My form of meditation

Yeah, let’s just say dinner tonight was beyond fantastic. I roasted some butternut squash last night (at 400* for about 35 minutes) in preparation for the butternut squash risotto I’ve been planning on making for ages. I got home pretty late and it took a lot (!) of willpower not to snack on it while cooking (I did however snack on roasted parsnips I also roasted last night and some fresh melon I cut up for occasions just like this – not pictured). I was hungry, but I was also determined to make this dish tonight. What I forgot is that I actually really like making risotto! Yes, it takes a while and yes, you have to constantly stir it and give it 100% of your attention but seriously, it’s kind of soothing. My husband wasn’t home yet, so I stirred the rice while reflecting on my day. It was nice to unwind and concentrate on just one thing. I like to multitask at all times, but tonight, while making the risotto I just let everything else be. I’m sure things will get done so no need to stress over it!

Now let’s talk about the final product. I omitted the butter, the onions, the shallots and tarragon, and used about 1.5 ounces of pecorino and 2.5 oz of gouda. My risotto also always takes way more broth than the recipe calls for. I don’t know if my pan is too hot (so the broth evaporates instead of getting absorbed into the rice) but in any case, this was no exception and it took about 5 cups of broth to get it to the creamy consistency I wanted. I don’t like my risotto al dente

My labor of love paid off! This was so creamy and cheesy – comfort food at its best. I could have eaten the whole pot of it, but I shared it with Adam instead and we’ll be eating the leftovers tomorrow. I think I may pan fry it like Alicia did Adam gave this recipe 3 smiley faces (basically the highest rating we have!). Yum!!

After dinner my sweet tooth kicked in so I had these straight out of their containers

[dinner, including estimated dessert: 568]

OTHER EATS

[85 calories]

[398 calories]

+

[419 calories]

+

[360 calories] – Yeah, the cookies were unplanned – my sweet tooth kicked in after the banana/BB wrap

Total calories consumed: 1830 + a little bit of melon and roasted parsnips

I think I need to establish a max 1 post-dinner snack rule! There were 3 unplanned snacks today (cookies, froyo + choc covered edamame). None of them individually were too bad, but 3 things I didn’t really need is a bit much. I’ll try to work on that

WORKOUTS

I’ve been trying to get up early to work out lately, since work has been kind of busy. I planned on doing a 3 mile run + shredding at 6 am today, but since I’m super slow in the morning I only got to do the run before I needed to get ready. I am NOT a morning person – it took a lot out of me this morning to get into it. I did it, though… let’s see if I can do my 4.5 miles tomorrow morning! Hmm. Workout stats (includes a 6 minute warm-up walk + 0.15 mile cooldown walk):

• Duration: 0:36 (+stretching)
• Calories burnt: 302 (40% fat)
• Ave HR: 145 (75%); Max HR: 194 (100%)

During lunch I also took a pilates class (I had a 2:15 meeting so I needed a workout that wouldn’t make me sweat too much). I decided that I really love pilates. It was super challenging but therapeutic at the same time. I’m going to try to take this class more often! I wore my HRM, just for fun… I burnt 113 calories but that’s probably how much I’d burn just sitting at my desk (although I certainly was working much harder!). I’m not going to wear the HRM next time. These types of workouts are not for calorie burning and I certainly don’t need to monitor my heart rate, so there is no need for a HRM (I was just curious this one time).

No shredding today. After coming home late, all I wanted to do was eat and get to the rest of my errands. I think I’ve done enough exercise today… I don’t want to burnt out for no reason!

Tomorrow is Wednesday… a.k.a hump day… and then it’s only 2 more days until the weekend. We’re going to NY! I can’t wait!!!