First day of snow!

I woke up to flurries, and the weather only picked up from there. It was nice to sip hot coffee inside, wrapped in blankets, while the snow fell outside. I only like snow when I don’t have to leave the house though, so I think I’ll be over it pretty quickly since I have work tomorrow.

With my AM coffee, I had a handful of dates, they were SUPER soft and chewy – the way I like them best.

Look at the snow! It's hard to tell how much it was actually snowing from the pics, since I'm not a whiz with the camera. In fact it's Kyle's camera, so I was just glad I managed to figure out how to turn the flash off.

Maybe I'll have my first white christmas this year?

Brrr...

Lunch. Veggie "chicken" spread.

I mixed it with some ff chobani...

Then I sliced up an apple to dip in the greek yog/"chicken" spread mixture.

It was good, in fact great, but it didn't fill me up, so I had some more spread layered on a piece of A street bread. I looooove this spread.

Still hungry, so I made up another slice (this time finishing off the spread). Mmmm...

After lunch I was full and ready to brave the storm. As I walked to the gym, I practically turned into an icicle!! IT. WAS. FREEZING. Looks like my days of outdoor running are over!

At the gym, I was kinda in a lazy mood. I really wasn't too motivated, so I turned on the t.v. and zoned out for a not-so-intense elliptical workout. Good thing ellen was on so the time flew by...I did do an above average (for me) arm work out, followed by a sub-par ab work out, and a lot of stretching. Ah well. No gym tomorrow, so at least I can rest and my muscles can get a break for a few days.

I was starving after the gym, so I heated up a bowl of creamy butternut squash soup, which I then spilled.

Since I was a klutz, I was left with only half the bowl (post spill), so I also snacked on some soy nuts. Man do I love salt.

For dinner I had "Health is Wealth" vegan nuggets. L-A-Z-Y!!

Here's my full spread. Yes, that's regular bbq sauce, HFCS and all. I'm pretty sure the carrots make up for it, though, right?

I didn't wait long for dessert. This choc sorbet was an obvious choice. I had a third of the container and then got mad at myself for eating without designating a set portion (a BIG no-no).

So then I scooped the rest of my dessert into a glass. In total, I think I had half the carton? While I'm annoyed that I didn't eat dessert very mindfully, I'm glad that I realized it and corrected the situation before it got out of hand (a problem I'm definitely not a stranger to).

Hello sugar high.

Operation: Don't set hair on fire!

Hooray! I love weekends :)

Since I didn't have work, I slept in today, which felt amazing. Then, Kyle headed off to MindsMatter, so I curled up with a cup (or 2) of coffee with soymilk (no froth) and watched Home Alone. Such an x-mas classic.

I had the last of my bag of dates too. Looks like I'll need to make a grocery run this weekend, a date-less apartment is a no-no.

I also started off my weekend cooking by baking some tofu.

Drained and pressed tofu below.

After an hour in the oven (flipped halfway)...by the way I didn't season these, just sprinkled on some EVOO and salt.

Crispy on the edges, just the way I like it. This worked up my appetite, so around noon, I made myself a platter of lunch time goodness.

Vegan chicken spread + Cali Style Alvarado Street bread = heaven!

I also had 3 slabs of the baked tofu. Not a very veggie-ful meal, but since I had a salad to rival all salads last night, I think I'm ok in the greens department.

Yes, I was in a very dainty mood, and ate my lunch with a fork and knife (even the chicken spread on toast)!

In preparation for the gym, I fueled up on water and an apple.

At the gym, I elliptical-ed for an hour with a 10 min warm-up and 10 min cool-down. Whatevs. Nothing major, but I got a good sweat going, so no complaints. I ended the gym sesh with some abs and arm stuff...honestly, I was in a rush to get home, so I will do better tomorrow.

My post gym snack was a strawberry soy yogurt. Now I'm off to get ready for my work holiday party! I'm super excited to see everyone outside of the hospital. It'll be really weird, I think alcohol will definitely be an important ingredient (social lubricant, yes please)...and yet, after seeing this week's episode of The Office, I'm thinking I should be careful to not overdo the boozing. The last thing I want is to be the drunk @%$ that gets her head caught on fire!

day-o-sando(s)

Another day of work. Another home-made sandwich.

You know the drill. Subway to work, starbucks run for an AM caffeine dose (grande soy latte), work work work work...

Here's the rest of what I packed for myself. The apple was HUGE which is why I sliced it (to enjoy in multiple sessions). With lunch I had a soy latte and then another refilled cup of plain soymilk.

I (again) skipped the gym - this week is just NOT happening in the work out department! Instead, I had some dates and another soy latte on the way home from work. So much better than running on the elliptical!

New bread!!! (sorry the picture is so dark)

The newest product I bought to try out was sprouted soy crunch bread by Alvarado Street bakery. It is made with organic and live sprouted grains PLUS has extra soy protein. More importantly it is GOOD. This is by far my fav bread now. It's soft, unlike Ezekiel's breads, and I love the crust with the crunchy grains, as well as the nooks and crannies in the bread that allow more places for condiments to catch in...mmm.

I had a few pieces with hummus...

and a few others with a fresh organic avocado...

and finally a few more with avo plus vegan "chicken" spread...

Then I had a few more pieces with the last bit of hummus...this bread is dangerously good.

Dessert was dried edamame.

3 days of catch up

Ok well I have had a streak of over eating, which might soon become a problem. So now let me write it all out, expose my shameful behavior so I can be freed of my guilt and turn over a new leaf. DAYAM! It will be brief though since I can’t even remember what kind of shit went down.
I worked on Wednesday the 27th, and as far as I remember I had coffee from Bruno’s and then ate the lunch I packed (consisting of the usual sandwich). It was also made on the new kind of bread I got (a different live sprouted grain bread than the Ezekiel) shown below.

I went to the gym after work for a decent work out as I recall. I think it was most likely an elliptical day. Then I had another dinner extravaganza…dinners have been my problem area lately, ESPECIALLY after work. I hate it because I eat SO late and often feel full as I head to bed, which is one of my biggest pet peeves.

For dinner, I ended up having the sesame ginger tofu pieces on bread (open faced sandos). I had way more than I should have. I wasn’t even that hungry and yet I ended up eating 6 of the 8 chunks. That’s not bad on its own, but I also had 5 pieces of bread too. I also had a bite of this dip that I made the day before (just to taste it), but I didn’t have much.

I made the dip with ff sour cream, ff ricotta, ff Fage, spinach, and garlic salt. It is a good dip for crackers and veggies. I may try to liven up the recipe next time I make it because it was a little on the boring side.

As if that weren’t bad enough, then I decided to have a dessert consisting of pizza dough. This is one of the things I bought the other day and have been eyeing in the fridge and resisting over and over again. I knew it was only a matter of time before I caved and binged…as per my rule of “no finishing a container upon its opening” I had 1 full mini crust and then half of the 2nd. SO bad. (I had the remaining half the next night).

I was falling asleep as I was eating the last few bites and ended up falling asleep at 10 while Kyle finished the laundry. I was dead tired and planned on waking up early before work on Thursday.


I DID wake up early on 8/28/08…which ended up being POINTLESS (I think we all know why I woke up early to down 2 cups of coffee).

Here’s me at 4 am in my scrubs before work. I had 2 cups of coffee AND a Snapple lemon iced tea. Oddly enough, despite my early early wake up call to fill up with caffeine, throughout the early hours of my shift I was so hungry, I don’t even know how or why…I ended up nibbling on grapes (brought in for everyone by my patient’s family the day before). I must have had a freaking pound of grapes!! Needless to say that did the trick, system cleared – check! I didn't bring my work out gear today because Kyle wanted me to take a day off and get home early(er), but then it turned out he forgot he had a Spanish lesson. Ugh. Normally I wouldn’t care, but I have the 10K run this weekend and I need to keep my training on track or I am gonna get my ass handed to me. I don’t want to be embarrassed at this run. In the end I walked home so I had a lame half ass active day off of the gym. Unfortunately, I ate my way through the day though, so it completely negated any self control I had the previous week.

Since I didn't pack my lunch the day before, on my lunch break I walked to whole foods and bought this granola bar thing. Let me just say, I am in love. The ingredients are not even things that I would have thought I would like, but it just looked so TASTY, I decided to give it a shot. Initially I went to whole foods to get granola planks for my race day meal, but they didn’t have them (boo!) so I ended up getting this massive granola cube.

It had raisins, dried cranberries and cherries, rolled oats, honey, brown rice syrup, canola oil, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, cashews, almonds, coconut, wheat germ, brown sugar, apricot and vanilla. And yes, you read that right I ate NUTS!!! (It is WAY bigger than it looks btw - it was seriously like a freaking tray)

Who would have thought I would consume bomb-bitters and not immediately hurl! I also bought a s’more flavored luna bar (NOT good btw), but I still ate the whole thing. I don’t know why. I also had an apple at lunch and then an iced coffee. I was pretty full, and only nibbled on the luna bar throughout the rest of the day. Since I was going to walk home I couldn’t help but get a snack for the road. So I got ANOTHER granola bar from whole foods…I swear, once I discover something I like I cant help but overdose. What is my f-ing problem. I also had 2, not one, but 2 iced ff lattes from the bucks on the walk home.

I was full by now. So of course I decided to eat more. Stupid elise.
I didn’t take pictures because it wouldn’t have been pretty. I had the rest of the “Health is Wealth” chik’n nuggets. Also I had the rest of a tub of vegan “chicken” spread. Also I had the rest of the pizza dough. What’s wrong with me you may ask. Where to begin is my answer.
I may or may not have eaten more this night too, I just can’t be bothered to remember.

8/29/08 I worked my 3rd shift in a row. Lord knows I hate these days. I definitely didn’t want to go to the gym after work, but since I took yesterday off (by accident), I had to force myself to make it to the gym after my horribly long and exhausting day of work. Ok, but first back to the morning. I don’t know what I ate in the morning, I think I had another ff iced latte from starbucks on my walk to work. That makes 3 in less than 10 hours…

At lunch I walked to whole foods and got that same delicious granola bar again. I also had yogurt covered raisins and regular raisins and another iced ff latte. After work I went to the gym, kicked some ass, and headed to whole foods to stock up.

Here is the BOMB ass salad I made myself from the WF salad bar. It was delish so I had 2 bowls full. There was lettuce, peas, corn, cucumber, cranberries and tofu in it.

For dessert, which I did not need, I had a LOT of yogurt covered raisins.


Today I slept in because I wanted to get a good rest to start the weekend off right. I had 2 cups of coffee when I got up, and then went to the gym. I had a great work out. I only had an apple for lunch because I had to bolt off to midtown to get my race day packet from niketown before 5. I had lots of time to spare so I walked home stopping at starbucks on the way to get a ff iced latte and also pick up some groceries. I ate an early dinner since it was already 530 and I had only had an apple.

vegan "chick'n" salad from WF

PLUS

pre-made WF salad

EQUALS

What an amazing salad! The vegan “chicken” spread combined with the salad and an entire avocado was so YUMMY!

The rest of the spread I put on 2 pieces of toasted 7 grain live sprouted bread with avocado spread on top. Now I am REALLY full. I think I will try to do some yoga and stretching a little later.

So I hate to say this, BUT yoga sucks btw. I got about 5 minutes into some bullshit yoga for runners thing and got bored. If I want to deep breathe I will stretch and go to sleep, in the sheets - that’s where I do my yoga. So anyways, I made a delish sundae for dessert. Chocolate sorbet, plus an over ripe nanner, plus milk and vanilla creamer. Heaven. A little sweet, but that’s never stopped me before.

TA-DA!

back to the grind?

Well, today was a good work day, and a good eating day UNTIL 10 pm…then I got the late night hunger pangs that wouldn’t release me. As strong as I tried to be, I failed. I was a bad girl - I opened and finished a few different containers in the same sitting. UGH! And I was doing so well, too. Damn it damn it damn it.

So, here’s how the day started. I had a coffee at Bruno’s (4 stars for today’s brew). I packed my lunch the night before (see the sando pictured below), and didn’t have anything after the coffee until lunch at 2:15 pm (yeah, kinda a late one, but that’s how it goes when I am working with Queen B…). I actually only ate the sandwich and some raisins, apparently my appetite just went into hiding? (not that I mind) Oh, and I had an iced coffee from Bruno’s at lunch. SO good. I made it with about a cup of ff milk and fake sugar (guilty pleasure).

I tried the apple and I literally had one bite and the apple was mush and bruised inside, so I chucked it.
I went to the gym after work and did a nice 60 minutes of cardio on the elliptical. Stretching and ab work was minimal because I just wanted to get home. I wasn’t even hungry (actually I really just didn’t know what I wanted). So I went to our whole foods and got a bunch of crap. I’m actually pissed about what followed, so I will be brief because the memories sting. How about I just use the photos as evidence with the preface: this is only half of what I actually consumed. (bad elise bad elise)

First of all, I started with dates (I had about 25 in all honesty)…

Then I moved on to a tofu and bell pepper salad (pictured above), which was actually quite light and nice. I'm not typically the biggest fan of onions and peppers because they make me burp which is why I tend to avoid them (I got that weird thing from my mom). Notice my camera is getting worse and worse…

Then I moved on to the plain bread (ALWAYS a bad sign). Bread is a dangerous territory and one I can rarely navigate my way out of safely. I had just bought a new type of bread (Food For Life 7 grain). I had 2 ½ pieces (I am counting the end piece of the new loaf as a half because it was small). On the 2 Food for Life pieces I spread the vegan “chicken spread” - and yes, I finished the spread. I really love that stuff, but at 11 pm, after 4 other dinners, it is just excessive....this is when I really should have called it quits.

But I didn’t.

This horrible picture is one of a couple bowls (oatmeal, raisins, bananas, syrup)...there was WAY more trust me, but it is not pictured because I was going at a rate that couldn’t be reckoned with. I had celery sticks still left over which I finished dipping into the “chicken” spread, thus polishing off 2 things in the fridge. And now I am sitting here, with a full stomach, and yet what am I doing – craving the rest of the freaking yogurt covered raisins that are hiding in the fruit bowl across the room. Nooooo! I would say I need to practice self control and this is my test, but clearly I have already failed that test. So the game starts again tomorrow. I think it is fair to say my string of attempting moderation ended.

Let me prepare a game plan for tomorrow so I feel like I am taking a big step back in the direction I was originally going.
1) Sleep in (I mean hella sleep in)
2) Coffee
3) Gym
That’s all I got…
4) Cycling class at night? (union square gym)