Whole wheat bagels and smoothies..

I just re-read a little bit of my post from earlier and I realized I didn't go back and tell you about wht I learned from the nutrition guy at Center for Integrative Medicine. One of the things that he encouraged me to do was eat a breakfast high in protein. He suggested whole wheat bagels with peanut butter. I like bagels ok, so I thought that might work. He also suggested smoothies. I've never been much of a fan of smoothies, so I wasn't sure how that would go.
So I got my first pack of Lender's Wholewheat bagels, and that has become my breakfast of choice. Now I do change it up a little every other day or so. I toast it, spread peanut butter and then top it with some kind of fruit or fruit spread. I love slicing a banana to top it, but I have also found that Polaner sugar free apricot spread is YUMMO!! There are several different kinds of the sugar free spread. I do try to have a variety of them on hand so I don't get bored with it. This is a VERY filling breakfast.

 When I first started eating the toasted bagels, I kind of figured I would get tired of them pretty quickly. I wanted to have another option on hand. A good friend of mine at school gave me a Special K protein drink. I have had SO MANY of those kind of things, and they are all gross. But THIS one was actually GOOD! I was surprised. (If you want a REALLY yummy treat, stick it in the freezer for a little bit. DELISH!!) Anyway...I was trying to come up with another high protein option for breakfast. Since those Special K drinks have about 10 grams per bottle, I decided to use it as a base for a smoothie. I then added some frozen strawberries and either a vanilla or strawberry Greek yogurt. The Greek part is really important because of, again, the protein content. Add a little crushed ice, blend it up, and BAM...you have a delicious tasting, VERY filling breakfast. The GREAT thing about these smoothies is, you can make them SO MANY different ways. Change up the fruit options, change the Greek yogurt options, or you can even change the Special K drink options. They have chocolate, strawberry, or vanilla.

So having a tasty, protein rich breakfast has been one of the major lifestyle changes I've made.
And yes. It does keep me full til I eat lunch. Since my students go to lunch at 10:45, I'm NEVER hungry, so I eat a little 2x3 rectangle of cheese and a few pretzels. Then, when I have my planning at 1:10, I eat lunch. Lunch is usually whatever I fixed for dinner the night before, or if I don't have left overs, I'll eat a bowl of cereal or a Special K meal bar. (Those are really good too!) Then when I get home, I'll start dinner.  My kids always give me grief about eating so EARLY, but the pros will tell you that it's not good to eat a large meal late. So, I TRY to have dinner ready at 5:30. That doesn't always happen, but I try hard to have dinner finished by 6:30. Then I'm done. No snacks before bed. Again, can I PLEASE stress that I'm not anal about stuff. So...if I feel myself getting a little hungry, I'll eat a few peanut butter crackers.

And that's it. Nothing really weird. Just changes. Changes in the way I run my eating habits. Not a program. Not a diet. It's just my life. And it seems to be workin out pretty good!!