I’m currently a little obsessed with Gwyneth Paltrow’s new book It’s All Good. I’ve paged through it about 4-5 times so far. The recipes are great, the pictures are beautiful and she’s not bad to look at either.

I’m also coming off of a weekend in Vegas, a few days of being sick and eating out an insane amount of times. So I could use a LOT of “good” this week. Lots of good vegetables, protein, workouts and water. She is my inspiration this week!

am workout: 20 minutes of physique 57 (strength)

coffee: (duh) + 1/2 & 1/2 while I made my daily “to do” list. I never cross off as much as I would like to…

breakfast: One of Gwyneth’s (and co-author Julia Turshen’s) favorite breakfasts is avocado toast and even though it’s nothing new, I thought the addition of mayo (she uses vegenaise) was interesting. Verdict? Yes, I love it! I don’t know what it is that makes it so delicious but I’m hooked. I had a touch of vegenaise + a small avocado on 2 slices of sprouted bread.

lunch: salad (also from the cookbook) with a delicious vegan, creamy parsley dressing and all sorts of toppings: cucumbers + garbanzo beans + beets + 2  hard-boiled eggs.

snack: baby carrots + greek yogurt ranch dip

workout: 30 minutes on the elliptical + 40 minute walk (to/from gym)

dinner: While making dinner I snacked on a few olives + chips and salsa. Burgers weren’t on the original menu but they kept getting pushed back so had to be eaten tonight. I also had them last night at a family cookout and have a lunch date at The Counter tomorrow. Life could be worse and you won’t ever catch me complaining about eating burgers. Broccolini + onion & jalapeno on the side!

dessert: small handful of dark chocolate almonds

approximate nutrition stats: 1955 calories, 121 grams fat (53%), 145 grams carbohydrates (28%), 40 grams fiber, 33 grams sugar, 96 grams protein (20%). My Dad (who works in Cardiac Rehab) might fall over if he sees that 50% of my calories came from fat…

I know Gwyneth can be polarizing – love or hate?  

Hi! Long time, no daily eats posts. (3 months actually!)

I hope you all had a great Super Bowl (if you celebrate). I tried to catch most of the commercials and ate artichokes, chips with salsa and queso and chicken fingers. (I have no idea…but they sounded SO good!) I sipped on some wine with the snacks and then made some paleo chocolate chip cookies that my friend Erin pinned – she seriously pins the best paleo recipes.

am workout: 30 minute express physique 57. I’ve been doing the physique 57 dvds for a few months now and am a big fan. Do I look like Kelly Ripa? Not yet but I’ll keep you posted.

breakfast: coffee with half & half + 2% and a banana pancake that I baked into a huge banana loaf (way easier than making separate pancakes!) – I make them with bananas, almond meal, flax meal, eggs, egg whites, vanilla and cinnamon and top with some almond butter and a small drizzle of maple syrup. Trust me when I say it is hideous (especially in fluorescent lighting). Most of us thought it tasted good… 

lunch: chopped salad with romaine, kale, cucumber and pepper + 5-6 oz chicken + 1 slice turkey bacon + 1. 5 hard boiled eggs + annie’s light honey mustard dressing.

and a cookie for dessert!

pre-run fuel/snack: few bites of applesauce for some sugar

pm workout: run! I think I might sign up for a 1/2 marathon. I really have no idea what brought this on, it kind of came out of nowhere. (maybe because I’m turning 30, maybe because I just joined a gym, maybe as an excuse to buy some workout clothes, maybe because one of the 1/2 marathon possibilities is in Santa Barbara which means I could turn it into a running and WINE weekend?!) Whatever the reason, I am literally starting at the beginning. I really haven’t done much cardio in the last few months so when I say I’m starting at the beginning I mean, I’m running: 1 mile, 1 mile, 1.5 miles, 2 miles this week. I’ll run more than just 1 mile per workout, but I need to run a mile straight, then take a walking break, then start running again. {Today’s workout ended up being about 4.5 miles total: run 1, walk .5, run 1, walk .5 and 1.5 miles round trip walk to and from gym}

snack: my new favorite – Finn Crisp cracker + deli turkey + mustard – 2 of them are about 100 calories and have more than 10 grams of protein!

dinner: “the word’s best chicken” (recipe from pinterest) + asparagus. The chicken is really good but world’s best might be a stretch, although I have made it a few times now…

dessert: paleo cookies (3)  - the cookies get really soft the next day, I think next time I’ll try adding some more almond meal and freeze them into little dough balls.

I’ll have prettier pictures on my next post, promise!