies.

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So many goodies to try!

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I immediately broke into the granola upon taking that picture. I am a granola monster. It is very light, not at all greasy, and packs great flavor. I’m a big fan and will probably end up buying more on my own!

As for the rest of the goodies, well they varied in range from salty to sweet and everything in between.

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So, here is where you all come in. Bestowed has generously offered to send one US-reader his or her own box! For everyone else, you can save $5 off your first box by using the code: 5OFFBSTOWED01

To enter, all you have to do is tell me what your favorite non-traditional food item is!

For an extra chance to win, Tweet about this giveaway saying “@knack4nutrition is hosting a giveaway for a chance to win a @bestowed box! Enter here: http://www.knackfornutrition.com“

I will choose a winner on Friday, May 3rd! Good luck!


* I was sent the box for free but all opinions are my own.*

Comments { 33 }

The One Where I Try Not to Overeat

By on March 20, 2013 in binge eating, food, hunger, overeating, snacks, work, workout
I was going to write a What I Ate Wednesday post but sometimes I feel like a bunch of pictures of food doesn’t tell the whole story. It can be much more interesting to understand the thought process behind the choices of a professed overeater. It’s a vulnerable thing to openly share these types of things on the Internet but if you’ve been reading for a while you know that blunt and honest is the way things go.
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Upon waking I asses the damage from the night before. I’ve been pretty good about tracking on MyFitnessPal this week so I am a happy girl knowing I stuck to normal portions and didn’t eat for comfort.
I make a light breakfast to hold me on until mid-morning. It’s always smart to eat something before heading into work as I am never sure how long my commute will take.
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(Everything bagel thin with a schmear of almond butter and a banana)
Before I know it the morning is half over and I am famished! I inhale the second part of my breakfast and am glad I waited until I was actually hungry to eat it.
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(Greek yogurt, peanut flour, honey, and 1 cup of Cheerios)
I have a small window for lunch on this particular day so I eat when time allows.
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(I made a salad that turned out better than expected and snagged the small half of a blueberry Panera bagel from the kitchen)
During my meeting I had lunch dessert and still felt decent about my choices.
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I got back to my desk around 3pm which is approximately the time each day that my resolve to eat healthy and mindfully goes out the window.
I ate my afternoon snack (a kids clif bar and 2 clementines) even though I wasn’t hungry and immediately wanted more food. Funny how the mind works I drank water and tea in attempts to thwart the cravings but I was not successful.
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Snack number two was a hard pretzel with almond butter, 1/2 diet coke, and 3 peanut M&Ms. At this point it all became mind games. I got more water and told myself that my evening run would suck if I did any more damage.
So it was head down and mouth shut for the rest of the day.
After a commute home and a quick change of clothes I inhaled a banana in hopes it holds me over long enough to run.
Spoiler: it did the trick.
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I did a 5k run and a bit of walking afterward to cool down and promptly headed home to shower and fix dinner. I was really hungry and didn’t want to cook (what else is new during the work week) so I came up with a random, yet delicious quick dinner.
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(Cup of Trader Joe’s vegetarian chili, tortilla chips, and green beans)
I packed the exact same thing for lunch so I should be in good shape for today.
So there you have it. The good, bad, and ugly of a professed overeater. Sure, this is mildly embarrassing to post my deep dark emotional eating issues but I find these types the most interesting to read so I figure it never hurts to put yourself out there! My overall calories were a bit higher than I would have liked but I did the best I could. Here’s to fighting those mid-day munchies!
 

Question: How do you best avoid eating for comfort?  

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Tuesday Things (3/5/2013)

By on March 5, 2013 in giveaway, long run, running, work

1. I am so glad you guys like the giveaway! I was a bit nervous that my Smutha Mutha was going to be the only entry (love ya ma), so all the positive feedback is very encouraging.

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Don’t forget that there is still time to enter! You can submit multiple entries using each option until Friday, March 8th!

2. My pizza creations are becoming more and more strange each time. I try to make balance protein, fat, and carbohydrates no matter what so when the pantry supplies get low weird things happen.

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Last night’s creation was a real doozy. I used vodka sauce, nutritional yeast, shelled edamame, and italian seasoning. It hit the spot and I am excited for leftovers tonight! If campaign management ever fails me, perhaps I will become a professional pizza connoisseur.

3. I ran 11 miles on Saturday and have been a bottomless pit ever since. Funny how running can be such a double-edged sword. You burn all those calories and think you are on the road to weight loss only to find yourself perpetually hungry for days afterward.

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(Lunch: Carrots with hummus + salsa mixed together and homemade turkey pasta casserole!)

I’m not mad about it. I’m being mindful of portions and packing extra snacks for work to account for the hunger but it just seems odd, ya know?

4. Yesterday was a real doozy at work. I tried to motivate myself to go to the gym the whole commute home (which was over an hour because DC Metro does not know how to handle public transportation) but by the time I got home all I could think about was yoga. So that’s what I did. It hurt in all the best ways after a day spent in a chair and now I feel gummy and calm. Namaste indeed.

Questions: What was the best part of your Monday? How do you manage increased hunger due to exercise?

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Weight Loss vs. Health

By on March 2, 2013 in workout

The other day my plus one and I got into a conversation about “our thing.” I casually asked him what he thought my thing was and he said that is was “snacking and working out.” (So true, by the way.) I immediately thought to defend myself as this topic directly relates to my life-long weight struggle and he quickly pointed out that those things don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

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You can love eating and working out. You can enjoy these things at leisure or with a fiery intensity. I don’t have to fit the ideal image of a fitness enthusiast to prove that it is something I love.

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In the epic struggle that is weight loss I often revert back to a thought that lingers in the depths of my consciousness. Maybe this is my body’s healthy weight? Sure I don’t have abs, and to most people I probably do look a little hefty, but if my body is healthy, I am able to do what I love and eat what I like, should I not just embrace it?

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My thoughts on weight loss are constant. I feel like I am fighting an internal battle 24/7. I’m too hard on myself in regards to this, I just know it. But when I see other people succeed, or never deal with their weight at all, I can’t help but want to try a little harder. I think society as a whole places a lot of pressure on us to fit a certain ideal. Whether you are reading about bloggers who work out for a living or view images of stick thin celebrities who are encouraged to be thin, it is messaging that is difficult to escape.

I’m not sure I will ever find a real balance between being healthy and wanting to lose weight. In my mind these things are correlated no matter how hard I try to separate them. But I will keep trucking along because what I am doing works. It keep she healthy and happy and I suppose that’s all that matters at the end of the day.

Question: Would you rather lose all the excess weight you’ve been struggling with or keep the weight but have perfect health?

P.S. Check back on Monday for a super sweet giveaway from yours truly!

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