Thursday's Breakfast

When I lived alone, I used to make protein shakes for breakfast almost every day. It was fast and easy and they tasted great. This morning I decided to make myself one for breakfast.

I used my handy Magic Bullet (love it). I chopped half the apple, skins and all, used a scoop of oatmeal and half a serving of the Aria protein shake powder, water and the entire banana. I added 2 frozen strawberries for a little flavor and blended it up! In the past, I also added yogurt to make it creamier. I didn't do that this morning and wished I'd had. I sliced the rest of the apple and used a teeny bit of Trader Joe's Peanut Butter too. Calories for breakfast were around 300.

UPDATE: It's 10:00am now and I'm still feeling full from my protein shake breakfast. In a little bit I will have my AM snack of Anjou pear.

The Secret to Losing Weight:
"Food is energy. If we want to lose weight, there are only two ways to do it. We have to decrease the energy flowing into our body OR increase the energy flowing out. [pg107, Mindful Eating]" It's as simple as that. It's so simple, yet we make it so hard!

I really love the book Mindful Eating. I'm half way through the book and can't stress how useful it is. This next part I'm going to discuss is shocking but so OBVIOUS.

Why is America fat? The answer is: CONVENIENCE! Back "in the old days" people had to work for their food. They had to work in the fields, pick the produce themselves, farm the land, etc. They expelled the calories they replaced. "Mindful Eating" has a fantastic chart on WHY WE ARE FAT:

MORE ENERGY IN
*More concentrated calories
*Cheap, calorie rich food
*Larger portion sizes
*Eating mindlessly (tv watching, in front of computer, driving)
*Grazing

LESS ENERGY OUT
*Less work to obtain food
*Labor (and calorie) saving devices
*Sedentary lifestyles
*No exercise (driving instead of walking, etc)
*No gym/recess at school

Basically, we aren't working for our calories anymore.

QUESTION: Are you lazy? Do you drive places where you could walk instead? Do you drive around parking lots forever trying to find a "good spot" close in, or just park and walk?