Some Successes and Some Burnt Sweet Potatoes

After spending most of last summer and the beginning of our dating relationship at different restaurant tables, My Man and I decided to do a lot more cooking and meal planning as we got settled into ourselves.

I'm lucky that he's so supportive of my efforts with this Nutrient Dense Challenge.  He even reminded me earlier today that I had already been moving to eat this way, but that I just didn't have the guidelines.  But it's great that he's been so helpful about shopping, meal planning, and even putting up with what I'm sure will be multiple cranky sessions.

Today, I decided to make some sweet potato chip treats for the both of us.  After doing a bit of searching around, I found several recipes that I wanted to try: a great all-around simple Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) and Sea Salt style, a cinnamon style, and a chili lime style.  My only concern with all the different recipes was that none of them seemed to have the same oven temperature or time in the oven.  Well, I figured that if I wanted them to be more crispy, that I should leave it in the oven for the longer range. 

I was wrong.

Chili Lime, Cinnamon, EVOO and Sea Salt
A little delicious, a little burnt...

Some came out not crispy at all, some had great crisp but were a little more burnt tasting, and some were straight out burnt.

I'm honestly bummed about it.  But, at least I know that the seasoning choices I made were quite tasty.

With My Man's help, we made a delicious Cottage Pie.  This was the first time I've ever eaten so much cauliflower.  After this meal, I was pretty convinced that the cauliflower was mashed potato, and I'm certain I'll enjoy it as  rice substitute.  The recipe was a combination of the Shepherd's Pie recipes in the Well-Fed cookbook and Elana's Pantry.

Cottage Pie with It Starts With Food, Well-Fed Mashed Cauliflower
recipe, and bacon on the Griddler while Cauliflower cooks.

I don't think I've ever had Shepherd's Pie or Cottage Pie before in my life.  This recipe took much longer than we anticipated.  There are multiple steps that need to be prepped before putting it all together.  It definitely help to have two of us.

Day 2 on the Nutrient Dense Challenge has reminded me to be okay with making mistakes and that I don't have to do it alone.

Going Nutrient Dense-Whole30-Paleo

I had been thinking of going to see a nutritionist.  At this point, working out, while not easy, was something I knew I could do consistently.  But the ingesting was something I found more difficult than waking up early to go to the gym.

Enter MindBodyHealth.  In partnership with my bootcamp, they brought in this Nutrient Dense Challenge.  We would be changing the way we eat, with a focus on eating real and healthy food as opposed to the overly sweetened, salted, chemically-altered foods.

I had already started focusing more on eating more vegetables, more fruits, less of the processed stuff.  But my downfall is ultimately sweets.  Give me a piece of chocolate to satisfy my craving any day.  Any. Day.

So, when I saw the list of foods to enjoy vs. foods to avoid, I decided I would take up this challenge.

I can get behind all the foods in the "Yes" category.  The idea, really, is to eat real food.  It's based on what is now known as the Paleo diet, called so because it's going back to the basics.  But it's refined by the folks at Whole9.com who focus more on the science and not evolutionary theory.  I bought their book, It Starts With Food, and I can honestly say I'm getting behind the stuff they're talking about.

I'm still in the first chapters of the book, but I'm feeling really committed to what they're throwing my way.

So let me address all the thoughts I had about the "No" items.

Not eating dairy is fine for the most part.  I only really crave ice cream and cheese when it's in the house and I know it's in the house.  But I also know that if I eat too much of it I get a little gassy, and that's not good for anyone involved.

Not eating soy/tofu?  Well, I've been living off soy milk for a while now.  I tried almond milk and I definitely disliked it.  I've decided to give coconut milk a try.  I like it so far, but I have to be careful about any added sweeteners.  Now, there's also soy sauce.  How am I supposed to make chicken adobo???  After a Google search, I found Coconut Aminos (which I bought at Whole Foods), and I'm more than willing to try to make chicken adobo with this.

No beans of legumes might be a bit difficult, but I don't have too much of an issue staying away from beans.  Of course, I'm kind of wondering where the plant protein will come from in this diet, but I'm assuming that the answer is "another vegetable."

No grains means no bread, no rice, no quinoa.  That also means no pancakes, no pastries, no English muffin with my bacon egg and cheese (not that I get that too often).  But wait, I thought, how do they make those vegan pancakes at the All Night Costume Dance Party every year?  I knew there had to be a way!  So, for rice I will take some cauliflower and stick it in a food processor.  For pancakes, the base will be bananas.  For pastries, there's almond and coconut flour.  Thank you, Google and the multitude of resources out there!

No alcohol will be tough on tough days.  But I can get behind that easily.  I will miss wine a bit, though.

No processed foods of any kind include no artificial sweeteners.  That means no sweets, no candies, no sweetened chocolates.  This one is probably going to be the most difficult next to no grains.  I got me a major sweet tooth.  But, I do know that I can have unsweetened chocolate, which Trader Joe's has.  Basically, anything that has a long ingredients list that includes more real food is on the No list.

For the next month, I will try to be as hardcore as possible on this new meal plan.  I refuse to call it a diet, because my main focus will not just to eat less - but eat less bad stuff.  I decided to go for the group challenge in addition to some individual coaching, for the times when it feels tough or for when I have questions.  I will be relearning how to eat, and how to make better choices.

In the second month, we get to reintroduce the different categories of foods one by one.  This way, I get to see what food groups my body doesn't like or doesn't react well with.  I already know that dairy and beans make me gassy  I already know that all that processed sugar makes me extremely tired.  So, if I know these things, it's time for me to follow through.

This challenge is going to be hard.  There will be times when I might inconvenience others, and there will be a lot of work in terms of planning meals, snacks, and eating out.  But I want to change my eating habits.  I want my body to change.  And as many a wise person has said:

I'm ready, and I know I have the love and support of those around me.  Let's do this.

I Don't Plan to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse

I've been going to outdoor bootcamp for over a year now.  I've finished my first 5k, and I've participated in several of the bootcamp's challenges and obstacle courses.

So, I figured that the Run For Your Lives Zombie Run would be a logical next choice.

On the 2nd day of the Zombie Run, Sunday, May 6th, two of my friends and I drove up way up to Amesbury, MA, to see how well we would do if/when the Zombie Apocalypse was upon us.

We were given 3 flags to wear around our waists.  Once all flags were taken by zombies, you would finish the race as one of the dead/undead.  But this didn't mean that you would start ripping flags off other runners.

The obstacle course starts you off in a dark tunnel with agate and smoke at the other opening.  We went in waves, so the slower runners went first, then the medium runners, then the faster runners.  I told my friends that I was definitely planning to be one of the slower runners.  I also told them to just go for it and let me get behind them.  But, in hindsight, I should have suggested that we finish as a group.

When the gates opened, we had to run up a steep hill to where the main course was.  Immediately, we saw an open field, some parts had mud pits, some parts had wooden structures.  All parts had zombies.

The photo will connect you to the Facebook photos from the event.

There was actually a lot more running than I anticipated.  I mean, I knew there would be running.  Rule #1, after all, is Cardio.

From "Zombieland"

But I did think there would be more obstacles we would have to climb, or crawl under, or figure our way through.  The biggest obstacle was probably the Day 2 mud that had accumulated in the course. I'm pretty sure that 2/3rds of a mile was all mud at one point.

I love that it looks like I'm about
to bust into a Thriller dance...

I quickly learned, though, that it was best to jog a bit until you came across a bunch of zombies.  The zombies weren't everywhere, necessarily, but they would gather in groups.  In essence, when you were avoiding one, you were avoiding several of them.  At this point, you just sprint across as fast as you can without getting your flag taken off.

I even managed to stay "alive" a lot longer than I anticipated.  My strategy mainly focused on slowing down for most of the course, but sprinting with a group when I encountered zombies.  I definitely utilized other people as somewhat of a shield as I ran through the zombie mobs.  The ground was extremely uneven, so I got a bit nervous about tweaking my ankle, which I did a couple of times.  But, that adrenaline rush really keeps you going.

The make-up job on the zombies was awesome!  Some of it looked very detailed, and honestly a bit unnerving.  Some of the zombies would break character when they saw that we no longer were a target.  Some of the zombies didn't break character at all, and that was even more frightening.

What if there were real zombies out there who heard of the event and said, "Dude..we could totally get some brains here and people would think we were in costume....rraaaaaawwwrrrr..meeehh..brraaaaiiinnsss...."?

I wasn't really going to try to find out.

I'm actually really proud of myself for finishing this!  All muddy, wet, and tired from falling into the mud, it felt great to finish it.  I didn't know until the next day that I managed to get quite bruised from the event.

that's just my right leg

I'm so ready to do this again next year!  But it also gives me courage to try for other challenges and 5k's.  Hopefully, they're just as fun as this one was.

done and dead

Did I Mention the 5K?

Dude...did I completely neglect to mention that I ran my very first 5k?

I totally did, didn't I?

Well, back on December 18th, I managed to make it out in the freezing cold to be part of the Jingle Bell Run! 

The morning was mainly spent trying not to freeze my toes off, and then looking for something more festive as so many folks were dressed for the occasion.

Here are my results:

Place Div /Tot  Div   Guntime Nettime Pace  Name     Ag S Race# City/state 

5031 1604/1723 F1829   47:10   39:30 12:43 Cecilia V 29 F  6605 Brighton MA  

Not bad for a first time!

But then there are the pictures.  They're horrendous! So horrendous that I didn't even try to get a copy of them.

Either way, I'm really proud of myself.  I still don't consider myself a runner, not by any means.  But it sure does suck a lot less than when it did in the beginning of my bootcamp adventures.

In terms of bootcamp, I'm up to the 3 days of bootcamp, plus I added a strength training class.  I'm thinking about adding a core strength class as well.

If only there was a nutritional bootcamp to complement all this working out.

10 Day YOU Challenge - 10 Secrets

What better way to start the 10th month of the calendar year than a 10 Day Challenge!

I saw that several bloggers were doing this, but seeing it on Amy's blog, Ha Ha. Wait. What?, was the little push I needed.  She's so super artsy!  She even inspired me to make my own badge for the challenge!

Let's get started then, shall we?

ten secrets:

1.  Social interactions are worth more money to me than the money I don't have.  It's probably why I'm so broke.
2.  On that note...In the past week, I've maxed out my credit cards in the name of fashion.
3.  I pretend to be really tough, talking about how I would fight someone if it came down to it, but I've never been in a physical fight.  But I really want to get into one.
4.  Sometimes, I really want to have a tantrum in the middle of the after school.
5.  I have taken hammers to electronics when they aren't working the way I want them to.
6.  I still want to believe that some guy will rescue me, especially since things have become complicated in my current relationship.
7.  I want to be the reason someone leaves their girlfriend, but I would just feel too guilty about hurting someone else like that.
8.  I've been mildly depressed since I became unemployed, but I am so thankful for my therapist.
9.  Sometimes I forget how old I actually am, and will have to think a quick second before telling you I'm 29.
10.  I often feel like a Jack Of All Trades but a Master of None.

That was really much harder than I anticipated.  I'm usually quite honest about who I am, so I felt like I had to dig kind of deep to find the things I'm not always honest with myself about.

Is anyone else doing this challenge?  It would be fun to do this together!

Day 3: Still Sore from Bootcamp Challenge

Holy moly, y'all.

This is actually an "off" week for the bootcamp regular classes.  However, as the trainers like to keep us challenged, they set up a marathon obstacle course for the regulars.

They called it the Gazelle Gauntlet.  From the description, it looked like hell.  It looked like it would be the most challenging thing ever.

Originally, I wasn't going to do it because I didn't want to try to have to feel competitive around the more advanced bootcampers.  I know I shouldn't feel competitive.  But it's almost like performing for me.  I felt like I'd be hoping on stage without any knowledge of what I was doing.

But a week before the marathon, our trainer sent an email encouraging all of us to sign up and go for it.  He also called me out in the email.  I was the only one to get called out in the email for joking about there needing to be an ambulance at the finished line.

After reading that email, I was fired up.  I signed up for it and convinced myself that it would just be like regular bootcamp where I wouldn't necessarily know what we were doing that day.  Though, I must say that not knowing is a lot better than knowing.

When I arrived, I saw a small group of my foundation bootcamp compadres.  It felt good to see the familiar faces and knowing that we were all doing it together.  The majority of folks, however, were definitely some of the more advanced (read: fit) folks.

The head trainer started going through the different obstacle courses, which started with climbing over a 3-foot high chain-link fence, included crawling under barbed wire, running a half mile to another park to do some agility exercises, running back to finish with run up and down a set of stairs 5 times.

Suffice it to say, I finished last.  I didn't run the whole way through, and I'm pretty sure I accidentally missed part of the course.

The worst thing was that I had trouble getting over the freakin' chain link fence!!! My shoes were slipping on the metal, and for some reason I couldn't lift myself over the fence!!  I couldn't believe it.  But I pushed myself to get up there, even though I could have just run to the entrance.

Honestly, I'm really irritated that I had so much trouble getting over the fence.  I know it's silly to be pissed about it.  Don't get me wrong, I can laugh about how ridiculous I must have looked.  But it still got me feeling really defeated, and it was the first thing we had to do.  It's the upper body strength that I need to work on, apparently. 

But it was great to be encouraged by my fellow bootcamp-mates.  It was great to finish it, even though it was the first time I felt like crying during bootcamp.

Two days later, I'm still feeling sore, both physically and mentally/emotionally about the literal hurdle I had to climb.  But I'm also feeling really strong and really proud of myself for signing up, for showing up, and for finishing it.

With that, I present to you my creation for the 30 Days of Creativity.

my very first marathon bib
with a buff mermaid

15 x 4 = 60

As the second week of intense job searching is here, there's been some ups and downs.

If you remember, a friend of mine is making sure that I apply to 15 jobs a week, which means 60 jobs in a month.

Well, we're on Week 2 of this.

Week 1 was awesome.  Super productive and somewhat fruitful.  I applied to 3 jobs a day, starting on Friday, April 8th.

I have 1 phone interview scheduled on April 20th, and I'm waiting to hear back about the availability for another interview at a different company.

But now, I've applied to 21 jobs.  Truth be told, I've applied to more jobs than I actually think I'm qualified for - whether that be that I'm reaching to be qualified or that I'm over-qualified. 

Uh...except I disagree about Steve Jobs...

If it's a numbers game, then I should just apply and apply and apply until something actually pulls through.  Right?

When my friend and I were discussing the terms of this Job Search Challenge, she stressed that I should stop looking for jobs in the nonprofit field.  That if I want to be able to own a house or if I actually want to make a difference, I need to go for less grassroots jobs.  That working for a large corporation would then give me the means to make a difference.

Honestly, I feel like that goes against every fiber of my being.  I was raised with a very specific set of beliefs.  When I first started graduate school, I knew that I stood for grassroots all the way.  I strongly believe that making a difference doesn't necessarily take money, and I know that there are many nonprofits who prove me right.

Now, I know that doesn't make me rich, nor do I really strive to be wealthy.  In today's economic environment, I know that I might not get my dream job, especially considering that I believe I'll have to actually create my dream job.  But I know that I've already made a difference on someone's life.

I also know that I can still work in the nonprofit world and buy a house one day.  It might not happen in the blink of an eye, but it's still possible.

So, that being said, I've applied to various sizes of organizations.  Some of the organizations probably won't be able to offer me a salary that's worth my while.  Some of the organizations probably won't hire me because they know they can't pay me what I'm worth.

But, honestly, I struggled in finding 3 jobs to apply to today.  I know I'm going to have more and more trouble finding jobs to apply to that I'm qualified for, will pay me what I'm worth, and are mentally and emotionally engaging for me.

for serious...

I'm nervous that I have to compromise on something huge just to get a consistent job.  I'm not sure yet what I'm really willing to compromise on when the time comes to make a decision.

Weaning Off the Lent Challenge 2011

Remember when the boyfriend accidentally got vegetarian burgers with cheese in them?  Well, when I ate the rest of the package (there were 4 patties in the box), I would always notice that my tummy would be grumbly immediately after.

Honestly, it made me really nervous.  Did I suddenly build up a sensitivity to cheese???

I mean, I know that the overly-processed milk and dairy products don't usually sit well in my stomach.  But the times I've had raw milk (mmmmm....raw milk...), I've never had any problems. 

I do remember having some stomach pains after feasting on cheese during my friend's party, and then while I was in New York.  But I don't know if it was because of the cheese or if it was the fact that we had eaten so much that day.

I love cheese.

Well..not creepily, like this...
But I do love cheese.

My sister has some weird allergic reaction to cheese, though dairy doesn't cause her any issues as far as I know.  I always thought it would be the saddest thing (well, okay, ONE of the saddest things) to not be able to have cheese.

So, in an effort to make my upcoming birthday more pleasurable (in a week!), and knowing that I'll be flying to California, I've decided I need to wean myself off this pescatarian/vegan diet.

I leave for California on the 20th, and I'm planning to hit up In N Out to celebrate the end of my diet.  I know that's completely counter-intuitive, and will probably be detrimental to my actual weight loss.  But I promise I won't go overboard on any other day except for my birthday.  All bets are off on my birthday.

So, in the next couple of days, I'm going to start reintroducing small bits of cheese, yogurt, and eggs into my diet.

If I'm out and about, and there are no vegan options, then I will go for something vegetarian or even something that might have the smallest amount of meat.  If I eat meat, I will start with chicken, but I will still have more veggies on my plate.

I refuse to have any sensitivity to cheese.  I absolutely refuse.

I know that it hasn't been the whole 40 days (though really, Lent is longer than 40 days).  In fact, today is the 36th day.  By the time the 40th day arrives (the 19th), my stomach will be prepared to have meat in my body once again. 

But if I had to choose weaning myself off this or suddenly reintroducing foods and making my body go into some weird angry shock, I think I'll choose the former.

Boot Camp - Week 5

I did it, y'all.

I completed 5 sessions of bootcamp.

Granted, I totally cheated the system.  I guess I was supposed to do 5 sessions back to back on the regular schedule (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays).  But, they didn't really specify that.  So I ended up going on every Wednesday instead.  I didn't actually realize it until they started asking me if I was going to show up on Friday.

Oh, well.

In the 4th session of bootcamp, it was a pretty windy but sunny day.  Being that I was already having a bit of a cold, the windiness just kind of aggravated my coughing.  I ended up taking it a bit easy the rest of the week, considering that I had the BARCC Walk that weekend (more on that later).

No surprise, however, that I didn't see any changes on the scale.

But, this week was my final paid session.

It was a rainy Wednesday, but that doesn't stop the trainers from taking it outside.  For the most part, we were underneath a shaded area.

I prepared a playlist of songs that would help to motivate me in the morning, and it really seemed to help.  As I ran around the raised lawn area, I found that The Jacksons' "Blame It On the Boogie" was really motivating me to keep going at a good pace.  Maybe it was the beat, but it was pretty helpful to have it playing in my head.  For the first time, I didn't feel like dying immediately after starting to run.

Near the end, we were instructed to run up and down stairs, run to the other side of the raised lawn area, and then up and down another set of stairs.  As I reached the top of the second set of stairs, I was slowed as I saw the sign for the Division of Unemployment.

Click on the image to see my little directions.

Knowing that the unemployment office was right where we had been working out gave me a second wind.  I feel like I really pushed myself harder during the circuits.

Afterward, I knew I wanted to continue doing bootcamp.  I burn so many calories in an hour, and I feel so powerful after working out. 

The worst part, really, is having to wake up so early.  And yet, it's great to know that I'm done with my workouts and have so much more of the day to accomplish things.

Here's the thing.  If I want my body to change, I have to really push myself and work out really hard.  I really think that bootcamp will help me get to where I want to be.  So, perhaps at the end of the month or starting in May, I will be attempting to get my butt up at 4:30 in the morning on more than just Wednesdays.

Setbacks with Bootcamp and Lent

No Bootcamp This Week
Well, I woke up ass-early on Wednesday, and made my way to the North Station area just to find out that there wasn't class at all this week.

I was so angry about waking up early that I managed to motivate myself to attempt running around the Chestnut Hill Reservoir.

April 2010,
The boyfriend and I were taking a walk around the city.
This is us around the Chestnut Hill Reservoir...
well, I cropped him out...

So, I tried to get all motivated, though my pockets had a little too many things in them (keys, phone, Zune, T pass, and photo ID).  I put on my "Buttkicking" playlist, and did 2 rounds (which turns out to be about 1.56mi per round) around the Reservoir of intermittent jogging and walking.

Running sucks ass.  I just really don't know if I can get down with it.  I just don't want to get so winded just from running around during bootcamp.

Plus, my phone didn't do the best job of tracking how many calories I burned, which was even more extremely frustrating.  I'd gladly have done the hour of bootcamp instead of the hour of running.

A friend of mine suggested a phone app called "Couch to 5K," which I guess makes one able to run a 5K after 9 weeks.  I'm still pretty irritated with running, but I'm willing to give it a try - maybe when bootcamp is over.  Maybe.

Lent Fail
Later that day, I asked the boyfriend to bring me some portobello mushroom burger action, especially since there was some ground beef that needed to be turned into burgers (mmmm...delicious home-made burgers...with cheese...).  He brought home a veggie portobello burger pack.

As I started preparing our Cuisinart Grill, I take a look at the ingredients.  Lo and behold, there is cheese in the garden burger.

One of the first rules that I learned during this diet is that vegetarian ≠ vegan.  There are so many things that have milk lecithin or milk powder or cheese or something ridiculous.

And at the same time, you would be just as surprised to know what things are just high fructose corn syrup or just plain sugar.  For example, I can't have Honey Bunches of Oats (which has whey from milk); however, I can have Frosted Mini-Wheats (which has whole grain wheat, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and gelatin).

Makes you feel really good that that
frosting is just sugar and HFCS, huh?
Super healthy, for sure...

Well, I ate that veggie burger anyway.  I'm not about to let the food go to waste, and I think the boyfriend will do better about looking at the ingredients next time.

I also went back on my Lent Challenge completely by accident on my way back from New York.  I was in desperate need of some coffee.  Knowing that I probably wouldn't be able to get any soy milk when we stopped at a gas station, I instead asked for a Chai Tea Latte.  Yeah.  Though it *looked* like it might have been an Oregon Chai-like mix (which is dairy-free), I didn't really see it.  It *tasted* like it could have haid milk.  Clearly, I was still too sleepy to realize that I still ordered a beverage with milk in it.

But then, the Saturday before leaving for New York, I knowingly said "screw you" to the diet.  A dear friend was celebrating her 30th birthday with a dessert and cheese party.  I mean, she makes delicious desserts, and it was her 30th!!!  Knowing that I'm not doing the Lent Challenge to get closer to god or whatever, I knew that it would really just be disappointing myself.

Well, that birthday dessert party was so worth it.  But completely losing my mind over the Chai Tea Latte just pisses me off.

Well, lessons learned.

3 WEEKS LEFT!!!

Travels: NYICFF and Vegan-Friendly Eats in NYC

The fun thing about being so close to New York and my best friend is that I get to take a day trip and do so many things with her.  The sad thing is that there are so many things we want to do together, but we don't have enough time most of the time.

Fooling around at a gazebo in Central Park

It was a fun Sunday, and I'm glad she knew of some places where I could have some delicious vegan meals.  But, let's start with my horrendous experience on the way over, shall we?

Fung Wah Ridiculousness
Well, just as I blogged about the benefits of having a cheap bus ride to New York, I happened to have an unpleasant experience.  I know I should try the Bolt or Mega Buses, but I already know what to expect for the most part on the Fung Wah. 

So, of course, I was extremely exhausted as I had some birthday celebrations the night before, and we got home way too late for me to get any real sleep.  I'm pretty good about getting to sleep on the airplane or on the bus, so I figured I could just get comfortable.

I got on the very first bus of the day, and I just wanted to make sure that I got a window seat.  I knew there would be a chance that I would have to share my aisle, but I wanted to avoid sitting next to someone strange.

Well, I wasn't so lucky.  As I got to my window seat, I noticed a man kind of watching me get settled.

These two girls who got on the bus after me but were extremely unprepared at the ticket counter were trying to find a seat together, so the strange man offered up his seats and proceeded to ask me if he could sit next to me.  I really need to learn to say no.

But I grumpily let him sit next to me as I struggled to get more comfortable with my bag.  I swear that he was watching me the entire bus ride.  I could feel him watching my every move even though I tried to focus on whatever was outside the window or just trying to sleep the whole time.

Near the end of the trip, I realized that he was basically using my thigh as an arm rest!!! And I knew that if I asked him to move his hand in my extremely sleepy and grumpy state, I would have yelled at him and been the drama bomb of the bus.  So, I just tried to elbow his arm off me as I was "sleeping."

But it got worse.  I'm pretty sure that, as Manhattan was in our sights, he basically started farting in my direction!!! DUDE!!!! REALLY?????  I just buried my face in my scarf, and kept my eyes closed.

Finally, we arrived.  Thank goodness!  But he was taking FOREVER to get up and get off the bus.  As he walked ahead of me, he turns to me and says, "Have a good day, miss."

What the fuck?  I watched him walk away while continually turning back to look at me.  I really had to restrain myself from yelling or running after him to kick his ass.  I was just glad the experience was over.

Vegan-Friendly Eats
Being that I was trying to be good about my diet and my best friend is basically vegetarian/vegan lite, I wasn't too worried about finding tons of food in New York City.

Our first stop of the morning was Babycakes, a delicious vegan bakery which we discovered early in her move to New York.  This place has made me a believer in the deliciousness of vegan pastries.  If they're done well, they're REALLY done well.

We had a jam-filled biscuit, and I had some Yogi Tea in Chai Black with soy milk.  It was delicious.

I've had their cupcakes before, but it was too early for their decadent cupcakes.  Seriously, if you get a chance to try Babycakes in New York or in Los Angeles or in the Downtown Disney Marketplace in Disney World, you really should.

For lunch, we headed over to Caravan of Dreams, an organic vegan Spanish/Mediterranean restaurant.  We had WAY too much food!  Apparently, my best friend has a bottomless stomach and the fastest metabolism.

We had the Seitan Nachos, Huitlacoche and "Chorizo" Quesadillas, Caravan Burrito, and Mango Lassi.  We split everything.  It was delicious and I was so happy I was having all these foods that I would never normally be able to eat in this diet!

We had so much food. So. Much. Food.  But we were eventually hungry again.

My best friend had been craving squid for a month, so I looked up some Vietnamese restaurants around the Columbus Circle area.  We ended up at Cha Pa's Noodles and Grill on West 52nd St.

I had a side of shrimp chips and the Crab & Shrimp Rice Noodles.  My bottomless-pit of a best friend had the Saigon Salt & Pepper Squid (which is more saucy and less crispy than the Chinese equivalent), with a side of bok choy, shitake mushrooms.  She ate all of it, while I had to pack up some left-overs.

Overall, it was all pretty delicious.  My belly was extremely happy and full all day.

New York International Children's Film Festival
The main reason this weekend was planned was because it was the final event for the New York International Children's Film Festival.  I believe this is the 4th time we've attended the event, and we've learned that going to the final awards ceremony is the best part.

Directors Guild Theater in NYC

During the awards ceremony, they award the audience favorites as well as re-screen them.  But the best part of the final event is the swag bag.  This year, the swag bag was amazing!

swag bag!

This is the biggest and most sturdy bad we've received yet!  It was filled with a neat journal and pen set, a pencil bag, a DVD of Shaun the Sheep episodes, a DVD of the television movie Temple Grandin, and Bananagrams!

No joke, I've been wanting to buy my own set of Bananagrams for ever!  I had played it with some friends, and I really quite enjoy the game.  So, I nearly flipped over at the sight of the Bananagrams bag!

But seriously, the entire Film Fest is amazing.  Because of it, I've been able to watch some amazing films, from The Secret of the Kells to Sita Sings the Blues.  We've also seen some hilarious and some poignant shorts, some of which you can see on the NYCIFF website.

Honestly, it was attending our first film fest together that had made me eager to find other film festivals in the Boston area.  It's where you can really see some amazing and creative works as opposed to some of the "blockbusters" that can easily be cookie-cutter copies of each other.

With that, I want to leave you with one of the winning shorts that was a personal fave of my best friend and me.  Enjoy!


Pinky - Don't Go from Pinky on Vimeo.

Lent Challenge 2011 - That's Right...I Had Pancakes...

I apologize for my title.  Like I've mentioned in my previous post about this Lent Challenge diet, I've got kind of an interesting (read: bitchy) edge.  This was the best title I could think of.

Yeah, I had pancakes for breakfast this morning.  Dairy-free, egg-free pancakes.

When the boyfriend and I last went up to Maine to visit his family, his step-mom made these delicious buckwheat pancakes.  They were so light and fluffy, I felt like I could have eaten a ginormous stack of them.  Then she told us that it was a mix that you just add water to.  Amazing!

Naturally, when I went to brunch last weekend and felt like I wanted to have a tantrum in the middle of the restaurant, I remembered those buckwheat pancakes.

I emailed the boyfriend's step-mom and asked for the recipe, and she told me that it's a mix that isn't really found in stores outside Maine.  But by Wednesday, I received a package from her with the mix!

Who says that step-mom's aren't awesome?

So, this morning, I said, "Take THAT diet!"

Ployes Buckwheat Pancake Mix!
Using our bomb-ass Cuisinart Griddle/Grill

The instructions on the package says that it's 1 cup of the mix to 1 1/3rd cup of water, but I added a little bit less water and they came out pretty fluffy.  I'm sure if I added the full 1 1/3rd cup of water, they would also be delicious and more crêpe-like.

I could live off a crêpe-diet.  Some of you know this already.

I used Earth Balance buttery spread, which is completely vegan, and I squeezed a couple of drops of lemon juice on top of each pancake.  To complete the meal, I added some strawberries.

Perhaps the worst part is that we don't have any REAL maple syrup in the house.  A while back, we were at Costco and opted for the cheaper and larger Log Cabin maple syrup bottles.  It tastes so synthetic compared to real maple syrup, but it's what we have and we're not ones to just throw things away like that.

Nummy nummy nummy in my tummy...

Either way, it was delicious.  Extremely satisfying.  Not just because it was so tasty, but also because I feel like I have one-uped this diet.

Boot Camp - Week 2

Today, I had the pleasure of waking up at 5 am to prepare for my second session of boot camp, after having an incredibly horrible night of sleep.

I wish I knew what it was that was keeping me up.  My brain was just racing last night.  I was thinking of boot camp, I was thinking about making it on time, I was thinking about my lack of money, I was thinking about my diet, and then some.

I got up, being extremely nervous about going to boot camp with the very little sleep I got.  I thought that maybe I should go on Friday instead.  But I didn't want to make any silly excuses to not go.

This week's session started at 6:30 instead of the usual 6.  Also, the Foundation Bootcamp group (which I'm part of) was combined with the Intermediate Bootcamp group (which has a larger number of people).

So, perhaps because the leader wanted to keep it challenging for the Intermediate group, while allowing the Foundation group to push themselves according to their level, today was a very difficult day.

There was a lot more running.  Running to the outdoor park, running to one side of a field, running from one marker to another and then performing an exercise on the ground while not trying to touch or lay down on dog poop, sprinting from one marker to the other, running back to the other side of the field, and then running (or in my case, attempting to run) 5 times up and down a set of stairs.

These stairs to be exact.

You can't really see it, but there are about 5 sets of steps going up
and some more steps on the right you can't see that we ran down.
Then we jogged back to the bottom of the stairs to start over.

By the second set, I could feel my inner thighs burning.  I wasn't even trying to run the stairs.  No freakin' way.  I was just trying to keep breathing and pushing and climbing those stairs.

I kind of had Cake's "Going the Distance" in my head while I was running.


There's definitely something to be said for adding music to your workout.  One woman had her music blaring during her workout, and last week a group leader for the Intermediate Bootcamp group had music playing on a radio.

I might create a workout playlist for next week - if not for listening while working out, definitely for the early morning ride over.

Lent Challenge 2011 - Limiting Choices

So, I hadn't really given Lent too much thought.  It kind of crept up on me.

I kind of figured that I wouldn't do anything since I couldn't think about it in time.

But then a friend offered up a challenge.

Though she's not Catholic, she's planning to reinvigorate her health by going temporarily pescatarian and vegan.  She challenged me to join her during Lent.  This means no meat (except fish), no eggs, no dairy, no chocolate.

I said, "Excusemewhat?"

No meat, no eggs, no dairy, no chocolate.  Whole grains (duh), potatoes, ketchup, wine, and beer (but not enough to feel the effects strongly) are all acceptable.

I'll be honest, this just sounds like torture.  I've never really felt like going vegan is a choice I can make.  My thumbs basically give me permission to eat you.

I kill you with my thumb...

But let me back up a bit.  Here's some things we talked about.

I questioned, "What if I only have 70 or 80% dark chocolate?"  She said I could modify it how I need to.  But she's going to go for no chocolate.  Truth is, I don't really eat that much chocolate.  I like hot cocoa (but mainly the Swiss Miss mix and hot water), and if we have chocolate in the house I will eat it.  So, no chocolate in the house usually means I don't snack on it.

But...chocolate, especially dark chocolate, has some delicious antioxidants and produces happy feelings. 

The dairy didn't seem like the biggest issue, since I usually drink soy milk.  But butter, cream cheese, cheese...CHEESE...these are things that are staples in my diet.  There's also Greek yogurt, which is a pretty healthy addition to any diet.  I know that soy products and a lot of the dark leafy greens have calcium and iron, so I'm not too worried about nutrients.

But...cheese, in moderation and variety, and yogurt are a great source of enzymes and live cultures that our bodies need to function smoothly.

The meat actually isn't too difficult.  I don't usually eat too much beef, except for the occasional (maybe once or twice a month?) hamburger.  When eating out, I will usually opt for fish, veggie, or chicken.  But pork is pretty much a staple in any Filipino diet.  In fact, I had just made a pot of sinigang when she suggested the challenge to me.  So, I'm going to miss bacon every couple of weekends, and I can't make a hamich when there's nothing else in our fridge.

But...there is something to be said about having unprocessed meat from "happy" animals.  Having just finished The Omnivores Dilemma and having friends who chose not to eat meat that wasn't from a local farm, I definitely believe that the most natural, unprocessed, unfrozen meat is the most delicious.

Valuable read!

The eggs might be a problem.  I love omelets, I love crepes, I love pancakes, I love pastries.  I understand how all those things sound super unhealthy, but it's not that I eat all these things every day.  But so many things have eggs (as well as dairy) in their ingredients, that I am really most concerned about staying true to this.

But...I don't really feel like eggs in moderation are that bad for you.  They're a good source of protein, and even a little bit of cholesterol is good for you.

When my friend was talking to me about the benefits of the diet, I brought up a lot of my concerns.  Her argument for it is that you become really conscious of the cravings that you usually get, it makes you stay away from extremely processed foods, and you can get really creative with your meals instead of sticking with familiar foods.

I can appreciate getting creative with foods, especially after having experienced picking up a box of fruits and veggies from our CSA.  I can also appreciate being conscious about what your put in your body and what you want to put in your body, especially considering that I try to focus a lot of organic foods.  I can definitely appreciate staying away from extremely processed foods, though I can name some of the foods we currently have in the house that are quite processed.

Here are my concerns:

• Theoretically, I could eat all the "right" things, but I could fry every single one of them and it would be acceptable.  
• Brunch, my favorite meal, is pure evil.  
• I feel like her reasons for starting this diet are different from my reasons for wanting to lose weight.  
• Living with the boyfriend and sharing foods have made it easy on my wallet, and this diet is going to cost me money that I don't have.
• Lastly, I feel like deprivation is not the correct way to diet.  In fact, the idea of deprivation makes me angry.  Extremely angry.  So angry that I'm trying my best not to be angry at my friend who's challenging me to this diet.  I love her, and I value her friendship so much.  But deprivation makes me angry.

My issues with food is mainly about portion control.  Those big plates are deceiving, and I will fill it up to the edges if I have the opportunity.  So, what if I just ate less of what I usually eat?  Isn't that a good choice?

Unfortunately, that's not the challenged she's offered to me.

Really, my biggest concern is the cost and the time I will use to buy and use extra ingredients that I can eat in the next 6 weeks.

So, I agreed to the challenge with the chocolate modification.  We talked on Thursday, March 10th, and I started on Friday, March 11th.

The last day of Lent before Easter Sunday is my birthday.  So, I'm sorry Lent, but my birthday takes precedence over you.

There will definitely be follow up on this.

40 Days and 40 Nights Come to An End

Today, the Christian community is celebrating Easter, and we are in the midst of the Jewish Passover.

My atheist friends, whom I love dearly, like to refer to this day as Zombie Jesus Day.  But, really...it is kinda like Jesus became a zombie...though minus wanting to eat our brains and stuff.

I do miss having an Easter celebration with my family.  We would have tons of Filipino food, family would be over, and we'd have a good ol' Easter Egg Hunt.  Some of the plastic eggs would even have dollar bills inside them!  Great way to bribe children into Christianity!  Shoot, I'd believe in Zombie Jesus Day, too, if it meant that I'd get chocolate and money.

But, I digress.

This post is for me to recount how I've dealt with my Lent Challenge.

Here's what I posted back in February:

What I'm giving up:
Using any of my credit cards (really, it's just my Old Navy, Victoria's Secret, Best Buy, and Capital One cards...only....).  I've done it once, and I can do it again!!!  I realistically can't say that I won't purchase anything new, but I will not use my credit cards!

What I'm taking on:

I talked a little bit about this in a previous post, but I will add one more days of movement.  With me being away in California for the past 2 weeks, I haven't really been able to devote any time to working out.  Not to mention that I really ate like I was on vacation (pho 2x, pupusas, Korean BBQ, Jack in the Box, In N Out, Filipino food.....ya.....).  Now that I'm back in Boston and hopefully back to a regular routine, it's time to up my cardio!

Giving Up Ain't So Hard to Do
Like I said above, I've already given up using my credit cards before, so this wasn't so difficult.  I must say, though, I get a TON of emails, catalogs, and other temptations from those above categories.  So, the challenge was never too far from my mind.

Luckily, I didn't have any emergencies that required the use of my credit card, though there was a small scare with Yoni's eye (she just bumped her head on something as she was tearing back and forth through the apartment).  Also, instead of thinking about purchasing new clothes, I've been really trying to evaluate all the items in my ridiculously overflowing closet.

I'm still working on getting rid of clothes.  Weirdly, I'm able to identify what I haven't worn in the past winter season; yet, I'm still so unfamiliar with the varieties of winters that I get hesitant about discarding certain items.  I'm sure it's just whatever hang ups I have about getting rid of stuff, but at least I'm conscious of it.

Getting Moving
For the entire month of March, I attended 2 belly dance classes, vinyasa yoga, and pilates every week.  Though I was sick one weekend, I managed to only miss my belly dance classes (all the spinning around would have made me super dizzy).

There were a couple of days when I would do some cardio, or I would do some walking around the city, or I took belly dance workshops.  But I was really active throughout those 40 days.

I am loving the pace that I'm at!  I would love to keep doing this much activity, and maybe add a little more.  There's one yoga class that I thoroughly enjoy, which is a mix of yoga and pilates, but it doesn't always fit into my schedule.  When it does, I will plan on attending it.

Now that the sun and warmth is (relatively) gracing the Northeast, I'm so excited to add bicycling back into my routine.  I would definitely like to try to bike around the city much more before Winter is upon us again.  Hopefully, I can find a pool that I can swim laps in this summer, too.

Here comes the sun...

I'm really quite satisfied with this Lent Challenge.  While I understand the whole idea of sacrificing something in the name of religious, though I don't necessarily agree, I think this Challenge is more about control.  I've shown myself that I'm in control of the choices I make, and that there's very little that really stands in my way - the most significant of which is myself.  I can only hope that other people have learned that same lesson as well.

With that, I'd like to leave you with a movie recommendation.  If you haven't seen it yet, and you can handle a little bit of the gore, "Zombieland" is a freakin' awesome zombie movie!  Yes, it has zombies, and there are parts that are a bit scary.  But it's a really funny and entertaining movie.

Happy Easter!