Daniel Terrell: What I Ate in a Day

I’ve partnered with Enlightened to bring you this blog post and share how incredible their ice cream tastes. Seriously, I am so impressed. If you like Halo Top, Enlightened will knock your socks off. The texture and mix-ins are a zillion times better! Read on to see how it fits into my day, macro-wise, and why it’s truly THE BEST “healthy” ice cream on the market.

We’re all up and at ’em well before 6:00 AM. A rule in our house: No television before 6:00 AM, so when I come downstairs, I see Mal and Quinn sitting in the kitchen. Mal is eating breakfast and Quinn is playing with toys. Our kitchen counter is an absolute disaster, but, hey, real life, so I snap a photo of the whole scene. We went to Edaville the night before and didn’t get home until kind of late, so our stuff pretty much exploded everywhere. Rise ‘n shine!

Murphy, of course, followed me downstairs. It was breakfast time after all!

After I feed Murphy, I pour myself an iced coffee and add some protein powder and almond milk eggnog to it. Delicious! I’ll be drinking this combo until Christmas for sure!

As I’m taking my first sips of coffee, I remember that it’s the first day of 24 Days of Togetherness, so I ask Quinn to pick an activity for the day. He picks: “Get a Christmas Tree and decorate it,” and we are all super excited. We talked about getting our Christmas tree in the next week or so, so things worked out perfectly!

After that, I get myself ready for the day and then take Murphy for a walk. Shortly after that, Mal leaves for school. We say goodbye and then I get Quinn ready for school. I drop Quinn off and then drive home. (This timeframe is kind of a whirlwind, so I forget to snap photos.)

Back at home, I make myself a rice cake with peanut butter mixed with collagen (for extra protein) and cinnamon. The peanut butter jar is just about empty, so I give it to Murphy. He’s one lucky pug.

I take my rice cake and immediately head upstairs to my office to get to work. I work at my stand-up desk for a few hours and then break for a quick lunch. On the menu: Carrot spirals mixed with ground chicken, peas, and pesto. Mmm! Easy, delicious, and nutritious!

After lunch, I hop in the car and drive to the Capital One Cafe to meet my new video/digital marketing team. I know, right?! Who am I? Ha! Well, I’m stubborn control freak, who finally admitted that she needs help with CNC because she can’t do it alone while simultaneously running Designed to Fit Nutrition and Nutrition House Software. Anyway, we spend about an hour brainstorming ideas and content for the New Year, and I can’t wait to share a new (and improved!) side of CNC with you guys!

After our meeting, I stayed at the cafe and worked a little while longer. Eventually, I headed home and heated up a quick snack to keep me satisfied until dinner: Roasted butternut squash with peanut butter and cinnamon.

As I’m eating my snack, Mal pulls into the driveway. We have an appointment to check out some options for new kitchen counters and we’re running late, so we hop in the car.

We check out a bunch of options and mostly narrow-down our choices. It’s a big decision, so we decide to “sleep on it.” What do you guys think?

(The hunk of wood is a sample from our kitchen cabinets, which we’re not changing.)

After that, we drive to Quinn’s school, pick him up, and immediately head to Weymouth (near where we used to live) to pick out our Christmas tree.

Chilly tiny human = all of the momma snuggles <3

Annual photo!

We picked out a beauty of a tree (not too short like last year) and then headed home. We are all starving, so I put on a pot of high-protein pasta and dinner is done before we know it. In the mix: pasta, steamed broccoli, butter, and grated Parmesan.

After dinner, we start to decorate the Christmas tree, but, unfortunately, 2 out of 3 sets of lights are totally dead. Wahhhh. What a buzzkill. We decide to hold off on decorating until the next night, so we have time to buy some new lights. But the night isn’t a total letdown because it ended with birthday cake-flavored Enlightened “The Good-For-You” Ice Cream. Ooooh, yes. And, guys, this stuff is no joke. I’m so impressed with the taste, flavor, ingredients, and macro-nutrients. It’s an all-around winner in my book! The birthday cake tastes JUST like ice cream cake – pretty much exactly like it! OMGGGGG, it’s so good!

enlightened birthday cak

More about Enlightened… It’s ice cream that makes you feel as good as it tastes. (Probably TMI, but Halo Top often destroys my stomach if I eat too much, but I haven’t had any issues with Enlightened.) Enlightened is loaded with protein and fiber, but low in calories, sugar, and fat, and it comes it some incredible flavors, including caramel oatmeal crunch, chocolate chip cookie dough, chocolate peanut butter, cold brew coffee, red velvet, sea salt caramel, and more! Sounds pretty amazing, right? Well, IT IS and you need to try it. So, where can you get some? Enlightened has a store locator on their website. Local folks: You can find it at some Shaws, Stop & Shop, and GNC.