Taste Testing-Quaker Harvest Breakfast Bar

And that's just what I did.

I stepped off of my bus part of my daily hour and fifteen minute commute from Port Coquitlam to Vancouver and was greeted with a smiling woman as she put a box of Quaker Harvest Breakfast Bars in my hands and wandered away doing the same thing to everyone that she passed. Now who am I to turn down a free breakfast and seeing as the only Oatmeal product I eat is Quaker Oatmeal the staple of the oatmeal world, I took them gladly!

I knew as soon as I took the box that by the feel of how heavy it was that I was in for something that was going to stick to my ribs and that's good right? Less hungry and fuel to keep me going I can get to lunch at 1pm and considering my day starts at 5:30 and work starts at 8:30 it's a long wait . Sometimes I eat breakfast when I get to work but most days not but if I do get peckish I steal fruits and veggies from my co-worker who is always in abundance of them for her breakfast.

Today though I have the Apple and Cinnamon goodness to try and I took my first bite...

Are you familiar with Protein bars and how dense they can be?

This might actually be more dense than they are. All of the apple and cinnamon flavour was there large and in charge and very comforting with it's 5g of fiber and 23g whole grains being made with real fruit. (Yes I took that right off the box.)

It did take me almost 45 minutes to eat the little square though because it was so thick and filling. I would have to put it down after each bite and only pick it up again when the cinnamon flavour had lessened in my mouth. I feel that maybe it would be better warmed though and I was a little surprised by the amount of filling in the center. It was full alright but being cold was more than likely why it took me so long to eat it because it seemed almost doughy or not completely set.

All in all though it was pretty good! Now my stomach can make all of those digestive noises as it breaks it down making my co-worker think I'm hungry when I'm not forcing me to wave her bowl of fruit away.

The next time I eat one I'll have to warm it up and see if there's a difference.

Time To Say Goodbye To Breakfast

Hello Lovelies,

I'm back after a grueling RRSP season.

Yesterday as I stood in my kitchen window watching the dark skies duel for supremacy over the sky with the rays of sunshine trying to break through I tried to think about what this mornings post would be about. I usually don't pre-plan my posts and apparently this one was no different because what I thought I was going to blog about yesterday went out the window after a trip to Walmart.

The trip itself wasn't that exciting but recently Bean and T have been on the workout train of thought. You know spring is near when all the women in the house start thinking about Spring/Summer clothes and how our butts have yo fit back into the lighter wear. The girls have been doing the "Call Me Maybe Challenge" and even talked one of the boys into doing it...once. So with all the talk about getting into shape. Me and Blondunicorn checking out Yoga programs, the girls and their tortuous workouts involving Pilates death poses as I call them, Sese putting on some weight which is good for her because she needs to weight more than 100lbs at 5'2".

Do you ever find that some workout programs you watch are so annoying that you can't do them?

I watched the CMM Challenge and that was the result of that I did find that Fitness Blenders was more for me.

Oh ya, Walmart I went in for dog food and dinner and came out with that, Walking Dead munchies and a scale. A nice digital soon to be pain in my ass scale and yet I was excited because our old one must be wildly inaccurate ( I'm hoping ). Now so many of us women and some men I've come across hate more than one thing about their bodies and my household of women is no different if not even more so because we are all different shapes and sizes. Unfortunately for Choo and Allan it will be chaos.

Between the 5 of us we have our share of common dislikes and then the ones that make us look at each other and go "You're kidding! Have you seen you? There is nothing wrong with whatever you think is wrong with you!"

I've been working out a bit more steadily but there is no rhyme or reason to it. I use my commute to and from work as a workout because I have 6 flights of stairs including escalators that I walk up to get to work, I will dance like crazy while doing the dishes, sweeping or in the shower and just recently do leg lifts while letting the dogs out before I have to brave more stairs to chase Cali back into the house because she doesn't want to come in or wrestle with a puppy that is almost as big as Smokey and trying to use me as a chew toy. Now though, I'm trying to designate a block of time and eat...um...more right?

I have Chrons' Disease and a Dairy allergy that doesn't leave this girl a whole lot of choices but I can seam to handle pretty much anything in moderation. Except the Dairy, I'll go from 0 to itch in 15 mins especially from chocolate. Oh how I miss chocolate you have no idea.

I love food too much to really give anything up completely though. I can give up the amount of it I consume like my McDonald's breakfast wraps. Not the Kale and Feta one because I couldn't eat that if I tried but the sausage, egg and hash brown wrap is amazing.

 Damn...the scale...

So I get it home and it's the early evening, I know I shouldn't weight myself until morning but hell it's new and I want to test it out. Then I almost cried and was horrified because it told me I was 11lbs more than I thought I was! I'm 5'11" and for most of my life I was under weight by at least 30lbs until I got an office job, muffins ended up on my desk constantly and my ass expands anyway, my family and friends tell me the weight is fine and I look healthy well yay... but clothes don't fit right anymore. Enough of that now because my weight is fine, I just need to change how it sits on my frame. I have no problem with the extra...wait are they extra if I'm supposed to be this weight?

No, I won't tell you what that is.

Back to the scale...so I tell myself that it's ok, it's 5pm and it's you know day weight but because I'm a glutton for punishment before I had a shower I strip down and step on the scale again. Well look at that it dropped 8lbs! How I was wearing 8 extra pounds of clothing I have no idea but who cares! Happy Dance! That left me only 2lbs over what my normal weight should be and then...and then I have the bright idea to measure parts of me that haven't been measured since high school.

What a mistake that was too and yet now I have the starting point I need to shape myself the way I want to be shaped. I'm not so concerned with losing weight as I am losing inches and yes I know the 2 go hand in hand but trimming and toning in preparation for the nice weather is all I'm after. Having all of the ladies on board though helps alot in trying to keep the motivation going and come up with a plan to keep us all on track.

So goodbye breakfast wrap for now.

Maybe I can treat myself to you on Saturdays or Mondays because you would make my Monday's better in some small way.

Have a great week!

See Ya
S