Don?t Eat Like Murphy

Hello! Happy Hump Day!

Let’s get right to it!

Lunch

Lunch was a whole slew of goodies this afternoon. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to eat today, so I just went with a bunch of my tried and true favorites. You see, I make my lunch either the night before or in the morning before work. Usually, I have a craving for something specific, but today, I really didn’t… except for cookies, but when don’t I?

Today’s lunch included an arugula salad with grape tomatoes, celery, carrots, and black olives.

On the side, I had some almonds, which I recently learned make a great snack!

Almonds + apple.

And, finally, I enjoyed some homemade cookies!

I felt like baking this morning, so I threw together a bunch of ingredients to make some Pumped-Up Pumpkin Cookies. This batch turned out pretty darn delicious– slightly sweet, thick, and chewy. And, these cookies are made with a whole slew of healthy ingredients. They are definitely pumped-up in the nutrition department!

I may or may not have eaten a couple of these babies right out of the oven!

Pumped-Up Pumpkin Cookies

Makes 12 cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 canned pumpkin
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup vanilla hemp milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*F
Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl or food processor
Coat baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray
Use tablespoon to portion cookies onto baking sheet
Bake for 15-18 minutes

Today’s lunch was good all around!

Workout

After NuVal, I’m heading to the gym for an elliptical workout. My muscles are sore from Body Pump last night, and I want to give my hip a rest from running, so an easy, magazine-reading elliptical workout is on the agenda. I just want to get my heart-pumping and veg-out for 45 minutes, ya know?

Feel Great Weight

You may have seen my panicked tweets about Murphy on Twitter a couple of weeks ago. He ended up choking, so Mal and I rushed him to the vet. Everything turned out okay, but who would have thought that my dog would help me pay more attention to my own eating habits!? Read about Murphy’s little scare and my experiment to slow down: 3 Ways to Eat Slowly (and Lose Weight).

Got a Question for the RD?

Rachel Rodek, one of NuVal’s Registered Dietitians, has offered to answer some reader questions– related to NuVal or nutrition in general. Ask your question(s) here!!!