Packing up

Hello again!
This is going to be a speedy post, because I just spent an hour packing some of Nick's stuff from the apartment and I still need to pack my own things!!

As angry as I still am about the current situation, I feel very refreshed and a lot more in-control of my eating since my 'revelation' on Tuesday.
Last night I had dessert- a small cup of strawberry froyo with half a crumbled home made cookie on top.

It was just enough sweetness to end the night, and I didn't feel the need to eat more.

I woke up at the crack of dawn this a.m. to get some exercise in before work- I had tons to do when I got out so this was my only chance to squeeze some activity in!!
I did 30 minutes of walking on an incline on the treadmill. It wasn't the hour-long gym fest I had planned, but I sure worked up a sweat.

Before I walked I had an unpictured date to suppress any hunger pangs, and then immediately after my shower I made breakfast. I used 1 0% chobani, some strawberries, blueberries and half a banana, topped with some almond slivers.

A parfait in a bowl!

For a snack at work I had this Soyjoy bar.

It was good, but I much prefer the mango variety.

Lunch was leftovers- some tabbouleh and chickpea salad.

I also had my daily chocolate fix-

It was tasty and filling; held me through the rest of my (long, boring) day at work, and then I had planned on meeting with my cousin for coffee, but she forgot, so I decided to go home and grab an apple (and my sister!) instead and pack up some stuff in Newport.

After packing, I was one hungry girl, so I stopped at Natural Foods for a delicious vegan dinner! I chose the vegan chipotle sweet potato soup, and the eggplant mozzarella wrap, which featured sautted eggplant, roasted red peppers, greens and vegan mozzarella in a spinach wrap.

I ate every bite! I'm stuffed, but in a good way.
My sister and I got some organic cookies to have as a treat after dinner as well, I'll probably snack on those while I'm packing away!!

Ok, time to get my stuff together! I'm leaving at 3am, so like I said, I will post when I can or do a recap on Monday! Have a great weekend, everyone!!

To Canada I go

If he can't come here, well, then I'll go to him.
This weekend I'm traveling up to visit Nick, it's been a week since I've seen him, and I don't want to wait any longer.
I'll take pictures, but it's about an 11-12 hour drive, and as I'm sure you'll all understand if I would rather spend time with my now long-distance boyfriend than stay glued to a computer screen all weekend!! I'll do a full recap on Monday.

Until then, my eats!

Last night, I had my dessert as planned. A small kiwi and a Veggiegirl blondie did the trick to cure my cravings for sweets!



This morning I woke up and had one of my favorite combos- PB+B, on a whole wheat english muffin with some fresh strawberries on the side.

At work, I snacked on this clif bar (1/2 in the morning, half in the afternoon)

One of my alltime faves!

For lunch, I threw together some home made Tabbouli last night, and paired it with some sliced peppers for an extra veggie kick.

It was delicious, but I was craving something sweet after my small savory lunch, so I had three small squares of Dove hazelnut dark chocolate. Hit the spot, and for less than 100 calories, it was a portion controlled treat!

After work I headed to the gym, where I did a nice 45-minute cardio routine; 30 minutes on the elliptical and 15 walking on an incline on the treadmill. I topped this off with 20 minutes of arm strength, and I was ready to go home!

A quick stop at the grocery store and I was back at home making dinner. I saw this recipe on Jenna's blog, and knew I had to try it! I had one cup's worth with some kale chips (she had me craving these too! And a small crescent roll my mom made.

It was a light, filling dinner that was super tasty! I loved the Pan-fried chickpeas, and I'm so glad I made an extra serving to have soon!!

I'm off to get a few things done for my impromptu trip. I work again tomorrow, then it's out to coffee with my cousin Sammie!

The reason I eat healthy

Evening guys!

Today was a good day, despite the cooler weather and the fact that I'm still missing my boy (just a few more days!).
I didn't let that get me down; I worked all day, and although it was pretty much the last place I wanted to be, I didn't let it crush my good mood.

I woke up bright and early after a nice night of rest, and had a big bowl of cereal to start my day. I had a cup of Kashi U, with some sliced strawberries, a sliced banana, and a cup of nonfat soy milk.


This fruit-filled breakfast held me until I had half of this bar for a snack mid-morning:

Yes, you're seeing correctly. PEANUT CLIF BARS ARE BACK!!! Whoo! This was a great flavor.

For lunch I packed some leftover pasta salad and a plum. This was a light, refreshing lunch that was the perfect fuel for my next few hours of work.

After work I snacked on the other half of my clif bar, and headed back home to relax a bit before my run. I did a 33-minute loop around the neighborhood, and my knee felt fine for the most part. While I was running, I got to thinking about my eating habits, and how unhealthy some of my choices have been lately.

And I thought to myself, Why am I doing this to myself?

When I eat unhealthy, I feel, to be frank, like crap. Why am I bingeing on foods that have no nutritional benefit, aren't really all that tasty, and make me feel horrible? If I already feel bad, how is FOOD going to make me feel better? As Bethenny said in Naturally Thin, food is not your friend. It will not make you feel better. How true that is. I shouldn't be apologizing to you guys about eating unhealthy, yes, I'm stressed, but that's no excuse to eat unhealthy!
Sure, we all have our sweets cravings. Thats perfectly acceptable! But there's no reason indulging needs to become an unhealthy habit like bingeing.
WHY am I doing this to myself?
WHY am I not eating healthy, and making smart choices for my cravings, like I normally do?
Because I think food will somehow cure my unhappiness? News flash, it won't.
I'm not going to let you guys think that eating this way hasn't had an effect on me. It has. I don't feel as great, my stomach problems are more frequent, I don't feel as strong when I run, I've gained weight. I feel bloated, and gross.

When I eat healthy, I feel GREAT! When I eat organically, naturally, I feel EVEN BETTER. And when I combine that with smart indulgences, like a little chocolate here, a cookie there, I satisfy my cravings and enjoy my food even more.
Why am I not eating healthy all the time?
The answer is, exactly that, Why not?
There is no answer, there's no reasoning behind my overindulgences and binges.
I strive to practice what I preach, eat things I love, eat healthfully to feel, and look, the best I can. And I haven't been. 
This is where that ends.

Phew. It feels great to get that off my chest. It has been a long, hard, struggle, getting to where I am, and where I hope to be. As I stress, I am not perfect. Every day presents a new challenge in eating and being healthy.
But that's a challenge I am willing to take. Because when it comes to my health, the way I feel when I eat healthy is worth the effort. 

With that thought, dinner was delicious, and healthy to boot. My mom made her delicious Garlic Baked Chicken, which I had two pieces of over a big salad she made that had spinach, red and green bell peppers, cucumbers, green beans, onions and mushrooms. I topped it with a little reduced fat feta cheese, and the juicy chicken pieces were so flavorful I didn't need any dressing at all! I finished this all shortly after I ran, and it was the perfect re-fuel meal.

Thanks for dinner, Mom!

I'm definitely going to have dessert tonight. I love my desserts!
But am I going to go overboard, as I have the last 3 or 4 nights?
You bet I won't.

BBQ Fun

Evening everyone!

After a long but fun day of memorial day festivities, I am pretty tired and almost ready to settle in for the night!

Mid-morning I convinced my dad to go for a run with me. He runs pretty fast, so I was trying to keep him at my pace but we ended up doing a steady 5 miles in 40:52.

After our run I worked on making my salads for the afternoon barbecue. I made a potato salad out of the newest issue of the Food Network Magazine, lightening it up by using light mayo.

I also made my own Mediterranean inspired pasta salad.

After the salads were made and I was showered, I grabbed a mini lunch to have before I headed to Newport to pick my mom up and feed Klaus. I had an ezekiel wrap with a smear of hummus and some brocco slaw, and a few grapes.

A couple hours later I couldn't make it until the party, so I had some veggie chips to hold me over.

The BBQ was great. I ate a lot of yummy foods and had fun spending time with family on this beautiful Memorial Day.

I snacked on a few Kettle Chips when I got there.

My uncle made hotdogs and hamburgers, I settled on an all-beef dog with ketchup, mustard and banana peppers. I also had some of my grandma's rice, a bit of both of my salads, some chopped vegetable salad and some chili.

I had a couple more bites of chili and a bit of grilled fish as well.

Dessert was a few candies my grandma brought over-

some watermelon-

and I snacked on a few tiny cookies that were on the table as well, as I chatted with my Mom, Aunt and Grandma.

Guys, I have to admit I have not had an easy time trying to stay healthy these last couple of days. I'm stressed, and when I'm stressed, I crave sweets. No question about it. And I've been trying, to stay good with portions, and keep exercising, so that I've been good with. But it's been a struggle for me to stay as healthy as I would like, my motivation is just not there. I know that I'm going through a stressful time right now, I need to trust in myself that it will pass, and I'll get back to my healthier ways soon. Please don't take my excess sweets to be a good example, because I generally eat less, but nobody's perfect. And I am trying my best not to binge, just give into my cravings enough to satisfy them without going overboard.

So with that, my last few cookies to end the night-


Tomorrow I work early, then I'm going to try and squeeze another run in before the weather turns sour!

Mission Gelato and a healthy morning

Morning, and happy Memorial day!
I hope you are all about to enjoy a beautiful day off!

Today is my last day off, before I have to get to work again so I plan on having as much fun as I can! I'm planning on finally going for a run, doing some cooking and then going to a BBQ with the fam at my cousins' house, which should be lots of fun!!

But let's backtrack. Last night, my sister and I were bored, and missing our boys, so we decided to go on a mission to cheer ourselves up. We headed into town to grab a funny movie and our favorite low fat treat- gelato! We both got cones, I got amaretto and straciatella, she got tiramisu and pomegranate. We both loved ours!!

This morning I woke up to an even healthier meal. Slowly but surely I'm getting back into my normal healthy ways. I had a yogurt bowl of 0% chobani, sliced strawberries, a sliced banana and some slivered almonds.

This is one of my favorite breakfasts, and one of the healthiest I eat! Score! I'm glad I started off my day healthy, because with a BBQ on the horizon I know today won't be picture perfect healthwise, so I'm preparing now!

I'm off to start prepping my salads. Have a great day, I'll do a bbq-recap later on!! =)

Sweet and Citrusy

Evening guys!
Today was a lot better than yesterday, no more bad news and I had a really great time with Danielle in the afternoon which definitely cheered me up.

I walked/ran on the treadmill for 40 minutes this morning; it was rainy outside so I couldn't go on my run as planned. The treadmill worked out though, I got some reading done, and it felt good to exercise.

After exercising, I had a small snack to hold me until lunch.


For lunch, I was planning on making a wrap, but all I was craving was a juicy burger- a Sunshine burger, that is!!

I made it just the way I did the other day; honey mustard, romaine, tomato and red onion on a whole wheat english muffin, with a fruit bowl on the side- some watermelon my mom left me this morning and a few green grapes.

This afternoon I went out with Danielle as planned. I had a light frappucino as we chatted, and caught up.

Afterwards I stopped at Rite Aid for a drink and couldn't resist the chocolate at the counter...

I had half of this! I've really been craving sweets, and I've reasoned that, as long as I keep it under moderation a little can't hurt. I'm healthy 80% of the time, like Erica's philosophy!!

It actually held me until dinner, which I created myself on the treadmill this morning. It was really simple, and the result was light and tasty!

Citrus Marinated Chicken with Basil
Serves 3

1 lg lemon, juice and zest
1 clove garlic, minced
1.5 tbsp blood orange evoo (or use regular evoo and a splash of oj)
1/3 c chopped basil
pinch salt
3 medium sized chicken breasts, trimmed

Combine lemon juice and zest, garlic, evoo, 1/4 cup basil and salt to taste. Whisk in a large bowl.
Place chicken breasts in bowl individually, turning to cover in marinade. Place chicken in zip top bag.
Repeat for all, add rest of marinade to bag and place in fridge for at least 3 hours.

When time to cook, remove breasts from bag, and pan sear on medium high until cooked through, 5-7 minutes per side.

Top with rest of chopped basil and fresh citrus pieces if desired. (I used grapefruit!)

Israeli Couscous with Asparagus
Serves 4 as a side

1 cup israeli couscous
vegetable broth
15-18 pieces of asparagus, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1/4 cup chopped onion
sea salt and pepper

Simmer couscous in 1/2 water, 1/2 vegetable broth until soft
Meanwhile, steam asparagus and sautee onion until golden
Toss couscous, asparagus and onion, season with s&p to taste.

Enjoy!



The whole meal was very light, but just flavorful enough. Perfect for a warm spring night!

I'm just relaxing tonight, I may go out with my sister for a while for a treat, we'll see! Have a nice Sunday!
Tomorrow is BBQ day with the fam, should be fun!! =)

Comfort food

Hey guys,
First off, THANK YOU for all your support on yesterday’s angry post. That little angry bit last week didn’t hold a candle to the news I got yesterday. And without going into it too much (this is the internet after all), I may not see my boyfriend in person for a while. He’s pretty much stuck at home, and I’m pretty much stuck here, 11 hours away, missing him and trying (currently failing) to stay calm through this whole situation. I’ll keep you updated on how the current ordeal affects me directly, but other than that I’m going to keep it at that. I'm glad I have all of your support, it’s much appreciated and you all make me so grateful I have such great blog-friends like you!!

So the day was filled with comfort foods. All tasty, but my meals overall were not the most balanced.
Nick called me and gave me the disappointing news early on, so it pretty much put a downer on my whole day.

I ate throughout the day, at first I wasn’t hungry, but I went out to lunch with Eric and managed to down a whole chicken-broccoli-mozzarella calzone and a small ice cream, without feeling either hungry nor full.


Later in the day I had a couple cookies and a bite of sample pasta salad at Natural Foods, but no real snack.

The only things I was really craving were lemonade and licorice which I had a good amount of throughout the day as well.


I’ve been trying to keep myself busy with reading my new book and cooking (I went out to eat but made my sister dinner)

My friend Katrina was awesome throughout the day, calling and texting me to make me feel better, and she took me out to dinner- she was telling me how great Applebee’s chicken was, so she treated me to a chicken-filled feast to help me feel a bit better. We started with boneless buffalo wings; I had 4 and a piece of celery.

For our entrees, she suggested the 4-cheese chicken penne. I had a tiny bite of the bread, but it wasn’t too appealing, and I ate all the chicken and about 1/3 of the pasta.

Afterwards I came home, finally full, and read a little before bed.
Today I am back to my usual healthy eating; I don’t feel the best after yesterday’s comfort food fest, but it could also be the gaping hole in my heart that’s making me feel less than stellar…

BUT I am going to try and go for a run, keep my head up high and have a good couple of days off before another 3-day-in-a-row workfest. Then I just might be taking a road trip this weekend. We’ll see.

I started out with a cold bowl of cereal. 1 cup Kashi U, 5 sliced strawberries, a sliced banana and a cup of nonfat soy milk.

I'm in Narragansett today, it doesn't feel right to be in Newport without Nick. So I'm planning on some exercise in the morning, and then this afternoon I'm going out to coffee with my best friend Danielle, who I haven't seen in far too long!! Gotta keep on truckin', as sad and angry as I am.

I hope your weekend is going far better than mine is!!

Screw the government.

I'm a mess right now. If I don't post tonight, I hope you understand. I'll try and be back posting as soon as I can bring myself to eat again.

Early riser

I woke up this morning at 6:30a.m. and could not get to sleep!
I had stayed up late; 11, which is late for a grandma like me. ;) I had hoped to sleep in this morning because I'm going to walk rather than run due to my knee, I can do this a little later in the morning. Disappointed, I decided to sit up and read some more because I was just not falling asleep again.

Last evening I watched some stand up with my sister and had a bowl of froyo, while reading through The Food Network magazine to get inspiration for Monday's barbecue.

I stayed up reading The Sharper the Knife the Less you Cry which is making me both very excited and very nervous for culinary school! I'm already almost halfway through, and loving every page.

I read some more this morning with some tea before making breakfast. I had ab&j on a toasted whole wheat english muffin with some cantelope and grapes on the side. The cantelope was just how I like it- nice and juicy. I would have preferred a banana, as usual, but this is what we had on hand and it satisfied me enough!

Like I said, I'm planning on going on an easy walk later this morning, and getting my bags packed to head back to Newport. Nick's coming home tonight, but I'm not sure how late, so I'm trying to keep myself busy all day so I don't sit around all day anxiously awaiting his arrival! I have pizza and ice cream (our tradition) with Eric this afternoon, and then some grocery shopping and apartment organizing later on! Busy busy Saturday- but really, when am I NOT busy?

Have a wonderful Saturday everyone!

Out with the girls

Girl's Night was so much fun!!

I had a good afternoon, hanging out with Katrina and then my dad for a bit. Then, I made myself and my mom a green smoothie  (ok, so ours was brown) treat for a snack, because she's been reading Green For Life and is very interested in adding more greens to her diet!

It contained 1.5 cups cantelope, 2 cups romaine lettuce, 1 medium banana, 1 medium apple and 1 cup frozen berries, blended with 1 cup water to thin it out.

The verdict? She loved it!!

I had this portion (while reading some of the book) and a couple bites of fruit as I was making it.

It held me a good few hours, through shopping in Middletown and Newport. I definitely did some shopping splurging!
I bought some new reading material at Barnes & Nobles-

and Express had a big sale, so I ended up with a couple basic tees, plus a fun flirty top for going out, a brown cardigan and some new jeans! I can hardly ever find jeans that fit me perfect, and when I do, I grab them! So my credit card bill will be a bit high next month... at least I'll look cute! ;)

Dinner was good as well. We were going to go for sushi, but the Brick Alley Pub was right next door, and calling our names! So we decided to pop in there instead.
We were starving, so we decided on some apps to start:

Florentine Bruschetta, which I ate one of- it was a bit too cheesy for my liking.

And PORTABELLA FRIES (portabella mushroom slices in panko parmesan crust) which were awesome- I ate 4!!

Because we had starters, I went a little lighter with my meal, ordering a big salad. I picked the Mardis-Gras inspired Fat Tuesday salad, complete with cajun spiced chicken, greens, tomatoes, cucumber, hard boiled eggs, bacon and honey mustard dressing. I asked for the toppings on the side, and only used a few pieces of bacon and dipped in the dressing (which was fantastic I might add).

I ate all the chicken, cuke and tomatoes, half the egg and most of the greens- but there was a lot of iceberg down near the bottom which I'm not a huge fan of, so I left that off.

I felt full, but not overly full after, which was great. I felt like I ate just enough! Just enough for a scoop of froyo for dessert... ;)

My Saturday is packed again- I have lunch with Eric because his birthday is Sunday, and then I'm making dinner for the boy who (hopefully) comes home tomorrow evening!! Have a great Friday eve!

Starting early

Afternoon guys!
Barely, I know!
But it feels later to me, because I've been on a roll this morning- I wanted to get a good amount done before I head out with Katrina again for a couple hours, and then with my Mom and sister for the evening!

I woke up and made myself a delicious filling breakfast; I used a greek yogurt I had tried in the past and liked a lot- Cabot Greek-Style yogurt, Vanilla Bean flavor and mixed it with 1 cup Kashi Go Lean and a sliced banana.
\
This was the perfect fuel for my morning activities- running, walking the dog, cleaning out my car and planning for the week.

I ran for 40 minutes around my neighborhood, a steady run but a bit slow because my right knee started to bother me about halfway through. I hope it was just a temporary thing! Mapmyrun.com says my run was about 4.5 miles.

After running, I took the dog for a walk, spent a good amount of time cleaning out my car, and then did some meal-planning for my grocery shop tomorrow before showering, and making lunch. All that in just under 4 hours!

Lunch was simple, but delicious. I heated up a Southwest Sunshine burger, and placed it atop a whole wheat English muffin with a squirt of Annie's honey mustard, some romaine lettuce, a slice of tomato and some red onion. On the side I had a small bowl of red and green grapes.


So yummy and satisfying! It should hold me for a while, I'm going out with Katrina for a bit and then later this evening my mom, sister and I are having a girl's night over in Newport- complete with shopping and one of our favorite dinners (any guesses?? hint hint- my boyfriend would be jealous).

I'll be back later with a full recap! Enjoy the last day of the work week!

P.S. I was wondering if I have any international readers- from Italy or England, maybe,  who would be willing to do a food swap? I have been missing me some European muesli and I would love it if I could find someone to send me some!!

Chocolate fixation

I don't know what is is, but I have had ridiculous chocolate cravings today!

It started at work. After a hearty breakfast and a sweet but healthy snack, I was full and satisfied all morning.


But I couldn't stop thinking, "I want chocolate".
I kept my urges at bay all morning, and then had a big bowl of bean soup and some grapes for lunch.

Then, after lunch, I caved. I bought some mini charleston chews and had one serving and that was that.

I had the other half of my morning snack mid-afternon, and my cravings were kept at bay. After work I went for a 30 minute run and then got ready to go out for a fun Crazy Burger date with Katrina. I had my favorite burger EVER, the Wild and Crazy Mushroom burger, with a side of sweet potato fries. I proceeded to kill the burger in 5 minutes flat and nibble on half the fries as we chatted.


After dinner, Katrina and I hung around town for a while (another trip to the tattoo parlor; I live there apparently) and then we parted ways.

Back home, I was still pretty full from dinner but I NEEDED MORE CHOCOLATE! So I had a frozen Veggiegirl blondie, and finally felt satisfied. Ahh. What a day.


Ok, confession time: I just had another small handful of Charleston Chews. Ok, really good now!!