Tuesday Tops!

Wow, a whole week without posting anything?!?! Yeah, I don't even know about that . . . But I am active in the blog community, mostly in the sense of reading them and commenting here and there.

This week's list . . .

1. Protein!!!
As a new vegetarian, I'm still working on gaining a sense of what my nutritional breakdown should look like. Mainly in the sense of finding high protein, but low calorie (because I'm trying to trim down) foods . . . It's hard! Exactly 22 almonds (an official 'serving') work out to be about six grams of protein -- just six!!! I need at least 60! Gah! So needless to say, I'm learning and taking in as much as I can . . . But for now, I'm still a die-hard fan of lentils -- 18 grams of protein for 1 cup of lentils (almost 1/3 of my daily requirement).

2. SparkPeople
Oh my heavens . . . I think I'm in love. I must credit Jackie for turning me onto it. I love all of the health articles, the forum exchanges with fellow vegetarians/vegans, the daily recipes and workout suggestions and the nutrition and fitness tracking. Oh gosh . . . It really does have everything -- if you'd like, check out http://www.sparkpeople.com. (And if you'd like to be my Spark Buddy, my profile is icanhazcoffee2.)

3. Reading
I'm really getting into reading again. :) I'll go for long periods without reading anything and I feel like such a dork getting back into it because I read so much slower! When I stay on top of reading, I keep pace better. Right now, I'm working on "Assassination Vacation" by Sarah Vowell, which I thought would be a much lighter read, but it's still very good. She's witty and interesting and it discusses in depth more anthologized segments of history that are typically glossed over in classes.

4. CNN
I was such a CNN junkie in college . . . Wow, no joke. I would keep it on all the time. Now, I don't devote a whole lot of time to the news, but I like watching "CNN Newsroom" while I'm getting ready for the day. It's some nice background noise and something interesting to focus on while I'm putting on my makeup or ironing whatever I've picked for the day.

5. Advanced meal prep
I've started prepping my lunch the night before. It's saved me a boatload of time in the mornings -- I can grab my lunchbox, throw in an ice pack and go. I wash my salads (I love my salad spinner more than life itself right now), portion off dressing, snacks and my entree (usually leftovers of whatever I had the night before) and grab a piece of fruit.

And that's it for today, folks! ;o) Stay tuned for a future blog about how my short temper is not always a classy thing . . . and how I'll lose my temper with someone but offer up some redeeming comment as I'm leaving. You know . . . so they don't think I'm a TOTAL jerk . . .