costco. overnight oats. snacks.

The first thing I need to address: did you know that Costco’s brand of shampoo and conditioner are vegan? Seriously, best day of my life.

And yes, I did go to Costco again this week. I may be slightly obsessed.

The real reason I wanted to write a post (besides my endless want to get better at being regular about updating this blog) is to talk about my What I Ate Wednesday. Because it was really good. I ate a lot of really great stuff and I want to look back at this post as a reminder, a motivator, that eating healthy is awesome and delicious because I still need to remind myself of that when I stray and cave into cravings.

I started out the day with some green tea with lemon and sugar. I used to drink this almost every morning, and for some reason when it gets hot out I gravitate to coffee. The mornings have been kind of cold, but cold enough that tea is wanted.

I also made a really awesome overnight oats jar.

It’s super simple:

• 1/4cup of raw oats
• ~1/8th of a cup of almond milk
• 1 Silk Fruity and Creamy soy vanilla yogurt cup (my new love!)
• strawberries
• raspberries

Throw it all together and put it in the fridge for the night. The oats soak up all the liquids and it has a cake batter type taste to it. I like it much more than I like regular oatmeal.

I had some coffee with Silk creamer while I was at my desk Photoshopping. The guys leave the a/c on a ridiculous temp so when I sit at my desk for a while Photoshopping I get cold.

For our mid-day break, I had some of Trader Joe’s nut mix that I had per-portioned out into small Tupperware cups.

Lunch was my new favorite. I had a mixed greens salad with avocado, grape tomatoes, and raspberry vinaigrette I got at Whole Foods which is probably one of the best dressings I’ve had and it’s only 45 calories a serving. I had a serving of the Earth Balance cheese puffs, an apple, and the only bad thing: Diet Dr Pepper. Please don’t judge, I know. I know.

Second break I had a banana. I met and exceeded my fruit quota for the day.

Dinner was roasted spaghetti squash. Super simple, I just halved the squash and put 1/2 tbsp of Earth Balance garlic and herb spread on both sides, added salt and pepper, and some minced garlic and roasted until soft. I mixed it up with some sauteed mushrooms.

It was a really good day.

an ode to popcorn

This popcorn is made of awesome. And I can. not. stop. eating. it.

Ingredients:

• 2-4 tbsps of popcorn kernels
• Oil spray
• 2 tbsps of nutritional yeast
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder or
• Mrs Dash onion and herb blend
• Salad booster vegan cheesy

Directions:

Pop popcorn in an air popper. I got mine for like 12 dollars at Target, totally worth the investment, go out and get it. Spray popped corn with the oil spray and toss to incorporate. Add spices half at a time, and toss. Add the remaining half of spices and toss one more time.

Enjoy in the awesomeness that is this popcorn. If you make 4 tbsps, it’s around 200 calories for the entire glorious thing

wiaw. weigh-ins. updates. blah-dee-blah

Oh hey, poor forgotten blog.

Not that you really expected me to follow through with my posting plan. But I tried, didn’t I. And a post even days late still counts. Considering its my blog, and since I’m not getting paid to do anything specific, I can do as I like.

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So, without further ado my WIAW:

I started off the morning with a good old standby:

• Keurig coffee
• Packet of Truvia
• 1.5 ounces of Silk coffee creamer (vanilla). Yes, I do measure it out

For a snack during the day at work I had some decaf Republic of Tea vanilla almond tea with 2 packets of sugar. I convinced my boss when we needed to replace our old water fountain (water cooler?) that the upgrade with the cold AND hot would be really good. It is good, and I don’t have to wait for the microwave for hot water for tea

For lunch I had Lilly’s brand kalamata hummus with some Crunch Master multi-grain crackers. Both I bought because they were on sale at Rainbow Blossom, and both I actually liked. Not the best of either, but the combo was good and I had it for most of the week because I’m lazy with lunches. I also had a bottle of Hubert’s diet blackberry lemonade. It was really good, and had Stevia as the sweetener so bonus points for that (especially since I didn’t even realize it was diet when I grabbed it, which in hindsight is stupid because look at how big the “diet” is on the bottle).

I then kind of had a splurge. I was at Earth Fare, hungry, and wanted something so I got some of their vegan chicken salad and a mini loaf of bread. I also then picked up the Rice Dream mint chocolate pie. I didn’t end up eating most of the chicken salad/bread because it really wasn’t good, but I did eat the ice cream. I should have just gotten the ice cream, less calories and less money. If you want vegan chicken salad, go to Whole Foods, so much better.

Even with the splurge I was still doing pretty ok on calories and I made a really awesome meal of quinoa with onions, broccoli, mushrooms, and Beyond Meat chicken strips.

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I didn’t do a weigh-in this week. I know I gained and I just couldn’t face the scale. My portions and calories were out of control. I really have no excuse except letting my urges get the best of me. I’m trying my best to recover and turn it around. So far today I’ve been pretty awesome, and really re-learning and re-teaching my body to be ok with being hungry when I don’t need to eat, and not falling for every craving. It’s a battle, but I’ll get there. There was one glimmer of change for the better during the week when I went for a walk as soon as I got home from work. I threw the purse in the trunk and just took off. That was the moment I knew, that even though I wasn’t exactly there, there was hope left.

weigh-in #44. grocery haul.

So, today was my weigh-in. It wasn’t pretty. I knew it was going to be horrible, I have been eating horrendously. I have a habit of being perfect, and on point with calories and food decisions up until dinner and blow it all on high calorie binges. This showed in the scale with around a 4 pound gain.

Yep.

I’m not happy about it, I’m not excited. I am ashamed and saddened by it. But, life goes on and this is just a bump in the journey. I’m taking it one day at a time trying to turn it around, and I think that’s all I can do. I’ve also been doing things that I know motivate me. The one thing I can not let myself do is blame myself, to the point I worsen the damage. This is not the end of the world, it’s a gentle nudge to tell me to try harder.

I went to Whole Foods to stock up on things for the fridge. I haven’t really done a proper shop since I’ve come back (I was out of peanut butter and I didn’t even know it) and this was a good start with lots of things that are not only healthy, but have helped keep me in check in the past. I figured a good old grocery haul in image form would be fun, and lighten up the mood in this post.

• Califia Farms unsweetened almond milk
• Califia Farms vanilla almond milk <~ These were still on sale! So excited
• Tofutti sour cream
• Earth Balance

• Bulk popcorn kernels
• 365 ketchup
• 365 crunchy peanut butter
• Mediterranean leek and onion crackers
• Oasis roasted red pepper hummus
• Field Roast meatloaf
• Bulk nutritional yeast

• Grape tomatoes
• Snap/sugar peas
• Baby carrots
• Gala apples
• Cauliflower

I have a lot of pantry items to use and still have some kale and mushrooms from a previous trip, but this I know will help me start getting into a better routine and prepare better meals, along with healthier snacks.

Also, the splurge of the day goes to:

Isn’t she pretty? I loooove glass water bottles (not the price…) and I couldn’t resist because of the size (a whole 22 ounces) and the top. I have a smaller one of the Life Factory bottles with just the screw on top. I love it. It’s durable, the glass is so much easier to clean (and doesn’t start to do that weird scratching/cloudiness that bugs me) and I use it at work all the time. My only problem was the top. I need a water bottle that is a covered top (for safety reasons in the shop), but sometimes I don’t have two free hands so the top was always a nuisance. I think this is going to be the winner in all of my issues with the added bonus of a strap and more ounces. One of the things I’m pushing towards is drinking my water. Now I can leave this one at work, and take my old one home.

green pepper chickpea pasta.

The last time I was at a summerstock where I had access to a full kitchen was when I was still just vegetarian. I got really good at quick boxed meals that I jazzed up, mainly mac and cheese. It was the Annie’s brand, so it was better than Kraft, and I added stuff like mushrooms and broccoli to not only add some taste, but to bulk it up and last longer. It was a great no fuss meal. Throw the water in the pot, cook the veggies in the water at the same time as the pasta. Stir, add some spice, voila! Done.

This time around it isn’t as easy. The whole being vegan thing put a damper on my really quick meals, so I’ve had to improvise. I still needed it to be quick, easy, and take up little space in the fridge/pantry (I live with three other girls, space is at a premium). I started off the summer making huge batches of pasta and marinara sauce and that got old really fast, so I started experimenting with pasta dishes. I came up with this which turned out fantastic. I didn’t write down any of the specifics, so some of these might be off but the beauty of this recipe is that it’s really hard to mess it up…just add things to taste!

Ingredients:

• 1 box of penne pasta
• 1-2 green peppers, chopped (raw)
• I can of chickpeas, drained
• 3ish tbsp of Salad Booster Vegan Cheesy
• 2-3 tbsp of vegan parmesan (I used the Go Veggie! kind, but be careful and look for the small container one that says vegan on it, they make one that isn’t vegan)
• 2-3 tbsp of olive oil

Directions:

Cook pasta and drain. Rinse pasta to cool it down and add in the chickpeas and green peppers. Add the olive oil, mix, and then add the Salad Booster and vegan parmesan.

You can do a lot of different stuff to this recipe, sub Earth Balance for the oil, add nutritional yeast (I didn’t have any over the summer), add different spices. I used to make a tuna pasta salad that was almost dead on like this recipe (it had tuna, green peppers, parmesan, and mayo) and I think what I loved about this recipe was that it reminded me of that. The raw green peppers are key, and that Salad Booster stuff is just plain awesome.

 

what i at wednesday: august 28th edition

Yesterday was a better day than I have been in terms of eating, but still wasn’t the greatest.

I started out with some coffee at work, which I had more because of necessity than want. I don’t have any creamer there so it was just sugar and coffee. More importantly it was warm. And my hands were numb because I work with 98.9% boys and the only areas air conditioned are the offices. So when you are sitting at your desk looking for the exact model of TV that was in MLK’s hotel (we are doing a production of The Mountaintop) it gets cold. Like really cold. Then you forget and go outside and instantly sweat because it’s like 90 degrees out.

I also had some water throughout the day in my trusty LIfefactory glass bottle.

For lunch I had a bag of Ruffles from the vending machine, a Diet Dr Pepper, my favorite Amy’s burrito (the spinach tofu wrap), and some green beans I swiped from Karl…well, I say swiped and really he gave them to me because he grew a lot and was sick of them. They were fantastic by the way, and knowing Karl I’ll probably get them for the rest of the week.

I also had to do some shopping and so I caved and bought this guy…I know, it’s really bad. I wish Kentucky had Polar Sparkling Water in all of the convenience stores like Pittsfield did. It’s the one thing I miss.

I came home and had some kale with 1/2 an avocado, dulse, and Annie’s lite Goddess Dressing

For dinner I decided on pasta, and to cut out the calories because I was hurting for them, I spiralized some zucchini and yellow squash. Added some seasonings along with some Trader Joe’s marinara sauce and some vegan meatballs (Whole Foods brand). It was awesome. I love squash, so I know that had to account for some of the love but the sauce and meatballs were excellent- I hadn’t tried either before. It was a good spur of the moment meal.

Later I caved and had a sandwich with Jason’s chocolate hazelnut spread on it. I didn’t have the calories, and didn’t need it, but I’ve been having a hard time keeping my cravings in check.

weigh ins. waking up early. goal journals.

It is currently 6:57 am on a Monday.

I have already had coffee, eaten breakfast, working on finishing my first glass of water, and updated MyFitnessPal with not only breakfast but the lunch I have sitting in the fridge.

It is 6:57.

I can’t really believe it either.

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I wrote that on a Monday morning and I failed to post it. Or even finish what I was going to say in the post.

BECAUSE IT WAS 6:57 IN THE MORNING

I try so hard to be a morning person, and yet I fail so bad.

I’ve been thinking about the blog, cause I do that a lot. I love posting, but only if I have something to post about and usually I don’t have anything to post because I’m lame and live a boring life. So then I don’t. And then I forget to post when I actually do have something to post. It’s a vicious cycle, really. I am making steps to change that. To challenge myself, I’m starting a schedule of posts. I know, shocking. I like to think of it as a reoccurring writing prompt for me (much like livejournal did back in the day “Write about your funniest school experience”). If I have a schedule of things to post about, I will post about them. And then I’ll write more, because quite frankly that needs to happen. I was such a good writer in high school, where has that gone?

So, without further ado…a list! Because I love lists.

Sundays:

-Weigh In days. I always weigh in on a Sunday. If I forget to, I can’t bring myself to step on the scale till the next Sunday. It’s a crazy OCD habit, but at least I don’t get on the scale every day obsessively. So, Sundays, you get my weigh-ins

-On top of that, I will reflect on the past week and look on at the next. Or something like that. Or probably just talk about if I’m happy or sad about the weigh in

Wednesdays:

-What I Ate Wednesday <~ Yes this is happening STARTING TOMORROW. I know, I’m so clever and original and nobody has ever done a WIAW. I like them, and I don’t have the energy nor the want to keep up with a posting of all my food every day sort of thing. One day a week I can manage.

Fridays:

-Recipes/Food! I already semi started this one, I just haven’t continued it. The past couple of recipe blogs happened on a Friday. It was intentional and I figured, why not keep it up. I also love writing down awesome things I make because then I can make it again at the same awesomeness level and not just what my brain “thinks” was awesome before. It’s a win-win for both of us, really.

So that’s my schedule. I’ll post other random things in and around those days. I’ve been doing this first bite thing on my Youtube, so maybe I’ll incorporate that into reviews, but right now this is where it’s at.

And to finish up the content that the title of this post eludes to that I couldn’t bring myself to accomplish before 7am:

I weighed in 10 lbs less than when I left for the summer, and started one day of a goal journal that I have since given up on. Oh, my life.

road trips. updates. almond milk.

I’m alive! And back in Louisville!

I can’t even begin to express how awesome it is to be back home. I have my own bed, and my own things. Bathrooms and kitchens I don’t have to share. If there is a mess it’s because of me, not other people. It’s pretty fantastic. I have a couple of more days before I have to go back to work, so I’ve been enjoying the mini break. I’ve been able to sleep, which hands down is the best thing in the world. There were a couple of 8:00am-3:30am no breaks days towards the end of my contract…those were deadly. I was sick, and I hated everyone. I couldn’t think clearly and things just took longer. But not anymore!

I posted a video on my channel about what I ate on my journey back. I missed some things, and it definitely wasn’t healthy, but I figured someone might get at least something out of it. Maybe see a snack that could be a new find? I love those kinds of videos myself, so I figured I would do it. I also desperately missed making videos. I’ve already made a couple of more and have tons of ideas. I love the process and I love learning more about editing and different ways to create what I want.

I also love how making videos motivates me to keep on track. This summer really taught me that the two things I have to be consistent about on my journey are videos and tracking food. Without those I fail. And that’s what I did. Now, don’t get me wrong, during the summer I had a really great streak where I know I lost a ton of weight. I was happy, I could move more, I fit into clothes I never dreamed I would…and then not tracking and not keeping myself in check took a toll. I stopped eating well, or regularly (which is one of the top reasons I gain weight: skipping meals. I know it’s unbelievable that not eating will make you gain, but it does. Trust me.). I stopped drinking water as much as I should. I stopped being active, or sleeping well. And I gained. I don’t know how much because I am still as much OCD about Sunday weigh-ins as ever, but those clothes I once fit in didn’t.

That is changing. Already I’m in the right direction. I’m bringing back weigh-ins (and random videos), I’m sleeping more, I’m tracking. I’m doing everything right. I can’t let the setbacks hinder what I have already done, and that’s what I’m going to do.

Before the summer I had a couple of goals:

• Track all food
• Wear my FitBit every day

Did I do those? Absolutely not. The FitBit was a little out of my hands for the most part. I had to use my laptop in a show, this laptop being the only thing to sync or charge the FitBit and so that took an abrupt nose dive. Tracking I could have done, I had my phone and internet everywhere I went. I just got lazy and didn’t. Some parts of the summer were so stressful that the added MyFitnessPal update really wasn’t something I could do, but I knew not doing it would effect me. So goals this summer fell through, and it’s going to be ok.

I’m going to leave this semi-update with a picture of this glorious almond milk I have fallen in love with. I bought it on a whim at Whole Foods. It’s originally almost $4.50 a bottle but was on sale for the $3ish…the same as their store brand. I thought I would be smart and purchase it at the price because “What harm could it do?”

What harm? How about be the most amazing almond milk I have ever had and am probably going to be addicted. And will be spending all my money on this expensive almond milk. Deliciously expensive. Califia Farms, why did you do this to poor broke me?

 

sandwich.

Guys.

Hi.

So, I’m really bad at updating this blog. I always have the intention and it never happens. Whether its because work is busy, it’s harder to type on the iPad, or just laziness I end up not posting as much as I want. But I think that’s ok, since most of the posts would be about how crazy work has been or something boring.

But today, I made the best sandwich in the world and I knew I had to share it. I fear I might now live off of this for the rest of the summer. And I think I’m ok with that.

You need:

Slice of garlic ciabatta bread
1/2 avocado
Some Treeline nut cheese (this is super expensive but INSANELY good. I could write love songs about it)
Onion
Portobello mushroom cap

Sauté onions, add caps and cook till tender. I like to steam mine by throwing some water in the pan and adding a lid on. Spread avocado and cheese on bread. Add mushroom and onions. Love life.

The best thing I’ve made here, hands down.

week of food: last day

Sorry this post is so late! I was almost perfect on my mission to capture my week of food…and then I screwed it up at the very last day. My camera battery was drained so I had to charge it, and then forgot about until today- Tuesday. Such is life. One thing is sure, I could never be like some of those other bloggers who photograph every single meal.

I started off the day with a banana and normal coffee

Then for “lunch” I had two servings of the kale butternut pasta that I made the night before:

And thus endeth my pictures. Yep in the last day I dropped the ball hard. In more ways than just no pictures. Here is the rundown  of the things I had for the rest of “night” (aka up until 7am):

• 3 twice baked potatoes with butter, daiya, and a splash of milk. Only a tbsp of butter between the three, they were tiny potatoes (maybe at most 2 inches long) not normal baking potato sized
• 1/2 a bottle of beer
• 2 tortillas with daiya and avocado
• Peanut butter sandwich
• 1/2 a carton of So Delicious cookies and creme ice cream

I haven’t binged like that since first committing to this lifestyle at the beginning of the year. I was over 1,000 calories. Not even remotely good, at all. No exercise, just a horrible rut. I’ve been taking it pretty hard, and honestly it’s been hard staying on track the past two nights. Am I were I was 40+ pounds ago? Absolutely not. Before it would have been double that, and not a single of it weighed/portioned out. Even in these harder times I’m still portioning out 1/4 cup of daiya, or a tbsp of peanut butter. It’s still doesn’t help mentally though, but I can only take things day by day. I moved out of the 300’s. I’m not going back. Totals for the day: 2,656 calories, 1.036 calories over losing weight calories.