Got Almonds?

I've read a lot of good things about almond milk. It's packed with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals like potassium, vitamin E, and magnesium to name a few and contains no lactose. It has no cholesterol, has fewer calories than nonfat milk, and you can make it at home (which I think is a super cool idea and I really want to try doing it).

Well before I took the leap to start making it at home I needed to try and it and see if I'd even like it. I'm not a big cow milk drinker. As a matter of fact I hate the way it tastes and only use it to cook with and occasionally eat it on cereal. On top of that I'm lactose intolerant. You can see the selling points of the almond milk, right?

I bought a 1/2 gallon of Silk Pure Almond Milk last weekend and tried it for the first time yesterday on cereal. I really liked it. I like the way it tastes, I like its consistency, and I like how much healthier it is. With my afternoon snack, I drank a 1/2 cup plain to see if I liked it all by itself. I totally did. Now I just have to try and hook 3ft on it then I can quit buying cows' milk altogether.

Now I'm totally excited to go find a big ginormous bag of raw almonds so I can make my own milk. I can better control what goes into it as well as play with the flavors if I make it homemade. The only drawback I see is that store bought almond milk has added calcium but I already take a multivitamin with calcium in it (because I'm not kidding when I say I don't drink milk if I can help it) plus a lot of veggies (like broccoli) and yogurt have calcium in it. So I'm not too concerned about getting enough calcium if I make my own. I also think in the long run it'd be cheaper to make my own because almond milk in the stores is like twice as expensive as regular milk.

Speaking of yogurt (well I did mention it a bit ago offhandedly), I've also heard a lot of good things about Greek yogurt vs. regular yogurt. So I bought a container of it when I got my almond milk. I haven't tried it yet. Maybe I'll eat it today and I'll let you know what I think about it tomorrow.

Moving on...

I'm rearranging my exercise routine again. I swear I'm ADD when it comes to this stuff but I have a valid reason, I swear. My husband is going to have to start working late to hit a deadline he has coming up so I'm not going to be able to get to the gym on T, Th, or F. On top of that I've been struggling to get out of the house and go at 8:15ish when he gets home on the other nights. So I've decided that I'm going to do my workout videos in the day when I have the gumption for it and on M and W I have the option for the gym but if I'm too tired well then I've still got my exercise in for the day.

Yesterday, I worked out with Richard Simmons in the morning and felt great all day. So much so that when my husband got home last night I threw on my workout clothes and bounced off to the gym. I was going to give some love to the treadmill and do my running but instead "The Walker" was there so I jumped on the Elliptical and rode it hard for 15 minutes. I went a mile and a half. Then I bounced home. I felt great with a huge sense of accomplishment.

--Previous Day Tracking --

Exercise - "Sweatin' to the Oldies 2" and 15 minutes on the Elliptical

Healthy Lifestyle - Day 70

Only Water - Day 65

Total Pounds Lost - 25.4

Meals:
Breakfast - bowl of Special K Vanilla Almond and FiberOne Honey Clusters mixed w/ almond milk and an egg
Lunch - Homemade Jalapeno Potato Chips w/ Mango Salsa, Cajun Chicken Sandwich, and a pickle spear
Mid-Afternoon Snack - 1/2 Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich, some Pirate Popcorn, and 1/2 cup of Almond milk
Dinner - barbecue chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn

Total Day Calories - approx. 1217