Hungry Tiger

If you know what the title of this post means, I’m sorry.  Ha Ha.

But that’s what I felt like (again) today.  I had 4 meals (not snacks, meals) AFTER dinner alone.

OK, so back to the beginning…

Hump day started off with an early morning wake up call.  Someone’s gotta save lives.

To get me going, I went with a Trilogy Kombucha.  This is my FAVE flavor by far.  Mmmm…

I had packed my lunch before, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

I bought a big ‘ol container of “tropical” trail mix to tide me over.  Even though I’m still on the fence with certain nuts, I know they can hold my appetite, so I think it’s a great go-to when my appetite is hungry tiger hippie status.

What exactly qualifies a mix as tropical?  Brazil nuts?  Papaya?  I don’t know, it seemed pretty standard as far as dried fruit/nut mixes go…but whatever, beggars can’t be choosers. 

I polished the entire thing off, as well as my whole packed lunch by 1 pm.  FYI, the “new” super protein odwalla bars are the merely smaller versions of the former ones (with a new wrapper).

Business/Economics 101 says fool the customers into thinking something is new and improved with a flashy new packaging, while simultaneously saving money by charging the same price for a smaller version of the product.  Hmmmm…not a fan of this policy, but I can’t deny my love for odwalla is still going strong.

Anyways, I scrounged this up…vegan options are minimal at the hospital, but if you know the right people (wink wink), you can move mountains…ok, ok, I discharged a patient on a veggie diet before lunch came, and they still brought her tray.  The hospital is WAY too cheap to donate ANYthing to the starving nurses fund – believe me, I’ve tried!!

Sorry about the not-so-hot blackberry photo…

I stopped here (AGAIN) on my way home from work, to get my Kombucha fix.  Don’t be deceived by the hole-in-the-wall appearance.  This place has all the products that Whole Foods has, MINUS the massive lines.  Is two Kombuchas a day too many?

Anyways, when I got home, I had to eat something right away to prevent myself from chewing my arm off.

Roasted red pepper Sabra on Alvarado Street bread, plus apple slices for max dipping pleasure.

Kyle was already home and munching on these…

…so I couldn’t help but have a few (hundred) handfuls.

DARN IT! 

The good news: Newman’s Own does cookies right.

The bad news: I hadn’t even eaten a proper dinner and I managed to down well over half of the bag. 

To get some decent (not processed) calories in, I made an avocado mash containing an ENTIRE avo, shredded carrots, and clover sprouts…which I then piled on top of 2 slices of Alvarado Street bread.  On the side, I had the last of my home-made seitan.

After dinner I went dessert crazy.  First up, dates stuffed with carob chips.

Then, I had a big bowl full of strawberries with stevia and cinnamon sprinkled on top, and more carob chips tossed in after.

But the treats didn’t stop there.  And I’m glad they didn’t because as a result, I discovered an amazing new dessert!  Dried mango with PEANUT BUTTER!  It reminded me of PB+J with the sweetness of the dried mango and the crunchy nutty peanut butter.  YUM.

As if that weren’t tasty enough.

…it evolved into something even BETTER (clearly carob chips go with everything).

After a few more of these, I called it a night.  Hungry tigers have to go to bed eventually.

raindrops on roses & whiskers on kittens

Now that’s it’s “summer” we have been sleeping with the bedroom windows open, but the thunder and lightning were so INSANE last night, I had to channel my inner Von Trapp and sing “My Favorite Things” to calm myself down…it was scary!

It woke me up it was so loud.  And just so you know, normally I sleep like a rock, so this was no joke.

Clearly I had a rough night’s sleep – enter coffee :)

These are a few of my favorite things…

Peach chobz (not as good as blueberry) and a bowl of melon.

I had a mid-morning snack of peanut butter + banana, just to tide me over until lunch.

Once I was full and fueled, I began my Hawaii preparations (planning meals for Kyle while I’m gone, downloading new music and yoga sessions on my iTunes, etc.) – sure it may be a bit premature (I leave on Sunday), but I know I have lots in the coming week, so the type A in me wanted to get things rolling.

That really worked up my appetite!  Lunch time!

I made a sammich with Za’atar tofu (baked with Sabrina’s spice mix last week) on one side, and roasted red pepper hummus on the other.  I already need another tub!

 

Fan-freakin-tastic.  Random question: Do you guys cut your sandwiches in half before eating them?  Or do you bite right in?  If you cut them in half, which half do you eat first?  I always cut mine diagonally, and eat the smaller half first.  That way I don’t get sad when I finish the first half because I still have the bigger part left :)  Haha, I’m a freak, I know.

Anyways, I feel like soy products have been getting a bad rap lately, so I just wanna say – errrthang in moderation kiddos!!  Tofu isn’t the devil, especially if you prepare it yourself.

On the side I had apple slices with a mini-tub of Tribe hummus…I may have dipped the sammie in the hummus, too (TWO kinds of hummus on ONE sandwich – now that’s my kind of meal)!

You know what this means…fresh lemonade!!

Lunch dessert = dried fruit platter with raw cow hide mango, pineapple, and papaya spears.

The skies parted, so I sprinted to the gym…my workout was good, not great.  It felt good to get my blood pumping, but the whole time I was wishing I was outside :(  On the plus side, I had the new Black Eyed Peas cd AND Jillian’s podcast (thanks Sarah!!) to distract me. 

I did some very necessary shopping on my way home…

I was hardly in the door when I ripped into these babies!  I had a obscenely embarrassing amount (TEN).  Cinnamon may even be better than the original!  The HUGE sugar crystals on top were the best part.  SoSoSoGood!

Even after half the box, I wasn’t full, so I crunched into this bright red loverrr.

And sipped on pounded a Cosmic Cranberry Kombucha (try saying THAT 5 times fast).

In case you were worried, I replenished my Sabra stash today. 

I have GOT to get a hold on myself..I bought 4 different flavors (3 of which were Sabra).  Can’t wait to see Kyle’s reaction when he opens the fridge…

For dinner I dove right into the classic Sabra (FIRST with a fork, and then with an english muffin).

Since yesterday’s “nachos” were such a success…I went with round two of the veggie slices “cheesy” chips – which I then decided could ALSO be dipped in hummus.  I mean c’mon, why not?! 

Who didn’t see this coming…haha.

Once my carb cravings were properly met (and surpassed), I decided to get some other food groups in (wait, hummus isn’t it’s own food group?) and made a plate filled with yum.

Mark your calendars kids, because this will go down in history as one of THE SINGLE best dinners of my life.

Lookie lookie: Chickpeas, edamame, brown rice, tofu chunks, shredded carrots, broccoli slaw, red bell pepps, and dried cranberries all a bed of spinach.

Oh.Em.Gee.

Beeeee-YOOT!

I was quite content after this bomb dindin.  I had some iced tea which required NO ice since this mug was stored in the freezer (the water freezes in the outside part) – so COOL! 

Like a built in cozie!

Eventually it was time for the big D.

Melted carob chips + PB + toasted Alvarado Street bread = mmmm!

This rocked me right into a food coma.  I was barely able to pack my lunch for work tomorrow before the zzzzzzs kicked in.

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!