Itaki lunch box

atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: Nailed it!

Today I did my run while dinner was in the oven and it worked out sorta well? The salmon got a little overdone but the marinade saved it from getting dried out and the rice cooker kept the rice nice and hot. But this seems to be the most efficient way to use my time: set up the food, go run, check on it before I shower, food is done once my shower is also done. I end up eating later than I’d like (a bit too close to 8pm for my liking) but it’s better for my stomach not to eat right before or immediately after my workouts.

I’m working on using up this bag of broccoli and I think I like the fajita strip type cut for the electric lunch box. They cook fast and are easy to eat.

I didn’t eat the salmon for dinner; I packed it up for lunch tomorrow. I was determined to give making that lemon tuna another try and I fucking NAILED it! It was sooooo good. I used this recipe and tweaked it by adding some lime juice and slices of cherry tomatoes. I put some avocado on it, used homemade bread from the breadmaker, and used the foil to keep it from making a huge mess. It could have used a little more onion for my tastes and some lettuce (I was just done with cutting vegetables by the time it came to lettuce for the sandwich) but I’ll remember that for next time. I bet if I make bagels again, I can put the tuna on it and get the exact experience from the bagel shop. Or just eat it with a spoon on its own; which I was sorely tempted to do.

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Today’s Workout: Last Day

Yeah, today was not the best day in terms of motivation but, I did get a lot done. Is it strange to be productive but not really feel like you were? Either way, I was able to get this workout in and make sure my meals were prepped.

I managed to turn in some reward points to get a head of lettuce for free for my salad today. I probably should have added some tuna but the container was REALLY full. I couldn’t even close it properly. As for dinner, I’m still working my way through all these snow peas. I’m impressed as to how long they last in the fridge

My steps weren’t as high as they should have been but at least I got the bike in. I also noticed that despite the scale not moving, one of my slightly oversized dresses that I could get away with wearing even though it’s too big is now too big to get away with wearing at all. I’m actually bummed about it since it’s a really cool dress but, I’d rather take the time to learn how to alter my own clothes than stay fat to keep them.

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Today’s Workout: Cute

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Since I was feeling a little sore, I went for the desk peddler today. I will run at least once this week but I’m feeling kinda bleh. I just needed to move around and get my heart rate up for a bit.

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Since my kid thinks it’s embarrassing to take a cute lunch to school I decided to make one for my damn self! the food won’t go to waste and I can use all the cute lunch boxes I have. It’s a win win in my book.IMG_20230403_175857017

After all that food for lunch, I decided to go light with a salad for dinner. I used a lot of seasoning on the wings a LOT and lunch felt like too much food (probably could have done without the crackers and cheese). Even a Caesar salad seemed like too much. I just used olive oil and red wing vinegar.

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A previous lunch was the leftovers from that salmon bowl I made and yeah, this was something that would have benefitted from separate containers. I ended up putting the cold ingredients on the cap while I warmed the rest in the microwave. That salmon was so good, I absolutely will make that again and put it in a more convenient container for reheating. One day if I ever get out of debt, I wanna get this Itaki so I don’t need the microwave anymore. I can just take the cold food out, set the timer for the hot food, and eat when ready.

I’m actually having fun coming up with different meals and experimenting with what I bring to work. I will need to cool it with the noodles and rice so I’m not eating so many carbs but, still! I have a ton of recipes I’ve saved in my ChefTap that I could make as well. That would be an interesting project.

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Today’s Workout: A break?

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I missed last night’s workout because my kid needed me. We had a long talk which took up  my running time but it’s completely fine. It’s hard enough being a teenager, much less a trans teenager and I’m glad my kid can come to me if they need to. I “made up” for it today with the desk pedler.

These were the prepped meals for the last couple days, except for the popcorn. And that big bowl lasted three sittings. The Saxenda won’t let me eat so much. I used some of the seasoning packets from the ramen to season the popcorn.

Since the weekend is approaching, I’ll be switching to body weight workouts then starting cardio again on Monday. Part of me is looking forward to it and part of me is already over it. Either way, I still plan to keep up with being as active as possible.

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Today’s Workout: The Usual Spiel

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I spoke to my doctor about my high triglycerides and while she’s not too concerned, we’re gonna keep an eye on it. The very nice (slightly nervous) young man training with her gave me the usual advice of more cardio and take fish oil. I guess it’s a good thing I decided to get back into running. I also noticed my blood pressure creeping up, too. I need to take it easy on the salt.

Today I had steak and bok choy for lunch and a salad for dinner. I’m not usually a breakfast person. I usually just have some coffee since I’m just not that hungry first thing in the morning. I was tempted into having a couple Oreos because there was a little party for a friend of mine who’s leaving for another job but I sincerely doubt two cookies are going to destroy my entire day.

I’m still in the first week of c25k and I took my measurements to track my progress in a way that’s not the scale. We’ll see how things go. I have to be a little careful since I have a new piercing to take care of but it’s ok as long as I don’t let it get all sweaty.

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Today’s Workout: I’m Okay!

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More peddler today but the main star is trying out salmon in the electric lunch box.

The last time I tried putting salmon in this thing, I put the salmon in the fridge to marinate, didn’t remember how long I’d had it in there, figured it’d be fine if I cooked it enough, and ended up spending the next day bent over the toilet heaving my guts out. That was years ago and I still was afraid to see how this was going to turn out. But, luckily this was fine. And it was filling and delicious.

I still think beef and chicken are the best for this type of recipe. Maybe lemon would be better with the fish instead of soy sauce but my all time favorite is sliced or cubed beef with broccoli instead of bok choy. The noodles are fun but not necessary. I used Black Garlic Oil ramen but only half the block and half the seasoning because the soy sauce is already salty; I don’t need the ramen seasoning on top of that.

The next few days I’m gonna be taking it easy and enjoying the parts of the weekend I don’t have to work. I’m still pondering if I want to do NaNoWriMo this year or what I would even write about. All the series I have are short stories except for the First Brood series and I already started book 4. That would be cheating to start a challenge with a few thousand words already written. Maybe I’ll have a lightbulb moment over the next couple weeks.

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Today’s Workout and More Electric Lunch Box Food

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I felt pretty productive today; finishing off a bunch of books, returning them, clearing away space on my desk, and making sure I have a healthy lunch and prepped what I wanna make for dinner… And I was able to get my heart rate up enough to make me feel like some good calorie burn happened.

Now, I was talking about the electric lunchbox I use at work – where my co-workers get mad it’s not a buffet and don’t bring enough to share – and the steamed meals I make in them.

These are the raw ingredients before I started cooking. Those are small bits of sliced chicken in soy sauce with my usual spices: paprika, cumin and red pepper. I use plain noodles and break the block in half. One pack is over 400 calories, no way I’m eating the whole thing. The greens are bok choy, sliced garlic, white onion, and ginger. I end up having to cook in stages; the chicken first for 15 minutes, add the bok choy in the top section at the 15 minute mark, and the noodles in hot water at the 20 minute mark. At 25 minutes, it’s all done.wp-1663292941402

Sometimes (as in most of the time), I end up over packing the vegetables. I eat what’s cooked and let the rest steam a bit longer. I don’t like my veggies too soggy. I like the crunch. When I do broccoli, I leave the veggies in the entire time since that takes much longer to cook than the bok choy. The water I use to cook the noodles dilutes the soy sauce (I try to use low sodium but that’s not always on sale and I’m a cheap bitch) and the chili crunch is just delicious and fun.

This is a filling dinner that is so satisfying (even though the red pepper makes my nose run, which is gross but worth it). If I get one pack of chicken tenders from Trader Joe’s or Butcher Box, that makes two of these types of meals. I change up the vegetables (I already ranted about my issues with the broccoli from Misfits Market here) and those ramen packs are so cheap when they’re on discount and also last two meals. If I don’t have any noodles, I just add more veggies.

One of these days, I’ll post the version of this I make with lemon chicken and peppers (unless I did that already and fuck it, I’ll do it again) which I have had mixed results adding rice but for that, I just skip the carbs entirely. Rice is hit or miss for me with the electric lunch box. Or at least this kind of electric lunch box because I backed a different one on Kickstarter (yeah, not sponsored or an affiliate for anything I have linked here) that I’ll have to play around with when I get it to see what kinds of meals I can make or if it’s best for just reheating things. Either one would help me out since the microwave can kill food sometimes.

So… I went on a tangent about my food and the geeky products I own. If I put this meal into MyFitnessPal, it’s about 500 calories total; which is good for me since I don’t feel the need to snack at all hours after eating this. If I make this for lunch, I don’t even need dinner. That’s probably the Saxenda as a factor as well but a good workout and getting my steps in burns all this off no problem.

Uhm… I don’t have anything clever to say to end this. I’m tired and going to bed.

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Today’s Workouts: Insert hump day joke here.

Today was a kinda chill day. I got up early to make lunch for the kid (who actually ate it? And actually did the dishes so I had anything to make lunch with? Clearly, an anomaly) and made myself a thermos full of coffee to make it through getting up really early without enough sleep.

I keep waking up in the middle of the night and it’s starting to piss me off…

Anyhooooooo, I learned a valuable lesson food wise not to buy any broccoli from Misfits Market ever again. Either I can’t get the full bunch clean enough to avoid visible bugs (I assume a certain amount of bug eating risk in general but I don’t SEE them normally and I can live in blissful ignorance) or I get the pre-cut florets that have hidden rotten parts in them and they don’t taste right. So, if I get it from them, I either have to make sure to use whatever I buy in one day and see random flies or grubs during my meal or use veggies that taste off even though they are fresh from delivery. Honestly, I’m better off getting broccoli from Trader Joe’s or basically any other place than Misfits. Sorry, Misfits Market, your other stuff is good but not this. I ended up throwing it all out.

On the upside, the other veggies and fruit I’ve bought from Misfits Market have been alright. They are very, VERY fresh and need to be used sooner rather than later. And if you’re wondering why I’m harping on the broccoli, I’ll have to take more pictures of the meals I make at work with the electric lunch box. There’s a method to my madness in usually choosing broccoli as opposed to bok choy; which has a very different result when steamed in the Itaki lunch box. (not sponsored… I WISH I was sponsored!) I guess I should take pictures of how I prep then cook various meals in this thing? Eh, if I remember. I tend to have these types of meals on days where I have time to properly cook and eat them during my hour break, be it lunch on my day shifts or dinner on my night shifts. I have to strategically plan my break to make sure I have an outlet.

If I remember tomorrow, I’ll take photos of my prep before I take the ingredients to work. Also, I have a reputation at work now. Whenever someone smells something delicious at a meal time, someone pokes their head into the break room and says “Oh, it’s her again, not bringing enough for the rest of us.” I’m lucky to have coworkers who aren’t put off by my cooking.

But for now, I’m tired and sore and want to go to sleep.

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Today’s Workout: Biking and How I Make My Lunch At Work

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I’m doing a bunch of training this week and I’m doing a big push at home with my writing and needlework so, I figured biking at work would be best. Once I hit the house, I hang up my coat, snarf down some food, then go to the side work.

But speaking of food, I thought I’d share an example of how I prep and cook my food at work.

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I use my Itaki electric lunch box. What I do is use the containers and prep the ingredients at home.

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I use different meats (I haven’t successfully tried fish yet) and this time was some steak. I slice it up small and marinate it in soy sauce, cumin, paprika, and red pepper. Either I prep it in the morning or the night before but it gets to sit in those seasonings for awhile in the fridge. I’ve also experimented making chicken marinated in lemon juice and lemon pepper seasoning. That’s a refreshing meal.

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This box has more capacity so I fill those spots with vegetables. I tried noodles a couple times and rice but on the Saxenda, the carbs are too much and I can’t finish it. This time is bok choy but my go to is broccoli. Mostly because I like my veggies crunchy and it takes about 20-25 minutes for the meat to be done. That makes the broccoli perfect for me but the bok choy ends up too soggy. I keep those off until the tail end of the cooking.

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As you can see, I also add sliced garlic and onions. Sometimes I get fancy and add some ginger. This is my go to when I have time to prep and cook at work. Not every day gives me enough time so I bring leftovers or a salad.

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I also love to add this stuff. It’s amazing.

The caloric intake varies on what ingredients I use and hovers around 290-350 calories. It’s hearty and filling for me, even before I was on the Saxenda. I think I tried tofu once (I vaguely recall this) and it wasn’t as satisfying. I may try it again but I found a great concoction that works for me.

Obviously, this means I have a place to plug this in and a lunch hour long enough to cook and eat this without feeling like I’m shoveling the food down my throat. There are other combinations I’d like to try, too. I’ve seen some impressive meals floating around on YouTube. It’s a fun little gadget to have.

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