tortilla soup — Blog — Fit Foodie Le

clearly i have a 10k to run in 11 hours!!! i met up with a friend of mine at Cafe Adobe for an early dinner after work tonight. mexican food is one of my weaknesses, but i did a pretty darn good job of keeping my cool. i don't want no tummy trouble (nor do the runners behind me) tomorrow. the chip basket did NOT phase me tonight like it usually does! i'm so proud. didn't eat any. not a one. normally i'd order a quesadilla or something cheesy, but i kept it light and went with a cup of tortilla soup and a dinner salad.

pretty good. nice sized chicken chunks, fresh avocado, tomato, and tortilla strips made the soup hearty and filling. the salad was fresh and crisp. i also had some tangy avocado ranch dressing on the side. my friend's plate looked and smelled scrumptious.

it was sizzling beef something..i can't remember. looks like fajitas with peppers and onions and a side of cilantro rice. the portion sizes were just right and that creamy green stuff was delicious! tasted like avocado mousse.

i'm up reading my newest mag and snacking on sweet & salty check mix....

i'm gonna pick out a celebratory dessert to make for after tomorrow's run, ha. ipod is charging and i'm hitting the sack, NOW. g'nite!

my hat goes off to MS150 (150 mile bike ride from houston to austin, tx) participants and pretty much cyclist EVERYWHERE as i barely got through the 1.5 hr. spinning class i took this afternoon. and don't even let me get started on that bike seat, my goodness. once you get past that (it really shouldn't bother you anymore after the first few times) the positives totally outweigh the negatives and the benefits of cycling are pretty awesome. i don't own a performance bike yet, but i do a cycle class (also referred to as spin) 3 or 4 times a month to shock my body, change up my workout, and to keep from plateauing. also, it's:

easy on the joints vs. running and still burns tons of calories
builds stamina and muscular endurance. really tones and sculpts your glutes, calves, upper thighs and hamstrings which makes for awesome, shapely legs
heart healthy! improves overall cardiovascular fitness
http://www.livestrong.com/article/381796-what-are-the-benefits-of-spinning-workout-classes/

i don't know any unicyclers, but i love how this chart shows various body weights and different types of cycling. the more detail, the better.

Activity (1 hour)	130 lb	155 lb	180 lb	205 lb
Cycling, mountain bike, bmx	502	598	695	791
Cycling, <10 mph, leisure bicycling	236	281	327	372
Cycling, >20 mph, racing	944	1126	1308	1489
Cycling, 10-11.9 mph, light	354	422	490	558
Cycling, 12-13.9 mph, moderate	472	563	654	745
Cycling, 14-15.9 mph, vigorous	590	704	817	931
Cycling, 16-19 mph, very fast, racing	708	844	981	1117
Unicycling	295	352	409	465
Stationary cycling, very light	177	211	245	279
Stationary cycling, light	325	387	449	512
Stationary cycling, moderate	413	493	572	651
Stationary cycling, vigorous	620	739	858	977
Stationary cycling, very vigorous	738	880	1022	1163

looking to slim down overall? mix up your workouts and try spinning as your cardio component sometimes. don't worry, you don't have to go buy those special cycling shoes if you don't want to.

most gyms have the bikes with the dual pedal, so you can't use that excuse. just go try the class!

i went grocery shopping with my mom and aunt yesterday (hey, it's what we do) so i have a fridge full of goodies. this morning before church i had a small bowl of yogurt with some blackberries, almonds, pumpkin flax granola from WF, and my prenatal vitamin. didn't need any honey as the granola was sweet enough.

but back to our grocery shopping trip yesterday- HEB had this awesome soup we sampled and i snagged the recipe card for it:

it was so, so good. creamy, cheesy, all that. after actually reading the recipe card tho, i see why. velveeta cheese and 1 WHOLE pint of heavy cream!!! i love you regardless, but really HEB? since they didn't supply the nutritional stats, i did them myself.

8oz of velveeta - 672 cals

1 jar of tortilla soup - 280 cals

1 can black beans - 300 cals

1 pint heavy cream - 1642 <----WOW

i haven't even added the darn chicken yet and we are already at 2894 calories. i knew i could do better, so you know i did. i used just two chicken breasts instead of an entire bag of fajita chicken thighs (284 cals vs. 720). i threw them in the crock pot and sprinkled them with just a little of my ranch dressing mix. they were cooking while i was suffering in that cycle class. after about 4 hours or so on high they were good to go as white meat normally cooks faster than dark.

i took them out and let them cool before shredding. please know you can also pop them in a 350 deg. oven for about 45 mins or even grill them until they are cooked through evenly if you are short on time.

there's the jar of soup (280 cals), the sodium-less black beans (about 300 cals), and the half and half (71 cals for 1/2 cup).

pay no attention to that expiration date- i tasted it first L O L. i discarded all the leftover liquid from the chicken breasts, but i didn't wipe the crock pot clean. no need, as those flavor bits help to enhance the soup. i added all the ingredients back in, including the 5 laughing cow cheese wedges (175 cals total) i forgot to include in the pic. then, i dumped in green onion and fresh cilantro.

i let it cook on high for just 1 hour so the wedges could melt- turned out as creamy and as fabulous as HEB's version, and i saved us over 600 calories a bowl. 903 vs. 277 to be exact.