Weekend Recap

Heeey there and happy Monday. This weekend was a perfect combination of fun and relaxing.

On Friday I went to the salon and got my hair done. After that crazy post where I bitched about wanting to be blonde again I went in the complete opposite direction and my hair is now super dark. Too dark. I've had really great experiences with this hair dresser but for some reason the color just didn't come out how I wanted it to. I think I was giving her nervous mixed requests so it's probably my own fault. Anyway, hoping it will fade a bit.

After I got my hair done I went to a Yelp event at an adorable little shop in Cambridge, Follow the Honey. After the event TKO and I went to R.F. O'Sullivan's for the famous giant burgers. I ordered one with mushrooms, onion and mozzarella cheese and could barely eat half. It was gigantic!

I wasn't feeling well so I called it an early night. On Saturday I finally was able to go to Dance Fusion -- a new dance class at my gym that is a combination of zumba/funk/pop and hip-hop!! The class was great!! It wasn't challenging as a dance class, but I was pouring sweat the whole time. It was hard cardio and a lot of jumping. I'm hoping eventually the dance will get a little more complex but am happy for now. And even better, the universe read my blog and answered my prayers. The Thurs. night zumba teacher is no longer working at the gym and Dance Fusion will be replacing it in that time slot!!!!!! YESSSS! Best. news. ever.

After the gym I got ready and met up with some friends for drinks/apps. We went out to Brahmin, a new-ish lounge in the South End. It was fun and a pretty cool scene. I can imagine going back there again.

On Sunday I slept in, then had breakfast with TKO. Around 3 or so we went to Ikea because I'm looking for some furniture for our empty dining room. Ikea is so cheap!!! I couldn't take it and wanted to buy everything in the home decorating section. I left with some wall shelves, a couple of picture frames, a 99 cent toilet bowl cleaner (HA) and a $1 ice cream cone!

On the way home we stopped at Whole Foods and picked up some food to make an excessive but insanely delicious spread for dinner. We picked up a few cheeses and Italian meats and a big loaf of Challah bread. This was my dream dinner come true.

While eating we watched some Game of Thrones, which I finally started watching over the weekend. So far it's stuck to the book really closely and all of the characters are cast super well. Excited to watch the rest of the season!!

That's all for now, will be back with a planning post at some point.

On Wednesdays We Wear Pink

Hello hello. A little book update -- I'm about halfway through #12: The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness, which is yet another young adult trilogy about a dystopia. I seriously love reading this stuff, but it definitely starts to creep into my life a bit. Every once in a while I feel like I'm going to get jumped by a zombie/soldier/crank/spackle (terms from my latest books) whenever I round the corner!

Last night I went to zumba after work and it was great once again! I can't say enough how happy I am that my Tues-night teacher has stepped it up. Also letting go of Thursday night classes has been such a relief. It really sucks to spend over an hour at the gym and feel like you've done nothing. So it will be 1 zumba class a week for now on. I must make it to that Saturday afternoon dance class this week!

After zumba I came home and had some breakfast for dinner: two over easy eggs with turkey bacon and toast.

I ate this while watching the Biggest Loser and sobbing at the end. Even though I never really liked him I was so proud of Jeremy!!!

Weight Loss Struggles 

I mentioned a few weeks ago that one of my struggles with weight loss was eating out. On a related note, I'm struggling to simply deal with the weekends. I feel like I almost perfectly follow my plan Monday-Friday night. I eat healthy, portioned, nutritious foods and exercise fairly hard. Then the weekend roles around and the shiz hits the fan. The last few weeks I have had some sort of event that has resulted in me drinking/eating A LOT. There's no excuses for this, these are things that I WANT to do. It sucks that I have to choose between losing weight and doing these types of things on the weekends but that's what it's coming down to. As summer approaches and my weekends are filling up I'm getting more anxious about how to deal with this. Do I just avoid it altogether or try to gather some willpower that will last?

Super Food Dinner

Look at me with these two a day posts. Who am I?

Last night after work I went to the gym and ran/walked for 50 minutes (about 3.75 miles), then did a bit of strength training, including bench lunges. I love to hate these. My legs are hurting today, but in a good way.

When I got home I made a super food dinner! I've been reading a lot about these so-called super foods lately and have been trying to incorporate them into my diet more and more.

I had an open faced veggie sandwich: hummus, dark greens, sprouts, cucumber, tomato, avocado and topped with a little s & p. Sweet potato fries (burnt) on the side.

 

This was so fresh and delicious, although a little hard to keep together. The avocado kept sliding off!

I also had a kombucha mocktail. I've been wanting to try kombucha for a while now and was pleasantly surprised with the taste! The original was bubbly and fruity tasting, so I'm excited to try the citrus flavored one. This is definitely not going to become a habit though. $4 per bottle, no thank you.

Zuuuuumba tonight!

Weekend Recap

I'm not feeling too hot this morning. I went to bed on the early side last night but spent a good amount of time tossing and turning. I ended up sleeping in and taking a cab to work. A 13 minute drive vs. an hour on the T is sooo worth it. Hopefully I don't make this a habit...

I wanted to recap about the weekend before it got too late. Friday was a lazy night with TKO. We watched Almost Famous which I'm embarrassed to say I've never seen. I loved it! I could not believe all of the well known actors/actresses in the movie--- Kate Hudson, Anna Paquin, Rainn Wilson, Cam from Modern Family, Zooey Deschanel, Jimmy Fallon (I didn't recognize him but he's listed on the IMDB page). So crazy!

On Saturday morning we went for a 5k run around the neighborhood. It was a nice day for a run -- not too hot, not too cold. Afterwards we headed over to the Castle at Park Plaza for the Wine Riot.

I'm typically not a big wine drinker but this was fun! I forced myself to try a bunch of reds and even found some I liked.

I especially liked this one.

After the wine riot some of TKO's friends invited us to a crawfish boil. This was amazing and I'm so happy we went! A few of the girls who hosted the dinner were from Louisiana, and one of them had her parents ship an insane amount of crawfish up to Boston for her birthday. They basically put it in a huge pot and boiled them with a variety of ingredients-- potatoes, mushrooms, pineapple, corn, sausage etc. Once it's done they just pour it out on a table and you dig in. It was all so delicious but I can't believe how little meat you get from crawfish. I'm not a lobster \-eater but I guess it's similar.

CRAWFISH!

After dinner we went out to the Asgard pub (aka the Hogs's Head in Hogsmeade) and then got some ice cream from Toscanini's. I'd heard a lot of great things about this ice cream but it was a little too expensive for me.

On Sunday I was pretty hungover and spent the majority of the day lounging around while it rained outside. The Flintstones movie was on TV and I HAD to watch it. When I was younger I was obsessed with the Flintstones and used to wish I was pebbles. Eventually I got up and did a Wii zumba class for about 30 minutes, then played some Wii mario kart. Productive day huh? TKO and I were supposed to go to the Red Sox/Yankees game but it got rained out, so we went to dinner at Trina's Starlite Lounge. The place was so cute and blasting 1950's jams. I loved it. I ended up ordering a smoked pulled pork sandwich that came with macaroni salad and homemade pickles!

TKO got baked haddock with a potato and bacon hash,

and we shared this ginormous piece of corn bread.

Deeeelish.

After dinner we went over to Whole Foods and I picked up everything on my list. I tried out a new bread which I really don't like :( I'm probably just going to suck it up and keep eating it because I don't waste food.

And that's all for last weekend folks. Will be back later with an update on last night's dinner cause it was awesome.

Hair Troubles aka The Dumbest Post Ever

I think about the color of my hair way too often. A few months ago I was simply sick of keeping up with highlights and decided to dye my hair darker. My goal was to get back to my original roots and stay that way. There were a few reasons I wanted to rid myself of highlights
- they are SO expensive
- they require too much upkeep
- I felt a little ridiculous getting highlights...like do they have an age appropriateness?

So I went to the salon and told her that I was nervous about dying my hair dark so she put a semi in. I liked it but I didn't love it. I was satisfied though and so was my wallet. In 2-3 weeks the dye was pretty much washed out and I wasn't sure what to do. I've been putting off going back to the salon because I'm getting a sudden urge to get highlights again. Summer is coming and I think I really do like how I look with lighter hair. I've found myself browsing through pictures from South Africa (when my hair was naturally lightened from the sun...not from highlights) and I'm longing for them again.

Just look at that blonde hair people!

Right now my hair is in this weird 3-block stage. The top is my roots (the darkest), the middle is like a combination of lighter hair with highlights that was covered up by darker hair...it almost has a reddish tint, and the bottom is the lightest of all (and dry as hell at this point). 

Sooo what to do...I have a few options:
1. Do nothing -- get my hair cut but don't touch the color, see what the sun does to it in the summer then decide
2. Go lighter -- just give in and get highlights
3. Go lighter -- but not THAT much lighter
4. Go darker again and opt for a more permanent color

This is not worth thinking about this much. AHHH!!

GymPact

I've been using GymPact for four months now and think it's about time I talk about it on the blog.

What is it?
GymPact is an iPhone app for tracking your workouts. You check in to your gym, have to stay for 30 minutes for it to count as a workout, and then check out once your done. Each week you make a "pact" where you bet a certain amount of money that you'll work out a certain amount of times. For example, this week I bet $5/workout that I'd exercise at my gym 3 times.

Why use it?
2 Reasons:
1. Motivation to get to the gym, and stay there- knowing that I will lose $5/workout if I don't make it to the gym is a huge motivator. There has been times where even if I REALLY didn't want to go, I've hauled ass to the gym and stayed there for at least 30 minutes just not to lose $5.
2. Excess cash - Each week the folks at GymPact tally up everyone who made their workouts and everyone who missed their workouts. Those who made them are paid a certain percentage of the cash owed from the people who missed. Make sense? This is never a huge number, but in 4 months I made about $15. Not too shabby for something I already was doing.

The Downside:
You can't count runs, outside workouts, or workouts you do at home. I tend to keep my stakes lower (usually 1/2 times per week) because I'd hate to pass up a run on a nice day because I might lose 5 bucks. I believe they're working on a way to deal with this but I can't imagine how.

Overall, it's been a great motivator and has bought me lunch for 2 days! It's not necessary, but if you're a regular gym-goer then why not?

Last week & Sunday Planning

Totally didn't realize my last post was my 100th! So crazy! Congrats to me.

So reflections on last week's planning. I spent $50 exactly at the grocery store and made all  but two meals at home this week (dinner last night and tonight) -- but dinner last night was free and amazing. I'll get to that later! What actually happened in red...

Dinners:
1. Turkey burger with sweet potato wedges - yes
2. Rigatoni with spinach, feta and chicken sausage - yes x2 (ate leftovers on Friday night)
3. BLT (with turkey bacon) + sweet potato wedges - nope
4. Eggs w/ turkey bacon and toast (breakfast for dinner!) - nope
5. Buffalo chicken sandwich + carrots & fruit - yes

Lunches:
1. Turkey sandwich w/ fruit and trail mix - times 2 - yes
2. Salad (watermelon, cucumbers, feta, grilled chicken, balsamic) times 2 - yes...delish!
3. Leftover pasta & chicken sausage - nope
4. Buying lunch today

I changed up the workouts a bit but did end up getting in 5 workouts this week. Woo hoo!

WORKOUTS
Monday: Pilates @ 7:30 + 1 mi. run - ran 2.5 mi/bike
Tuesday: Zumba @ 7:30 + 1 mi. run - just zumba
Wednesday: Run/walk 5k - rest
Thursday: Circuit Strength @ 6:30 - circuit strength
Friday: Rest - rest
Saturday: Dance @ 12:00 - ran/walked 5k
Sunday: Run/walk 5k - 30 min zumba class on the WII

I ran out of fruit by Saturday so I def need to get more. It's insane how much fruit I eat. I should have known better than to skimp! I also need to bring a snack to eat around around 4 pm at work. I've been saving an orange for that and it's worked perfectly, so will continue that this week!

I have a banquet to go to for work on Thursday night. I'm still going to meal plan for 5 days and we'll see what happens. 

MEALS
Dinners:
1. Veggie (cucumber, tomato, avocado,  hummus, sprouts) sandwich + sweet potato wedges (MON)
2. Eggs w/ turkey bacon and toast (TUES)
3. BLT (with turkey bacon) + sweet potato wedges (WED)
4, TJ's mini tacos + vegetable
5. Spaghetti w/ TJ's mixed seafood

Lunches:
1. Turkey sandwich w/ fruit and popcorn - times 2
2. Tuna salad w/ fruit and popcorn
3. Salad (lettuce, tomato, olives, artichokes, feta cheese, sprouts chicken) - times 2

Shopping list:
- cucumbers (3)
- lettuce (spring mix)
- tomatoes (3)
- sprouts
- avocado
- hummus
- carrots (small package)
- bananas (5)
- lots of fruit
- sweet potatoes (2)
- boar's head low sodium turkey (1/4 lb)
- pickles
- popcorn
- olives
- artichokes
- bread
- pasta sauce
- chicken (2 thin boneless skinless breasts)

WORKOUTS
Monday: Run/walk 4 mi
Tuesday: Zumba @ 7:30
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Rest or AM workout (we'll see)
Friday: 30 min Cross/30 min strength
Saturday: Dance @ 12:00
Sunday: Run/walk 5k

THIS WEEK'S FOCUS:
- drink MORE water
- get in at lest 5 workouts
- drink minimal alcohol

Sore Arms

My arms are so sore! I took a circuit strength class at the gym last night and was super nervous about it. I haven't worked on my muscles in a long time and it felt good to be pushing myself. Only slightly embarrassed that I had to use miniature weights. Whatever, it's progress people.

After the gym TKO came over for dinner. I made us pasta with chicken sausage and kale. Just like my grandmother I made WAY too much food for the two of us. I'm used to cooking for one and apparently think that he's a tank. So now I have a lot of leftovers.

I hate how much greens wilt down. I used a huge bunch of kale and got practically nothing! Grr. Good thing kale is cheap.

I felt so hungry today for some reason. I ended up eating my lunch in pieces starting around 10:30. I also bought some hard boiled eggs and a cheese/cracker/grape snack thing from Au Bon Pain. Probably not totally necessary but not the worst decision I could have made. The smell of french fries in the food court allllmost did me in.

Today is supposed to be a rest day but since I took one on Wednesday I'm going to do some kinda workout. I really don't feel like running even though it's nice out. I think I'll do some sort of circuit instead. We'll see.

I went ahead and won tickets to Second Glass' Wine Riot tomorrow just to put another obstacle in the way of losing weight. But seriously, I'm so excited. I've wanted to go to this for the past few years and tickets are $50 each! The only downside is I was FINALLY going to do the Saturday dance class at noon but this thing starts at 1. Looks like I'm missing it again.

Soo0O0o0o0o0o happy it's Friday.

Have you seen my sharkskin laptop sleeve?

Every time I have a meeting with more than just one person, I cringe at that moment when everyone is going to trade business cards. I don't know why but I get so awkward and embarrassed! Like we all have each others email addresses already -- why are we handing out biz cards too? It's even worse when this happens at the beginning of a meeting instead of the end. At least then you can be like "let me just slip you my business card..." I just feel so ridiculous!

Last night I forgot I had something to do after work so I skipped my workout. No biggie, nothing wrong with an extra rest day in a week. Once I got home I got started on making this delishhh dinner: a pan fried turkey burger and sweet potato fries!


The sweet potato fries were soooo good! And sweet potatoes are so great for you -- I'm going to add these into my normal rotation of veggies.

I watched the 2 most recent episodes of New Girl while chowing down. Seriously, when did this show get so funny? In the beginning I only watched it because it would automatically come on hulu after Modern Family. I don't really like Jess' character still but love all the guys and Cece. I especially love Schmidt!!Lunch today was a repeat of the watermelon-feta-chicken salad, no picture necessary.

I have a new gym class tonight that I'm a little nervous about! Hopefully I'll survive.

Pickle Sandwich

Heyyo! This day flew by...can't believe it's 4:00 over here!

I had a meeting out of the office this morning from 9-11, so I didn't actually get here til about 11:30. I love having meetings outside of the office! Makes the day go so much faster.

Last night I went to zumba straight from work and it was AWESOME! I can't beleive I just said that! I'm starting to love the Tuesday night teacher and am so happy I stuck with her. I was pouring sweat from start to end and was too tired to run a mile after, so I didn't. Yay for sweaty zumba workouts!!

When I got home I made this buffalo chicken sandwich for dinner. I topped some grilled chicken with Frank's Red Hot sauce and bleu cheese dressing, added lettuce, tomato and pickles and served it between toast. A huge bowl of watermelon and strawberries, a couple of carrots and a few pickles peeking out in the back were my sides.

I watched the Biggest Loser while eating dinner and that episode was CRAZY!! I can't believe what happened. I don't want to say it here in case anyone reads this and watches the show.

**crickets**

Hah.

So back to today. There was breakfast being served at the meeting this morning (croissants and muffins) which I somehow managed to skip. Go me! Instead I munched on some fruit and some dry cereal. Later I saw a baby on the T eating dry cereal out of a sandwich bag. Breakfast of champions.

Lunch was this pickle sandwich:

I swear there is turkey under there! I also had some trail mix and a little cup of Dole's tropical fruit that came in my 5k SWAG bag. I can't remember the last time I had one of those.

Back to work...adios!

Productivity and a New Store in Southie!

Hello hello! I had a very productive night last night despite my inability to make decisions. I wanted to go food shopping straight from work, then have time to come home and unpack it, change and get to Pilates for 7:30. Public transportation was all screwed up from the marathon/holiday/Red Sox game so I ended up getting home later than expected. I decided to skip pilates and hit up the gym a bit earlier so I could make it to the grocery store before I fell asleep (my bedtime these days is around 10:30...)

I went to the gym and ran 2.5 miles on the treadmill, stationary biked it for about 20 minutes, then walked about a mile to the grocery store. I heard a rumor that there's a "Foodies" opening up in Southie right near my house. The amount of excitement I get from this is embarrassing. Here's what the website says about the store: We are your local, family-owned market proud to offer a great selection unsurpassed by even the biggest supermarkets - at competitive prices! Ahhhh I can't wait! The closest supermarket to my apartment is Stop and Shop which I really do not like. It's almost a mile and a half away (which isn't bad in the summer but can be brutal in the winter). This place will be right on my walk home from the T! YAY!

Anywayyy, I went to Stop and Shop after the gym and bought everything on my shopping list from the other day! Because I didn't get there at the right time I ended up eating dinner before the gym -- I had a frozen mac and cheese meal and a banana :-/, not what I was hoping for!

When I got home I did lots of prep. I cooked 3 chicken breasts, made lunch for today, cut up a whole watermelon and case of strawberries, and made up a bunch of mini trail mix bags.

Breakfast this morning was the usual: a bowl of cheerios with milk and a banana.

Lunch was this copycat salad: Grilled chicken, watermelon, cucumbers and feta cheese over a baby arugula mix with balsamic dressing. Yum!

I'm hitting up the gym straight from work tonight so packed an orange and some trail mix for a snack.

Have a great day!

Beer, Brunch and BAA 5k

This was a fun and busy weekend! On Friday I was so excited to be going into the weekend. I had a long week at work and was so looking forward to good friends and good weather.

When I got home from work I spent about an hour at the gym doing some cross training and getting in a nice stretch in the sauna. I ended up staying in on Friday night which my tired self definitely welcomed.

On Saturday morning I met up with some friends for brunch at Stephi's on Tremont. It was GORGEOUS out and we sat at a table right by a big open window. I ordered a goat cheese fritter and pear salad which was delicious.

After brunch we headed over to the Beer Summit at the Park Plaza Castle! We came prepared with some pretzels necklaces.

I ended up drinking wayy more than expected which unfortunately resulted in some drunk eating. I tried to go to bed pretty early because I had to be up around 6 am for the BAA 5k. TKO was running it too so we met up and took a cab over to Copley. Being at this race really made me remember how much I LOVE races. There were so many people and the race atmosphere is really like nothing else. It was an absolutely beautiful day and the course was gorgeous. We finished under the Boston Marathon finish line which was so cool! I really with I had my camera when I was running down Boylston and approaching that finish line.

I finished in under 37 minutes which was exciting, I guess. I was really hungover from the day before and obviously had a lack of training. The race definitely lit a bit of a fire in me -- I WANT to get back to my 10 min/mile pace.

After the race we had some bloody marys (my first!) then went to Cafeteria on Newbury Street for lunch. I ordered a pomegranate lemonade and a cobb salad that had grilled chicken, bacon, avocado, hard boiled eggs and bleu cheese. It was a really good salad!

I was so tired after brunch that I went home to take a nap instead of enjoying the beautiful day. Hopefully there will be more to come! TKO and I had dinner plans so I just laid around until it was time to go. We took the T into Harvard Square and went to Russell House Tavern. The restaurant had been on my bookmarks for a while now so I was excited to go.

We started with some Island Creek Oysters,

and then I ordered a walnut & fig salad and a ricotta-sausage pizza. I ate about half the pizza and took home the rest. It was soooo good.


TKO ordered this bloody steak.

After dinner we walked around a bit to enjoy the warm night. We stopped at LA Burdick's for some dessert and walked away with a few pieces of chocolate, including this adorable little mouse!

When we got home I passed out pretty immediately. I'm not ready for the work week!! I really wish I had taken today off to watch the marathon. I'm currently live streaming it at work. Just saw Josh Cassidy win the wheelchair portion and break the course record. I was tearing up over here!

Tonight I'm planning to go food shopping and go to a pilates class at the gym. I haven't done pilates in ages so we'll see how that goes!

Planning

This will be a post of planning:

MEALS
(I like to plan 5 meals for the week, so that two of the days -- usually weekends -- I can improvise)

Dinners:
1. Turkey burger with sweet potato wedges
2. Rigatoni with spinach, feta and chicken sausage
3. BLT (with turkey bacon) + sweet potato wedges
4. Eggs w/ turkey bacon and toast (breakfast for dinner!)
5. Buffalo chicken sandwich + carrots & celery

Lunches:
1. Turkey sandwich w/ fruit and trail mix - times 2
2. Salad (watermelon, cucumbers, feta, grilled chicken, balsamic)
3. Leftover pasta & chicken sausage
4. Buying lunch today

Shopping list:
- cucumbers (2)
- lettuce (spring mix)
- tomatoes (3)
- carrots (small package)
- celery (package)
- bananas (5)
- apples (3)
- watermelon (hopefully can carry!)
- sweet potatoes (2)
- spinach
- feta cheese
- eggs
- turkey bacon (take out few slices then freeze)
- chicken breasts (need 3 3 oz pieces)
- boar's head low sodium turkey (1/4 lb)
- watermelon
- balsamic dressing
- pickles (maybe)
- trail mix

WORKOUTS
I'm going to try a few new classes this week, so here's my plan:
Monday: Pilates @ 7:30 + 1 mi. run
Tuesday: Zumba @ 7:30 + 1 mi. run
Wednesday: Run/walk 5k
Thursday: Circuit Strength @ 6:30
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Dance @ 12:00
Sunday: Run/walk 5k

GOALS:
Run a full 5k by May 7th
Find a new fitness class that I enjoy (I've officially written of Thurs. night zumba)
Use up a portion of the meat in the freezer

Will update later with a recap of this weekend!

Eating Out & Losing Weight

If I haven't mentioned it yet I'm back in weight loss mode. How I got here, I have some idea, but it's really unfortunate. It's kind of sad that I was SO sure I had changed my habits for good. Whoever says habits form in 4 weeks is lying -- I practiced consistent healthy habits for close to two years and then suddenly, I just wasn't. Or not suddenly, over the course of the last 8 months or so.

Anyway, what happened last year or 5 years ago or whenever doesn't matter. What matters is now. So let's talk about now.

Lunch today was a yummy salad (which cost me $9..UGH. I cannot go another week without food shopping).


Spinach & mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, artichokes, roasted red peppers, pepperoni and mozzarella cheese.

So back to weight loss. There seems to be 3 main things I'm struggling with this time around:
1. Drinking water
2. Exercising more than once or twice a week
3. Making good choices when eating out

Let's focus on #3 today. It's really hard to be a foodie/restaurant connoisseur/elite yelper when you're trying to lose weight. For some reason eating out has been coming up so much more often than it used to. I think there's a few reasons for that: my friends all live further away so we get together to go out to dinner (rather than just hanging out at someone's apartment), I have a lot more work related dinner events, and TKO is a foodie and we love to go out to eat together.

So going out to eat...sometimes it's way easier than other times. For example, when I went to Stats a few weeks ago and got that amazing watermelon and feta salad. It was still a little painful to overlook the french fries and the buffalo chicken, but as soon as I took a bite I got over it. I love healthy food just as much as I love unhealthy food -- I need to remember that! Other times it's a lot more difficult. Last night my friends and I went to a pub near our school that we used to go to all the time. In the past I would have hands down ordered a buffalo chicken wrap. Last night I scoured the menu for so long searching for something to order besides a garden salad. I'm not kidding when I say there was NOTHING to order. I considered the chicken fajitas, but knew they could be dowsed in oil and would have had trouble avoiding the tortillas/cheese/sour cream/guac. With nothing else to choose I went with a small cup or clam chowder and a side salad without cheese. I was definitely full from the meal, but watching my friends eat wraps/fries was tough when I was eating something I didn't really want.

This is getting a little dramatic.

Anyway, here are the steps I'm planning on taking for the time being when it comes to eating out:
1. Voice my opinion about restaurant choice -- obviously things don't always go my way, but sometimes I can offer up a place that I know has healthy AND delicious options.
2. Look through the menu beforehand, CHOOSE SOMETHING (no matter how long that takes), and then stick with that.
3. Don't be afraid to ask for things -- I felt embarrassed saying "without cheese" last night but that was so dumb. I'm paying, I can have whatever I want!
4. Remember that it's just one meal, I will feel 100% times better than if I eat something unhealthy, and I won't even think about it the next day.

So that's the plan for now. I have 4 meals out to tackle this weekend so we'll see how I do!

Eating More Protein

I had mentioned last week or so that I really need to start incorporating more protein into my diet. Thanks to some brainstorming and some suggestions from my sister, I have a whole list ready! Here is what I came up with...

Protein Sources:
- turkey burgers (i haven't made these in so long but have a bunch in the fridge)
- tuna salad
- ground turkey/beef tacos/burritos/naked burritos
- shellfish/seafood (i have unopened bags of frozen shrimp, tilapia and calamari in the freezer)
- chicken sausages (have a few of these in the freezer)
- hard boiled eggs (eggs in general)
- turkey/regular bacon (for BLT's or breakfast)
- make a batch of plain shredded chicken in the crockpot, use it all week in salads, lettuce wraps, soups etc.
- buy cooked whole chicken from grocery store
- cold cuts from the deli (boars head low sodium turkey and chicken breast) - for sandwiches or snacks -- i love pickles wrapped in turkey!
- beans - for burritos, salads and soups
- nut butters (almond)
- hummus

When it comes to adding more protein (and eating healthy in general) it's all about prep and planning for me. It's not as easy for me to cook meat/boil eggs/cook beans etc. as it is to say, boil pasta or eat some bread. I used to meal plan for the week when I went food shopping but lately have been more or less winging it. Perhaps it's time to get back to that habit?

So this 5k is coming up on Sunday and I finally forced myself to run last night. I hadn't ran for a few weeks and have a variety of excuses that I'm not going to bother writing down. TKO let me borrow his KT Tape to see if it helped out my shin splints and I think it might have, although it might have just been all the rest I've had. I'm going to use the tape when I run tomorrow and on Sunday and then will have a true opinion.

Anyway, I hopped on the treadmill thinking I'd die after 2 minutes but surprised myself and ran 2 miles (slowly, ranging from 5-5.5 mph) and then walked/ran the last 1.1 miles. the whole thing took me about 38 minutes. It's pretty embarrassing that my 5k time is up by 8 minutes but what am I gonna do? Last night was definitely a reminder that I have to push myself if I want to get back into running shape. It's not going to come back by running a mile and then walking, I need to set a distance goal and keep going until I get there. The 10k I'm signed up for is on June 24th and I AM GOING TO BE ABLE TO RUN IT. I'm working on making up a training plan and will post it on here as soon as I get it together. I need the accountability.

Alright back to work!

Easter bunnies

Hellooo...I am exhausted today. This weekend flew by and was far too fast for my liking. On Friday I hopped on a plane to NY to go home for Easter. I got home around 8:30, grabbed some food, then went out for a night on the town with some friends. I had a lot of fun but drank way too many bud lights. Luckily I avoided 4 am Taco Bell, but it was a close one.

On Saturday I woke up bright and early and grabbed breakfast with a few of my girlfriends. Afterwards I went to the movies with my sisters to see the Hunger Games. The movie was great, but I don't really get all the hype. I read the Hunger Games (quickly) last year and was excited about the movie, but didn't rush to see it. The series doesn't compare to Harry Potter or even Twilight (which I'm not a fan of), and I just don't get the big deal. It's not like people read the first book and were anxiously awaiting the second and third. Every single person I know read all 3 books at once, in a matter of like two weeks. I don't know why this is annoying me but it just is lately.

After the movies we came home and had some chinese food for dinner. I ate wayyyy too much. Then we colored eggs! I love Easter and have missed it the past 2 years. Here's a before and after shot:



Next we made these adorable cupcakes. How cute are they!?


The next day started early with opening baskets and an egg hunt! There were 4 of us (ages 15, 23, 25 and 28 mind you) and it got pretty competitive! I did not win :(

We had the family over to my house and had some delicious food, which I forgot to take pictures of. I still feel full from this weekend.

I took an 11pm flight back to Boston and am now sitting at work like a zombie. I'm so tiredddddddd ah!!!

This short and quick weekend at home did not quench my homesickness. Even though Boston isn't THAT far from New York, it's still hard not being close to my family. It's really making me think about my future and where I want to be. I'm so torn. My little sister will be going to college soon and I feel like I've missed a lot. For now I'm just going to start making visiting home a priority. When I go home only for holidays I find that I struggle the whole time to balance between friends and family. If I just went home more often I wouldn't feel so desperate to squeeze everyone in. So that's that.

I have the B.A.A 5k this weekend and it's going to suck. I am going to a beer summit the day before and will probably be exhausted and hungover, great.

I'm quite the debbie downer today, lo siento.

April Showers

Hey there! I swear I just wrote Happy Friday and then deleted it. I am SO off in my days this week -- no clue why. But, Happy April! We all know what April showers bring!!! I can't wait for it to be really nice out! I've become such a pansy to the cold. On 55 degree days I'm wearing leggings, boots and my winter coat. I used to wear flip flops if it was over 35!

I've been feeling pretty under the weather this week but am definitely doing better today. My throat has been hurting a lot but with tons of fluids and sleep I think I'm on the up and up. Woohoo!

In other news, I'm onto book #10, Rena's Promise: Two Sisters in Auschwitz. I'm already a third through it. The story is really captivating and I truly enjoy reading anything to do with the Holocaust/World War II -- whether it be a textbook, a memoir, historical fiction. Anything. These stories and facts are so shocking but (I believe) so critical to read. It's hard to imagine these atrocities happening within this century, but important to remember that they did happen. If I needed more of a reason to buy the book, it was a kindle daily deal (which I am incapable of resisting) and has 5 stars on amazon (out of over 150 reviews).

My eats this week have been pretty great. I made a huge batch of pasta salad on Monday and have been eating it for lunch all week. Pasta salad just reminds me of summer, and this particular one reminds me of my family, so I never get sick of eating it!


As you can see there are tons of veggies in there. The ratio of pasta to veggies is like 1:4. I added in lots of cucumbers, olives, red peppers, artichokes, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, and snap peas. Yumm.

The other night for dinner I made some homemade healthy pizza. I topped two whole wheat tortillas with sauce, mushrooms, spinach, turkey pepperoni and cheese and popped them in the oven. I overcooked the cheese a bit but it was still good!


Last night I invited TKO over for dinner. I made us a healthified chicken parmesan with whole wheat spaghetti and a side salad. I spiced and herbed up some thin chicken breasts then cooked them in olive oil. I topped them with sauce and cheese, broiled them for a few minutes, done and done.


(That plate looks freakishly white)

I've been having a hard time getting protein into my diet lately, which is why I made the chicken last night. I have been trying to sneak some in with cheese, greek yogurt and hard boiled eggs but I would like to incorporate more. I'm just so sick of chicken! Maybe I will try to make some lamb. Do they even sell that in groceries? Apparently people eat that on Easter (we don't), so it must be somewhere. Hmmmmmm...

That's all for today, seeeeeya later!

Eatin' and Drinkin' through Burlington, VT

Let me start off this post by apologizing for the lack of pictures. I still don't feel comfortable taking pictures of my food/drinks in front of semi-strangers. Maybe one day. But for now, we'll all have to suffer through simply reading my words.

This weekend was so great!! While coming home from work on Friday I had a hankering for oysters, so I called my trusty oyster buddy (TKO) and requested a night out. We went to Island Creek Oyster Bar in Kenmore Square, which if you remember, is where I had my very first oyster!! Oh the memories.

We started off with some oysters, of course. We ordered 5 different types -- my favorites by far were the Island Creeks and the East Blonde Beach. For my entree I ordered the salmon, which came with mushrooms and peppers and served over ISraeli cous cous. It was fairly tasty.

TKO ordered the scallops in a chorizo hash.

I like ICOB but I think I'll mostly stick to oysters from now on.

On Saturday morning we woke up bright and early to visit some of TKO's friends in Burlington, VT. I was super excited because I've never been before, but didn't realize it was a 4 hour drive. Lucky for me (but not for TKO), I had dramamine to make the car ride more enjoyable. I am officially the worst road trip partner of all time.

We got to Waterbury, VT around 12:30 and met TKO's friends, Amanda and Andrew, at a great lunch spot, The Reservoir. They had a long beer menu so we of course started with some brews. For lunch I ordered the grilled chipotle chicken sandwich and TKO ordered this massive burger.


This thing came with an American flag sticking out of it -- only for serious Patriots, obviously.

After lunch we headed straight to the Ben and Jerry's factory for dessert! The tour was okay but the free ice cream at the end was what we were really there for! They gave us Milk and Cookies, which I've never had before. It was a great flavor! The factory was pretty fun but I especially liked the "flavor graveyard" they had.


After ice cream we headed to the Rock Art Brewery for some samples. Next we went to the Alchemist Cannery for some Heady Topper samples and Miss Pac Man!


We headed back to Amanda and Andrew's for a bit to rest before going into town. At about 7 or so we headed to Church Street. It was lit up so beautifully and really reminded me of Quincy Market! Shops and live musicians lined the streets and there were a ton of unique bars and restaurants.


Our first stop was Ake's Place, where Amanda's friend was showing her photography. It was an Africa exhibit which I of course loved. Next we went to the Farmhouse for some more beers. I was pretty drunk at this point and totally neglected my camera. The Farmhouse was such a cool spot. They had a great drink list, it was big and roomy, and didn't feel pretentious at all. Made me want to move to Burlington!!

We decided to hold off on dinner and ended up going to Leunig's Bistro for their late-night special -- $15 for soup/salad and an entree from 10-11! I drunkenly ordered the white bean soup and the steak frites (since when do I eat steak?). You could tell we were all hungry because as soon as the food came out there was silence at the table. It's so funny when that happens.

After our dinner we headed back to the apartment, watched some TV and called it a night.

In the morning we headed to Sneakers for breakfast. I ordered chocolate chip pancakes (again!! what has gotten into me!?) and smothered them in some VT maple syrup. Yum. The pancakes also came with scrambled eggs and some home fries. Deeelish. After breakfast we went over to the harbor to walk around a bit. It was a gloomy day but it was still beautiful. And on the other side of Lake Champlain is NY -- so cool!

This is ridiculous but I felt a little pang of homesickness looking at New York over the lake. I'm happy I'm going home next weekend.

We left VT around noon and I struggled to stay awake through the drive home and mostly failed. When I got home I slept more and then went to bed around 9:30. I'm like an infant with all this sleep!

And on that note, it's time for bed. Good night!