Stragle

Good evening lovebugs!! I’m gonna make this quick, cause I am POOPED! I just got home from about half an hour ago, and I can’t wait to get to bed after polishing off some snacks J

Breakfast was a bowl of Kashi GoLean with strawberries:

While I didn’t succeed in killing the ¾ full box of GoLean in 12 hours, I Tupperwared the ripped bag before leaving, so hopefully it’s not gross by the time I get back on Monday. I hate wasting food!! Since I’m hoping to get back to RUNNING this weekend, I took a day off from the gym and instead did some yoga stretches I found online. Erm, let’s just say I’m glad I was in the privacy of my own apartment, because I am severely lacking in the flexibility department. Must work on that! It felt good to really stretch out my body, though…even though I do it on a pretty regular basis, I still get tight!

Lunch was a mishmash of the random food I had left in the fridge (I feel like I’m always leaving!):

Broccoli with nooch

Justin’s almond butter on Ezekiel

Sliced Gala

And afternoon snackage included an Iced Gingerbread Clif bar (so excited when I found this in the depths of my bar drawer!), and another Gala:

I headed straight to Penn Station from class to catch my train, and found some dinner at Duane Reade, of all places!! They had a little refridgerated case where I was able to find a decent salad, some fruit and soy crisps:

Not bad for a drugstore, right? I also split a stragle from Zaro’s with Mike. Stragle = stick bagel. How neat is this?

I love bagels :)

The train ride home was pretty quick, but traveling a few hours always takes a lot out of me! In the brief time I’ve been home, I’ve already had fruit and nut trail mix, pita chips and grapes. I was hangry!

Well chicas, I’m off to bed! Sorry for the lameo post…tomorrow I’m going out for sushi, so hopefully I’ll have some exciting eats there! Have a great Thursday!

Do you enjoy travel, or does it stress you out? And when you go, do you prefer planes, trains or automobiles (had to, sorry)? As much as I love the final destinations, and form of travel stresses me out! Probably why I like traveling in the comfort of my own car the best.

Chocolate Covered Comments

Bonsoir mes belles! Hope you’ve all had a fantastic day! I can’t wait until tomorrow, when I’ll be headed home for Easter! Lent went pretty fast this year- thank God there’s only 48 hours left until I can eat sweets again (Lent technically ends at sundown on Holy Thursday, which is the start of the Triduum…what 7 years of Catholic school will do to you). I’m been craving chocolate like CRAZY these past few days and am telling myself to hold out just a few days longer!!

This morning I woke up early for a pre-class workout. I grabbed my favorite banana/nut butter fuel (this morning it was Justin’s original almond butter), which fueled me through the 12-machine circuit. I did 3 reps of 12 on each machine, which took me about 45 minutes, then followed it up with some stretching. I’m experimenting now with strength-only days to see if I prefer to split up my weight/cardio workouts, or combine them. We shall see!

Breakfast was a bowl of Kashi GoLean, frozen peaches, almond milk and cinnamon.

I accidentally tore the bag totally open when pouring it in my bowl this morning, which means I’ve gotta get rid of that stuff before it goes stale! I suppose I could buy a big Ziploc, but that’s entirely too much effort…I’ll just eat more cereal J

Those of you in the Northeast can commiserate with me about the lovely weather we had today. After my soaking wet walk home from the gym, I decided to pack all my stuff for the day and cab it to campus, rather than make the trip home for lunch. I can’t find my umbrella at the moment, so the 7.50 cab fare was money well spent! Plus, I got to splurge on my favorite deli lunch between classes:

Tofu salad sammie, watermelon and pineapple cubes

I forewent the veggies because I couldn’t bear to part with another few bucks. I’m a cheapo, and fruit will always beat veg in the battle of worthiness. Unfortunately, I forgot Danielle’s advice to eat fruit BEFORE the rest of your meal, so this had a little trouble settling in my tummy. It was still delicious, though!

Afternoon snackage included this Chocolate Peppermint Stick Luna bar in my last class (excuse the bad lighting…this was actually taken mid-lecture. BAMF):

Plus a blood orange and some sundried tomatoes. Don’t let the picture fool you, somehow the entire package of tomaters was consumed...these little buggers are good!

 

For dinner, I took an inventory of my dwindling fridge supplies and decided to make a twist on one of my favorites:

HUMNUT PIZZA! Salsa, steamed frozen veg, Gardenburger patty and humnut sauce on an Ezekiel tortilla

Humnut, I’ve missed you!! Dessert was an apple + sunflower seed butter, and the last of my medjools (x2):

 

Delicious, but I can’t wait to have chocolate back in my life J

According to your comments and some research I’ve done, it seems that most of my responses to your comments have been sent to somewhere in email Siberia. I really apologize if you’ve asked me a comment via comment and never gotten an answer!! Clearly, I’m technologically stupid. For the future, how would you guys like me to answer comments? I can either answer in your comments section, by email, or in another comment on the post you’ve commented on. (I need to stop using the word “comments!”) How do other Blogger dealers work around this?

Alrighty mes belles, time to pack and finish up some reading for tomorrow….gotta make a dent in that Kashi GoLean before I go home, as well! Have a lovely night bloggies, and talk to you from the Keystone State!

How do you schedule your workouts? Do you split up weights and cardio, or do a little of both on the same day? Anyone have any advice on which is more effective?

How do you answer comments for your blog? Personal emails/commenting back?


PS- Check out Ashlei's chocolate giveaway, and Steph's Tropical Traditions giveaway!

Baninis and Builders

Hi bloggies! Thank you all so much for your photo-taking tips. It sounds like I need to play around with my settings, so I’m going to dig up my manual when I’m home this weekend! And for those of you who asked, to play The Departed drinking game you take a sip every time the “F-bomb” is dropped, and finish your drink every time someone dies. If you’ve seen the movie, you understand how lethal a game this is!!

For breakfast today I had a mixture of Wheetabix Flakes and Fiber and Kashi GoLean, plus some thawed bloobs, almond milk and cinnamon:

Afterwards, I headed to the gym for an elliptical workout. I can’t wait to get my orthotics so I can start running again! I did an intense hour of intervals on the elliptical, plus some ab work and stretching. I love intervals because they make the time go faster and I always work up way more of a sweat while doing them!

For lunch, I was absolutely CRAVING nut butter, so I made something I haven’t had in awhile: a sunflower seed butter and banana quesedilla (or a banini, Allie style)!

A heavy blanket of sunflower seed butter, sliced banana, sprinkle of coconut shreds, and cinnamon on an Ezekiel tortilla, with a blood orange on the side, plus three medjools

I packed a Clif Peanut Butter Builder bar and a super-juicy honeycrisp to get me through my long afternoon of classes. I’m absolutely in love with Builder bars now- this thing is vegan and has an ingredient list comparable to regular Clif bars, only with 20g protein. It’s slightly more calorie-dense than regular Clifs, but sat like a rock in my stomach and tasted delicious!!

One of the reasons I picked up the Builder bar on my last WF run was because I’m trying to up my protein intake a little. While I don’t believe that tons of protein is necessary to be healthy and strong, I have realized lately that my diet is pretty lacking in the nutrient. Since I’ve been strength training recently and wouldn’t mind developing a little muscle, my goal is to add an extra serving of protein to my diet every day. Not a big change, but something I’d like to experiment with!

Even with my satiating snacks, I was HANGRY by the time I came home from lab at 7. I whipped up the first thing I saw in the freezer:

Amy’s Breakfast Burrito with a mountain of salsa, steamed green beans with nooch

Dessert was another unpictured honeycrisp, and one of these bad boys:

I wanted to ask you all whether you’ve been receiving my email responses to comments. I usually get them on my phone, so if there’s a question/comment I’d like to respond to, I just hit reply and send it off. However, I’m just realizing that people may not be getting these, since I can respond to everyone but some people don’t leave email addresses. Any input on this would be much appreciated, and I’m sooooo sorry if no one has been getting my replies!!

Unfortunately, it’s homework time L I foresee some protein cookie dough snackage in my near future, as well! Hope you all have a great night and wonderful Tuesday!!

Which macronutrient is your favorite- carbs, protein or fat? Do you make an effort to take in a certain amount of protein every day? I’m a carb girl all the way, though I love me some fats in the way of nut butter! (Probably why my protein consumption isn’t too great, teehee!)

"She fell funny."

Hello my gorgeous girls!! Sorry for my lack of postage…I was out and about last night, and figured it would just be easier to do one big weekend post!

Thank you all so much for your great feedback regarding my cereal addiction!! I’m glad you agree that it’s an okay habit to have, as long as I don’t get neurotic about it J My goal is to start switching up my cereals more often and trying new ones, just to make sure I don’t get stuck in a rut. Of course, I currently have three boxes to finish before I can buy any new ones!! In keeping with the cereal theme, yesterday’s bowl was a combination of Kashi GoLean, Envirokidz Panda Puffs, almond milk and frozen peaches:

Post-breakfast I headed to the gym for a strength day! I did their 12-machine circuit, with 3 reps of 12 on each one. I was definitely feeling it in my arms by late last night! I came home and made a salad beast to refuel:

Lettuce, tomato, olives, ½ block Lightlife tempeh, EVOO, nooch and mustard (sounds like a weird addition, but it’s delicious!!)

“All shook up”:

I also had a nanner and four of my favorite medjools:

 

I ended up heading to see Mike a few hours earlier than I’d originally planned, which meant a mad rush to Grand Central to catch the Metro-North. Luckily, I got to the train station with a few minutes to spare and was able to find a snack to tide me over until dinner. I was planning on finding a bar of some sort, but the second I passed Zaro’s Bakery I knew what I wanted:

I haven’t had a huge bakery bagel in far too long…I honestly can’t remember the last time! This poppy seed one was absolutely delicious.

After hanging out with Mike for a bit, we decided to grab dinner with a few of his friends before heading out for the night. We went to an incredible mom-and-pop Italian deli, where I had an “Eggplant Supreme,” sans mozzarella- fried eggplant, tomato, oil and fresh basil on the most amazing fresh-baked crusty bread. To die for. I didn’t get a picture, since I always feel weird whipping out my camera in groups, but trust me- this thing was amazing!!

The rest of the night was super fun, as well. We went to his friends’ apartment and watched The Departed for a while while pregaming (ever heard of The Departed drinking game? Let’s just say I didn’t partake, for sake of living), then eventually headed to a bar. I’ll admit to enjoying my fair share of Coronas and midori sours J After a few years of drinking because I felt socially pressured, I’m glad that I’ve finally learned to drink when I want to. It definitely makes it more fun when I don’t as often! We ended the night with a 2 am pizza run, where I enjoyed two slices of cheese pizza, and one of Mike’s garlic knots. Worth it!

This morning I woke up still full from my late night pizza! I hate skipping meals entirely, so I had a Clif bar from Mike’s stash (he loves them as much as I do) before taking the train home. I had an apartment viewing at 1, so I had a quick, produce-filled lunch before:

 

Baba ghanouj and tomato on Ezekiel bread with a sliced apple, plus a banana

I spent the afternoon touring a few studio apartments with a realtor; I’m not sure exactly what my job/living situation will be for this summer/fall, but I’m trying to keep my options open so I wanted to see what kinds of places I could find in my budget! I definitely saw some nice places, but Manhattan is SO EXPENSIVE L I guess we’ll see what develops once I’m more sure of my summer plans! My appetite was back by the time I got home, so I made some of April’s protein cookie dough with 1 scoop Spiru-Tein cookie dough protein powder, 1 t Green and Black cocoa powder, 1 splash of water and a spoonful of Justin’s almond butter. This is definitely a new addiction- I apologize for all the repeats!!

Plus a few dates:

For dinner, I decided to experiment with some tofu shiritaki noodles. I’ve posted before about how I don’t really like their “diet food” advertising, but after seeing them mixed with hummus and pesto on Ada’s blog recently, I couldn’t resist giving them a whirl with some substance in there to counteract their diet status! I sautéed a yellow and green squash, plus half a block of Lightlife tempeh, in olive oil, then combined them with two packages of noodles. I topped them with nooch (in homage to Julie’s newfound love of it!) and two spoonfuls of baba ghanouj, then nuked it all for a minute. The result was perfection:

 

I was pleasantly surprised by how great they were! Adding the tempeh and other toppings really helped to jazz up the flavor, and this bowl was huge! I also had an unpictured blood orange for dessert, while watching Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution online. What a powerful show. I don’t watch much TV at school, but I’m hooked! I think it’s a great concept and can’t wait to see how he progresses. Of course, no night would be complete without a bowl of lovin’:

Wheetabix Crispy Flakes and Fiber, banana, almond milk, cinnamon

Hit the spot! And on that note, I’m off to do some homework…at least it’s a short week, since I’m going home for Easter!!

Do you tend to eat differently in social situations? I’m glad to say that I’m finally allowing myself to let loose a little when I eat out with friends…you’re only in college once, and I don’t want to regret missing out on that late-night pizza bonding!

Does anyone have any lighting tips for taking good photos with no natural light? There’s only one window in all four rooms of my dorm, so I feel like my picture quality always sucks!

PS- Check out Averie’s Tazo tea giveaway!

Can't take the heat

Bonsoir mes belles!! Happy Friday night! I’m so glad it’s officially the weekend….anyone have any fun plans?

This morning I “slept in” until the grand old time of 7:30…living on the wild side J I broke into a new box of cereral: Wheetabix Flakes and Fiber. Didn’t hate it:

Post-breakfast, I headed to the gym. I did an hour on the elliptical at 10 incline, 10 resistance, then some abs and arms. All that exercise worked up an appetite, so I made sure to refuel with some serious carbs and fat, OIAJ style:

~2-3T Naturally More, ½ c oats, 1 c almond milk, sliced nanner, cocoa powder, Ezekiel Golden Flax and Envirokidz Panda Puffs

The oats proved to be a little too hot for this plastic jar to handle…

I also had an apple on the side, obviously. An apple (or five) a day!! After lunch, I spent a few hours at a French presentation to get extra credit for one of my classes, then came home to snack:

 

Baby carrots with salsa and Yorgos Baba Ghanouj, medjool dates (one of which was later stuffed with sunflower seed butter)

I kept the afternoon snacks light, since I knew I’d be meeting Jillian for dinner at Cosi pretty early. I had the same thing as usual, which never disappoints:

Hummus and veggie sando on their amazing flatbread (excuse the cell phone pic), with unpictured carrots, a pear and a small soy cappuccino

After dinner, we went to a screening of an indie film called Breaking Upward. It’s about a couple in NYC who orchestrates their own break-up…definitely an interesting concept. It was a great movie, but for some reason, movies like this always make me feel kind of sad. I know that life isn’t perfect and no relationship is a fairy tale, but I feel like so many books and movies take such a pessimistic view on love in general, insinuating that it never lasts forever. My grandparents have been married for over sixty years, and I can still see love in my grandfather’s eyes every time he looks at my grandmother. I’m sure they’ve had ups and downs that I can’t even fathom, but why are we so willing to write love off as a finite thing when there are so many examples of its power? Call me naïve, but I feel as though many younger people aren’t willing to work at relationships like our parents and grandparents did, instead putting themselves first in every situation. What are your thoughts?

I drowned my temporary depression in a bowl of protein cookie dough (can you say addicted?):

1 scoop Spiru-Tein cookie dough protein powder, 1 t Green and Black cocoa powder, 3 T water and 1 T Justin’s Original Almond Butter

I’ve also snacked on an apple and two more dates….those little buggers are addictive!!

That’s all for tonight, folks! The plan for tonight is to lie low and get some sleep to keep my sniffles from turning into an all-out cold. Party animal, I know…I’ve got some fun plans for tomorrow though! Enjoy your Saturday!

Get on the banana boat!!

Hello my pretties, happy Thursday! Just one day away from the weekend…hang in there!

Last night I didn’t sleep too well, due to a stomach ache. Note to self: even my stomach of steel cannot handle half a jar of hot salsa, eaten with a spoon. Clearly, I’m lacking self control in the condiment department. Thankfully, when I woke up at 6:15 to get a workout in before class all was fine. I had a banana with some sunflower seed butter to fuel me through an easy half hour on the elliptical, plus leg weights and mega stretching. Even though peeling myself out of bed is never fun, I love the feeling of accomplishing so much before most people are even up!

Ten bucks if you can guess what I had for breakfast…

Nature’s Path SmartBran, frozen bloobs, almond milk and cinnamon

I realize the photos are getting a tad redundant, but I just polished off the SmartBran and got some new cereal/frozen fruit, so you’ll get to stare at a whole new creation for a few days J

After my first class, I found myself in the Space Market near campus innocently buying gum and a Diet Snapple, when my favorite Power-Fu sandwich called out to me from the refrigerated section. I ended up buying my entire lunch there, which made my tummy very happy and my wallet very sad:

Power-Fu salad sandwich, beet salad with green peppers and onions, honeydew and pineapple chunks

The fruit especially was a nice change….for once, I wasn’t craving an apple with lunch! Post-class afternoon snackage was another banana (they’re going brown), and some protein cookie dough made with almond milk instead of water, and mixed with Naturally More PB…I guess I was feeling crazy. The almond milk gave it a much creamier texture, so I think I’ll be using that method from now on!

 

It was such a gorgeous day today that I decided to head up to Central Park and take a little stroll. Being the genius that I am, I forgot my camera, but I promise it was beautiful. Spring has sprung!! Afterwards, I made a stop at the Whole Foods in Columbus Circle to replenish my fruit and veg supply. It’s amazing how fast I go through produce.

For dinner, I was actually craving canned tuna. Bizarre, but I went with it and had some atop a salad beast. I mixed an entire can with two scoops of Yorgos baba ghanouj, then served it on a Tupperware salad with romaine, a tomato, cucumber, green olives and a variation on humnut sauce made with 2T nooch, 2T mustard and 2T water. Delish.

I also had the standard apple with Naturally More PB and a strawberry Synergy (OIAJ might be coming soon…):

And a little later, the last of my SmartBran with yet another banana (4th of the day, I think I've met my potassium quota for the year), cinnamon and almond milk:

Well chicas, I’m off. There’s a bit of friend drama that needs to be resolved…never fun, but hopefully it works out :/ We’ll see, I guess…hope your nights are a little less dramatic than mine!

How often do you go grocery shopping? Do you make multiple produce runs a week? I usually do one big trip, then a second smaller one to restock fruits and veggies!