a healthy balance

(source)

I'm a libra. We libras are all about balance. Without a healthy balance in our lives, we start to fall apart emotionally. It explains why I do so well with daily routines but love sponetanity over the weekend!



On Thursday, I had my first caramel Oikos greek yogurt before working out. I loved this flavor! It's just the right balance of sweet and tangy. Plus it's high in protein for such a small snack!



My camera ate my lunch picture on Thursday, but I can assure you that I ate a balanced meal of a black bean burger, muenster cheese, hummus, broccoli and a kiwi.

Dinner was a bowl of corn chowder and a chicken pesto panini from Corner Bakery. It was delicious despite the fact that they gave us potato chips instead of carrots. (oh sodium, how I love you!)



Andy got tomato basil soup with a poblano chicken sandwich.



Breakfast on Friday was the one thing I was really craving. A piece of toast with my favorite golden roasted flaxseed pb from Trader Joe's.



And for my sweet tooth, some vanilla greek yogurt with a tangy kiwi.



I went out to lunch with friends and ordered a bowl of butternut squash soup. It was terrific! I need to recreate.



Dinner was mashed potatoes, broccoli slaw and burgers. I used 90/10 burgers from Trader Joe's. The burgers have decent stats and manage to curb my craving for red meat. (Something I'm trying to cut out of my diet.)



And while this plate looks huge, I promise you it was on a salad plate.



And since the burger was so low in fat, I added some guacamole on top for my daily dose of MUFAs For balance purposes.



And because I had 200 calories left for my day, I decided to add in a raspberry hard cider. (140 empty but delicious calories.)

Now let's talk about Saturday.

Strike 1- Forgetting my camera
Strike 2- Eating a bacon chili cheese dog at Pinks
Strike 3- Sharing a medium milkshake with Andy at Millions of Milkshakes

Our milkshake had vanilla frozen yogurt, banana, nutella and a chocolate syrup swirl. Neither of us felt super guilty afterwards since we shared, which was nice.

But this morning, my body craved balance! I ran 2.5 miles on the treadmill, stretched and did yoga poses until I burned 583 calories! Week 4 Day 1 of Couch to 5k was HARD!

Now it's time for a HUGE veggie-filled salad at Souplantation and gallons of water.

How do you find your perfect balance?

Vegan Pride, Hail Seitan!

No, I'm not a vegan. But I had to crack up last night during my Equity & Diversity in School class when I noticed that someone had scrawled, "Vegan Pride, Hail Seitan" into my desk.



I bought Andy this Balsamic Onion marmalade from Williams Sonoma as a stocking stuffer. Yesterday, I decided to put it on a turkey sandwich.



Magic! Turkey, wheat bread, lettuce, guacamole and tomato was instantly delicious.



And some blueberries on the side.



I bought this Cran-Raspberry La Croix sparkling water for the first time at Target. I was really excited to try it but decided it wasn't for me. I'd rather just drink water or chemical-filled Diet Coke. Sad but true.



Dinner was after class last night. (At 9:45pm!!! Class got out early.) I bought these Morningstar Farms Black Bean burgers and was really excited to try them out.



To keep it low-cal, I topped my burger with honey mustard and a laughing cow wedge. 35 calories for creamy cheese? I'm down!



I ate my burger with one slice of whole wheat bread cut in half. With one pathetic looking kiwi. The black bean burger was out of this world good. It's a little spicy and flavorful. I think it would go great with avocados, bell peppers and onions in a salad. YUM!

Have you tried any new products lately? What did you think? These Morningstar Farms' Burgers are so quick and easy for my lifestyle right now. And tasty as heck!

PS. I have a giveaway and a challenge in the works!