The Challenge and a new Casserole

I've officially challenged myself to hit the gym every day this week (or at least exercise as running outside will count).  What this means is a 4:30am wake-up on the mornings I decide to do the deed .  It didn't happen this morning, though that was my intention.  Apparently my little Sunday afternoon nap combined with a late night text message hurt my whole 7 hours of planned sleeping to make the early morning rise and shine happen.  =/

No worries, though...good thing I got a do-over after work tonight.

I thought long and hard about whether or not to get some running in and decided I should.  Then I thought long and hard about my chances of a successful run AFTER work with this ridiculous heat.  I opted to run at the gym on the treadmill.  Yes, I know...I'm a treadmill whiner, but at least I did it.  2 miles later (non-stop, I might proudly add - in other words without intervalling), I then hit the elliptical for 35 minutes and called it a night.  


I plan on changing it up a bit throughout the week so I don't get bored and then I'm hoping to turn this into a habit.  It may be asking a bit much to maintain a 5 day a week habit (in addition to my Saturday long run) since life happens, but well...let's just see what happens, shall we?

I also wanted to make sure that I had a food plan in place so that I wouldn't rely on eating out or quick fixes during the week.  I sort of created a meal.  I shredded chicken in the crock pot in some chicken stock.  Once it was cooled, I added a container of plain Greek yogurt for a creamy texture and added protein.  Note that when I made chicken tetrazini, I added cream of chicken soup, but I decided to forgo the soup this time around saving the calories.  I also opted to half the amount of whole wheat noodles and added in spaghetti squash.  Have you ever worked with spaghetti squash before?  Pre-South Beach, I had not.  Then, it became one of my best friends - especially pulling me through Phase 1.  I'm sure there are many different ways to bake one, but the way I do it is to poke lots of holes in it using a sharp knife.  I then put it in a 350 degree preheated oven for about 45 minutes.  After I take my spaghetti squash out of the oven, I carefully cut it in half (long way) and remove the seeds using a fork.  I then use the fork to make "spaghetti" strands and put them in a separate bowl.  Here are some pics.

I wanted to continue to pump up the veggies in my dish, so I roasted some yellow squash and zucchini squash with a bit of Olive Oil Pam and some garlic and rock salt.  I also added frozen chopped spinach.  I layered the squash and spinach in the casserole dish with the combination of  the chicken (still in the stock) with the yogurt and the spaghetti squash and my whole wheat spaghetti noodles. I then thought long and hard about neglecting the cheese, but gosh...I just couldn't do it.  Maybe one day, I'll find that kind of strength.  I just topped the whole concoction with a bit of shredded Parmesan and some Italian seasoning (though I admit fresh herbs would have been better) and behold...a fantastic meal chock full of veggies for the week.  Baked on 350 degrees until it was heated throughout and then wow!  Here's a pic of the finished product.

Have you challenged yourself this week?