Angie's Appetite for Life

A Registered Dietitian's passion for food and wellness

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Take Time to Care for Yourself

March 9th, 2010 · Uncategorized

In honor of National Registered Dietitian Day, March 10, I am happy to participate with a group of other fabulous Registered Dietitians in an RD blogfest.

The topic is this: If I could give only one message regarding health and wellness, what would it be?

Take Time to Care for Yourself.

Could I encourage you to eat more fruits and veggies? Sure.

What about getting regular exercise? Absolutely.

More sleep? Definitely.

More Omega-3s? Yes, please.

But, the simple truth is that the best recommendation I can offer you is simple and straightforward, yet not often done well.

Take Time to Care for Yourself.

So often, my patients and clients are caregivers for everyone…their spouse, their children, their parents, their co-workers, their church community, their friends. They put others’ needs in front of their own. Isn’t that what we’re often taught to do, especially as women?

However, many times, their own individual needs for nurturing and self-care fall to the bottom of the day’s to-do list.

Today, do one small thing to care for yourself.

 Maybe it’s going to bed an hour early for a little extra sleep. Maybe it’s getting up an hour early for an awesome workout. Maybe it’s taking 10 minutes tonight to pack a healthy lunch for tomorrow. Maybe it’s making an appointment for a massage this weekend. Or taking a yoga class. Whatever you choose, make time today to do one healthy thing to take care of yourself.

I’m going to bed an hour early. :)

I’d love to hear what your plan is.

Check back later for more links to other great dietitians’ blogs.

And thank you, as always, for reading.

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Nutrition Beyond Carb Counting

March 8th, 2010 · Uncategorized

Mondays are just crazy in my life…am I the only one?

Today was a “grab and go” breakfast. Again, I so strongly believe that healthy breakfasts are possible even when your morning is crazy…Grab something and go. No excuses, Michelle. ;)

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This morning I taught a bariatric surgery nutrition class to a group of nurses. Our bariatric coordinator, Dana, has done a really good job establishing an education program on bariatric surgery for our nurses, and I’m happy to be a part of it.

For lunch, we had our quarterly diabetes lecture series. Heather did a great job presenting an excellent topic, Nutrition Beyond Carb Counting.

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We had a great turnout and Heather did an awesome presentation. Great job, Heather. I am so thankful to work with you! 

A diabetes rep provided us a nice lunch from Panera Bread. The sandwich was huge! I ended up eating half the sandwich, chips, and an apple.

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The afternoon was busy, busy, busy.

Then, I taught boot camp.

When I got home, my amazing husband had already made dinner. Pizza two ways (veggie + pesto) and spinach salad. Deelish.

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I ended up having a 3rd slice of pesto…and nibbled on dried mango slices for dessert.

Time for relaxation and 24. Goodnight!

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Best Breakfast Ever

March 8th, 2010 · Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch, Recipe link

Sunday started with one of my favorite breakfasts ever.

Kath’s Whipped Banana Oats topped with dark chocolate chips, blackberries, and 2 kinds of almond butter. Deelish.

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I follow Kath’s recipe exactly, except I don’t add the chia seeds. It turns out perfectly every time.

After church, we went to lunch at the Smoky Mountain Brewery. It was a beautiful sunny day outside, but dark inside, which always makes for beautiful food photography. ;)

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I was craving buffalo sauce….so I ordered a salad with buffalo shrimp. You know, I don’t eat fried foods alot, but occasionally, when I crave something fried, I have something fried. I listen to my body, stop when I’m satisfied, and totally enjoy each bite. It was awesome!

We had a great relaxing day at home, a nice walk at the park with the dogs, and dinner was simple 3-Bean Chicken Chili.

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Hope your weekend has been great!

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Saturday “Me” Day

March 7th, 2010 · Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch

It seems like lately I have fewer and fewer days to just do exactly what I want…no work,  no volunteering at church, no housework…just taking time for me.

Saturday, I had a completely free day. I was out of town, so I didn’t have to worry about laundry, cleaning, etc., that needed to be done at home…and I had so much fun. I started with a quick hotel breakfast with Anthony before he left for work. Breakfast was nothing special, just ok.

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Then, I did an awesome treadmill workout. My exercise physiologist co-worker recommended this short sprint interval workout, so I gave it a try:

  • 20 second sprints (I’m not a runner, so sprinting to me is like 8 mph, but I think I’ll try to work up to 9)
  • 10 second rest
  • repeat for 10 cycles, or 5 minutes….short and sweet…but HARD

Then, I walked for about 30 more minutes…felt great!

After a quick shower, I headed out to my first destination…

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There isn’t a Trader Joes’ in Knoxville, so every time we’re in Nashville, it is one of my first stops. I loaded up on all kinds of great goodies there. :)

Then, I did some shopping…

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This was a “no”, but I found some good “Yeses”…5 new pieces of clothing which is great for me, I typically don’t take much time to shop..but I actually had fun!

Lunch was at a great shopping area, at Zoe’s…

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It was so beautiful and sunny outside- I sat outside and people-watched while enjoying a yummy grilled “Gruben”- turkey on rye with Zoes slaw (cabbage slaw with feta) and dijon mustard. It was delish.

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After my late lunch, it was time for a bit more browsing, and then our 4 hour drive home.

Dinner was at Cracker Barrel, by the interstate…we were starving. I had a grilled chicken salad and it wasn’t half bad.

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We got home exhausted and went straight to bed…it was so great to sleep in my own bed after being away! :)

Have a great Sunday!

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Road Trip

March 6th, 2010 · Uncategorized

Friday was a long day.

Work was really good- really productive. I started with my favorite.

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I spent most of my day working on financial-type projects for my programs…totally not directly nutrition-related, but I’m learning to like the “business side” of my job more. :)

Lunch was leftover salmon spinach salad + the juiciest red pear.

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Right after my busy day, I headed home to pack up for our road trip. Anthony occasionally does some contract work for a military health program and we had an almost 4-hour drive to where he’s working on Saturday.

We managed to make our road trip fun by stopping for a yummy Mexican dinner. I had a bean burrito and a great margarita.

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While he’s working Saturday, I get to spend the day shopping- I’m hoping to hit up Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s and maybe even do a little clothes shopping. :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

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TGI (almost) F

March 4th, 2010 · Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch

Do you know that probably 60-70% of my patients and clients don’t eat breakfast on a regular basis? Even though it has been well established that eating breakfast regularly is correlated with having a lower, healthier body weight. I believe so strongly in the importance of eating breakfast….However, I am also not a morning person, so my ongoing challenge is making sure I have a moderately healthy breakfast each day that fits realistically into my busy life. Today’s breakfast was all about “grab and go”.

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My hope is to encourage you that if I can manage to fit breakfast into my crazy morning routine, anyone can. :)

I spent the first half of my day representing our weight management/wellness center at a local company’s annual health fair. My co-worker, Julia, and I did body fat analyses and BMI calculations for their employees… We were busy for hours straight, and it was so much fun. This company does a great job with wellness programs for their employees  – they have an awesome gym right in their building and a super-healthy cafeteria with great choices. We got the chance to try out their cafeteria for lunch.

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I chose the “unfried” chicken, braised cabbage, asparagus, a wheat roll, and a yummy spinach salad. All of the nutrition information was clearly labeled for each item in the cafeteria…it was awesome!

On the way back to my office, I grabbed a tall vanilla latte…

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After work, I enjoyed a great walk outside at my favorite park by the lake. It was actually over 40 degrees for the first time in weeks today and it was great to be outside.

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And, I came home to a fabulous dinner…grilled salmon, sweet potato, and spinach salad, all courtesy of my amazing husband.

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Deelish.

Sweet dreams…goodnight!

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Snack Face

March 3rd, 2010 · Dinner, Lunch, Recipe link

Today was all about work, nibble, work, nibble, work, nibble……

First, a blueberry banana smoothie.

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More work…

Then yogurt.

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More work….

Then leftover 3-Bean Chicken Chili + cornbread.

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After work, Anthony and I tackled a quick P90X Cardio X workout….

Then Panera Bread Greek salad + tomato and mozzarella panini for dinner. Yum.

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 I love Panera for a quick, fresh meal on-the-go.

Time for a little relaxation and rest. I hope you’ve had a great Wednesday. Goodnight! 

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Smiley Face

March 3rd, 2010 · Breakfast

This is SO how I feel each morning…

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I’ve had this mug for years, and I love it.

I’m going in to work a little later today and working a little later this evening, so it was nice to have extra time for breakfast at home this morning. 2 eggs scrambled on 15-grain toast + blackberries. Delish.

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I love eggs for breakfast. It’s too bad they got such a bad rap for being “unhealthy” for many years. Newer research is showing that eggs can definitely be a component of a healthy diet and may even help to improve cholesterol levels. :)

And, before I go…2 of my Loves. Owen spent the weekend with us a couple of weekends ago and we had so much fun playing at the park. These photos make me smile.

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So cute.

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Happy face.

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Have a great Wednesday!!

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I’m back

March 2nd, 2010 · Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for your support and encouragement through the loss of my beloved Lucy. It has been a rough week and a half, but I am surviving and getting through each day, which is more than I expected. I feel a little older and maybe even a little stronger than I thought I was. But, I was so blessed with her presence in my life for 18 years and I am taking comfort in all of our great memories. Your words of encouragement have meant a lot to me and I really appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

It is nice to get back to a bit of “normalcy” today by getting back to blogging….Isn’t that funny? Taking pictures of my food and putting them on a blog is my definition of  ”normal”? :)

Breakfast was my favorite on-the-go option….Starbucks oatmeal with nuts and a bit of White Chocolate Wonderful + coffee with cream.

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Lunch was a quick and easy convenience meal. If I don’t make time to pack my lunch, one of my favorite things to do is to hit up the grocery store deli…there’s usually a variety of good options. Today I chose hummus, blue corn chips, and fresh berries- the perfect quick lunch + plenty of leftovers to keep stocked in my work fridge for later.

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After a busy day at work, I taught a one-hour Strength and Abs class -what a good workout!

Dinner tonight was a variation on one of my old recipes that turned out really well. I’m calling it 3-Bean Chicken Chili.

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This chili was perfectly spicy, super easy to make, and was great with Anthony’s iron skillet cornbread.

Time for Biggest Loser… Have a great night. See you tomorrow- Goodnight! 

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Lucy

February 22nd, 2010 · Uncategorized

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Forgive my absence here for the last few days.

Last Thursday, I had to say goodbye to Lucy, my best friend and constant companion for the last 18 years. I was so lucky to have her in my life for so long, but I am heartbroken that she is gone.

Lucy came into my life when I was a senior in high school in 1992. I’ll never forget watching her running and bouncing through the fields at my parents’ house in the country. She loved being a country dog for sure…chasing squirrels and rabbits through the fields.

She’s been through everything with me….multiple moves in college, new jobs, first dates and broken hearts, lots of road trips, hanging out with all my friends, buying my first home, and finally meeting and marrying the man of my dreams.

I’ll never, ever forget her. I am so thankful for the years I had with her.

This quote was in the newspaper a couple of days ago and it really speaks to me, “A good dog never dies. He always stays. He walks beside you on crisp autumn days when frost in on the fields and winter’s drawing near. His head is within our hand in his old way.” – Mary Carolyn Davies

I’ll be back to blogging sometime soon. Right now, I’m just taking some time to get through the days, and remember the good times we had together.

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