A New Favorite

To begin, I would like to say that I actually meant to post this yesterday, but the pictures I took were accidentally taken without the memory card being IN the camera.  So I was forced to eat the same thing again today.  The things I do for this blog..

Anyway, I hope everyone had a good weekend!  Mine was great, I went to the gym and spent lots of quality time in the sun by the pool.  It was really relaxing and low key, just like I like it.  On Saturday, I forced asked a friend of mine to come with me to Trader Joe's because she always finds great stuff and I get overwhelmed by the small space and never really branch out and get different food.  She introduced me to a new mac and cheese, a truffle-mushroom flatbread, tofurkey, (and she isn't even the vegetarian so I will let you decide how wrong and backwards that is,) and a few other things.  In return, I introduced her to Sunflower Seed Butter and we went for fro-yo.  I'm nothing if not fair ;)  So far I haven't tried everything, but the one thing I did try was tofurkey.  And ohmygod, how did I go for 2.5 vegetarian years and never have this??

Let's start with breakfast.  She told me their English muffins were so much better than Thomas's, and she was correct.

There is an egg under that giant slice of cheese, I promise.

Egg and cheese on the best English muffin I've ever had in my life.  Sliced strawberries on the side.  What?  You figured that out on your own?  Oh ok.

Lunch was the masterpiece of the day.

Tofurkey!!!

This is a TJ's bagel with a melt of TJ's tofurkey, TJ's spinach, and TJ's muenster cheese.  On the side was a TJ's yogurt dip with chive and cilantro, TJ's carrots and TJ's sugar snap peas.  I'm not sure why I felt the need to specify that everything was from Trader Joe's, but now you know :)  First let's talk about the tofurkey: J walked in while I was making this and asked what smelled good.  Even though we are no longer dating, I'm nice to him every once in a while and let him have a piece of tofurkey.  He said he would never have known.  Coming from the most hardcore meat-eater I know, that's all I needed to know that this was legit stuff.  Second, let's talk about the dip.  I have never really been a veggies and dip person.  Chips and dip perhaps, but unless it's blended in a smoothie or mixed in a salad I don't tend to eat a lot of raw veggies just as is.  Until now.  I want to DRINK this dip.  I would probably eat any raw veggie thrown at me if I could only eat it with this dip.  I also dipped the sandwich in it.  The best news of all is that since it's a yogurt based dip, it's only 50 calories for 2 tablespoons!  Guilt free dip?  Pssh, DONE.  (PS I bought the dip and tofurkey on Saturday.  The tofurkey is already gone, and the dip isn't far behind.  Obsessed much??)  If you live near a Trader Joe's, go buy those two things immediately.  I would never steer you wrong.

I'm off to decide whether to watch 90210 or Bethany Ever After.  I have really hard decisions in life.  Have a great night everyone :) 

The Exercise Post!!

I have alluded to my new exercise routine in the previous couple of posts, but never fully explained it.  I think we last saw each other consistently in November, and a lot has changed since then.  I have been trying to get into regular exercise since October.  I didn't belong to the gym because I cancelled the membership after realizing I had been 3 times in 7 or 8 months.  At $50 a month, that's a huge waste of money.  I had gained 20 pounds (!!!!!) after the shooting at Target, and I desperately wanted, (want,) it gone.  I decided I could work out at home with some DVDs and it would be the easiest thing ever.  I went and bought 2 Jillian DVDs.. No More Trouble Zones and Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism.

I actually really enjoyed NMTZ.  The moves were challenging and left me feeling sore, which meant it was doing something for me.  However, this is mainly a weight lifting DVD.  I wasn't really getting any cardio and we had a really cold winter for NC so I wasn't wanting to do much outside.  I decided to buy BFBM.  Let me just say, this DVD is not for me.  I cried on two separate occasions because I never felt more out of shape in my entire life.  I never made it through the entire DVD at one time.  Because of the huge discouraging feeling I was getting from doing it, the workouts got less and less consistent and I eventually stopped.  I was even bored with NMTZ because after a while, it gets to be like watching the same TV show over and over again.  Some people can do really well with at-home workouts.  I'm not one of them.

Christmas and New Years came and went with pictures that I would prefer to burn and never see again.  There was not one single picture I saw of myself that I felt good about.  Not to mention, my clothes no longer fit.  I knew something needed to be done, and I wasn't motivating myself enough at home.  After thinking and budgeting and thinking some more, I decided to re-join the gym and try to make the 6 am morning classes.  Let me just say again.. I am NOT a morning person.  I wasn't sure this would work at all, but I decided to give it a try and if it didn't work out, at least I hadn't signed a contract this time.  My membership is now month to month.  The location of my beloved gym had actually changed and it was now 1.6 miles from my apartment. This was important because since Jay and I still live together, and he still needs my car to get to his overnight shift at work, I don't have my car at 6am.  This meant I would need to get up and walk.  Insane right?  But I was on a mission to do something about my weight, and I am never in the mood to work out after work, so I had to give mornings a try.  I actually did it.  I woke up at 5am every morning and bundled up in 17 layers because it was February, and walked to the gym 4 mornings a week.  Jay would pick me up when I was done.  I am thankful to say that now I have a ride to the gym in the mornings, and haven't walked in a few weeks.  It's been great.

Anyway, here is a breakdown of my usual week:

Monday: Spin (45 minutes)

Tuesday: Bodypump (1 hour)

Wednesday: Either a rest day or 1 hour elliptical

Thursday: Bodypump (1 hour)

Friday: Spin (1 hour)

Saturday: Rest day or 1 hour elliptical

Sunday: Rest day or 1 hour elliptical

Let me clarify this:  I have worked up to my goal of only taking 1 rest day per week.  Depending on the week, that rest day will be either Wednesday, Saturday or Sunday.  There are factors like Jay being home early on Wednesdays, migraines, being sore, etc that go into making this decision.  And since I get exercise induced migraines, I usually actually make it about 5 days a week.  That's fine with me though, I aim high and try to hit it or get as close as I can.  I also walk Molly in the evenings, and a friend and I are going to start taking an ab sculpting class on Monday and Wednesday afternoons.

I have been doing this for a little over 2 months, and it's still a struggle almost every morning to get up so early and go.  But thanks to Julie and a post she did a while back on exercise mantra's, I repeat my favorite's to myself each morning.  "I will never regret a workout."  "I am one workout away from being in a good mood."  I also know that I will most likely be full of energy for the rest of the day, and the BEST PART is not thinking about my workout the rest of the day.  The people that I work with are constantly all day being like, "I have to go to the gym later.... ugh... it's been such a long day, I just want to go home."  And I get to just go home, because my workout is OVER.  I love it.  As hard as it is to get up, I am always so thankful when 4:30 comes around and I haven't been dreading the gym all day and I can just come home and chill with Molly.

Sorry this is so long, if you are still reading then you are awesome :)  I just wanted to get it all out there so you can see what I'm doing and how far I've come with exercise.  I'm not sure if I have actually lost weight yet as I haven't allowed myself to use the scale so far.  But I will be weighing myself in May, and I will keep you updated with the results!

The Balancing Act

Heyy blog friends!  I'm glad people responded positively to my post on the takeout food I ate yesterday.  This is supposed to be a healthy eating blog, but I just don't eat healthy all the time.  I have cravings, and I indulge them sometimes.  Thanks for sharing the love on that :)

Today was the complete opposite of yesterday, although I only have pics of dinner.  (Lame blogger fail, I know.)  Breakfast was a yogurt mess, and I know you have seen more than 10 1 picture of that on this blog anyway.  I broke down and used plain Chobani yogurt mixed with some of the sickly sweet vanilla Greek yogurt that I bought of another brand.  It was not the same, but I wasn't in the mood for a smoothie.  I mixed it with strawberries and some organic granola, and it was a decent breakfast.

Lunch was a salad with spinach/arugula salad with chopped pear, roasted pecans, goat cheese, and balsamic vinegar.  I wasn't sure if this was enough to hold me through the day, but it was.  (Well that, and the fact that I polished off the last couple bites of Jenny's mac and cheese that she brought for lunch today.)

Dinner was up in the air for a little bit.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to try to make Jessica's shrimp/pesto pasta, or a veggie burger and fries, or eggs.. but after a while I decided I wanted something quick.  That eliminated the pasta.  I didn't want to go to the store, and that eliminated the other options.  I came home and looked at what I had, and decided on another salad.  I chopped up the smallest sweet potato I've ever seen, and roasted it with some mushrooms.  Alongside the veggies were a Morningstar Garden Veggie Patty and some fries.  I made a mix of greens and topped it with everything, (except the fries,) and put some hummus on the side to mix in as needed.

FYI, this is a mixing bowl my friends.  I wasn't messing around.

A couple of fries for a side

I followed up with a couple mini peanut butter cups from Trader Joes.  If you haven't had these yet, do so ASAP.  They will put Reese's out of business one day, they are THAT good.

And there you have it.  Not a 100% healthy day since I had a few bites of mac and cheese and a small side of fries, but I don't think I want a life where those things are off limits.  I also don't want a life where I can't have a Bojangles biscuit, a Jimmy John's sub, Bang Bang shrimp, or the nachos and DQ blizzard that I will have tomorrow because it's my Friday night staple. I eat my body weight in greens every week.  It's only fair.

Food Cheating

I have lots of days lately where I am NOT in the mood to cook or really be creative with food at all.  This seems to happen mostly in the summer for some reason.. I think wintertime is a better time to be cozy in the house with a glass of wine, baking or cooking something incredible.

Yesterday was one of those days.  I looked in my fridge, freezer and pantry and decided I had nothing that I would want for lunch today.  This morning when I woke up and looked at my blender, I was not in a smoothie mood.  What was I in the mood for?  Grease.  Butter.  Salt.  CHEESE.  Enter one of the most unhealthy breakfast places known to man.. Bojangles.

Egg and cheese on a buttery, salty biscuit.  Great, now I want another one..

I devoured this.  It was so, so good.  I was cheating on my smoothie and didn't even care.  Although, I am cheating on vanilla Chobani with the smoothie, so I guess it's a vicious cycle.  Not my fault, Chobani isn't making itself available to me right now.  I need consistency in my life!

I worked through the morning and lunch came around.  What was I in the mood for? Bread.  Mayo.  Chips.  CHEESE!

Thanks #6 from Jimmy John's.  And yes, it really was..

There was also talk that I ate a pop tart this afternoon.  I'm neither confirming or denying.

I worked through the afternoon and dragged myself to the gym.  I mentioned in a previous post that I started working out again in the mornings.  I wasn't able to make it this morning, so I had to force myself to go this afternoon.  I will do a post on my new workout routine, but I have to say this:  Even though I am absolutely NOT a morning person, the morning workout is best for me.  I have exactly 45 minutes from the time my alarm goes off to talk myself out of it.  (Yes 45 minutes.  Not a morning person.  Require lots of snoozing on the alarm.)  If I wait till the afternoon, I have 9 hours to talk myself out of it.  This means that 9 times out of 10, I'm going in the morning.  9 times out of 10, I am NOT going in the afternoon.  I would like to add that I was ready to go this morning, but had a lack of transportation to get there. 

After the gym, I had lost my craving for yet another takeout meal consisting of spicy mayo, shrimp, and more bread in the form of Bang Bang shrimp from Bonefish Grill.  After sweating for an hour and walking outside into the hot, humid NC air, I finally wanted something healthy and cold.  After apologizing to my spinach for blowing it off this morning, I made myself a dinner smoothie with an open sun butter and jelly sandwich on TJ's sprouted grain bread.

Frozen banana, kale, spinach, almond milk, plain Chobani, pinch xanthum, strawberries

This really hit the spot tonight.  All my meals were perfect today for what I wanted.  I really do try most of the time to eat well, both for health and because I am trying to lose weight.  And honestly, most of the time those foods taste good to me.  But sometimes, like today, all I want is junk.  That's ok with me :)

I am falling asleep writing this so I'm going to wrap it up now and say goodnight, and see you all tomorrow!

My Poor Bathtub

I can't talk about food in this post.  Today was a massive fail on that front.  I'm talking half a smoothie for breakfast, an apple with cheese for lunch, and a small bowl of mac and cheese for dinner.  I'm not sure what the deal was with today but I wasn't hungry at ALL.  Not only not hungry, but I woke up feeling full for some reason and had that full feeling all day.  I guess I was due for it, since I eat about 5000 calories on some other days of the week.  Like Fridays, when I have nachos and a DQ blizzard.  I'll take the not hungry day.

Since I wasn't hungry for dinner and the calendar on my phone said it was time for Molly's frontline, it was bathtime for my little dog.  She gets a bath once a month, right before she gets frontline'd.  The vet told me it was waterproof, but when I told her I use people shampoo, she said that would wash it off.  Sorry, I like my dog to smell pretty, NOT like gross dog shampoo.  Into the tub she went.

Not sure about this..

OMG MOM!! IhatethisletmeoutpleasemomIhatethis.

All clean!

No worries, she was rewarded with a walk in the warm air to dry off and she was prancing her newly clean, frontline'd self like she was the hottest thing around.  She even saw a small dog and didn't try to kill it.  Progress.

The tub on the other hand, is a different story..

Sigh.

Who Needs Vanilla Chobani?

Ever since Chobani decided to temporarily discontinue some of their yogurt flavors, I have been at a loss for breakfast ideas.  For over a year now, my breakfast every single day has been a vanilla Chobani, granola, and a fruit of some sort chopped up and all mixed together.  And yep, you got it, they discontinued vanilla.  Vanilla???  Isn't that a staple flavor?  I was so mad.  According to my grocery store, it's not coming back till at least July.  Super lame move Chobani, just sayin'..  I tried other vanilla Greek yogurts, and they were too sickeningly sweet for me.  I was at a total loss until I was reading Kath's blog one day and discovered this amazing thing.. a doughboy smoothie.  I made it my own, using almond milk and adding plain Chobani, (what, you guys didn't want to let that one go??) a frozen banana, and making it green.  Last night in the blender, I combined one cup of almond milk with one cup of oats and let it sit overnight.  This morning, I added the frozen banana, yogurt, and one handful each spinach and kale.

I promise that's one handful each green.. I had to shove it down to make it fit. (TWSS?)

All blended up

Added a few sliced strawberries

Topped with granola

This smoothie clearly needs to be eaten with a spoon.  It makes SO MUCH smoothie, do you see how it fills the entire container?  I have had this for both breakfast and dinner and it fills me up.  It also contains a little of everything, carbs, fat, protein, fruits and veggies.  I actually couldn't finish it this morning, but I am oddly not very hungry today.  Maybe because I didn't work out this morning?  Oh yeah, I started working out in the mornings :)  But more on that in a later post. 

Anyway, back to work for me now.  I hope everyone is having a good Monday!

It's Been 5 Months. Because I suck at life. I'm sorry.

In the past week, my blog has gotten 3 new comments, (real ones, not the spam that comes daily,) and I've even gained a follower.  (Hi Vanessa!)  How does this happen when I have been SUCH a bad blogger that I haven't even posted in 5 months?  Actually it's been 6, 5 is a total lie.  I'm not sure why this happened, I mean I still read blogs religiously every single day so it's not like I'm not on here.  I guess I felt like I didn't know what to say anymore.  I'm sure everyone wonders at some point if their blog is interesting and I was feeling like mine wasn't.  I lead a boring life so how can reading about it be interesting?  I didn't know how to write something without boring myself, so I was sure I was boring everyone else.. but I did love it, and I really miss being a part of this community of fabulous people.  So I'm coming back to tell you all about the gym and the food I eat and Molly's crazy antics.  Prepare yourself.. I missed you guys!! :)