Though I had a blast this weekend with fitness training and visiting my fam, I didn’t make it to the grocery store! No groceries means no food in the house!! Ok, no fresh fruits and veggies. Lucky for me my pantry is well-stocked.

So, though I was out of oatmeal (can you believe it!?), I was able to throw together this mixed berry (but mostly blueberries) smoothie with a 5/8 full scoop of Vanilla Chai Vega health optimizer, topped with some Galaxy Granola (*). I also had a mug of coffee, not pictured.

I normally don’t like smoothies in the mornings because I prefer hot stuff, but I really enjoyed my smoothie this AM. It was very filling, too!

I made sure to celebrate Starbucks Monday today with a grande vanilla soy latte. Yummers!

One of my meetings was cancelled today, so I was able to do an impromptu lunch with my friends Megan and Alex. So adult-y!

We met up at Capital Grille. I haven’t been here in years!

Interesting bread basket. There were rolls under the napkin.

I had a couple bites of calamari to start.

I got the citrus glazed salmon with the veggie of the day – a mixture of different veggies and mushrooms. Though it was quite tasty, I only managed to finish half my plate. That was a HUGE piece of fish!

Megan even had an impromptu gift for me – a juicing book!!! Aww…she knows me so well! I’ve been wanting a juicing book! I can’t wait to scope out the recipes so I know better things to order at the juice bar. And the pictures inside of gorgeous and so colorful! The book is called Super Juicer and it’s by Christine France.

Thanks Megan!!! xoxo

I had a Cherry Pie Larabar for a pre-workout snack. I read in Thrive that dates are a good pre-workout snack, and dates are also typically the primary ingredient in Larabars. Guess that makes Larabars a pretty good snack! I thought so today at least.

I had a fabulous hour long workout tonight and even got to lead the first song in class – Hips Don’t Lie (Bambo version) by Shakira. I was so nervous, though! I hadn’t led that song since instructor auditions. You’d think you wouldn’t be nervous doing a song you’ve done countless times before and practiced relentlessly, but…I was! Luckily, it went just fine. Phew!

I grabbed a quick dinner on my way home – Chipotle.

I got the barbacoa beef burrito bowl (with lots of veggies) with a tortilla on the side (I like to break up small pieces and eat bites of tortilla/meat/veggies with a fork), plus chips and guac. Remember all that cheese dip I used to eat? I knew it was terrible for me, but it just tasted so darn good! Well, I’ve transitioned to a better dip – guacamole! I know some people avoid guac because of the fatty avocados, but they have a good kind of fat! Anywho, I’m sure I’ll still get cheese dip once in awhile, but it’s nice to enjoy healthier options.

I only managed to eat about half of my dinner, but luckily hubby helped me finish the burrito part.

I had a little piece of Theo Orange Dark Chocolate for dessert. I didn’t want a lot – just a touch of sweetness.

What are your favorite burrito fillings?

So, about two weeks ago, I went with some friends to see Brendan Brazier, a vegan ironman, author of Thrive (The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life) and Thrive Fitness (The Vegan-Based Training Program for Maximum Strength, Health, and Fitness) and formulator of Vega products. Based on the information about the session, I was pretty interested to hear what Brendan had to say, even though I’m not vegan, but I was surprised at how much I learned.

I thought that Brendan’s session would be more geared towards the vegan lifestyle, but there were many things that I learned that I think could be applied to any lifestyle: vegan, vegetarian, omnivore, or any other eating style.

Here are some of my favorite lessons learned from Brendan’s presentation:

• Energy by conservation: You can get energy by conservation by consuming foods that don’t take too much energy to assimilate. For example, gluten is actually hard to digest and can rob your body of energy. If your body has to put more energy towards digesting gluten, then it can’t put that energy towards your workout, etc.
• Same stresses: Stresses are the same no matter the source. Even exercise can be a form of stress on your body.
• Stressed too far: When you’re stressed, your cortisol levels are raised and can lead to adrenal burn out.
• Stress and Weight Loss: When cortisol levels are elevated it can be hard for you to lose fat or gain muscle.
• Stress Symptoms: Raised cortisol levels can cause trouble sleeping, sugar cravings, muscle tone not getting where you want it, etc. These symptoms are actually a good thing because they tell you something is wrong.
• Treating the Symptom vs the Cause: The common problem today is that people mask their body’s red flags. People treat the symptom (often via stimulants), not the cause. People drink coffee because they’re tired instead of just getting more rest/sleep. Brendan had a good example – if you’re driving and your check engine light comes on you can put a sticker over it to make the light go away, but that’s not really helping the root cause (which will eventually become a problem is left untreated).
• Alkaline-Forming Foods Are Good: Alkaline-forming foods are the cornerstone of good health. Greens are the most Alkaline-forming foods. These foods are good for: immune health, prevent osteoporosis, reduce inflammation, increase muscle functionality.
• Isolates Are Acidic: Whey protein isolate, soy protein isolate, etc. are acidic (you want to avoid acidic foods).
• Veg for B12: Good vegetarian sources of B12 are chlorella and nutritional yeast.

I think I really felt a connection with Brendan’s lessons because both he and I share a common interest: what food does for you. In fact, when I spoke with him to get his autograph (yep, totally bought the book after the presentation) and was talking about how I liked his lecture, we totally jinxed by saying at the same time that it was interesting “what food can do for you.”

I left thinking that my adrenals are probably completely burned out at the moment but most importantly I left with a newly refreshed curiosity to research what foods can do for me.

My main takeaways:

• Eat more alkaline-forming foods
• Work on better pre and post workout snacks. For pre, look for foods that are easier to digest. For post, look for good sources of protein that are not isolates
• Treat the cause, not the symptom – I think I’ve been working my way towards this approach over the last couple years, but it’s good to reinforce the idea
• Stock up pantry so I can try some Thrive recipes
• Experiment more with food – learn what works for me
• Continue to be curious about food and learn what they can do for me

I’ve been reading through Thrive for the last couple weeks and I really love it so far. I think the lessons are a little harder to apply to an omnivore’s lifestyle (than a vegan’s) and there are some obscure ingredients utilized in many of the recipes (though I’d like to add them to my pantry), but I’d really like to work on incorporating a bit more Thrive Diet into my lifestyle. In fact, at some point, I’ll be signing up for Thrive in 30. Can’t wait!

Reader Question: Do you treat the symptom or the cause?

So, I refreshed my iPhone and I guess my drop down lists are working ok. Phew! Has anyone had any trouble with the top navigation on my web site or seen any other issues? I thought I broke it but maybe I’m not as bad at this stuff as I thought!

Moving on…I whipped up a quick breakfast today – POWER TOAST!

Fresh Market Spring Blend coffee…mmm…

Power Toast toppings:

• Barney Butter
• Earthfare Granola
• Hemp Seeds
• Cacao Nibs (*)

Have you tried hemp seeds? What are you waiting for? They rock and are so good for you!

I got started on Project Hydrate pretty early today. I think I could have started even earlier, but I was bombarded with emails and requests and was too busy trying to make progress with work to drink. Silly, no? I should have 5 seconds to take a sip here and there.

Leftover blueberry almond bar from yesterday plus a yerba mate latte.

Hubby was a doll and brought me lunch: lentil soup. Mmm…

I had some Kashi honey sesame crackers tucked away in my desk in a tupperware. I love keeping these on hand – so convenient!

He brought me a vegan chocolate chip muffin, too! I ADORE these!

I had the muffin with some white pomegranate tea.

Mmm…

And, I totally brought an apple to work today but totally forgot to eat it. Doh!

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I ended up leaving work late-ish and headed straight for grocery store to pick up ingredients for a late prep day.

But FIRST! I hit up the book store. I LOVE book and magazine shopping. I could do it for hours and hours on end (esp if I was in Barnes & Noble with access to hot beverages).

And in case my inner geekiness was ever a question…behold – my book of choice tonight – CSS Mastery by Andy Budd. Oh yea!

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Hubby and I had plans to pick up groceries to prep a soup for the rest of the week and for dinner.

Instead, we scrapped that idea to give us more time for tonight’s projects – organizing our TAXES. Ugh! I hate taxes. They’re such a pain!

Anywho, hubby and I got food from Earthfare. I got some baked tofu, brown rice, beans, and steamed veggies. I was kind of hoping to get a kid’s grilled cheese with sweet potato fries, but the cafe was closed by the time we got there.

Hubby had me put some fish and pasta on my plate for him.

The tofu was great! I’m not sure how they seasoned it, but I really liked it!

Btw, quick note that though Earthfare had both metal and plastic silverware. I went for the silver. Whenever possible, I try to make small, easy changes to go green. Metal silverware can be washed and reused. Plastic silverware has to be thrown away. Reduce, reuse, recyle!

I had a sip or 2 of hubby’s Earthfare vitamin water.

Anywho, this makes 2 earthfare meals in one day!

I also picked up more Tulsi Tea – this time in India Breakfast – and some Alba Botanica body wash. I want to go green with my bath and body products, but I’m really picky, so I’m going to start by testing out some organic body washes.

I packed a baggie of tea to take to work tomorrow – Tulsi tea in Chai Masala and India Breakfast and more Yerba Mate!

As for moi, I noshed on this cinnamon roll (also from Earthfare) whilst watching what I thought was the first new season episode for Flash Forward. Turns out…it’s not till Thursday. Gah!

Some organic fat free milk.

And, for a project, for most of the night, I worked on…

Taxes, taxes and more taxes.

We almost finished up tonight, but boy is it a lot of work! We had papers and receipts everywhere!

Project Hydrate Day #9

I’m still working on getting started on my water intake earlier in the day. Perhaps some water with breakfast is what the doctor ordered?

Consumed:

• pink water bottle – about 4 cups
• 1/3 turquoise water bottle – about 1 cup
• 2 cups hot tea

Almost there!

How are you doing with Project Hydrate? What is your biggest challenge with getting proper hydration?

Aww…he’s such a cute sleeper…

Had to share these cute photos of Bailey asleep on the couch last night while I blogged away. He’s such a goober when he sleeps sometimes.

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On to today…

Oatmeal with coconut milk was calling my name, but so were the eggs and Great Harvest bread which are both about to expire any day.

So, since I was WFH today, I whipped up one of hubby’s fave breakfasts – fried cage free eggs and toast – 2 servings – one for each of us.

Work was so much better today from the comfort of my house. I really think I’m more productive here anyways.

The only break I took today was to take some quick photos of Bails. He’s such a great little model.

For lunch, I heated up more of my healthy vegetarian (guess it’s actually vegan, too) 3-bean chili, which I brightened up with some fresh parsley. I love how vibrant all the colors of this chili are!

On the side, I toasted up more Great Harvest honey whole wheat, which I topped with some Laughing Cow cheese, fresh parsley, and hemp seeds.

I ended up feeling full before I finished, so I decided that rather than forcing myself to finish, I’d save it for later.

Hubby got us some doughnuts from our fave local bakery, which I enjoyed in the afternoon.

Yogi tea echinacea tea.

Yogi tea quote: “If you don’t love where you come from, you can’t love where you are going.” What do you think about this quote? Do you think it’s true? I don’t know about the quote, but personally, I am just recently coming to peace with where I came from. I’ve started to appreciate my life up till now with all the times I felt like both a success and a failure.

I had some more doughnut holes later in the day.

You guys know I love my sweets and I pretty much eat them whenever I want, though usually as a way to say “take that restrictive eating! I eat what I want!” But, I’m coming to a point where I’m becoming more open to change and to possibly even giving up some of my sweets. Note – keyword = “some”. You guys know I’m big on gradual changes, but I’m keeping an open mind and I’m planning to do some research. We’ll see how things pan out.

I met up with some girlfriends tonight for a casual dinner at Earthfare. From left to right: Michelle, Emily, Kath, Moi, and Kate.

(Group shot photo thanks to Kath)

After picking out our eats, we took a moment to capture them on our cameras.

I got a salad with romaine, baby spinach, purple cabbage, broccoli, cucumber, carrot, sprouts, bell pepper, celery, and balsamic vinaigrette.

Plus a minestrone soup.

Of course I enjoyed a whole wheat chocolate chip cookie, which I discovered this week is also vegan.

Oh and Michelle let me sample the vegan blondie she got and it was really good too! I may have to get that next time!

I made use of the Stonyfield reusable tote I got yesterday to do some grocery shopping tonight.

I picked up some staples: whole wheat pastry flour, tofu, roasted chili paste, wheatberries, walnuts, sunflower seeds and a new frozen mea to try – Macaroni & Three Cheeses.

I also got some Augisa & Co Organics vegan body lotion (locally made!) and some all natural almond extract.

It turns out the lotion is made by a lady I met once. She had the booth next to me when I was selling my handmade jewelry at a local craft show. Neat! I’m glad to see she’s doing well – I always liked her lotion.

By far the best deal was the granola and Larry’s coffee beans I scored for FREE! Yes, that’s like $15 worth of stuff for free because I am signed up for the Earthfare email newsletter and they sent out a coupon for free granola and coffee with purchase! I forgot which flavor of beans I got but the description said something about being smooth with hints of vanilla or something and that sounded pretty good to me. For the granola I selected the Berry flavor.

If you live near an Earthfare, you must sign up for the newsletter! Such great deals! You can sign up at the bottom of their homepage at earthfare.com.

Also, take their Boot Challenge. It’s easy – they show you 2 products and you guess which one Earthfare would not sell in their store due to their policy on only selling high quality, healthy products (you can read their list of banned ingredients here). After submitting your guess,they tell you which one they would not permit in their store and why. I think the challenge is a fun and easy way to learn more about products you consume. Knowledge is power people.

Oh and I swung by Barnes & Nobles quickly to pick up a gift for a friend. These aren’t the gifts for them. These are things I picked up for me: Well Being Journal and Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food. The magazine looked like a good read and though Kath said I could borrow IDofF, I decided that it may be good to keep in the house for reference, so I bought. But thanks for offering Kath!

On another tangent, I washed my new (yes, I got it for Christmas but still haven’t used it) Martha Stewart blue food processor parts today. I have a fun food project planned and just need to put it together. I’m so excited to try out my food processor – I’ve been wanting a good one for a long time!

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Tidbits

Heard about Zumba but not sure what the fuss is about? Want to know what to wear to class? What to expect? Check out my post on Zumba 101 – read the questions and answers for those new to Zumba.

I’ve answered more Formspring questions – see answers on my last post. Ask me some more questions on my Formspring profile (click).

I’m workingon some more detailed pages, but I did a quick update of my About page. Check it out.

Is Society Too Caught Up in Figures for Diet?

On another note…did anyone else see the news article today that Weight Watchers and McDonald’s have teamed up? Yup, McDonald’s is going to start promoting and selling WW-friendly meals. Is anyone else reminded of the so-called Taco Bell drive-through diet.

Is it healthy to make your WW points if all you ate that day was overly processed fast food? Are 1200 net calories of chicken sandwiches and french fries better than a day’s worth of whole foods?

I understand that counting calories, fats, and sugars really help some people lose weight, but, personally, I tend to get lost and confused trying to keep up with too many figures. I do okay focusing on one area at a time, but my best success in getting healthier has been when I returned to my roots and what my Dad has taught my family: eat the best quality food possible – the less processed the better. When I focus on eating as much whole food as possible, I have an easier time maintaining a weight loss (or losing weight) and I feel better, too. Instead of stressing over every gram of fat I’m consuming in a day, I can enjoy my food and know that I’m nourishing my body and that the fuel I’m providing it is high quality.

Do you think our society has gotten too caught up in figures when it comes to their diet (diet as in “food and drink regularly provided or consumed” as defined by Merriam Webster)? When you’re grocery shopping or deciding what to eat, what’s most important to you? Do you worry more about making sure you don’t go over your calories for the day (whether those calories include fast food and overly processed food) or do you focus more on the quality of your food (opting for whole foods, organic, etc)? Or something else?

I’ve created a poll so people can weigh in on their personal preference:

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I’d absolutely love it if you elaborated on your answer or provide an answer you don’t see in the poll in a comment.

I had an early day Friday. I had to travel about an hour and a half away for work (with plans of being picked up my hubby at the end of the day to road trip it to his mom’s house), so I packed my stuff Thursday night. I made sure to pick out an outfit Thursday night so I wouldn’t have to think in the morning when I was still super-sleepy.

I was up at 5:30am, had a cup of coffee, got ready, was out the door around 6:15am and caught a ride with a co-worker around 6:30am

I like traveling for work, but my only gripe is not being able to control my food as well. Typically, I have healthy snacks and what not at my house and at the office. I suppose I could have packed these with me, but I didn’t. I brought a slice of Great Harvest honey whole wheat with me to eat in the car, but never quite got  around to eating it. I wasn’t all that hungry…I think I was too sleepy. lol

They had bagels and coffee at the meeting when we got there around 8:30am (had bad traffic – passed TWO wrecks!). I grabbed a yummy blueberry bagel with some honey walnut spread, which I applied lightly. Besides being healthier, I go light on cream cheese because the idea of a bunch of creamy goop on my bagel kind of weirds me out. I just like a light schmear of cream cheese toppings. Anywho, though I still love my bagel breakfasts, they don’t keep me full at all. I think because they’re typically not whole grain based and don’t really provide a lot of (any?) protein. I usually feel a bit like I’m eating air. Tasty air…but air.

Shortly after our meeting started, someone brought in a box of Krispy Kremes. I had to have one. They just melt in your mouth.

Lunch didn’t turn out so hot. I was hoping to go out to lunch with some co-workers but most already had plans or had to work through lunch. Luckily, the office had a cafe upstairs. Since I gave up meat for Lent, I didn’t have a lot of options. My choices were basically things I couldn’t or didn’t want to eat: hamburgers, chicken fingers, french fries, chips, cookies, sodas.

I tried to order an egg sandwich (for protein) but when the guy gave me a look like “you don’t want to eat that” and then basically said “you don’t want to eat that” and then showed me a yellow disc of “egg”, which he pulled out of the freezer, I quickly changed my mind. I ended up having to eat stuff I normally try to avoid.

I ended up getting some salad from the salad bar (this was the saving grace of the cafe – yay for fresh veggies!), a yogurt (not my fave brand, but I wanted some protein), and a bottled water. I remembered I had some Great Harvest bread with me, and I was SO glad to have it for lunch. That bread was a life-saver!

The salad was good, but the yogurt was waaaay too sweet! Much sweeter than I remembered. I must be used to Greek yogurt now that I’ve been eating it so frequently. I was reminded why I like plain yogurts – so I can control my own sweetener – type and amount.

I had my Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual book with me, so I took a break from my laptop to start reading it. The book was very easy to read and the rules were really straightforward and short. I’ll try to do an official review later, but the book made for a nice lunch read.

Though lunch wasn’t exactly what I’d call a normal lunch for me, I thought I’d see how it lined up with Food Rules.

First, the yogurt…

Food Rules Fail #1 – the ingredient list failed a number of the rules, including:

• #3 Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry
• #4 Avoid food products that contain high-fructose corn syrup
• #5 Avoid foods that have some form of sugar (or sweetener) in the top three ingredients

Food Rules Fail #2 – the packaging failed a couple rules, including:

• #8 – Avoid food products that make health claims
• #9 – Avoid food products with the wordoid “lite” or the terms “low-fat” or “nonfat” in their names.

Food Rules Fail #3 – the salad dressing didn’t do much better, failing at a couple rules also, including:

• #6 – Avoid food products that contain 5 or more ingredients
• #7 – Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce.

The salad and Great Harvest bread both passed.

I thought it was really interesting comparing the Food Rules to my actual food. I remembered why I don’t buy a lot of the products and foods that I used to get before I started reading food product labels. In fact, Michael Pollan’s suggestions line up really well with food tips my Dad has passed on to me and how I’ve been eating lately anyways. Michael and my dad would get along famously!

I felt pretty full after lunch but I knew it wouldn’t last long since I had very little protein (though at least I got some whole grains in thanks to Great Harvest). In a couple hours, I was hungry again, so I had a leftover bagel from breakfast with a light spreading of hazelnut topping. It was delicious (esp that hazelnut spread – yum!), but not very filling.

I tweeted about how the other bagels left from breakfast were calling my name and Heather tweeted back suggesting I try to beat Mark’s 4 bagels in a day record. It was tempting, but I held back.

Soon enough, the work day was over. I said goodbyes to some co-workers before taking off. I haven’t seen some of these guys in months, so it was nice working with them face-to-face again, instead of just over the phone. Plus, I met some really nice people in the office – they have an amazing group of people there! Such positive vibes!

As I was leaving work, I saw this old tower. It looked pretty photogenic, so I snapped a shot.

The work day ended and hubby came by my out-of-town office to pick me up on his way to visit his Mom.

I was pretty hungry when hubby picked me up, so we pit-stopped at Starbucks and split a spinach feta wrap (protein…finally!). I also got a kid’s soy hot chocolate – adult temp – no whip. I was so glad to get some more food before sitting out the rest of the car ride.

Hubby’s mom had dinner ready for us when we got there, starting with a salad.

Sundried tilapia, shrimp/scallop scampi, broccoli, and rice. I ate almost everything but the rice, because I filled up before I could get to it. I tried to tackle the most nutritious foods first since I felt like most of my eats earlier in the day had been lacking: broccoli (can’t get enough veggies, right?), shrimp and tilapia (protein!).

I split a piece of garlic bread w/ hubby.

Plus, a couple small bites of brownie for dessert.

Lesson learned today: always be prepared. Next time I travel, I’ll be sure to pack a couple food/snack options with me…just in case.

Reader Question: Have you ever been somewhere without a lot of food options? What did you eat?