A Smooth Commute {and diet pill for breakfast?!}

Good morning all!

Happy hump day!

I had a pleasant commute this morning to work. I have been staying at my parents house this week considering my sister is on vacation and I can sleep on her bed. The commute from my parent's to my job is soooooooo much smoother than the one from my apartment. To make a long story short, it cuts my traveling time by about 20-30 minutes which is the equivalent of like 3 days in NYC time (I kid, I kid.).

Anyway, sleeping over at my parents also meant bringing over some of my foods that I had prepped for the week. Packing was a little stressful (isnt it always) but I managed to bring over some of the stuff including my banana bread which I am having for breakfast this morning with almond butter and a cup of joe'.

 

Yesterday while wondering the streets of wall street with my co-worker we went to Lot Less and amazing store with amazing sales and which I am obsessed with. I found these little pockets of almond butter for $1.

I ran out of almond butter about 2 weeks ago and have made sporadic visits to whole foods where they continue to be out of stock. Not sure what may be going on but I may pass by today again and see. But anyway, the little pockets are perfect for now although the jar would be a better deal of course.

So on to this diet pill situation….this morning as I made my way towards the cafeteria at my job to grab some coffee I ran in to a co-worker. This girl is absolutely beautiful and has a nice full shape which many would qualify as "over-weight". As we walked together she commented on how "hungry" she was but that she didn't want to break her diet. I asked her what does she mean? She responded by saying that she cannot eat anything for breakfast aside from a cup of tea. Then I asked her, what about lunch? she proceeded by saying she can have lunch but it has to be "light". She is on some kind of plan which involves diet pills from a fairly popular company I don't want to mention here. I felt sorry for her.

I felt sorry for the situation and I felt sorry for the ignorance of some people whom still believe that starving themselves is the proper way to lose those extra pounds. I don’t blame her. I blame the manufacturers of those companies whom, for the sake of profit, could care less about deceiving people about their "miracle pills". I can assure you that the CEO and high level executives at these companies eat pretty well and aren't starving themselves having a pill and some lettuce each day. I don’t want to judge. Maybe I don’t know the whole story. All I know is that the description of this diet she is on didn’t sound good.

I have to admit that back during my teenage years and maybe even very early 20s I would borderline starve myself in order to achieve that "idolized" skinny shape. Thankfully, through the years I have realized that deprivation is a sure way to fail in this area. There will come a time when your body will pretty much "attack" you and make you crave everything under the sun in order to get back those calories it had been deprived from for so long. The cravings will become so incredibly intense that you will have no choice but to give in and start the cycle all over again. This is a miserable way to live and I can attest to that because I've lived that first hand.

 

With failure comes experience and today I know that starvation is not the answer. Calories, fat, carbs, protein, etc. It is all necessary for a well-functioning body and all works in unison to make you healthy and bring you to your healthy weight. It may be easier said than done but it is true. Our bodies are incredible machines and they will tell you what they need. If you starve it and deprive it you better believe that the first thing that will pop in to your head when you cant take it anymore wont be the healthiest food choices; and this is one of the reason for that yo-yo cycle.

 

Anyways, these are my two cents and some venting on the situation. What are your thoughts on this?

 

Celebrating Birthdays: Dinner at GoodFellas, L.E.S (NYC)

One of my closest/best friends Dr. Lopez celebrated a “milestone” birthday last week and I just wanted to share some of the happenings of her day. As per her request, we had a “low key” celebration consisting of happy-hour wine and dinner at this amazing spot down by the Lower East Side which I will elaborate more on below. Before meeting for wine, she had an eventful day consisting of a nice massage and cupcake-shopping (yes there is such a thing! ha!). She got herself a dozen cupcakes from a popular spot downtown (cant remember the name) but check these out:

 

There were called "banana boat" flavor or something like that. I have no idea. All I know is that I got' a taste, died, went to heaven and came back. I was going to "save" it for next day but I nearly inhaled it that never happened. And yea, by the way--- it was so hot that day that the poor icing was melting so that's why they look a little "off". And, dont panic! she bought the cupcakes to share  with friends and family not all for her. Not that there's anything wrong with that. 

***

After my shift at jail work ended, I met up with her sister, and her sister’s husband to continue the celebration. Just a quick recap on our friendship: I mentioned this recently on the blog but I’ve known this girl since freshman year of high school. She was part of my “high school clique”. We then ended up going away to college very close to each other which kinda’ made us each other’s “support system”. 

We’ve been through so many ups and downs and pretty much several “friendship cycles”: periods of being tied to the hip and periods of not talking to each other for months! We knew each other before first kisses, first dates, first heartbreaks, first crushes, first real jobs, career changes, coming of age events and everything in between. We know too much about each other to ever be enemies LOL (joking). Anyways, I love this girl to death and she is definitely in my “friend for a lifetime” list (if there is such a thing!).

So, after having some nice wine at a nice spot called "Inoteca" we then walked over to the restaurant portion of the night: A placed called “Goodfellas “. It was my first time there and it was recommended by my friend’s sister. We were immediately served some complementary (and yummy) olive-oil and nice Italian bread while we chatted and browsed the menu:

I  made up my mind to go for something I would truly enjoy (not something that simply looked “healthy” which is what I am used to doing). After a whole lot of browsing I opted for the veggie delight pizza topped with fresh mozzarella, plum tomato, broccoli, zucchini, and seasoned mushrooms..

…O.M.G. What a delight! I knew I made the right choice as soon as I took the first bite. Out of habit, I am used to “blotting” my pizza with a napkin before eating it but I immediately realize there was no blotting necessary. The pizza had absolutely zero “random grease” hanging around (for lack of a better word) and was simply topped with delicious cheeses, mushrooms, and other veggie-type delicatessens. No complaints.

It looks big but it was more of a "personal size" pie. I ate a little less than half of this rich and satisfying dish and paired it up with some cool chardonnay. It was perfect. I took the rest to go for lunch/dinner the next day. I also had a taste of my friend’s chicken parm with penne which was also to die for. Cant wait to go back that spot!

As it is tradition with all birthdays, we embarrassed her with a loud and obnoxious happy-birthday chant and then we enjoyed a nice slice of cheesecake on the house:

Also amazing. 

And here we are (bday girl is the one on the left):

 

Cheers to life-long friendships, delicious food and delicious-looking restaurant owners! By the way, our server (which apparently was also the owner) was super nice and super HOT. Did I mention hot? like, model hot? ok. I'm done :D

Tell me--- whats your favorite Italian restaurant and/or Italian dish?

Blast from the 90s!

This week felt good.

With the juggling of life as an "adult"; engrossed in graduate school, a full time job and following my passions I had been guilty of not keeping in touch or spending quality time with my real friends--the ones that I have been around as far as I can remember (ie: elementary school through high school). Dont get me wrong-- I have met amazing people after college whom I also value and consider REAL lifetime friends that will be around forever (Hi Lejla! :) but this post is dedicated to my "friends from the 90s" whom I had the pleasure of spontaneously meeting up with this past week. I am still missing a couple of people but I am motivated to reach out to them and spend some quality time catching up.

I have been through times in my life when I've come to realize that at the end of the day, family, friends, loved ones are the people that will always be there for you and those are the relationships that we should all nurture and maintain. I am talking about the people that will see you no different whether you are homeless or a billionaire. The ones that, even if you loose touch or stop speaking for months or even years, you're still able to pick up right where you left off and it feels like time never went by. Im about to get mushy for about half a second but I just want to point out that REAL FRIENDS and loved ones are perfectly described in one of my favorite bible verses/poems: 

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Wouldn't you agree? :)

So, as I was saying. My meet ups started this past Thursday when I met up for amazing sushi at one of my favorite sushi spots on the West Side of Manhattan: Nomado. Let me just rant for a second about how delicious their sushi is. And you better believe I've had my fare share of raw fish rolled up in rice! I dont know what they do to their sushi (I am not sure I want to know) but is so delicious. So anyways, back to regular programming--- I met up with my friend Guildia and we had an amazing time:

We had some serious girl-talk catching up on boys, work, careers, traveling, school, our upcoming birthdays, fitness, and personal finances (she calls me her financial adviser and makes it a point to tell everyone every chance she gets lol. Gotta' love her). I met Guildia in the 5th grade and went all the way through high school together! She was one of the very first people I met when I moved to NYC from the Dominican Republic back in 1993 and we've kept each other in our lives ever since. In college we kinda' went our separate ways as we attended two different state schools. However, we kept in touch and I actually talk to her through text almost every single day. I'd say that's the friend I am able to keep in contact with the most. Gotta' love technology. We also formed a "Virtual fitness group" where we motivate each other to wake up and run every other day. She recruited about 5 other girls and we're all doing great but that's a topic for another post!


Moving over to friday; after I was done with an exhausting day at work the last thing I wanted to do was go home and be bored to death (I have to note that is super rare for me to feel that way considering that I am a MAYOR homebody and any chance I get I am usually at home. relaxing.period.) Anyways, I decided to take advantage of my "random urge" to go out and ended up making plans with another good ol' friend. 

This is Yosie. Ive known her since 1995!! We met in junior high school and then parted ways after that (went to different high schools and colleges). I have to give Yosi credit that she still in my life this day. I remember in high school I went through a phase of not calling anyone much left keep in touch. However, she was one of those friends that would always call to check up on me and see what Ive been up to. As time went on, I got better but I'll never forget that she's pretty much responsible for keeping our friendship alive and strong.

Finally, this past Saturday (last night) I reunited with Dr. Christina Lopez. I have known her since 1997. We met in high school and have been very close friends ever since! I think a mayor reason why we have such a strong bond is that fact that we also went away to college to universitites that were VERY close to each other. I was constantly at her dorm and at one point I had more friends at her school then I had at my own! We kinda' transitioned in to adulthood together considering we were there for each other during those years where you go from high school-to college- to the real world (and everything that comes with each one of those phases!). We have memories to last us a lifetime and everytime we get together there is never a dull moment! Theres also never a moment when we dont recall one of our past college experiences and start just laughing about the good old days and all the fun times. 

 

 Below is us outside of the lounge at the end of the night. The other gals are Christina's younger and older sister. Ive known them for as long as I've known Christina. One of them is married (the baby) and the other one is married with a baby! We were chatting about how I was there for her (older) sister's 21st birthday. Time really does fly!

 

Christina has a PHd in education and is the only one of my friends with a doctorate degree. I am very proud of her as I remember how incredibly difficult and overwhelming those doctorate school years were for her but she did it!!! I always give her props for that.

So there you have it! It feel GREAT to catch up with good friends specially when you dont get to see them on the regular. Phone calls and texting are okay and texting usually makes our lives easier but there's nothing like actually being in the presense of the people that means so much to you!

I have a few more people on my catching-up/re-bonding radar and im looking forward to making it happen.

Cheers to an amazing upcoming week!

Tell me, how often do you catch up/see YOUR close friends?

My First Workout Outfit Splurge

Hey everyone!

Happy Tuesday! Today was a running day for me yet my eyes were not really happy about opening up when my alarm went off at 6:00 am. I gave myself a “break” until around 6:15 at which time I decided it was time to pull off the covers and get ready to head out the door. Not sure how the time fast-forwarded to 6:40 am by the time I left my apartment so I had to keep the run somewhat short this morning:

Either way it felt amazing to get that run in before starting my day.

So if you work out consistently (or even sporadically) I believe we each have something that keeps us motivated to start/maintain a fit and active lifestyle. When I began this journey my main emphasis was on losing weight but I quickly switched that focus to eating clean (most of the time) and working out at least 5 times a week- a much better strategy! I am happy to say that this month has been fantastic when it comes to maintaining my fitness-motivational-momentum (yes I just made that up).

Well, this past weekend found myself at Old Navy. I have a store very close to my apartment but its been ages since I’ve been in there! Well, to my surprise they have a work-out section filled with very modern and cute pieces and lets just say I was in there for a while just browsing around.  I have to be honest in that I am not a big spender when it comes to workout clothes and I usually just grab race t-shirts or anything I may find on sale at Marshalls or TJ Max. The idea of spending hundreds of dollars on workout outfits is not my cup of tea. However I understand some people are really in to that and that’s totally cool.

I decided to try on a few shirts and pants and found a combo that I absolutely loved. Super comfortable mesh shirt and pants that fit very nicely. I also felt “good” in it and started looking forward to my next run where I’d get to wear my “new outfit”.

Photo below was taken this morning before my run (pardon any randomness in the background):

The top was $14.99 and the pants around $22. I have to be honest I cringed a little at the price tag on the pants but I figured that I am worth it and deserve a new workout outfit I felt good in. Besides, back in the day I’d spend more than that on fast food and junk food so I often try to put my “healthy” expenses in to perspective and an investment in my overall well-being.

As mentioned, I took the outfit out for its first run this morning. The shirt felt great and kept me comfortable, cool, and feeling good during the entire run.  In terms of the tights; although they fit well and felt great when I tried them on; I noticed that they began to slide off my waist during my run. Not because they were big (I got a medium and they fit reasonably fitted when I wasn’t running) I guess they just roll down? Although the tag said they were not supposed to. I then started to wonder if I got the right size but I think a small would be too tight. I occasionally had to pull up the elastic waist during my run as I could feel a slight muffin top trying to come out and play (and we all know that’s a no! no!  how uncomfortable that can feel).

Besides the above outfit they had other cute stuff and I would like to go back and try out some more stuff. I absolutely love the top and cant wait for it to go on sale so that I can get some more (I am on the watch!) or, if there is a generous old navy executive reading this maybe they’d send me some coupons? Ha! However, like I mentioned, as the frugal person I can sometimes be, I rather wait for a good sale so I can really splurge (the right way).

Share with me!-- Where do you get your working out gear? Are you a fan of spending a lot of money or do you go the frugal (or free) route?

*Old Navy did not compensate me in any way for this post. I bought the above outfit with my own money this past Saturday.

Color Me Rad- MetLife Stadium Edition

Hey everyone!

Hope you're all having a great Sunday  Passing by to share that this morning I ran the Color Me Rad race at the Metlife Stadium in New Jersey. My sister's friend was kind enough to pick us up from the city and off we went at the crack of dawn towards our race destination.

I have to say the race was a lot of fun mainly because I was with a group of fun friends whom made it all worthwhile. Also, the colors and the music all around the course was obviously the highlight of the entire event. I want to give an honest review of the race because a few things did bother me. So here goes the good, the bad, and the ugly:

The not so good:

1. Although we had all paid for the race (prices ranged from $35- $55 as race day got closer) we were still charged $10 for parking. There was absolutely no warning about this fee on the website nor the email they sent us last week with the final details of the race. Whats up with that?! (unless I miss it but I doubt it). We had no choice but to pay considering we were in the middle of nowhere and we had no other parking options.

2. The race took place in the parking lot of the MetLife stadium and they just placed orange cones around the perimeter to make sure we stayed in course. It really bothered me that there was no signs indicating which mile we were on. It was just one huge loop (I am assuming the loop was 3.2 miles but I'll never know considering none of the miles were tracked).

3. Wayyyyyy too many people walking. I know is okay to walk in a race once in a while but I would say anywhere from 70-80% of the people were just walking at very slow pace.

4. Not many free goodies to enjoy. Actually, barely any :( I am a huge fan of freebies so when I realized the most we were going to get for "free" were some Lara bars and some "chews" candy I was a little disappointed (although they are good). Here is a quick sample:

5. No Medal (ugh!) enough said! <--- this should be #1

The Good:

1. Fun activity to enjoy with friends on a Sunday morning. I had a great time spending quality time with my dear buddies and super excited for two of my friends for whom this was their VERY first race!

2. The t-shirt we got with our packages fits nicely! I am happy to add another cute shirt to my working out wardrobe.

3. We took tons of fun pics

4. Upbeat and energetic post-race mini "concert"

5. Friendly race staff

6. Good Lara Bar flavors (and they weren't stingy about how many we could take).

Another things to note is that there were a limited amount of color stations. Definitely not as many as I was thinking (I was afraid to be honest).This did not bother me at all. I was super happy about it as I was somewhat afraid of that "strange color powder". However, I have to admit that some of my friends were kinda' disappointed. The allegations on their website stating that allegedly they spray you every 5 minutes is kinda' of false advertisement. However, important to keep in mind that this race goes on country wide so maybe is different in other states.

I leave you with some fun pics of the event! I am the gal with the beige old navy hat :)

Now pardon me while I enjoy my tuna sandwich with a lettuce overload. :) Have a great Sunday!

Have you ever ran a color-race before?