The Healthy Everythingtarian

As promised from my last post…

Remember that baking extravaganza I was talking about?

It started with a batch of No Pudge Brownies (yes, made from a box).  All you have to do is add yogurt. GENIUS. They were totally super fudgy and moist, which is exactly how I like mine.

Then it progressed on to a batch of VeggieGirl-inspired Almond Joy Blondies!  Almost vegan (I only had plain yog on hand), these buggers had dark chocolate chips, coconut and almonds.  Amazing.

And both made for the perfect dessert to watch the Oscars!

Booyakasha.

That’s my new fave word, by the way.  I couldn’t have been happier to have seen all the people who DESERVED to win, actually win!  I swear that never happens.  Props to Kathryn Bigelow on being the first female to ever win best director, Ben Stiller for donning that hideous Avatar make-up and Doogie Howser Neil Patrick Harris for that stylish opening number.

My favorite, favorite part about the Oscars?

The fashion, obv.

My absolutely fave of the night was Maggie Gyllenhaal.  That woman is not afraid of pattern and color, and I love her for it.  My 2nd fave was Sandra Bullock, who I am convinced I would be friends with in real life.  She actually looked like an Oscar statue last night (in a good way).  And last, Rachel McAdams.  I want her dress. Now.

Anyways, in addition to the Oscar party, I also got a chance to meet up with reader Alison for some coffee yesterday afternoon, which was quite lovely.  She was incredibly sweet, and we happily chatted for almost an hour and a half.  She also brought me a lil’ present, which included this…

NUTTZO (!!!)  It’s a blend of peanuts, cashews, flax seeds, hazelnuts, almonds, brazil nuts, sunflower seeds and salt – not to mention it’s all organic.

But how did it taste?

So good. Alison said it tasted “flaxy,” which made me nervous.  But I loved it!  The only thing was it has actual chunks of nuts in it, so it wasn’t exactly the most spreadable.  However, I bet it will be delish on oatmeal!

Lunch + snacks weren’t too exciting today, and I was kind of crabby at work for a myriad of important and not-so-important reasons.  In other words, no pics, except for this…

That blondie definitely helped ease the crabbiness .

After work however, I was determined to start day 1 of half-marathon training out on the right foot (no pun intended).  I ran two miles (with a 5-minute warm-up walk + cool down walk) on the treadmill, and then met my friend Steph at a 60-minute spin class, where I was reminded once again why exercise is my Rx.

I was in the zone.

Seriously, I didn’t even chat with Steph (which we normally do throughout class).  I sweated everything out, and by the time the 50-minute mark rolled around and Let’s Hear It For the Boy blasted from the stereo – my mood had completely turned around. I guess Footloose endorphin flows will do that to ya, eh?

Then, I walked home from the gym and chatted with my dear Thomas, who I taught with in Thailand.  I j’adore this boy, which improved my mood even more.

I protein-ed things up with a two-egg puff (sprinkled with garlic salt + nutritional yeast) when I got home…

Then proceeded to make up for the 800 calories+ I burned tonight with a massive pasta dinner…

Whole wheat penne, roasted garlic + herb tomato sauce, 1 handful of spinach and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast.  Dominated by yours truly.

Speaking of boys, let’s hear it for my M.F.H. (ahem, my future husband) at the Oscars last night…

It’s probably a good thing the chances of us ever meeting are zilch, otherwise I am pretty sure he would start singing, “Let’s Hear it For the Stalker.”

This weekend = oodles of foodie deliciousness.

And the best part? All of it was healthy!  It just goes to show that eating healthy doesn’t have the be bland, tasteless or boring.  That’s one of the main reasons I blog – to hopefully show people that is in fact true.  And to remind others, you don’t have to be healthy all the time (wink, wink).

So, shall we get down to business?

At first, when I read about savory oats on another food blog (don’t remember which one, however), I was quite frankly grossed out by the idea.  Cheesy oats?  With eggs? Mixed with stuff that isn’t sweet?  Oh how times change…

1/3 cup oats
1/3 cup water + 1/3 cup organic skim milk
1 egg (whisked in)
pinch of salt
1 small handful baby spinach
1 tbsp. grated gruyere cheese
1 Sunshine Breakfast patty

It was incredibly satisfying and tasty. Seriously, just a little cheese goes a LONG way in making an uber-creamy, filling breakfast.

Then, to my surprise, the lovely Amie over at The Healthy Apple sent me a lil’ package of goodies!

Thanks lady! I promptly devoured the lemon bar + cashew cookie as pre-run fuel.

Then, I headed out into the glorious 40 degree (yes, 40 degrees IS glorious when you live in Wisconsin in March) weather for a 5-mile run/walk. Ran 1 mile, walked 1 mile, ran 1/2 mile, walked 1 mile, ran 1 mile then finished er’ off with 1/2 mile walk.

When I got home, I was STARVIN’ MARVIN!  Umm, did anybody else use that phrase growing up, or am I the only weird one here?

Enter in more childhood nostalgia…English Muffin Pizzas!

Easy peasy. I took an Ezekiel sprouted grain English muffin and toasted that bad boy up.  Then, I scooped on some spaghetti sauce, garlic salt and sauteed spinach (in EVOO + garlic) before topping it with 1 tablespoon or so grated gruyere cheese and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast.  Served with two more mini Laras…lunch was served!

Yesterday, I also took a homeopathic hint from Angela and embarked on a lil’ afternoon project…

What do all those ingredients make, you ask?

HOMEMADE DEODORANT, of course!

Verdict? AMAZING!  I seriously never would have guessed this would do such a good job at combating the B.O.  I used it before my run and came back smelling just as fresh.  I cleaned the house while baking like a mad woman…the stuff worked better than Degree (which is what I was using before)!  I think I might take Angela’s advice next time and add a drop or two of essential oil to make it smell even yummier.

Dinner consisted of my last Gardein product to review…BBQ Pulled Shreds!

Verdict? Also, AMAZING!  Although my #1 vote still goes to the seven grain crispy tenders, these were flavorful, delicious and the texture was almost spot-on.  In my first review, I mentioned these products were a bit pricey.  However, after eating them and seeing their awesome nutritional stats, I will be purchasing these with my own dough in the future.  Thanks Gardein!

After dinner, I embarked on some baking…

Isn’t that the most lickable thing you’ve ever seen? Don’t worry, I took care of that for y’all .

Then, it was off to socialize with some ladies (and gents, for good measure)!

Please ignore my lovely cross-eyed look…I’m just special.

I do have to give a shoutout to my new friend Sama (the gorgeous gal on the right), who I just met last night. She’s a friend of a friend’s girlfriend and is totally an Everythingtarian blog reader!  Oh universe, you are a funny, funny thing.

An appropriate shoutout should also be given to this guy…

Two of them and a glass of wine…to be exact. I guess I should probably throw some love to the hummus + pita as well as the brie + apple pizza consumed at 1:30am last night.  Definitely the classiest late night food I’ve ever had.

With that, I have to make one last announcement…

MY OFFICIAL DECLARATION OF PARTICIPATION IN THE 2010 MADISON 1/2 MARATHON!!!

Okay, that was slightly dramatic.  Deal.

Anyways, in order to shoot for that sub-1:50 pace and make one of my 2010 goals, here is my training schedule (which starts tomorrow!)…

		Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Total
1	3/8	Dist: 2 mi @9:56	Rest / XT	Dist: 5 mi, inc Warm; 3 mi @ 8:23; Cool	Rest / XT	Rest / XT	Dist: 6 mi @9:56	Rest / XT	13 miles
2	3/15	Dist: 2 mi @9:56	Rest / XT	Dist: 5 mi, inc Warm; 2×1600 in 7:55 w/800 jogs; Cool	Rest / XT	Rest / XT	Dist: 6 mi @9:56	Rest / XT	13 miles
3	3/22	Dist: 2 mi @9:56	Rest / XT	Dist: 5 mi, inc Warm; 3 mi @ 8:23; Cool	Rest / XT	Rest / XT	Dist: 7 mi @9:56	Rest / XT	14 miles
4	3/29	Dist: 4 mi @9:56	Rest / XT	Dist: 4 mi @9:56	Rest / XT	Rest / XT	Dist: 4 mi @9:56	Rest / XT	12 miles
5	4/5	Dist: 2 mi @9:50	Rest / XT	Dist: 6 mi, inc Warm; 4 mi @ 8:23; Cool	Dist: 2 mi @9:50	Rest / XT	Dist: 7 mi @9:50	Rest / XT	17 miles
6	4/12	Dist: 2 mi @9:50	Rest / XT	Dist: 7 mi, inc Warm; 3×1600 in 7:50 w/800 jogs; Cool	Dist: 2 mi @9:50	Rest / XT	Dist: 8 mi @9:50	Rest / XT	19 miles
7	4/19	Dist: 3 mi @9:50	Rest / XT	Dist: 6 mi, inc Warm; 4 mi @ 8:23; Cool	Dist: 2 mi @9:50	Rest / XT	Dist: 8 mi @9:50	Rest / XT	19 miles
8	4/26	Dist: 5 mi @9:50	Rest / XT	Dist: 5 mi @9:50	Rest / XT	Rest / XT	Dist: 5 mi @9:50	Rest / XT	15 miles
9	5/3	Dist: 2 mi @9:44	Rest / XT	Dist: 7 mi, inc Warm; 5 mi @ 8:22; Cool	Dist: 2 mi @9:44	Rest / XT	Dist: 9 mi @9:44	Rest / XT	20 miles
10	5/10	Dist: 3 mi @9:44	Rest / XT	Dist: 8 mi, inc Warm; 4×1600 in 7:45 w/800 jogs; Cool	Dist: 2 mi @9:44	Rest / XT	Dist: 9 mi @9:44	Rest / XT	22 miles
11	5/17	Dist: 3 mi @9:44	Rest / XT	Dist: 7 mi, inc Warm; 5 mi @ 8:22; Cool	Dist: 3 mi @9:44	Rest / XT	Dist: 10 mi @9:44	Rest / XT	23 miles
12	5/24	Rest / XT	Dist: 2 mi @9:56	Rest / XT	Dist: 5 mi, inc Warm; 3 mi @ 8:23; Cool	Rest / XT	Rest / XT	Dist: Half-Marathon @8:26 Time: 1:50:44	20 miles

Miss L.V.P. herself introduced me to the wonder that is being a member of Runner’s World.  Registration is free, and their SmartCoach tool will help you customize a plan. Booyakasha. I am SO ready to run.

Alright, pats on the back go out to any of you who have made it this far in this monstrous post.  We’ll see y’all tomorrow with my review of Oscar fashion, some new playlist workout jams, the results of my baking last night and more rambling, per usual.

What is one weird phrase you/your family used growing up? Starvin’ Marvin is just one of about a zillion in my family.

How are YOUR 2010 goals going? Sharing is caring!

First and foremost, thank you SO MUCH for all your lovely, supportive and touching comments from my last post. When writing about more personal matters, I am always uber-nervous when I hit ‘Publish.’ However, as soon as you all started commenting on how you could relate and how appreciative you were for this, I knew it was the right thing.  Thank you for providing me with an outlet to share, and never forget that we all deserve to be the best ‘me’ we can be.

Alrighty…enough of the sap and onto the eats!

For the record, it only took me three days to demolish this box of cereal…

It was like Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch…only gluten-free, environmentally friendly and even crunchier (A.K.A. a winner!).

Breakfast yesterday was something that NEVER lets me down…AB+J Oatmeal!

1/2 cup oats
1 cup water
1 egg (whisked in)
pinch of salt (a necessity!)
1/2 mashed naner
drizzle of maple syrup
cinnamon
1 scoop almond butter
1 scoop raspberry jelly

If you haven’t tried it yet, I definitely recommend adding an egg to your oats at the beginning!  It makes for such a creamy, custard-like oatmeal – not to mention adds an extra six grams of protein (or so)  Props to Tay on this one – I believe I got this idea from her fabulous blog!

Yesterday, I ventured to a new spot for lunch…Gotham Bagels!  Apparently, it’s a slice of New York right here in the Midwest.  I was hesitant of this bold statement, but once I saw this on the menu, I was sold…

The “V”: honey whole wheat bagel, scallion tofu spread, roasted poblano peppers,
avocado, arugula + tomato

It was so good in fact, I went back today for another one. It was best $4.00 spent in recent memory.

A bit of pre-Easter candy was also consumed…

The peanut butter to chocolate ratio on the Reese’s Easter eggs is INCREDIBLE…I would guess around 5:1.

You like sweet potatoes?

So do I.

For dinner…two ways…both devoured.

Cheetahs + 1 steamed tater (w/ smidge butter, coconut oil + maple syrup doused in cinnamon).  Can you tell my groceries are practically non-existent?  I’m relying on root veggies and nothing else for sustenance.

This morning started with the Great 2010 Blender Blow-Up…

I was about to blow my brains out when this happened.

However, instead of let it ruin my day (Iwasaboutthisclosetoseriouslythrowingahissyfit), I merely cleaned it up and then cursed the cause of this berrylicious mess…

DON’T BUY THIS.

It tastes like poo, stains your shelves and causes your blender to throw-up.  The only positive things to come out of this were that (1) it was a free sample, (2) I let myself drive to work instead of walk because I was behind sched, and (3) it forced me to clean my kitchen.

Today redeemed itself quickly. First, Steph and I went to a killer 45-minute Pilates class over lunch. Then, I got the (aforementioned) best bagel sammie for the 2nd day in a row.  Following that, I was slugging a Diet Coke when my co-worker brought me this…

A MCDONALD’S SHAMROCK SHAKE (!!!)

Seasonal things make me happy, probably because you can only get them for a small sliver of time.  I drank about 1/2 the minty delicious shake and threw the rest out – half because it was REALLY sweet and half because I have had WAY too many sweets this week. A bit ironic? Perhaps.

After work, I took a steady 10:00/mile, 3-mile run to enjoy the spring weather that is FINALLY gracing us with its presence.  When I got home, there wasn’t much left to eat.  However, eggs + Ezekiel English muffin alongside carrots + ranch are always good go-to foods when the fridge is bare.

Now, guess what I am doing this weekend?

Anybody?

Yeah, that’s right.

NOTHING.

Shocker, right?  For the first time in months, I have not a dang thing planned for this weekend.  I am hoping to just get caught up on all my domestic duties and then letting the good times roll…

What is one meal that never lets you down? AB+J is always a winner, as is any scrambled egg dish.  You just can’t go wrong.

What are you up to this weekend? See above.

It all starts with word vomit.

This morning, while commenting on Susan’s post on her monthly March goals, I started throwing up words.  They began tumbling out in chaotic strings, and it wasn’t until I was finished typing did I realize what had sub-consciously slipped out from the deep caverns of my brain…

“goals are such a funny thing. i like making them but then get totally lazy about completing them. i don’t know if i am scared of success – i mean is that even possible? maybe i don’t think i deserve it? this comment just got really deep and fast, but i think this is something a lot of people struggle with. sometimes i don’t think people think they deserve success – which is why, like me, we make goals only to not finish them. i mean, the blog helps keep me accountable, btu i don’t know.”

And it got me thinking.  Shocker, I know.

After some personal reflection and psycho-analysis by Mama Everythingtarian these past couple days, I know there are many facets of who I am that I want to work on.  I don’t think I’m a bad person by any means.  On the contrary, I actually think I am a good person.  However, if your neighborhood Healthy Everythingtarian is going to be honest with herself, I know I still don’t quite believe I deserve it.

Deserve what, you say? Happiness, success, contentment, love, friendship, pride…all those feel good things that, quite frankly, make life worth living.

When I get a lovely comment, what is my first response to it? Usually to joke or somehow negate the nice things that were said. When a lawyer guy goes out on a date with me, what do I do? Make fun of him the whole time (hello defense mechanism!). When I have a list of goals and things I want to accomplish, do I start checking things off? No, I start making excuses for why they will never happen.

But why?

Why do we do this?

Why do we respond in this way?

First, being the word nerd I am, I went straight to my friend Merriam Webster. I find looking at the definition and meaning of words helps to synthesize things in my brain.  Or at least, that is what I tell myself.

deserve (di-zerv), noun: to be worthy of

Hmmm…but what does worthy mean?

worthy (wer-the), adjective: to have worth or value

If I read these definitions right, I can safely assume that somewhere along life’s path, I lost my sense of personal worth. Whatever thing or person it was (perhaps my sister making me dance to George Michael’s “I Want to Sex You Up”?), I stopped believing in myself.  With it, I also stopped believing I deserved all the good things in life.

What did I do instead?

I tried, just not very hard.

I ate lots, disregarding the effects it was having on my body.

I ignored what I was feeling, hoping it would just go away.

I built up a lovely wall, keeping people out.

For years I did this, and things were fine.  Not great, not bad, just fine.

Over the past couple years, I’ve been working on reversing this mindset. We all go through phases of low and high self-esteem.  That is only natural.  However, this goes deeper.  When you start thinking that you aren’t worthy, it becomes wired into your brain.  Quite frankly, it has become a natural thought process I am not consciously even aware of.  But I’m trying. I’m trying to change that.

I think I’ve got the food thing down – healthifying my diet and taking care of myself was the first step.

Then, I started tackling that wall.  Although it still partially stands, I’m making progress.

I’ve been better about vocalizing how I feel.  Again, not perfect, but getting there.

Lastly however, I still struggle to give things my all.  I have lots of goals, dreams and hopes and yet, I find excuses not to achieve them, which Mama Everythingtarian can vouch for.  I gave her about a zillion excuses last night.  She did not like that. This last piece of the puzzle has turned out to be harder than I thought.

I firmly believe we all deserve everything we want in life – but somehow, I still forget to include myself in that ‘we.’ Why I am my own worst critic is beyond me, but I need to get over it. I have to believe that I am worth it. I have to stop making excuses, stop lamenting about all the things I ‘could’ do and stop letting fear get in the way.

This post is definitely more for me than it is anyone else.  Sometime a gal has got to write things down, and what better than to publish it for the world wide web to see, right?

So, in conclusion, yes, you deserve it.

And, despite my past bad fashion…

…perverted sense of humor…

…love for the dramatic…

…obnoxious amount of hideous faces…

…and all-around ’specialness’…

…so do I.

March 2, 2010.

That would be today’s date.

Could somebody please tell me where the time has gone? Because I am pretty sure I have now been at my job and living in Madison for almost 7 months.  February was but a fleeting memory and well January, did that month even happen?  And does anybody else find time flying by faster as they get older?  I swear I’m not paranoid.  I guess that means we gotta live it up, soak in every minute detail and eat lots of chocolate while we still can.

Can I get an AMEN?

Amen.

Speaking of chocolate…you will be seeing a lot of it in this post.  But not at breakfast.  Instead, I whipped up a lovely Breakfast Sammie with an Ezekiel English muffin, Sunshine Breakfast patty + 1 egg.

Could a perfectly runny egg be the 8th wonder of the world?  I think so.

During work, I lived life to the fullest today by falling off my chair, accidentally cutting my thumb with scissors, buying stamps during my lunch break and wearing my fave flower hairpin.  You don’t have to tell me – I know I live dangerously.

My snack reminded me of France, which I actually hated when I traveled there.  It downpoured for four straight days.  And it was the last stop on my European trip, so I was uber-poor.  However, apples + cheese were really cheap, so I ate them.  A lot of them. Usually with a side of baguette + Nutella.

And when I heard my tummy grumble a couple hours later, it was time for the return of….THE YOG MESS!

My dearest yog mess – how I have missed thee! This beautiful concoction consisted of: Fage 2% Greek yog, 1/2 sliced naner, EnviroKidz Peanut Butter Panda Puffs + honey almond butter.

After lunch, I couldn’t resist the call of the wild candy: York Peppermint Patties.

Multiplied by 3…and quite frankly, I am surprised I could stop myself there. Throughout the afternoon, I munched on carrots + handful of raisins.  Nothing exciting.

At 4:30pm, I bebopped to salsa class…where I found out we are going to take a class trip to a real salsa club to get our ballroom on on Thursday night!  And no worries – Doug, in all his double artificial hip glory, WILL be there.

When I got home, I made a lovely vegan dinner…

That would be…two heads roasted broccoli, 1 cup spaghetti sauce + 1 Gardein marinara faux-chicken breast.  As far as this Gardein product is concerned, I really liked it – minus the filling.  I don’t know if it was the spices or vegan cheese, but I did not like the inside.  Otherwise, the “meat” was delish!

I figured after all the sweets + candy of the past week, I needed some clean eating love. Check and check.

And now I am eating truffle chocolate like its my job.  I mean, who knows how many days I have left on this planet?  Just in case it’s sooner than I think, I should probably go eat some more…