whatevah, I do what I want

Because yesterday’s post prompted such passionate and wonderful comments (I love you guys!!!), I’d like to post my response, just in case some people don’t check follow up answers in the comment section.  This is just such a great discussion matter…

First off, can I just say how PROUD I am of the responses I have gotten on this issue, not just as a (self proclaimed) foodie, but as a female in general!

You all are absolutely right, it can be a slippery slope from checking portion sizes to obsessively counting each and every calorie – especially for the OCD, type-A people out there (hello, takes one to know one)!  And since I am truly happy with my body, I have no interest in changing the way approach eating.  I LOVE food and enjoy everything from cooking and creating new meals to setting up camp in my frequent food ruts (downing tubs of hummus day after day after day).  I have found a nice (mostly) balanced way of living, with splurges that I don’t berate myself for, and wholesome food that gives me the energy I need to remain as active as I love being.

In the end I love food way too much to let something like the serving size deemed appropriate by the government dictate how I choose to get my grub on!

OK, now back to your regularly scheduled programming Friday’s food…

 

Java & greek yogurt/fruity mix (apple + plum + pear).

This brekkie is getting too predictable!  I’m gonna have to switch it up soon. 

I went to the gym and had a mild elliptical sesh, followed by some arms and stretching – then I adios-ed to enjoy the sunshine!

I read and crossword-ed (it’s a word!) on the rooftop (lathered in sunscreen, I assure you)…and eventually came back down for lunch.

I made another batch of seitan, this time with a few adjustments (more veggie broth).  So this cutlet was nice and juicy, easy to cut, and perrrrrrfect.  I had it with the rest of the edamummus on the side.

Here’s the pre-cooked seitan (as I kneaded the f%^& out of it)…

…and here it is pre (above) and post (below) oven lovin’.

I know it looks weird, but seriously guys, it’s SO easy to make, and tastes yum (x 6).

I also had some hummus-y bread.  Do I need a reason?

Later I had the weirdest shaped apple ever.

For dinner I had a philly cheese steak…welllllll, with a few adjustments.

Seitan cutlets, veggie slice “cheese”, and Alvarado street bread.  Very Elise.

YUM!

Desserttttt…cranbran VitaTop with some EB and fresh fruit.

Work weekend, enjoy the sun for me kiddos!

Love the nine-oh

The sun came out of hibernation today!  It was glorious.  I forgot what it felt like to have 90 degree rays beaming down on me. 

Soak it up baby, soak it up.

I should mention Wed night after I posted I had toasted Alvarado Street bread with peanut butter and carob chips. 

I’m not usually a late night eater (at least I try to avoid it) but this new purchase had to be tested.  It passed.  Waaaaay passed.

So all Thursday long, I thought it was Friday.  I keep getting confused on the days of the week.  Probs because Kyle gets back and we have the Shins concert, so it felt like a Friday all day, but I work this weekend.  Not excited about THAT one.   

Oh well, I’ll tackle that hurtle when I get there.  Today, on the other hand, I had off, but I still got up early to be semi-productive. 

I cleaned.  I cooked.  I cyber-stalked read all your blogs. 

Obviously the above coffee and Vita Muffin were consumed prior to those chores. 

CranBran is my favorite Vita…although with the amount of EB I dump on them, the flavors are probably not even that discernable.

One thing I’ve been thinking about lately, is my portions.  To be honest, I never really pay any attention to the sizes of things I eat as compared to the actual serving sizes…I tend to fill my plate, regardless of the quantity of food that it takes to do that.

Maybe it is one of those things I don’t really want to know.  Ignorance is bliss, right?  But I am curious.  The other day at work the endocrine team brought trays with cut-outs of the recommended portions for diabetic patients, and just seeing how SMALL the allotted portions were piqued my interest.

I always clear my plate, and often go back for seconds (sometimes photographing it, sometimes not).  But seeing the amount of food that was considered one serving of carbs, was a eye opener!  I have never in my life measured the amount of the block of tofu that I ate, or the number of chickpeas that I added to my meal.  I have a feeling it would be a complete shock to see what the prescribed standard is.  I probably eat 4 servings of peanut butter in what I would consider 1 serving. 

Any opinions?  I don’t want the mundane task of counting calories to mess with my mind. 

But I wonder if I knew exactly how much is considered one “portion,” would that alter the quantity I served myself?  And ultimately, the amount consumed?

Anyways, I DO know I had several portions of fruit as snacks throughout the AM.

 

Fruit galore. 

I just craved fruit, what can I say?  Must be the summer weather! 

I decided an outside run was in order, so I got my corre corre on in Central Park.  I did a reverse loop (the exact 10K I ran last weekend), which ended up being 7.66 miles door to door as per MapMyRun.  I did take a little detour on accident and tacked on an additional 1/2 mile on Central Park South, but I still completed it in 55 minutes. 

My mouth was parched so I gulped some H2O down once I was home, and then headed to the gym to do some weights and stretch.  Somehow I ended up on the elliptical for 30 minutes, too. 

I got home and got presentable looking for the concert.

I snacked on apple slices dipped in (my one-and-only) hummus, and popped open a bag of Newman’s Own Soy Crisps.  Even though it was 4:30, I knew I wouldn’t get to eat until pretty late after we got back from the concert, so I ate the entire bag, and finished the Sabra, too, just for good measure.  Portion whaaaat?

Sorry for the weird distorted photos?

I had these as I headed out the door, too…

The Shins were FAB-U-LOUS!!  I love them, so I was expecting an amazing show, and they did me proud.  It was their last performance of the tour, so they went balls-to-the-wall. 

We got home pretty late, but I knew I needed to eat before passing out.

Step 1: Get nutty – apply copious amounts of PB to the tortilla

Step 2: Don’t be stingy with the extras (carob chips)

Step 3:  Lick any residual from the spoon

Step 4:  Enjoyyyyy

Step 5: **Caution, this is not for the faint of heart**  Repeat steps 1-4 with medjool dates :D

Ciao bellas!

hummus soup

Sundays = the end of the weekend

SAD!

Unfortunately, this Sunday was especially blah. The cloudy, overcast weather pretty much reflected how I felt. 

Enter caffeine love.

In the interest of preserving my current mood, I’m going to stop reflecting on yesterday’s thoughts…just know I was kinda a Debbie Downer all day.  I’m not sure why, as there was no true reason I should feel gloomy – I was just stuck in a funk.

Blueberry chobz + dried papaya spears + apple slices + melon = pretty fruity breakfast!

After my AM sugar loading, I headed to the gym.  I wasn’t even remotely interested in working out, and I had to drag myself there in the hopes that I’d get pumped up once my foot hit the mat.

…yeah, that didn’t happen.  I eked out 60 (weak ass resistance filled) minutes on the elliptical before heading home.  Sure, I stretched a bit, but you can bet your ass I slipped all abs/arm exercises.

I was starving when I got home, and really wanted carbs…rather than inhale a loaf of bread (which I could have easily done in less than 5 minutes flat), I took a little timeout to really think about what I wanted. 

As Bethenny says “check yourself before you wreck yourself.”

So this was my attempt to eat mindfully, and practice my favorite Housewife’s NY Times Best Selling tactic…while making sure I had what I wanted, without going crazy.

 

In the end, I decided to make some hummus.  No recipe used, just chickpeas, EVOO, and salt to taste.  It was a bit runny, but I ‘aint complainin’ (all the better to drink you with my dear).

I dipped 2 pieces of my favorite carb (Alvarado Street bread, obv) into the hummus soup.  I DIE.

Carb check!  Even though I wanted 10 more pieces of bread, I decided to take a little break and had a seitan cutlet to get some protein.

But in the end, I knew I was not going to be satisfied unless I had more bread.

Here was round #2

It was effing tasty too, but I felt like I was sloshing with chickpea soup after having TWO full bowls of hummus.

Food coma.

I was tired after all that food, so I took up residence on the couch.  It was delightful to just curl up in a blanket and doze off.  I watched the Prez speak at Notre Dame, finished my book, and read blogs for the better part of the afternoon.

I had some munchies, too.

Snacky day much?

I wanted to get in my greens for dinner, so I loaded a plate with the usual suspects (cukes, sprouts, tomatoes, carrots, and 1/2 an avocado on a bed of spinach).

Along with…

You guessed it!  The last of the hummus (note: I made this less than 4 hours before).  Sick?  Or super?

And yet, I STILL wasn’t satisfied!  WTF?

This is when the day took a turn (for the worse).  I’m not gonna lie, it got a little ugly.

My sweet tooth was calling, and I answered.

And answered.

And answered.

And answered.

You get the point.

So, there you have it.  Dirty laundry aired.  Given the time of the month, it’s not really that surprising?

I mean, I’m not pleased, but I’m not going to let it ruin me, so Monday is a new day and hopefully my cravings will have died down (at least a little bit).

6.2 dripping wet miles

Rise and shine sleepy heads…time to run a 10K!  Weekends are the best, the BEST!

Although the weather was looking pretty ominous, Kyle and I dragged our feet to the park for the 9 am start.  After we were adequately packed herded into our corrals, the horn blew, and we nudged our way forward to the actual start line…next thing I know, it’s freakin’ POURING.  Like, massive sheets of rain.  My pants, shoes, and socks absorbed so much water I felt like I had an additional 20 lbs. in my lower body.  It was like running with your feet in cement blocks. 

Not ideal race conditions.

The sky eventually cleared, and since I was already drenched at that point, I figured I may as well just finish the damn thang.  Ick.  We made it around the park’s 10K loop and immediately headed back home…oh, sweet, dry shelter. 

Shower.  Coffee.  Vita.  Relax.

(I’m pretty sure it took longer to brush through my ratted, tangled up mane than it did to run the actual 10K).

Hit.the.spot…although this flavor vita muffin kinda tasted like mediocre corn bread (no worries, a heap and a half of Earth Balance fixed that right up).

I was so tired, but I fought the urge to pass out after brekkie and opted for some old school reruns of 90210 instead. 

I still wasn’t terribly hungry by lunch time, so I had a huge bowl of cantaloupe.

Meanwhile, a fun package came in the mail from my Mom…

These were kinda hilarious!!  Look at #1 in Kyle’s book.

Does he know me or what?!

Some of the questions were really weird, and yet, our answers were often verbatim what the other person said.  Pretty much confirmed we are perfect for each other equally dysfunctional.  In a good way…?

It worked up an appetite.  Lunch time.

I lathered the Alvarado Street bread with mashed up avocado, then added in sprouts and seitan cutlets (home-made of course). 

Sammie porn!

What’s a proper lunch without dessert?  I present to you, Fig Newmans. 

Mmmm…

 

FYI, those dainty digits on the right belong to Kyle.  I really like Fig Newtons, so not surprisingly, the Fig Newman’s were just as tasty.  I could have eaten the entire box, but instead settled for one row :)

After lunch I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

Check out my new kicks!!!  Asics GT-2140 with Duomax technology.  It was love at first step. 

Adios to these oldies (they are on the windowsill because they are SOAKING wet, and I was trying to help them dry faster).

 

Hello to these new beauties!

I hadn’t planned on getting new running shoes today, but before the race in the park, I looked down at the sea of sneakers, and realized mine were the grossest and oldest by far!  I know you are supposed to get new running shoes far more often than I do…but I don’t exactly have the funds to keep up with what’s recommended.  However, given the mileage I do on a daily basis, I think I’m about due (it’s been a year)…plus, my knee has been acting up a bit the past few weeks, which is generally a sign that the cushioning effect is gone.

For all the cardio queens out there, how often do you get new running shoes?

Here are my afternoon snacks.

I had an early dinner since we had plans to see Angels & Demons with a friend downtown.  I wasn’t that hungry, so it was fairly light.

The highlight was a new kind of hummus.

I had 75% of the tub of hummus with my spinach/sesame/seaweed salad and carrots.  It tasted healthier, probably because there is less oil and more veggies in it.  Still, I’d buy it again.

 

This seaweed/sesame salad is a new fave, but a bit $$ for the very basic ingredients it contains…looks like I’ll be taking a trip Chinatown!

I polished off the remaining 25% of the tub of hummus with more carrots and an apple.

I brought a dried pineapple ring to the movie, which was about as good as I thought it would be.  I read the book, and have mixed feelings about Dan Brown, but whatever, it’s a perfect rainy Saturday night activity.  Throughout the movie, I kept thinking Jack Bauer would have solved this shiz by now!

It was well past midnight when we got back home, so I had a bowl of melon and passed out.

Night!