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?

 

I DID IT! (no meat) And The highlights of my week

So I did it guys! I went meatless for over a week. The "experiment" was supposed to end on Tuesday but I kept going. To be honest, I think im getting the hang of this and may continue forward with this for as long as I can tolerate it. I'd like to see how I feel after maybe 30 days for now. I am wondering how my body would react. In reality, all I really gave up was chicken and any kind of red meat. I still allowed myself eggs, cheese, and seafood.

Ive only been eating the cheese sporadically and is from trader joes. Per the container, there are no added hormones, preservatives, etc (which is the main reason behind the experiment). So, based on that Ive allowed the cheese.

Some thoughts:

1. I feel good. I have to admit the first few days (and maybe even right now) I miss chicken. Eating chicken in salads, wraps, with rice, etc. has always been such a huge part of my diet (my whole life!) and now that its missing I actually miss it. Not tnecessarity o the point that I want to say :"forget this" but in a way that I randomly think about it and then have to remind myself that I am temporarily not having it.

2. Ive never been a big "red meat" eater so in terms of that, i dont really care much for it nor miss it at all from my diet. So, thats good.

3. I feel "healthier" (in my head) it may all be an illusion or a "placebo" effect or maybe not eating meats is actually making me healthier. I dont know. only time can tell.
4. Ive been eating really clean for the most part and it may have a lot to do with the fact that I am making a conscious effort to eat clean ('cuz we all know thats not always easy) this may go hand in hand with the "feeling healthier" thing. By eating clean I mean that Ive given up a lot of my trigger foods such as sweets, granola bars, sugary cereals, etc. The first few days were a nightmare but my craving for it have died significantly.

5. Ive noticed some other physical changes, but I want to see how much longer I can do this and see if i continue to see significant changes in my overall well-being.

The plan going forward: To continue this and complete 30 days. Meaning that I will come back with a full 30-day review of my life without meat on or shortly after 08/02/2013 (which is when I'll complete a month).

So, what have I been eating? in a nutshell:

Breakfast: I always have either one of these items: 1. Greek yogurt with granola 2. almond butter and organic jelly (from TJs) on Ezequiel bread OR 3. Whole wheat bread with egg whites/boiled egg + Cafe w/ almond milk.

Lunch: Stuck to either a tuna sandwich, eggs sandwich OR 100% whole wheat pasta with tuna and I'd have organic chips and fruit on the side

Dinner: this is where I had to get creative. See below for some of the items I had for dinner:

 

I leave you with some of the highlights of my week:

1. My dad's birthday (full post coming up dedicated to my dad, because he is simply awesome).
2. Emails that made my day! :)
3. Having such a close knit family and amazing parents (both of them)
4. I spent about 3 hours at barnes and noble after work this week and it was amazing. I grabbed some cafe with soy milk and journaled about different things going on in my life. Such great therapy which gave me clarity on a few things.
5. My virtual running team. Okay this is extremely weird but I was so excited to get up and run on Thursday morning that I could barely sleep the night before. isn't that crazy?! the power of support keeps astonishing me.

QUESTION: What are your thoughts on meat? (I love it. I admit it. But just curious on what a life without it is all about :)

Doing anything exciting this weekend?

How I (almost) got lost around my own neighborhood

First of all,  below is a portion of last night’s dinner (still no meat). A banana smoothie with TONS of spinach (hence the delicious- looking green color), while beans w/ salsa and sweet potato. I know this combination sounds kinda’ strange but it was good and got the job done.

So this morning I woke up for my regular morning run (a routine which began about 2 weeks ago and which I am building slowly). As I ran my regular loop I started to develop some kind of strange energy which propelled me to run outside my usual route. And so, as I ventured out of my familiar vicinity and with only about 15 minutes to spare (before running home to get ready for work) I found myself a little confused in regards to my whereabouts. Now, let me explain--- I’ve ran the alternate route before and I have been fine but I believe that the panic of having to get ready for work made me forget where I was for like half a second.

Thankfully, I eventually saw the sign for a familiar street which I like to think of as the middle point for everything within my apartment complex (which is huge!). Reminds me of my good ol’ college days up at the university at Albany (a huge place) where as an innocent freshman I had to find my way around by identifying a tower that was smack in the middle of campus (the good old days…). So, anyways, I was relieved once I saw that road and continued on my way.

As I found my way back to my apartment I said goodbye to the panic and continued on to enjoy the wonderful endorphins of running. Feels great to get my workout done before beginning my day. That way there is no room for excuses! And today is father’s birthday (whom I love so very much). We are going out to dinner tonight so, a workout would not have been possible.

Todays workout summary:

 

Source: Nike+ running App. If you have an IPHONE or smart phone in general. I recommend it. Is a great tool to track your mileage, calories and running/walking rates of speed. There are a ton of great apps out there but that’s the one I use. Although ive been seriously considering getting one those “polar” fitness watches I see all over the place lately.

By the way: You don’t need a smart phone or an app to get out there and run. If you have two legs and maybe a watch to time yourself, that’s really all you need.

If you don’t already work out in the morning, I encourage you to join me and wake up 30-40 minutes earlier (start slowly, every other day if you have to. Maybe start with 20 minutes) and get out there and walk, jog, run, do a workout DVD, whatever it is that can do to get your body and your metabolism moving. I assure you that once you get in to a morning routine there will be not looking back and you’ll begin to feel amazing and empowered. Take advantage of the fresh air and calm atmosphere the early morning hours have to offer!

Question: have you ever gotten loss while working out around your neighborhood?.