Tea Wisdom

So, I'm back to real food--and forever hesitant to try Colombian food again. Stupid bad cheese.

But, I'm feeling fabulous now, especially since I'm back on track with my "Get Healthy" plan. Here's another little tip I learned, and it's oh so simple and awesome: Feeling "hungry" but not actually hungry? Have a lovely mug of hot water! Ok, ok, you can make it tea--but seriously! The combination of water (you're usually thirsty rather than hungry) and heat (you'll take your time drinking it, thus giving your body the time to realize it's full) can do wonders for the system!

I'm trying to always have a cup of tea with my breakfast now, as it not only supports the "most important meal of the day," but it also fills me up for longer, giving me the energy to get through the first half of the day.

Plus, tea is delicious! And mine comes with positive phrases on the tag. Today's message:
"Be great, feel great, and act great."

Yes, yes, and yes.

Bad Cheese, Very Bad

Sorry about the lack of updates--but, it's not from my slacking off!

No, no. This comes from having the worst food poisoning I have ever had, which started on Thursday and left me dehydrated until yesterday (Sunday). Yeah, not awesome at all (though I did lose 6 pounds after the first 15 hours or so...nope, still not awesome). My appetite is finally back, though I'm really mostly craving eggs for some odd reason...

Eggs. Either I'm turning into a dinosaur or I need to reset my protein levels.

Yeah, probably dinosaur.

Not Veggie

Funny thing.

I like vegetarian meals, food substitutions, and the like. However, the second my sister suggests going to a vegetarian restaurant, I develop a strong craving for meat.

Soy milk? Awesome. Veggie burgers? Swell. Big ol' salads with a garden's range of produce? Whoopie. Meat-free restaurants? Do not want.

Ever.

The Most Important Meal of the Day

Breakfast.

I had a tomato, mushroom, and garlic omelet, made with Eggbeaters and a dash of olive oil. Strawberries and grapes on the side, with a big ol' mug of hot water with grapefruit juice (an alternative to tea, just to mix things up).

Waaaay better than stale Poptarts.

Eating healthy for the win.

Om Nom Nom Discoveries

Yesterday--after having worked out and done laundry and being, overall, quite productive--I did some grocery shopping.

Now, I may have mentioned this before, but I love grocery shopping, seriously! I mean, I am quite the fan of food, but I like the imagination boost you I get from taking my piggy self to market. All along the aisles lay possibilities--ideas for dinner parties, birthdays, or just really weird pizza toppings... Ah, heaven!

But, I digress. Still high on my workout endorphins, I was totally excited to buy healthy food! Plus, with the gorgeous weather we had yesterday, the fruit and vegetable stands looked especially tempting. Strawberries, mushrooms, tomatoes on the vine--needless to say, I had an awesome salad for lunch.

I also am beginning to lean towards more organic foods; I found an amazing organic guacamole which, when paired with organic baked corn chips, makes for quite the healthy snack. Plus, if you get the chance to watch the documentary "The Future of Food" (view it for free on Hulu), you'll be amazed at what's been happening to our produce, as far as genetic modification goes--foods that have been legally labeled as organic are some of the few that don't have weird science going on inside their DNA structures.

Another documentary I recently viewed (and also available on Hulu) is "Super Size Me," Morgan Spurlock's filmed 30-day McDonald's binge. Now, don't worry, I'm not getting obsessive about what I'm eating (and I won't lie, McD's still sounds awesome, to a point), but it's fascinating when you really take the time to see what we put into our food and, therefore, our bodies.

For example, eating a bagel is equivalent to eating 5 slices of bread--way more than should be eaten in one sitting! As an alternative to this, I've discovered Bagel Thins--and yes, they are as awesome as you can imagine. Only 110 calories and with 5 grams of fiber, these slices of toasted excellence are a great way (especially when adding on low-fat cream cheese) to get fill that bagel craving without eating enough bread for 3 people.

*I should probably mention, once again, that I am not paid by any corporation/company to promote their products. I just like talking about what I like. Don't sue!*

Bagels, guacamole, cream cheese--it is possible to eat what you like and have it taste real, without suffering the consequences. It may take a little more time to prepare, but real food tastes better and is better for you!

And on that note, I'm feeling peckish for a plum. Yum!

Hi There, Remember Me?

Once upon a time, a girl started a blog.

She was pretty good about updating it, but a few months in she had a (of many) quarter-life crisis. Yeah, it would totally be one of many... But, regardless! Then, just as she was super bummed out and searching for new jobs (shock!) in new cities (awe!) and considering going back to being a brunette (gasp!), things started to turn around.

Moral of the story, the First: Things get better.
Moral of the story, the Second: It helps to be prepared to mix things up.

I'm not sure if anyone still reads this, but whether or not they do, I'm going to start updating again. I recently obtained an awesome new day job and even more recently (read: three days ago) was offered a contract for a summer performance job! Today I went to the gym for the first time in months--yikes--and have revamped my eating habits. I am starting to love salads--wha?!

Don't worry, bacon's still my buddy, we're just in a long-distance relationship.

So, once again, I find myself starting over--and that's ok. I forgive myself for my slip ups, and that's important; you can't move forward until you let go of what's happened in the past.

It's a new day, and I'm on an awesome path :) And it certainly helps that I've got a ukulele and frozen yogurt to keep me going. Little victories.

I'm back!

Rabbit Rabbit!

If March comes in like a lion, well, February was a stinkbug the whole time.

Crappy metaphor aside, what I'm trying to say is that February was a really rough month for me. I really lost direction; I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I say this all in past tense, as if it were all done with now, but it's not. I'm still working out what I want, what I want to do, what matters to me.

I was lucky enough to get to go home for a couple of weeks, which was really nice--plus, it coincided with the Winter Olympics, which cheered me up considerably. Even with the fantastic game that was the men's gold medal round, however, I still wasn't my best.

So, with a new month ahead of me, I'm going to figure out my life a little bit better and refocus on what is important and what I both want and need to do.

Part of figuring that stuff out involves better defining what I want and don't want for myself. Even in the simplest of ways, it all helps in the grander scheme of things. All too often we allow ourselves to put up with stuff we shouldn't have to; definition gives us some of our power back, it allows us a tiny victory. We need little victories in life. They help us get through the defeats.

It's time for my own personal Olympics. I need some Gold in my life.