Friday, October 30, 2009

Trick or Treat!

This morning I was thinking about how when I was little everyone would wear their costumes to school on Halloween and I always had a fear while approaching the bus stop that I would be the only person in the whole school to come dressed up and would look like a complete idiot. 


Anybody else have this anxiety? ha.


Halloweens of the past:








Now back to the subject of Electrolytes…
The major electrolytes for your body are:
·         sodium (Na+)
·         potassium (K+)
·         chloride (Cl-)
·         calcium (Ca2+)
·         magnesium (Mg2+)
·         bicarbonate (HCO3-)
·         phosphate (PO42-)
·         sulfate (SO42-)

You lose electrolytes when you sweat after an intense workout- particularly sodium and potassium. Those electrolytes must be replaced to keep the electrolyte concentrations of your body fluids constant. (source) 
So then I Googled coconut water apparently coconut water replenishes electrolytes and has been deemed “nature’s Gatorade.”  Funny thing – every single article I came across said the same things using the exact same verbiage- which makes me believe that one company (that produces coconut water I would assume) did a study and created a press release that was published in multiple publications. As opposed to many studies being conducted showing that coconut water is beneficial. I’m going to continue to do more research on this.


Today’s eats-

  • Bfast- gluten free waffles with coffee (and whipped cream- I couldn’t resist)
  • Snack- Larabar
  • Lunch- oats, almond milk, 1 apple, 1 spoon brown sugar, walnuts
  • Dinner- organic chilli beans, cheese, couple of crackers, glass of red

Fruit/Veggie- 1 sad lonely fruit. I need my green monsters again!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Prayers Needed

Today I found out that my oldest childhood friends suffered a stroke yesterday. Hannah is only 26 years old and has two children- 8 and 5 years old. She recently pass the bar exam and was hired a week later. Unfortunately she didn’t work in time to receive health insurance. Right now she is in ICU. I don't have much more information. I would just like to ask for anyone reading this to please say a prayer for her and her family.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Sugar Sugar how'd you get so fly?

Okay- so I contemplated going back and writing the “dailys” and acting like I was a good little blogger who kept track of everything and updated it all in a timely manner. But it takes a lot more time to BS than to just do one really long blog entry summarizing the past 3? 4? Days.

*** step into my time portal ***

I totally enjoyed having Saturday all to myself. I did pretty well with the daily eats- until the Florida game came on. I had to chug-a-lug some bubbly (by myself- stop judging) to calm my nerves (it was a nailbiter). And I paired it with my all time favorite snack food- WHEATHINS!

Sunday my old buddy Michelle came to visit.  We went had brunch at the Cheesecake factory- I did OK- with a lunch size veggie pizza and an iced coffee- okay- and ONE bite of cheesecake which took all the strength in the world not to eat the whole damn thing!  Then we hit up the pumpkin patch like kids





And carved out these babies






Present day- Tuesday was a day of sugar and more sugar. Starting with my waffles and honey- I wanted to make a green monster but ran out of spinach. I considered doing just a strawberry and banana smoothie but decided it was too much sugar at one time (this is a funny thought considering how the rest of my day went).  At work things went downhill when I convenienced myself that I needed a Starbucks to keep going. I got a nonfat grande vanilla latte. Then came another weakness… BAGELS.

I once read in a SHAPE magazine that eating a bagel was like eating a bowl of sugar. In college I ate bagels for breakfast every morning until I read that tiny tid bit of information. For some reason it really stuck with me and I rarely ate bagels from that point on. That was until today… when I gobbled down not ONE… but wait for it…. TWO WHOLE EVERYTHING BAGELS and it gets worse… WITH CREAM CHEESE!   I’m not going to lie- I loved every freaking bite.

The coffee did work though. After drinking it, I was so happy and a happy Ashley is a productive Ashley. I kicked some major booty at work and continued to kick butt in the gym afterwards.  It was my first time back in the gym in over a month. Not going to the gym is so not like me. It was really great to be back. I switched to a new gym since I moved and they had a TV on every single cardio machine. Best. Thing. Ever. Two episodes of The Office makes a workout go by in a snap!
After the gym I came home and made this loaded salad




And drank some coconut water- which I’ve read out there in blogger world that it is a great way to replace electrolytes.



If we are being honest though, I have no idea what that means for me and my body. So like the good little GoogleMonster I am I will look up the answer and post it on Wednesday.

Today’s eats- see above and add a Larabar
Fruit/Veggie count: 2.5 FAIL!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

It's hard being a Cheer- Leader

Captain Crabby here. Now, I am always the one preaching to people "Thoughts become Things" Be positive! Stay Happy! Rah! Rah! shish boom ba! But you know what? Sometimes I don't want to be happy! Sometimes I want to bitch and moan and complain and sulk! And today was definitely one of those days!


Nothing big- just a bunch of little things that have added up creating a giant stress ball in my head. Sometimes I just want a pat on the back - an acknowledgement of my hard work- is that so bad?


No worries though- I did find things to bring me out of my funk. Like:


Bob Marley Pandora Play List at work:



Sexy Shoes

Yummy Lunch:





Today's Eats

  • Bfast- 2 gluten free waffles with little syrup
    • Green Monster: 1 banana, 3 frozen strawberries, spinach, flax seed, almond milk
  • Snack #1-
  • Lunch- BBQ Kettle chips, wheat turkey sandwich with tom/lettuce/mayo (I had a bad day and was weak!!!)
  • Snack #2-
  • Dinner- Quesadillas- WW wraps, spinach, pinch of cheese, garlic shrimp, 1 tomato, small amount of fat free sour cream, 1/3 avocado
    • 2 glasses champagne (celebrating Jess's last night)
  • Dessert-1 small slice of pumpkin pie with cool whip topping (that counts as a veggie right?darn.)

Fruit/Veggie Count:3.5

    Wednesday, October 21, 2009

    Wakey Wakey Eggs and Bakey!






    Check out this new alarm clock that Abbie bought us. I am not what you would call a morning person. Not at all in fact I once had someone ask me if I take vitamins at noon because that is about the time I start feeling alive. I found an article that it is natural to wake up when the sun rises. I however, wake up at 6:30 -ish when it is still dark outside.


    So this bad ass alarm clock slowly lights up the room starting 30 minutes before your alarm is supposed to go off. **THEN** at 15 minutes you can choose between ocean sounds, zen, birds,... you get the point- that will sound off until your alarm finally beeps. **AND** all the while I can choose different aromas to fill the room while I transition from Sleepytown to Work City.  AMAZING! This clock is really the best idea ever.  So instead of hearing a jarring RIIIINNNNGGGG! at 6:30- I wake up felling mellow yellow. 


    I am putting this invention right up there with RainX and transition lenses.



    Today's Eats
    • Bfast- 2 gluten free waffles with a little bit of syrup
      • Large Green Monster: spinach, 3 strawberries, 1 banana, 1 cup of Almond Milk

    • Snack #1- Larabar
    • Lunch- Wrap with turkey, with tomatoes, sprouts, lettuce and avocado (no mayo or cheese)
    • Snack #2- Natural Granola with dark chocolate
    • Dinner- some crackers with hummus (appetizer) 
      • Stir Fry- Shrimp, fresh green, red and yellow peppers, onion, stir fry sauce,9 cashews and brown rice
      • handful of Baked Snap Peas
      • small glass of organic red wine
    Fruit/Veggie Count: 5

      Tuesday, October 20, 2009

      Endfattalk.org

      Today is the kick off of Tri Delta's (my sorority) End Fat Talk week. Check out this video for more info:
      Nothing like starting the day with a big glass of spinach- right???





      Unfortunately my Green Monster wasn't enough to help keep me awake today and I quickly made a run to Starbucks for a Grande Non Fat Vanilla Latte.
      Today's eats:


      • B-fast- Green Monster: 1 banana, spinach, frozen strawberries and almond milk
        • waffles with a little bit of syrup
      • Snack#1- Starbucks with a biscotti (I couldn't help myself)
      • Lunch- WW pasta, 1/2 cuke, 1 tom, EVOO
      • Dinner- Binner- turkey sausage, WW wrap, eggs (cage free), tomatoes, avocados 
        • 2 glasses of champagne (still celebrating)
      • Snack #2- popcorn (from home shared with 2 others)

      Fruit/Veggie count: 5

      Monday, October 19, 2009

      Holy Hangover Batman!

      From now on I am only having two drinks max! I know everyone says this after a night of binge drinking. But today I felt so absolutely awful! To make things worse my days eats are as follows:

      • bfast- not one, but 2 grilled cheese sandwiches
      • lunch- big bowl of left over chili with a row (yes- a whole stinkin' row) of crackers
      • dinner- mix of healthy yummies from Whole Foods
      I spent the whole day in bed- what a waste.

      **** moving on.....

      I am so happy to have Abbie aboard my healthy eating quest. He decided to check out Whole Foods thinking we would do our shopping there. Unfortunately it was simply too much $$$ for us and we ended up abandoning our cart and high tailed it back to Publix. 

      Every week I write out a grocery list (or else I will forget everything). I like to plan out all of my meals ahead of time and purchase accordantly. Here is this week's list:

      Bfast- Green monsters and waffles (gluten free low fat)
      Snack #1- Larabars
      Lunch- WW pasta with cukes and tomatoes with EVOO
      Snack #2- Apples
      Dinners: Shrimp Stir fry, Pad Thai, brinner (breakfast and dinner) wraps, quesadillas, black beans and rice

      • Foil
      • Larabars
      • eggs
      • spinach
      • bananas
      • cashews
      • red, yellow and orange peppers (6)
      • cheese
      • turkey sausage
      • onion
      • tomatoes
      • avocados
      • black beans (whole)
      • waffles
      • cornbread
      • brown rice
      • bread (for Abbie's lunches)
      • frozen strawberries
      • wraps
      • salsa
      • shampoo/conditioner
        •  = $150 ish
      Oh- watched the movie Away We Go- LOVED it!





      Futon Fun

      Saturday Abbie and I woke up early for breakfast at FirstWatch- my absolute FAVORITE place for the most important meal of the day.



      I got too excited when my power wrap came- that I forgot to take a picture- but did get a shot of the menu. After breakfast we shopped for 8 hours trying to find the perfect futon for our guest/yoga room. Yes I too think that Perfect Futon is an oxymoron.  


      Best quote of the day was from our young sales lady at City Furniture:


      "I was being a real bitch to my boyfriend, and he isn't a violent man- but he slammed his fist on our glass coffee table and shattered the whole thing and I yelled at him YOU HAVE TO REPLACE THAT NOW!"  ah- nice and professional right?


      My old roommate Jess got in about 8pm where we proceeded to drink and drink some more.


      Before: 

      After:

      We also polished off this awesome cat bottle of wine I bought at World Market. (like my new wine holder Jess bought?)

      Saturday's Eats:

      • B-fast- Power Wrap with 2 coffees
      • Snack #1 - nada
      • Lunch- 1/2 wheat Subway turkey sub with cukes, tom, lettuce, peppers (no chips, mayo or cheese)
      • Snack #2- nada again 
      • Dinner- Chili beans with crackers (deadly), cheese and meat (soooo not healthy- I was really disappointed because I had did well all day long. I think I just went too long with no snacks and cooked whatever was easiest)

      Friday, October 16, 2009

      Celebrate good times! Come on!

      So Abbie finally came back home on Wednesday night. We celebrated his arrival with 2 bottles of champagne and Wheat Thins (my celebration spread of choice). I ended up playing hookey from work yesterday so that he and I could continue the celebration- and boy did we!


      The problem is I associate celebrating with bad (aka yummy) food. We started the day by nursing our hangovers with a bacon, egg and cheese everything bagel. Followed by boneless buffalo wings with sour cream and margaritas at Chilis. Followed by more margaritas poolside and more hot wings for dinner. Needless to say- I felt HORRIBLE around 10pm.  We both swore that we would now get on the "healthy track" but with it being our first Friday together, guest coming to visit tomorrow and the FL game- I don't know how well we can keep that promise.   If anyone has any advice on how to get out of this state of mind- I would LOVE to know!


      Here are today's Eats
      • breakfast- oat with (2) egg whites, syrup (healthy pancakes)
      • snack #1 - Lara bar
      • Lunch- turkey wrap with sprouts, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado and fruit on the side
      • snack #2 - apple
      • Dinner- SUSHI! with 1 small sake



      Bunks was so happy to have Abbie home again too.


        About Me

        Purpose of Whole-ier than thou

        Short Story: I want to be healthy.

        Long Story:
        Once upon a time I had a super duper healthy friend. At breakfast I would order the short stack of pancakes with gobs of butter and syrup while she would order egg whites with fruit. I was convinced that her eating habits were not fun. That she missed out on life by not indulging in its yummy/fatty food.  But mostly, I was jealous of her amazing self control. I simply couldn’t pass up the instant gratification that came with eating a stack of pancakes.

        I started reading foodie blogs to learn more about healthy eating. Of the blogs I follow- almost all of them have already reached the level of health that I am striving for. They make it look so easy and I wished that someone had a blog that documented  their initial journey into a healthier lifestyle- surely they haven’t known about Larabars and Almond milk their whole lives, right?

        I know that I will achieve my goal of becoming the healthy egg-white-ordering person I wish to be. Whole-ier than thou was created to help track this process and for anyone else out there to follow, give advice, learn from, commiserate and/or celebrate with.

        As for the title- I had always felt that those that could eat/live and stay committed to a healthy lifestyle were/are almost on a higher level. I hope to get there too.

        Random Info about me:

        I consider myself to be a sarcastic Buddhist- although I am not sure if that is possible- as all other Buddhist I know are super happy and haven’t an ounce of sarcasm to spill. At concerts I sing the lyrics I know at the top of my lungs and chug beer at the parts I don’t know so it looks like I know the whole song. I love lists- I write and rewrite them daily. I believe everyone should adopt a shelter dog- they are as good- if not better - than any purebred dog (not that I have anything against purebred dogs- or any animal for that matter). I stay an hour after work almost every day so I look like a hard worker- but most of the time I am just really catching up on my blog reading. Sometimes I can be a slave to CBS’s TV lineup. If I could have a super power it would be to cast wind around me- for no practical purposes- I just LOVE a windy day- it makes me so happy.  I am passionate about my boyfriend, the beach, my job, popcorn, my family, sexy shoes and Publix (though not in that order).

        Enjoy!



        Wednesday, October 14, 2009

        hey la hey la my boyfriend's back!

        Break out the blubbly! My boyfriend is coming home today! To get you up to speed, Abbie is a professional golfer and spends 1/2 the year up north. We bought our first place together about 3 weeks ago and it has been so lonely not having him here to enjoy the new place with me. He won't be here till later tonight- I don't know how I am going to make it through the workday- I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve!

        moving on...I had this yummy thing as my snack#1 of the day. Wowzer this thing is mmmm...loadedwithdelicious!

        Lunch- I splurged on lunch today- Wheat bread, turkey with Let/Tom and mayo-  I caved. I wanted to say no to the mayo- but I just love it too much! I did pass on the cheese though- so that is a plus. I also had these BBQ Kettle chips- LOADED!

        Snack #2- nothing

        Dinner- Wheat Thins and champagne... I know I know- stop judging!

        Not a good day for healthy eating- that's for sure. I think I was too anxious about Abbie coming home and I turned to "bad" food for some comfort.

        Tuesday, October 13, 2009

        Eat Food. Not too Much. Mostly Plants.

        I think the best way to stop me from shoving junk food down my throat would be through scare tactics. The first true "eating healthy" book I read, The China Study, is a lot of the reason for even wanting to start this journey of becoming healthy. From that book I stopped buying milk and meat products (notice- I didn't say EATING I said BUYING). 

        Now I am reading In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. Right on the cover it gives a synopsis of his thoughts on eating healthy: Eat Food. Not too Much. Mostly Plants. Easy enough? The jury is still out on that one. One of his tidbits of advice is to not eat alone- reason being that you are a little more self conscious when you have an audience. Right now I eat with this:

        She doesn't judge me at all- in fact- she PRAYS for me to eat more food because she knows that I resist to share with that adorable face of hers.  Lucky for me though- Abbie comes home tomorrow and he is as excited as I am about starting this healthy eating thing I'm doing. (so nice to have his support).

        For now my plan of attack is to simply have 4-5 servings of fruits and veggies a day.

        Here are today's eats:

        • bfast- 2 egg whites cooked with oats, almond butter on top, tea
        • Snack #1- Larabar
        • Lunch- WW pasta, 1 tom, 1/2 cuke, olive oil
        • Snack #2- 1 coffee with 1 sugar, granola
        • Dinner- 1 sweet potato, mushrooms 
        • Fruit/Veggie count = 3

        Monday, October 12, 2009

        John Dear Letter

        Dear Junk Food,


        It hurts me to say this, but it’s over. I’ve been wanting to this for years and have finally reached the breaking point. Please know that it’s not you- I know that you cannot help your scrumptious yummy goodness. But your tastiness has caused my body to betray me. My width has expanded and my clothes do not fit. You have exhausted me, leaving me poopie and lethargic day after day. I must leave you now and pursue these fruits and veggies I’ve heard so much about.


         I will always remember the good times we’ve had. Cheese- greasy, ooey gooey precious cheese. I will miss you the most. The way you covered my pizza, the way you perfectly topped off crackers, they way you cover pasta bringing happiness to all that consume you. String, spray, blocked, sliced, powdered, baked, melted - you are still divine. Cheese- there is nothing you can’t make taste better- even broccoli. 


        And you, white bread; hot, fluffy, filling white bread. I love how you greet me at the start of every dinner experience- saying “yes, this is going to be a great dinner.”  Your omen of delicious-ness will be missed.


        Lemon bars, strawberry cupcakes, Twix bars, Mountain Dew, Doritos, blueberry muffins, cheesy garlic biscuits, bacon, and sweet sweet poptarts with melted butter on top, I say a heartfelt goodbye to you all.


        I’m sure I’ll run into you at some point in my journey. Please understand when I look away. I love you junk food and will miss you dearly. But forever I must bid you adieu.


        With love,
        Ashley