Welcome to the 80's. Alternatively, Fructose is Poison

the revival of the slack jaw

these are my friends

I planned a lot of blog posts but forgot to actually post them... anyways, they were kind of negative and I was feeling frustrated with myself and how some things have been going and comparing myself to others, which is never good. So I'm not going to post them. I had a pretty great week in Austin for Thanksgiving, even though I was sick the whole time, and I can't believe I'm already going to leave for Chicago in a week! I'm so excited!

In other news, yesterday was our work party, which was 80's themed. I actually had way more fun than I thought I would. Although I (usually...) really like working with kids, there is a lot of drama and management issues going on at work that I don't agree with and it can make it hard to be positive at and about work. Add to that the fact that I live with 2 coworkers, and it can be hard to escape negative situations. It's always a good idea to hang out with my coworkers outside of work!
And I got employee of the year! I really was not expecting it and I do feel really grateful even though only the directors had a say in the decision. I have been doing a lot more work this year and it's nice to know it wasn't unnoticed! I know some of my coworkers work just as hard or harder than I do. I was feeling down again this past week so it was nice to feel appreciated (or as my boss would say, appreciative. He has a way with words).

However, I believe they are trying to poison me.

pure poison

They gave me a basket with mediocre looking fruit (not poison) and then several packages of poison. Including HFCS, artificial flavors and colors, hydrogenated vegetable oils (trans fats), and sugar. Excuse me, fructose. Pronounced fruhktose. Kate and I think it's all part of their master plan. Oh well, at least I have this amazing jacket. It might even be my favorite jacket I own and I have a thing for jackets so that's a big deal.

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/