Short and Sweet...

So I haven't updated since my birthday... whoa. haha I've been super busy getting my classroom ready for September 2nd. AHH! I'm almost there, but it feels like there's still a lot to do. Well, here's my rundown today:

Breakfast: 1 small wheat bagel w/CC
Lunch: Worked through lunch
Dinner: Chicken thigh, asparagus and 1/2 of a baked potato with fake butter. haha

I'll probably have some low- cal ice cream later... or a sugar free pop. mmm

Ok, short and sweet. =) Hope all is well with Danie... ttys

Three things I'm thankful for:

1) Marley...he hurt his poor lil paw today :*(
2) My jobbbbbb!
3) My organizational skills. holler. haha

Uh oh, staying up late again...

So no tae bo... I shoulda seen that coming, but I decided not to hit the treadmill for fear of overworking myself. That's ok, I'm confident I can get back on the right track.

Before I pass out, lemme leave a short entry:

Breakfast was the usual yogurt with banana, and a single nature valley bar. Lunch was leftover spicy veggies over white rice. I snacked on a handful of dry roasted edamame. Dinner was... ok, so sue me... a cheeseburger with mushrooms, onions, lettuce, tomato, and ketchup on a white bun. And lots of salad. I had a tiny sliver of Gi's birthday cake and a cup of coffee for dessert and that's it. Probably should have gone without the white bun, but hey, I only had one burger, and I didn't eat any cheesecake today.

Three things I'm thankful for:

-being able to spend time with Gi on her birthday!
-getting back into the swing of things with ShockWave. I'm getting excited about this year!
-thunderstorms. They make me feel like something extraordinary is about to happen.

Happy Birthday to Me

Hello! I had such a great birthday today... I woke up right after the glass guy came for my windshield. Finally! We went to brunch at the Whitman Diner. When we came home, we spent the day in the pool... and I added a little more to my sunburn/tan. Danie came over, along with some of my dad's side of the family, after dinner. It was really nice. The cake was sinfully delicious. Vanilla Chocolate Chip. Danie stayed to watch The Hangover again... STILL hysterical!!!! No Tae Bo today... ughhhh! TOMORROW!!! =)

Brunch: Cheese steak and fries. Hey, it's my birthday... that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!
Dinner: 1 bite of a chicken leg (it was raw--ew!), string beans and salad.
Dessert: Birthday cake... mmm... it was so bad. haha

Three things I'm thankful for:
1) Amazing family and friends for making my birthday special <3
2) Awesome storms
3) My Lakeshore order is coming tomorrow!

Whoops!

Ok, so I haven't updated in four or five days... whoops. I've been home, I've had a dead computer, and I've been trying to clean up my life before I move back to school. Let's do yesterday's food rundown before I totally forget:

Breakfast: 90 cal yogurt with half a banana and half a pear, 1 nature valley bar (~95 cal)
Lunch: a small salad with ginger dressing, a plain hot dog with no bun, and the other nature valley bar
Dinner: grilled tilapia, grilled veggie salad, and white rice with some soy sauce. Had a small portion of each.
Dessert: a thin slice of my new peach cheesecake. I couldn't resist... the crust is amazing, the consistency is perfect, and the peach sauce I made turned out beautifully.

After dessert I went to Gi's for a nice relaxing yoga session. While some of the poses proved to be a little challenging, I thought it was really nice. I'm thinking about doing a yoga rec class once school starts. We'll see!

So weight update: I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and they weighed me-- I'm down to 167! Slow and steady wins the race baby. By the end of September I'll be back to my high school weight!

I need to do some cardio. Bad. I'll probably hit the treadmill in a half hour or so. :)

Three things I'm thankful for:

-Seeing Gi again! Yay!!
-Getting my exercise ball back. I just like laying back on it and stretching.
-Learning how to make peach sauce. I should start selling my cheesecakes, they just get better and better. :)

=))

Ahh... Just finished a Yoga workout with Danielle. I'll get to that in a sec, just want to update...
Yesterday, I had a looooong day in the pool. We went in around 12 o'clock and swam until 6 o'clock!!! We were all burnt and tired! I didn't have breakfast, nor lunch. For dinner I had pasta with broccoli and a salad. My dad made burgers too, but I didn't have one. Yay!

Today:
Breakfast: Wheat bagel w/CC
Lunch: Leftover pasta (about 1/2 cup), mint chocolate chip weight watcher's ice cream
Dinner: 2 pieces of pizza... I know, I know =(

After dinner, as I mentioned, Danielle and I worked out again. This time we tried Yoga. It was very frustrating since I couldn't tell if I was doing it correctly since I don't have mirrors and also, because some of the moves were straining on certain body parts. I think I could learn to really enjoy it. As I told Danielle, my goal is to workout everyday from now until September first!!

Tomorrow we are going to try Billy Blank's Tae Bo.... I'm excited for this just because it's so different from Yoga. I feel like I didn't even workout tonight! But who knows what I'll feel tomorrow... which is my birthday =)

Three things I'm thankful for:

1) Being 22
2) My family and friends for all watching the clock ;) haha
3) The sun 8)

Busy, Busy

I have been running around for the past two days. Yesterday, one of my three pregnant friends had her baby at 3:44am. I got up bright and early, did laundry, got a shower, picked up my check, went to hallmark and then to the hospital. Let me just say, she beautiful and just perfect! After that, I came home for dinner and then went in the pool with my mom. Ahh. It was wonderful.
Breakfast: Wheat bagel with cream cheese.
Lunch: None
Dinner: Chicken cutlets, half of a baked potato and salad.
After dinner I had a fruit bar.

Today I woke up and did some more laundry, cleaned my room, gathered most of the things that I need to take to work with me and a few other things. By then it was around 4 o'clock and I realized I hadn't eaten so I made a half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on wheat. I got in the shower and got ready to go to dinner over my mom's friend's house. We spent most of the night there, and now I am pretty tired!! Here is the breakdown.

Breakfast: None
Lunch: None
Snack: PB&J on wheat
Dinner: 2 small boneless chicken thighs, 1 rib, corn on the cob, baked beans and salad. It was delicious!!
Dessert: UGHHH!!!!!! I was craving a McFlurry........ so I shared one with Sport. =( Dammit.

Three things I am thankful for:

1) April Marie <3
2) Pool days... awww
3) Dinner at Kathie's... mmm

Olé!

How did it get so late? Guess our 9pm dinner at the Mexican place followed by mariachi set my schedule back a bit...

Ok, let me cut to the chase then get straight to bed:

Breakfast: steel-cut oatmeal with skim milk, agave, and blueberries
Lunch: tuna with artichoke antipasti spread on a whole wheat wrap served with tomato, and coconut soy pudding (it was more delicious than it sounds)
Dinner: chicken fajitas at the most Mexican restaurant ever. I only ate 2/3 of it... but then we split some flan. Whoops. It was WORTH it!

Three things I'm thankful for today:

-I'm going home tomorrow! Yay!!!
-not wearing any makeup for the past week. It's been pretty liberating.
-Mexican food. Mmmmm.

I miss the baby...

I think I sat in front of this godforsaken computer screen for at least twelve cumulative hours today. My aunt should be lucky I don't have a time card... at this point she'd owe me almost a grand for my labor. Of course I'm not going to complain if she only gives me a hundred... she's my aunt, I love her, I'm happy to help her, I'm having fun, and I'm learning so much valuable information from this experience that I feel she doesn't really have to pay me at all.

So I'm saving the bitch work for last, of course. I really don't want to reorganize her author files into excel spreadsheets (TOTAL BS intern/secretary/busy work), and I don't want to waste time taking attractive photos of random junk to sell on ebay... not to mention taking the time to set up the ebay account, the paypal account, writing descriptions, etc. Ugh. Ebay is SO much unnecessary work. But because I saved the crap for last, I have to do it all in one day. Greeeaaaat. I might find myself back here after I move into RU, mostly to stay away from drama and live in this nice simple world here in Bayville. Sigh.

Don't get me wrong, TWP... I miss you terribly. I miss eating meat. I miss having real milk. I miss my sugary flavored coffee cream. I miss my family. I miss Gina. I miss the gym. I miss our basement workouts. I miss the PUPPY. I feel like I left the country or something.

Ok, so let me get to the point. Breakfast was some fruit and greek yogurt, and copious cups of tea. Lunch was a sort of whole wheat quesadilla with those amazing tomatoes, fresh mozarella, fresh basil, and hummus inside... served with what was left of the roasted red pepper and tomato soup. Friggin delicious. I was talked into a single square of dark chocolate as a snack, but even now I regret it. Dinner was a plain slice of pizza (I resisted the leftovers!), lots of salad, and more tomatoes. We had company, one of my aunt's bandmates, and we couldn't pass up serving him some homemade cheesecake... so I had a half a slice with everyone.

I do feel like I'm eating too much here, but when I compare my diet over the past month to the diet I used to have, I think I've literally cut my food intake by 40%. I keep thinking about one of my aunt's friends, Gail, a yoga and meditation instructor, and she firmly believes in The Secret and asking the Universe for the things you want in your life. I feel like I've asked the Universe to give me a glimpse into the world of singing and songwriting... and here it is. In one week I've learned the tricks of the trade. I guess the question is... am I going to do something with it?

Three things I'm thankful for today:

-fresh basil. Nothing like it.
-the rain for cooling the air down. It's been hot as all hell.
-music. Just... in general.

hola

Who knew this blog would be tough to keep up with. There's not enough hours in the day! So here's the breakdown for today:
Breakfast:a cup of peaches in their own juice
Snack: 3/4 cup Reeses Puffs. Don't ask haha
Dinner: one chicken cutlet with broc and salad. Mmm.
Snack: sunflower seeds

Today was good. I didn't workout, again. Dammit. Come home Danie! I have seperation anxiety! Lol

Three things I'm thankful for:

1) Marley
2)That today was my last day as an assistant!
3) Peaches ;)

Reporting from my crackberry...peace out.

Soup Heaven

So there's supposedly a meteor shower tonight, but there are strips of clouds over the Long Island sky tonight. No meteors for me I guess. :(

I'm exhausted (from doing more of nothing, of course)... but let me give you the run down:

Breakfast was shredded wheat cereal with soy milk and blueberries, and a soft-boiled egg. Lunch was leftover felafel on whole wheat pita with lettuce, those Jesus tomatoes, and the yogurt-cucumber sauce... as well as quite possibly the most amazing soup I have ever devoured. It's roasted red pepper tomato soup... and I swear to God, the minute I am blessed with a food processor in my own kitchen, I will make it one winter afternoon with gourmet grilled cheese. Mark my words!! Dinner was cut-up salmon burgers over salad with lots of other veggies and blueberries and walnuts. Delicious. We also had sweet potato fries (a form of kryptonite for me) and string beans. And of course, for dessert, I had a slice of my light blueberry cheesecake. So sue me. It's made with soy milk people!

I come home on Friday, it's been decided. I was supposed to come home tomorrow, but I really think we need the extra two days. I still have to write her a cover letter, polish her bio, take pictures of some random crap to sell on ebay, compile a list of local press to mail her cover letters to, put together a list of internet and satellite radio stations to write to, put together an EPK, organize her author visit info into a gigantic spreadsheet, and start plotting a road map for her future website. Whew. I'm gonna have a long ass day tomorrow!

Things I'm thankful for today:

-reading on the beach. Nothing like it, really.
-roasted red pepper tomato soup. I think I died and went to heaven momentarily while eating it.
-Sigur Ros. An indie film on Sundance we happened to flip on featured my favorite song by them. It nearly brought me to tears... as usual.

Tomatoes

Tonight I saw Julie & Julia with my aunt and her friends... and it further helped me realize my undying love for food and my slowly growing love for cooking. Honestly, the way I write about food here, you'd think I was an aspiring food critic. I love all the small sensory details about food, I love every aspect of the experience. "Food, just everyday food, is a gift," Mary Ellen said today. I can more than wholeheartedly agree. All in all it was an adorable movie, and of course Meryl Streep was miraculous as Julia Child. Maybe one day I'll get my hands on a copy of her cookbook. :)

Today for breakfast I had steel-cut oatmeal (my FAVE) with soy milk, brown sugar, and blueberries. For lunch we had... literally, I cannot even exaggerate this.... THE BEST TOMATOES I HAVE EVER CONSUMED. They were from a neighbor's garden, and I swear to God, they were so red I thought they were made of blood, they were so juicy I thought they were about to explode, and they had so much flavor I thought they had been secretly seasoned. I had them in a simple sandwich on rye with a bit of hummus, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil from the garden, and homemade roasted red peppers. Holy. Mother. Of. God. I am taking home three pounds of tomatoes, whether my aunt likes it or not. They are nothing short of DIVINE. For dinner I had mostly salad, and a delicious Asian-inspired chicken salad we concocted with chunks of mango, rice vinegar, orange-infused olive oil, sesame ginger salad dressing, and scallions. Mmmm. We had such a late dinner and went to such a late movie that we didn't have time for dessert. Thank God.

My aunt's friends make me feel young. They make me feel like I am extraordinary and I have much to show for myself already, even though I'm only 22. They are extraordinary women too, in that they're all extremely unconventional. I noticed a common thread among them: none of them, including my aunt, have children. Perhaps it's a fact they've been able to bond over, since it's a choice such few women make. I have trouble understanding, but I respect them. It's their choice, and they seem happy.

Three things I'm thankful for today:

-My battery almost running out, forcing me to go to sleep after this. My charger is downstairs.
-THOSE TOMATOES. I may or may not dream about them tonight.
-Girl's night out at the movies. Always a good time :)

Still doing nothing all day

I'm so busy doing nothing here! I can't stop chit chatting with the old biddies that come in and out of this house! Ok, they're not exactly old biddies, but then again, I never thought I'd get along with my aunt and her friends so well... and they're all fifty-somethings.

So far this experience has helped me realize how much work goes into self-promotion as an independent musician. It's SO much work, it's almost impossible to do by yourself, and even more impossible if you're not internet-savvy. Besides having accounts on millions of sites like facebook, myspace, youtube, amazon, twitter, broadjam, reverbnation, and ilike (and constantly updating them all with pics, videos, streaming mp3s, upcoming gigs, blogs, etc), you need to put together press kits, mail out submissions like crazy, research and contact local venues, reach out to local newspapers/magazines/radio stations/djs, post flyers in public places, collect fans, find new forums to promote/sell/publicize, and still somehow have time to practice and create new music. Wtf. It's exhausting... but actually a lot of fun! Right now we're working on a press kit, coming up with a polished bio and a definitive image, trying to reach out to a specific subset of potential fans.

So, let's see, what did I eat today? For breakfast I had loads of fresh fruit, a single whole wheat blueberry pancake with a tiny bit of maple syrup, and an over easy egg. Lunch was basically just little snacks since breakfast was so late... I had some hummus with baby carrots, whole wheat crackers with brie cheese and roasted red peppers, some tuna spread on pita chips, a sugarplum, and of course cherries. Dinner was a homegrown salad from the neighbors, a salmon burger (on a potato roll, ugh) with ketchup and coleslaw on it, and spoonful or two of orzo artichoke salad.

I couldn't pass up dessert... it was my very first blueberry cheesecake. I swear to God it looked just like that picture I found. Even though I still used a cup and a half of white sugar, I made it with light sour cream, reduced fat cream cheese, and soy milk... it's a miracle it actually baked. I thought it was going to taste like mild play dough, but it was actually pretty good! I was happy to make a light cheesecake that retained a dense, creamy texture and smooth flavor with half the fat! The blueberry topping wasn't too sweet, it was the perfect consistency, and it made you forget about that hint of soy milk in the cheesecake. Overall, I was pleased. I prefer the original cream cheese and regular milk, but it's nice to know that a lighter version is always possible.

Three things I'm thankful for today:

-the company... who knew fifty-somethings would be so much fun
-this change of pace from being at home. I think I needed a break from my family.
-my love for food. I know I'm making a conscious effort to have less of it, but I'm proud to be a real foodie. I think I've learned I can still savor, appreciate, and love food without gorging myself.

Sunday Comes TOO Fast

I don't know where the weekend went! Today I got a late start waking up around 12:45!!! Whoops. I had a ham and cheese sandwich on a roll with lettuce... but I didn't have the chips on the side. After that, we went in the pool to vacuum again... it's still a little cloudy but better than before. After vacuuming, I made a whirlpool and then swam around without stopping about three times... I wonder how many times it would take to swim a mile. I got out for a bit to do some weeding and clear the cement, but then jumped right back in... I missed my pool!! It's good to be home. My last day of work is Wednesday, so I'll have about two weeks to be home and enjoy the pool before I start REAL work on September 1st!!!! I'm excited and nervous all at once!!

Ok, enough chit chat on to the food list:
Breakfast: None
Lunch: Ham (2 slices) and cheese (1 slice) on a roll with lettuce (I forgot that I already mentioned this! haha I'm such an awesome blogger!!!)
Dinner: Nasty Hamburger Helper. I only had about a cup of it... uck!
Dessert: We're going to sing happy birthday to my brother's girlfriend... and I'm only going to have a small slice of ice cream cake. UGHHHH!

After dessert, I'll be practicing some more sign language, including brushing up on my letter spelling. When you come home, Dani, we should definitely practice together... I may not be able to speak another language but we could sign! haha

Three things I'm thankful for:

1) THE POOL!
2) My Beanie Baby decor... haha
3) Having a jar full of coins to cash in! =)

Trial...

I'm blogging from my phone tonight since my computer isn't working. We'll see how this works.

Today I had no breakfast, crackers and cream cheese for lunch (we had company and we were just kinda pickin'), for dinner I had a burger on wheat with string beans and potatoes and some baked beans. No dessert. Not too shabby. Okay, my fingers are already hurting... lol... soooo....

Three things I'm thankful for:

1) My crackberry
2) Sign language DVD
3) The pool =)


(This is from yesterday... I posted it to my other account! Whoops!)

More desserts

It's late, I'm tired, I was bad today, didn't work out, ate more ice cream. Here's the rundown:

Breakfast - veggie and feta omelet, rye toast, coffee with soy milk and agave sweetener
Lunch - whole wheat veggie pizza, two coconut shrimp, lemon lime seltzer
Unnecessary Food Intake - ate some cheesecake batter and kept tasting blueberry sauce as I was cooking. Whoops.
Dinner - falafel on whole wheat pita with lettuce, tomato, and cucumber yogurt sauce; two spoonfuls of grain salad, some homemade coleslaw
Dessert - two small scoops of vanilla with some raspberry preserves, chocolate coconut cashew clusters, and tiny bits of dark chocolate (listen, not only was I the only one to only have a tiny bit and not go for seconds, but we're also trying to design a new Ben & Jerry's flavor, we were doing some experimenting before submitting a concrete idea... don't ask, this is what I'm getting paid to do.)

Three things I'm thankful for today:

-my blueberry cheesecake turning out beautifully despite using light sour cream, low fat cream cheese, and soy milk... can't wait to try a spoonful or two tomorrow. sigh.
-spending time with my aunt and her friend... we giggled like caffeinated little girls together all day long.
-my uncle fixing the treadmill for me to use tomorrow morning. Guess I better get some sleep!

Back

I'm back. Last week was very busy. My Pop-Pop passed away last Friday, 7/31. (He's the on in the black shirt in the pic.) We've been back and forth... to and from Philly to be there for my grandmom, making arrangements and then the acutal viewing and funeral. I made some horrible choices in the past week and I'm really regretting it. We had hoagies, cheese steaks, pizza, McDonalds, brownies, cookies, you name it- we were eating it. My mom stayed on track the entire time. She's obviously stronger than me. I guess you live and learn... next week is a new week...

Today was pretty busy in work. We had a "UPS Fun Day" where we had volunteers from UPS come to play music for us, and play games. I did a lot of lifting today... I went in the moonbounce with some of the kids and that was hard work!! haha

Oh yeah, today was my last day for my medicine so hopefully that will decrease my appitite. =) So today I had a wheat bagel and cream cheese from DD... I think it was about 300-400 calories. Whoops. For lunch I had a soft pretzel... and for dinner... *sigh* I had a happy meal.

Three things I'm thankful for:

1) YouTube for having my Pop-Pop's gigs on there =)
2) His Guest Book:
http://www.legacy.com/gb2/default.aspx?bookid=3706687565349&cid=full
3) His music: I don't know exactly when, dear, but I'm sure we'll meet again, dear, and my darling till we do - You are always in my heart. <3

Long Island

How did it become Friday already? Oh I know why, I've been working. Sort of.

Being back in Long Island is a strange experience... the house here feels like a time capsule from my childhood... literally. All the furniture, the dishes, the smells, and the flowers in the front yard are the same as they were fifteen years ago. Even my aunt and uncle look the same to me. Are they aliens? Maybe not, but they are vegetarians...

Doing work for my aunt makes me feel very appreciated. It's really nice to hear someone be so impressed by my rudimentary computer literacy and internet music knowledge. I've already signed her up for some awesome promotional websites for aspiring artists... and I'm getting excited for her blossoming career as a singer-songwriter. She's really inspiring me to get back on my music, especially now since I'm learning all the tricks of the trade on how to self-promote.

My one and only complaint is the plethora of insanely delicious, healthy, organic vegetarian food (ok, so she's a pescatarian, she'll eat fish and shellfish, but still.) This sounds crazy, but no matter how healthy the food is here, I'm actually overeating. Let's just do this in list form since I have so much to catch up on.

-Wednesday

Breakfast: yogurt, banana, Nature Valley bars
Snack on the train: marshmallow treat (90 cal)
Lunch: falafel on whole wheat pita with cucumber yogurt sauce, grain salads, hummus and baby carrots, fresh fruit
Dinner: shrimp scampi (made with olive oil, not butter), more grain salad, broccoli, salad
Dessert: a plain cup of vanilla maple tea... no sugar, no cream.

-Thursday

Breakfast: oatmeal with raisins, walnuts, and soy milk; fresh fruit
Lunch: quesadillas made with mozzarella and goat cheese, black beans, and guacamole on whole wheat tortilla; watermelon, cherries, hummus and baby carrots
Dinner: pan-seared breaded flounder (only had one piece), leftover broccoli, leftover shrimp, baked sweet potato, salad
Dessert: one tiny square of dark chocolate. I looked at the nutrition info: 50 calories! HOLY CRAP

-Today

Breakfast: fresh fruit with soy yogurt, coffee with soy milk and agave sweetener
Lunch: tuna on whole grain pita with hummus and artichoke spread, more baby carrots, more cherries
Dinner: a single piece of fried chicken (there were SO many leftovers, I felt so guilty... but I couldn't. It was fried chicken for godsakes!), more hummus and carrots, edamame salad, grain salad, homemade low-fat coleslaw
Dessert: a single square of dark chocolate, a few spoonfuls of soy vanilla and mango ice cream, a tiny cardamom star cookie, and a taste of pear ice cream

Holy. Mother. Of. God. I know I'm still eating less than my aunt and uncle and whoever else eats with us because I turn down a lot of dessert and I never go for seconds, but still. Jesus!!!! I need to run on the treadmill tomorrow.

Things I'm thankful for today:

-my aunt for boosting my confidence in myself and teaching me her environmentally-conscious ways
-soy ice cream. Never in my life did I think I would fall in love with such a thing.
-summer outdoor concerts! We went to one tonight, and I got Martha Wash's autograph. Random, I know!!

Case of the Tuesdays?

So I've been in a bad mood all day, though I think it's just the PMS talking. Not only did my treadmill workout get ruined by excruciating cramps after 10 minutes (I literally had to try not to cry, it hurt so bad)... but everyone else in the house was in a bad mood too, for completely separate reasons. Altogether it just created a negative atmosphere. Ugh, I think it's the full moon...

So this morning I had oatmeal with skim milk, Splenda, and half a banana. After finishing stripping the walls and spackling, I warmed up half of my leftover seafood pasta and had that with a bowl of salad with ginger dressing, and a peach. Then I had a cup of coffee with regular creamer (I know I know, but it's my favorite, and it's delicious! And I only had a small cup, not a regular mug.) For dinner I went out to the Whitman with my dad and my siblings, where I had a seared ahi tuna salad with arugula, corn, tomato, avocado, and balsamic vinegarette. I ate a little over half of it and took the rest to go. It was huge! After dinner we took Renee to pick out a new guitar for her birthday. When I got home I served my parents dessert-- warmed up peach cobbler and ice cream. Just smelling the chocolate ice cream totally set me off. I took a single scoop of chocolate, put it in a tiny bowl, and ate it as slowly as possible. It was worth it.

Tomorrow I'm going back to Long Island for a week to help my aunt out with promoting her band. She's even gonna pay me! I'm afraid to do any cardio for the next few days, I don't think I can endure cramps like that again. I'm just gonna attend my aunt's strength training exercise class with her and and use the exercise ball in her basement until then.

Hopefully I'll be out of my funk tomorrow and ready to take on my new adventure as a temporary publicist/marketing director/personal assistant. This should definitely be interesting...

Three things I'm thankful for today:

-ibuprofen. I've never had such painful cramps in my life, I hope there's nothing wrong!
-Grace for acting like our collective therapy dog today. She made us all feel better.
-arugula. I wish I had it in my salad every day, it's amazing.

Pasta Love

Today was such a nice jam-packed day... I was happy to pick up the pace this summer for once! Usually I just bum around, watch Food Network, play with the puppy, watch a movie... then lather, rinse, repeat. Today I did 30 minutes of cardio at the gym. Later we stripped the wallpaper in my sister's bedroom to the sound of the Ting Tings Pandora station. Then we went for a marvelous lunch at Blue Eyes. Then we made peach cobbler to save for after dinner. Then we kicked a ball around the backyard with the dogs. After dinner, my sis and I walked the dogs around the neighborhood till we were all panting. Whew!

Ok, so the food breakdown: before hitting the gym I had a small bowl of Special K Blueberry with fat free milk, just so I didn't feel light-headed mid-workout. After the gym I had yogurt and some peach slices. After stripping the walls we went out to lunch where I ordered my favorite thing on the menu: a steaming plate of farfalle pasta with lump crabmeat, jumbo shrimp, and scallops in a creamy blush sauce. To. Die. For.

Now listen, I know how fattening that dish probably was, but here's the good news: I ate less than half of it and didn't touch my garlic bread. When we ordered a chocolate mousse for the three of us to split, I had a single spoonful and called it quits. To wake us up out of our food-induced lethargy, we had DnD iced coffee (you guessed it-- I opted for the small blueberry iced with skim milk and Splenda.) I was SO full after our super-late lunch that I barely had any dinner at all! I sipped on Cabernet Sauvignon, had a taste of meatloaf (literally two forkfuls), and two spoonfuls of peas. Later on in the evening I warmed up some broccoli just to satisfy my veggie portion... but I was still full. Still am now. Amazing.

I used to demolish the entire plate of seafood pasta at Blue Eyes, usually followed by creme brulee. In fact, looking back, I cannot even believe the appetite I used to allow myself to have. I literally now eat half of what I used to, easily... and no, I'm not starving myself, I'm just paying attention to serving sizes, proper portion sizes, and how full I feel. I really do feel full after half of my normal intake. I never noticed because I'd mindlessly keep eating until I was near explosion. I don't need to be five minutes from combusting to feel satisfied anymore, I just need to take my time eating and let my stomach tell me when it's happy. I don't need to deny myself my favorite foods to stick to my plan. That seafood pasta was worth every morsel, and I took my time and enjoyed it instead of ravenously shoveling it in.

Tomorrow's another day, another 30 minutes of cardio, another wallpaper-stripping adventure, another dog-walking fiasco, another opportunity to be more active and inch towards my goal weight. I can't wait to step on the scale and be in the 160's for the first time since sophomore year! That'll probably be next week!

Three things I'm thankful for today:

-Pandora.com for making instantly perfect playlists for any occasion. I LOVE the Ting Tings station!
-my ability to resist half a plateful of one of my favorite pasta dishes on earth
-my new earrings from the Berlin auction! I happily wore them all day.

Food Network junkie

So I don't know if it makes me a dork that I'm excited about the Next Food Network Star winner! Her name is Melissa and she's just a stay at home mom who loves to cook. She's got the most amazing and simple techniques that even I could master from my little college apartment kitchen. I'm telling you, that woman is going to teach me how to cook, one week at a time. SO excited for her!

I want to get an early start tomorrow since it's my mom's day off and I'm trying to spend time with her (and get some time behind the wheel before my test!) So let me get to the point:

I started off today with some yogurt, a banana, and a piece of whole wheat toast with pumpkin butter (sounds a little strange, but I bought it at this farm where we bought our peaches, and it's delicious, not to mention low-cal). Lunch was a small portion of leftover grilled chicken with lettuce tomato and mustard on thin whole wheat sandwich bread, and a handful of those delicious rice cakes. Before dinner I hit the elliptical for half an hour, ended up going 2.75 miles and burning over 300 calories. Sweet! ...Makes me feel less crappy about the 450-cal beer binge, haha! For dinner we had hot dogs and hamburgers... but I only took one hot dog, no condiments, no bun, I warmed up some leftover steamed broccoli, I took half an ear of corn on the cob, and I had some baked beans. Mmmm.

I'm going to the gym with my mom again tomorrow. I should probably do weights too, I haven't done any strength training in a while now. I looked at some pictures of me before I started doing this, and even though I feel like I still look the same, I definitely don't feel the same. I have a lot more energy already and I'm feeling a lot more confident and capable. I think I'm only beginning to see the tip of the iceberg when it comes to my potential... and it's a really motivating feeling.

Three things I'm thankful for today:

-Melissa for having her first show air on Food Network next week! She's such a talented cook, yay for her!!
-the old home videos my sister and I watched together on today's rainy afternoon. Priceless.
-the accomplished, achy feeling in my muscles right now.

Bud Light Lime x 4

Yesterday started out so well! Aughhh. Let me explain.

Breakfast was a small helping of tomato onion and cheese omelette, a slice of wheat toast, a banana, and half a cup of coffee. Then I went out to practice parallel parking, which I pretty much have down pat. I just want to practice two more times, a half an hour each time... plus practice with driving around town. Lunch was my homemade light cilantro chicken salad on whole wheat with lettuce and tomato and 60 calories worth of rice cake snacks. After lunch I went to the gym to do 30 minutes on the treadmill (I stuck to 4.5 and switched to 4.4 towards the end.) Dinner was grilled chicken, broccoli, grilled fresh corn on the cob, and salad. I had a lot of greens, but I used ginger dressing on my salad which is only 40 calories per tbsp!

I thought I was done with my caloric intake for the day... until I remembered I received a text from Jen earlier and never texted her back. So I called her and found out she had no plans either, so we decided to go out for some drinks. I vowed to stick to light beer (instead of the usual white russians/sugary fruity drinks/tequila shots I've been known for inhaling) and only have one or two... but of course, we ended up barhopping to three different places, and I ran into some old friends who bought us a round. So that was four beers in total, which adds up to 450 calories! This is why I didn't update last night, I was a little tipsy and went straight to bed. I'm going to work my ASS off today... 45 minutes on the treadmill and 15-20 minutes on weights!

I'm gonna try and do cardio every day. It makes me feel amazing... I literally am on a high when I step off the treadmill. I've also found that being more active has made my mind more active as well... I'm feeling very inspired lately and my imagination is on an unusual kick. I don't know how I didn't discover this earlier! As disappointed as I am for giving into four beers last night, I know I'm markedly improved in my drinking habits (my tolerance has gone down since I haven't drank in about a month, and I don't see myself getting blackout wasted every weekend like I used to). These decisions to watch what I eat and be more active have affected so many other aspects of my life. I'm just making healthier choices in general. It feels good.

Three things I was thankful for yesterday:

-waking up early. It felt really good to have a nice long day.
-those little low-cal rice cake snacks! SO much better than chips or crackers...
-the Berlin Auction... we went there yesterday and I bought useless crap-- but it was fun! (Oh and side note: while everyone else was enjoying soft pretzels and churros and Icees... I stuck to a small Diet Coke. Go me.)

Cramps!! Why??

So I did a little over 20 minutes on the elliptical this morning (and did 1.85 miles, I've never gone that fast before) when I started getting cramps again. I think it's almost that time of the month. Ugh. I had to stop because it was getting painful, which is sad because I wanted to at least get up to either a half hour or 2 miles, whichever came first. Is PMS-related cramping normal during workouts? It's annoying!

On the upside, I weighed myself and I'm down 8 pounds since I started! I'm right on schedule for the 15-20 pound goal before September. I haven't been at this weight in a while, so I'm pretty excited/happy. I'm supposed to go to New Brunswick for a meeting tomorrow morning, and I need to hop on a train at 8:48am which means I leave the house around 8:20. I REALLY want to get in a morning workout before I go, so I'm going to go to bed after I clean the kitchen and pack, and I'll set my alarm for 7am. I'm gonna throw on my workout clothes, hop on the treadmill for a half hour, shower, and be refreshed and energized for my day in the Brunz. I WANT those other 7+ pounds off in time! No more goofing off!

Ok, so now for the food intake: breakfast was some oatmeal with skim milk, Splenda, and a cut up banana. Didn't eat all of it. Lunch was a turkey sandwich on whole wheat pita with light mayo, lettuce, and tomato. Didn't eat all of it. Snack was.... ok ok shoot me... a green tea ice cream smoothie bubble tea. (I was in New Brunswick again to pick up my brother from orientation. Hey-- at least I went for green tea, which is much lower in fat and sugar. Oh-- and I didn't drink all of it!) Dinner was roast chicken with peas and stuffing. Had a TINY portion because I was stuffed from the green tea shake. After dinner I decided to make my mom her lunch for work, so I used the leftover roast chicken to make a cilantro chicken salad. I had to taste it a few times to make sure the spices were balanced, so that probably tacked on some extra calories... but I feel like I had some to spare, even after my green tea moment of weakness.

I'm doing so much better. I FEEL so much better, not to mention more confident in my ability to control portions. I need to try and do cardio every day and make NO excuse not to do so (there's a treadmill in my basement, I mean come on.) I've read it's the best exercise to lose weight-- most strength training just beefs up muscles and doesn't burn fat. Then again, that's just what I've read.

8 pounds... 32 more to go!! Now if only I could get these silly cramps to stop...

Three things I'm thankful for today:

-Losing eight pounds thus far. Obviously.
-My mom's car! I love driving it. I drove to the gym, to the Shoprite, and back home today. I think I'm getting the hang of it!
-My summer thus far. It's been a great time to reflect, relax, and change my ways.

Marshmallow Madness

So I had no excuse not to run on the treadmill today. No excuse at all. I guess I really enjoy playing with the puppy and hanging out with my sister... but tomorrow I really need to step it up!

I'm pretty happy with what I ate today, and I'm glad to see that my family is starting to prepare more health-conscious meals that I don't have to continually scowl about. Breakfast was 1 1/2 fried eggs made with EVOO of course hahaha (I didn't finish half an egg), yogurt, and a banana. Lunch was two leftover meatballs on a slice of whole wheat instead of a roll and a peach. I snacked on a handful of cherries and a marshmallow treat (hold on, I'll explain in a sec). For dinner I had a turkey burger with cheese on a whole wheat bun with a bit of ketchup and mustard and two sandwich pickles... and of course, some salad. My stepdad pointed out that he chose to make french fries with 0 fat and 0 cholesterol, which was sweet of him and all, but I'm trying to take it easy with potatoes. I had two just to taste them, but that's it. I was content with my salad. :)

Ok, so the marshmallow treat. It was the generic Target brand of Rice Krispies Treats, and initially I wasn't going to eat one, till I read the label hoping it would discourage me further. But listen to this: 90 calories. 2.5 grams of fat. 0 grams of saturated fat. 7 grams of sugar. THAT'S IT! It's actually BETTER for you than the Little Debbie 100-calorie packs! I thought it would have WAY more sugar and WAY more calories... but it's the perfect snack (to have occasionally) to curb my ferocious sweet tooth. This is the greatest snack discovery I have made thus far, I swear to God. I'm going to STOCK UP in my apartment!

I read an article about recommended added sugar intake (not natural sugar that we find in fruits and vegetables)... and it suggests 32 grams for a 2,000 calorie diet. After doing a little math, I found out that for me that translates to 22.4 grams. I haven't been eating that much added sugar at ALL since I started this thing, save for some almond coffee creamer on occasion, and those times I ate candy and cheesecake. I can totally deal with a single marshmallow treat taking up 1/3 of my daily added sugar intake... I mean hey, I've been warming up to Splenda quite a bit, and I don't use things like ketchup, maple syrup, or honey that often. Ahh, sugar, my kryptonite. I now know I can have it in one of its most wonderful forms: marshmallows! (Sometimes.)

Three things I'm thankful for today:

-Marshmallow treats for being relatively low-cal and almost guilt free to eat!
-My stepdad for preparing healthy food for dinner! Yay!
-My mom for telling me I look like I lost weight. Thanks mom, but I'm pretty sure I still look the same. For now anyway!

Home at Last

I had a pretty good day at work today... my mom was texting me my Pop-Pop's vitals all day. When I finished work, I went to Philly to see him again. The nurse was there and took his pulse... 119. I took my Mom-Mom to AC Moore- she had to go- and I got some stuff for my class... couldn't help it.

Ok, so let's discuss the food situation. For breakfast I had a wheat bagel with cream cheese and OJ, for lunch I had a turkey hoagie from Duffield's which was really good. I ate the whole thing... I don't know why. I guess I was eating my feelings. Ugh. I had a cheesesteak for dinner to top it off. I can't handle stress! I need a way to stay on track when I'm not home and I'm stressed! Any ideas? I guess I should have packed something? ...Well it feels good to be home.

Three things I'm thankful for:

1) Short blogs
2) The Nanny
3) meebo.com

Goodnight.

It Started Out Good...

Today was the day that I got to meet my very first class!! I met 4 of 6 students and they were great! I really enjoyed the day... I observed, interacted, and learned from them. I can't wait to start- September 1st!!

After dinner is when the day turned... I got a phone call from my Uncle Frankie and found out that my Pop-Pop was not responsive and he was put on oxygen. We rushed over to the house and he was just lying there. I got him to open his eyes a few times and even shake his head to a few of my questions. The nurse was there before we got there and told my Mom- Mom that he may only have hours to live, he hasn't had food or water in 3 days... not a good sign. *sigh*

For breakfast I had a naked wheat bagel... I skipped lunch since I was observing (I did pass up a double cheese burger that one of the assistants had offered- woohoo). Dinner was two chicken legs baked in the oven with seasonings and some EVOO (LOL!) I also had some green beans and homemade mashed potatoes- two servings. Boo. I didn't have any Chinese food at my Mom-Mom's- even though it smelled amazinggggggg. I did have a gladed f-n doughnut... I don't know why. Stress? Who knows. Ugh. And once again no workout. Blah. I really hope tomorrow we can actually try out the Yoga DVD together!!

Three things I'm thankful for:

1) Having an amazing Pop-Pop... and all of our memories
2) My Uncle for being so wonderful in so many ways
3) My new class!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHH!

P.S. The picture is from when my Pop-Pop was in a harmonica band- in a Dr. Pepper ad. He is the one on the right with the black hat. =) Pretty cool, huh?

Balance

I was extremely well-behaved today! I managed to endure watching my sister polish off leftover fish tacos and beans, gorge on sweets, and snack mercilessly... not to mention our usual Food Network Nighttime marathon. Yeah, the cakes on the Food Network Challenge looked amazing, and yes, my leftovers smelled fantastic, but I didn't give in.

All I ate today was a serving of Special K Blueberry with skim milk and a banana (a serving is only 3/4 cup! imagine that!), about 1/4 of leftover turkey and cheese hoagie with a peach for lunch, and a large iceberg lettuce salad with a drizzle of dressing with a single slice of spinach white pizza without crust for dinner. That's ALL. I think I might have a huge glass of water before bed and call it a night. No cheesecake for me, I didn't earn it yet!

I attempted to jog on the treadmill for 15 minutes straight on speed 5.0, but my stomach started getting cramped after 4 minutes so I switched to 4.0 for the remainder of the mile and called it quits, thinking I was in for a serious workout at the end of the day. Unfortunately Gina had to take care of an important family matter tonight, so our plans were again postponed. Hope everything's ok, Gi, I'm thinking about you! I intend to make up for it by doing another more intense jog tomorrow morning after driving lessons, and then really kicking butt for our basement workout!

Edit: I just did some work on the calorie counter, and I probably have a bit of leeway. I think I underate today! Between the size of my hoagie (it was TINY), the size of my breakfast, and the fact that I skipped the huge crust on my already-thin pizza... according to the website and if I rounded UP with everything, I barely ate a thousand calories. Unacceptable! So I had a 120-calorie coconut Whole Fruit bar for dessert. Yum.

Guess there's a lesson here: I need to learn to strike a balance. I don't need to starve myself, I just need to eat healthy and eat less. But not too much less!

我想去中国！

Ok, for anyone who has never tried Special K Blueberry: it's amazing. We ran out of milk so I mixed some in with my yogurt.... DELICIOUS. For lunch I had about 1/3 of a turkey and cheese hoagie and a peach... and for dinner I made fish tacos with rice and beans (all from scratch, amazing, I know). I modified the recipe to include pan-seared tilapia instead of deep-fried cod, and for the spicy white sauce, light sour cream instead of yogurt, and light mayo instead of regular. The rice and beans were very simple... just white rice cooked with a can of black beans and a can of stewed tomatoes. I took a reasonable amount of rice and beans, but I had two enormous tacos. Should have stuck to one... but hey, I was impressed by my own cooking! Definitely gonna ease up on the fresh cilantro next time and kick up the spicyness a notch. I caved and had a 70-calorie lime fruit bar for dessert. Couldn't resist, it was hot and humid today!

Promise to self: I WILL jog on the treadmill tomorrow for at least 15 minutes. No. Excuses.

Today I parallel parked five times in a row without hitting a single cone. I think I'm totally ready for my test on the 20th! Oh, and for the past two hours, I've been researching more English teaching jobs in China... and I ended up messaging one school! I hope they get back to me... their program is VERY enticing, and it's located in a typical Chinese teeming metropolis, but off the beaten path for the typical English-speaking tourist (right up my alley-- I HATE touristy cities and I'd LOVE to be forced to speak Mandarin outside the classroom!) I also found another really great program in a more rural area with devastatingly gorgeous scenery (see above, I swear it's real) sure to inspire my artistic side. I am more than confident I could KILL an application and a phone interview, no problem. The more I think about it the more right it feels. I should spend a year in China (at least), teaching English to children, and turning Mandarin into my third language. And the best part is, my mom supports it! "Travel when you're young," she said to me.

I do. And I will continue!

Three things I'm thankful for today:

-the extensive teachabroad.com database. So. Organized.
-my driving teacher for teaching me a failproof parallel parking method and for giving me the confidence to pass my test in a few weeks!
-the thrill of whipping up new and exciting food. Fish tacos are very west coast and very delicious... I can't wait to make them again, but better yet, I can't wait to keep experimenting with cooking!

I'm Back...

I haven't blogged in DAYS. I'm having a problem with internet on my laptop, but now that I've uninstalled AIM and updated a few things, it seems to be keeping connection for more than one minute!

I haven't done the best with food choices over the weekend, Danielle and I discussed our small issues and I think, once again, we're over them. There are bumps in this road but we aren't stopping and that's what counts. I can't recall everything I've had since I blogged last but I did make some great choices for breakfast and lunch... usually its later in the day that messes me up. Today was different...

I started off with a wheat bagel with whipped cream cheese (less calories) for breakfast... I just have a thing for bagels in case you haven't noticed. I have them a few times a week, but I try not to have them every morning. I like to mix it up with yogurt and peaches mixed together. Anyway, for lunch I had one slice of ham and one slice of cheese on whole wheat flat bread which I'm finding has a funny aftertaste... maybe it will be better toasted. I also had 100 calorie pop corn from the school store (haha) and yogurt with fruit on the bottom. When I came home from school I had a 100 calorie pack of Lorna Doone shortbread cookies- YUM! My mom made a delicious dinner with pieces of chicken, basil, rice (should have been brown but no one else likes it), string beans and crushed tomato. It was amazing. I had one helping, and tried to eat more of the chicken and string beans as opposed to the rice.

Tonight I was all ready to workout for an hour and a half- I finished dinner early, had a cup of coffee- I was ready to go! The damn lights go out just as I was getting ready to change into workout gear. GRRRRRRR! The lights didn't come on until much later (I thought it was earlier since our clocks were all messed up.) When I realized what time it really was, we decided it was a bit late. Ugh. I had so much to do to get ready for tomorrow-- I'm going to meet my first official class!!! AHHH! I'm getting so excited just thinking about it! They are expecting me around 10 o'clock so I'm going to get up nice and early to be prepared. I want to bring a notebook and everything so I can take notes and make observations about the children. =)

I better get some rest, if I can sleep!! Goodnight.

Three things I'm thankful for:

1) Danielle for not giving up!
2) Every teacher I've ever had for making a difference in my life =)
3) My mom for continuing to support me <3

Tomorrow is another day

So I had my least proud moment today in the history of my new diet... and it's the usual suspect-- bubble tea. Yes, I was in New Brunswick, home of my favorite restaurants and cafes, and I fell prey to a coconut red bean ice cream smoothie bubble tea from I's Cafe. Was it worth it? The first half was. The second half made me feel guilty and gave me a huge stomach ache. I WAS, however, astonished that my roasted vegetables and hummus wrap from Sanctuary (which I usually demolish in five minutes) proved too large for my ever shrinking appetite, so I opted for half. For dinner we had meatball sandwiches and pierogi (YUM), but alas, I was still so full from the ice cream smoothie that I had two meatballs (no roll), a single pierog (which is the singular form in Polish, the plural is pierogi -- hence, 'pierogies' makes as much sense as 'dogses'), and some salad.

Yesterday was similarly disappointing diet-wise... I followed up my usual breakfast with a soft pretzel (WHAT?!) and the rest of the pork and spicy turnip soup from Chinatown (don't worry, it amounted to a single serving). For dinner I made linguini (made with bleached flour, hooray) with clam sauce (nice and oily, and from the can!), so I only put a bit of it on my plate next to a heaping pile of salad. I watched my other family members absolutely PILE the pasta on their plates, and go for seconds!! I can't believe I used to do that. Crazy. And yesterday, I had a teensy weensy sliver of my peanut butter chocolate cheesecake... still not sure why. Couldn't resist, I suppose.

I think I need an adjustment. There is no way I'm going to cut out the things I love to eat out of my life completely. It is not possible, I am a food lover through and through, it simply cannot happen. So here is my solution: I will, whenever possible, find healthier alternatives to the things I love (low-fat ice cream or frozen yogurt instead of Ben and Jerry's, whole wheat pasta instead of regular, etc). However, for things that are absolutely irreplaceable (coconut red bean ice cream smoothie bubble tea, cheesecake, etc)... I will maintain two aspects: sparsity and portion reduction. Next time I will let a friend finish my bubble tea, and I won't eat my cheesecake two nights in a row. Complete deprivation will lead to (and started to lead to) a crash, and I will not allow that to happen. I refuse to fail!

For tonight's basement workout we had new toys to play with: yoga mats, an exercise band, a jumprope, and an exercise ball! I can't wait to use them more tomorrow, it definitely keeps things interesting and adds variety to what we've been doing. I also am going to try and stop walking briskly on the treadmill and start jogging. I think I'm ready for it (I jogged for almost a mile at a speed of 5.0, and I'm pretty sure I could handle more than that time-wise.) I hope to eventually jog for three miles without stopping, and jumprope for five minutes without stopping. These are my goals and I'm going to stick to them.

Tomorrow holds exciting things for me. I'm in the process of completing my six hours and I'm going to learn parallel parking, and on Thursday I'm going out on the highway. Whew. Wish me luck!

Three things I'm thankful for today:

-Gina for sticking with me through this life change. We've had our moments of weakness but we've done wonderfully so far!
-Sanctuary for having the most mind-blowing wraps I have ever had.
-The palm reader I saw the other day who told me I'm going to write a book that will become famous, and that I'm destined to help those less fortunate than I. She inspired me to look further into teaching abroad, which I'm resolved to do once I graduate. :)

I <3 Hugh

Ok I'm exhausted so lemme make this a short one:

Breakfast was yogurt mixed with a banana and a granola bar (again), lunch was tilapia and leftover pork fried rice (just a tad, I promise) and dinner.... well... I swear, my family can't go five minutes without Chinese food. It's sad really. We wound up in Chinatown in Philly and had ourselves a Chinese food feast that consisted of soup, satay chicken, and shrimp lomein. I ate way too much today. I still managed to have a quarter piece of my cheesecake AND some Cabernet Sauvignon before I finally stopped eating. UGH. And no workout today either! After driving lessons I SWEAR TO GOD I am hitting the treadmill like there's no tomorrow.

Three things I'm thankful for today:

-Ocean City for being the same as it was when I was a kid.
-Philadelphia's Chinatown for having the best food ever, even if it's terrible for me.
-Movies that star Hugh Jackman. I saw Deception today and while the plot was weak, he was smokin' as usual. :D

Three miles and red walls

At some point today I decided... I need to paint my apartment bedroom walls red. It'll be good for maintaining my energy and motivation, not to mention inspiration and creativity. Red suits me somehow, despite how laid-back I can be.

This morning at the gym I decided to go a bit faster on the treadmill-- 4.1-- and ran for over three and a half miles, which took almost an hour. I don't want to do too much too fast, so I'll probably stick with 4.1 for the remainder of the week, unless I strongly feel I can handle more (which I do, but I don't want to hurt myself.) I know 4.1 isn't considered much, but I'll get there.

Let's see, food intake... For breakfast I was back to 90 calorie yogurt and a banana, with a serving of those Nature Valley granola bars and of course my coffee. Breakfast was late again, so I warded off hunger with a single strawberry and a plum until dinnertime, which was this disappointingly fatty roast that was slow cooked in the crock pot. I only had one roast sandwich on whole wheat with a bit of barbecue sauce and tomato, and that's it. No potato chips, no baked beans. I had been told that it was just roasting in some gravy, but after polishing it off and seeing some juice drip onto my plate, I saw immediately that the "gravy" was really 90% oil. GROSS. Everyone else ate twice as much meat as I did, plus the chips, plus the beans... so I guess I don't feel as bad.

My sister has been begging me for the past week and a half to try and make a peanut butter chocolate cheesecake, so I went ahead and tried it tonight. Yes, I ended up licking the batter a bit, but I don't plan on having a slice once it's done. I put almost an entire jar of peanut butter in the batter and I made the crust out of Nutter Butters. Nuff said. I'm upset that it got too late to work out tonight, but I don't feel horrible since I did three miles this morning and I'm probably doing another three miles tomorrow.

I'm happy to see from Gina's post that she's feeling as optimistic and motivated as I am since we came out of our slump. Even though our workout got postponed today, I know our mentalities are back on track-- for instance, we pledged to go for a longer workout than usual next time. I was on foodnetwork.com today searching for some nice light recipes for when I move into my apartment and take full control of my diet. I'm excited to learn how to prepare all those proteins in fun ways (I think I've only ever made a chicken dish three times in my entire life!) Well, all that's gonna change. I'm gonna eat healthy, and I'm going to make it all myself!

Three things I'm thankful for today:

-The new little black dress I picked up from JC Penney today. All the dresses in there were half off, my mom and I couldn't resist!
-foodnetwork.com for having an entire section devoted to healthy eating
-Gina for staying strong and positive! It really helps to read her entries :)

Back on Board!

Hello again! I did not blog yesterday since I had a long day in South Philly with my pop-pop. He really isn't doing well, and isn't eating... on the opposite end of the spectrum, there's me who ordered a cheese steak last night and ate it at 9:30 at night! UGH! I cannot keep doing that to myself. It is kind of funny (or not) that we both went off track... Danielle was on vacation and I... had no excuse. But never fear- I'm back on board. I was a little discouraged the past week, I don't know why... but I'm back and motivated again. I have so many things to look forward to once I'm back at a normal weight: there's the TWO tattoos I would like to get (Danielle- remind me to tell you about the one I just thought of!), there's seeing people you haven't seen in a long time, OUR VACATION, and just feeling better!

I packed a yogurt today, but didn't get a chance to eat it. It sat out for about an hour and half without me realizing it... I put it in the refrigerator and ate it later- big mistake- I think that's what made me sick tonight. Anyway... I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on wheat (don't knock it!), 100 calorie pop corn, and that rancid yogurt. LOL I don't know what I was thinking! When I came home I took another nap-- booooo! For dinner I had chicken breast with homemade mashed potatoes. Not too too bad I guess... considering I didn't eat anything after dinner. Danielle and I worked out for the first time again tonight-- it's been about a week and we were both feeling it. It was tough to get back into the swing of things but I'm so glad Danie was there to keep me motivated!!! The workout music was awesome and I went longer on the treadmill, even pushing up the speed. Tomorrow my goal is to workout after work on the treadmill and again after dinner with Danie. =) Wish me luck!

Three things I'm thankful for:

1) Danielle, of course, for keeping me motivated and making me WANT to workout
2) Showers... *sigh*
3) This blog! =)

Getting back into the groove

I'm so sorry I haven't been keeping up, there was just no internet in Long Island and I actually would hate to admit some of the things that I've been eating over the past few days (yes, I ate such things as fried eggs, french toast, pancakes, peanut butter and jelly, cheesecake, candy and ice cream... but insanely small amounts, and on separate occasions of course.) I didn't even get a chance to work out, save attending a one-hour strength workout class. Though I'm disappointed in myself, overall I'd say I exhibited a great deal of self control (despite the huge amounts of lunch and dinner prepared for us, I never went for seconds like everyone else, and I resisted the various forms of cake and cookies all over the house.) I definitely could have gone without the sugar intake that I allowed myself, but it was literally all they had besides salad. It appears my aunt and I share the same sweet tooth problem. But still, I think I ate about half of what my sister ate, for example.

I realize that despite the "health consciousness" of my aunt, she goes overboard with portion size, and a lot of the "organic" stuff she has isn't really that much healthier. I did put natural honey in my steel-cut oatmeal this morning, and though it was DELICIOUS, I know I could have opted for Splenda. We drove home during lunch time, so we had an early dinner, which was... Chef Chun's. AGAIN. I had a half cup of white rice with a serving of hunan chicken, and a half a bowl of hot and sour soup, and that's IT. I didn't have the pork fried rice or the general's chicken (which I found out can be over 800 calories per serving!)

Tonight I worked out with Gi in her basement again... and I got pretty sore pretty fast! I need to get back into the swing of things. I had a nice vacation, and that was great and all, but it threw me off track. I need to be working hard to make good habits to take with me to school, where all my favorite unhealthy foods are and where everyone around me wants to drink and smoke. I need to learn to be strong and not give into temptation. I don't have to deprive myself of things, I just need to take control. If I allow myself a scoop of ice cream one day, I can't go and have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich the next day (even if it's on whole wheat). I need to be really careful about all the sugar cuz it adds up fast.

Tomorrow I hit the gym with my mom again. I'm gonna work extra hard to burn off that pound I gained while on vacation! Ugh!!

Three things I'm thankful for today:

-Coming home and having my bed back
-The workout playlists I made last week... can't wait to use them in the gym tomorrow!
-My cousins for making me laugh all week... I really missed them.

Exercise... Or Not

No, I did not exercise today- but I thought it was pretty funny! I'm feeling really guilty for not working out while Danielle is gone!! Tomorrow is Wednesday, so maybe we'll get a chance to, but if not we might have to do two hours on Thursday! haha

Today I had a wheat bagel with cream cheese for breakfast since I forgot yogurt, a veggie burger on wheat flat bread and mandarin oranges for lunch. It's not what I wanted, but it's what I had. For dinner I had to small, thin chicken cutlets and yes they were fried. :( I also had a serving of broccoli florets, the ones that you microwave in the bag; they're really good! I also had a small baked potato and didn't finish the entire potato. After dinner I had a weight watcher's cookies and cream ice cream(2 pts- not bad) which was really delicious. They also have mint chocolate chip, but I like the cookies and cream better. =D

We watched Coraline in 3D today when I came home from work. It was pretty cool, but I guess I expected more. (Plus I fell asleep for a little while watching... shhh! haha) Now I'm watching a show called JAIL... haha this stuff cracks me up! Ok, I'm going to get a shower and get some sleep.

Three things I'm thankful for today:

1) My family =)
2) Tia, Sport and Marley <3
3) My amazing vision board

Weak for bubble tea

So the internet isn't working on my laptop at all ever since I got here... so I'm now using my mom's now that I have a minute. I'm gonna try and make this brief since I'm EXHAUSTED from walking around NYC and I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow.

Let's see... yesterday morning I started out at my house with a cup of coffee and Nature Valley granola bars, only to be met with a delicious brunch at my aunt and uncle's place in Long Island which consisted of fruit salad, challah french toast, and smoked salmon. I had a little bit of everything and didn't join everyone when they went back for seconds... oh, and I had another cup of coffee. I had a piece of cheese, a few grapes, and a carrot stick with hummus to hold me over until dinnertime. We went to this Mexican place where I had the pollo a la grill, which was just grilled chicken with veggies, with no sauce or anything like that. I only ate half of it because the portion was huge, but it was enough.

Today we had the same thing for breakfast as yesterday, but instead of challah french toast I had a fried egg (I know I know, but it was just one). For lunch we hit the West Village for this peanut butter and jelly restaurant Andy saw on TV, and it was pretty cool! I had a strange sandwich on whole wheat with pineapple jam, spicy peanut butter, and grilled chicken. Again, I ate half. When we hit the makeshift market through Times Square, I found a bubble tea stand and lost all control-- I ordered a supersweet enormous passionfruit bubble tea and practically chugged it. I didn't realize what had happened until my cup was empty... ugh I still feel guilty about that. Then for dinner, we hit a gyro place where I had a lamb kebob sandwich on pita (didn't eat the whole pita) and a few sips of Diet Coke.

Today was one of the most unhealthy days I've had since I started this thing. I know I'm on a family vacation but that is no excuse. I need to learn to refuse bubble tea... I didn't realize how weak I can get in its presence.

Three things I'm thankful for today:

-My aunt and uncle for being so accommodating.
-New York City for always providing an adventure!
-Bubble tea. My kryptonite. But omg, it's delicious.

ACK!!

I had a pretty off-day today. I wasn't really in the mood for anything today, however we did have company. I hope it didn't show too much. lol

Well, for breakfast I had a mini bagel with cream cheese and a yogurt. I didn't really have lunch since I was in the pool vacuuming, which is a pretty good arm workout! haha After I got out of the pool I had some provolone cheese and crackers. My dad grilled for dinner and I had a burger between the Arnoldo's Flat Bread (100 calories and yummy), baked beans, and a baked potato :( I also had some salad. Here comes the bad part, for dessert I had fruit... and... wait for it... a piece of apple pie. FML. Now I'm laying here thinking about how much I DON'T want to go to work tomorrow. Ugh. Another night without working out... just not enough hours in the day today. I'm really pissed at myself. Tomorrow is a new day, though.

Three things I'm thankful for today:

1) Pleo (I'm waiting for him to arrive)
2) My pool...
3) The Secret... I KNOW I'll have a better day tomorrow.

Everyone LOVES Them Some SB

Today was another really good day. For breakfast I had a K2O Protein Water which was pretty good. For lunch I had two mini bagels with cream cheese. Then came dinner... Danielle was talking about Chef Chun's yesterday so when it came time for dinner, that's what we got. I ordered much less for than we usually do, especially since my mom and I are both dieting. I had some wanton soup (only two wantons), chicken fried rice, and vegetable lo mein. I shouldn't have had all of the lo mein that I did, looking back, but you live and learn I guess. After dinner, my mom, dad, brother, his girlfriend and I went to the movies to see Bruno. Oh. My. God. I highly recommend this movie if you are in to really inappropriate movies- lol. F.Y.I. Don't see it with your family... haha

Anyway, when we got home I had another Mango Fruit Bar. I kind of messed up with another scoop of lo mein... =( and no workout. Fail. But it's okay because I will definitely have to make up for it tomorrow.

Three things I'm thankful for today:

1) Laughter... =)
2) My Family
3) Pleo the Dinosaur... who will soon me mine!! lol

FRIDAY!

I'm going to have to make this a quick blog since my eyes are hardly open!!! Today I had a mini-wheat bagel with cream cheese for breakfast, a lean cuisine pizza for lunch- last one in the freezer, finally!! I came home and had a glass of Mango Peach V8 Splash. That was delicious! We didn't really have dinner tonight so I grabbed a bagel with cream cheese and a yogurt for dinner.

Dani and I worked out again tonight, it was very hard to get motivated but we did it! I really liked the five minute intervals of the treadmill. It made the time pass, and I got some more cardio in. I ran on 5.0 for 30 seconds- ha!- and I climbed on level 10 elevation on 2.5. Not bad, not bad. After our workout, we had that delicious mango fruit bar that Danie blogged about. Yum.

Three things I'm thankful for:

1) The Jonas Brothers for providing entertainment for my class today
2) SPONGE BOB who apparently he turned 10!
3) My pillow *sigh* goodnight :)

Forbidden food

I spent most of today hanging out with my mom and sister, ya know, just cleaning up around the house, getting everything together for our vacation, playing with the puppy, watching Spongebob... the usual. We don't leave till 6am tomorrow morning, so Gi and I finally got a chance to work out again. I would not have done two miles on the elliptical with my mom this afternoon if I had known we were going to leave tomorrow, I would have saved all my energy for our evening basement workout. But oh well, it made me feel better about what I ate for dinner (to be mentioned later.)

And now, the usual food log. I decided to skip out on the delicious-smelling bacon and fried eggs my mom made and stick to oatmeal with skim milk and Splenda, an apple, and a 3/4 of a cup of instant cappuccino (delicious, but not something I'll have every morning... not worth the extra calories.) For lunch I had an amazing buffalo blue chicken wrap from Wawa (364 calories, not bad!), and for dinner... well... we ordered Chinese food. I know, I know, it's worse than the pizza I ate last night. But I only had a small bowl of hot and sour soup, a tiny helping of white rice (I resisted the pork fried rice to my amazement), four pieces of general's chicken and a few forkfuls of shrimp lomein... and that was more than enough. I even had a stomach ache when I was done eating it... I probably should have had salad instead of white rice, but oh well.

Now let me be clear. Chef Chun's is the gold standard of Chinese food in my opinion. I find myself craving it constantly, especially on Mondays when they're closed. I usually not only LOAD my plate with insane helpings of shrimp lomein, pork fried rice, general's chicken, and beef with broccoli... but I almost always go for seconds. This time, I chose to eat about half of what I would go for in a single serving, and it proved to fill me up PLENTY. I am beginning to believe that most of my problem is not what I eat, it's how much I eat. Just by simply changing my portion sizes I can lose SO much weight. Of course I want to shift towards healthier food and away from pizza and cheesesteak and Chinese food as regular fixtures... but there's nothing wrong with having the "forbidden" stuff sparingly and in VERY small portions. You only live once!

After our workout tonight we treated ourselves to 60 calorie mango fruit bars... and oh my dear sweet God, they are the most amazing popsicles I've EVER eaten. I can't believe how healthy they are, it's just unreal. I'm happy to realize that healthy alternatives to the crappy foods we enjoy are everywhere, we just need to look for them.

Three things I'm thankful for today:

-Wawa for having healthy food! Yay!
-Those mango fruit bars for being absurdly delicious
-Staying an extra day before leaving for New York. Glad I got to see Gi before I left!

I Love Rain

I really wish the torrential downpour would have lasted longer today. I love the rain, it's so soothing, especially in the summertime when it falls in sheets and cools down the air. Sometimes I like to sit outside on the porch and watch a summer storm go by. Does that make me weird?

This morning I had a bowl of Total with skim milk and peaches (we ran out of blueberries and bananas), and for lunch I filled a bowl with a very small amount of rice, two tiny pieces of pork roast from last night, and a drizzle of soy sauce. I tend not to worry too much about sodium, since I always have good blood pressure. In the afternoon I hit the treadmill and ran for 3 miles (ok, so it wasn't running, my speed was 3.7... but I plan on upping it gradually every week. Baby steps!) For dinner my stepdad ordered pizza to my dismay, but instead of taking a slice of cheesesteak pizza, I took a slice of pineapple instead, and left out the crust. That together with salad topped with a couple small grilled chicken strips and yogurt dressing was plenty for me. I would usually eat three slices or more! My roommate came to visit and we hit Starbucks, where I had the same thing as yesterday. I'm starting to get used to this artificial sweetener business.

Ok, so I had some chocolate pudding tonight. We made it ourselves using SKIM milk, and I had a single serving, which is around 180 calories. I do not feel guilty, I am actually happy that after eating it I didn't want to go for seconds or thirds. I'm pretty sure when all is said and done, I didn't much exceed my 1400 calorie limit for today, especially with my 50-minute workout. Tomorrow I'm hitting the elliptical machines with my mom again... and I'm gonna try and go another 3 miles. We'll see what happens! Then tomorrow night we hit the road for Long Island... sigh... I wanted to leave Saturday, but apparently my parents want to get the hell out of here ASAP. My aunt is a staunch vegetarian and health food fanatic, which gives me the perfect environment to keep up with my diet. She'll probably also give me some great health tips, so I guess in a way I'm looking forward to this.

Things I'm thankful for today:

-My roomie. She's the greatest for driving 45 minutes each way just to bum around with me and play with the puppy.
-Having a treadmill in the house. Seriously, it's a godsend.
-The rain for reminding me that the weather does not always reflect my mood. Today was a good day. :)

All Smiles

I almost didn't blog again tonight... stupid internet. I had a really great day at work today, I was in the class with my friends who always make the day more enjoyable. The kids are great in that class too. There's this one boy who is so pleasant and happy- almost all day- and has the cutest laugh! The only thing is, he has several seizures everyday. *sigh* Tomorrow I'll be the teacher in another class on the other side of the school. I'm excited since I have never been a substitute teacher in this school.

So today I had a wheat bagel with cream cheese for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly on wheat for lunch with a side of chips (ugh I know), and for dinner I had the most disgusting pizza ever. Don't order from Slack's for pizza. Ew. After dinner I went shopping for a bunch of delicious diet food with my dad. Can't wait to try some! I'll blog about my recommendations. haha

No workout again tonight. I didn't really mind, since I was really tired again. I was able to polish my fingers and toes :) woohoo!

Three things I'm thankful for today:

1) My health... which is improving each day with this life change!
2) Friends at work... :)
3) Mango fruit bars... yummm

I'm ready!

I saw the last showing of Harry Potter last night, after which I promptly passed out. I'll try not to do that anymore, I need to force myself to blog before I go to sleep! The movie was fantastic though... I can't believe there are only two left!

Yesterday was generally a lazy day. I didn't get a chance to work out, mostly because I woke up too late to hit the treadmill before my brother invaded the basement. I definitely need to get in a really great workout before I leave for Long Island... Lord knows I spend most of my time there just lounging around and reading. I confess that when I came home from the movie, I was extremely tempted to help myself to a huge bowl of ice cream. I think the cravings are going to keep coming as the the weather gets warmer... there's really nothing I can do about it. If I can be good the entire weekend away, I should allow myself a small helping of something sweet and delicious as a reward when I come home.

Yesterday's breakfast consisted of the usual fruit and yogurt mixed in with a handful of Total for some crunch, followed by some leftover tilapia and rice with salad for lunch. I was super hungry in the middle of the afternoon so I satisfied my stomach with an apple and a nice tall glass of water. For dinner I had three small pieces of pork roast with a ton of sauerkraut and salad. My cousin came over to visit and she was hungry, so we hit Starbucks and I treated myself to a small sugar-free hazelnut iced coffee that I fixed with nonfat milk and Splenda. Delicious. Amazing that I didn't mind her chowing down on an egg salad sandwich, a glazed donut, and a strawberry milkshake right next to me.

The other night I saw a documentary on VH1 with my sister about Spongebob Squarepants (one of my favorite cartoons), and while it was very entertaining, the staff always look like they're having a party while they're at work. Literally, there was a sign on the door that said, "Have fun or you're fired!" The creator even quoted someone who said, "Make your vocation a vacation," which really made an impression on me. Even though I'll probably never go into cartoons or television or anything like that, I want to end up having a career and living a life that I love... and I truly believe everything around me will fall into place once I learn to take care of myself.

They cited the source of the show's success as the positivity and pureness of Spongebob's character, something children can relate to and adults can appreciate. It's true, we can all take a lesson or two from him. There's a great scene where he finds a piece of paper that Squidward drops on the ground, and subsequently plays around with it a hundred different ways for fifteen minutes. When Squidward takes the paper back, it's just a boring piece of paper again. It's all about perspective... the world is so much more fun when you have a wonderful attitude. As for me, I'm just trying to stay positive, stay motivated, and never give up. I think now I'm going to hit the treadmill downstairs for a bit. IIII'm ready!

Three things I was thankful for yesterday:

-the Harry Potter series for being so imaginative and thought-provoking. It's weird, we kinda grew up with it.
-My stepdad for always making up new things to cook for dinner.
-My cousin Angela, who reminds me of myself when I was her age. I can't wait to be at RU with her next year!