Ok, so let’s start this post again by saying that I really missed you guys. Did you miss me? Thank you for sticking around with me these past few weeks (I loved reading every comment – reminded me I have a life outside of work too!). It was rough (if you couldn’t tell already) but yeah, it’s all good now. Insert happy dance here. Is there a special smiley face for that? I think the world needs one.

All right, silliness aside, I do have a serious question for you. But first…

BREAKFAST

2 ww waffles with Barney Butter, 2% greek yogurt and fresh blueberries

MID-MORNING SNACK

I went to the kitchen to grab some cottage cheese and dates and ran across some amazingly delicious looking brownies. So I had a brownie instead. No picture. That’s my dessert for the day

LUNCH

Iggy’s tomato mozzarella baguette sandwich. This is a reused photo (I originally was planning on having lunch at home but wanted to crank through work so I grabbed lunch out around 3pm. Yeah, you bet I stuffed it in my mouth as fast as humanly possible. oy)

DINNER

Late (and big) lunch = full stomach for a long time. Also = no workout and dinner almost in the dark. I kept it light…

Mixed greens, 1/4 avocado, chickpeas, rosemary almonds, shredded carrots, goat cheese and a lemon vinaigrette (dressing recipe is from The Best Light Recipe cookbook)

This salad was actually quite fantastic. Soon after I wanted something else though – enter Siggi’s orange & ginger yogurt. Can you see how thick it is?

This was my first time trying this flavor and I am a giant fan. Basically up until now vanilla was my go-to and this awesomely unique flavor is giving it a run for its money. It was decisively orangy with real ginger flakes inside. Tart, a little spicy. Delicious. Try it!

So here is the serious question for you. I read The New Rules of Lifting for Women upon some of your recommendations. To be honest, I didn’t think I’d learn much and I certainly did not want to start another diet. But after hearing about it several times I added it to my library queue and it came up this week. Surprisingly, I was really into it from the very first page. I LOVE lifting and haven’t done enough of it in a long time. Sure I do some lifting at bootcamp (and thankfully I’m still pretty strong) but nothing too pro-longed and nothing that’s just pure lifting. I’d say I didn’t learn much after all, but the idea of concentrating more on lifting again, really excites me. I keep thinking about starting to run again but end up canceling my workouts when they are on the schedule (something always comes up… or am I just subconsciously not into it?) but I am itching now to get to the gym to pump some iron. Workout A has my name on it. Here is my dilemma (3 dilemmas actually)…

1) I do not want to start another diet. I don’t want to count calories or protein grams. I am finally happy with trusting my body. Letting it choose (for the most part) what and how much fuel it needs (of course, don’t forget the treats!). Will this program work without their specific diet?

2) The book is VERY clear about eating a lot of protein. I would estimate it is 2 or even 2.5 times as much protein as I’ve been eating ever since incorporating more vegetarian meals into my diet and letting meat take the back seat. I am very happy with trying to focus on more protein rich foods (see a protein packed siggi’s yogurt as an example for a snack) but I’m on the fence about protein powder. It actually sounds like fun. I can think of all these ways of incorporating it… into smoothies, pancakes, my own protein bars, muffins but is it “real food?” Again, I’ve come a long way from gimmicky diet foods and learned to balance my meals “the right way.” Is protein powder cheating?

3) The book recommends maximum 3 workouts a week. Is that really enough? My instinct is to supplement (the workout don’t seem that tough, maybe I’m being silly right now. I may speak differently once I actually do them). Should I or is my brain getting in the way? Over-training is something they warn about.

Dilemmas, dilemmas. Tell me, blog friends – what are your thoughts on the subject?

PS – as mentioned we are going away for the weekend – there is no cell or internet reception at my PIL’s house so you may not hear from me again until Monday (I may be able to do a quicky post before we leave tomorrow… no promises though. I will be back for real next week). Would LOVE to hear your thoughts. Oh, it’s so good to be back. I’m freeeeeeee.

b.good hooked us up, I tell ya! We had every kind of mini-burger: veggie, turkey, beef and chicken.

Burgers as far as the eye could see…

Everyone waiting patiently for me to take photos

Table #2:

Southwestern chicken salad – my favorite!

Sweet potato fries – these guys went fast!

Fruit shakes: mango and banana/strawberry

Ok…. go!

Brian (Bridget‘s husband) and Alicia

Melissa and Josh

Brian, Lauren, Bridget’s butt (hehe), Shannon and Alicia

My plate:

I finally tried the veggie burger!!! It has onions in it but I couldn’t taste them. I’m super happy about that one because sometimes I really do prefer a black bean burger vs. a meat one. El guapo is my favorite burger combo at b.good.

After eating and chatting, we eventually settled down on the couches. That’s pretty much the only thing I like to do on a full belly.

[Kyle and Tiffany are on the left (I think they're the only ones that I haven't covered yet ) although perhaps Bridget should get a real introduction as well (she's second from the right) ]

Everyone was relaxing… except Adam. He was doing some intense entertainment apparently.

This dinner was a great way to spend some time with my blogger friends. The food was healthy and delicious, we have minimal clean-up (just some wine glasses, oh yeah – I had Yellow + Blue savingon blanc which I liked and some Y+B rosse which I didn’t) and we have plenty of leftovers for the next few days. Now that’s a party that accomplished quite a few things!

Thank you, b.good, again for offering to cater this dinner and thank you Lauren, John, Melissa, Josh, Bridget, Brian, Shannon, Alicia, Tiffany and Kyle for coming!! If you don’t know these awesome bloggers already, check out their blogs (linked above) – they each offer a unique food blogging perspective and even some fashion talk.

And just to make sure we cover all the bases, here are my eats from earlier in the day…

BREAKFAST

Banana oats with Barney Butter and cherry preserves.

Yes I’m crazy. I ate hot oats on a hot summer day. No, you won’t see it again for a while.

WORKOUT

50 min spin + 10 min stretch. I was drenched! I think that means I was using my time wisely.

LUNCH

Mixed greens, tomatoes, roasted beets, CEiMB pesto potato salad, pinto beans and goat cheese + 1T goddess dressing. I could really drink that stuff. Ok, that’s gross…. but I kind of could.

SNACKS

Shelling peas (I ate 1/2 of the bag)

+ banana with Barney Butter (unpictured)

Good day. Time for bed.

Have you ever had a party catered? I could really get used to this kind of luxury.

Now, let’s talk about something a little more exciting – I’m going to Montreal TOMORROW. Yesterday the entire day I kept thinking it was Thursday, and getting more and more excited about our trip. Nope, I have to wait just one more day. Silly, Elina. This also gives me one more day to plan everything. Hopefully the internet is back up tonight and I can research my little heart out (I did make reservations for an awesome dinner… you’ll have to wait until Sunday to read about it ). Also, I guess Jazz fest is this weekend as well (completely coincidental). Hopefully it’s not too crowded.

I don’t have anything too insightful to talk about today so let’s dive in to yesterday’s eats. Some were good, some where… well, we’ll get there in time.

BREAKFAST

Good! Siggi’s vanilla yogurt with strawberries, kiwi, TJ’s American trek mix and Kashi GoLean cereal

This was my first time trying Siggi’s vanilla flavor and I absolutely loved it. Definitely my favorite. It tasted like real vanilla beans were added, not just vanilla extract. Now I see why the stuff ain’t cheap. Have you ever purchased a whole vanilla bean? Last time I had to buy one, it was $6.99 for ONE. Yeah, that’s how you get $2.79/yogurt.

Did I mention this bowl was awesome? Oh right. I did.

MID-MORNING SNACK

WORKOUT

Did anyone notice I haven’t been running lately? I haven’t really (just maybe as a quick warmup before a class if I’m early). I just don’t really enjoy it anymore so I stopped. At least for now. I still feel like I should be running. That was my primary cardio source (with spin usually once a week) and I‘m still trying to figure out how to stay fit without it. Any tips? I can’t really see myself spinning every other day either. I guess I just don’t love cardio in general. Give me weights and I’m a happy girl though. Is that weird? I feel like most girls (at least in the blog world) are really not into strength training. I loooooove it.

Anyways, yesterday was spin day. I love the instructor on Wednesday so I reminded myself this when I was having second thoughts about going and already started working up a “plan B.” “Just do it” mentality came to the rescue this time and the class was great. I’ve been feeling out of shape this week for some reason but I guess that’s why I’m there, right? Practice makes perfect.

LUNCH

Mixed greens, heirloom tomatoes, avocado, sweet potatoes, chickpeas, sauerkraut, pine nuts, hummus and feta. Say that 10 times fast.

This was a great loaded salad. So many textures + flavors. I was even too lazy to go to the kitchen at work to grab a dressing and ended up eating it without it. The hummus + feta + sauerkraut actually coated all the greens and the dressing was completely unnecessary. Awesome!

Oh yeah, I did pack a cookie-to-go. And yes, I ate it.

MID-AFTERNOON SNACK

Leftover shelling snow peas. I still can’t believe I ate nearly 3/4lb the day before.

DINNER

Dinner was quite the adventure. We had another Groupon to G’Vanni’s expiring on Friday, and since we were going to be out of town, we decided to have a mid-week date at the North End (Boston’s Italian neighborhood). Sounds good, right? I made reservations for 6:30, thinking we’d have plenty of time to have dinner and do our usual mid-week post-dinner errands, including planning the rest of our trip. Well, North End is notorious for this – regardless of whether you have a reservation or not – you’re going to wait for your table. We arrived at the restaurant early, the hostess checked our name off and suggested that we go to a bar around the corner to have a drink while we wait for our table (which supposedly was going to be ready in 20 minutes). Ok, drinks it is.

I had a glass of Riesling, which was sweet and fruity (no picture – the bar was tiny and I would surely bump into someone with my camera). Twenty minutes later we decided to go back and check on our table. The hostess was a complete scatter brain… she definitely did not have a grip on who’s there and who’s going to be seated next (and as we found out later, whether tables were even ready – there were empty tables for way too long while we were eating, and people were still waiting outside!). After nearly 45 minutes (in total) we were finally seated.

G’Vanni’s has been around for 30 years, and the decor was definitely not updated since opening. Everything about the place felt and looked like a tourist trap. There were cheesy puns (“a veally good deal,” “taco bella antipasti” really?), Adam’s menu actually had a cover of a completely different restaurant in Rhode Island (I’m guessing they own it too?) and then the specials menu had a whole line of completely unrecognizable symbols (like their printer freaked out on them and they just left in there). Yeah, classy. So we decided to just laugh everything off. It was going to be quite the experience. We were ready!

Did I mention the super red lighting? Here is what our bread basket looked like. I kid you not.

I played with my camera, adjusted the white balance and did a little bit better this time (although more natural looking, that’s not what it really looked like to us).

The bread was soft and quite nice actually. I had a little piece. Adam finished the rest.

We also ordered a carafe of house Chianti. It was the same price as 3 glasses so we figured it was the way to go. Apparently a carafe is nearly 1.5 bottles!!! They kept re-filling our glasses nearly to the rim (and these are large glasses). Again, classy. The wine was quintessential house wine – totally drinkable but nothing to write home about.

For my entree I wanted a seafood pasta. I asked the waitress for a recommendation and she highly recommended the shrimp guiseppe – angel hair pasta with jumbo shrimp, organic tomato, prosciutto, white wine butter sauce. To be honest, it didn’t even sound great to me but she hesitated when I asked for another suggestion and after re-assuring me that it was not greasy, I ordered it after all.

Sorry for this atrocious photo. It was dark and the lighting was just washing everything out (read: made everything look one hue of red which I adjusted but it was still pretty much one hue of gray now…). So how did it taste? Blah (not bad but not good for sure). It tasted like buttery noodles with a few add-ins. Trust me, I wasn’t expecting something fancy or overly complex but I thought the food would be tasty. G’Vanni’s consistently has lines out the door, it has good reviews online, and the place has been around for 30 years surviving fierce competition in a neighborhood with 99% Italian restaurants. And it’s not cheap. In fact, it’s especially expensive for the quality of food you get. This dish was $26. Yeah, disappointing to say the least. I should say that Adam’s chicken dish (he actually doesn’t even know what he ordered – chicken with penne and spinach…) was pretty awesome. He gave me a few vegetarian bites and I really did love it (as he did, he polished the whole thing off). If we ordered the same thing (his), I’d write a different review I suppose. But this was the waitress’ recommendation!! Is this the best they can do with seafood?

We had enough of our entrees (I picked off the topping and left most of the pasta) and still had way too much wine to finish. I didn’t have high hopes for dessert (and the waitress admitted they were not home-made) but Adam encouraged me to get something since we were going to be there for a little while (and I did want dessert!). I very hesitantly ordered the tiramisu (because that’s what I was craving… although one waitress suggested the molten chocolate cake and another the mudslice pie. Again, can you say tourist trap?). Here is what we got:

Sorry, I forgot to adjust the lighting again (it looked fine on my camera, haha) but it was actually really good. I’m sure they get it frozen and then just dump a bunch of cinnamon on top and a dollop of whipped cream but hey, I couldn’t tell from the taste and that’s what counts.

This dinner was over $100 (we paid less with the Groupon) and I can definitely say it was NOT worth it. I am still shocked at how crazy busy it is (seriously, the lines are insane!!) – I even ran into 2 different people I know there (they were not together!) – that’s how popular it is. Clearly I’m missing something. Or maybe I’m a proper snob at this point. Haha.

How was your hump day? Did I mention we’re going on a mini-vacation TOMORROW? Oh yes, I did.

It felt a little strange being there – like I’m invading something. I grabbed a vanilla yogurt from the lovely Amy (I have yet to taste it) and almost walked away. And then I collected myself and introduced myself to Mr. Siggi (fun fact: Siggi is his first name). He was super nice and really excited to answer any of my questions. The story of how he started his yogurt business was unlikely many other small business start-ups. He didn’t care for his job, he missed his yogurt from homeland Iceland, so he decided to make his own… and then eventually began selling it. Siggi’s yogurt is now sold nationally at every Whole Foods. How’s that for realizing the American dream? (Siggi has been in the US for only 8 years!).

So here are a few interesting things I learned about chatting with Siggi…

• Siggi’s yogurt sources dairy from 6 small farms in New York. They have many standards, including those about humane treatment of animals. Although the dairy is not organic (it is cost-prohibitive at this point given the small scale of his operation), “the cows have names, not numbers.” Siggi spends some of his days visiting the farms.
• The plain siggi’s yogurt tastes pretty close to the original Icelandic yogurt Siggi missed when moving to the US. The flavored varieties are a little more unique.
• Siggi’s yogurt is a little more tart than most (in my opinion at least) because Greek and Icelandic-type yogurts are naturally tart but manufacturers add a lot of sugar to them to sweeten/mellow them out. Siggi’s yogurt uses just a touch of agave nectar and that’s why it is not sugar-laden.
• They work on new flavors all the time. I’m volunteering to be a taste tester.
• We talked about my Moldovian origin and about our Kefir. Apparently Kefir has a natural alcohol content. I’m going to google that soon.

Siggi was so nice. I LOVE meeting small business owners that are passionate about their business and do it right – without cutting corners at the expense of the consumer and our environment!

And here is a picture of me and Siggi – now you know what the man behind the yogurt looks like. He’s taaaaaaall.

Thank you, Siggi, for chatting with me… and thanks Judith for setting up this event. I think I may actually go to Healthworks today to work out. Imagine that!

Now onto yesterday’s eats…

BREAKFAST

The breakfast pizza is back!

Ww tortilla, almond butter, 2% TJ’s greek yogurt, 1/2 banana, raspberries, dried cherries and Kashi Golean cereal

A pizza slice, anyone?

I really love this breakfast. It’s so satisfying without being too filling.

LUNCH

Giant salad: mixed greens, grape tomatoes, radish, chickpeas, feta and Seta’s Mediterranean beet salad

This salad was fantastic -the beet salad was definitely the highlight. It came from the Copley Farmers market (Seta is there on Tuesdays) – the salad contains beets, dried mint, lemon juice and EVOO. Simple yet so flavorful. I LOVE beets!

WORKOUT

Yesterday’s workout was pretty random – I wanted to do a simple run outside but got bored so I turned around. I ran for a little over 20 minutes and then went to the gym and did 15 minutes of the elliptical there. I got my sweat on, so I guess that’s all I can ask of myself.

MID-AFTERNOON SNACK

Pita chips + Samira’s baba ganoush

Loved the crunch. I finished this container with a spoon after I ran out of the chips. Classy.

After meeting Mr. Siggi, I went to Joe’s to meet my co-workers for a few drinks. While there, I had one Hoegaarden and a glass of Cabernet + a little slice of margarita pizza.

I came home slightly buzzed and ready to chow down on more food.

DINNER

Dinner was based on this sandwich Shannon recently blogged about. You can’t really see the insides (bad blogger!) but this contains mustard, green apples, pickled green tomatoes and Cabot horseradish cheddar.

I know this sounds strange but it really is nicely balanced. Since the apples are only slightly sweet, they work well with the sour pickled tomatoes. I dare you to try it!

Dessert: cookies ‘n cream cheesecake bar

Plus 2 joe-joes (unpictured).

Phew – long post, fun day! Can you believe it’s Thursday already? I love love love Thursdays because of the Thursday Prudential farmers market. Plus I have really fun workouts planned for today. See you later, alligators. Don’t forget to enter my giveaway if you haven’t already.

FRIDAY

Breakfast:

Ok, I guess a bloody Mary is not really a balanced breakfast. I was craving nothing else so I grabbed some random stuff on my way out the door to enjoy at work when hunger strikes:

The siggi’s yogurt was not bad. It’s definitely a lot more tart than most greek yogurts, but I’m pretty hardcore in that dept so I don’t mind that. The pomegranate and passion fruit flavor was pretty mild. I still prefer oikos but I’d buy siggi’s if it was on sale (or like in this case, if I had a coupon for a free one ).

FRIDAY WORKOUT

I was really feeling Thursday’s pilates class and was hoping spinning would get the lactic acid out of my muscles. It was a great class (one of my favorite instructors is back after a long break) and I was so happy to have exercise back into my life.

BROWNIES!!

Remember this post? The brownie bake-off was this Friday!

As you know, I’ve tested a few recipes for the bake-off. For mother’s day (before I even knew of the contest), I baked rocky road bars, which came out too dry but I was impressed with the topping. Then a few weeks later (based on your suggestions) I baked some Baked brownies and declared them to be the best brownies I’ve ever had, which I find a bit funny since I’ve actually had the real Baked brownies before (yes, straight from the Baked bakery in Brooklyn). They were moist and chocolaty without being too fudgy (the kind that actually shows teeth marks when you bite into them) or cakey. Basically perfect. I didn’t know that was my ideal brownie (before that I’d say “fudgy” was my favorite) but here it was, made by yours truly. I also baked a batch of the King Arthur brownies (again based on your recommendations) for a Memorial Day pool party and everyone loved them, but my heart belongs to Baked brownies. I made a batch for the contest, topped them with marshmallows, roasted pecans and chocolate chips (just like the rocky road bars) and they became THE WINNING RECIPE at my work!! So cool. There was some very tough competition too.

Btw, I baked the plain baked brownies for 23 minutes and then after topping them with the goods, baked them for another 3 minutes. I’m telling you this because you should baked them. Asap! This day was going well so far… and then Friday night happened. Yay!

FRIDAY NIGHT OUTING

Adam and I had a party to attend later in the evening, but instead of sitting at home on our favorite night of the week, we decided to look through our groupons and such and went out for (a nearly free) dinner instead. A glass of wine + pizza at Cafe 47 was definitely a great way to start the weekend!

This was a glass of montepulciano – it was nothing special but still hit the spot. For my pizza I got an individual sized vegetarian pie with roasted red peppers, mushrooms, spinach and artichokes. I really LOVE artichokes on pizza.

I liked the chewy crust – this pizza was not bad but not the best I’ve had in Boston either. Nonetheless, slowly but surely I still ate the whole thing. Pizza is one of my favorite foods for sure!

Party time! I had 2 Magners…

… and some homemade mint julep ice cream. Classy pic, I know. The ice cream was awesome!!! I am SO making ice cream with booze for my next party. Brilliant.

SATURDAY

… was a lot classier. I started the day by meeting my sister for the aforementioned bootcamp class (had an orange and a coffee before that – unpictured). This class is great – she doesn’t do anything crazy, which is good because I don’t fear the class but it’s still very effective. Since I was already pretty sore from Thursday’s pilates (seriously?!) I was feeling every move. It was glorious. Inna loved it too!

LUNCH

A feast with local produce. Mixed greens from Silverbrook Farm (I buy my eggs from them too), fresh strawberries from Spring Brook Farm, feta from Narragansett Creamery (best feta ever!!), pecans, dried blueberries and pickled jalapenos, dressed in basil EVOO and strawberry balsamic vinegar.

Sweet, salty, spicy = amazing

+ an egg (for protein – I know random!)

Lunch was on the light side because we had a bbq to attend at 4pm at Adam’s boss’s house. The bbq was moved indoors due to the rain (we actually ended up canceling our own bbq on Sunday for the same reason ) but everything inside was still so beautiful and summery!!

During the cocktail hour I had a glass of Jordan Cabernet Savignon and munched on quite a few pita crackers with hummus and a bit of cheese.

This is my favorite Cabernet but it’s quite pricey. Basically we only drink it when we are around Adam’s boss. (i.e. Christmas and summer parties). I probably had 2.5-3 glasses throughout the evening. It’s so complex yet drinkable. Definitely one of the best.

My dinner plate…

+ some more corn salad which was phenomenal (I need to get the recipe) and a slice of bread with hummus. I left half of the cheese off. I was getting full and leaving room for dessert was a priority.

Pies! Let’s see if I get them straight – blueberry…

Peach:

Raspberry/blackberry:

I had a little slice of the apricot and the raspberry pie with vanilla ice cream of course. Pie has to be accompanied by ice cream at all times. Right? Right. I left with a bit of a stomachache (the second slice of pie was probably a mistake but I have a problem with delicious desserts, what can I say). I’d say it was worth it.

How was your weekend? I’ll recap Sunday’s eats tomorrow. It was another good day!

Good news: I have a wonderful weekend to look forward to. Adam and I are driving down to NY tomorrow to visit my sister and her boyfriend at their new place in Brooklyn. I am so excited. I love my sister and I can’t wait to spend a whole weekend together in one of my favorite cities in the world. It’s going to be glorious. Our schedule is already filling up with foodie, fitness and other fun events. I hope I am able to share it all with you upon our return. Nothing like a weekend away to recharge my batteries!

Let’s see what I ate today before the whole bingeing thing happened. Again.

BREAKFAST

Oikos with a crumbled banana zucchini walnut muffin, warm blueberries and walnuts

Gorgeous breakfast. Makes me happy just looking at it.

LUNCH

Giant salad: organic mixed greens, organic pea shots, grilled eggplant, asparagus & peppers + prosciutto crusted pork and goat cheese, dressed with 1T Annie’s goddess dressing

Let’s get closer…

Yeah, fantastic. I made one for Adam and he called to tell me mid-day how delicious it was. The man does not usually get excited for salads, so this was something special.

SNACKS

+ cherry & chocolate granola bar + watermelon

WORKOUT

I went back to my old yoga class today (it’s been a few weeks since I was gearing up for the race) and it felt amazing. I actually think I hurt my shoulder somehow in the midst of it all though. When it hurt “so good”… I guess it really did get hurt. Oh well. My legs feel much more open. It was a better stretch than my massage on Tuesday. I need to make yoga a priority again.

DINNER

This came together in minutes since I basically combined stuff I had in the fridge. Speedy does not mean boring, though.

TJ’s orzo mix with roasted broccoli, baby spinach, shrimp and roasted red pepper tomato sauce (I received the sauce through the Foodbuzz Taste Test program – I’ll do a separate review of the sauce in a different post. I liked it though!) + a bit of parmesan cheese to finish it off.

This was so satisfying. Orzo is such a fun change from regular old pasta sometimes. Loved this dinner!

So I thought being satisfied with my meals and keeping portions very generous would keep bingeing desires at bay but that’s all I want to do when I’m alone. Reflex I guess. I’m working on it.

I promise to be back soon with a much happier post. Have a fabulous weekend!!!!!!!!!!

I feel like I’ve been living, breathing, and drinking the organic and local kool-aid. It’s not a bad thing. I am becoming more and more passionate about the subject and passion is never typically not a bad thing.

But let’s switch gears for a bit – let’s talk about something else that’s been on my mind lately. My weight gain. I’ve been eating pretty intuitively for months now and I really like it. Meticulous calorie counting worked for me before but not this time and I needed to adapt. Eating intuitively allows me to enjoy healthy meals at home (without weighing every gram of my food and plugging it into the computer – btw, I used to LOVE doing that) and go out with my friends and family without a second thought (these kind of events used to be reserved for my “day off”). Anyways, sounds pretty good, right? Well, I stepped on the scale the morning of my birthday, just to see what the number says. You know, I’m 28 today, I weigh X # of pounds. Just as a stat. I was at least 3 pounds heavier than I thought I would be. This could have the potential of crushing me but I had a run and birthday celebration to worry about. I moved on.

My birthday weekend was fantastic (I still have to share with you my dinner out – it was awesome… and local/organic/sustainable!) – I ate well but enjoyed treats in moderation (that term is looser on birthdays btw ). And then I kind of binged on Monday night. I think my skirt was too tight or something. I just felt gross and there is only one thing I know how to do when I feel like that. I eat. This by the way, was the 3rd bingeing episode in the last 3 weeks. They say “it’s not about the food” – it’s not. But structure actually helps me avoid these kinds of things sometimes so I’m going to share with you my plan of attack – the healthy living checklist.

Breakfast first – 2 banana zucchini spelt muffins

As mentioned, calorie counting no longer works for me mentally. I know it will work if I stick to it but I just don’t have the energy for it anymore. So I constructed a little daily checklist that I would like to stick to instead.

1. balanced breakfast
2. snack #1 (optional)
3. balanced lunch
4. snack #2 (optional)
5. balanced dinner
6. nothing with junkie ingredients list
7. no mindless eating (!!!! <– definitely the hardest one)
8. at least 8 cups of water
9. move for at least 20 minutes (even if it’s just a walk around the block – clears your head at least)
10. treat – can be an indulgent sweet, a more indulgent breakfast, lunch or dinner, or something that made you feel like it was special even if it was healthy (more expensive? more time consuming to make?)

I’ve been actually trying to follow this structure for a few months now but haven’t officially stuck to it. I am hoping that showing it to you would make me more accountable. I think it’s a good balance of structure and flexibility. What do you think?

BALANCED LUNCH

Organic mixed greens, pea shots, roasted peppers and zucchini, cucumber & avocado salsa, grape tomatoes, brown rice, black bean dip, fromage blanc

SO good, fresh and spicy!!!

SNACKS + TREAT

+ somersaults + two 100-calorie dark chocolate bars (unpictured)

These unfortunately were eaten “mindlessly” or more accurately put – eaten due to stress. At least I stuck to the rest of the rules.

BALANCED DINNER

Homemade pizza – one half of my 1/2 with roasted veggies + fromage blanc

The other half of my half (got that? ) with sun-dried tomato pesto, potatoes and bacon ala Lauren.

I ate 2 slices (left one for lunch today) – this was the best pizza I’ve ever made. Pre-baking the crust for 2 minutes was key (thanks, Lauren!!!) – it was so chewy on the bottom. Yum!

Pretty awesome eats, if I do say so myself.

In other news, we (basically Adam!) planted some flowers in our patio last night. I hope we did it right. I’ll take pictures of the final product soon.

What would you add to your healthy living checklist?

* Just a few hours left to enter the cookware giveaway. I’ll announce the winner tonight.*

So today I thought I’d post about something a little lighter. I was talking to a girl in my photography class last week and she mentioned that she has an egg allergy and was wondering if I had any baked good recipes that do not include eggs. She said she wasn’t big on sweets but once in a while she’d love a piece of chocolate cake and can never really have one because eggs are always present. Of course I suggested subbing a “flax egg” for regular eggs when baking. In fact my new eat, drink & be vegan cookbook has a whole section on vegan egg substitutes. I’m bringing it over to class today to show her.

I find that it’s become such a norm to hear about food (or other) allergies. I am not allergic to anything, although my onion hatred is so strong, it’s almost an allergy. Adam is allergic to small animals and pollen. We can never have pets as a result. Now is your turn – are you allergic to anything? How does it impact your life?

BREAKFAST

Fitness bread, low fat cream cheese, wild lox, dill and grape toms

I went back for another lox piece after this photo was taken. Yummy

LUNCH

Summer salad: mixed greens, fresh organic strawberries, dried figs, roasted chicken, feta and almond slivers, dressed in strawberry balsamic vinegar and 1t basil EVOO

Crazy delicious. I am impatiently waiting for strawberry season in Boston (these were purchased by my parents)!!

SNACKAROOS

Shannon let popchips people know that I may enjoy some chips in my life. Thank you, Shannon and thank you popchips!

These guys are so airy!!

I thought I’d find them to be too airy, you know, like I’m eating flavored nothing, but they actually taste like real potato chips without the grease factor. So yes, I did in fact enjoy a taste of the cheddar potato kind (like the texture but I’m not big on cheese-flavored things – give me real cheese instead ) but the sea salt & vinegar guys were right up my alley. I had almost a whole baggie as my mid-afternoon snack (it’s 100 calories/bag). The rules say eating a whole bag is allowed.

Rocky road bar

DINNER

Korean bbq ravioli with spinach, peas and Korean carrots

This was a little too meaty for my taste but Adam enjoyed this. Shocker.

Happy hump day! I’m going to learn about white balance in photography class. Very exciting. Comment on your allergy situation, please. I’m nosy so I want to know!

Before I dive in, let me start by mentioning that I had a super fabulous dinner last night at Bin26.

My lovely dates: Meghan and Kirsten

I love these girls! I ran with both of them before and there is something about a bond you build while you run, especially long distance. You pick each other up and motivate each other to keep going. I wish we had a chance to hang out more. I think we’ll try to make it happen after last night (and apparently our husbands/boyfriends have a lot in common too – think: Top Gear).

Bin26 is a gorgeous wine bar in Beacon Hill. I loved the clean + modern atmosphere with wine bottles decorating the space…. in expected:

… and unexpected ways (that’s a ceiling in the bathroom!!)

I started with a 250ml glass of Grosjean Freres Premetta Pinor Noir upon Kirsten’s suggestion. She knows wines and said this was one of her favorites. This was the best wine I’ve ever had in my life!!! It was fruity and smooth yet complex but not too sweet. I am really horrible at describing wines but I am telling you that this beats $100+ bottles I’ve had the pleasure to enjoy.

After a lot of indecisiveness, we finally decided to split a plate of cheeses and zucchini carpaccio. Fresh sourdough bread with EVOO came out as well. Perfect!

Selection of 4: Grana Padano, Pecorino Toscano, Taleggio di Malga, Gorgonzola Naturale

I am not a fan of gorgonzola (or any other blue cheese for that matter) but the other 3 were fantastic. I loved their diversity… cheese + wine is a fantastic combo!

Zucchini carpacio – zucchini ribbons drizzled with lemon vinaigrette + pine nuts

This was so incredibly fresh and flavorful. I really have to recreate this at home! What a perfect summer appetizer.

So we shared these 2 plates and then I decided to order an entree as my meal.

Cocoa tagliatelle with porcini mushroom ragout scented with nepitella

Sounds fancy, no? It was delicious. Very mushroomy though so it’s not for the faint of heart. I love mushrooms so I polished this off no problem

When the waitress offered a dessert menu, I didn’t hesitate. Yes, please. I’ll have the chocolate layer cake served with semifreddo

I was stoked to see cherries but the cake was not my favorite. It was soaked in some kind of liquor, which I suppose is appropriate for a wine bar but I didn’t care for it. Guess what? I still ate every bite.

On my way home, this is where it hit me – I was stuffed, uncomfortably so. This is also where my paranoia about what and how much I eat sunk in. Meghan only had the shared apps and Kirsten ordered a tiny tapa as her meal + a small biscotti that nearly broke her tooth so she only had a bite of it. These girls are thin and I am not. Yes, I’m healthy. I made a lot of progress recently in the self-acceptance department but nights like this give me perspective on my actions. I ordered last night like I would on any other night out. I treat nights like this as treats and of course accept larger portions than usual since of course I wouldn’t have an appetizer, entree, dessert + wine on a typical Monday night at home. But is that the right thing to do? Am I just fattening myself up slowly and giving myself a green light to do so in the spirit of “self acceptance”?

This is my “analysis” after a night of sleep. You can only imagine the less productive thoughts running through my head on my walk home. Of course I shouldn’t compare myself to others. I shouldn’t even presume I know the circumstances of other people. I think Meghan had plans for dinner with her husband later than night (makes sense why she’d eat lightly before that). Maybe the girls had giant lunches, maybe finances played a role in their decisions. The point is that I shouldn’t care. But I twisted it up and made myself feel bad. I felt paranoid about my own less than stellar choices and should have viewed them in vacuum without throwing what other people ate into the mix. Ok I think I’m done. I really did have an amazing time catching up with the girls. I just hate how unproductive thoughts creep in sometimes and ruin a perfectly fun night.

Other eats…

BREAKFAST

Green monster – silken tofu, almond milk, banana, frozen mixed berries + frozen spinach, topped with Zoe’s granola

This was the best smoothie I’ve ever made. I attribute it to lots of berries.

LUNCH

Everything but the kitchen sink salad – kale massaged with lemon juice and 1t basil EVOO, carrots, grape tomatoes, pickles, boiled egg, walnuts + feta

The pickles made the salad. I think I’m a genius for thinking of this.

SNACKS

Mid-morning:

Mid-afternoon:

What can I say, I love fruit + nuts combo

WORKOUT

A super sweaty 60 minute class with jump rope/weight intervals. Somehow I was able to keep up.

Do you ever compare your food choices to others’?

Before we get to the fishiness, let’s talk…

BREAKFAST

Nonfat yogurt, 1 apple, TJ’s nutty American trek mix, Zoe’s granola

This trail mix makes my yogurt bowls every time. Thank you, TJ’s, for bringing it back.

MID-MORNING/PRE-WORKOUT SNACK

Last chocolate peanut butter granola bar

I really enjoyed these but I’d like to make something a little lower in sugar. I’m normally ok with a little more sugar than usual before a workout because I feel like the simple carbs will be used for fuel right away, but sometimes I like to eat granola bars as a snack (not necessarily before a workout) so it would be good to have something a little healthier on hand. Lauren’s chocolate cherry granola bars caught my eye today. Do you have a granola bar recipe you love?

PS – we are still looking for an outdoor furniture set. For now this is the set-up. I still love it.

LUNCH

Fishy course numero uno coming up…

Mixed greens, tuna steak, olive gnocchi, sour kraut, fresh tomatoes and edamame spread, dressed with lemon juice

The tuna and gnocchi were leftovers from Saturday’s dinner in Maine. I still owe you a post about that. I promise to not to hold out much longer.

The edamame spread was a great little addition to the salad. I dipped everything in it. Yum!

Dessert: chocolate cookie with white chocolate chips

MID-AFTERNOON SNACK

And then the sushi craving hit again… hard. So I made it happen.

DINNER

Fishy course numero dos: wildfire maki from Samurai (from the specials menu) – spicy tuna maki topped with tuna, jalapenos and garlic, blow-torched and served with ponzu sauce

+ sushi appetizer (chef’s choice of 6 pieces of sushi)

Hello fishies

Honestly this was not the best sushi I’ve had. It didn’t seem that fresh. I want sushi to melt in my mouth – this wasn’t the case today. I’m going to think twice about going back to that place.

After everything was set and done, Adam finally came home and delivered a gift from my parents (my birthday is coming up in a few weeks) – a new lens!!! I immediately started playing with it. Yeah, I’ve got work to do, that’s for sure. The pics with the new super fast lens are so blurry!

Random pics of the night…

Mexican frittata I made for Adam… it was delicious if I do say so myself

New photographs we got at a gallery in Rockland, ME. You like?

Eventually there was a bit more snacking.

Multiply these nuts times 3. Yeah, I need to put them in little baggies asap, otherwise we may be in trouble here.

And that’s all I’ve got tonight. Peace out…. and honor your cravings!