Choices

It’s been a while since I talked anything food or fitness. Update on teaching classes….things are going well. I’ve become more and more comfortable the more I’ve taught. I’ve gotten good feedback and members aren’t running out the door on my days. I have completed and passed my group fitness certification which was a requirement to receive within the first six months of teaching. I’m currently teaching 4 times a week (5/6am Tuesday, 6am Wednesday, and 5am Friday) and sub for other times if needed. I haven’t felt burnt out yet but the early mornings wear on me. More so because I have a huge fear of not waking up. The alarm goes off every day whether I teach or not so I can’t figure out how to calm my brain down. I had my worst night yet waking up at 11:30 thinking it was 4:30 and got ready to go. Thankfully my brain started working before I actually left the house. However it left me restless the rest of the night. So besides the sleep issues, it’s going well.

Onto the food….I surely love me some not so healthy food. But I’ve tried to find ways to enjoy things I love that help me reach my goals. Eating out for me is one of the hardest times to keep my eating in check. To solve this issue I could just eat at home. However that never works for us. We enjoy going out. Enter making choices that leave me happy but keep me from blowing my day.

I love going out for breakfast. Probably because I feel like I can never make it at home quite as good. Or at least pancakes anyway. I never used to like pancakes but have grown to LOVE them from Perkins. A lot of it was because of the syrup and butter. So if I go to Perkin’s you better believe I am getting pancakes. Well the typical breakfast I get would be an omelet with pancakes on the side. A Granny’s country omelet with hasbrowns and pancakes clocks in at 1510 calories then add in just one serving of syrup (I probably double or triple that amount…pancakes soak it in!!) you add 140 calories. For just breakfast that equals 1650 or more calories, a whole day worth in one meal.

I feel like I’ve found a great alternative to my typical breakfast. I get the Classic Egg Favorites with egg beaters, 3 chicken apple sausage links, fresh fruit, and PANCAKES! Total for the meal is 665 calories adding 10 calories for each serving of sugar free syrup used. (Tip: switch to sugar free!! I started buying sugar free for my kids just because it is thinner and I felt like I had to use less. They don’t know any different. I have learned to love it myself. It saves so many calories!) I love this breakfast because I feel satisfied getting the one thing I go to Perkin’s for…those pancakes. But I also feel satisfied with the amount of food I get and the protein from the eggs and sausage really helps to balance out the meal making me full longer. You get a similar amount of food for under half the calories. Win win in my book. Now let’s be real…I still go and get my old favorites with butter and real syrup as well. But life is all about balance. Making better choices here and there definitely add up in the long run. Okay…who wants to go get some Perkin’s???