Feeding the Workout Hunger

Twice a week, I drag my rear up at 5:30 a.m. to hit my gym. Seeing that I set my own working and writing schedule, it may seem crazy pants that I get up that early to work out. But I really do love it! Even if it does make me hungry like a beast. Which it did on this day.
I started off sleepy and apparently unconscious enough to forget to take a photo of my pre-workout snack: a few almonds and two FRS Chews. Whoopsies. It was probably too dark to see it well anywho. Well, after my workout, I made a proper breakfast. With photos! This would be some green tea, half a grapefruit and what I’ve been calling my “green pancake-egg souffles” for lack of a better term. I’m playing around with what is the best recipe, but it’s a mixture of an egg, egg whites, 1/2 a mashed ripe banana, a little canned pumpkin, baking spices and Green Vibrance (greens!). I’ll admit, it looks pretty gross. But I swear it’s good—especially when topped with a little agave syrup!

This protein-rich breakfast kept me going for quite a few hours. But when your day starts at 4:45 a.m., well, 10:30 a.m. begins to seem like 2 p.m. At least the stomach thinks so. Thankfully, I *had* to review this nutritional bar for FBG. Oh, what a difficult job it is! And, look!, I have a friend who was interested…

Once lunch time rolled around, I threw together one of my favorite lunches EVER. Ladies and gents, behold the beauty that is the Big-Ass Salad. Today’s was pretty standard—spinach, mixed veggies, red pepper, plus some chicken sausage for protein and avocado for healthy fats. I topped this with balsamic vinegar and some walnut oil with freshly ground pepper. And I ate almost the whole darn thing. (The photo doesn’t do the size justice—it’s truly fitting of its Big-Ass name.)

After lunch, it was tea time. I’ve really, really been loving this oolong tea. It’s super high in polyphenols and gives you such a nice little pick-me-up in the afternoon.

About the time dinner-cooking time rolled around, I was freakin’ hungry again. So I ate what was left of my Big-Ass Salad. Saving a few extra bites of it from lunch is my little secret go-to healthy snack. Always nice to have it just waiting in the fridge for me to nibble on!

Then it was time to cook the din-din. Tonight, we were having Cabernet Beef Pot Roast, courtesy of Trader Joe’s.

I absolutely love TJ’s pre-marinated and seasoned pot roasts and such. For this one, you simply brown on all sides in a little olive oil…

And then pop in the oven, covered, for about an hour. Then, boom! Dinner. I should mention that while I was waiting for this to cook, I tried my hand at creating a pan sauce with a little red wine. As you can see, um, it didn’t go well.

Oh, well. I ditched the junk in the pan, poured myself a glass of cab (it was open after all), roasted some Brussels sprouts and made a homemade balsamic reduction to dip them in. It was delicious! And for one of the first times ever, I didn’t overcook the pot roast. Go me!

Afterwards, a little more wine and a small slice of this heavenly and super-dense Harry & David chocolate fudge thingie my parents gave us recently. Heaven, seriously.

Now that’s one heck of a day of eating. Thank you, workout, thank you.

Do you get the workout hunger, too? How do you satisfy it? —Jenn