Flashback Friday: B&A’s

What’s B+A’s you ask? Keep reading to find out, silly!

Dear body:

I know you insist on waking up at a crazy hour in the morning, but do you not know this lends itself to bad food photography? Oatmeal bowls are divas and they need natural light. Sigh.

Mocha oats, killing two birds with one stone here.

• 1/2 cup oat bran
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1/2 scoop chocolate whey powder
• 1 packet Starbucks Via instant coffee
• 1/2 a banana
• almond butter
• M&Ms
• shredded coconut

At least being up early allowed me to have a big breakfast and digest before BodyStep. Can I just say this was the best step class ever. For starters, the class was packed. Some people seemed annoyed about this because we were crammed in like sardines. But I love full classes! I tend to feed off the energy of others, so the more the better :)

Not only was my favourite instructor there, but she teamed up with another awesome instructor. I love having two people up front to watch and instruct me.

I also graduated to two risers, which made it a lot more challenging, in a good way! I jumped and skipped over that thing like it was my job. I clapped and hollered and waved my hands in the air with the other ladies. In the end, I was a sweaty mess. Here’s a little data to back it up:

Duration: 59 minutes
Calories: 427
Max HR: 167
Avg HR: 139

And that includes our floor ab work and cool-down stretching. For the record, that’s the same calorie burn I get in an hour-long spin class. Only difference is that I often don’t hit that max HR in spin, but my average heart rate is a bit higher.

Oh yeah, and I also can’t walk. But in a good way!! :D

I wasn’t even going to photograph lunch, because it turned into a huge mess. But I thought it would be a good example to show that even food bloggers fail in the kitchen sometimes!

Grilled BBQ tofu wrap. George Foreman-ed tofu, mushrooms and onions in Montreal chicken spice, then attempted to wrap it up in an ezekiel tortilla with honey bbq sauce. As always though, I’d cooked way too much filling and could get it together! Luckily, it hardened on the grill and I could still pick it up. Also had a sliced honeycrisp with some pumpkin spice on the side.

I had a very productive afternoon. Spent a lot of time picking numbers and sitting in government waiting rooms (ugh!) but I got some big nagging tasks done – including a new passport and my old damage deposit back!

I was pretty hungry when I got back, but didn’t want a huge snack that would put dinner off too late. Enter my newest prized possession: Amazing Grass.

I won this Chocolate Infusion Amazing Meal as well as a canister of Green Super Food in a giveaway from the lovely Angie (and fellow Maritimer! Represssent!). I’ve heard about this stuff’s super powers from several bloggers now, and I’m stoked to finally dig in and see what all the hype is about.

First, I have to point out that this is not a deal!

Three bucks!? That’s like the price of a Starbucks latte! (right Leah?)

I also wouldn’t really call this a “protein powder,” more of a generic “drink mix” maybe?

But you can’t argue with the overall nutritional stats, and beyond stellar ingredients.

Even the cocoa is fancy! I mixed this as per the directions at first, 1 scoop with 10oz unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze. I took a sip, anticipating chocolate milk, because that’s what it smelled like. Not the case. Tasted like… chocolate, well, greens! :P  So I threw it in the blender with half a banana and a few ice cubes, and voila! A tasty drink was born :)

Oh, did I not mention? They hooked me up with a sweet smoothie bottle too. Although, I require a smoothie straw ;) With the modifications, I really enjoyed it. I was pleasantly surprised that even though I was hungry when I drank this, it held me over for two hours until dinner! Liquid calories don’t always do that for me.

Speaking of dinner, I channelled my boyfriend, and went for some meat and potatoes.

You missed a good one Chris :P Just some cubed potatoes smothered in leftover turkey and bean pasta sauce from yesterday. Sprinkled with parmesan cheese of course!

Now time for some Flashback B&A’s!

If you haven’t figured it out yet, B&A stands for “Before & After.” I thought it would be fun to dig some up after all the weight loss discussion that’s been going on here this week. Well, fun for you, not so much for me! The “before” photos are anything but flattering, and to be honest I don’t have a lot of good “after” photos. Especially since I’m technically smaller now than when I considered my weight loss to be finished. But anyways, here we go…

Before:

Two photos (circa 2006) that Chris told me I looked cute in. Two photos where I only saw one thing: stomach.

After:

My pasty tummy finally meets the world! :P This is in Cuba in March 2009. This was the first time I ever wore a bikini. In my life.

Taken just a couple months ago! Close to 10 lbs down from that bikini shot. There are a million reasons to lose weight, but the ease of trying on clothes after definitely tops my list.

Before:

New Year’s 2007. Or 2008. Depends on what hour this was taken at. What amazes me the most is the weight I’ve lost in my arms. I lost 3 inches from my arms, which were pretty small to begin with!

After:

This past New Year’s (2009). Again, at maintenance but still getting smaller. Well not this particular night, I recall there being excessive amounts of whiskey and jalapeno poppers :P

Before:

Chris and I getting ready for a night on the town in Montreal, summer 2006.

After:

Same shirt! Taken in Cuba again, March 2009.

Before:

Starbucks running club! More like run a few times, walk a lot, then go get pizza :P Here I am wiped after running two quarter-mile intervals in summer 2005.

After:

After PR-ing in a 5k this past summer.

Mere moments after completing my first triathlon in July 2009.

I also have two of my favourite before and after shots under The REAL Story tab. Going through old photos of myself is quite strange. If there’s one thing I can say, is that even when my belly was sticking out, I was still a generally happy gal. I flipped through a lot of old photos of fun times, where my being chubby wasn’t a huge deal. Goes to show that being thin isn’t the be-all-end-all. I’ll always go through the same emotions – big or small!!

Okee, it’s breakfast cookie making time, I’ve got a 4 am wake-up call! See ya tomorrow – I’ve got some FUN and nutty things planned :D