Disappearing Act

Whoa, it's been a while since my last post! Between a plethora of vacations and trying to fend off this little cold that I will not let get the best of me, I have been so tired and overwhelmed and as a result have not been eating well at all. I figured, there is not better way to stabilize and regroup than to return from my disappearing act and starting accounting for all of my eats! And having all of you keep me in check ;)

I lucked out last night and had this ah-maze-ing dinner at Barbuto. Seriously so delicious, I'm not joking. I started with a grapefruit salad and then ordered the Seabeam as an entree. The fish comes whole (eyes and all) so I got to cut off the head and take off the spine. There is no harm in playing with your food as an adult!

Fun Fact: if you are stranded on an island, eat the eyeballs of fish for hydration. (Yes I learned this last night...and no I did not eat them, I had a glass of water / wine in front of me so I was all set)

Dessert was an indulgence but well worth it: coffee semifredo icecream, lemon almond pound cake and mint gelato. Mm mm. No worries! I split this between 5 people, but I wish it was all for me :)

After my extra-large dins last night, I started off the morning on the right foot with a killer spin workout (I created 40 wats of energy on the new Green Revolution bikes!) and a protein shake:

1 C organic skim milk, 1 Scoop vanilla protein powder, 2 T ground flax, handful of frozen cranberries. This was delicious, and pink!

What is your take on protein powder? Is it chemicals? Is it better to get protein from "real" foods? I don't know that much/anything about it so any information would be helpful and interesting!

Great to be back folks!

23 or 70?

Clearly I have been MIA via the blog this week, but after reading you'll understand why, and maybe be able to relate? I started this week with a fabulous energy; I had a great weekend, work was looking manageable this week, I had a fun dinner planned for Thursday. And then, Monday hit. Mondays are always slightly difficult, but this one particularly drained me (for no apparent reason). Then Tuesday came along, and a similar draining effect took place. Wednesday was no exception and then Thursday, well lets just say I think I hit a wall. While I was able to make it to the gym on these days (working out in the morning I have learned that exhaustion and a slight sleeping haze are part of the routine) my eating habits were [slightly] off. Take yesterday. Below is a picture of some fruit combos, a handful of soy crips, and a 1/2 a chicken and spinach sandwich. Looks relatively normal and as though I covered all the bases huh?! Just so happens that this was after my normal lunch, plus an additional handful of chips and another half a sandwich...And this was just my lunch!
Needless to say I went home, after my dinner date was cancelled, and crashed. I'm pretty sure a 70 year old grandmother goes to bed later than I did last night! I cannot pinpoint what is making me so exhausted...lack of concentration/motivation, hormones, multi-tasking, diet?
Does this ever happen to you? Any suggestions?!

All I can say is TGIF and I'm looking forward to getting my 23 year old body back to feeling like a 23 year old should! Well, I might act like a grandma again tonight... ;) welcome back friday night lite

Hangover Bfast?

I woke up this morning with a huge hankering (sp?) for a bacon egg and cheese sandwich - the go to hangover breakfast. Ironically, I did not drink at all last night. hmmm strange how these cravings work...

Instead of running down to the Bagel Shop underneath my apartment, I decided to run to the grocery store and make one of my own by making a few modifications to "The Breakfast Sandwich" from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch. If you haven't read the predecessor to this book, Skinny Bitch, I definitely recommend it. The two authors take a no-joke approach to getting healthy [and skinny] by following a vegan diet and give you recommendations and recipes along the way. While I do not follow a vegan diet by any means, I hardly would consider myself even a pescatarian, I think there are some interesting concepts in terms of animal treatment and what you are putting into your body that I don't mind incorporating into my diet. So for breakfast I made a pot of coffee in my fav mug:

For The Breakfast Sandwich itself, I used some leftover NAAN bread for an open faced sandwich which I toasted in the oven (oh the joys of a nyc kitchen sans a toaster). I topped that with some melted Veggie Mozzarella Cheese (my vegan addition), Turkey Bacon, tomato slices, two eggs over easy, and sea salt and pepper. On the side, I had some fruit and yogurt too!
This hit the spot and was soooo gooood. I then headed to the park for photo ops! coming up next...