I headed to a review session this morning at school. I stopped in the Student Center on the way to the lecture hall and nabbed a free Sugar Free Hot Chocolate.
The hot chocolate ended up being my breakfast, because I was still full from my big dinner on Sunday night. After the review, I went to the gym for some cardio. I did 3.5 miles in 30 minutes on the treadmill, followed by 10 minutes walking at 4.0 mph on a 3% incline. Then I got on the elliptical for another 30 minutes splitting the time between levels 8, 10, and 12. Nothing like a good sweat sesh!
After my workout I drove home. I showered, quickly and was pretty hungry by that point.
Bene offered to take me out for lunch. We decided on The Cheesecake Factory (I’ve never eaten there, and Benedikt is a big fan).
It took me awhile to decide on what to order, but I was surprised that there were some decently healthy options on the menu. I picked the lunch portion of the Chinese Chicken Salad: Sliced Chicken Breast, Rice Noodles, Lettuce, Green Onions, Almonds, Crisp Wontons, Bean Sprouts, Orange and Sesame Seeds. Tossed in Our Special Chinese Plum Dressing.
Before my salad arrived, I ate a delicious hunk of brown bread – I <3 bread!
My Chinese Chicken Salad was HUGE (um lunch portion?) I managed to finish about half of it, and took the rest to go.
In California, The Cheesecake Factory provides all the nutrition information in a separate menu, which made deciding on a dish time consuming, but more informed. The lunch portion of the Chinese Chicken Salad was listed at 535 calories, 2 grams of saturated fat, and 63 grams of carbohydrates. I wish they included protein in the nutrition information, as getting enough protein is sometimes a struggle for me (I aim for between .8 and 1.0 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight each day). This, in my opinion, is a pretty healthy portion, especially if, like me, you can’t finish the whole thing and turn it into 2 meals instead of one. I’m always very pleased when I can find an item at a restaurant that is delicious and not loaded with excess calories, and this salad definitely did that for me.
After lunch we drove to Old Sacramento. It’s my second time going there, and I couldn’t believe the difference between seasons. There were very few people there and a lot of the shops were closed up for the winter. There were still free samples of salt water taffy! I had one for a lunch dessert.
I got a great picture of this funny yellow/gold bridge.
And they had a giant Christmas tree.
I can’t wait to get to Michigan where I can admire my parents tree. It just doesn’t feel like Christmas time yet without a tree.
We made the rounds in Old Sacramento, and then headed back to my apartment, making a quick picture stop at the Capitol.
I snacked on an apple around 4.
I lazed around for most of the rest of the day.
Dinner was the leftover Chinese Chicken salad from lunch with half a Trader Joe’s Blueberry Bran Muffin with Earth Balance Buttery Spread. The lettuce was a little wilted, but the flavors were still the same – this is definitely a good salad.
I’m going to eat something else before bed, but I’m not sure yet, so I’ll include it in tomorrow’s post.
Bene leaves tomorrow, he’s spending a day or so in San Francisco before heading south to Santa Barbara and Los Angeles – I’m super jealous. Tyler and I had such a good time in San Francisco, I can’t wait to go back.
I have another review session tomorrow morning for property, the rest of my day will be consumed with a workout and then plenty of property outlining and going over old exams.
Hope you had a good Monday!
Have you ever eaten at The Cheesecake Factory?
If so what did you order?
That’s pretty awesome nutrition stats for a salad at a restaurant – especially if you were able to get two meals out of it!
I can’t remember what I had there, other than cheesecake
Oh, the Cheesecake factory. All of their servings are HUGE, so if you only eat half of something, it’s pretty decent
You should see their dinner salads! Whoa! They do have the best bread. Whenever we go with Steven’s family, a lot of it is eaten!
The salad at the Cheesecake Factory looks awesome! When I know I’m going to eat somewhere like that, I like to look up their menu and nutrition facts on the internet beforehand so it saves time when I get there and I know exactly what I want.
great tips! i hate going to CCF because i cant resist that dark bread
i eat the whole basket!
mmm the cheesecake factory bread is ULTRA fluffy and delicious
sounds like you’re having a great time girl! salt water taffy is totally one of my favies
i LOVE the cheesecake factory! isnt the menu so extensive? i usually get the salads-but yes they give you SO MUCH