Sit Tight

Hey everyone, I know I've been MIA so I wanted to pop in and say hi. Still have zero appetite from the crazy psycho stomach virus from hell so I've only been able to eat gluten free toast, crackers, banana, tea and water. Nothing exciting or blog worthy.

I promise I'll be back when I can start eating real food again. In the meantime, here is something that made me smile :)

I mean really, that's just too cute.

Hope you have all been well, I'll be back soon hopefully! 

Half Day

Hey everyone. This is gonna be a quick post of what I've eaten in the first half of today. I'm feeling a bit yucky right now so I'm holding off on food until after my training session. I really want to cancel my session(s) (I have a double today) but with the 24 hour cancelation policy I'd lose two sessions instead of one and I just can't afford that. I'm gonna go and do my best.

So here is what I've eaten so far before my tummy started to hurt and the nausea set in :(

Pina Colada Smoothie

White grapefruit

Chopped salad.

Wish me luck getting through this hour and a half workout, I'm going to need it. Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow feeling better.

Some Meals and Groceries!

Hey everyone! Hope you have all been well. I'm sorry my posts have been sporadic this week, I ended up getting really really busy and just haven't had a chance to post anything. I've been taking pics when I can so I have a few meals to catch up on here. Nothing really new or crazy but great eats nonetheless.

Pina colada green smoothie. It has been making a regular appearance :)

Rice and beans with mixed veggies.

Stuffed grape leaves, carrots and hummus.

Avocado on toast with some grapes.

Steamed brown rice topped with steamed broccoli, eggplant and tofu drizzled with a little spicy garlic sauce.

In addition there has been no shortage of salads, other smoothies and raw treats that I just didn't get a chance to photograph.

I went grocery shopping this morning and was pretty excited about my haul. I started at Trader Joe's and as I started to realize how much cheaper things are there I started to stock up on pantry staples and new treats. Then I went to Whole Foods for produce because it is just top quality there.

My Trader Joe's haul! 2 containers stuffed grape leaves ($3 cheaper per container), Mediterranean hummus (my fav  hummus ever!), frozen organic raspberries and pineapple, a HUGE bag of gluten free oats ($3 cheaper and much larger than at Whole Foods), organic green tea, raw almond butter, coconut water (for a new take on the pina colada smoothie!), toasted seaweed snacks, popcorn kernels for the air popper, fruit leathers for a quick snack, teeny tiny potatoes, brown rice tortillas and 2 pure bars.

Produce from Whole Foods. 2 white grapefruits, 2 red grapefruits, some oranges, 2 avocados, an english cucumber and a ton of carrots. I also got a few things from the prepared section which I'll show you when I eat it.

I also found these chips which looked interesting! Check out those flavors: spinach and garlic, red beet and onion, and carrot, tomato and sesame flavor. I see these being awesome with hummus or guacamole!

So that's a little of what I've been eating the past few days as well as what can be expecting in the upcoming week :) I think the massage may be put on hold for now because there is still a lot that I need to get done but it'll happen sooner or later.

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend! I'm excited to finally relax for a bit!

Photo Shoot!

Hey everyone! Sorry for the brief hiatus but Thursday was a pretty uninspired day and I ended up working a wedding yesterday and was out all day until late. I'll post a catch up post tomorrow :)

Last night I saw a post by a friend on Facebook asking if anyone had a camera that would take high resolution photos. I knew he was selling his car so I offered to do the shoot for him. I guess I'm just nice like that ;) I knew the perfect location for it too so today after I got out of work we went and I took pics of his car for about an hour or so. I'm really happy with how they turned out and decided I'd like to share them with you!

It started to flurry in the middle of the shoot! I was SOOOO cold!

This was actually a detail shot to show the scratches on the bumper or whatever it is (not a car person obviously) but I LOVED the way this angle looked!

You can really see the flurries here!

Cool angle with the graffiti wall in the background.

I took a shot at getting this lens flare and it worked out really well. This may be my favorite shot. Look at how sunny it got after the brief snow!

Against the train tracks.

He had asked me if there was a way I could get a shot of the car with the train blurred in the background when it passed by. I told him I could sure as hell try. I wasn't expecting it to come out as well as it did so I'm pretty excited about this shot too!

So that's the best of the best. There were a lot of small detail shots because he is trying to sell it but I actually had a lot of fun with the shoot. He has a lot of friends that are major car guys that he said will probably be interested in doing a shoot after they see these so it may end up being a great way to stay busy and working/shooting during the winter!

I hope you all have had a great weekend so far! I'll be back tomorrow to post some meals from the past few days!

WTF Wednesday - The Green Edition!

Hey everyone! Just popping in to do a quick post before my long day because this way I'm guaranteed to post :) No guarantees after a 10 hour day and I have some pretty awesome meals to share so I can't skip it! I was inspired by Ingrid who said she'd be eating three green meals today and I am curious and excited to see what three green meals look like for her. So that got me thinking, what would three green meals look like for me.

Well, here ya go!!

For breakfast was a "green" smoothie. The mystery of the Cherry Chocolate smoothie continues as today's turned out brown despite having 2 packed cups of spinach. Doesn't matter, it was delicious and had tons of green power (in addition to the fresh spinach the Vega Shake n Go Smoothie powder has two servings of greens in there too.

For my late morning snack I'm going to eat this super juicy white grapefruit straight from my co-worker's family's tree in Florida. I haven't had grapefruit in a LONG time but it looks so good so hopefully my palate (which has changed tremendously since then) will appreciate it more.

Two photos of lunch! My green lunch is another chopped salad. I took pics un-chopped and then chopped. You can see I have a half of an avocado to cut up later when I'm ready to eat it. Can't have brown avocado on your salad!

For dinner I'm having another hearty portion of greens by finishing up the salad I got from Whole Foods that has mustard greens, sprouted mung beans, shredded carrots, grape tomatoes and an avocado vinaigrette. With it is the last of my golden sesame tofu (also courtesy of Whole Foods) and some more carrots. Can you tell I love me some raw carrots?

That's a pretty awesome day of food. Trying to heal my aching sore body by flooding it with nutrients (the hot shower I took this morning also provided some temporary relief). It's funny how the workouts you don't think will make you that sore are the ones that leave you totally aching for days after, and the ones that you think will leave you in agony actually have a really quick recovery time. Sometimes you just can't tell how the body will react.

Hope you all have a great day!! Hopefully 9 pm will come quickly :)

New Day, New Attitude

I woke up this morning and I was tired. Tired from being stressed, my body was sore and tired from training and most importantly, I was tired of being sad, anxious and in the middle of one massive pity party. That's not me.

I made my breakfast and as I was sipping my smoothie I started to feel better. I decided that today is the day that things were going to get better, because I was going to make them better. And so I did.

I had wanted to start running today but while I'm feeling better than I did when I woke up, I wasn't up for a run on the treadmill. I had temporarily decided to do yoga instead, but I really wanted to run so i busted out the rebounder and decided to do a 30 minute no impact run on there. I have recently come up with an idea to watch YouTube videos of my favorite fighter(s) to help inspire me while I do my cardio. It really works because while I find running incredibly tedious and boring, that 30 minutes flew by. I feel really good that I finally started again. I'll probably do another 30 minutes tomorrow and then run on the treadmill for a few minutes to warm up for my training session on Thursday. I'll take it from there.

Good meals on tap for today.

For breakfast, a PINA COLADA GREEN SMOOTHIE!!!!! Yes, I went there!

Pina Colada Green Smoothie

Blend the following:

1 cup frozen pineapple

1 small or 1/2 of a large banana

1-2 tbsp unsweetened coconut chips (the thick sliced dried coconut)

2 cups spinach

1 cup favorite plant milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)

Lunch was a HUGE, amazing chopped salad. This one has mesclun greens, carrot, cucumber, sun dried tomatoes, mixed sprouts (broccoli, clover and mustard) and some avocado. Dressed with balsamic vinaigrette. Holy yum! This thing was super filling too. I was starving when I made it and now I'm super stuffed (I'm typing this up after lunch and before work).

Continuing the citrus love by bringing another orange for my afternoon snack today.

For dinner I'm bringing my standard stuffed grape leaves, hummus, cucumber and carrot dinner plate.

I guess it really is mind over matter. I just need to make sure that I stay positive and do what I need to do to make sure that I stay happy which includes enjoying the little time that I have to myself. I think this means getting a massage soon. My sister in law goes to a place that is great and inexpensive. I think I'll treat myself to one this weekend.

Hope you all enjoy your day! Thanks for all of your support over the past few days, I really appreciate all of you so much.

Case of the Mondays and Back to Training

Hey everyone. Woke up very tired today and it was probably one of the first times since I started eating a high raw diet that I woke up still exhausted. My eating was a little off yesterday and it is crazy how much of a difference I can see when I fall of track a bit. I tried to fix that today.

Had my first training session in two week tonight and we made it a double. It felt good to be back, I just wish I had a little more energy. I really need to start running again. I say it almost every day.  I think I need to start tomorrow.

Still feeling pretty blah. Work was quiet today and I got a lot done. I love that I have my iPhone doubles as an iPod because I was able to work to the soothing sounds of the Deftones. Which will be funny to you if you have ever heard the Deftones.

So here is what I've eaten so far...

A darky, sludgy green smoothie. Not pretty but very tasty.

An orange for late morning snack.

Had to take a phone pic of lunch but it was more rice and beans with zucchini.

Protein shake after my workout.

I have no appetite after the protein shake so I'm relaxing and trying to digest and get the energy/desire to make a salad. If this in unsuccessful I'll have some stuffed grape leaves with raw veggies. Either way, dinner will have lots of raw veggies.

Other than dinner, I don't plan on getting out of bed tonight. Hope you all have a great evening!

Sunday Sunday Sunday!

Soooooo today definitely did not go as planned. First, I'm actually glad I went out last night because it lifted my spirits a little. It was nice to see my friend, we've been good friends since high school, went to college together and have remained close. She moved to Rhode Island a few years ago but still comes to New York once a month or once every other month and we always make sure to meet up and catch up. She definitely cheered me up so it was really nice. Oh, and I had the most Ah-MAY-ZING tea! It was labelled "raw" and I tried to ask how it was raw because it was brewed and I got no answer but it doesn't matter. It was an orange carrot rooibos tea and it was so phenomenal I spent big bucks to get a small bag of the loose tea. Can't wait to make it myself!

The shit storm (pardon my language...I'm actually quite a potty mouth but try to conceal it here) continued today. I was supposed to go to the wineries out east with my brother, sister in law and some friends for my sis-in-law's bday but this morning my mom asked me to take her to the ER. She's ok, just wanted to get checked out for something and didn't want to wait until Tuesday to see a doctor. On the plus side, we were both stoked about her hot doctor who I nicknamed "Dr. Hottiepants." Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do to pass the time. We were the for over 3 hours (which is actually short because there was no wait to get in!). I'm glad that we went because it gave her some peace of mind and hopefully she'll be able to rest and feel better now.

After we left I took my mom home so she could rest, picked up her prescriptions and ran some of my own errands. I finally got home around 3pm and finally had a chance to relax. Since today has been so crazy my food has been kind of blah but I'm definitely planning on getting back on track with the green smoothies and small meals every few hours tomorrow.

For breakfast I made a quick slice of gf millet toast with mashed avocado, sea salt and pepper before I had to run out .

After my errands I had some delicious items I picked up from the prepared section at Whole Foods. The far item is the golden sesame tofu and this vibrant green salad is "avocado and sprouted mung beans." The avocado is actually in the vinaigrette and the salad is made of mustard greens, sprouted mung beans, cherry tomatoes, shredded carrots and avocado vinaigrette. It was so delicious and had a nice kick to it.

I'm incredibly tired right now and I have a bit of a headache so I imagine I'll make a cup of tea later. My appetite has been pretty low since lunch so I'm not anticipating anything interesting for dinner. If I happen to randomly be inspired I'll take a pic and post it tomorrow. I don't really see that happening.

Hope you have all enjoyed your weekend! Back to the grind tomorrow. Wah!

Crankypants

Hey everyone. This will probably end up being a short post because I'm feeling pretty cranky right now. I'm tired, I've had a rough week and my bad mood was heightened by being in the presence of someone else in a crappy mood. It's funny, I'm usually in a pretty good mood, but when I come in the presence of this person my mood immediately changes. That's the epitome of a toxic person.

Anyway, besides being a crankypants, the day went pretty much as expected. I woke up at the crack of dawn and did an hour of cardio. I came home, showered, made breakfast then went to work.

Breakfast was another Cherry Chocolate Smoothie. I am running out of ways to photograph it so I decided to take a pic of the blender. Please notice how much spinach is in that blender and how the person that added it used to say how she could never drink green smoothies. What a difference a few months makes.

Mid day snack was a juicy orange.

My very late lunch/snack was some stuffed grape leaves with hummus and some gf crackers. I didn't get out of work until 3 and didn't get a chance to eat at work so I wanted to keep lunch light so I'd be able to eat dinner.

Dinner is another amazing chopped salad with avocado. Still trying new angles...

I have plans to hang out with a friend that is coming into town for the weekend. I don't really want to go because I just want to relax but I suppose I should stop being useless. We'll probably go to a coffee house and I'll probably get green tea.

So there you have it. Tomorrow I'm going to be out all day celebrating my sister-in-law's birthday. It should be fun... then it's back to the grind, another 6 day work week with extended hours. At least I have a double training session to look forward to on Monday.

Good Meals and More Weirdness

Hey everyone. Hope that you all had a good week. For those of you starting the weekend, lucky you! ;) I have to work tomorrow but after that I have Sunday off which I'm looking forward to. I'm more looking forward for this week to be over. It has been really strange, something new every day. Today was no exception.

When I work alone on a Monday or Friday I keep the door to the studio locked just for a little extra safety. I let someone in and when they left they turned the lock on the door, which I didn't see. Normally when we lock it we just push it so it unlocks when we open...when you turn the little button it stays locked...you see where I'm going with this. I went to the deli to return some papers that I had faxed for them and when I tried to open the door to the studio it was locked. I got locked out. For 45 minutes. So I had to stay 45 minutes later to make up some time. Well I didn't have to but the whole point of adding hours was to get work done. Go figure.

I waited in the deli for my boss to let me in. I was sitting on a stool by the counter in the window when an older Italian man sat next to me and started chatting. He was very nice and owns the restaurant on the other side of the studio. We actually talked about my being vegan and he was really cool about it. So a few minutes in he started asking me about my relationship status and figured out I was single and immediately started trying to get me to go out with one of his chefs...who naturally was sitting next to him on the other side. It was very sweet but the whole set up thing makes me very uncomfortable. I'm very shy and guarded because of past experiences so being set up (especially by a stranger) is difficult for me. So the chef guy told me he'd bring me lunch and asked what time I eat lunch. So I told him I don't do a lunch break but I leave at 3:30. Wouldn't you know he turned up at 3:20 with lunch for me. It was incredibly sweet of him but it makes me feel even more uncomfortable. I can't explain why because it was so nice of him, and I am appreciative of the gesture. I don't know, maybe I feel some pressure from it now, and I don't want any extra pressure right now?

Such a strange week! I ended off with some great meals today though.

Breakfast was my last slice of Rice Almond bread toasted with almond butter and cinnamon and some fresh strawberries.

Late morning snack was an apple and some green tea.

This is the salad that was brought to me. I actually hadn't eaten lunch yet because I was trying really hard to finish editing the job I was working on. It was really good...some grilled veggies on a bed of fresh mixed greens and a vinaigrette. Perfect for eating a late lunch because I didn't want to eat something heavy before the gym. It was really nice of him to make it for me. 

For dinner I wanted some comfort food so I got this small container of rice and beans with stewed zucchini and tomato for $2 at the deli. The pricing changes every time but it is never more than $3. I'll eat this in a little bit.

Did 45 minutes of cardio after work to blow off some steam. I'll go in tomorrow morning too before work. Hopefully the weirdness ends today because I just want things to be normal again.

This turned into a long post, sorry about that! Hope you all enjoy your Friday evening. I'm looking forward to just relaxing, maybe I'll make some herbal tea later.

Really?

Hey everyone. Today was one of those days that just made me step back and ask the universe "really?" I'm going to be adding some hours on to my shorter work days because we are so far behind that it is really just necessary to spend more time there. I'll be working longer hours on Monday and Friday than usual and I'll work on Saturdays more consistently over the next few weeks while we catch up.

I was supposed to have my first training session in a week and a half today and I was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately it was canceled due to some car trouble my trainer experienced. Wouldn't you know it, I walk out to my car after work and it is dead. Thankfully it worked after hooked up to jumper cables for a few minutes. This is the second time my car died the same day he was having car trouble! I think mine was having sympathy pains for his or something. So weird. I still dragged my butt to the gym to do cardio even though I wasn't even close to being in the mood.

At least I had good meals. And there is some crappy tv for me to get lost in tonight. Is it almost Sunday?

Cherry Chocolate Smoothie. It actually looked green today. So weird how it is a different color every day. It looks pretty with the specks of cherry in it though.

Late morning snack was a honeycrisp apple.

Lunch was stuffed grape leaves, a carrot, hummus and some Mary's Gone Crackers in the onion flavor.  The onion flavor is so delicious!

After the gym I had a banana to hold me until I was ready for dinner.

Chopped salad and my last two raw crackers from the farmer's market with avocado. Really delicious dinner.

I still am way under calories for the day so I'll snack on something later. It'll either be some air popped popcorn, a larabar or fruit. Depends on how I feel.

Hope you are all doing well!

Just Another Day

Hey everyone. Woke up feeling pretty down today. Believe it or not, it has nothing to do with Valentine's Day. I'm not really the kind of girl to get down on myself because I don't have a date today, so I was actually completely unaffected by the fact that it is Valentine's Day. I'd been feeling a bit depressed lately anyway and I guess the fact that I am back to reality (along with a few things I won't mention here) has just brought me back down. I woke up and showered and went to Whole Foods to re-stock my produce. I then came home and stayed in bed until about 15 minutes before I left for work. I'm sure I don't have to say that my meals were totally uninspired today.

I know it'll pass. It is just annoying. Then add on top that I didn't get out of work until 10pm today. You see where I'm going with this.

Anyway, enough of the woe is me. I'm fine, nothing bad happened to me, I'm just feeling a little emotionally yucky.

Let's check out what I ate.

Cherry Chocolate green protein smoothie for breakfast.

Snack plate of stuffed grape leaves, hummus, a honeycrisp apple and a big carrot. I made sure to be very careful not to let the hummus touch the apple. Trust me on that.

Chopped salad for dinner.

I found these pizza flax snax at the Whole Foods in Orlando when I was shopping for ingredients for the dinner and dessert I made. I had never seen them here and they were on sale so I picked them up and packed them to bring home. I ate a serving with my salad for dinner. They are really good, super savory!

That's all for today. Hope all of you that celebrate had a nice Valentine's Day. Hopefully I'll snap out of this little funk soon. My training session on Thursday will probably help. I'm getting antsy, haven't had a session in a week and a half. I was going to get some shadow boxing in tonight but I got home so late and I'm too tired. There's always tomorrow though.

Have a great night!