I wrote last week about mixing up my work out schedule and including a rest day or two because those might actually be important. Here’s what I’d anticipated it might look like:
Monday: Ashtanga/Iyengar Yoga Tuesday: Running + sit ups Wednesday: Running + sit ups + Ashtanga/Iyengar yoga Thursday: Running + sit ups Friday: Rest? Saturday: Vinyasa Sunday: Rest or Run?
But here’s what it actually ended up looking like:
With trips out to Long Island and Westchester this weekend, I ate tons of food so now I’m going to try to get back to health eating. Today I think I’m going to yoga and then I’m going to also run. Now where’s my Inspiralized cookbook…
I posted last week about changing up my fitness routine and I did. I stopped doing 30 minutes of the same thing three mornings a week and it’s been awesome.
Instead of 30 minutes on the elliptical, I’m now doing 20 minutes followed by 10 minutes of hand weights (is that what they’re called? I don’t know). I feel like the weights get my heart going faster than the elliptical. I miss out on that last 10 minutes of Morning Joe, but that’s okay. The news is crap anyways.
I also resolved to start doing my barre DVD (at least the arms part) regularly again – meaning 2-3 times per week. I’ve re-introduced crunches (on a medicine ball) into my routine too.
I cooked last night and have a bunch of food ready to eat so no more eating lunch at Dig Inn (because while it’s better than Schnippers, it can’t be all that good to eat regularly).
Remember: if you want to change your routine, you can. Just like that.
So, I’m wearing a black dress today (#newyorker) and it’s a little short. In fact it’s a little too short. I’m pretty sure I shrank this dress in the dryer a few months ago and haven’t worn it since.
But is it really shorter just because it shrunk or because of my winter weight that’s hanging on like an annoying toddler? I’m really trying not to stress the 5 pounds that I’ve gained in the winter months but the struggle is real. I’m eating lots of vegetables and really only snacking on pretzels (I know, processed, ugh). I think I need to eat out less and cook more.
When I “went out” (meaning I had some friends meet me at a neighborhood bar for wings, beer, and cake before being home by midnight) for my birthday last weekend, I had five beers. That’s usually 2-3 more beers that I’ll ingest in a weekend so maybe that’s the culprit for feeling shitty this week. Then there’s also shark week. So, yes, it’s probably a culmination of all of those.
Digression re: booze: I only really drink on the weekend and not that much like – 2 beers max. Sometimes I’ll go out and have one beer during the week. So I don’t think it’s my alcohol intake that’s making me feel gross.
Here’s what my eating usually looks like during the week:
Breakfast: Lately it’s been a pear/banana/almond milk/almond butter /spinachsmoothie or a packet of organic oatmeal with 1.5tbsp of creamy peanut butter and 1 tbsp of jam mixed into it, and coffee.
Snack: A Hershey’s chocolate nugget or a couple of pretzel sticks. And green tea.
Lunch: Veggies and protein from Dig Inn, or some spiralized vegetables in olive oil from home with some kind of cheese or protein, or today it was chicken schwarma in a pita.
Post Lunch: Coffee and/or green tea and usually a peanut butter cookie Larabar. And maybe veggie chips or more pretzels.
Dinner: Usually it’s a leftover rice dish, or spiralized veggie noodles, or Greek yogurt with frozen fruit in it.
Post Dinner: Tea and something chocolate.
I digress… BUT! the weather is finally nicer so I can start running outside again. I think the elliptical is getting a little monotonous in the mornings and I’m not sure how much effect it’s having on my health anymore.
I still downward dog regularly, duh.
I think I should go back to being super committed to the barre DVD that I have and do more than just the arms. I also want to use the actual weights in my gym. I don’t want to look muscular, but I know that weight lifting is super beneficial to burning calories efficiently and getting in shape, so why not?
That’s my minddump for the week. If you have any suggestions or where I’m going wrong with my food, leave a comment. Thank you for listening. 😉
Last year when I read Skin Cleanse by Adina Grigore, I kept track of everything I put in my mouth for three days straight. Not just that I ate a banana for a snack or pizza for lunch. I wrote down those three Reese’s Pieces and the two grapes that I consumed too. This was an attempt to figure out what made my digestive system feely shitty and probably wasn’t doing my skin any favors either.
Ever since I did that, I was acutely aware of when I was feeling bloated or just shitty after a meal in general. But did I write it down? Oh no. That would make way too much sense.
But now? I’ve decided to do it again. I created a document on my iPhone and I’m going to keep track of all the times when I’m feeling shitty after a meal and what exactly I ate before I started feeling that way.
This decision was made because I felt shitty after lunch today. I had homemade turkey chili on top of zucchini noodles, with a side of guacamole and five tortilla chips (weird, I know, but that’s what I ate) and a pomegranate seltzer. I’m very, very bloated now. I think it might be the seltzer, which blows because I love seltzer and we keep it in the office. It tastes better than water, but it’s not filled with sugar like soda is.
I’ve never done elimination from my diet before but I’m curious to see what I find out. If I can eliminate the foods that make me feel shitty it’ll be for the better (duh).
I’d encourage everyone to do this if you ever feel crappy after a meal.
Tonight’s dinner: Sautéed Inspiralized sweet potato and zucchini noodles, sautéed spinach leaves, chicken, and sundried tomatoes. And lots of pepper.
Last Wednesday, I typed ‘healthy’ into Yelp for a very specific range of streets in the West Village and one of the first choices to pop up was a casual dining place called By Chloe. I’d never heard of it before, but I’m always open to try to occasional vegan restaurant and Kristen, whom I was meeting to see Company XIV’s Snow White with later in the evening, is always down to be casually vegan, so off we went (or met, rather).
This place is obviously incredibly popular among the NYU crowd as the line was to the door when I got there and eventually it went out the door and down the street. I usually really enjoy myself at vegan restaurants if I don’t go too crazy (no fake cheese for me, thank you). I had the spicy Thai salad (it was ginormous) and a small side of butternut/something else soup. They were both delicious. They need to work on their portion control though.
Anyways, it was a really lovely meal and experience. I would maybe go back but not if the line is still out the door. 100% recommended for vegans and non-vegans who like eating vegetables.
I’ve read Skinny Bitch and it was compelling. I know how horrible the dairy industry is. I’ve watched Food Inc, and Forks Over Knives, and Food Matters (was that the name? I don’t remember). The truth is I never buy milk. If it’s in my fridge it’s because I needed it for one very specific recipe and now the rest of it is slowly going bad, or my boyfriend bought it because there’s only so many times he can stomach the coconut milk that I buy. I buy mozzarella occasionally, and eggs maybe once a month from a local place.
The truth is: I like eating meat. Especially chicken, and the occasional burger (I don’t actually like steak). And I also occasionally like dairy. Mozzarella is delicious and whipped cream makes the taste of coffee bearable.
I think the vegan dairy alternatives to cheese are just gross. And they’re also filled with a whole bunch of other shit that is unnecessary to be ingesting if you just eat a piece of natural fucking cheese. Here’s the ingredient list for Daiya dairy-free cheese: “Filtered Water, Tapioca Starch, Palm Fruit Oil, Expeller Pressed non GMO
Canola Oil and/or Expeller Pressed non GMO Safflower Oil, Coconut Oil,
Pea Protein Isolate, Natural Vegan Flavors, Vegetable Glycerine, Brown
Rice Syrup, Sea Salt, Yeast Extract, Xanthan Gum, Lactic Acid (Vegan,
for flavor), Annatto (for color) Carrageenan, Titanium Dioxide (a
naturally occurring mineral), Vegan Enzyme.”
What? Ew. Give me regular mozzarella cheese or give me death. So, while I totally enjoyed my experience at By Chloe, I’m not going vegan anytime soon.
I thought about doing a Dry January, but then we were at The Wayfarer and had a couple of cocktails, and then Angus, where I consumed one beer, and I decided against it.
I don’t drink often and when I do drink, I’ll have two – maybe three – beers, at most. I have zero tolerance. Unless, of course, I’m in my apartment having a birthday party and people are bringing wine over – then all bets are off (that happens when your bed is within 20 feet of where ever you might be standing). But that doesn’t happen very often. (I also like to eat my calories rather than drink them.)
I have no idea whether the concept of Dry January is actually offensive to people who are for-real sober, 24/7. It’s an interesting idea and one that I’ve never heard discussed before.
Instead of giving up the occasional beer, I’ll stick to having it… while going to the gym, doing yoga, and eating vegetables. It sounds like a good compromise.
I made this (with some minor alterations) last night for Justin and me while we were watching Master of None (so good, watch it now) and it was lovely. It was light and delicious. I probably only made half of the recipe but we both had hearty portions and there’s still one or two other portions leftover.
You basically chop up half of a white onion, some carrots (I used baby carrots because I didn’t have regular size ones), some garlic, and sauté them in olive oil. After five or so minutes, you add some tomato sauce and some chopped tomatoes, let that sizzle. Then you add water and lentils and let it all sauté for about 20 minutes (make the pasta while you’re waiting). I added two dashes of cane sugar, a teaspoon of salt, and lots of pepper (I love lots of pepper on anything).
I threw the last of some mozzarella that I had one it and voilà: dinner. Lots of protein and relatively healthy. Could’ve used more vegetables though, I won’t lie.
I think my stomach is still trying to work through the crap that I put in my body on Sunday (1 liter of beer + pizza) and Monday (I was forced [not really] to try a Chik-fil-A sandwich).
I feel bloated and gross, and even though I went to an ass kicking yoga class tonight I’m not really all that hungry.
I tried to clean it up today: I had Trader Joe’s pumpkin O’s with skim milk for breakfast today, kale salad + chicken + about 4 tortilla chips + ½ cup guacamole + charred cauliflower for lunch, and an apple and a tablespoon of peanut butter for a snack. I’m deciding to have Ezekiel toast with ¼ avocado + lemon juice + pepper flakes for dinner.
Fuck it. I’m just doing the elliptical tomorrow morning.
That Girl Allison 