I guess it is in my book.  I let myself hit snooze until 6 this morning although I am pretty sure I could have slept all day!  The last couple of weeks I have immediately gotten up and exercised for 20-30 minutes so that I made sure to get it in…but, this morning I decided to finish this dreaded outline I have been working on all week first.  Priorities.

To motivate myself I made a nice, filling breakfast.  And yes, I am eating instant oatmeal right now-there is no way I am dirtying a pan or standing in the kitchen for more than 1 minute 30 seconds.

OAIJ:  with some apple chunks and cereal topping.  This tasted a lot better before I went outside and realized it was as hot and muggy as the rain forest.  Maybe some iced coffee is in order.

Let me give a photo recap of what I have been eating all week and a quick workout review.

Eats:

Lots of cereal, protein powder, and berries.  At least one meal a day, usually two.

Packed up a few of these home-made tv dinners.  This is just a bag of frozen california vegetable mix, brown rice, chicken pieces, and low sodium teriyaki sauce.

Soup with the last of my mushrooms, spinach, and pitas.

A frozen black-bean, butternut squash burrito topped with Laughing cow.

So glad I made a few of these awhile back and froze them.  Instant lunch.  Click here for recipe.

Last night I created another wrap of sorts.  Can you tell what the hubby and I survive off when we have no time to cook or grocery shop?  Wraps are a lifesaver!  (*Tip:  Flatouts keep well in the freezer.  Buy an extra package and keep it on hand for weeks like this one*)

Southwest-style egg wrap

1 Flatout (best shape to work with)

1 wedge Laughing Cow

1/4 cup egg beaters

2 Tbsp or handfuls black beans

Tomatoes or salsa

In microwave safe dish cook your eggs until done.  Take out and break apart with fork.  Heat small skillet on stove med-high to high.

Spread 1 wedge Laughing cow out all over wrap.  Towards one end add eggs, black beans, and tomatoes.  Sprinkle on any desired seasonings.  Roll wrap up tightly.

Place wrap on hot skillet and lightly press down with spatula.  Cook until light brown and slight crisp.  Flip and repeat on other side.  Enjoy!

Helpful hints:

• I used both canned black beans and tomatoes because that was all we had!  Improvise people, this is meant to be easy.
• A panini press would work great if you are lucky enough to have one

Workouts:

If you can’t tell, I rarely leave the library or my desk chair.  I can tell, it is taking a toll on my body!  Besides already looking frumpy, I can feel my energy levels shriveling up.  That said, I have kept to my monthly goal of at least 30 minutes a day.  I wake up and immediately do Level 2 Shred or hit the treadmill for a HIIT workout.  These two things seem to pack the most punch for me right now.

I have completely disregarded strength training.  I can tell.  Things are starting to droop after skipping for about 3 weeks now.  I am going to make an effort to put in at least one day of strength work until I get through finals.

Okay, I am going to end this incredibly long post now…and come back with a second one just for Friday Fun Facts.

Sorry to go missing for a couple of days.  Rest, study, errands, and repeat.  That has been my weekend thus far.  Averaging 5 hours of an sleep a night is starting to take its toll on my body, so I did a lot of relaxing yesterday.  Of course relaxing means I wake up the next morning full of anxiety about not studying.  Ah, vicious cycle.

Let me give you a little recap of my weekend eats and activities:

Friday’s lunch was a Flatout stuffed with leftover BBQ tofu.  One of the best wraps ever.  Little tip:  wrapping the bottom half of your wrap in foil keeps the thing together!  You can pick it up with one hand and eat.  Genius.

I managed to snack my way through this bar Friday while studying.  I also devoured a mini bag of popcorn.  Salty and sweet combination makes for optimal studying snackage.

For dinner I had a huge plate of fries.  Yep, fries for dinner.  It was a pretty perfect Friday night.  The hubby was gone golfing with guys from work, so I figured why not eat fries and relax.  I had one HUGE sweet potato left in the pantry which I transformed into a HUGE plate of fries.

Dessert was Cinnamon-Apple protein cake.  So delicious.  I love getting chunks of apple!

Saturday:

The  hubby and I ran 5 miles through River Oaks.  If you ever want to feel about what you have, run through that neighborhood. We rounded off our run with a 2 mile walk back to the car.  It was beautiful outside!  (Houstonian readers-anyone know the trail system in MP?  Where can I put in some miles?)

Saturday’s lunch was a GM and AB sandwich eaten at the pool with my books.  Classy.  I will just let you know, when you bring a stack of textbooks to the pool-people look at you funny!

Saturday’s snacking included some mini-turkey sandwiches.  I used Melba whole grain crackers, Laughing Cow, turkey, and some pickle.  These are tasty and fun to eat.  Other snackings included handfuls of almonds and a couple Hershey kisses (dang my husband for restocking the candy bowl!)

My dinner was a make-shirt burrito which got a little overdone on side.  Basically, I turned a pan on smoking hot while I stuffed a Flatout with mushrooms, onions, tomatoes (I am using Hunt’s canned tomatoes because the fresh ones are overpriced and taste bland right now), cheese, and cajun seasoning.  I rolled it up then stuck it on the really pan and pressed down with a spatula.  Clearly, I don’t have a panini  press or one of those cool all in one griddles.  (Cuisinart- I would gladly try one out for you!)

The hubby was feeling really snacky and I don’t like keeping snacks in the house while I sit at home studying, so we walked to the store and picked him up something.  We also came home with this guy, maybe girl.

Anything cheesecake is bound to catch my eye.

This bowl times 2.  Twenty minutes later, a million calories to burn, and a huge tummy ache.  Lesson learned…for today at least.

Sunday:

Had planned a long run today, but my stomach was still upset from the ice cream extravaganza last night and I am behind on studying.  I ate half a sandwich thin with AB and then did 3 miles of .25 sprint intervals.

Found this Cliff drink on clearance at the store last night and we picked up a couple to try.  It seemed okay after my run this morning-didn’t upset my tummy or anything.  It is hard to tell if it could refuel me after a long run though.  Probably worth the 70 cents though.

We ran by Target for a few things and they bagged our goods in the cute reusable tote.  Earth Day promotion maybe?  Either way, the bag is cute and I can never have enough grocery totes!

I finally replaced the coffee maker that I destroyed.  Well I shattered the pot portion into a million little pieces on the floor.  As you can see, this pot is stainless steel.  My hubby said this should be Karissa-proof!

I am already enjoying the first pot of coffee.  I will be going back for round 2 today.

How was your weekend?  Any great runs or workouts?

Today was full of lots of good eats.

Lunch started with a bag of new wraps.  Flat Outs.  I actually made a wrap instead of pizza, which is my favorite use for these.

My wraps would probably hold up better if I didn’t fill them to maximum capacity.  Of course, if they weren’t filled to maximum capacity I wouldn’t like them as much.

On the side were some veggies and light ranch.  These cucumbers were okay, but I am already craving fresh veggies from my mom’s garden.

Study snacking included a cup of hot chocolate, handful of pretzels, Cliff Z bar, and a handful of Wheat Thins.  (Study snacking 5:  Karissa’s will power: 0)

Dinner was a homemade pizza.  Pre-made pizza crusts are one of the best quick dinner options.  It literally took me 10 minutes to throw this pizza together and 10 minutes for it to cook.  My half is heavy on veggies and very light on cheese.

Toppings:  spinach, onions, lots of mushrooms, Boca burger bits, and a sliced chicken sausage on the hubby’s side.

I enjoyed a nice big veggie slice.

On the side I finished up some pre-cut apple and veggie slices that needed to be eaten.

After dinner, I enjoyed another protein cake.  Given the proximity of bikini season, I should really cut out the desserts and snacks but I just honestly don’t care this week.  I have been too frazzled to care.

You can almost smell the chocolate-y goodness can’t you?

Strawberry stuffed Protein Cake

Use Chocolate Protein Cake recipe found here

When you add in chocolate chips add in a small diced strawberry.  Cook as usual.

Flip out upside down onto plate. Cut protein cake in half.  Smear small amount of strawberry jam and place a layer of sliced strawberries.  Replace top and enjoy!

5 Hours From Now…

I haven’t really mentioned it before but I am really interested in competing in a triathlon.  I followed Caitlin’s triathlon training over at Healthy Tipping Point and just kind of got hooked on the idea.  Since I don’t have a bike and haven’t swam farther than the nearest pool lounge, I decided to do a little more research before I started invested time and money.  I figured the best way to see what it was all about was to go to one.  The hubby and I are volunteering at a Gateway to the Bay Sprint Triathlon at Kemah tomorrow.  Just reading through the course description this evening I started to get Tri-envy! I want to compete, I want to conquer.  For now though, we are volunteering.  We got our assignments this week for the bike course.  Report time:  4:30am.  YIKES!  Kemah is about 30 to 40 minutes away too.  Needless to say I should be asleep because we are leaving in 5 hours!

On that note, I am going to bed!

Any exciting plans for the weekend?

After the Tri, we are going to grab lunch, run a couple errands, and I will then chain myself to my desk until Monday morning at 9.