The Healthy Everythingtarian

I like food.

And yes, that includes salads.

As much as I like my greens, they usually need to be accompanied by something else.

Like eggs. I like eggs.

I really like runny eggs.

But more than runny eggs, I probably like ice cream more.

Frozen yogurt isn’t technically ice cream, but I still like it.

I didn’t think I liked Milwaukee, but it’s growing on me.

I like Milwaukee more now that I’ve discovered Transfer Pizzeria + Cafe.

I also like pizza.

But I like the crust more, especially when its ooey gooey and doughy.

I like Margherita pizza, because it’s a classic. I like Roasted Potato and Chicken Pizza with garlic cream sauce, because it’s unique.

I like pizza so much, I had 3 1/2 pieces.

Even though the ballet doesn’t serve food, I still like it.

I especially like it because I kinda sorta know Peter Pan through a friend of a friend type thing.

I like going to the theater.

I like the fact ballerinas can spin really fast, but I don’t like that there aren’t any words.

Maybe it’s because I am too wordy and secretly, I like that?

I like that Kopp’s Frozen Custard doesn’t really close at 11pm even though it says so on its website.

I also like the fact they sell Smile Sundaes that are the size of your head. More so, I like the fact that Smile Sundaes are just a much better version of a Dairy Queen Peanut Buster Parfait.

I also also like the fact I have ice cream on my face in this picture.

I think you know this, but I like coffee.

I especially like coffee accompanied by a sliced banana, cinnamon + peanut butter on a lazy Sunday morning.

I like proving myself wrong and checking off my to-do lists.

As much as I like those two things, I still like yog messes more.

I can’t decide if I like yog messes or cinnamon the most.

I will get back to you.

I happen to like POM mocktails.

I also like serving them in fancy glasses and pretending I am in Europe at a chic sidewalk cafe.

I like Europe. A lot.

I like when fabulous bloggers send you amazing Christmas gifts that you forget about until five months later when you finally decide to use that gift and whip up an amazing batch of Dark Chocolate Muffins.

I like that when you don’t have chocolate almond milk, egg whites or pumpkin on hand; you can use regular organic skim milk, two whole eggs and applesauce.

I like reusing paper grocery bags.

I really like dark chocolate + peanut butter together.

I also like jelly, which is why I ate a 2nd muffin topped with strawberry preserves.

I like balls – specifically Flax-Encrusted Sweet Potato Balls.

I like mustard.  I think I like it so much, it may be my favorite condiment.

Ranch dressing is good, but I still like mustard more.

I like roasted broccoli.

I also like roasted broccoli paired with spaghetti.

I like friends. Especially friends that will feed you homemade banana bread, won’t judge you for wanting to watch the Miss USA Pageant and make you feel oh-so-much better when you are a blubbering mess.

I really do like all these things.

But most of all, I still really like food.

If you ever had any doubts about where I got it from…

…I got it from my Mama.

Mama Everythingtarian to be exact.

And in turn, she most certainly got it from her mama…

…and in turn, passed it onto yours truly + sissies, who are not yet mamas.

Happy Mother’s Day to Mama Everythingtarian, G’ma Everythingtarian (R.I.P. + LOVE YOU!!!) and all you mamas out there! Truly, the world would not function without all of you. Personally, I know I wouldn’t be here today without Mama E’s constant love, unending support, wise words and telling me straight up when I need to just shut the hell up.

And in honor of Mama E., I’ve decided to accept her motherly challenge. On my last post, she challenged me via comment to make every blog post I write for the rest of the month POSITIVE in nature, no matter what. In her words, “The already positive things shall be Barney-fied [as in the purple dinosaur] and the negative things shall be positive-fied.”

Bring it on Mama Everythingtarian.

To kick-off the May of Positivity Challenge (which I am hereby deeming it), I’ve decided to recap my weekend journey to Minnesota by turning 10 “negative” things that happened over the past couple days into glowing, optimistic positives.

So, let’s get to it…

Negative #1: Even though I promised myself to leave my apartment clean before I went to Minnesota, I failed. I left behind gargantuan piles of dirty laundry, mounds of dirty dishes and an apartment in desperate need of a good, thorough scrub down.

Positive #1: Instead of finish my to-do list of chores, I left for Minnesota early and got to spend even more hours with my family + friends.

Negative #2: It rained and drizzled miserably the entire way driving to Minnesota.

Positive #2: The rainy weather allowed for slow, safe driving and provided me the time to read hilarious bumper stickers pasted on the back of cars.

In case you can’t read that, it says,
“If you’re going to ride my a$$, at least pull my hair.” Naughty.

Negative #3: Because of horrendous road construction, it took me 1 1/2 hours to move four miles at one point.  Yes, FOUR miles.  That in turn made my normal four-hour trip from Madison to Minneapolis six hours.  FML.

Positive #3: Driving for six unexpected hours gives you ample time to create an awesome, totally random road trip playlist:

• “Eeenie Meenie” Justin Bieber f/ Sean Kingston
• “Gypsies, Tramps + Thieves” Cher
• “Quit Playing Games With My Heart” Backstreet Boys
• “Flourescent Adolescent” Arctic Monkeys
• “In My Head” Jason Derulo
• “What Have You Done For Me Lately” Janet Jackson
• “We Came to Dance” The Gaslight Anthem
• “High School Musical” High School Musical
• “Ice Cream Paint Job” Dorrough
• “Stay Positive” The Hold Steady

Negative #4: Bad Mexican food. Nuff’ said.

Positive #4: While eating stomach churn-inducing Mexican food, I got to spend two hours catching up with two of my bestest friends in the entire world. Nuff’ said.

Negative #5: Burning hot food + impatient people (ahem, moi?) who aren’t willing to wait for it to cool down before scarfing eating it.

Positive #5: A blister on the roof of your mouth is a good reminder to take it slow when eating, savor every bite and ensure you don’t scald the outer layer of skin when doing so.

Negative #6: Paying for an $18 meal that made you sick + didn’t even taste that good.

Positive #6: I only paid $18 for all of this – including a FREE Coronita!

Negative #7: Beating myself up for eating two bowls of Special K + skim milk for breakfast, chicken fajitas that did NOT taste right for lunch and a Dairy Queen Buster Bar Blizzard (!!!) for dinner. Not exactly the picture of health Holly…

Positive #7: Forget that last negative. I had a frickin’ Dairy Queen Buster Bar Blizzard for dinner. I’m awesome.

Negative #8: Taunting yourself with cruel, fear-inducing thoughts of how painful a 10-mile run is going to be on a Sunday morning.

Positive #8: I get to run 10 miles with Angharad (in which we will get to fully catch-up on each other’s lives) then go out for a kick-arse brunch afterwards!

Negative #9: Coffee + Caribou Coffee Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal 45 minutes before running.  Holly, what were you thinking?!?!

Positive #9: Coffee + oatmeal turned out to be FABULOUS running fuel.  No cramps. No pain. Only 10-miles at a solid 9:00/mile pace with one of my favoritest people in the world!

Negative #10: I was a horrible blogger this weekend and barely took any pictures of anything.

Positive #10: May is MY month, and I am spending it LIVING!  Good times were had with college friends, high school friends, the Everythingtarian family, extended family and blog friends. Pictures are for people who can’t remember, right?

Who is with me on the “May of Positivity Challenge?” Start things off by leaving a comment writing one negative thing that happened over the weekend and turning it into a positive!

I hate when people say, “Be Yourself,” as if I know exactly what that is.

I don’t.

If I was stuck in a horribly awkward job interview where they had nothing better to ask me than, “Describe yourself in three words,” I would most likely respond with, “Independent, outgoing and kind.” It’s my go-to trio just in case I ever do find myself in that unfortunate predicament.

Three measly words? I would much prefer at least two minutes to perform an evocative, soul-baring song and dance number.

Because three words is not me.  Not all of me.  Not all the time.

While I can be the queen of indecisiveness, I also have my days where I know exactly what I want and I go for it. That includes this morning’s cereal-yogurt bowl, which was devoured in about 0.27 seconds.

1 cup Kashi Heart 2 Heart
1 crumbled Healthy Breakfast Bar
3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup blackberries
1/2 T peanut butter

An intelligent, wise woman who goes by the code name of Mama Everythingtarian tells me, “Hollis Anne, just be yourself.” And I see her infinite wisdom and where she is coming from when saying this. However, what kind of look-at-me, I-have-it-all-together 25-year-old (or anybody of any age for that matter) really knows who they are and what they want?”

Not me.

Perhaps today I feel like changing my name to Lara and going on an all nut + fruit diet…

…or maybe after I write this post, I want to go to the airport, buy the first flight out to Greece and embark on a sizzling, Greek love affair I can later write about in my juicy tell-all memoir…

By sizzling, Greek love affair, I mean eat falafel all day long.

And by tell-all memoir, I am currently crossing my fingers in hopes (a) I didn’t just jinx that, and (b) I start doing much more interesting things a la Chelsea Handler so I actually have something to tell.

If was to be myself, I would have bought regular ol’ hummus at the grocery store.  But I didn’t. Yesterday, I may have been plain hummus, but today, I am of the artichoke + spinach variety…

Despite my fluid, eccentric nature, there are constants in my life. And everyday, I find myself adding to that list of things I do in fact know about me:

• I’m slightly crazy.
• I’m also impatient, guarded, don’t trust people very easily and have a penchant for interrupting others when they are talking.
• I genuinely like meeting, talking, interacting and being around people.
• I like flowers, especially tulips + daisies.

• I much prefer baths to showers (even if creepy crawly things fall in when I am taking them).
• I value my family, friends and freedom.
• I talk almost as fast as the Micro-Machine man.
• Traveling is the one true love of my life.

Because I am hoping all of these little things – the daily victories, realizations and list additions – will eventually add up bit by bit and coalesce into something that resembles…well…ME.

Yes, me. Although, sometimes it’s hard to keep all this in perspective…

Like for example, when you go out on a date or are still just getting to know somebody new.  It’s easy to fumble words, get nervous, act unlike yourself and then get mad at yourself the next day for saying something stupid. Don’t get mad at yourself for dominating the chips + salsa however…

You know that is something you would do (or at least I would) on a date, with friends, hanging out with family or by yourself.

Drinking doesn’t help either.

Before you know it, you will find yourself down one prickly pear margarita and two beers.  You may know that getting a wee bit tipsy on a Monday night isn’t “being yourself,” but the person you are with certainly doesn’t know that.

Maybe eventually he (or she) will…or maybe not.

But at the end of the day, it’s still just you.

You go to sleep, eat breakfast, brush your teeth, get dressed, and you face whatever the day has in store for you. Married, single, in a relationship, with kids, without kids…you are still just yourself.

And so am I.

Outgoing, kind, Greek love affairs, writing, plain or artichoke spinach hummus, crazy, flowers, freedom, people, saying dumb things, writing dumb things, accidentally getting drunk, going on 4-mile runs, not knowing what I want, knowing exactly what I want, wanting more, wanting less, travel, family, insecurities, awkwardness, successes and failures…it’s ALL me.

Here’s to embracing me AND you and every little single thing we do, say, perform, think, feel and act. Because like it or not, it’s all a part of us.

So, in other words…just be yourself.

And yes, I realize the hypocrisy in telling you the exact phrase I hate so much.

Hypocrite. Add it to the list.

Every Madisonian who is ANY Madisonian knows the legacy of a certain Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch.

source

Known for his unique running style (hence the nickname “Crazylegs”), my boy Elroy was a proud Wisconsin Badger running back + receiver who went on to play professional football for the Chicago Rockets and Los Angeles Rams. After the NFL, he came back to Madison to run the UW athletic program for almost 20 years and is credited for making my school pretty much rule in sports.

That is why every year the Crazylegs Classic is held in honor of Mr. Crazylegs himself…

With more than 20,000 participants (yes, twenty-thousand!), it’s a huge fundraiser for the UW athletic department and a race I’ve taken part in several times in the past.

And that marks the end of your Wisconsin history lesson for the day.

You may be wondering…so why is Brett holding a Mizzou sign?

Because even though I’m a proud Badger alum, I agreed to run for his Mizzou alumni team.

The things I do for friends, I tell ya.

With a 10am race start time, his our team met at 9am for a bit of stretching…

Have I ever told you how I hope to come back as a Russian ballerina in my next life?  I digress.

Gearing up for his very first race (!!!), Brett stretched in preparation to dominate the race…

Warning: All the day’s race photos were taken with my iPhone cam…so prepare yourself for more blurriness + pixelation.

After 23 minutes of standing in the damp, windy weather, we made it to the starting line!

Eight kilometers? That’s just less than five miles (4.97 to be exact).  Bring it on Crazylegs.

Starting in downtown Madison, we then ran along the lake down Frat Row (where I embarrassingly admit I spent a good number of nights my freshman year), past the Union and up towards Science Hall…

The oldest building on campus, FYI.

From there, we attacked a large hill and were graciously rewarded with a decrease in elevation running by a number of buildings I spent many hours learning & studying & sleeping in throughout college…

Up along Observatory Drive, where there is the most BEAUTIFUL view of Lake Mendota…

On a sunny day, it’s incredible.  Promise.

From there, we ran into this obnoxiously happy, special-looking girl who was clearly desperate for someone (anyone!) to take a picture of her…

She looks so familiar. Perhaps I had class with her in college?

We ran along Old University Avenue where I came face-to-face with M.F.H. (my future husband)…

Humor + the ability to make fun of yourself go a long way with me. And, I ran into him post-race, where I discovered he was also cute.  Double score.

The home stretch…down Breese Terrace and into Camp Randall stadium!

Past the 20-yard line…

FINISH!

Eight kilometers…five miles…Brett and I finished with a final time of 45:28 (roughly 9:05/mile)!  Glugged some water and set out in search of Brett’s friend Kyle…

Notice #40 is retired. He’s that cool.

But the absolute BEST part about Crazylegs?

FREE post-race beer! The limit was two per visit (notice the word visit).  No shame in a good double fisting of beer.  I like to think of it as much-needed carb-replenishment.

Also no shame in a large breakfast burrito + four cups of coffee…

I think my brain convinced itself I’d just run a 1/2 marathon or something, because I wolfed this down.  I am still convinced I could have eaten a 2nd one if my logical side hadn’t kicked in and said no.

Later that afternoon, I decided to torture myself by browsing the mall, finding a million cute things I wanted to buy and realizing I couldn’t afford any of it.

Enter in comfort food: Diet Coke + Larabar.

It helped distract me long enough to stay out of Banana Republic at least. A minor victory.

When I got home, I had one thing on my mind: Mama Pea’s Protein Packed Falafel Falawesomes. Ever since M.P. posted this, I’ve patiently waited to satisfy my falafel craving…

Vegan? Delicious? Healthy? Pimped out with protein?

I’m going to go with, (d) all of the above.

Along with some sauteed beet greens (thanks to Sarah!) with EVOO, garlic + lemon juice and post-dinner dark chocolate…

A good Saturday, if I do say so myself.

This morning I awoke feeling refreshed and creatively-inspired.  Enter in a tricked out bowl of yoatgurt:

1/3 cup oats + 2/3 cup water
1 packet NuNaturals stevia
cinnamon
2 T dried tart cherries

1/2 cup plain 0% Greek yog
1 crumbled Healthy Breakfast Bar
1/2 cup blackberries

AMAZING. I can’t lie. And it’s even better all mixed up.

I believe this post could be in the running for the Everythingtarian’s longest ever. If you made it this far, I commend you. With that, I’m peacing out to enjoy this rainy Sunday by cleaning, writing, doing laundry and yogaing/cardioing. Happy Sunday!

If could choose to come back as anything in a second life, what would that be? Search above for my answer.

Give me one fun fact about the place YOU live. In addition to the Madison history lesson I graced you with today, the city’s official bird is the plastic pink flamingo.

This is going to be short and sweet, mostly because I am slightly tipsy. More on that in a bit.

I started the day off with a lovely 25-minute Yoga for Runners podcast from YogaDownload.  It helped my granny joints loosen up and get ready for the day, for sure.

Breakfast this morning was a healthy, delicious recipe I haven’t had in far too long: OVERNIGHT OATS! I mixed together 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1/2 cup organic skim milk + 1/3 cup Fage 2% Greek yog last night.  This morning, I added vanilla stevia drops, cinnamon, 1 tbsp. shredded coconut, 1 sliced naner and a lovely drizzle of almond butter.

Along with two cups of coffee, it was perfection.

Two weekends ago (when the ‘rents were in town), I picked up this lovely at Whole Foods…

…which I enjoyed this morning with some Wisconsin Cheese!

This was a spicy, tasty snack full of both protein + carbohydrates.  Perfect filling fuel.

After, I was still hungry (obvs) and downed this Larabar…

The rest of the afternoon was filled with work, carrots, an orange, some trail mix, more work and salsa class.  After learning how to dip it low with Doug (the 60-year-old with two artificial hips), I hit up Chipotle for some classic vegetarian love…

That would be my standard vegetarian burrito bol: rice, black beans, fajita veggies, mild salsa (a.k.a. tomatoes), lettuce and guacamole.  It could also be called perfection.

Then, after Spanish class, guess where I went?

Out to drinks with Mr. Lawyer (who I told I had a food blog and he agreed I needed a code name for him)…little does he know, he already has one.  Good thing I didn’t tell him my blog address .

Two hefty-sized beers, some popcorn and peanuts later, I am slightly tipsy and blogging drogging.

I want to hate him; I want to like him; I want to wring his neck; I want to hug him. Ugh, is this what they call chemistry? I don’t know.  Like I said, I’ve been out of the dating game for YEARS.

All I know, is that in 2 1/2 weeks when he gets back from a business trip, we have a foodie date planned.  Hope for the best, expect the worst, right?

With that, I am going to brush my teeth, wash my face and pass out go to sleep.

Are you single, currently dating someone or married? Spill the deets!

If this foodie date does indeed happen, what should I make? Recipes welcome!