not just the same old salad

I woke up to rain and cloudy skies, so I just wanted to stay in my PJ's all day long. Too bad for me, Kyle doesn't feel the same way about what proper rainy day activities are. Fortunately the rain seemed to clear up in the afternoon, so we managed to salvage most of what we were planning for the day.


Step 1: Caffeine, asap (bowling ball design).

Step 2: More caffeine (cherry design)

Step 3: Gym.

I gymed it hard. I was struggling too, but I gotta get my butt in gear, so I pushed through. I ran and streched and did abs, oh my.


Step 4: Lunch (actually snack, and snack often)


I was only so-so hungry, which was weird for only having coffee prior to my work out...so I had an organic honeycrisp apple (from my FD order), followed by a cup of o'soy yogurt (strawberry flavor).

This was the first time I tried the strawberry flavor, and it is definitely better than the peach. Vanilla is still my number 1, but this is a close 2.

Then we headed out to do some shopping. Gotta get some clothes for our (less than a week away) European travels! I packed a snack for myself, since I always get famished while scanning the racks...shopping really can be quite a work out!

I've been looking foward to this treat for a while! Sabra classic hummus and pretzels in a cute little package for the road. Could this BE any more perfect? Here's the problem: I don't like wasting food, and there were not nearly enough pretz to finish off the hummus (may-jah dilemma!)...you might guess where this left me. Yes, licking the container. Kyle was mortified, and I probably looked like a homeless person after months without food. Whatevs. I'm a food freak, embrace it.

I got a new pair of black slouchy ankle pumps, and Kyle got a new suit, 5 dress shirts, 2 ties, and 2 pairs of dress shoes (insert gasps here). He was on a mission.

Dinner was another salad (yes, I'm going to turn into a salad soon I am craving them for dinner every single night)! But it was so good it was not just another boring salad. I added in some leftover tofu edamame and corn mix below.

Also I added in more cherry tomatoes and raisins. Perfection.

Of course then my sweet tooth was calling...and yogurt covered raisins answered.

Then we went out to go see the movie Role Models on the late night. I was laughing my ass off the entire movie. SO funny. SO SO funny. Even though we got back after midnight, I still managed to find room in my tummy for some bread (4 slices of A Street) with hummus (sorry no pictures).

living like a grown up

The day after my birthday I had to work, so it was back to reality. The C pod was super mega patient overload (to quote black rob, it was "like whoa"). Each patient was so heavy, there should have been 5 more nurses at least, but of course there were just two of us left to hold down the fort. The day started off with a nice starbucks soy misto, but since I was running around like a mad woman all morning, my stomach was growling by 9 and eating itself by 10. Thank the lord I had my vegan oatmeal raisin cookie from the night before (my BDAY cookie!!). It was awesome! Dense (but not in a heavy way), crumbly, oaty, so good. I may have to find out the recipe.
I didn't get away for a lunch break until way late in the afternoon, so it's a good thing I had the cookie to hold me over. I made a sando with california style A street bread (see pic below).

The picture of the sandwich is nowhere to be found. My camera is dying. Now in addition to crappy pictures, they are spontaneously deleting, apparently. Anyways, for the record, the sando had smart deli "turkey" with hummus, mustard and lettuce. I also had a baggie full of dried edamame and raisins (can't beat salty and sweet).

I hit up the gym after work, but only for a mini run. I was done after 30 minutes. I was really in the mood for comfort food. The weather got COLD all of a sudden, and I seriously wanted something warm and hearty. (Shockingly) I had the self control and presence of mind to come up with a healthier alternative. I settled on "Boca" chik'n nuggets with lots and lots of dip (I love mixing BBQ sauce with honey mustard).

I don't know why they consider one serving 3-4 nuggets. I don't even know what that MEANS? How do you eat 3-4? How do you not eat all of them? Confusing.

Wow, my camera is barely hanging on...

I ate a few dates and soooo many yogurt covered raisins, but all I captured was this little bit. Makes me look like I have moderation - well, looks can be deceiving!

the final countdown...

Yes, the days are dwindling...I will soon be on my own, saving lives. Work was work. I did manage to make it to the gym after 12 hours of slaving away.

I had a Bruno's coffee (NOT sbucks!?) with a min amount of leche...I'm gonna try to reduce the $$ this week...and then for lunch I had a sando (seen below).

A Street cali style bread with lettuce, smart deli turkey, mustard and hummus. Can't go wrong with classic...never fails.

My gym workout was kinda weak to be honest, but the important thing is I did go. I actually only ran for 30 mins because the 90210 ep was a rerun, and that was kinda the only thing that was motivating me to go in the first place.

I was salivating thinking of dinner the whole time...I heart HUMMUS!

First, pitas.

Second, veggies.

Also, apple slices.

And finally, the creamy classic hummus...(notice Kyle trying to steal my yummy food).

Then later I had some dessert (organic apple sauce)

...to which I added some cinnamon

Also, I had bunches of yog covered raisins...can't help it.

the pink month

Welcome to October, my favorite month.

No work today, woohoo! But, my stomach was unhappy for some unknown reason, so my day off was not so fun. I spent most of it on the couch, and the rest of it in bed. I did manage to crawl to starbucks for a soy latte, which (surprisingly) settled my stomach momentarily.

Later I had some oatmeal. Arrowhead Mills has good stuff. I especially love their oatmeal. I mixed one of the original packets with flax with a maple apple spice packet. Then I added in a hunk of Kyle's peanut butter (BAD Elise), a packet of Stevia, and a handful of raisins.

I swear I took a photo of the entire bowl?!? No idea where that went...

Anyways, I snacked on yogurt covered raisins and dried dates throughout the day. These bags are SO big, and yet I still managed to finish them off like it was nothing.

Kyle made dinner all by himself. Tortilla espanola in honor of my sister (she's abroad in Barcelona). We have made it before. The recipe is so simple, and yet, it's SO good!

All you need is 6 eggs, 1 Idaho potato, 1 yellow (or spanish) onion. First cook the diced potato in a pan with olive oil, then add in the chopped onion. Once the onion is cooked add in the eggs. Naturally, you can season as you want with S+P. After the bottom looks cooked and the eggs are almost cooked through to the top, it's time to flip it (this is a very tricky process, which everyone does differently I think). We found the best way for us, is using 2 pans that are the same size. So when one side is done we just flip it into the other pan until the other side is done.

And here's what you get!


Dessert was kettle corn.


Note to self: Tomorrow I need greens badly, I feel overly carb-y.

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.

holy BIPOLAR batman!

Some days I just don't like my job. More on that later though.

To start, I made my lunch last night. The normal sando :)

Plus, apple slices and a combo of raisins and yogurt covered raisins.

I left for work early, headed to starbucks for my AM soy latte and before I could blink it was noon and I was barely under way with my work load. Seriously, I can't put into words how insane all my patients were today. Thank goodness I got a venti this morning because I didn't get to step out for a lunch break until 3:30 (and I didn't even realize how late it was either, that's how busy I was with these crazy ass patients).

Soooo, by the time I got to east my food I was running on empty...I needed soy latte recharging in a major way. Naturally, I enjoyed my lunch with another venti soy latte, and then refilled the cup with plain soy milk from the bar (yes, I'm crafty like that).

I easily downed the second venti soy milk along with the raisins that I packed.

The remainder of work went similarly horrible...let's just say, I discharged my bipolar patient before I left for lunch and when my shift was over I was still dealing with him (oh, and did I mention the hospital security had to get involved). Awesome!

Clearly I was in NO mood to work out after the day I had. I left the hospital super late, I was exhausted, and all I wanted was to curl up with a soylicious treat. So I did.

2 vanilla silk soy milk bottles and a venti iced coffee...which I enjoyed as 3 servings

Here is the first one in a beer stein (check out how much of the venti iced coffee is still left)! After this I was ready to go to bed, but Kyle forced me to eat more...and I caved.

I had the rest of the raisin bran, which was 3 huge bowls with (you guessed it) MORE soy milk.

Then I had even more yogurt covered raisins. WAY too much food.

No gym + food coma = :(

Some days I just can't get moderation under control...I am a very all or none girl. One minute I am content with coffee, the next I'm downing my 4th dinner. Geez, talk about a bipolar day.

Ugh, some days I just DON'T like my job.

lucky pennies

Here's the thing - I am very superstitious. The reason this is stupid is because at the same time I am very logical and I always look for rational explanations for everything. I can't explain why I still believe in good luck or random events being "signs" but I just do. The reason I am mentioning this is because on the way to work today I found 2 (not 1, but 2!!) pennies heads up. I always pick up pennies if they are heads up, and I never pick up pennies that are tails up (which is weird, I know), but I just think they are good luck. And as if that isn't bizarre enough on it's own, I actually think it is bad luck to pick up a tails side penny and even worse bad luck to walk past a heads up penny and not pick it up. I will refrain from elaborating on all my other freakish superstitions, but the moral of this story is that I knew today would be a good day since I had 2 heads up pennies in my pocket.

And it WAS a great day. I had such an easy patient load (only 3 patients, 2 of which I discharged by the afternoon) and jcaho didn't come. What more could I ask for. Plus I got to work with my fav peeps today. Other than that, my meals were the same as they are every other day I work (I am so boring lately).

Lunch was the same: sando (Ezekiel bread, greek yog, honey must, smart deli meat, and lettuce) and silk soy milk latte

Snack was the same: berry smoothie power bar

After work I hit up starbucks for a subway ride/pre-gym treat. At this point, I was really feeling unoriginal with my ordering. So I got a grande iced coffee in a venti cup, and then dumped soy milk in all the extra space. In the end, the drink wasn't that different than my other orders, but oh well.

At the gym, I "ran" on the elliptical for an hour, stretched for 10 mins and traded in my ab workout for grocery shopping. Here are the goodies I got:

I was almost out of smart deli "turkey" meat so I got more of those. Also, I wanted another little silk vanilla soy milk, and I had to replete my supplies (propel H20, split pea soup, and yogurt covered raisins). I also grabbed tofu chunks for dinner tonight (more on that later).

I made a pita stuffed with a tofu salad for dinner (ingreds shown above). I took a spoonful of ff greek Chobani yogurt to spread in the pita pocket, then I loaded it up with cherry tomatoes, and the tofu salad I got from our whole foods. It has tofu chunks, edamame, corn, and a variety of spices, and is SO good. It was kinda hard to take a picture of because it was exploding, so I was doing everything in my power just to hold it together. The rest of the tofu that didn't fit in the pita I ate on the side :)

I was still hungry, so I had the tofu I got at the store. This macro and vegan product is by Karen Sisters, and is all natural tofu with a cabbage/carrot/ginger salad on the side. To be honest, the salad isn't that good, but I know ginger is good for the GI tract so I ate it anyways. I didn't have the sauce though (on the side above).

I may have had a handful or 2 of yogurt covered raisins for dessert, too.

work workity work

Today was no different than any other work day. Nothing thrilling to report. I made my lunch the night before (see below), which consists of the same delish sando I always make and a mix of raisins and yogurt covered raisins. And, naturally, I stopped at Starbucks on the way to work to grab a soy milk latte. How lame is it that I actually look forward to days I work now simply because on work days I treat myself to soy milk lattes. Today I was pretty sure jcaho was coming to the hospital (yuck), so I finished my drink before I entered the hospital (leaving me without a latte to sip on throughout the morning). So of course my stomach was growling by 9 am, making me bust out the raisins from my lunch early.

By lunch time I was hungry with a capital h. I went to starbucks to grub on my sandwich and grab another soy milk latte. I even refilled after with plain soy milk. I think I have had about a gallon of soy milk today!

My snack in the afternoon/evening/pre-gym was another very berry smoothie power bar.

Side note: I always forget about the fact that I have a couple(ish) glasses of apple juice while I'm at work since we stock it in the fridge. I tend to disregard it because the cups are so small, but I guess when you have 5, that is kinda a lot of juice...

Anyways, I went to NYSC uptown after work and the elliptical FLEW by since I was watching the new ep of gossip girl (I will hereafter refer to it as gg, not to be confused with the same abbrev that previously referenced gilmore girls). Fabulous work out. Mega-stretching. Minimal ab work.

I had a very fall dinner. This cool weather makes me want warm comfort food.

I heated up frozen peas and added organic split pea soup to it.

I love Health Valley's soups. And even though the photo makes dinner look gross, it was definitely good. Very veggie-ful.

After 2 bowls of soup I snacked on salty dried edamame (had to get some protein in) and finished off the bag I opened the other night.

football returns!!!

I got to sleep in today, which was quite nice. But I still set my alarm for 10:30 so I wouldn’t get too messed up. I had 2 cups of delicious coffee (ff milk and ff vanilla creamer) and then left to hit up the gym. My feet and legs were REALLY tired for some reason, so I did tons of stretching in the morning and then after my work out too. It must be from being on my feet ALL day yesterday. Seriously, I was up at 5 am and then walked from the subway to work, was on my feet for a 12 hour shift, went to the gym, and then walked a majority of the way home…so since I didn’t get back home until 10 pm, that means I was on my feet for 16 hours+ (no wonder my feet were dead). Still, I got a good work out in. I went nice and slow on the elliptical alternating between high and super high resistance. Then I tried a few new strength training moves I read about in shape magazine. After my work out it was already 2 pm, I wasn’t that hungry for some reason, but I also knew I should eat right away since I was going to dinner with Marisa and Heather at 7. I decided on half an apple (only half because it wasn’t that good) and yogurt covered raisins and the salty edamame I got at WF. SO good I could have eaten the entire container, but I somehow managed to stop myself, even though I was way full, I could have kept going for sure.

For dinner, we went to Max (lower east side) which was a complete pain in the ass to get to! Marisa and Heather both ordered pasta dishes, while I got the salmon special (red wine and honey glaze with a side of green beans). I have been having a lot of fish lately! The sauce was insanely sweet, almost to the point of being sickening, but naturally I finished the whole thing. The beans were fine, nothing remarkable. Honestly, the whole dish was just so-so, nothing I would be inclined to recommend, but it was more about the company anyways. We all split a bottle of white wine (it was a pinot grigio) which was nice since it was about a million degrees outside. Anyways, after dinner I walked back to Marisa’s apartment with her and then took the subway home. I think I will be glad next month when the restaurant will be in Marisa’s neighborhood, the west village is way easier to get to after all…now I am watching football and waiting for Kyle to get home.