I know I haven't updated much lately, and I apologize wholeheartedly. I've seriously been slacking on healthy eating seeing as I've been in a strange transitional phase in my life (graduating college, living nomadically, moving into a new apt.) and while I still generally try to eat healthy- at times it is hard and I haven't been putting as much of an emphasis on it, and I also haven't been working out as much. This has caused a sort of negative downward spiral that of course led me to not update this blog as much.

This week I will be settled into my new apartment and I will be endeavoring to get back in my normal routine again. I'll blog more often on this blog and keep you updated on my journey of health in a completely new environment, where fresh and healthy foods are more readily available and things such as gourmet vegetarian restaurants exist!

So stay tuned :)

Oops!

Okay, so I know I've been bad the past couple days and have not posted :(
Sorry!
But. Other than last night where I had chips and salsa and a couple drinks (for shame!) I've been doing pretty well about sticking to my regime. However, now is the real test- it's the weekend...and I always slip up on weekends (last night was an example of that.) so that means I have to work out EXTRA hard and really be on my game and exercise self control.

Well, I'm about to go fix myself a bowl of oatmeal with strawberries now. I'll try to be better about updating!

Monday- March 15, 2011

This morning I woke up and grabbed about half an oz. of almonds and had a little bite of peanut butter to perk me up. I then did some strength training and rain outside on the nature trail for about 30 minutes. It was chilly at first but then it started feeling really nice out! I love that it's getting warmer because sometimes running on a treadmill can get so monotonous.

For breakfast, I had one of my favorites- steel cut oats! Last night I actually cooked about a week's batch of oats (steel cut oats take longer to cook than normal rolled oats, but they have a much better flavor and are nice and chewy!) so that I could just quickly microwave individual serving sizes. I added a bit of agave nectar, cinnamon, and fresh strawberries that were only $1.99 at Winn-Dixie yesterday! Woohoo!

For lunch I had a salad with romaine lettuce, spinach, onions, cucumbers, tomato, kidney beans and my absolute favorite- Annie's Goddess dressing. I'm telling you, this dressing is fantastic! I also love putting beans into my salads because they are a great source of protein, make something super light like a salad filling- and they are just so flavorful and hearty! In addition to my salad I also had a small bowl of brussels sprouts and a slice of Ezekiel bread. I rediscovered how good brussels sprouts are over the break- and will be definitely buying them more often. They are literally almost like candy to me. That good. And they are so good for you too- did you know brussels sprouts, in addition to many other vitamins and minerals are a source of omega-3 fatty acids? That's the same type of healthy fats that are found in things like salmon and almonds. Crazy, huh? And Ezekiel bread is a complete protein as it is made from sprouted whole grains and is flourless. It's also so delicious- a hearty flavor that seriously makes white bread taste like paper mache paste in comparison.

 

(Yes, that is a Hello Kitty toaster and it definitely imprints the shape of Hello Kitty onto toast. Hehe!)


Between lunch and dinner I had a pear and a few strawberries as a snack! Yummy fruit.

Dinnertime consisted of the other half of Amy's Lentil soup mixed with some broccoli and cauliflower. A few hours later during breaks in rehearsal I ended up eating a chocolate protein bar and a banana.

Overall it was a pretty good day as I didn't binge-eat! I tend to overdo it on healthy, yet high cal things like almonds, and peanut butter while standing at the kitchen counter and things like that. But not today!

(You may notice the improved quality of my photos- that's because I realized I have a perfectly capable digital camera that I can use instead of my shoddy cell phone camera. Since I don't really carry a purse per se, I probably will only use it for meals I eat at home. Which will honestly be most of the time anyways since eating out alot isn't great for the waistline OR the wallet.)

Also, weekly I decided I am going to do a "weigh-in," in an effort to hold myself more accountable. At the moment I weigh 126 lbs. according to my bathroom digital scale. I'm not sure of the exact accuracy of it, but it usually is about right so I'll go with that. My target weight is going to be 115. I'm hoping on being by that point by the time I graduate! With how easily my weight fluctuates (I can fluctuate within 5 lbs. in a week, easily) I'm sure it won't be a problem- I just have to make sure to be consistent. Consistency has always been an issue with me. I'll let one weekend completely sabotage my entire week's efforts, so I'm constantly taking one step forward and 2 steps back. But no more of that. I'm really going to hold myself accountable! And I know I'm not overweight or anything like that, but especially with the field I'm going into, and especially as my modeling is really taking off- it's important for me to be at a peak physical state. And this extra cushyness around my lower abdomen and thighs just doesn't make me feel good. In fact, I am so extremely self-conscious of it that it kind of plagues my thoughts most of the time. Which is not healthy for my mental state, really. And it also just doesn't feel good when you don't like the way clothes feel on your body.
But anyways- health and fitness is a journey that is an ongoing process. Hopefully now with everything more out in public I will be more inspired to stick with everything :)

<3 Happy Vegging!

The Last Hurrah

Okay, so yesterday I didn't finish posting everything I ate and this is why- me and Chase later went to Momma Goldberg's deli (Where I got a Veggie Rider- a pita with lettuce,tomato, black beans, olives, mushrooms, cucumbers and salsa ranch, and Sour Cream and Onion Baked Lays), and we then went to see High School Musical at the Springer where I consumed a glass of Sparkletini and a chocolate truffle before the show. Having decided this to be the "Last Hurrah" of sweets intake before I cut them out entirely- it only made sense that we went to Chill frozen yogurt to partake in a little bit of yogurt as well as try out their new cupcakes that they are now selling (to solely taunt me, I know it!) I did only get about half as much yogurt as I normally do (Shamrock Swirl is AMAZING, guys. GET IT!) , and I did only get a mini cupcake so I guess it wasn't THAT bad haha but I definitely can't do that again.

I woke up late so I didn't eat breakfast, but for lunch I had the same thing as I had yesterday, the other half of the can of Amy's Black Bean and Veggie Soup and the other half of flatbread with a laughing cow cheese. I love Amy's soups! They are so yummy :)

For dinner, I kind of forgot to take a picture before I devoured my meal. I went running outside and did some strength training so I was pretty hungry! What did I eat? Half of Amy's Lentil soup with plenty of cayenne and red pepper flakes. I love spicy food! And I also had a small bowl of broccoli and cauliflower and olive oil. I threw in one part of the 2 pack Nature Valley Oats and Honey bars I had in my pantry for a little crunch.

Now I'm off to get some groceries for the week! Since I created a kind of plan for myself- you will see alot of the same things- I'm planning on eating steel cut oats with berries for breakfast every morning, a salad for lunch, and soup for dinner. Although there will be slight variations :)

SUGAR FREE!

Okay. I'm going to do something drastic here.

I'm giving up sugar.

Completely.

And *sigh* this includes my love Chill frozen yogurt, but I think it's time that I break free of this addiction I have. I'm completely convinced it's why I've gained weight recently and like I mentioned in my earlier post, I have 2 months left of my college career before I'm thrust into the scary world of acting/modeling and I'm sick of not fitting into my skinny jeans anymore :(

So, everyone please bear with me during this time as it is going to be pretty hard for me. Especially if you know me well enough, you know my addiction to ice cream and frozen yogurt. But I think that if I give it up for 2 months completely- that I will be able to re-introduce it back into my life and use some self-restraint instead of completely going crazy.

But anyways, to go along with my new venture with this blog- I'm going to post my meals! Although today is odd- I just did a completely overnight shoot as an extra for a new tv show and we ate dinner at 2:30 AM and I got no sleep so my appetite is a little strange. I didn't have "breakfast" per se- but when I got home this is what I had:

-Annie's Black bean Vegetable Soup, half a whole-grain Flat-Out flatbread and a wedge of Garlic and Herb Laughing Cow cheese. I didn't have too much of an appetite- I realize this isn't that much but my body just feels so out of wack! I did feel better after eating this though.

Also I was sure that I had gained weight over Spring Break as I didn't have time to work out or anything like that- but I actually LOST a few lbs. which is odd- but a pretty good surprise I must say :)

Food Control.

Do you ever feel like food has a control over you?
Sadly, that happens to me alot.
I feel absolutely helpless against things like Mexican food (chips and Salsa anyone?!?) And lately, frozen yogurt.
But you know what?! I'm really sick of it. And even though I did do the Master Cleanse over Christmas break in hopes of breaking the ties of this kind of food on me, I found that eventually I went right back to it, and gained some weight in the process =/
(While I am glad I did do the Master Cleanse as I believed it helped me in other ways- sometimes the weight loss doesn't stick, especially if you are not eating completely awfully before you do it. But that's not to necessarily "debunk" the cleanse as it is not marketed as a weight loss tool, contrary to popular belief. Weight loss is a side effect, naturally however but of course it will be if you are not eating solid food for 10 days!)

But essentially I really just want to be in the best shape I can be once I graduate and get into this crazy world of acting/modeling and what have you- so I decided I needed to be held accountable!
So what am I going to be doing?
I'm going to document everything I eat, and track my fitness goals on this blog and in the process  hopefully help people who are wondering about healthy meal options.

I'm going to try to provide pictures of everything I eat as well!
SO let's see how this goes :) I'll start it tomorrow!

Experimentation!

Over Christmas I got a lovely food processor which I have been using constantly. Let me just say that they really are great! You can chop onions in like 5 seconds! And your eye-makeup stays intact! :) (I always cry chopping onions)

But anyways, so I have been scouring blogs all over the web for recipes and I happened upon this delightful blog,  Chocolate Covered Katie, who is a lover of all things sweet and healthy. A kindred spirit! She has some wonderful recipes and since I share a similar love for coconut as she- I decided to make some homemade coconut butter since literally ALL you have to do is process raw coconut shreds in the blender. I had some in my possession so I tried it. Unfortunately, mine was dessicated which means totally dried out (You need normal, undried coconut for this!) So it never really quite got creamy enough for my liking. Well, in fact, it never got creamy at all. However all was not lost! I decided to experiment and realized I had some silken tofu in the fridge, so I popped that in there along with a banana, a few tablespoons of cocoa powder, and a few tablespoons agave nectar and about 2 tbs. vanilla extract and PRESTO! Homemade Vegan ChocoNanaNut pudding! :P It is creamy, and after letting it set in the fridge for a while, it has a similar consistency to that "whipped" pudding snack. It's quite good if I say so myself.  Rich, even. And it's alot healthier than Jell-O pudding snacks which I have been guiltily eating. But not anymore, since I can create my own pudding easily and I'm going to experiment to find some recreations of other flavors as well. (Strawberry cheesecake, anyone?)

It's really amazing the kind of things you can make with tofu. For those of you that are turning your nose up at this tofu pudding- when you whip it up in the processor, tofu doesn't retain the consistency many come to associate with it. It's creamy and when you add other things like cocoa powder, sugars, etc. its truly yummilicious! I promise! :)