Ya know how I said I was focusing on breathing today?  Well, breakfast was where it began.  I was grumpy getting up for work this morning because Bill had off and was sound asleep this morning while I got ready for work :/  I decided to cheer myself up and light a peach candle while I enjoyed my breakfast.  It definitely did the trick, although taking the day off would have too

Ohhhhh oatbran, where have you been all my life?  How come I didn’t try you sooner?  Seriously, this may take over my oatmeal spot for a while, I’m really hooked.  I love the creamy texture and today I decreased the amount of liquid I used to create even more thicker, creaminess! 

My breakfast bowl included 1/3 c oatbran, cinnamon, Heather’s blueberry flaxseed, sliced almonds, and chopped fresh strawberries. 

The flaxseed was really good!  The blueberry flavor was slightly there, not too strong, but not invisible either and meshed well with my strawberries!  Thanks Heather, I can’t wait to use this whole bag up!

 My mid morning snack was a crisp organic Gala apple that I cut up and dipped in PB2 a la Erin.  Yum, totally enjoyed every bite and it’s crap-free   Honestly, I think this snack beats any bar, well maybe except for Clif White Chocolate Macadamia Nut

Around 11:15, though, I started to feel hungry, perhaps from the sugar in the apple, so I made a cup of Candy Cane Lane tea to warm me up and hold me over

For some reason my hunger kind of dissappeared and I didn’t eat lunch until 1pm, which is late for me… I was looking forward to my veggie-packed lunch and was curious how it would fill me  up since it contained lots of healthy foods.  I had two slices of Arnold’s ww bread topped with my homemade hummus & spring mix lettuce.  I almost topped it with a pickle until I read the jar and they contained HFCS – ewwww!  On the side, I had sliced veggies and one of these Emerald 100 calorie packs of walnuts & almonds.  I found these packs on sale at Target, I’m not concerned with the 100 calorie idea, but I love that they are already packaged which makes my lunch packing easy!  Plus, they are crap-free because the only ingredients are almonds and walnuts, not even salt, whew!  I also had 1/2 c of cottage cheese & cinnamon, but took a separate picture of it because it wouldn’t fit into the “scene”.

Well, let me tell you, those veggies sure do fill me up.  It took me a full 40 minutes to eat my lunch (I eat while I work so I kind of graze), which is unusual b/c I normally inhale lunch.  I can’t wait to see if all of my veggie packed lunches hold me like this one did!  I actually like this crap-free idea, I feel more awake and refreshed too, just knowing I’m giving my body good vitamins & minerals!

I wasn’t hungry in the slightest at 3:30, but knew I needed to eat something before I did my cardio so I enjoyed one of my homemade banana nut bread Larabars.  SO good!  The texture is right-on, the only difference is I made smaller bars so they are thin and not thick, but I don’t mind   I really want to try and recreate the pecan pie flavor next!

Ok well now it’s off to the gym, I’m planning on doing about 40 minutes on the elliptical doing a mix of random resistances.  On the drive home, I’m planning on half a cucumber.  Since Bill had off from work today, I knew we’d be eating an early dinner so I wanted something to crunch on, but not fill me up since we’d be eating within a half hour of me getting home.  A big thanks to OhSheGlows because I got this idea from her!