Adios 3D

I woke up today feeling exponentially better than the past 2 days.  YES!  So I made coffee and got to work MOVING!

I made lots of progress, and hardly realized how quickly time was flying by. 

I had to go with a quick and easy lunch, so naturally I turned to my girl Amy.  This company can do no wrong in my opinion.  Every meal I have is better than the last.

The delicious Indian Mattar Tofu was no exception. 

The above photo was straight out of the package.

The below photo was after I bulked it up with some extra veggies.

I steamed brocc, cauliflower, and green peas with curry and mixed it in with the Amy’s dish, and it was the perf meal.

Here it is in all it’s glory. 

After lunch I got back to work.  I still didn’t feel well enough to get to the gym, and as frustrating as that was, I knew I’d regret it if I pushed myself too far.  Plus, carrying boxes all day was probably a decent arm workout in and of itself.

I got sooooo much done, I’m rather proud of myself.

Since 51% of our belongings are now in our new apartment, I think it’s fair to say we are no longer living in apartment 3D.  Will I miss it?  Sure.  About as much as Lindsay Lohan misses food boys. 

No, I’m just kidding…it will always have a special place in my heart.  It’s “technically” the first place Kyle and I shared, and even though it is about the size of my closet growing up in CA, I will still remember it with fondness.

For dinner I popped some eggplant and zucchs in the oven, EVOO aplenty.

Then I lathered some bread up with hummus and added the veggies for a delightful Mediterranean style sando.  Oh, and in case you can’t tell, that’s a smiley face I made in the sabra.

Clearly this wasn’t enough to satisfy me, so I made a big salad with lots of healthy fats.

Lettuce, tomato, avocado, hummus, and Country Bob’s.  I’m beginning to understand the humbecue craze in the blog world.  I don’t know what took me so long to discover this magical combination.  Add in half an avocado and it’s a party!!!

It was so good, I wanted another only a few hours later.

I used up all the tomato on the last one, so I subbed in carrots.  Get ready for some food porn, because this salad is a TASTY one.

This is a new fave, so be prepared to see it a LOT in the future.

[Insert more packing/moving here]

Dessert time!!

No, your eyes are not deceiving you, I actually changed up my daily dessert dried fruit platter (dddfp?) and went with what I was craving…the last of the avocado and more sabra hummus.  Ummmm, elephant in the room – yeahhhhh, I ate an entire avocado tonight (and it was a big one)! 

Bed time.  Exciting weekend activities anyone?  I’ll be working the entire time, while my boyfriend fiancé and his parents move the rest of our crap (basically all the heavy furniture) into our new apartment.  I can see it already: PIVOT!!! PIVOT!!!!

Happy Birthday Kyle!

This is gonna be snappy because I'm tired and grumpy.

AM: I made some java with silk and sf vanilla syrup...which I sipped while doing some mega apartment cleaning.

I had an apple for a mid-morning snack. Thrilling, I know.

And then the fun began...that's right, I'm talking March Madness!!!

A few quarters under way, I got lunch ready.

I spread some plain greek yogurt and red pepper hummus on a whole wheat tortilla, then added in spinach, shredded carrots, and baked tofu (more from yesterday's batch), with lots of CURRY on top.

I don't know why I consistently try to stuff so much in my wraps...will I ever learn? Not bloody likely.

It was delish, even if I had to eat half of it off the plate after (that poor tortilla...never saw it coming).

I washed it down with the last of my sugar cookie sleigh ride tea.

Good thing I ordered in bulk! I still have 5 more boxes :)

Since I did a long run yesterday, I didn't feel like cardio much today. I decided I should stick to low/no impact exercise, so I ate some dried figs and headed to the gym for spinning fun.

Dried fruit gives me such a good sugar high for working out. It's not the kind that makes me crash, either, just a nice rush to get me going. I'm trying to keep track of my best pre-fitness eats so that I will have a good idea of what will work for me before I run the half marathon. Unfortunately, my stomach is pretty sensitive so I can't eat too close to running. Anyone have ideas?

What foods do you guys eat before working out or racing? I need something to give me energy, but nothing that will sit like a brick.

I did about an hour of spinning, stretched, did some arms, and headed home.

Coconut date rolls held me over til dinner.

Kyle submitted his huge China deal today, so he finally got home at a decent hour (poor guy has been living at the office for the past month)...pretty good timing since it's HIS BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy 25th babe!

You know you are an old fart when...

all you want to do on your birthday is watch basketball and get take-out. We cheered on UCLA while vegging on the couch and reviewing our brackets (our Cali visitors were more than okay with this plan, too, after a long day of covering Manhattan on foot).

I'm doing pretty well so far in March Madness. Kyle, not so much.

For dinner we got take-out from OZEN (Asian cuisine), an upper west side restaurant. They had cheap eats and a ton of variety...perfect for big groups with different cravings. I got steamed brocc and tofu with black bean sauce on the side. The sauce was SOOOO good.
There was a TON of food, too.

Notice the container with the other half on the left, next to my first plate full on the right. You bet I finished it all. I could have bathed in that black bean sauce.

I tend to get a little sketched out with certain Asian eateries, so steamed dishes are how I roll. What can I say, MSG and random additives are not my cup of tea.

Kyle got chicken pad thai which smelled divine. I was jealous for about a second, and then I remembered my stomach would have put up a violent fight if confronted with his dish. Oh, IBS, how blessed I feel to have you in my life...(TMI, guys?)

For his birthday dessert, Kyle had requested brownies...and since he loves chocolate and peanut butter more than a PMS-ing teenager, I knew exactly what to make.

Chocolate brownies with dark chocolate chips and peanut butter chunks on top. He was in heaven (as were the others). I wish I could have made a vegan treat and "tricked" them into trying it...but time was an issue, so I stuck with a recipe from mom. I'll leave the vegan baking to the one and only, miss VeggieGirl, aka vegan baker extraordinaire. She was kind enough to suggest a wonderful recipe, which got veto-ed before it even left the starting line :(

Oh well. I bought myself a little treat to rub in their non-vegan faces...hehe!

Sorry about the pic. It is in a clear plastic box, on a place mat with a pattern.

A slice of (vegan) death by chocolate cake. O.M.G.

HOLY yum!!!
Seriously, no words can even begin to do this justice. I was in heaven. Now I know how they came up with this name...I really thought I was going to die, by chocolate.

After a few bites I was so in love, I wanted to savor this cake forever. You know when something is SO good, you just wish it would last and last? Well, this was like that. I felt so much pleasure mixed with so much sadness after each bite. It was almost TOO good. I know that sounds crazy, but seriously. WOW.

I only ate half, so the food porn will continue tomorrow.

I forgot I had these carob covered raisins, too. Look at those massive clusters in the middle. I live for those. I am a vegan dessert freak.

It’s too cold for a clever title

Today was a totally snack-y day.  I didn’t even really do meals, I was just grazing all day long.  That’s the bad part about about having days off when the weather is only 15 degrees outside.  I broke the fast with a HUGE glass of chocolate soymilk followed by a CHOCOLATE loaded coffee. 

This stuff is THICK and sooooo good.  I am normally a silk soymilk girl, but this was on sale so I decided to give it a shot.  Man, was I in heaven.  It took all self control to not chug the entire carton on the spot.  I think I’ll be getting a lot more of this.

I did some research for this weekend while sipping my coffee.

Brekkie = 2 pieces of Alvarado street bread toasted to perfection with chunky delish soynut butter

LOVE this stuff.  The entire jar may be gone by tomorrow.

My apple for the day.  Crunch.

Vanilla o’soy yogurt plus chocolate soy milk and chopped up figs.  I think the figs all ducked for cover, but I guess I would too if I were submerged in chocolate and vanilla love :)

NOM NOM.

Later I got my act together and actually prepared some food for a late lunch. 

Alvarado street bread, greek yog, egg beaters and smart deli “turkey.” 

I was pretty full, so I finished some errands around the apartment and then headed to the gym to get my sweat on.  Considering I hadn’t been for a couple days, I wanted to make sure I had a good work out sesh. 

I’m always so aware of when my last work out was and whether or not it was a good one, I don’t know if it’s normal or not, really.  I love variety, so it doesn’t bother me that my routines are different throughout the week, but it makes me feel good when I do consecutive days of exercise, so it’s hard for me to justify days off.  I have finally gotten to the point where I have accepted (albeit somewhat reluctantly) that I just cannot go to the gym on the days I work.  Plain and simple. 

Back when I was in school, my body used to be able to do serious exercise sessions at the gym EVERY DAY.  But now, even though I think my sleep schedule is pretty much the same, my body refuses to cooperate.  When I first started my job, I pushed through it, determined to get in the exercise I wanted for myself.  But as my shifts got harder and longer and the pressures of being new at my job stressed me out, I realized my post-work exercising wasn’t even productive.  Lemme just say, after 12+ hour shifts, the motivation to get on a treadmill just doesn’t exist.  I was having horrible workouts and getting less sleep because I wasn’t even getting home from the gym until after 9, so I was eating dinner around 10, and that’s when I finally realized I had to make a change.  It took me 6 months of working AND going to the gym 7 days a week to finally give in to this.  But now I think my routine is healthier and more effective, which is the entire goal anyway. 

So sorry for the tangent, but I just wanted to say that THAT is why my work outs on my days off are SO precious to me.  Not in a creepy-possessive-gullom-from-Lord-of-the-Rings sort of way, just in a I-love-fitness kind of way.

After the gym I had some roasted BN squash with melty yummy Earth Balance drizzled on top.  When I said “drizzled” on top, I actually meant GOBBED on. 

Exhibit A: above photo with equal ratio of “butter” to squash

I did a bit more of mindless dried fruit snacking (papaya spears) while reading and burning cds for the car ride to VT. 

Look at the SIZE of these papaya spears.  The photo hardly does them justice, but I tried to put my bberry there for the sake of comparison.  I had about 5 or 6 of these.

For dinner I was trying to use up stuff in the fridge/apartment that would go bad while we were away for the weekend.  First, I polished off the lime flavored chips and salsa.

Then I baked some curry sweet potatoes, inspired by LovIN My Tummy’s fry challenge recipe from yesterday.

Curry does make everything better.

Since the amount of greens consumed thus far today has been pretty pathetic…I had a big ‘ol salad, too. 

Lettuce, brocc slaw, edamame, and baked tofu.

While sipping tea and meal planning for next week I watched this week’s ep of OC housewives.  I really like Jeanna.  She’s hilarious – making fun of the others in a clever way that’s maybe a little mean but comical enough to enjoy without feeling too guilty about it (hey, sometimes they are asking for it, right?). 

I’m on my THIRD box of Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride tea, you guys!!!

For dessert I polished off the rest of the coconut date rolls (don’t worry I already got another box) – hehe   :)

I LOVE these!!!  I can’t believe how freezing today was, I’m really in for a shock this weekend, because it’s supposed to be even MORE BRRR in Vermont.  I’m kinda nervous, but I’m packing 8 million layers and the cabin DOES have a fireplace :)

As for the projected forecast…

Weather for Ludlow, VT

Fri

20°F | 4°F

Sat

36°F | 25°F

Sun

40°F | 7°F

Looks like it’ll be a chilly one!!

where the veggies at?

I realized over the last few days my meals have been really lacking in the green department! Hmmm...looks like I'll have to get on that. Maybe later. For now, I need warmth. I woke up because I was shivering, so it looks like I will be getting the down blanket out of the closet for the rest of the winter...it's f-ing COLD.

At least I finally got a day off work so I could sleep in. I def drank my coffee in bed. My slippers are also on their very last legs (no pun intended), so I rocked these fleece socks with rubber tread on the bottom. Maybe I'll get some new slippers for x-mas??

Today was the first day it actually hit me - how close to the holidays it is, it's nearly Christmas!!! I reeeeeeally wish I could be home now! I'm alone here in NYC since Kyle went home already (sad). I'm pretty jealous of all the people who have jobs that actually have breaks over the holidays...maybe I'll go back to school again, just so I can get a break. I have to work on the 24th, 25th AND 26th. Boo!

Okay, enough whining. I had a pretty not normal breakfast. It was more like a snack with my coffee(s).

I craved salty and sweet, so I mixed together raisins and soy nuts. PERfect :)

A while later, I decided to make a real breakfast - although it was more of a lunch since it was past noon at this point. Def still in my PJs btw!

(blurry photo) of ingreds for my b-fast sando: egg beater, chobani, and home-made jam

...and the most important ingred of all EZEKIEL English Muffins!!

This shiz is divine.

Beyond explicable. No words can describe how great this chewy carb-a-licious muffin is!

Mmmm...warm and yummy in my tummy.

I followed up with a nice steamy mug of tea. I am obsessed with this green tea. I am obsessed with all things pomegranate lately, too.

I was trying to get my energy up for the gym, so I had a plate of medjool dates.

Sugar load - check!

At the gym I was hyper aware that this was both my first workout since 3 days, AND my last workout for the next 3 days. Oy ve! So much pressure to get in a good sesh and with such horrible weather conditions outside. I just wanted to stay wrapped in my blankie. But, I'm a good gym rat, and so I layered on clothes like I was heading out to the polar ice caps, and got my ass to the gym (step one). I started on the elliptical for 30 minutes, and the new Lady GaGa cd was keeping me pumped up, so I switched to the tread mill for another 30 mins. After that, I was still going strong so I decided to just finish up my Self mag on the elliptical, but next thing I know another 30 mins has gone by, and I wasn't even fatigued! I finished off the cardio with a 5 minute walk on the tread mill, and then headed over to the mat for stretching, abs and arms.

Wow. That was a serious freakin' gym sesh!

This can't be healthy! I'm ashamed that I bought it, but it was a pomegranate flava!

I also got some vegan parm for my dindin.

Spag squash that I thawed (I made a mother load before so I still have the rest in the freezer).

Add in the sauce and parm...

And that's dinner.

(haha, yeah right)

Here's round 2. On this serving, I added the rest of the Italian seasoned tofu from last week.

I'm cleaning out the fridge! Leftovers much?

So yummy.

I still wanted more greens though, so I steamed some yellow squash and zucch, that I also topped off with tomato sauce and vegan parm.

And yet, after laundry and packing and doing other crap around the apt, I was STILL hungry. So I went for leftover dish #2...this was the curry tofu dish from last week (I ate all the tofu first, and the rest was only so-so).

Dessert was dried edamame. Salt, salt, salt. I heart salt.

Ok, work again tomorrow :( = bed time.