Apparently today was bring a treat to work day at the office. So even though I was annoyed by how much time I spent in the kitchen on Sunday preparing all of my healthy food and packing lunch and breakfast and making dinner for the week, when I got to work I was so happy that I planned ahead.

Breakfast this morning was my usual week day smoothie. In the mix:

1 small banana

3 small strawberries (the last three in the fridge)

1 small handful of blueberries

½ a cup of plain, 0% fat Greek yogurt

Sprinkle of chia seeds

Sprinkle of ground flax seeds

2 TBS PB2

½ a scoop of protein powder

1 handful ice

¼ C water

A great smoothie. I drank most of it (and a travel mug of iced coffee) on the way to work this morning. I had a little bit left over when I got to the office at 7 o’clock this morning, and sipped it for the first few minutes of work. So. Good.

Around 8 o’clock I went upstairs to put my lunch away. That is when I found the first treat. Pumpkin bread from Russo’s. I definitely sliced a sliver, wrapped it up in a paper towel and took it back to my desk.  As I walked back to my desk, I ran into the other two treats another colleague brought in. Pettifors and baklava. Thankfully I was satisfied with my sliver of pumpkin bread and was not all that tempted by the other treats. I enjoyed the pumpkin bread with my second cup of coffee around 10am this morning.

At lunch time I went for a walk for the first time in months. Two of my colleagues and I walked a mile and a half. The temperature was in the low 70s and there was a beautiful breeze coming off the water. It was an almost perfect day for a walk, just a bit overcast – but I was so pleased to have the temperatures in the 70s instead of the high 90s I would not dare complain.

After the walk I enjoyed my lunch. Last night I took the time to hard boil a few eggs to put into my salads this week. I was pretty sure I had messed up the eggs, so I was relieved to find that the egg I packed with today’s lunch was not undercooked. It added some good substance to my salad – and some much needed protein. Today’s salad included:

Spinach

Carrots

Tomato (from Farmers’ Market)

Scallions (from FM)

Sliced almonds

The dressing was Annie’s light Goddess dressing – still my hands down favorite store bought dressing.

After the salad and hard boiled egg, I was still hungry. So I had a piece of 12 grain bread and a tablespoon of peanut butter. The perfect end to lunch.

I worked a little extra today, and eventually left the office a few minutes after 4 o’clock. I was not planning on going straight to the gym, but my auto-pilot kicked in half way home and just drove to the gym. I looked in my bag to see that I had a running shirt, shorts, shoes and socks. I didn’t need anything else.

It was raining when I got to the gym. It was about 72 degrees. I experienced one of the best runs of recent memory today. It was great. After the run I had a bite of an apple I was looking forward to eating during my five mile run. I was so disappointed (and rather annoyed) when the apple was not tasty at all. On the drive home, I snacked on a 100 calorie Larabar, which I thankfully found in my gym bag left over from one of my recent races.

Dinner tonight was perfect. The hard work in the kitchen yesterday really paid off tonight. I had a bowl of whole wheat pasta (1 cup) and ratatouille (1 cup) with a sprinkle of fresh parm and a slice of 12 grain bread on the side. I had a glass of skim milk with a teaspoon of chocolate added to it. A couple of hours after dinner I had 1/2 a cup of frozen yogurt.

All in all it was a pretty good day for a Monday. I hope your week is off to a good start, too!