Mini-newbies

So neither of these require full-fledged posts, but I still think they are worth mentioning!

Today, for the first time, I climbed up and down my stairs for a half hour as a workout. The basement flooded because of all the rain so I couldn't use the treadmill, so I researched and found that climbing up and down your stairs for 30 minutes will burn 300 calories. I knew it would be difficult, even totally fit people get winded on stairs. Well, at least I knew what was coming.. it was EXHAUSTING! Even with the most energy-boosting tunes (gaga, beyonce etc.) coupled with saying insporational mantras (bikini, beach, etc.) I truly thought around minute 22 that I wasn't going to make it. After the fact, I am SO glad I did. I usually don't sweat much even when I get a good workout, and it always makes me feel a little less accomplished. I can safely say that I am currently drenched in sweat. Unattractive yes, but also very satisfying.

Today, for the first time, I also tried the Asiago Roast Beef sandwich as part of my pick-two at Panera. First of all, let me just say that anyone who is calorie-conscious will thoroughly enjoy the nutrition calculator on the Panera website. Not only does it tell you the calories of every food item, it tells you the calories of each individual ingredient and allows you to take out, add, and substitue ingredients and it will re-calculate the calories for you! That said, I usually get the pick two with the low fat chicken noodle soup (80 calories) and the Bacon Turkey Bravo but on whole grain and with no cheese or special sauce (290 cal). As long as you get an apple or skip the side altogether, it's a delicious and low-calorie meal! So today I decided I wanted to try something new, and found out through the nutrition calculator that the Asiago Roast Beef sandwich was also pretty low-calorie. All I had to do was switch to whole grain and take out the horseradish (that's just a personal choice, the horseradish is only 25 calories), and paired with my noodle soup it was only 380 calories! The sandwich wasn't quite as good as the Bacon Turkey Bravo in my opinion, but it I still enjoyed switching it up!

On a scale of 1-10 will I do these again: Well I have to do the stairs again tomorrow since I still won't have a treadmill, and I think after that I'll do it every once in a while for a really intense workout, so I give it a 5. For the sandwich I say 7 because I know I'll have it on days that I get sick of the bravo!