Still Getting Stronger…But Eating Weaker

Funny!  I never made it to the spin class a few weeks ago.  I picked up my girlfriend and drove to the gym and then realized she’d forgotten her ID!  BUT…I did come home and hit up our little apartment complex’s gym.  And I’ve been going pretty strong since!  I’m proud to report I’ve been going to the gym 3 times a week since.  Yay!  Tomorrow (if I make it!) will be my first week of hitting the gym up 4 times in one week.

Run, run, run!

In food news, I’ve been lazy and haven’t uploaded any photos of my eats.  And to be honest, the working out combined with my courseload this semester, has really screwed up my good intentions.  I’ve been eating vegan, but a lot of cooked food.  I am feeling ok with this, but a little guilty and a little bloaty…

…well, maybe a lot bloaty.  I know I need to get back on the bandwagon here soon and I will.  But right now I want to focus on what I’m doing well, and that’s making it to the gym and getting good grades.  Oh and posting here, if not regularly, fairly often!

Here’s some eye candy:

L.L. Bean Poodle
Doesn’t Bishop look like he could be in the pages of their catalog?

Whole Foods Denver Bags

Hello, Foodies!  Hope your day is going well!

I may spend most of the LT’s paycheck at Whole Foods, but at least forgetting my re-usable bags made me a bit smarter about my new city, Denver.

Isn’t this clever?!  I like how the bags show what produce is in season in the “Rocky Mountain Region”.

Just a fun little observation.  Now off to study for Microbiology.  An aspiring R.D. has gotta learn the basics first!

Sunny With a Chance of Showers

Yesterday, the LT and I went to a baby shower!  I haven’t been to many, however, this had to be one of the all-time best.  It was at a Morton Grove, IL park district building.  Means basically, we had a pre-school classroom – the little people desks + big people tables + lots of blue balloons, plates, and tablecloths.  What could be more “baby shower-esque”?

I’ll tell you!

Having a gi-normous playground and basketball court right outside!  We got to eat, drink, and play all afternoon.  Plus the weather was beautiful (for Chicago); it was something like 58 degrees and sunny.

My Mother-in-Law with my niece out on the playground

The LT playing with my nephew

After all the playtime (I played P-I-G with the boys and wasn’t the first one eliminated!), we were rounded up for cake.

What a cool idea!

I thought the look of this cake was super neat.  I’ve never seen one like it before–LOVE IT!

Overall, such a fun, relaxing day.  Being outside and in the sunshine, I really did kind of forget about any problems or concerns and was simply present in the moment and thoroughly enjoying life.

Midterms, Mahalo, and Green Smoothies

Midterm Time!

Yay!  This weekend, Maureen and I drove back to Ohio together for the start of her Spring Break.  She had mid-terms last week and I have exams this week plus the stress of the LT and my recent move.  The two of us had DEFINITELY been off the wagon in terms of eating right.  And our sisterly skin was showing it.  I am the only girl in my late 20s I know who has the skin of a 14 year old.  I was broken out and it was embarrassing.

What makes it even worse is this unscientific reflection: I think that because my body is used to getting “the good stuff”, when I suddenly ply it with Diet Cokes, pizza, and Chex Mix, unlike other people, my body revolts.  I truely think that I am more sensitive to nutritionally poor food, because I am used to living, raw, or vegan food!

So Maureen and I decided to do a mini-motivation weekend with each other.  When I picked her up at Union Station, we headed directly for Whole Foods!  We got the salad bar and some raw and vegan treats for the road.  I also picked up some chia seeds, hemp seeds, raw dried coconut flakes, cacao coconut butter, and a few other ingredients.  (Maureen and I made some recipes that will be posted soon!)

Mahalo Bars! So Yummy!

My favorite find was some vegan (non-raw) bars from Go Max Go! Their Mahalo bar is like a vegan almond joy.  So yummy.  So vegan.  So much better for me and the animals than a snickers!  I will definitely be buying more…many more.  Even my dad, a decidedly non-vegan guy who loves chocolate, enjoyed these bars!  (The LT wasn’t able to go to Ohio, so he didn’t get a taste.)

Maureen and I also made sure to have at least one green smoothie a day.  When I start the day off with a smoothie, it makes it so much easier to choose something healthy for lunch.  In fact, I’ve had a big, raw salad for lunch every day for 4 days straight now just because I’ve had a smoothie in the morning!  I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that I’ve given up my Starbucks for Lent.  On a typical Starbucks morning, even if I made a smoothie, too, I would opt to drink my soy hot chocolate in the car over my smoothie.  By the time I was done with my first class, I wouldn’t really want the smoothie anymore.  It was wasteful and nutritionally yucky for my body.  Plus my lunch would often be a veggie burger from Burger King–not a salad or anything raw.  The past few days, it’s like the more greens I eat, the more my body is craving them, the more my body wants greens.

Plus, my skin is totally clearing up!

OH: No, Man! Think About How Many Times You Eat Meat a Day!

Just a quickie: I overheard The LT on the phone with one of his best friends.  Guess it had been awhile since they’d talked because The LT was describing how I had started a new job and was really liking it.  His friend must’ve asked where it was because The LT then launched into a full on description of raw food and how it’s not heated above 105-115 degrees; how raw foodies don’t eat dairy, cheese, or meat; and how he’s been doing really great on this type of diet about 50% of the time.

The friend, I’m guessing, gave him some teasing because The LT then said,

“No, Man!  I still eat meat.  Like at lunch and stuff.  But think how many times a day you eat meat or cheese or dairy something.  And then you don’t eat any vegetables?  That’s actually kinda gross, Man.  And that’s why America and other Western countries are getting so fat, Dude!  Think about it.”

I was so touched and so proud!  My man actually listens to me and is absorbing what I’m saying!  I am such a lucky girl!

Get Up Eight

I know I’ve been posting more sissy-type “inspirational” blogs lately, but I really did like the Japanese bit of wisdom below.  I promise to move on to more tangible, less pansy-ass type blogging in my next post.

As I briefly mentioned in my last note, my fiance had some eye surgery a week or so ago.  He’s healing well (as far as I can tell!), but his physical restrictions have diverted me from raw food more than I would like.  It goes something like this:

• I get off work (from my awesome raw food job!)
• I head to gym.
• I run an errand (to the library, grocery, RedBox, etc).
• I get home and make dinner.

Tick, Tock! Tick, Tock! I feel too busy to plan a meal!

After a busy day and coming home to care for someone, making a raw dinner can be a bit much, especially if you’re not making a simple salad and dressing.  Since my fiance is not a raw foodie, but he’s pretty much a vacuum and will eat what I put in front of him, I’ve got it better than most.  However, if something raw smells funny or tastes “off,” he will abort mission and head for a Totino’s pizza from the freezer.  Therefore, I need to plan our dinners.  This ensures that I can eat raw, and he will actually eat.

Since I’ve been pretty busy lately, the planning part has become difficult…ok, honestly non-existent.  So for the past week or so, my dinners have been cooked (still vegan, though!)  I can definitely tell a difference in my energy levels and not in a good way.  It also feels like eating cooked food, makes me crave more cooked food!  That’s not the direction I want to be trending towards!

After Mass on Sunday, I was reading the bulletin and dreaming of a Starbucks hot chocolate, when I read a line that re-lit my motivational fire.  It’s a Japanese piece of wisdom, that I hope helps you on your journey this week:

Fall down seven times, get up eight.

Raw Pizza for The LT and me tonight!

Even though I may fall off the “raw wagon” now and again, I know that this is truly the path I want to follow.  So starting tonight, I’m bringing home a raw pizza from Cousin’s IV.  I may have fallen seven times, but I’m getting up for an eighth…and bringing some raw pizza with me!  Keep this line in mind during the week and when you fail or falter, know that you are just one effort shy of getting up and succeeding!