Hump day....AGAIN.

When I walked in the office this morning, someone again said happy hump day!

Read my previous post on "hump day"......I just don't get it.

I've always liked this picture of me. The sun rays are neat. Try and get outside everyday for a few "sun minutes" You're body and mind need it.

Last night, I had my kids and was short on time.

Dinner was a natural rotisserie chicken, broccoli sauteed in garlic and olive oil and red cabbage made with onions, garlic and a splash of apple juice. Also some baby carrots for he kids.

Breakfast;

Had some left over chicken and broccoli and cut that up, mixed in with some vegenaise for a delicious broccoli chicken salad. Some celery stalks.

Lisa (my friend who is busy with her transformation) had some peanut butter and celery.

Nike says it best....."Just do it"

You know, it really is just a matter of doing it.
Last night I went home, and after several times of opening and closing the fridge, hoping miraculously something would just manifest itself, I threw left overs together for an amazing meal.
Sauteed garlic, onions, green pepper, bok choy and spinach. Cut up a piece of grilled left over rib-eye in bite sized pieces. Mixed it all together. It was awesome and chock full of green goodness. Cup of chamomile tea before sleep with a book made for one wonderful evening.

Breakfast; same problem as dinner, not a full fridge to work with.
Sooooo......
Sweet potato boiled topped with some olive oil and sea-salt. Cubed tempeh with onion, garlic and green pepper done in some olive oil.

Would you all like to see more pictures? Or are my cryptic descriptions clear enough? I grew up in Europe, so my English composition is not what it needs to be at times. (Holland, Amsterdam. in case you are curious)

Wake up early!

It seems natural to wake up early. That being said, I think going to sleep early is also very important. I find that I have a lot of energy during the day when I get up between 5:30 and 6.

Breakfast; 2 hardboiled eggs with half an avocado some vegenaise and a little olive oil, red leaf lettuce. All mixed together. It didn't look very pretty, but it was tasty none the less.

Lunch; romaine lettuce, peas, 2 wings, 4 or 5 ribs, cucumber, some pumpkin seeds, some olive oil. Great salad from the Wild Oats salad bar. Heather, I think you're town needs one ;-)

Snack; a piece of dark chocolate.

Comments; I'm egged out! Had eggs Sat. and Sun. morning. and today. But they are so easy and versatile.

Dinner; I have a small piece of grass fed rib-eye left over from the weekend. I will have that with some veggies and salad. Glass of red wine.

Give me your thoughts please......

I'm thinking about opening up an eatery/restaurant.
I love to cook, I enjoy turning people on to "feel-good-eating".
Do you think there would be a market for a place like that? A place were you can come in and get REAL food. I believe in the US. many people want to make the change, but are short on time. Would loe to hear any input or thoughts.

Breakfast;
Some baby carrots, some celery with some hummus.

Lunch; 1/4 rotisserie chicken with some steamed veggies.

Are you having fun????

What do you guys do to body movement wise to have fun??
I played soccer yesterday for about 90 minutes. I played in College and on a semi-pro team after that. But have Not played in 15 years. Yesterday, I felt like a kid playing, and having fun.
Stay active and keep the kid mindset!

Breakfast; some thin sliced grass fed strip steak, sauteed very quickly in some olive oil and garlic. (this takes 90 seconds) Removed the steak and tossed in some cut up asparagus and sugar snap peas. Also only about 90 seconds. 1 large stalk of celery.
Lisa will have this for dinner. Her breakfast consisted of 2 scrambled eggs with 2 celery stalks.

Lunch for Lisa will be salad with some grilled chicken.
I will spend some time outside in the heat today, so prepped up a lunch of almonds and a nice juicy organic plum.

Dinner consisted of 4 meatballs, some celery, some salad.
Had a huge sugar craving after dinner for some reason; So had some pineapple and mango juice. Really quenched that craving.

Plan, plan and plan.

Here's my very cool new toy and birthday present;

I can't tell you enough that if you think ahead in regards to your meals, it just gets so much easier. I know we don't always like doing that, but just think how easy it is to think ahead and plan for when our next favorite t.v. show is on. (Jack Sparrow intonation) Savy???

Last night I sauteed some garlic, bok choy and asparagus and added some chicken pieces. Light easy and tasty. I enjoyed a beer with the meal. (Kalik, in case you're curious)

Breakfast; 2 organic omega 3, scrambled eggs with green and red peppers, scalion, tomato and a little bit of feta. A few apple slices after it.

Lisa, had her "bland" meal of an organic fuji apple, some peanut butter (about 2 teaspoons) and a large celery stalk.

I also prepped up Lisa's dinner, which wil be sauteed baby spinach with garlic and 2 marinated and spice rubbed lamb chops. (the little ones) I also prepped up my dinner which is a fresh piece of wild coho salmon. I marinated it in a little sesame oil, rice vinegar, little splash of tamari (if you use too much it really overpowers the marinade), little bit of garlic and some wasabi (just disolve in some water and add to the marinade).Total prep time for all foods was about 35 minutes.

Lunch; Lisa had salmon salad from yesterday.

I had 2 packages of nattou with scallions, some stone ground mustard and a splash of tamari. Served over an avocado. One organic plum.

Keeping it simple.....

My friend Lisa is still going strong and has adjusted to her new way of eating with ease.
She enjoys her salads and especially her celery.

Breakfast for Lisa was; one hard boiled egg, mixed with half an avocado. a few drops of hot sauce. 8 sugar snap peas, 2 olives and a teaspoon of hummus. This was too much tastse for the morning for her liking. She likes a bland breakfast. So tomorrow she'll have an apple, some peanut butter (I'll convert her shortly to cashew or almond butter) and a few almonds.
My breakfast was so easy, total prep time was 5 minutes.
I have in my fridge some cut up (cubes) chicken breasts. I give those a rub/marinade of garlic powder, onion powder, some sea salt and fresh ground pepper. some squirts of lemon juice and splash of olive oil. (keep it simple, I always in the fridge have on hand some bottled lemon juice, real easy for marines and recipes.) I also have a bag of ready to go broccoli, (washed and cut into bite size pieces). So here we go, some olive oil in the pan, throw in the broccoli.....saute.......toss in the chicken pieces, stir....stir....4-5 minutes. Voila! Done, and a great way start to your day. Portion was small, but very tasty and satisfying.

Lunch; For lisa and myself. Salmon salad with Celery.
Can of wild salmon (they are about 5-6 oz's in general) 1 heaping tablespoon of vegenaise. cut up celery (cut it thin and small) one cucumber (remove seeds), some scallions, 4-5 asparagus stalks cut up. Some fresh ground pepper. 2 large celery stalk cut in to 4 pieces served with the salmon salad. (we did not finish the salmon salad, there was plenty left for another lunch for her.)

Snack for me will be some nuts. Walnuts and almonds.

Lisa is eating the same chicken and broccoli I had for dinner. (I prepped it up, all she needs to do is toss in the pan)
I'm not sure yet.

How's everyone out there doing with their "feel good eating?" For all you meat-eaters, I keep seeing great grass fed beef on sale at Wild oats. Strip steak today was $6.99 a pound. I love that stuff. ;-)

WOW.

Well, I guess you only turn 40 once. To say the least I did not eat too well over the weekend.
Actually, the eating was not all that bad. Shrimp kabobs, chicken kabobs that I made for my party. I stuck my hand in a few chip bowls here and there. Had salads and GASP, a few slices of pizza with my kids. Since all that stuff didn't make me feel too great, I thought drinking copious amounts of delicious rum punch would make the feelings go-away. And, it did!!! Until this morning ;-)
Had enough sugar intake in the form of alcohol, to last me till my next birthay. But like I always say, you've got to enjoy yourself. And sometimes having a few to many drinkies won't kill you.
This is to me the same as the whole food issue. Having a slice of pizza once every six months is no big deal! (although the less you do it, the harder it seems to hit your system)
But eating pizza 3 times a week (many people do) and eating chips and hoho's and twinkies and ring-dings and just plain crap processed foods everyday will become a serious problem for you.
So don't beat yourself up, when on occasion you do not eat right. If you are making a serious effort and sticking with it most of the time, you are way way way ahead of the curve.
So; back to food.

Breakfast;
Some almonds, some scrambled tempeh with veggies. Just cut up some different veggies, saute them, cube the tempeh and cook for a bit with them veggies. Total prep and cook time was 11 minutes.

Lunch; lettuce, tomato, cucumber and grilled chicken.

Have a great weekend.

Breakfast;

Left over sauteed red cabbage with 3 scrambled eggs. (omega 3)

Snack; They surprised me at work for my birthday, they served authentic dutch butter cake. (boter koek) I had to have a piece ;-)
It was very tasty.

Late Lunch will consist of rotisserie chicken with some steamed veggies.

Most likely will not post this weekend, it's my 40th birthday on Sunday.
Going on 40, feeling 18.
We create our own reality, so keep your thoughts positive..............it really makes a HUGE difference.

Don't watch the news too much...especially before going to bed.

It's so easy to get caught up in all the drama you hear on a daily basis. The reality is that things are ever changing and the the "natural order" IS chaos. It's OK, it's the way life is. Enjoy it.
The media works on your emotions, I'm in Florida and the coming hurricane is being reported like world war 3 is about to hit. They know fear sells, I think it's mean.
So try this; don't watch the news for a whole week. Don't worry, you won't miss anything. The interesting thing is, when you check back in a week from now, you'll realize nothing has changed and the same "stuff" is still being reported. OOPS.......sorry......... back to food ;-)

It's been hot here so have not been all that hungry.
Breakfast; 3 boiled organic omega 3 eggs. half a cucumber cut up, a few baby carrots. Some nice stone ground mustard for dipping.

Snack; some walnuts

Lunch; Had nothing prepared today, so had a late lunch at a local healthfood store.
Salad bar consists of hot and cold options.
So here we go, let me show you how easy it is to be good.....even when you're hungry ;-)
Some raw organic baby spinach, some cold peas, sauteed broccoli with garlic, small piece of lemon pepper tilapia (fish). I drizzled some olive oil on it and a dash of hot sauce for dipping.
My plate compared to the rest of the lunch crowd customers, was the only one not overflowing like mount Vesuvius. Total cost upon check out??? $3.09
Filling, healthy, tasty and affordable.

Re-motivated ;-) (is that a word?)

Thanks to a really nice comment from a reader I'm re-motivated to keep posting.
If any of you are ever interested in recipes, please feel free to email me or look on Mark Stisson blog, www.marksdailyapple.com I usually post there with some thoughts and recipes that seem to get received well.
Thank you again anonymous poster ;-)

Breakfast; Scrambled eggs with some fruit. grapes, melon and pineapple.
Lunch; 4 small meatballs with some raw asparagus stalks.
Dinner will be some left over rotisserie chicken, with some sauteed/braised cabbage.

"The way to experience ultimate happiness.........

Is to let go of all worries and regrets, and to know that being happy is the most satisfying of life's feelings. Reflect back on all the progress in your life and allow the positive, creative and joyous thoughts to outshine and overwhelm any sorrow or grief that may linger in the recesses of your mind. Knowing that disease and disaster are natural parts of life is the key to overcoming adversity with a calm and happy spirit. Happiness is waiting right here in front of you. Only you can decide whether or not you choose to experience it. Take this to heart!" T.T.

Breakfast for Lisa, 2 egg salad mixed in with cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, scallion and asparagus. Few pieces of pineapple.

Lunch;
nice green salad with raw zucchini, pumpkin seeds, pulled chicken, cucumber some grapes.
Snack; 2 large cherries and a few almonds
Dinner; homemade tomato sauce with grass fed ground buffalo. onions and garlic over a nnce salad ;-)

Day 4 and 5....the weekend,

Breakfast;
Those eggs were great last night so........
2 hard boiled eggs for breakfast and an organic apricot. If you have not tried these right now...go FIND THEM. They are in season and absolutely delicious!

Lunch; Marc's tunafish-salad. ( I made her a large portion so she could have it for lunch Sat. and Sun.) Can of tunafish, tablespoon of vegenaise, celery, asparagus, cucumber, scallion and a dash of hot sauce. the portion of veggies is much more visible then the actual tuna in this version of tunasalad. accompanied by??? You guessed it, a nice fresh salad.

Dinner; I prepped up an easy 3 minute saute dish for her. yellow squash, yellow pepper, red pepper, asparagus (of course!...love those things) marinated in a fresh garlic olive oil, stone ground mustard dressing.

Now as for Sunday;

Breakfast will be some pineapple some almonds and some melon.

Lunch; the aforementioned Tuna salad again with a salad.

Dinner. left overs from Sat. night. A little bit too much monotomy in the meals for the weekend, but we'll fix that.

Lisa's question "Why am I eating so much salad?"

Day 3.

Breakfast was an apple with some almonds.

Lunch; Rotisserie chicken, with steamed broccoli and colliflower.

Snack; piece of chocolate (see????? we are not depriving anyone here!) ;-)

Dinner; Big salad with 2 hard boiled eggs

Happy to report......Lisa feels very good.
We went shopping together and had a blast!

Lisa's meals

Breakfast;
Avocado egg salad (small scoop) over some salad and 2 baby carrots.

Lunch; small piece of chicken and steamed veggies with little bit of butter (YUM)

Snack was left over breakfast which she didn't finish in the morning.

Dinner; Grilled asparagus (done in a cast iron skillet) with some olive oil and garlic powder
about 3 ounces grass fed ribeye (about 4-5 one inch sliced) quickly grilled in the cast iron skillet and some salad. (the salad consists of green and red leaf lettuce, raw yellow squash (diced small), red and yellow pepper and cucumber.

A new begining

August 1st, great day to start something new and fresh.
And that is EXACTLY what my best friend Lisa V. is doing.
Ever amazed at my "freakish" eating habits..........Lisa has gotten motivated to the point of no return! YAY Lisa.
So as a best friend should...I'm here to help her all the way. I promised her that I will ,daily help plan (and most of the time prepare) what she will eat and to offer non wavering motivational support. There is only one rule;

1. Enjoy your life

We will eat ONLY fresh foods consisting of vegetables, lean meats, poultry, fish, nuts, seeds and fruit.

So you will be reading Lisa's daily food intake, instead of mine for a while.
First day went something like this;
cup of decaf coffee little bit of half and half.
Breakfast; blueberries and almonds.
Lunch; grilled piece of Mahi-Mahi (5 ounces) and asparagus
Snack; 5 organic cherries
Dinner; salad (organic green and red leaf lettuce, scallion, yellow squash, yellow pepper and cucumber) olive oil and balsamic dressing. Homemade organic chicken soup with 2 drumsticks.
What will day 2 bring???????