Balance act, tipsy

I have no clue why, but my appetite was out of control today.  It was as if I ran a marathon and couldn’t seem to get in enough kcals to replenish.  The only problem: I didn’t run a marathon.  In fact, I didn’t exercise Sat or Sun because I worked (12 hour shifts are not conducive to gym-ing). 

I never really pay attention to balancing calories on days I exercise, even if I have really intensely active days, because typically my body tells me what to do.  If my tummy wants more, I give it more (it rarely says no).  So when I woke up today starving, and it continued throughout the day, despite my continuous fueling, I felt as if my stomach was a bottomless pit, a tipsy scale that I couldn’t balance no matter how much I ate. 

Weird.  Just wait…you’ll see what I mean.

I started the day with the same old same old.

And since my stomach was growling like a ferosh beast, I broke the fast at 8 am with oats – done up right with THE WORKS.

Added into this massive bowl are: half a nanner, PB, raisins, carob chips, and leche de almonds.  I don’t mess around, yo.

This sat like a brick in my tum for all of 4 seconds.  Ok, not really, but I was hungry again at 10.  Whaaaaa?

I had some fruit to shush the grrrr situation going on in my stomach.

 

And a little more…

Yeah, ok, I basically snacked my way until lunch.

After watching a few juicers make their own lemonade, I vowed I would find a way to do the same (sans juicer), because it sounded so good.  Well today was just the day for it.

Always make sure it leads with a 9!!  Such simple ingreds :)

Add some Britta-fied H20 and voila!  I prefer to drink most beverages with a straw, so if you’re wondering – yes, it’s a stolen Starbucks straw, I have a drawer full of them.

For lunch I had pizza. 

Ok, not really, but that’s EXACTLY what this tasted like.  OMG, HOW did nobody tell me about this flavor of Sabra hummus before?!?  It’s my new fave.  It’s out of this world.

Turns out roasted red pepper hummus + vegan cheese + toasted Alvarado St bread = Pizza!

I had it with a crunchy apple, sliced for more rapid consumption.  It was so good I questioned my current engagement and nearly called off the wedding to propose to this mothah!

What can I say?  Kombucha is like a drug!!  At least the come down off the high doesn’t leave you with the shakes…yet.

I tried to stay away, but the roasted red pepper hummus just LURED me back in.

This is my second lunch (yep, it’s the EXACT same).

I could have eaten 5 more.  My stomach was in a feud with my head.  My stomach was still hungry (how, I’ll never know), but my brain was not buying it…hello, Elise, you’ve already eaten an entire day’s worth of meals and it’s barely past noon!

I decided to quiet the inner voices with some all of these.

 

Finally, I was satisfied.  While facebook stalking, I made a huge batch of iced tea, which I sipped through a straw :)

 

Hydrated and fueled on carbs, I decided to take advantage of the decent (read: non rainy) weather and went on a nice run around the usual loop in Central Park. 

7 miles – 50 min 

It felt heavenly.  I could have been floating it was such a great run.

After I got home, I headed to the gym for a cool down, plus some arms and abs on the mats.  I felt like a rock star, I just had SO much energy.  I guess my body knew what it wanted…

When I got back from the gym, there was something waiting for me!

Package!!!

Look at all the loot!  Kyle’s aunt sent us a bunch of dishware from our alma mater – it’s so perfect for summer rooftop BBQs.  Light weight AND non-breakable makes climbing 9 flights of stairs way less treacherous. 

Go BRUINS!!   Sorry Caroline :)

I also got my official NYRR card in the mail.  I’m legit, too legit to quit.

I opted for several mini-meals for dinner.

What do you call cheese that’s not yours?

NACHO cheese!

This big plate of chips was vegan-ified with some melty fake cheese, and devoured like I was a homeless person presented with booze McDonald’s.

Dinner meal numero dos was a salad from topping-ville USA.  What wasn’t in this thing!?  Not much. 

Just for $hit$ and giggles I had 2 apples, all slicey and dicey.

Then I headed out the door with (the above) papaya spears in tow to meet up with Kyle.  We saw The Hangover and I laughed my behind right off.  Bradley Cooper is h-o-tizzle, and Andy (from The Office) was hilarious.  Two thumbs up in my book.

When we got home, I had a bowl of melon for dessert.  I am now about to pass out as I am typing this (zzzzzz), so goodnight bloggies. 

Oh and before I forget!  PB+Jenny is giving away cuh-raaaazy amounts of goodies.  Git on over there and win it!

LAME-o was her NAME-o

I woke up super early for work today, washed my face, brushed my teeth, threw my afro into a pony, and grabbed my pre-packed lunch from the fridge…when the day kinda took a rough turn…

Tumbler full of coffee meet hardwood floor. 

 

Blog world meet the culprit.

**Gena, I TOLD you I shouldn’t be trusted with a cleaver!!!

I headed off to work grumpy and non-caffeinated.  Not a great start to the day.

Today’s pre-packed eats:

Big ‘ol salad, strawberry/pomegranate odwalla bar, apple, dried papaya spears and mangoes. 

Spinach, broccoli slaw, shredded carrots, clover sprouts, heart of palm (!!), and BBQ tempeh.

The newbie to today’s salad was LightLife’s tempehtations.

It was the oh-so-clever-name that won me over :)

They have a few different flavors, but I figured I’d play it relatively safe, and go with BBQ.

The verdict?  Not too shabby.  The BBQ flavor wasn’t overpowering and they weren’t merely cubes of tempeh drenched in BBQ sauce (which I was afraid it would be).  They definitely added a nice nutty flavor and slightly crumbly texture to the salad.  But salads are about the only thing I could see myself using these for.  Would I buy them again?  Probably not, but only because they are so pricey.  The convenience factor still doesn’t outweigh the price tag in my opinion (and that says a lot coming from a lazy ass like me).

I did succumb and stop into Starbucks…but after this morning’s big spill, it was a necessity!

Things started to look up after that – one of my patients told me she loved me and I that I didn’t look “a day over 16” about 500 times. 

I didn’t even slip her extra percocets either!  She was relatively alert awake and oriented, so I’ll take it. 

Anyways, work was work.  Another day, another dollar 50 cents.

I was hungry hungry by the time I got home, so dinner was a random bunch of leftovers.

The above assorted plate consists of 3 HUGE home-made seitan cutlets, BN squash, sesame seed/seaweed salad, steamed broccoli slaw/shredded carrot mash up.

You KNOW I mixed that shiz all up…mmmmm!

Totes satisfied. 

As per usual, I ended the say on a sweet note…natural AND dried fruit.  Why choose just one?

 

Back to the grind manana.  Peace out bloggies!!

Oh and for anyone who asked me yesterday about making seitan…DO IT!!!!  It’s so ridiculously easy, you’ll kick yourself for not trying it sooner (I did).  I can seriously see myself making this every single week.  I think I love seitan better than any other vegan “meat” so if you aren’t a huge fan of tempeh (like me) or you’re trying to limit your tofu intake (estrogen check)…go for seitan.  I promise you won’t regret it.

Now I’m really out.

Valentine’s day = chocolate overload

So, I’m not a huge Valentine’s Day person.  In fact, I pretty much refuse to “celebrate” on the actual day.  It’s not that I’m anti-romance, it’s just…I don’t need a designated day of the year to display my affection, I love Kyle all year long (and I make sure he knows it all year long)!!!

That said.  HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!!!!!

I worked today.  What can I say, work was work. 

Lunch:  sammie with every color bell pepper

 

Other treats: carob raisins, dried fruit mix, dried pineapple, dried figs, apple, odwalla bar, and lots of silk-ified coffee

Let the record state – carob covered raisins and dried fruit together are my idea of HEAVEN 

I also picked up a little treat from the ‘bucks while I was there.

FYI, I’ve literally been to 8 different stores this week looking for SF vanilla syrup, too bad the thought to ask starbucks where I can get some didn’t occur to me a bit sooner…anyways, when I went in to ask them, they said, you can buy it here directly from us.  Heyo!  If only I’d know that before hitting up every store on the upper west side!  I can’t WAIT to add this to my morning coffee.

Like I said, V day is bad for a chocoholic…(even though I now consider myself a reformed caroboholic) – haha, I actually typed carboholic just then (which is equally accurate in describing me)

Half a bar my co-worker shared with me…(I managed to avoid all the bombitters (aka almonds)

My commute home was INFURIATING, but in honor of Valentine’s Day, I’ll keep the venting to myself and channel loving thought (just know that the weekend subway sched BLOWS)

Dinner: texturized vegetable protein (vegan) sushi rolls

Plus, vegan soy-tein with spinach

(which I combined with the last of the Fage greek yogurt – nom nom)

Dessert was none other than chocolate! 

Chocolate Tofu cup ingredients: tofu, maple syrup, cocoa powder, rice, orange zest, pure vanilla extract, sea salt

Vanilla Tofu cup ingredients: organic tofu, maple syrup, lemon zest, sea salt, cinnamon

**no oil, no sugar, no gluten – pure vegan deliciousness :)

The vanilla one was SO SO good, but the chocolate one was just so-so…the best part is the pure ingredients, so I didn’t feel remotely guilty.  I hope this dessert wasn’t just a V day special because I could definitely see myself getting this 7 nights a week :)

(clearly)

This cute card pretty much wraps up my day…

bad timing

Ugh.  Of all the mornings to wake up without coffee, this was def poor planning on my Kyle’s part (just kidding, I’m obviously the one that finished it and didn’t buy more).  Clearly, a trip to Starbucks was the first task of the day.

Nothing makes me happier than the smell of freshly brewed coffee in the AM.  Nothing!  We got the House Blend (with a free cup of joe).  Kyle headed off to MM, so I made myself some toast and sipped my coffee (only way to nurse a hang over). 

I kinda burnt the toast (I’m really dragging this AM), but luckily a pound of Earth Balance pretty much salvaged it.

A little later, some vanilla o’soy yogurt with figs and raisins…

And then some apple slices and coconut date roll…talk about a multicourse brunch.

Since Kyle was out, I enjoyed some ice skating (made me think of GlidingCalm) on TV while dillydallying around the apartment. 

Before heading to the gym I had half a veggie burger with some home-made hummus.  Now I’m enerrrrrrgized!

I had a really good gym sesh so I thought I’d share one of my best gym tricks.  Personally, I love doing workouts that require me to change the various settings (rate, incline, etc) on the tread mill or elliptical – it keeps things interesting and challenging.  But I hate that it forces me to constantly stare at the monitor (after all – a watched pot never boils).  To avoid this, I create playlists that are upbeat and escalating in tempo and instead of changing the monitor on a specific time schedule, I change it after each song.  Each new tune gives me a burst of energy, plus I don’t have to look at the monitor and I can still remember to change up my routine (and thus avoid hitting a plateau in my exercise regimen).  Try it!