Pack that a$$ up

I think my carry-on bag weighed more than I do.

Allow me to explain (with photos):

Bar-ville, USA.

No such thing as over-packing when you’re flying from the east coast to the middle of the pacific ocean…right?

But then, after piling my bag with dried fruit, clifs & laras, I freaked out and worried I didn’t have enough food so then I added more.

And then more.

Of course, I STILL ended up buying tons more at LAX because I’m so type A, I think there’s no such thing as being TOO prepared…but I’ll get to the flights later.

I previously posted my tips for flying, here.

What are your go-to foods for flying?

Anyways, I woke up Sunday morning wayyy earlier than necessary, so I could do this…

…and this.

Just kidding, I only did the first one.  But I did make sure to get in a solid 20 minutes of stretching…cramped up on a plane all day is no bueno for my old lady runner joints.

I also had a big bowl of melon for brekkie.  Never too soon to start hydrating.

After waking up a bit more, I did some last minute packing, and hit the road for JFK.  Kyle was sweet enough to walk me to the subway (although I’m pretty sure it was just an excuse for him to get a muffin for breakfast on the way home).

The airport is the ultimate place for people watching…there were far too many weirdos to document.  However, I DO have a few highlights from my 15+ hours of observing.

I took a few notes so as not to forget.  If you don’t care about my random musings, feel free to skip ahead, I won’t be offended know either way 🙂

Seven.

That’s the bathroom tally from my middle seat neighbor on the flight from JFK to LAX.  SEVEN.  SEVEN!!!  And these weren’t quick trips, these were half hour long visits (I know this because on one of them I watched an entire episode of Kendra)…so there was clearly something going on. 

At first I felt bad for the guy.  Homes must’ve been dealin’ with some serious GI issues.  But once he started nearing (and then passed) the double digits (of times I had to get up to let him back in), my empathy quickly turned to annoyance.  Dude, get the aisle seat if you have a weak stomach. 

I know I sound horrible (especially coming from a girl with IBS), but the guy was also a SUPER CREEP.  He was staring at me the entire freakin’ flight.  You know when you can tell someone is looking at you, and you look up and meet their eyes and they quickly look away.  Well, he was like that, but DIDN’T look away!  I mean I was like, helloooooo, I can see you staring at me!

At one point (when middle seat was in the bano) the guy in the window seat actually said “is this his first time out of the house?!”  Word, window seat guy.  Word.

I could go on and ON about his bizarre actions over the course of the 5 hours we were forced to share 2 inches of armrest and overhead compartment space, but I’ll move on.

Btw, this was the line for the only coffee place in the Delta terminal. 

Clearly, I waited – and yes, people thought I was very weird for taking pictures of the line and then of my coffee…but I don’t really care.

BECAUSE…LOOK WHAT THEY HAD!!

Sabra + pretz = happy happy hippie 🙂

I also got the $5 cup of melon, which brought my morning airport expenses to $13.  WELL worth it.

Given the advantage of hindsight, I can now say it was a very necessary purchase.  I don’t know HOW I would have coped with the creepy middle seat guy without my hummus love.

I had a 3 hour layover in LAX, during which I consumed 2 bars, 45 pounds of dried fruit, my pre-packed salad, and the above purchases (add on another $11 to my bill).

Notice the ketchup shot in the bottom of the screen :)  I felt guilty just entering the golden arches to get it!

I bought another veg platter for the second flight, too.

And now for some superlatives…(kidding! kinda…ok, maybe not)

JFK to LAX fellow passenger best outfit award goes to purple velour matchy matchy sweat suit with “apple bottom” emblazoned in crystals across the ass.  The outfit didn’t end there though…she also rocked stunna shades on top of her head the entire (5 hour) flight PLUS she obvs got her hair did freshly for the trip and sported hoops I could easily fit my fist through, all while balancing in 4 inch stilettos.  Seriously.  You can’t make this shiz up.  I wish I could have gotten a picture of that!  I hope she had someone soopah important waiting for her in LA, because with a get-up like that, she should be P. Diddy’s shoulder candy (at the least).

Runner up goes to the female body builder with biceps that would make Jillian’s gun show look like amateur hour.  Her veins were bulging like a mo fo.  AND (as if her peek-a-boo veins weren’t enough to get the point across) she also had underarmor gear hugging her muscles tighter than House of Derion jeans on Beyonce’s bootylicious lady lumps.

Love me some people watching 🙂

The second flight was pretty perfect (as far as 5+ hour flights go)…I had an endless supply of free movies, so I watched Confessions of a Shopaholic and He’s Just Not That Into You.  Quality.  I figured Kyle wouldn’t be too heart broken if I saw these without him…(he’d be so bummed if I saw the Jonas Brothers movie before he did, so I held off on that one – maybe the flight back home?)!

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Grassy-ass, AMAZING Grass

Wow, Saturday went from sunny and nice to rainy and gross in a matter of seconds.  Good thing my 10K was early! 

I woke up at 7 am to get ready – and it was already warm and sunny out!

I knew exactly what I wanted before the race…

You see, a while ago I received a HUGE box of goodies from the wonderful people at Amazing Grass (thanks Brandon)!!!

So I knew the chocolate SuperFood powder would be the perfect pre-race fuel. 

I combined it with a shot of iced coffee (leftover from yesterday’s morning brew) and some almond milk…perrrrfect 🙂

It was light on my tum tum, while still giving me enough of a boost to kick some 10K ass.  Plus, it’s CHOCOLATE!  I wish I could have blended it, but I was trying to be quiet for Kyle since it was so early.  Now I really can’t wait to try the other flavors!

After I sipped down my magic elixir, I laced up, and hit the road.  I listened to Jillian on the way there because I’m obsessed 🙂

The race started on the east side, so I arrived with a few extra minutes to stretch and get my nervous/excited jitters a-buzz. 

The horn blared and I was OFF!

In summary, this was THE best race EVER!  There were a few factors contributing to this:

1) Since I’m now an official NYRR member, I got to start way closer to the front of the pack, meaning I didn’t have to navigate my way through a sea of slow-pokes (harsh much?).

2) The race starting point was right before the worst uphill part of the central park loop, so I was full of energy for the most difficult part.

3) I had the best playlist ever pumping me up the entire time (the new Black Eyed Peas cd is a MUST for all you runners out there)!

4) I took steroids before I left the apartment. 

4) They said there was a surprise frozen treat at the end 🙂

I’m still waiting on my official time, but I think I finished in 43 minutes.

I enjoyed a strawberry fresh fruit popsicle on the way back to the apartment.

After showering, and then running to the store for more leche, I frothed up this bad boy and vegged on the couch with some fruity eats.

Blueberry Oikos isn’t as good as Chobani, but I’m trying to use up things in the fridge.  Plus, massive amounts of melon make anything and everything great.

I added in the melon and a plum (which I also got after the race), and stirred away.  Free food is a good motivator for entering races btw.

I chatted it up on the phone with my momz for a while, and next thing I knew, it was well past noon and I was hungry.

I was feeling like some raw eats were on the menu for lunch.

First, I de-cobbed some uncooked corn, then tossed it in with some other veggies to create this masterpiece.

 

This salad contained: raw corn off the cob, red bell peppers, shredded carrots, and chickpeas.  It was so huge, it took forever to eat, which was delightful.  Plus I kept adding in scoops of roasted red pepper hummus…which is a sure-fire way to make a dish taste ah-mazing.  Pretty sure you could add sabra to poop almost anything and I’d like it. 

Also on the menu, apple slices, morningstar veggie burger, and red pepper hummus.  NOM!

This lunch hit the spot.

In my bruin mug: iced tea with my NEW (and oh-so-cute) straw!!

Since it was pouring outside, Kyle and I did nothingness all day…I did laundry and packed haphazardly threw crap in a suitcase.  I am so scared I’m going to end up in Hawaii without anything but a bathing suit (there could be worse things though, right?…like the lack of hummus tomorrow’s travels will bring)!!!  Eek!  Do you think LAX has tubs of sabra?  I have a 3 hour layover there, so I have time to scavenger hunt.  Any So Cal bloggers wanna meet at the LAX starbucks smuggle some hummus through airport security?

I did some dried fruit snackety snacking in the afternoon (cherries, papaya spears, and ginger cubes).

Look familiar?  Dinner was basically the same thing as lunch (the fridge is running on empty), sans chickpeas.

Broccoli and cauliflower were the new members to the meal, everything else was the same.  I finished the hummus (duh).

After dinner, we busted open ANOTHER Newman’s Own Organic product.

Jillian actually mentioned these Chocolate Alphabet cookies in a recent podcast (not in a good way, though)…I sampled a few, but decided I’d rather keep the crap intake to a minimum…the last thing I want are GI issues, while trapped on a 14 hour flight.

Kyle wrote me a message with his dessert…

I thanked him by sharing my grapes (dessert #2)

And now, for a Heather inspired ending to the post, here is Kyle’s random comment for the day:

“Elise, wash those!!  They’re from Mexico!” – about the non-organic grapes

he bought

 

One final thing I want to say: Thank you, thank you thank you!  I heart you guys so so much.  I can’t thank you all nearly enough for your endless support and sweet comments about my computer woes.  You know how to make a girl feel loved, and it’s just further proof that this blogging community is truly SO much more than just food/fitness.  I could go on and on, but in the interest of getting back to packing for Hawaii, I’ll nip this sap-fest at the bud.

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Readers make me happy, google reader does not

Today was one of those “breath, take a step back, and count to ten” kind of days. 

Initially, I started my blog, as nothing more than a fun, therapeutic way for me to journal my attempt at living a healthy, semi-balanced life – including everything from gym time to cooking successes & messes, as well as my random thoughts and musings along the way…if others happen to enjoy reading, even better!  Now, I have grown to ADORE blogging, and it’s all because of you guys!  Who ever would have thought that sharing aspects of my life on a regular basis would turn into such a wonderful experience.  This blogging community is amazing.

Which leads me to the wah wah wah part of the post. 

[insert panicked calls to Kyle, followed by tears, and desperate emails to K and Sarah]

You see, in my vain attempt to make my blog more pretty, I basically wiped out my audience.  Uhhh.  Oops?!  After the dust settled 5 hours of google searching, I learned way more thna I ever wanted to about computer lingo, and managed to locate the problem.  Not fix it, just locate it 🙂

Basically, if you have google reader, I think you have to change the subscription name to www.hungryhungryhippie.com/feed now.  Otherwise, everything else seems to have worked out fairly well…of course if you area reading this, obviously something is functioning correctly.

(keep in mind exhaustion is the main factor in my tranquility at this point)

Nothing like coffee to help me breathe and reboot.

I apologize for the ramblings above, I promise I will cease ALL technology-related blog talk from now on!  And if you skipped the above text, well done, that’s probably one of the smartest decisions you made all day 🙂

BREAKFAST!!

I was feeling fruity, can you tell?  Strawbeezy chobz + H2O/plain melon galore = sugar HIGHHHHHHHH (insulin me stat, yo!)

After stalking my fellow bloggies (especially the wordpress beauties) I did a crossword to further calm myself, but then those dumb biatches desperate fools on Paris Hilton’s BFF got my blood a-pumpin’ again.  They so stoopid.

No worries, I called Kyle and discovered he’d be home by 2…yeeeeha! 

For lunch I whipped up a sammie, consisting of Alvarado street heel pieces (amore!) bell pepps, snow peas (a bit weird, right?), non sabra Tribe hummus, and a Food for Life veggie burger. 

The remaining hummus was put to good use with my extra veggeroos and apple slices 🙂

HUMMDADDY!  This baby was magic in my mouth (that’s what she said)!

Look at those fat ass Britney papaya spears!  Courtney will die when she sees this line-up (and I had double the amount pictured, too)! 

Once Kyle got home (and the dried fruit hit my blood stream) it was gym time.

Elliptical for 60 mins, followed by abs/arms and stretching…then I headed to the east side to the NYRR office to pick up my race day stuff for tomorrow.  I did intervals of running/walking (a la snackface) on the way there and back, which is prob 2 miles in total?

I was fighting off hunger pangs by the time I got back to the apt, so I pounded through a plate of fruit BEFORE I even showered.  Stinky hippie!

Pineapple, apple, and cantaloupe.

I just realized what an insane amount of fruit I had today!  Dried and fresh.  Ah summer love!

This is when my day got AMAZING!!  Courtney, my dried fruit/bar fairy sent me an insane box of yummies!

Seriously, this perked me RIGHT up, and believe me, it was V. NECESSARY after spending the entire day trying to retrieve my blog from the cyberspace abyss…

You can’t even tell all the goodies she packed in there!  My fave bars in my FAVE flavors, dried fruit up the yin-yang, the cutest reusable STRAWS (hippie love!),  and David Sedaris’ Me Talk Pretty One Day cds.  This 14 hour flight to Hawaii just went from dreadful to FABULOUS!  Seriously, I can’t thank her enough.  MADE.MY.WEEKLIFE.

I was bouncing off the walls, so Kyle put me in restraints took me to the grocery store, and then we stopped at Blockbuster on the way home.

Lazy ass that I am, I didn’t feel like cooking, so I got vegan sushi (brown rice, organic veggies, and textured protein).  SUSHI is my preferred night-before-a-race meal.  I think it has a good balance of carbs and protein, and is easy on my stomach, too.

Two whole rolls all for ME 😀

I inhaled this like a lady while watching Taken.  Liam Neeson is a badass!

I also had 2 more apples and iced tea. 

Hi, my name is Elise, and I’m an apple-aholic.

Tomorrow morning during my 10K, when I am asking myself why I feel like ass…this photo will serve as the evidence answer. 

Night fellas and bellas!

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Techno-tart

I think it’s fairly obvious I’m not the most computer savvy person out there…but with the help of Sarah, Mara, and Caroline, I managed to make the much needed (and long overdue) switch to WordPress.

Finally. 

I have been putting it off forever, because the idea all these <?/.> things really really scare me.

So now I can continue to sort it out while in Hawaii.  Am I a total freak for thinking vacation is the perfect time for a blog make-over?  Nothing screams relaxation like formatting and codes and DNS settings.

Basically Thursday was a blog-athon interspersed with some food.

Messy messy girl!  I didn’t even have time to clean up my station…now you all can see my frothing device (Caffe Froth).

My brekkie was an (almost) K style ABC.  With my AM java, I had an apple, a blueberry chobz, and 5 golden rings two pineapple rings 🙂

This did not hold my appetite AT ALL.  Maybe it was all the stress about losing my archives in the blogger to wordpress transfer, or maybe it was the fact that I downed 75 pounds of coffee before 9 am, but for whatever reason, I needed to pull out the big guns.  And by that I mean oatmeal.

With THE works: banana, raisins, PB, and carob chips (I’m now out of carob chips AND oats – tear)!

This bowl provided the sustenance necessary to get me through The View AND my DVRed NJ Housewives.

When it came to lunch, my sights were set.  Roasted red pepper, you have stolen my heart, and I can’t remember what life was like before I knew you. 

I had planned on trying to make this tub last me until the weekend…

Unfortunately, my stomach had different plans…

 

I can’t afford such $$ hummus habits!  Plus, I’m leaving for vacation in 3 days, so it seems ridiculous to buy more groceries when the fridge is PLENTY stocked to get me through.  Prepare yourself for some creative (read: leftover crap) meals.  I only have one more tub of hummus left and it’s not Sabra.  See, Elise, that’s what happens when you don’t practice moderation.  What can I say – I’m a glutton for punishment.

After the initial plate of bell peppers, apple slices, carrots, and a Food for Life veggie burger, I had another veggie burger, and then sopped up the last little bit with bread.

Maybe the newest feature to add to my blog should be a tutorial on how to polish off a tub of hummus in one sitting? 

Tick tock tick tock – blog, email Mara, blog, email Mara…you get the point.

After I got tired of staring at hippos with pumpkins I crunched through my 3rd apple for the day, and then headed to the gym to sweat it out.

I’m starting to think my basal metabolic rate is, like, Michael Phelps status (believe me, I’m NOT complaining about that…) because I’m hungry around the clock, and feel like I’m consuming a weeks worth of kcals each day! 

While at the gym I had non-stop energy after all my grubbing.  I LOVE when I feel like I could run forever and ever.  Best feeling.

My workout: 30 min elliptical, 10 min stair stepper, 10 min elliptical, 20 min tread mill, 10 min elliptical.  Stretch stretch stretch.

Crazy right?  I also had Jillian in my ear, and her podcast is beyond motivating.  Seriously, I now understand – and completely empathize with – the biggest loser contestants.  Fear can really light a fire under your ass!!

When I got back home I was hangry, so pardon the hideous plate.

I couldn’t get food fast enough!  GOBBED in peanut butter, I had 2 pieces of bread (one Alvarado street slice, one generic ww slice), dates, dried apricots, and apple #4 for the day.  You can kinda tell from the photo, but let me just say, this was A LOT of peanut butter.

I knew I needed mega fueling though, because I was heading out to a friends surprise birthday party, and I’m not a big fan of the bar food scene.

The night was fun, aside from the misty, insta-afro hair (just add water!!) weather.  When we got home, Kyle and I enjoyed a plate of dessert yummies while watching the season finale of True Blood.

I also enjoyed apple number 5.  Wow.  That’s a lot.

I hit the sack with dreams nightmares of http not found website pages and google reader errors…

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Hungry Tiger

**I’m not sure why, but I’m having tech related issues…update your google reader feeds to  http://hungryhungryhippie.com/feed/

If you know what the title of this post means, I’m sorry.  Ha Ha.

But that’s what I felt like (again) today.  I had 4 meals (not snacks, meals) AFTER dinner alone.

OK, so back to the beginning…

Hump day started off with an early morning wake up call.  Someone’s gotta save lives.

To get me going, I went with a Trilogy Kombucha.  This is my FAVE flavor by far.  Mmmm…

I had packed my lunch before, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

I bought a big ‘ol container of “tropical” trail mix to tide me over.  Even though I’m still on the fence with certain nuts, I know they can hold my appetite, so I think it’s a great go-to when my appetite is hungry tiger hippie status.

What exactly qualifies a mix as tropical?  Brazil nuts?  Papaya?  I don’t know, it seemed pretty standard as far as dried fruit/nut mixes go…but whatever, beggars can’t be choosers. 

I polished the entire thing off, as well as my whole packed lunch by 1 pm.  FYI, the “new” super protein odwalla bars are the merely smaller versions of the former ones (with a new wrapper).

Business/Economics 101 says fool the customers into thinking something is new and improved with a flashy new packaging, while simultaneously saving money by charging the same price for a smaller version of the product.  Hmmmm…not a fan of this policy, but I can’t deny my love for odwalla is still going strong.

Anyways, I scrounged this up…vegan options are minimal at the hospital, but if you know the right people (wink wink), you can move mountains…ok, ok, I discharged a patient on a veggie diet before lunch came, and they still brought her tray.  The hospital is WAY too cheap to donate ANYthing to the starving nurses fund – believe me, I’ve tried!!

Sorry about the not-so-hot blackberry photo…

I stopped here (AGAIN) on my way home from work, to get my Kombucha fix.  Don’t be deceived by the hole-in-the-wall appearance.  This place has all the products that Whole Foods has, MINUS the massive lines.  Is two Kombuchas a day too many?

Anyways, when I got home, I had to eat something right away to prevent myself from chewing my arm off.

Roasted red pepper Sabra on Alvarado Street bread, plus apple slices for max dipping pleasure.

Kyle was already home and munching on these…

…so I couldn’t help but have a few (hundred) handfuls.

DARN IT! 

The good news: Newman’s Own does cookies right.

The bad news: I hadn’t even eaten a proper dinner and I managed to down well over half of the bag. 

To get some decent (not processed) calories in, I made an avocado mash containing an ENTIRE avo, shredded carrots, and clover sprouts…which I then piled on top of 2 slices of Alvarado Street bread.  On the side, I had the last of my home-made seitan.

After dinner I went dessert crazy.  First up, dates stuffed with carob chips.

Then, I had a big bowl full of strawberries with stevia and cinnamon sprinkled on top, and more carob chips tossed in after.

But the treats didn’t stop there.  And I’m glad they didn’t because as a result, I discovered an amazing new dessert!  Dried mango with PEANUT BUTTER!  It reminded me of PB+J with the sweetness of the dried mango and the crunchy nutty peanut butter.  YUM.

As if that weren’t tasty enough.

…it evolved into something even BETTER (clearly carob chips go with everything).

After a few more of these, I called it a night.  Hungry tigers have to go to bed eventually.

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testing 1,2,3

Bueller?

Bueller?

Making some changes to the blog…stay with me…

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raindrops on roses & whiskers on kittens

Now that’s it’s “summer” we have been sleeping with the bedroom windows open, but the thunder and lightning were so INSANE last night, I had to channel my inner Von Trapp and sing “My Favorite Things” to calm myself down…it was scary!

It woke me up it was so loud.  And just so you know, normally I sleep like a rock, so this was no joke.

Clearly I had a rough night’s sleep – enter coffee 🙂

These are a few of my favorite things…

Peach chobz (not as good as blueberry) and a bowl of melon.

I had a mid-morning snack of peanut butter + banana, just to tide me over until lunch.

Once I was full and fueled, I began my Hawaii preparations (planning meals for Kyle while I’m gone, downloading new music and yoga sessions on my iTunes, etc.) – sure it may be a bit premature (I leave on Sunday), but I know I have lots in the coming week, so the type A in me wanted to get things rolling.

That really worked up my appetite!  Lunch time!

I made a sammich with Za’atar tofu (baked with Sabrina’s spice mix last week) on one side, and roasted red pepper hummus on the other.  I already need another tub!

 

Fan-freakin-tastic.  Random question: Do you guys cut your sandwiches in half before eating them?  Or do you bite right in?  If you cut them in half, which half do you eat first?  I always cut mine diagonally, and eat the smaller half first.  That way I don’t get sad when I finish the first half because I still have the bigger part left :)  Haha, I’m a freak, I know.

Anyways, I feel like soy products have been getting a bad rap lately, so I just wanna say – errrthang in moderation kiddos!!  Tofu isn’t the devil, especially if you prepare it yourself.

On the side I had apple slices with a mini-tub of Tribe hummus…I may have dipped the sammie in the hummus, too (TWO kinds of hummus on ONE sandwich – now that’s my kind of meal)!

You know what this means…fresh lemonade!!

Lunch dessert = dried fruit platter with raw cow hide mango, pineapple, and papaya spears.

The skies parted, so I sprinted to the gym…my workout was good, not great.  It felt good to get my blood pumping, but the whole time I was wishing I was outside :(  On the plus side, I had the new Black Eyed Peas cd AND Jillian’s podcast (thanks Sarah!!) to distract me. 

I did some very necessary shopping on my way home…

I was hardly in the door when I ripped into these babies!  I had a obscenely embarrassing amount (TEN).  Cinnamon may even be better than the original!  The HUGE sugar crystals on top were the best part.  SoSoSoGood!

Even after half the box, I wasn’t full, so I crunched into this bright red loverrr.

And sipped on pounded a Cosmic Cranberry Kombucha (try saying THAT 5 times fast).

In case you were worried, I replenished my Sabra stash today. 

I have GOT to get a hold on myself..I bought 4 different flavors (3 of which were Sabra).  Can’t wait to see Kyle’s reaction when he opens the fridge…

For dinner I dove right into the classic Sabra (FIRST with a fork, and then with an english muffin).

Since yesterday’s “nachos” were such a success…I went with round two of the veggie slices “cheesy” chips – which I then decided could ALSO be dipped in hummus.  I mean c’mon, why not?! 

Who didn’t see this coming…haha.

Once my carb cravings were properly met (and surpassed), I decided to get some other food groups in (wait, hummus isn’t it’s own food group?) and made a plate filled with yum.

Mark your calendars kids, because this will go down in history as one of THE SINGLE best dinners of my life.

Lookie lookie: Chickpeas, edamame, brown rice, tofu chunks, shredded carrots, broccoli slaw, red bell pepps, and dried cranberries all a bed of spinach.

Oh.Em.Gee.

Beeeee-YOOT!

I was quite content after this bomb dindin.  I had some iced tea which required NO ice since this mug was stored in the freezer (the water freezes in the outside part) – so COOL! 

Like a built in cozie!

Eventually it was time for the big D.

Melted carob chips + PB + toasted Alvarado Street bread = mmmm!

This rocked me right into a food coma.  I was barely able to pack my lunch for work tomorrow before the zzzzzzs kicked in.

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Balance act, tipsy

I have no clue why, but my appetite was out of control today.  It was as if I ran a marathon and couldn’t seem to get in enough kcals to replenish.  The only problem: I didn’t run a marathon.  In fact, I didn’t exercise Sat or Sun because I worked (12 hour shifts are not conducive to gym-ing). 

I never really pay attention to balancing calories on days I exercise, even if I have really intensely active days, because typically my body tells me what to do.  If my tummy wants more, I give it more (it rarely says no).  So when I woke up today starving, and it continued throughout the day, despite my continuous fueling, I felt as if my stomach was a bottomless pit, a tipsy scale that I couldn’t balance no matter how much I ate. 

Weird.  Just wait…you’ll see what I mean.

I started the day with the same old same old.

And since my stomach was growling like a ferosh beast, I broke the fast at 8 am with oats – done up right with THE WORKS.

Added into this massive bowl are: half a nanner, PB, raisins, carob chips, and leche de almonds.  I don’t mess around, yo.

This sat like a brick in my tum for all of 4 seconds.  Ok, not really, but I was hungry again at 10.  Whaaaaa?

I had some fruit to shush the grrrr situation going on in my stomach.

 

And a little more…

Yeah, ok, I basically snacked my way until lunch.

After watching a few juicers make their own lemonade, I vowed I would find a way to do the same (sans juicer), because it sounded so good.  Well today was just the day for it.

Always make sure it leads with a 9!!  Such simple ingreds 🙂

Add some Britta-fied H20 and voila!  I prefer to drink most beverages with a straw, so if you’re wondering – yes, it’s a stolen Starbucks straw, I have a drawer full of them.

For lunch I had pizza. 

Ok, not really, but that’s EXACTLY what this tasted like.  OMG, HOW did nobody tell me about this flavor of Sabra hummus before?!?  It’s my new fave.  It’s out of this world.

Turns out roasted red pepper hummus + vegan cheese + toasted Alvarado St bread = Pizza!

I had it with a crunchy apple, sliced for more rapid consumption.  It was so good I questioned my current engagement and nearly called off the wedding to propose to this mothah!

What can I say?  Kombucha is like a drug!!  At least the come down off the high doesn’t leave you with the shakes…yet.

I tried to stay away, but the roasted red pepper hummus just LURED me back in.

This is my second lunch (yep, it’s the EXACT same).

I could have eaten 5 more.  My stomach was in a feud with my head.  My stomach was still hungry (how, I’ll never know), but my brain was not buying it…hello, Elise, you’ve already eaten an entire day’s worth of meals and it’s barely past noon!

I decided to quiet the inner voices with some all of these.

 

Finally, I was satisfied.  While facebook stalking, I made a huge batch of iced tea, which I sipped through a straw 🙂

 

Hydrated and fueled on carbs, I decided to take advantage of the decent (read: non rainy) weather and went on a nice run around the usual loop in Central Park. 

7 miles – 50 min 

It felt heavenly.  I could have been floating it was such a great run.

After I got home, I headed to the gym for a cool down, plus some arms and abs on the mats.  I felt like a rock star, I just had SO much energy.  I guess my body knew what it wanted…

When I got back from the gym, there was something waiting for me!

Package!!!

Look at all the loot!  Kyle’s aunt sent us a bunch of dishware from our alma mater – it’s so perfect for summer rooftop BBQs.  Light weight AND non-breakable makes climbing 9 flights of stairs way less treacherous. 

Go BRUINS!!   Sorry Caroline 🙂

I also got my official NYRR card in the mail.  I’m legit, too legit to quit.

I opted for several mini-meals for dinner.

What do you call cheese that’s not yours?

NACHO cheese!

This big plate of chips was vegan-ified with some melty fake cheese, and devoured like I was a homeless person presented with booze McDonald’s.

Dinner meal numero dos was a salad from topping-ville USA.  What wasn’t in this thing!?  Not much. 

Just for $hit$ and giggles I had 2 apples, all slicey and dicey.

Then I headed out the door with (the above) papaya spears in tow to meet up with Kyle.  We saw The Hangover and I laughed my behind right off.  Bradley Cooper is h-o-tizzle, and Andy (from The Office) was hilarious.  Two thumbs up in my book.

When we got home, I had a bowl of melon for dessert.  I am now about to pass out as I am typing this (zzzzzz), so goodnight bloggies. 

Oh and before I forget!  PB+Jenny is giving away cuh-raaaazy amounts of goodies.  Git on over there and win it!

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It’s sunny honey

Sunday came and went and I think I hardly blinked!  Normally weekends that I work creep by so sloooooooowly, but this weekend was over in a flash, which is fine by me, since I have Monday off. 

Sorry to the rest of you with normal work schedules!

Back to Sunny-day, though.

SO excited to try my cute ‘lil tub-o-Tribe hummus. LOVE me some humdaddy, right Brooke!

I sliced an apple up for increased dunking pleasure, but the hummus made it’s way to the salad more than anything else…

YUM!

I also had a new CLIF flav – Cranberry Apple Cherry.  Mr. Clif can do no wrong.  It was the perfect chewy consistency, kind like a cobbler, but in bar form.  Blueberry crisp is still my number one, but this will def be purchased again. 

There are dried papaya spears and organic sugar coated ginger cubes in the bag on top (that’s so effing foggy it can hardly be considered a ziplock).  Let’s just say, I can prob skip the Kombucha for today because of all the probiotics growing on that year old baggie. 

At what point does the excuse of being a hippie cross the line to becoming a homeless person?

I may just be there.  And yet, I still saved the baggie for tomorrow.

Nothing too thrilling to report on the job front.  I had one patient sign out AMA today (against medical advice), but he wasn’t a cardiac surgery patient, so I wasn’t too worried.  He was one of the psych patients I mentioned yesterday…and seriously HOW do you reason with a man who says he has to leave because in the middle of the night someone put a knife to his throat?  Ummmm…pretty sure that’s not in the night RN’s job description.  I managed to convince him to stay for a few IVs worth of electrolytes, but after a lifetime on acid, there’s only so much of the liver you can salvage in 48 hours…if you haven’t heard of hepatic encephalopathy, look it up – if that doesn’t convince you to stay off drugs, I don’t know what will.

By the time I got home, my tummy was grrrrowling, so I threw a plate of randoms together asap, including:

My last home-made seitan cutlet 😦

A shredded zucchini, broccoli slaw, and carrot salad (vampires beware – I took off my knuckle with the peeler, so there was some added iron in there too…). 

Alvarado Street bread with the rest of the Sabra hummus solo.

THEN (as if I hadn’t already reached my hummus capacity for the day…) I opened another SABRA container.  Can you believe this was my first time I trying the roasted red pepper flavor!?!?

Holy Yum!  I couldn’t stop myself from chowing down.

After this slice, I couldn’t stop!  I had THREE more!

Mmm…

While I ate, Kyle turned on True Blood (apparently he discovered Season 1 On Demand, and made his way through 8 episodes this weekend…).  See, I’m not the only one with an addictive personality!  Obsessed much?  Next thing I know, I got sucked in (pun VERY intended). 

Dessert #1

Dessert #2

Dessert #3 – ick!  Sorry Erin, but these are just not able to satisfy my PM sweet tooth.  I can handle one piece MAX, and then I start coughing hacking up a lung.

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Enough salads already

Up at 5.  Out the door in under 30.  Not a record, but not too shabby either.

I got to downtown way earlier than usual, so the bucks wasn’t open yet (eek!)…good thing I had Bruno’s to the rescue.  I’ve raved before, so my love for this tiny place is no secret, a small steamy coffee turned that frown upside down 🙂

Here’s my latest read.  I heart David Sedaris!  Makes the loss of express trains on the weekends somewhat tolerable. 

I managed to avoid the local trains today, so all was good.

Anyways, I enjoyed the above pre-packed eats throughout the day.

Cookies ‘n Cream LUNA = soooooo good!  This was the first Luna bar that I have been satisfied with!

One side was coated in white frosting, and the other side was chocolate crispy bar drizzled in more frosting.  Yes please!

I would DEF buy this one again, and it held me over nicely until lunch time.

I had a big ‘ol java over ice, too…while reading, eating, and people watching at Bruno’s.  My lunch salad was great and all, but I think I’ve had my fill of greens for a while.

I had TONS of psycho patients today.  It wasn’t too bad, though, because even though I wanted to pull my hair out at times, I wasn’t very busy, so it was also on the amusing side.  BTW, when I say “psycho” patients, I really mean it.  They had serious neurological issues (which means I’m not a bad person for talking crap about them, ok).

On the way home from work, I did a naughty thing…

Who knows what the people on the subway thought of me taking a pic of my Kombucha in my lap.  After I snapped the photo, I proceeded to open the drink, at which point it exploded all over me.  My paper thin scrubs were NO help whatsoever…and yet, all I could think of was how I lost $1 worth of my precious drink!!!!

I was ready for dinner when I got home, so I was happy that I had some food already prepared. 

Quinoa, chickpeas, and a heapin’ spoonful of sabra LOVE.

In order to avoid beige overload, I added in some shredded carrots.

Yeahhhh boiiiiiiiiiiii…

Obviously, this only fueled my stomach the beast more.  Enter course two. 

Philly cheese steak.  Strike that.  Toasty, melty veggie slices with seitan – that’s more like it   🙂

How could I ignore my sweet tooth on the late night?  I couldn’t decide between two desserts, so I had both!

First, sliced apples, pears, and strawbz.

Second, Fig Newman’s with peanut butter.

Is it totally ridiculous that I made a sammie with cookies and PB?!

Don’t worry, I already know the answer to this one.

Holy crap you’re hot!  Thanks for the shout out It’s A Wrap, clearly all my sassy blogger buddies deserve this, how could I choose!

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