What's on your (Monday) menu, RNYers?

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to a new week!! I hope everyone had a great weekend and you are energized and ready for whatever comes your way!

I'm looking forward to the Oscar nomination announcements this morning. It will let me know what movies I need to cram in between now and the first Sunday in February. This weekend I watched 1917 (incredible, intense); Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (didn't hate it, which is the best I can say about a Tarantino movie and Brad Pitt was excellent) and The Joker (which I hated).

QOTD - what is your favorite evening ritual/routine? I try to stop anything with a screen (unless it's my kindle) at least an hour before bed and have a mug of some kind of relaxing tea while reading for 20-30 minutes before bed. Right now I'm alternating between two "sleep" versions - one that is apple, vanilla and chamomile and one that is lavender and licorice.

i slacked off on exercise last week because I was so exhausted and not feeling great but I'm going to jump on the elliptical as soon as I finish this post.

menu today will be

1 slice of cashew bread with 1 tbs peanut butter and 1 tsp blackberry jam

4 oz ever roast deli chicken and 1 slice cheddar

3 real good food jalapeño poppers

1 light and fit greek (I found the creme brûlée!)

Half and half in my 3 cups of coffee followed by tea and water

have a great day, everyone!

Good Morning! Thanks for starting us off. Sounds like you had some good movie time! I had a nice mostly relaxing weekend. Costco had big cans of peanuts BOGO (2 cans for under $7) so that of course prompted me to make homemade peanut butter which then led to dark chocolate chip peanut butter cookies. I think John will end up making a break room donation-haha!!

Accountability: Sticking to plan.

QOTD: Saturday and Sunday morning coffee time with John. He's usually just waking up when I get out of the shower so I make our coffee and we slouch in bed, sip our coffee and just chat.

TSS: 5 years 5 months

B: SF latte, Eggbeaters, 2 turkey sausage links, and 1/2 an orange

L: Albacore lettuce wraps and baby carrots

S: Chicken melt and carbmaster yogurt

D: Low carb chicken cordon bleu casserole, 1/2 garlic toasted lavash, sliced fruits, 2 squares dark chocolate

ES: Low carb pita with cream cheese and SF jam, Homemade Greek yogurt with SF syrup and ¼ cup fiber cereal

E: An hour stair climber and 40 mins of elliptical

V/W: On track

Totals: Cals: 1466 Protein: 137 Carbs: 99 Fat:67

Have a great one!

Homemade peanut butter sounds delicious! I will have to give that a try one day!

one year I did homemade PB added Splenda and cocoa powder. then I made peanut butter fudge with it- amazing

Oh that's such a nice ritual! I always imagined that it's hard for busy couples to carve out time like that so good for you and John for making it a regular thing!

I'm on a conference call first thing this morning. Lightly typing and listening while in the conf room. some emails set me off this morning but I'm not letting it bother me- I'm trying to have a poker face here lol

weekend was pretty boring actually- food prep for this week, weigh in at that place on sat, gym sat. basically the results from September compared to saturday there was 3 pounds gain but fat loss and muscle gain. So - I'm not complaining. Didn't go to gym yesterday and for some reason was feeling guilty- realized I was using the gym and 'leaving ' the house as a way to not overeat. Like I can't trust myself being at home and not overeating my calories... so yesterday I did stay home all day and I DIDN'T overeat.

QOTD: I sometimes read or play a matching game on my phone.

Food plan:

coffee with protein shake as creamer

water

apple oatmeal muffin/protein shake

lunch: tuna with spaghetti squash and tomato

OR

stir fry with chicken and tofu

going to add more carbs in there somehow - probably oats or something wheat?

Congrats on the fat loss and muscle gain! That is great! Also very cool that you realized what was behind your feeling guilty about the gym and addressed it. Our brains are not always our friends!

my store finally has the L&F Creme Brulee as well - thank God! I thought they'd gotten rid of that one forever, and it's my favorite flavor!

anyway, good morning, everyone!

we got more snow last night, but not a ton. But still, I'm so ready for winter to be over, and it's barely started here in southern Wisconsin (we've managed to miss all the storms those south & north of us were having - until this weekend!). I'm headed to a breakfast meeting in about an hour. Other than that, I have a lot of things I need to be doing today that I can do at home. I should probably try to get to the gym sometime today, too - or else do yoga at home. I'm kind of on a roll with exercise...

Accountability - I blew it at the brunch, but I made up for it the rest of the day. I wound up staying within my calorie range and doing a 60-minute Zumba class to boot.

QOTD: I have more morning rituals than evening. Usually in the evening I prop myself up in bed at some point and either read or surf until I fall asleep. Surfing usually includes catching up on the news (I have a digital subscription to the Washington Post).

4 years 7 months out:

B: I'll either get the veggie egg white omelet (comes with an English muffin, which I'll bring home) or the avocado toast with two eggs (I'll have to ask how much avocado. If they use a whole one, I'll bring half the toast home. Great source of healthy fat, but a lot of calories for one meal!). Coffee with half & half.

L: salad with diced turkey and light dressing. Or maybe just some turkey slices.

AS: L&F yogurt with raspberries

D: Indian curry (veggies sauteed in ghee & spices. With paneer cheese. No rice)

have a great day, everyone!!

Did your morning rituals start after you retired or have you always had them? I am a morning person but have always been a get up and get started vs taking time for myself in the morning.

after I retired. The morning ritual when I worked (or at least the last year or so of work) was that I stopped by Einstein's Bagels en route to my office for a cup of coffee - and if I didn't have a meeting or desk shift I had to be at, I'd stay there, crack open my laptop, and check and answer emails from there - and then head into the office around 9:00 or so. It was a nice transition!