Happy New Year!

I know, I'm way behind with blogging. I'll get there, I promise.
I'm currently in a hostel in Luang Prabang, Laos (or Lao, still not really sure which is best/correct) where I welcomed the new year! 2015 was a weird year for me. I did a lot of traveling, both in the U.S. and abroad, and had some amazing experiences. At the same time, it was a mentally tough one for me. I felt emotionally drained for various reasons both at work and at home, and felt an enormous sense of relief when I stopped working full time and went to Germany for a month to travel and visit people. But of course things don't just miraculously get better overnight, and even after quitting my job and then coming to Asia, I've still been struggling occasionally. That being said, this really has been the most amazing past 3 months and I don't regret it for a second. I've been meeting a lot of people who are only traveling for 2 weeks for the holidays, and I realize how much I've changed. My speed of life has slowed way down, and I don't worry about what I'm going to do next. Except when I worry constantly about what I'm going to do after I run out of money and finally need to find a job again. But I'm doing my best to not think about that except to fill out the occasional application and live in the moment!

Here were my goals for 2015:
Continue with emotional and spiritual growth, including journaling and meditation
I did start meditating, but it didn't last long. I think the longest I made it was 10 days in a row. I did get better at journaling though and traveling has helped that! I write almost every day!
Complete a running challenge. I have an eye on the Lake Sammamish half in March. It's probably the flattest course in western Washington.
I mostly kind of ran the Beat The Blerch marathon. Actually pretty impressed I survived that one, even if it was just barely.
Challenge myself every month. So far I have January: no refined sugar and February: no sugar. Yikes. Kate's doing both with me including the February cleanse so I think I will be more successful. After all, it took her going vegan with me for me to really do it. Every other time I tried I always quit because cheese. Sidenote: in 2014 I went 6 months without cheese. Crazy
I didn't exactly do this as planned, and made a lot of mistakes on the way, but every month presented me with challenges.
Exercise every day. Buy a monthly membership at the group fitness place I've been going to near me and go enough to make it worth the money.
I actually did pretty well, especially from March-June before I started traveling. I enjoyed working out in group classes and actually got kind of in shape! Since summer, and especially since leaving for Asia, I obviously haven't had the luxury of a studio by my house. Stay posted.

This year, I want to keep it simple. Someone in my hostel mentioned their friend tried one new thing a week, and actually completed it. I was intrigued, but I am doing many new things right now and apparently that guy spent a lot of money. I really only have 2 resolutions:

- stop buying oreos. This was a bad habit I picked up in China because I didn't always want weird Chinese food. The problem is, it's so easy to finish an entire package! This is not just me - a lot of travelers I've met have developed sugar habits and can easily eat 6 or 8 or however many servings of oreos is in a package. Obviously this isn't the only sugary food I eat and there are plenty of other packaged cookies, but for some reason oreos seem to be the worst. So I'm going to stop buying them. If someone offers me one, however, that's fine because I will obviously have a much more reasonable portion
- find a way to include exercise in my routine. It's hard to work out while traveling. SE Asia is hot, so running after the sun comes up just doesn't sound fun. Plus you never really know what's appropriate especially for women and I don't want to be an insensitive tourist. But 6am is early, and I'm way out of shape, and I was a bit burned out and hurting after the marathon. I went on 1 run in China, 2.5 in Nepal, none in Thailand and so far 1 in Laos. I do think I will start running more because it feels right. But I also want to intentionally move more in any way, which could be yoga classes, a challenging hike, going climbing, renting a bicycle, etc. Anything more than the normal walking I do, which actually isn't that much. Everything is super close or too far to walk, unlike Europe where I walked a minimum of 30,000 steps every day. All that to say I feel out of shape and lazy! I'm not trying to train for anything or get anywhere close to the best shape of my life, I just want to find more of a balance.

Other goals:
- continue to travel solo for as long as possible
- do one thing every day that scares me. This is a goal, not a resolution, because I'm not counting. But sometimes little things are really hard for me. Striking up a conversation with someone new, for example. This gets easier the more you travel, but it can still be incredibly hard for me. Asking for directions or help from a stranger. Figuring out how to book a bus or train ticket the local way, instead of just through my hostel. Going places that aren't as touristy where I won't just show up to a hostel full of people like me. I hope to gain more confidence and lessen my social anxiety, which has been pretty bad for me the past few years.
I also want to do jump of cliffs and climb up cliffs and go diving and maybe bungee jumping and other things that are new and exciting in a more traditional way.
- learn new things. I've stayed at 2 workaway sites now, and learned a lot at both of them. Even if I learned nothing about farming in Nepal... But there is something great about staying in a place for longer than a few nights, getting to know the area and the other volunteers and the locals, and really having a home for a bit.
- and finally, a bucket list item. I'm signed up for a Vippassana meditation course at the end of January, a 10 day silent retreat where you can't look at anyone or take naps and you sit and meditate for 10 hours a day. It will probably be the hardest thing I ever do. But I also hope to learn a lot about myself. I've been wanting to do this for over 5 years, and I also hope to develop a meditation habit. This has been something I want to start every year and always make it part of my New Years resolutions, but for me it's really hard to keep it up. At the same time, I know how incredibly important and good it is for you, and one of the best ways to help me overcome my social anxiety and disordered eating.

I have no idea what 2016 will bring but it will definitely be awesome! I'm doing what I've always wanted to do and it's been absolutely amazing! 

Sun's Out Smoothies Out

Happy Sunday!

It's sunny in Seattle today! After TRX Kate and I made our smoothies and drank them outside. Then I ran down to Greenlake, around the lake, and back. It was so crowded! I saw someone we went to college with as well, which was fun. We just waved to each other as we passed.
I came home and have been doing fun things like filing my taxes and homework. And buying tickets to L.A. for my nonexistent spring break to see 3 of my best friends from college!
I ate my leftovers from Thrive for lunch and made some coconut energy balls for dessert. I'm going to continue doing productive things wearing sweats and sitting in my bed. Clearly I am only somewhat ready to be a real adult. So there you go, a typical Sunday in my life.

Thrive

This morning I had my first microbiology exam, and then our brains were all hurting but we had to do 3 more labs. It was great fun. I walked home, and after a lunch of quinoa, chick peas, cruciferous mix and a little cauliflower with a side of almonds, Kate and I went about our weekly grocery shopping and food prep. We made carrot ginger soup, baked since sweet potatoes, got some lemon juice ready for the tonics, and I made roasted cauliflower to snack on. I also ground almond butter. We decided as a treat we'd go to a vegan restaurant. Kate got a collard green burrito, and I got a bowl with quinoa and red rice with kale, mushrooms, zucchini, avocado, and some yummy sauces. It was great. I finished the night with a milkshake with cashew milk, frozen banana, cinnamon and a teaspoon almond butter, topped with toasted coconut. Now we're watching Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead 2. Luda is making it hard for Kate to blog. Happy Saturday!!

Cookies Cookies Everywhere

I was planning on writing a post least night and even took a picture of my lunch yesterday, but learning 4 weeks of microbiology in a day took precedence. Anyway, Rachel's been making a ton of cookies so I'm around them constantly. I don't necessarily want them, but I wish I was in a place where I could just eat one and enjoy it. They are pretty much my favorite thing. Basically I just wish sugar wasn't evil and being vegan wasn't better for my health and the planet's.

Cleanse Week 1 Day 2

This morning I woke up, drank the morning tonic, and then studied for a while before going to Cycle Fit. It definitely pushed me right back in to working out! I didn't feel too out of shape but it ran 10 minutes late and my legs were tired when I had to rush and bike to work after guzzling my smoothie. It was the same one as yesterday, and one of my favorites of the whole cleanse.

On my way to school I had an apple and almond butter, and then it was exam time. For some reason this material was much harder for me to remember. Oh well, it's over, I'm excited for tomorrow because it's bones time and I already took a whole class on bones! I drank some dandelion root tea with cashew milk after I was done with my test before we started class again. Then I had to go to a super awkward manager meeting at a restaurant. I ate a clementine on the way because I wasn't going to order anything. After the meeting I had some spinach, quinoa, chickpeas, salsa and cherry tomatoes, with a few salted almonds sprinkled on top for flavor and crunch. Blueberries were dessert.

After I taught my classes I had another clementine and some almonds, then biked home and made and tasted almond butter, and then I made our smoothies for tomorrow and ate some slices of the extra cucumber with beet hummus. Then I made the spiced almond milk with some of my almond butter blended in so it was creamy and frothy! Yum. I did some yoga which was cut short when J got home, and I knew she needed to debrief from the day. So I went downstairs and we talked about life. As much as I love working with kids, some of the management and politics going on right now are really stressful, especially for J who is an actual manager.

Anyways, that was my boring day with no pictures. I'll try to remember tomorrow. 

Cleanse Week 1 Day 1

I'm going to try to blog every day of the cleanse, to help keep me from quitting and because Kate probably is too.

Today I had the morning tonic and green smoothie, and then some roasted dandelion root tea with a spot of cashew milk. I think I like it even better with the milk!

After class I went to the store to pick up a few things, and ended up eating some almonds and a lemon larabar. Which is not completely cleanse friendly, but I think in Week 1 it's more acceptable. I only was going to eat a bite but it just tasted so good and I was hungry! I ate some blueberries too. After my first class I had my lunch/afternoon meal with quinoa, sweet potato, chickpeas, greens, and beet hummus. Yum and pink. I had two clementines after work before I broke my lazy not working out streak and went for a 20 minute run. It was hard, but mostly because I just weight more than my body would like and also my knee was still hurting a bit. I busted it last weekend when my foot got caught and I fell right on it.

We still had some food to use up so we didn't follow the menu exactly but we made our own food that fit within the guidelines. Tomorrow I have to go to a meeting at a Mexican restaurant so we'll see how that goes! I probably won't get anything.

Two Confessions

Last night, after a full day of grocery shopping for the cleanse, Kate and I went to PCC for a couple items we forgot and her beloved celery. Also at PCC are cookies. Delicious, vegan cookies. I'm going to blame Kate with the mentioning of the cookies earlier in the day, and I just couldn't get it out of my head. It is of note that they do, in fact, have a refined sugar free (minus the chocolate chips, but who's counting) cookie, but it is made with chickpeas and very much the type of "cookie" I would make at home. Not what I was craving. Finally, after I wouldn't shut up about it, Kate just told me to get my stupid cookie and I could just pretend the time between January and February didn't exist. So I ate that vegan happy animal chocolate chip cookie and savored that darn flavor, because it's going to be forever before I have something that good again.

Then, this morning (Happy February!) I decided to make toast for breakfast since I want to leave as little non cleanse friendly food as possible in the freezer. I put some almond butter on it, and without thinking started to put some cinnamon honey on it. Luckily I stopped myself, but there was still a little on there! I think I keep forgetting it's February with the cleanse starting tomorrow and everything. Anyways, I'm hoping to see some big changes this month! 

Sugar on my Face

Only a week left until sugar's off the table for a WHOLE MONTH. Yikes. Kate and I had a very professional cleanse planning meeting last night, in which I basically just doodled and scribbled sideways over all the recipes. Then we drank wine and watched The Biggest Loser. It was a crazy Saturday in this house.

Even though I've decided to give up putting sugar in my body for a month, there is one place where I'm going to continue using raw honey: my face! I stopped using face wash, soap, shampoo and conditioner about 7 months ago, once all the mud was washed off from the 50k. This isn't the first time I've started washing my face with honey or no 'pooing as they call it, but I always stop for some reason or another. Usually travel or working in chlorine all the time. But I'm all in this time and I love it! I've added lots of links if you want more info.

What I do instead:

For soap/body wash: I try to dry brush pretty often, although I've been less good about it lately. I also make scrubs like this one and use those every once in a while for a good exfoliation and deep moisturizer. After I shower I use coconut oil mixed with some tea tree and lavender essential oils as a lotion, which is also antimicrobial and antifungal. Because I work with children who have ringworm and I need to kill germs on my skin.
This NY times article made me rethink my soap usage, but I don't think you need some fancy formula to neutralize your skin biome or whatever.

On my face: I warm up some honey in my hand and put it on my face (like this). Usually I leave it on for a few minutes before rinsing with water. So easy! If I shower in the morning I often use diluted apple cider vinegar (ACV) as a toner. At night I sometimes put my coconut essential oil mixture on my face to moisturize and try to keep pimples at bay. It usually works, and is a great makeup remover too!

For my hair: This no 'poo method. Basically I mix 1T baking soda with 1C water in a spray bottle, and use that on my scalp as shampoo. It doesn't suds but it does get slippery so I massage it into my scalp and then rinse. I mix 1-2T ACV in another spray bottle with 1C water, and spray that on the ends of my hair. I found that if I put it on my whole head my hair feels greasy. And it works! Most people like the feel and texture of their hair more once they switch, which isn't necessarily true for me, but it's still very shiny and easy to care for. The only difference is I really have to brush it. I used to just let my hair air dry and then run my fingers through it and it was good to go, but now I have to brush it when it's wet and again when it dries or it gets very frizzy If it does get frizzy, I rub coconut oil on my hands and then smooth down my hair). And the best news is I don't have to wash it as much! Only 1-2 times a week, depending on how much I sweat. I also have a job where ponytails are accepted and encouraged, so even if it does get a bit greasy at the end it's not a big deal.
If I've worked out and don't wash my hair, I usually just wash it with water and massage my scalp so dirt doesn't build up. It does get greasier faster this way, so that's when I'll wash my hair every 3-4 days instead of waiting a whole week.

So there you go! Once I got going it became a normal routine, and my showers are much shorter now! I feel just as clean as when I used body wash and I don't smell any different, I promise. 

Why I'm Trying to Eat Less Sugar

I probably talk about food the majority of the time on here, and most recently about sugar. Here are some resources that highlight the reasons why.

As I'm sure you know, my favorite movie of 2014 was Fed Up. Watch it. Even Jordan and Trevor watched it and they liked it.

Sugar: The Bitter Truth

This video is pretty long, but I think there's a short version somewhere. It basically talks about the way our bodies process sugar, specifically fructose. Some basics - fructose goes straight to the liver, and is either stored as glycogen (energy for later) or turned into triglycerides, which are fat. Because it does this, it doesn't raise out blood sugar like other forms of sugar do, so foods that are high in fructose may register low on the GI scale (agave, looking at you). Because science. I'm in college I know stuff.

Reading material:
This article pretty much sums it up: The 7 Deadly Truths of Sugar

A Year of No Sugar
"It's dinnertime. Do you know where your sugar is coming from? Most likely everywhere. Sure, it's in ice cream and cookies, but what scared Eve O. Schaub was the secret world of sugar—hidden in bacon, crackers, salad dressing, pasta sauce, chicken broth, and baby food.

With her eyes opened by the work of obesity expert Dr. Robert Lustig and others, Eve challenged her husband and two school-age daughters to join her on a quest to quit sugar for an entire year.

Along the way, Eve uncovered the real costs of our sugar-heavy American diet—including diabetes, obesity, and increased incidences of health problems such as heart disease and cancer. The stories, tips, and recipes she shares throw fresh light on questionable nutritional advice we've been following for years and show that it is possible to eat at restaurants and go grocery shopping—with less and even no added sugar.

Year of No Sugar is what the conversation about "kicking the sugar addiction" looks like for a real American family—a roller coaster of unexpected discoveries and challenges."

This book was easy to read and while sometimes the writing style bothered me, it was really helpful to see a normal family be able to live without sugar for a year. It's less about the science, and more just about the practicality of it. Pretty much her only research was watching The Bitter Truth (see above) but they just decided to do it and did it. 

There are several other books I love that highlight the evils of the food industry, so while not directly about sugar, they make me want to take a harder look at what I eat. Honorable mentions are Salt Sugar Fat, What To Eat, The Omnivore's Dilemma.   

Over halfway through!

Today, I woke up and went for a run in rainy, windy weather. I was listening to a recent podcast from No Meat Athlete. I've been following these guys for a while, so I already know their stories, but they were talking about how they first became vegetarian and vegan and got into running, and it really inspired me. It wasn't really the intention, but it just really got me thinking about all the things I've started and have quit when they get too hard. I tried going vegan several times before I finally managed to do it for 6 months a year ago, and even then there were some slip ups. I've tried to do the cleanse 4 times now and have never finished the last week. And now this sugar challenge. I have slipped up a couple times. I was subbing at work yesterday because Jordan was really sick, and I was craving all the things I don't even like. Like gross cookies, and the super sweet cake with lots of frosting, and pizza. Even the pizza with meat looked and smelled good to me. I had been undecided about how I wanted to approach my veganism, but I decided today that I'm all in. I've eaten a little cheese and yogurt in the past couple weeks so that has to stop. There is an asterisk to me veganism though, and that's if someone makes me food or I'm at a restaurant, I'll just do my best. So I guess I'm a fake vegan still, but I think it will help me out. I'm also going to get back to logging my food intake tomorrow to make sure I'm not eating too much sugar or calories, even if they come from dates and almonds. Unlike Kate, I'm trying to lose weight here.
We did take a long walk and go to a bar today to watch the Seahawks play the Packers, and we were kind of excited when the Packers were doing so well. I like the Seahawks, but people around here have gotten really big heads about it and a little humbling would do them good. But as soon as we got there Seattle scored 15 points in 44 seconds, and then some more. It's probably just because we're their good luck charm, clearly. Kate did ask about added sugar is one of their drinks, which made it off the table for us. But we finally asked about something! We did have sweet potato fries with garlic aioli, which I guess is not vegan, but that hardly counts. I'll start tomorrow. Monday sounds like a good day to start.

Sorry my posts have been long and boring! I wish Kate would just write down everything I tell her about sugar. It's much more entertaining. Mostly about how raisins are lame compared to chocolate chips. We were talking about how this no refined sugar thing has been easy, except when it's really hard. Like when a roommate makes cookies or you want a donut and you're right outside Mighty-O's.

No Sugar Day 14

Besides the one day last week where I had some moments and ate the last of some dark chocolate chips I had, no sugar hasn't really been a problem. There have been a couple times, like when I wanted an almond milk latte from the student center where I'm taking classes, where it stopped me from getting something I wanted. But I was perfectly content with my drip coffee, and it's saved me from getting some not so great for me things when I wasn't even hungry. I have still been eating treats, which probably counteracts some of the no sugar eating benefits. Dates and maple syrup and honey are still sugar even if they're unrefined. I made some energy balls over the weekend to eat for snacks this week and Kate and I finished them before Monday. And I made some sweet potato brownies today, which had kind of a weird texture and tasted pretty much like everything we make now. Cacao and dates and whatever we put with it, which was sweet potato today. I think the sweet potato date mixture might have been better by themselves... Anyways, some days I've been eating really well and some days not so well. But it happens regardless of sugar.

My main dilemma now is deciding what to do when my punches run out at Tricycle Fitness, the group fitness class right by our house. I really love it there, and would go to a lot of classes, but I also haven't gotten to a stressful part of school and maybe when I'm in the middle of exams I won't go enough to make a monthly membership worth it. Then there's the fact that I just paid approximately $1 million dollars for my tuition and textbooks, which would get me well over a year of unlimited membership at Tricycle. While it's a very comparable price to similar services, it's not cheap to join. Plus I have a running group I try to go to regularly and adult gym available to me for free. But I just like all the classes at Tricycle! Yes I could get enough exercise without going there every day but I really want to get back in super good shape and feel like an athlete again. I'm really getting excited about working out these days but it's not the same when I do it myself. I'm not so good at pushing myself. So that's what's happening.

We're finally getting done with the basic cell biology and chemistry part of my Anatomy and Physiology class, so after our exam on Tuesday I'm excited to start making tissue out of those cells! I love science. I've missed it.

The Biggest Loser is my Life

I wrote this about a month ago but never posted it. It's still kind of relevant. And while it doesn't deal specifically with the whole not eating sugar thing, it's not completely unrelated. It's kind of personal but not something I haven't talked about with probably most people who read this. It will probably turn into a novel so beware.

Lately, our house has been watching a couple seasons of the Biggest Loser. It's probably the one show that all of us will watch together, and thanks to Kate's free amazon prime account (has she told you about it yet? she only mentions it every day...haha) we've been watching past seasons. There was one episode where the contestants travel to Hawaii, and one of the guys confesses to binging when they got there because of the change and feeling overwhelmed. They dig deeper into the contestants' feelings of being out of control with food, and how they got there. I can completely relate. No, I'm not 300 lbs, but I have my own issues with food. They talk a lot about self esteem, not feeling like you're "good enough". I've really been trying to change how I feel about myself, but my default is often to feel unconfident and like everyone else knows what they're doing more than me. I felt that way at work for quite a while. I probably knew at least as much as most of my coworkers, if not way more, about coaching, but I still always felt like everyone knew way more than me. It's not just at work, either. It was in school all the way through college and in a lot of other aspects of life. I often won't even try something if I think I won't succeed.
What I was trying to say with all that is that my weight really affects me. I know a lot of people say your problems won't disappear when you lose weight, but there are a lot of things that I know will improve. How I feel about myself, but also my ability to do things I want to do. My weight right now makes it more difficult for me to run and workout, and is harder on my joints. My clothes don't fit well, so I don't go out much and do things because I don't really have anything to wear. Wearing spandex and workout clothes to work is both a blessing and a curse. I know I'll still be me if I lose weight, but a more confident version of myself.
And this brings me to some important people in my life. It's hard for me to realize what an influence I have on people or that people view me differently than I view myself. Which is why it was such a shock that I was named employee of the year. When I lived in Germany, my friend/coworker/housemate/fellow act like a 2-year-old was inspired to become healthier because of my habits. She went so far as to call me one of her two fitness gurus. We started eating more fruits and vegetables, and she lost several pounds and grew noticeably stronger while I... stayed the same. Maybe even gained a couple lbs. And last year Kate, partly because of my constant lectures and partly because of a book I loaned her, changed a lot of her habits to include less processed food and went vegan. I guess the 50k was her idea, but I knew her a few months before that and I don't think she would have had enough energy to do something crazy like that. Kate dropped weight quickly, started sleeping better, had way more energy, and has recently started working out like 12 times a day. And I just found out, through her (and me), our friend Betsy turned vegetarian and now Alissa's on a vegan journey. Even my cousin Matt basically quit eating meat, which really didn't have much to do with me, but he remembered a lot of things I ate and said on our bike trip 2 1/2 years ago and they stuck with him and helped him change.
None of these people needed to lose weight or were unhappy in any way with their lives or their bodies, but the changes that happened were drastic and visible. Meanwhile, I might just stay at the same weight instead of gaining even when I'm eating super healthy and exercising like crazy. With all my interest in health and nutrition, I've never experienced what others have - no drastic change in my body, athletic ability, energy levels, anything.
Which brings me to today. I was doing just great without sugar this past week, until today. Or yesterday I guess. I ate cheese, and then tonight, shocker, I ate SUGAR. I felt once again out of control. I don't really know what triggered it or why I did it, because my day was actually pretty great, but I feel like I'm back at square 1. I really need this, and I really just want to feel like myself again. It's been a long time. I'm going to try to be better about blogging and holding myself accountable, and thank goodness Kate is doing it too! Or I probably would have quit today. 

Meow.

Luda says hi.


I finished Week 1 of the cleanse! I had a few slip ups, but for the most part stuck to it. This week is the hard week though. No grains or legumes. I woke up and ran with the No Meat Athlete running group, and then I just really wanted cookies for breakfast. Maybe because I was looking up recipes to make my sister for her birthday... Anyways, I made my morning tonic (hot water with lemon, ginger and a little cayenne) and then made coconut snowballs. I put equal parts unsweetened shredded coconut, almonds and cashews in the food processor and added coconut oil and a little vanilla and maple syrup. Roll into balls, freeze until firm. They were yummy! But would definitely be better with chocolate. Only 1 6/7 weeks...

I took all my school work and walked to a coffee shop, and stopped on the way for a green smoothie. I wasn't planning on it, but I wanted a treat. Green smoothies I don't have to make taste way better. Then I got some mint tea and did so much school. I still think I need to figure out a better study schedule but it kind of works well for me to just sit down and work for several hours.

Then I made the loaded sweet potato from the cleanse (yummy) and snacked on some carrots while I was making it. I made sweet potato fries with no oil because I don't have any spray oil and Kate's didn't work and I was too lazy to put oil on the old fashioned way. I need to put that on my shopping list. I had some almonds almonds after. The dry roasted almonds are so good... but Kate basically bet me I couldn't lose 6 lbs in a week (well not exactly) so I'm trying not to overdo it on the nuts.

It's November!

So I was blogging every day, and then gymnastics happened, and then I quit. But I had a green smoothie almost every day! I think I missed two when I just wasn't home or didn't have enough food.

But for November, I'm doing TWO challenges. I know, overachiever. I'm doing the Fresh Start 21 Cleanse again, and I'm also going to run at least a mile every day. I've never made it the full 3 weeks on the cleanse so that's my goal. I told all my roommates so hopefully they won't try too hard to tempt me with delicious treats. I already missed yesterday's run (I was at a gymnastics meet all day) but I ran 9 miles today so it averages out. I'll just have to run on December 1st too.
Hers to November challenges!

Green Smoothie Day 8

Today's smoothie was kind of a weird idea, but I liked it. It was orange, lemon, banana, spinach and almond milk. I wasn't sure about the lemon juice almond milk combo, but it worked.

Jordan's favorite smoothie was day 6. I'm sitting next to her and I asked her.

Now she thinks she's hearing sounds upstairs and there's no one up there so it's making us nervous. Gotta go check it out.

Green Smoothie Day 7

I had a weirdly rushed morning today, and I'm not really sure how that happened. I woke up early and before I knew it it was time to go! So my smoothie was rushed and there were still frozen avocado chunks in it. Good thing I don't care. And then I put most of it in a big jar so I would have 2 servings, and Jordan got mad because apparently she's not done... So  just made her another one later with extra banana and spinach, since I ran out of mango which was the other ingredient.

I only have one class with one child Tuesday mornings, so I came home and tried unsuccessfully to fix my phone. But I did cut up a lot of veggies I've been avoiding eating because they were too much effort and tried to roast a bunch of other veggies but I had to go before they were done. I forgot the manager meeting was at a restaurant today, so that kind of ruined my day of eating well. I got a giant burrito with grilled veggies and no beans, which I thought was the point of the burrito. It probably wasn't that bad for you but I ate it all. And then coaching was fun. Good thing I'm going to go play gymnastics!

Green Smoothies Day 6

Today was still my weekend, so I stayed in bed extra long and then had cake for breakfast. Or lunch. Whatever, it was kind of all the same meal. So I made my smoothie for an afternoon snack instead. It was pretty good, with strawberries, pineapple, carrot, coconut water, and spinach. Jordan said it was her favorite one yet, but she doesn't want to do it anymore because she hasn't lost 5 lbs. Me neither, so now I can drink the extra smoothie myself and life that 2 smoothie life. I should maybe not eat cake for meals if that is my goal...

I was pretty lazy today, but I did finish Season 2 of Orange is the New Black and do a lot of school work. I'm going back to school! I'm taking two online classes, and it's kind of weird. I'm taking Nutrition and Lifespan Psychology, so two things that interest me and I already have some knowledge on. I like learning but my free time is much busier now!

There has been no progress on the broken phone, except I bought a screw driver. Hopefully I'll have an update tomorrow. It was very warm here today and I went on a long walk and ended up at Fred Meyer in a different neighborhood, which is always fun. I lead an exciting life.

Peace.

Green Smoothie Challenge Day 5

Happy Weekend! I went on my first run by myself in a while today, and it was nice. I went nice and slow and it was a beautiful day to be running through the woods in the park not to far from where I live. Today's smoothie was supposed to be peaches and blueberries, but it said you could substitute mango for the peach. So I just used peach and mango. It tasted a little weird because the frozen peaches I had were who knows how old and probably a little freezer burned, but it was ok. I made Jordan's smoothie when she got home from work. She was very upset about missing it, which surprised me a little bit. I made hers with strawberries and mango and there was a little extra I drank, and I thought it tasted much better.

I also sought professional help and inquired about my phone, and was just told I need a new one. Too bad my warranty just ran out. I'm going to try some sketchy youtube solutions and see if anything happens first, and if not I'll have to find a solution. My savings have been slowly dwindling in the last several months but what can you do.

To end on a good note, I made a cake! Happy Fall!

http://ohsheglows.com/2010/10/10/project-food-blog-4-upside-down-makes-right-side-up/

Green Smoothie Day 4

Today's smoothie included green tea, blueberries, raspberries (I used mixed berries) and spinach. I actually really liked it! I used a blueberry green tea and it was a nice pick-me-up at work. I don't know if Jordan drank hers because I left for work before she was awake.

After my too many preschool classes, we had the first Star League meet of the season! And I have a team this year. I was so proud of my girls! Except I lost my voice which was super fun. We got 4th place (out of 4) and they were very upset but they did much better than I expected them to.

My phone also broke, just after it was finally working as a phone again, so I need to figure that out. But I did get this picture with my iPod!

Green Smoothie Day 2

Today's smoothie was chocolate cherry. Which I usually love, but wasn't so great today. I think I needed more banana and less berries. I was also using mixed berries that include cherries instead of just cherries, so maybe that was it out maybe I just needed more cocoa powder.
And then I ate a (vegan) donut after so it probably cancelled out. It was very cold again. But warm in the afternoon for the last farmer's market! It will be sad to have to buy all grocery store produce again.