Skating and Dining - and a Recipe!

Tuesday's Goals:

Exercise: Skating
Calories: 3000

Tuesday's Achievements:

Exercise: Skating
Calories: 3000

Yesterday was my 3000 calorie day, so no problems with the diet! ;) As I said, I don't even bother counting calories on my 3000 day. I just eat whatever I want. It's my splurge day.

My brother and me met at Brio for dinner, a new Italian chain restaurant that recently opened near where I live and had a delicious dinner. I have been really impressed lately by the quality of food one can get at some of the chains now. Brio was fantastic. We shared a bruschetta appetizer that was honestly the best bruschetta I have ever eaten in my life. And the pasta dishes were extremely good. And then for dessert we both got this New York cheesecake that had a crispy creme brulee top. Oh my!

Okay, enough about my indulgences.

I did go figure skating yesterday and skated for a good hour, although I must say my energy level wasn't as high as usual. And the usual show-offs were there who skate 200 miles per hour and zig-zag in and out of everyone backwards and scare the crap out of me because I don't think they are watching where they are going. There are two types of skating show-offs. The first are the hockey guys. They come to open session to practice their hockey skating, so they are flying around like maniacs, skidding to stops, weaving in and out of everyone and shredding up the ice. They make me nervous because I never know what they are going to do. The second type of skating show-off is the semi-professional figure skater. Not all of them are problems, but there are certain skaters who skate EXTREMELY fast, spinning around frontwards to backwards, weaving in and out of everyone backwards and they don't seem to be watching where they are going. They brush past me at 100 miles an hour within an inch of me and it makes me nervous.

And then there is me, the beginner figure skater, focused on my basic turns, angles and essentially staying upright!

I thought I would share my protein shake recipe today. I have this shake about 5 mornings of the week. Why? Well...this shake has several advantages. First, it's delicious! Really. It tastes like a rich, chocolate milkshake - it's made with whey protein (a milk derivative) so it doesn't have any funny taste like some of the protein powders. So it helps to tame the chocolate beast inside me. Second, it is filling. It holds me over until lunch. Third, it has only 300 calories so having a low-cal breakfast like this frees up a lot of calories for lunch and dinner which (for me) are the meals that I prefer to be larger. Fourth, the incorporation of dark cocoa powder and cinnamon provides a serious one-two health punch! And it's a high protein meal. Can't beat it.

SASSY'S PROTEIN SHAKE

In a blender:

1 c skim milk
1 scoop protein powder (I like the Whey Gourmet brand, especially the chocolate peanut butter flavor)
2 tbs unsweetened dark cocoa powder (I use Hershey's Dark brand)
Few sprinkles of cinnamon (about 1/2 tsp)
1/2 frozen ripe banana
1 ice cube

Blend and enjoy!