Monday Nutrition Tip of the Week

I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch every day for nearly 30 years.

People who knew me during my school years know that this is only a slight exaggeration. I was a die-hard brown bagger. One of my most traumatic days of the third grade was when I locked myself and my lunch out of the house and had to (gasp!) buy a hot lunch. On credit! The shame!

I still remember the meal. It was small, gray hamburger on a dry dinner roll, and I sat there in the "Hot Lunch" section (separated from my beloved "Cold Lunch" friends) and cried. After many hours of therapy, I recovered.

I made it through college and got my first job, and I brought my lunch every day. Peanut butter sandwich, chips, yogurt, and a granola bar. I shouldn't knock it, because bringing that lunch every day played a key part in meeting my husband...also a die-hard brown bagger. His lunch? A turkey sandwich (with mustard), chips, yogurt, and a granola bar. That's how I knew we were meant to be together. Hot Lunchers marrying Cold Lunchers is just a recipe for divorce. There's lots of data on that.

So anyway, no one is as surprised as I am at how my lunch has evolved to this:

Avocado toast, sliced tomatoes, cottage cheese, and a greenberry Shakeology. Love it. This meal has it all: protein, healthy fat, carbohydrate, and a vegetable. Here's the nutritional lowdown per myfitnesspal.com:

• 444 total calories
• 140 calories from Shakeology
• 50 calories from the whole wheat bread
• 161 calories from half an avocado
• 13 calories from half a tomato
• 80 calories from the cottage cheese
• Fat: 16 grams 
• 14.5 grams of fat are from the avocado
• 35 grams of protein
• 46 carbs

So the tip of the day is, don't be afraid to experiment with some bizarre food pairings, and try to break out of the rut. If you have chips every day like I used to, move to baked crackers, then try to move to no crackers at all. If I need some crunchiness in my life, I try to turn to thinly sliced beets or carrots. 

If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got. So try something new!

Workout of the Day

P90X Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps.

This is week three of the rotation, and so I can't say I'm sad to see this workout go on the shelf for a bit. It is tough!