The hardest part of my lifestyle change to healthy eating last year was losing my favorite food, pasta (this isn't to say that pasta (carbs) are evil, there are right times and wrong times to have any kind of food, I was eating pasta far too often and not at the ideal time). For those of you who are embarking down a similar path I have been introduced to the food that will make your 1st year of smart eating that much easier, Spaghetti Squash.

I will admit that the above pumpkin like vegetable does not appear to be able to provide the deliciousiosity (if thats not a word it should be) of pasta but I promise you it does. Here is the recipe I used to make spaghetti squash with chicken, peppers, onions in a fra diavalo sauce.

Ingredients
1 Spaghetti Squash
1 Green Pepper
1 Red Pepper
1 Vidalia Onion
Unknown amount of mushrooms
Desired Amount of Pre-Cooked Chicken Breasts Chopped

How To
1- Cut the Spaghetti Squash in half and scoop out the seeds.
2- Bake the Squash at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until Squash becomes tender.
3- Run a fork along the inside of the Squash. The Squash will come off in strings which will look like spaghetti.
4- Heat up all of other ingredients (I'm not going to go into it, I'm sure you can figure it out)
5- Pour the sauce and other ingredients over the Spaghetti Squash.

Finished Product

I received an email yesterday wondering what an average day of eating is like for me. Really every day is different so I decided to keep a food log. So without further adieu here is what I ate on Wednesday, January 6th (I know you are all excited).

Breakfast 10 AM
4 Eggs scrambled with onions and peppers.
1 Apple
I hate most breakfast foods but I really like eggs so this is pretty much a staple for me. The scrambled eggs always start off as an omelette but I don't have the patience or the culinary skill to make a real omelette.

Pre Workout 12 PM
1.5 Scoops Strawberry Metabolic Drive
1 Scoop Superfood
5 Grams Creatine
Water
I drink this throughout my workout because it provides me with protein, approximately 10 servings of vegetables and Creatine to get jacked . It tastes surprisingly good for how completely disgusting it looks.

Post Workout (Lunchish) 3 PM
2 Grilled Chicken Breasts
Broccoli (I don't know how much maybe a cup)
Normally my post workout meal is a little more interesting but I've been trying to cut back on some calories for the next few weeks because I was not very healthy over the holidays.

Dinner 7PM
Romaine Lettuce
Diced Tomatoes
1 Avocado
2 Buffalo Grilled Chicken Breasts
Chopped Carrots
Light Ranch Dressing
I went to trivia with a few of my buddies at McGreevy's. I could have done a lot worse ordering out a bar. I really wanted to order the Pancake and Pork Sandwich (yes it really exists) but sometimes you need to make sacrifices.

Snack 12 PM
1 Peach Apricot Greek Yogurt
1 Apple
Greek Yogurt happens to be at the intersection of the two matrices, delicious and good for you. Anytime those two matrices intersect I am going to try to eat that food every day.

Happy New Year!
For those of you who have been wondering what I have been up to in my almost month long hiatus from blogging here is a quick life update.

My throwing program, which I started 5 weeks ago, has been going really well. I have stretched my long toss out to 220 feet so far and am looking forward to my first light mound session tomorrow. Some of you may be thinking this is early to start throwing considering spring training doesn't start until March but for me the off season throwing program is not just about being ready for spring training. I want to improve my arm strength and arm health from last year. This can't be done unless you get into some extreme long tossing (I go to 300 feet), weighted ball work and med ball throwing for a few months not weeks. Last year I saw great improvements in velocity by following this program and hope to achieve similar results this year.

Although spring training is still more than 60 days away, I have really been getting that "itch" to get back on the field or more specifically the mound. I think a lot of this feeling has to do with the fact that this is my first full off season, as last year I attended instructional league until the beginning of October. I am hoping that the extra month that I have gained of rest and of training will help me feel strong through the entire season so that I can have a better finishing kick than last year.

My family, fiancee and I went down to Florida right after Christmas until the 4th of January. It was amazing to be in the warm weather. Although I love living in New England I could definitely get used to being able to throw outside all year and to play 18 holes of golf 365 days a year. This point was driven home when I had to shovel a foot of snow off of my car before I went to the gym this afternoon.

IvyLeaguetoMlb.com is nearing its launch date. I received the mock up of what the new blog will look like and I am really excited. Brad from McDarmont Web Design has been a real pleasure to work with and is really going to make this blog significantly better.

Overall, my holiday was great as I got to spend it with friends, family and my fiancee, something that you definitely cherish as a minor league baseball player due to the fact that 6 months of the year you could be anywhere in the United States playing the game you love.

Thats all I have for tonight. Future posts may be sporadic because my computer died while I was in Florida (heres hoping the guys at the Genius Bar are real geniuses) but I will try to post whenever I can borrow a computer.