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Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Pausing the Party

As always, I partied a little too hard this past weekend, but in my defense it was my last weekend preceding a work-less week for the rest of my entire life!  Work officially starts this coming Monday, and it's work training so it will be even more brutal than actual work.  So after a wild weekend of clubbing Sat night and day drinking the NYC marathon on Sunday (lol) it's time to pause the party for a hot sec

So I'm going to try really hard to take it easy this weekend in preparation for the real world, and guess what? Real people make real meals, so I give you the dinner that I prepared for myself on this lovely hump day evening.

Sauteed yellow bell peppers and sweet onions with black pepper and cumin:

PLOPPED those on top of a whole grain sprouted Ezekiel Tortilla that was slathered in Amy's refried beans:
Topped off with some Daiya aka really good vegan cheddar cheese!

So that recipe was stolen from my favorite food blogger: The Fitnessista, and not only did I make her recipe, but I also did not one, but TWO of her workouts today!  And am in the mood for some dessert so will probably go to her blog right now to find something sweet to make!

Peace out partiers, and am telling the world to have a CRAZY weekend for me while I rest up before the first day of the rest of my life.......





Monday, October 25, 2010

Falling off the Wagon

Everyone "falls off the wagon" and I definitely did this past summer/these past few months.  I started only practicing yoga (which is amazing for my spirituality and strength) but it resulted in a huge decrease in cardio, which is essential for burning fat.  I also have been eating way more calories than I need.  So I'm writing this post to help me get the f*** back on the weight loss/healthy/exercise wagon.

I'm going back to eating high-protein mini-meals.  This worked fabulously for me so why I ever decided to stop is ludicrous (will definitely post this regime in the near future).  I like having a plan.  Which brings me to working out, my work out schedule will start looking more like this (when I start my job there will be changes):

*MILL = treadmill

Monday- 45 min-1hr of cardio (predominantly running on the MILL)

Tuesday- 30 min speed interval MILL run + night yoga class

Wednesday- Kristen's intense yoga class + easy 20/30 min MILL (this will turn into a cardio+strength training day once i start working, which sucks because i'm obsessed with Kristen's class)

Thursday- same as monday (cardio day)

Friday- 30 min cardio + total body strength training

Saturday- either Loryn's EXTREMELY TOUGH 8 am yoga class OR cardio day

Sunday- active recovery- do a short/easy yoga podcast/walk on the MILL for a little

Since I haven't strength trained in awhile (even though yoga really is strength training in my book) I'm going to start with one day per week (Fri) to get back into it, and then when I become a real person in 3 weeks, I'll up it to 2 days (Wed and Fri).

It really helps to write out a plan for yourself, which is why I'm posting this.  Now I have a tentative eating and work out plan scheduled out for me which I can change at any time!  I also would like to post about treats (aka alcohol) but for now this is a good start to my climb back onto the wagon.

Not to contradict everything I just said buttttt can't wait to PARTY for halloween this weekend!!!!

xx,
Party Girl

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

What's Your Number?

Some food for thought....

Every single girl in their college years/early 20s has a forbidden "number."  If you're above a certain range you're subsequently coined a slut or will have rumors spread about you.  Either way, as "slutty" as this may sound, I think that this secretive number that we all have is analogous with the number we see on a scale/the number of our pant size....IT DOESN'T MATTER!!!!!!

The number of men you have slept with is as trivial as the number you see on the scale.  What's most important is how you feel about yourself.  If you have sex with a different guy every night, aren't safe, enjoy the slutty "image" but always feel shitty about yourself then maybe you should rethink your sexual decisions.  Same thing goes on the other hand, if you are stick skinny, look like the airbrushed models in magazines, but starve yourself and rely on drugs/unhealthy methods for weight loss and thus always feel shitty/cranky/hungry then maybe you should rethink your nutritional decisions.

On a more positive note: if you have had some one night stands and random hook ups in your wildest days, yet have been completely safe and do not regret these decisions than Jay-Z says it best: "LADIES IS PIMPS TOO, go brush yo' shoulders off"  And if you love the way you look and love your body, then honestly, who cares what the scale reads/what number pant size you are?

A healthy mind is the only way to achieve a healthy body.

I am finally getting back into blogging and will continue my normal nutrition/fitness posts ASAP, just thought this little analogy is important for girls in my age-range to keep in mind these days...

PS- the new blog name is more fitting for me these days ;)  I'm still toying with some other titles, but until then this will suffice.  Who says you can't be healthy and party hard at the same time? Isn't that what being a 22 year old single girl is about anyway? :)  

Party on!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Vegan Fro Yo

I used to eat fro yo every single day, so obviously i crave it once in awhile.  I've made banana soft serve (blended frozen banana) before but was never obsessed with it because i'm not a huge fan of banana-flavored things, so i jazzed it up a bit:

-frozen banana
-unsweetened vanilla almond milk
-amazing grass chocolate protein powder

all thrown into my pseudo magic bullet to create this delicious cup of vegan frozen  yogurt:

topped with raw cacao nibs! it was soooo delicious!

For dinner, i made the portobello mushroom burger from the vegan cookbook: The Urban Vegan.  Since i didn't have any whole wheat buns on hand, i had some whole wheat pasta and a chick pea salad, the chick pea salad went like this:

-chick peas
-red bell peppers (cut into tiny pieces)
-fresh salsa

With the portobello mushroom burgers:




This morning i did day 1, week 1 of The Fitnessista's Summer Shape Up Plan, i really enjoyed it! I needed to switch up my work outs a bit so i'm going to try and follow this plan as best i can for a bit!

Also, i forgot to add Alright by Pitbull to the spin work out playlist, that's a really really good one too! 

PEACE OUT

Friday, June 11, 2010

Would I be out of line, if I said........I miss you

Wow haven't written in this thing in FOREVER.  The end of college hit me hard, with finals/senior week/doing everything "one last time" kept me really busy and, of course, sad.  I really missed writing this blog even though only like 3 people read it lol. So i'm back, as a college graduate! And guess what, i'm walking again! i'm almost completely healed and should be cleared to start running again in about a week or 2.  In the meantime i've re-acquainted myself with the elliptical and SPIN BIKE...seriously i cannot believe i survived 3 months without sweaty cardio.  I'm actually going to be biking 20 miles for the burn unit for a hospital nearby on Sunday with my Dad and have already registered for a 5k race in July.  I'm tellin' ya being crippled for 3 months really makes me motivated to take advantage of the ability to be active! So today i want to show some pictures of my latest creations and talk about an awesome spin work out that i completely made up.

So far i have successfully made: vegan overnight oats, raw vegan macaroons (without a dehydrator!), black bean burger, and vegan chocolate mousse.  there are so many more recipes that i can't wait to try! click the links to try them out for yourself (i think i've made about 4 black bean burgers in the past 2 weeks)

foodography:

vegan overnight oats w/nature's path gluten-free rice crisps and raw cacao nibs:










black bean burger:










raw vegan macaroon (this picture came out kinda weird but i swear it's delicious:










More to come!! one of my best friend's mom bought me a vegan cookbook called "The Urban Vegan" so i'm gonna try out some of those recipes ASAP, and post about it, of course.

OK so for the SPIN WORK OUT, pick a song and every time the chorus hits, up the resistance to support your body weight and do 8 seconds of jumps (8 seconds up in position 3, and 8 seconds sitting in position 1 or 2 but WITH THE RESISTANCE KEPT UP) i do about 3 sets of 8 second jumps then do about 2 sets of 4 second jumps, some GREAT songs for this are:

More - Usher
Somebody to Love - Justin Beiber
OMG - Usher
Pass Out - Chris Brown

You really can improvise, but the schedule of doing jumps for the chorus, fast medium resistance for the verses, and doing something crazy for the bridge (high resistance sitting, or position 3 the whole time) is really fun and INTENSE!

That's all for now, time to go buy some biking gear for the 20 miler on Sunday :)

-Jocey

Friday, April 16, 2010

Need Caffeine in your Bloodstream?

Today I'm going to talk about how to successfully ween (spelling?) yourself off coffee.  But before i do that i NEED to discuss TWO AMAZING INGREDIENTS:

1) GROUND FLAX SEED!!!! Lately, for breakfast i've been having a bowl of frozen strawberries, nonfat plain greek yogurt and GROUND FLAX SEED, you buy flax seed already ground and it LEGIT tastes like bread crumbs.  I just put it on my oatmeal this morning too.  So you're basically eating bread crumbs but getting in omega-3s while you're at it! Seeds are really healthy so go buy some.

2) organic mustard (not yellow mustard though just regular) I put it on my grilled vegetables the other night and now put it in my salads! It adds so much flavor

Anyway, a few months ago i decided to stop drinking coffee.  I always had 1 cup every single morning since high school and didn't like being so physically dependent on something anymore.  Also, it kinda screwed with my digestion.  I was obviously petrified of withdrawal symptoms so i did some research (aka googled it) and found a method that was pretty painless.  I was only slightly fatigued towards the very end of the process but not for more than a few days.  Click here for specific directions on how to do it, but here's the basic idea:

  • cut your daily intake in half every 5 days for two weeks
  • i wrote out days 1 - 14 on a notecard and circled the days i'd be cutting it down
  • i drew lines on my mug (lol) 
I have recently been drinking decaf green tea on occasion for a little boost, but other than that i am no longer dependent on caffeine what-so-ever and i'm really enjoying it! So give it a try if you want!

good song: Sam Adams - Driving Me Crazy

Friday, April 9, 2010

Healthy Cookie for Brekky

- the aussies call breakfast "brekky"

The Fitnessista's breakfast cookie is such a good reason to get out of bed:

(instructions for how to make this - click the breakfast cookie link i just posted)
the ingredients i used:
-steel but oats
-apple sauce 
-unsweetened almond milk
-raw almond butter
-vanilla hemp protein powder
-sea salt
-cacao nibs!

The best part about making a brekky cookie is that you prepare it the night before, so it's waiting for you the next morning!  After eating this i crutched to the gym for a ballin' legless swim workout.  Swimming without legs really works my arms and back (still sore from the first swim), but my senior ball dress was enough motivation to keep me going for 50 minutes. 

Can't wait to make a healthy dinner with my friend Sumaya tonight, she has an actual kitchen so I'm really excited!

Check out this blogger's post about: 3 aerobic myths...so interesting!

current music: anything Chris Brown

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Boyfriend #2

"If you gotta man with a buddy on the side say yeaaaaahhh" (madi- you're definitely the only one who appreciated that)

Well it's true, while me and my boyfriend the treadmill are on a break i'm spending some quality time the bosu:

I would usually do weights today but i swam yesterday!!!!! I used a flotation thing and swam with only my arms for 45 minutes.  It was so amazing, and i plan to swim every other day now because swimming is a great way to train for running.  However, my arms and back are extremelyyyyy sore so today i chilled with my other boyfriend, the bosu. We did abs. 

Here is what my weekly workout schedule looked like pre-crutches:

Day 1: half hour cardio (treadmill), chest/shoulders/triceps weight routine, and an ab routine
Day 2: 1 hour of cardio (40 min treadmill, 10 elliptical, 10 bike- usually)
Day 3: half hour cardio (treadmill), back/biceps weight routine, and an ab routine
Day 4: 1 hour of cardio (usually the same as day 2 but varies)
Day 5: half hour cardio (treadmill), biceps/triceps/legs, and an ab routine 
Day 6: 1 hour of cardio 
Day 7: active recovery- tried not to lay in bed all day 

Obviously some weeks i was more motivated than others, we're all human, but this routine is posted up on my wall and kept me on track for the most part.  With the weight routines i ALWAYS wrote them out on a small notecard the night before (i switched the routines up a lot) but bringing the notecard to the weight room motivated me to complete everything, so if you're weight training i HIGHLY recommend doing this.  Also, on weight days if i had time i'd do a 5-10 minute cool down on the bike or elliptical. 

I honestly believe that this workout schedule put me in the best shape i've ever been in.  My last run (the one i broke my foot during) was the best run i've ever had, and before that i'd barely run outside anyway, so my work out routine was clearly doing something.

For more tips on planning work outs, etc, leave a comment or email me!  Also, i found that listening to music while weight training makes it go by a lot faster.  I'm a huge cardio person so weight training has always been kind of tedious for me, but with music and a schedule written out it always goes much more smoothly.

Well it's basically bikini weather so get out a notecard and do it up.  Peace.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Salad x2

After some pineapple and a bottle of Kombucha for breakfast, I did this tricep/chest/shoulder weight work out: (not listing poundage because it varies for each)

tricep extension - 2 sets, 10 reps
shoulder press - 3 sets, 12 reps
chest press - 3 sets, 12 reps
another shoulder exercise that i don't know the name for/can't find on youtube - 3 sets, 12 reps
chest flies - 3 sets, 12 reps
tricep dips  (with straight legs b/c that's harder) - 3 sets, 12 reps

Needed some legit protein after that so I had a protein berry smoothie, Gena's recipe (made in the psuedo magic bullet, with Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer instead of hemp protein) so filling, so good.


After class, lunch was a quick and simple salad with spring mix, celery, carrots, bell pepper, and STRING BEANS- definitely a new salad ingredient favorite, sprinkled with nutritional yeast and a tablespoon of lite all natural blush wine vinaigrette.  

While crutching home from class a truck driver stuck his head out his window and yelled "I'LL RACE YA!" - reactions to being a cripple just get better and better each day haha.  

I then forced myself to eat dairy strictly for calcium reasons for the healing bone: non-fat plain greek yogurt with frozen raspberries:




Dinner before night class was the same salad as lunch but with GARLIC HUMMUS!!!! 2 tablespoons mixed throughout the entire salad makes for the best salad dressing ever, unless you're weird like my sister and don't like hummus, GO DO THIS TO YOUR SALAD.  Mixing hummus throughout a salad is the only reason I started liking salads in the first place.  It's hard to believe that a little over a year ago I wouldn't even consider a salad as a meal, if you feel that way now, then go buy some hummus right now (no excuses- wegmans, giant and weis are open 24 hours- the only good thing about PA basically) And apparently hummus is supposed to be pronounced "hooo-moooos" i stand corrected.

Dessert after night class was squash w/cinnamon, because for some reason I was in the mood:











My meals from now on won't be as creative since I'm back at school sans juicer with a sorry excuse of a kitchen (hence, 2 very similar salads in one day)  Also, I really wanted/should have added a protein to my dinner salad but I didn't have time to before class.  This is probably why I'm hungry right now, so lesson learned: don't underestimate the importance of protein.

Love,

The Accountant

Throwback joint of the day: Fu-Gee-La by The Fugees

College Kid Meals

Back at school = less creative meals.  Last night, after getting settled back into our apartment (which barely has a kitchen) I had a one of my standard "i don't feel like making a huge salad" dinners when I have hw to do:

Finally tried my very first Sunshine Burger!  These have a lot of fat BUT the ingredients are soooo simple, the taste is insane, annddd they're filling.  I ate it over a salad with nutritional yeast, (i usually always use "nooch" but i forgot to bring it home for break)  It's this cheesy protein stuff which is good for vegetarians because it has a lot of B vitamins.  I really like it, and pretty much sprinkle it on everything but it might be an acquired taste:


Time to study and fit in a weight routine somewhere, I'll definitely post it later, it'll be- triceps, chest and shoulders.

Later

PS- check out one of my favorite blogs today, Gina of The Fitnessista, discusses stress


Monday, April 5, 2010

ABsolutely Delicious

After my morning green juice (pear, apple, celery, spring mix, cuke) i did this ab routine while my sister posted on this blog about bomb clothes:
I'm going back to school today which means I can get back to weight-lifting (didn't bring my weights home for break) Once I figure out how to post a video I'll be posting some weight exercises.  Also, I got the OK from the doc (aka papa Berks) to begin swimming carefully! 

Lunch was this huge-ass "wrap":










Close Up:
Wrapping it up didn't go over so well, so I just ate it with a fork.  However, next time I'll make smaller little wraps out of the leaf so that it works better!  Ingredients in this are:
  • Chard leaf
  • red bell pepper
  • 2 large carrots
  • 1 large celery stalk 
  • butternut squash! (this really added a lot of flavor to the bland veggies, buy the pre-cut ones and throw 'em in the microwave)  my mom baked these last night for me though, they taste great cold from the fridge!
  • scattered a few chickpeas on this for some protein
  • fresh salsa, for those of you who don't know what fresh salsa is, here's a picture:
I like it better because it's not so "saucy" like regular salsa is.  And it has onions in it which i love in salads.  They also make mango fresh salsa which is so good!


I topped that all off with the vanilla kreme raw/vegan macaroon from pure2raw.  It's just SO hard to believe that this junk-food tasting cookie is actually healthy and made up of plant-based ingredients: 
  • dates
  • coconut flakes
  • coconut oil,
  • vanilla
  • maca
  • stevia (natural form of splenda)
  • sea salt
Now i gotta get ready to get DRIVEN back to school, ugh.  I miss driving so much, especially in this weather with the windows down.  It's so liberating to cruise on the highway while listening to a perfect "driving song"  

So for those of you who are cruisin' today, here is a driving song recommendation from yours truly:  Travie McCoy feat. Bruno Mars - Billionaire



I'VE GOT CHILLS, THEY'RE MULTIPLYING

Yes, I'm bringing back the body suit....





















Wear those on the bottom




















Get jealous looks....














AND STARE RIGHT BACK....



















In real life, wear the pants with this....


























Asos.com bodysuit $13




Topshop Crop $28


Post a comment for additional information on anything you see here  


XOXO
Rachel, the accountants sister 




Sunday, April 4, 2010

How Does Your Garden Growwwwww? (that's a song right?)

Not only is the Whole Foods in wo-town huge, but it also plays great music!  Dad and I partied hard at the salad bar:











From what i remember this had: tempeh, sea veggies, vegan tuna (the bean stuff, no oil), raw cole slaw, lentils, barley (which makes an appearance at dinner too)...and the brocolli/spinach/onions/borings stuff's buried at the bottom somewhere.  Fun fact: put your dressing on the side and you won't have to pay for the extra weight!

I also drank an unpictured Honest Kombucha,  I'm not going to post about Kombucha yet because of it's controversy, but if you're interested shoot me an email/comment!

It's really important to eat slowly so that you can feel yourself getting full, and thus stop eating when you're full.  If you speed through your meal your body won't have the chance to realize you're actually eating, you'll get full super-fast and end up being hungry again muuuuch sooner.  But UGH not everyone's perfect, that salad was so exciting with all the weird ingredients that I ate it a little too fast.  Eating slowly is another thing that takes practice.

Grocery therapy:
(maybe i should brake my foot more often??)
No, in all seriousness, there's no price for good nutrition as you will benefit greatly in the long run.  However, I definitely do not buy all organic EVER and these fun Whole Foods splurges come around once in awhile.  I'm the type of girl who'd rather spend money on healthy, tasteful foods, other girls spend money on weekly spa-treatments (refer to my gross nails in the pictures) so, to each their own

Then came gardening.  Starting a garden is a fun project to look forward to this summer so that i can have fresh, cheap, organic produce right in my backyard, just hope i can keep my dog out:



We planted cukes and chard (chard=big leaf things that are great for veggie wraps)  The leftover dry "stuff" from my morning juice is great compost, according to Martha Stuart who is my mom's idol. So we put that down in the soil too!

Dinner was no-hormone/preservative/disgusting chemical-injected salmon, with barley and steamed veggies.  Yes, I'm a vegetarian, but right now i'm in the process of becoming vegan, so i eat fish once or twice a week...small steps does the trick!  Measured 3 oz of salmon on my new electronic food scale:



(subtracted the weight of the plate, ob)

Complete meal: steamed kale and zucchini, 1/2 cup of barley, salmon w/Mrs's Dash seasoning:


Barley = a really healthy grain, can be bought anywhere but if you buy it in bulk (those big dispenser things) at whole foods it's really inexpensive!

Oh, and when i do not have a salad as a meal, i usually begin the meal with a small salad anyway, just to get some raw veggies in (uncooked veggies retain more nutrients than cooked ones do):

 
Spring mix as the lettuce base, 1/2 of a big carrot (ate the other half plain), red bell pepper, celery and the standard annie's lite gingery dressing

So there are a lot of things to look forward to in this blog-

-Sister's FASHION post, my sister honestly has the best style, whenever i get complimented on something i'm wearing, my response is always "thanks, it's my sister's" this way, i can write about feeling good from within and she'll write about feeling good on the outside! Stay tuned!

-Calorie Counting and Weight Watchers posts from friends who have successfully lost weight from these methods

-And moooore, so let's hope this thing grows....along with my garden..... 

Hunger Pains?

Ugh another late morning, I think that tea kept me up last night since it has cacao nibs in it.  But anyway, I started today with another juice!

Before:                                                                               








After:


I'm really gonna miss my juicer when I have to go back to school tomorrow.  Anyway, after drinking this , I realized, wait, I wasn't even hungry!  Another important tip i learned from the book, Skinny Bitch, is to wait until you're actually hungry to eat.  I woke up today excited to add wheat grass to my juice that i didn't even think about whether or not i was hungry.  It's very important to only eat (or drink, in my case haha) when you're hungry throughout the entire day, and it's especially important in the mornings because if you're not hungry, that means your body isn't done cleaning, and if it's not done cleaning while you give it more stuff to clean up, it'll stop cleaning what it was originally cleaning and pretend it'll get back to it...but you guessed it, it doesn't, and where do you think it's stored? For me, probably my muffin top....get the idea?

It's sometimes hard to distinguish whether or not you're legit hungry or if you just want to eat because it's "time" or you're "bored" or "everyone else is eating"  it takes practice, i DEFINITELY haven't mastered this yet, but it's something i've been working at and you all should too!

Tip of the day: Listen to your body!!!!! If you wake up and you aren't hungry right away, have a glass of organic tea, stalk everyone you know on facebook, and then ask yourself, do you feel hungry?

Time to shower on my old lady shower stool then off to Whole Foods (finally!) for lunch and grocery therapy

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Retail Therapy

So, ab-work today was: Polly's yoga for yummy abs - i did this 3 times, i really enjoyed these exercises! they were completely different from anything i've ever done before and i really felt the burn (especially the 3rd time) i probably shoulda pushed myself to do some more but bloomingdales was waiting for me to try on dresses for senior ball. Lunch was this salad: 
















Spinach, cherry tomatoes, fresh salsa, red bell pepper, baby carrots, cukes, and lite annie's gingery dressing.  I usually have some sort of healthy fat (avocados/hummus) and protein (veggie burger, tofu, beans) in my salads but lately i haven't had as big of an appetite since i'm not working out hardcore w/the broken paw.  Nonetheless, this salad was delicious and to top it off i had the chocolate kreme raw/vegan macaroon from pure2raw topped with Maranatha Almond Butter (totally copied The Fitnessista's AB hat!)
Such a decadent way to top off my lunch! I washed that down with a glass of lite vanilla silk soy milk, i highly prefer almond milk as my non-dairy milk alternative, but i ran out and i need to keep up the calcium intake to heal this bone!

No work for mom + retail therapy = a BOMB dress for ball (!) just gotta be a Bella Swan (holllllaaa Twilight fans) and rock a boot with it unfortunately...hopefully my date doesn't mind haha.  I also bought some seeds to plant for the garden i'm starting.  I love organic everything so I might as well grow my own, it's also a fun project to look forward to this summer when I'm walking again.  We're going to plant the seeds tomorrow, we got chard, carrots, peppers, sugar snap peas, and i forget what else, hopefully they grow, i have ZERO gardening experience so i'm going to do some research after this post- another thing to get my mind off of my foot.  Crutching around bloomies and home depot worked up an appetite! Luckily i always come prepared as i'm known for being very cranky when i'm hungry:

I'm not sure if they sell these at Whole Foods, but they have them by my school in Allentown, PA at Wegmans.  Unfortunately Whole Foods was a no-go today because we ran out of time, but tomorrow I'm going to see if they have these (don't worry, i called already and they're definitely open on easter!)  So somewhere in between gardening, a POSSIBLE swim trip (!!!!!) with dad we'll be hitting up the WF in wo-town (west orange) for some groceries and lunch since they have a salad bar there (the one in montclair is much smaller and doesn't....lame)

Dinner was at the new location of Veggie Heaven in Denville, NJ.  It was PHENOMENAL, all northern NJ people neeeeed to go there.  I also spotted some sort of organic/energy/juice bar type place while driving through Denville, so I'm definitely going to be hitting that up when I'm back in NJ after graduating in May!  Snap happy:

MORE JUICE!!!!! this had apple, celery, spinach, and beet (i'm not even kidding, this drink made me so giddy, maybe it'll get me to stop drinking alcohol...............ha, i dream big):



Appetizer: Spare Ribs (made of Gluten)...me and my mom ALWAYS get these



The Main Event: veggie chicken lettuce wraps, this had- edamame, tofu, walnuts, apples, and peppers...i'm definitely re-creating this meal ASAP (obviously had to make this picture big)



 In the lettuce wrap:








The growing wheat grass they sold caught my eye on the way out of dinner, looks like I'll be having another green juice tomorrow morning with some of this:
Today was so much fun, hanging out with my mom was a blast and now I have even more things to look forward to- veggie heaven in denville, my senior ball dress, gardening, and I'll definitely think of more since if I'm not out being driven around by someone I'm pretty much researching nutrition, ob (ob=obviously....can't stand "obv")

Now I'm going to catch up on reading some other food blogs and research gardening for tomorrow! All while enjoying a glass of tea from My Tea Shelf (i got the Cocoda) Yea and if you haven't noticed, not being able to drive has resulted in a huge online shopping addiction.....not really sure how long the "i have a broken foot so i deserve it" justification is gonna fly with mama and papa Berks, but i'll push it for as long as i can ;) 

PEACE OUT


Jocey's Juicin'

So I successfully made my very first green juice with the Breville juicer i just bought.  I chose this brand because not only did my friend highly recommend it to me, but so did Gena from Choosing Raw, and i follow her blog quite religiously.  So i got a late start today unfortunately, but there's absolutely no BAD time to drink a 100% raw, living, green juice.  The health benefits of adding fresh juices into your diet are non-negotiable.  Juicing is a great way to get in a large serving of veggies without roughage to your digestive system and also, juicing extracts all of the nutrients out of the plant for you, so you're pretty much drinking straight nutrients. The list goes on, but this blog is about simplicity, i take the millions of blogs i read from various nutrition counselors, extract out the heavy stuff, and give you the juice....

Ingredients:
-2 small apples
-1 very generous handful of baby spinach
-1 small stalk of kale
-1 cuke

I thoroughly enjoyed it, but next time i think i'll substitute a pear or papaya for 1 of the apples...it could've been sweeter for my liking, but look at what the juicer turned all of those ingredients into:

And that stuff's completely dry! So after a few strawberries my breakfast..lunch(?) was completely raw, alive and filling.  I will be explaining my food philosophy with regard to raw/vegan/vegetarian/pescetarian -ism soon but i would like to make that a separate tab on my blog so first i have to figure out how to do that/if it's even possible!  Now i'm off to do some ab-work, my weights are at school so i'm stuck doing my least favorite exercise (hate doing abs)....i swear i'm burning this boot and crutches the second i'm done with them!  I'll be back later after a trip to whole foods (hopefully) and maybe with a dress for my senior ball????

Friday, April 2, 2010

Broken Foot + Easter Break = Getting Serious About Blogging

So, I broke my foot about 4 weeks ago. Life hasn't been great but after weeks of moping, I'm officially getting serious about this blog. I think it'll really help me keep track of my recovery, eating habits, and everything else! I also am very passionate about sharing everything i've learned about nutrition and weight loss with everyone, and since i've learned most of this information from food blogs, why not start one of my own? I don't know much about blogging so hopefully i can figure out how to jazz this up more soon. Anyway, let's go through some of today's eats since I received some fun packages in the mail!!

Breakfast: fruit salad that consisted of 2 small apples and 6 large strawberries, chopped into small pieces- I've been having plain fruit for breakfast because I'm no longer running 4 miles right after eating breakfast (UNFORTUNATELY) Also, Skinny Bitch (the book) taught me that fruit on an empty stomach in the morning cleanses your body! I also learned a lot more from this book about factory farming and nutrition so I highly recommend it to those who are considering the vegetarian lifestyle.

Lunch: this weather + fresh veggies = huge refreshing salad: red bell pepper, cukes (cucumbers), baby carrots (probably going to turn orange soon), annie's lite ginger dressing, FRESH salsa, oh yeah and spinach as the base of course- sorry I don't have a picture, but variations of this salad is a staple in my life so i'll probably post one tomorrow along with a recipe.

I then experienced my first RAW/VEGAN macaroon, thanks to the twins of pure2raw!!















It was DELICIOUSSSS, and I ate it guilt-free since it's raw and plant-based! (I also ate one of the chocolate ones...had to taste-test them both of course) once i purchase my dehydrator i will definitely be making a bunch of those, but until then, pure2raw will be getting more business from me, especially because they gave me two free samples of flatbreads: cinnamon date and onion-free spinach. the cinnamon date was amazing:
(Saving the spinach one for tomorrow)

Dinner: I'm so excited to use one of the new appliances that came in the mail- a spiralizer! This is Gena's (from Choosing Raw) recipe for zucchini marinara.


It came out great...however i didn't have oregano, thyme, or stevia for the sauce so it was a little tasteless, but i'm new to this so hopefully after some ingredient experimentation i'll have it down. I highly recommend investing in a spiralizer, it's a great and healthy way to satisfy your pasta craving.

That's all for now, I'll be back tomorrow hopefully with a fresh pressed fruit juice for breakfast (bought a juicer today!)

song of the day: Drnk Txt Rmeo - Gym Class Heroes




Friday, January 15, 2010

Finally Entering The Blog World!

Hi everyone!

This is my first post ever! I read SO many nutrition blogs so I figured I'd start my own. I'll start posting some recipes and (maybe) workouts ASAP....I only say maybe to workouts because the workouts I do are mostly stolen from other blogs, but we'll see! Since I'm only 22 and still in college, my recipes will cater towards the busier people who are like me and barely use kitchen appliances besides a vegetable knife, stove, microwave and occasional blender. I'm excited to document my lifestyle because I feel like it'll help me remain driven in my quest for a more healthy lifestyle.