WIAW #3: How to beat sugar cravings

I have a sugar craving pretty much everyday around 3 or 4. It's a lull in the day, I'm changing jobs sometimes or just getting home. I want to sleep. I drink green tea, but it does nothing for me.

Yesterday, I bought chocolate chip mint almonds for that reason. I've had my eye on these for a long time and they were finally on sale for $5 (originally $8 or 9?). They're super good... then I left them in my car and the warm warm day melted them. Big glob. I put them in the freezer and then big frozen glob. :/

After work, mom and I headed to Costco as we waited for my car (brakes changed). We bought dates and cashews for raw recipes. Then I went to Mother's Market for oat flour (with a $1 off coupon), cheaper protein powder, and free samples of xylitol - they seriously read my mind!

I was in luck. I had all the fixins' for another sweet treat: Jamie Eason's pumpkin protein bars.

My little cousin helped me out. :)

I bought a can of pumpkin the other day after seeing lots of pumpkin recipes even though it's not fall anymore.

One bowl recipes win.

Looks good?


A little under baked actually so I zapped it in the microwave for another 3 minutes (on and off). Then I had one. Yum!

I also had everything to make some protein bars a la Protein Pow(d)er: dark chocolate peanut butter protein bars. I made half the recipe and made them half the size of the originals. Cut the kcals with less chocolate too, but they're still pretty substantial.

For tomorrow!

Needless to say I didn't head to TurboKick or Pilates for a second session. That's okay - I need rest for tomorrow's Spartacus Workout!

What have you baked lately?
Do you bake with protein powder? Or you don't hide your desserts, you just eat it? :)

Eat [your heart] out Saturday

Last night, my family had spring rolls for dinner. I had shrimp and Miracle noodles wrapped in romaine.


I told you I wore a mu-mu. Here I am eating an oatmeal ball I concocted last night. Easiest recipe. I had 2 then 1 more in the morning.

Post-workout (boot camp-like class) mini meal: G-free cinnamon bread and 2 egg whites microwaved in a cup - can you tell from the shape?

I snacked on a Schweddy ball I made last night. The recipe yields 3 balls.

An hour later, I went to Bowl of Heaven for their grand opening and received a free small North Shore acai bowl.


Lunch consisted of a half of a half chicken avocado Caprese from Deli-licious. Unfortunately, half a sandwich is ALMOST as expensive as a whole one. I could've given the other half to someone! Anyways, it's good and the rest is for dinner.

A few bites of my side of mac and cheese because this is what I indulge in. That and a sample bite of cupcake. :)

To wash it down, half of a huge can of Zevia cream soda.

I got back home, am watching "The Dark Knight," and got a package in the mail.

I just need batteries.

Fro-yo love... and green juice too

When the whole fro-yo craze came about, I was not here and only now is the rest of the world catching up. Sure, you have Golden Spoon, which is perfectly good, but I'm talking about fantastic and unique fro-yo flavors starting with plain tart. It's an agreeable flavor, but my favorites are from Yogurtland: pistachio and toasted coconut. So after cardio sculpt fusion (TurboKick and weights) and lunch... and a nap, I convinced my cousin to go with me for coffee from Milk + Honey. I got their yerba mate latte and had half. My cousin got a delicious peach iced tea with mango jelly.

Lunch: salmon, shirataki noodles, veggies

Then yogurt. Mmm. I need to cut myself off though. This is the THIRD day in a row I've eaten yogurt. Today I got my favorites with toppings. If I were healthy, I would get fruit, but I love me some cheesecake, cookie dough, and mochi bites. Eek. :/

Okay, time to get my green juice on. I stopped by Trader Joe's after my first workout of the day and bought cucumbers, celery, and bananas. My green juice was inspired by M.C. Barao's mean green juice:

• 1 c. spinach (she used kale)
  
• 1/2 cuke
• 3 stalks celery
• 3/4 cup applesauce (I have a lot left so had to use it!)
• water

It wasn't huge because I didn't want to be completely full. I had a good time listening to Jillian Michaels' podcast on protein while on the stair climber for 20 minutes, but I about died in BodyPump. Everything just seemed harder to handle today - my face looked a little purplish red. :( I got a good workout though.

I'm writing this with "MasterChef" on the telly. I'm super nervous. I consoled myself with a Nuttzo butter and Crofter's SuperFruit jam on a tortilla. For dessert, 1/2 cup Dannon Oikos plain with a dab of mango butter (consumed it all) and my nightly bourbon vanilla protein powder, which by the way is still amazing delicious.

My weekend in one post

Its been a few days. Thanks to my roommate, I get to blog!

Okay, so let me catch you all up. I've been cooking, juicing, and baking just once.

On Saturday, I went to the tailgates before weightlifting and yoga/Pilates and a bit of cardio. I bought honey and walnut goat cheese from Three Graces Dairy, a gluten-free cowboy cookie from Night & Day Bakery, and almond-walnut butter from Jack's Nut Butters.

I finally bought goat cheese. It was delicious, but I love goat cheese. It may be my favorite with its sourish taste. My roommate isn't a fan. The cookie wasn't too bad, but I definitely love Night & Day Bakery's pistachio olive oil cake and the cookies haven't proved to be as good. Finally, the nut butter was good, but it has a strong coconut oil taste to it.

After the North Asheville Tailgate, I headed to the City Market for a parsley plant, a strawberry-chocolate pie turnover from Pies in Disguise, and a mushroom pate turnover. Everything was just okay and oh, now that I mentioned it, I need to water my parsley plant.





Parsley plant


My roommate and I went downtown for a walk on the sunny day and then to the All Go West Fest where we listened to a few sets of some unknown band. We're not much into music is so we couldn't get very excited.

I went for a Easter Hike & Flow with Asheville Community Yoga. It was a nice 2.5 mile hike up, yoga, and then we came back down. Because it was Easter and most people spend that day with their families, the people who went were new to the area. Some were older and had amazing experiences like cross-country road tripping and farming.

Hike & Flow


Today is my day off working out cause step made my knee hurt a little, but I can tell and I need to be concerned cause once knee pain comes, it never goes away. Right?

Anyways, I'll just start sharing pictures.

Creamy green smoothie


Kris' go-to smoothie


Carrot cake smoothie


Easy cashew cream: equal parts water and cashews with a bit of vanilla


Carrot cake cinnamon rolls




It has been so long that I don't even remember how to use a PC. I can't get all the pictures up, but I made a creamy green smoothie, Kris' go-to smoothie and a carrot cake smoothie. The green juices and smoothies have given me more energy and working out in the morning is giving me back my body confidence.

Do what you want: this is a good day.

Yay, it's Friday and it was a half day. I didn't even work the full 4.5 hours. I went to work at 9:30 and left at 12:15. Screw work.

I got up early and decided that since I get off early, I should relax. Last night, I fell asleep with just 15 more minutes left of "Crazy Sexy Cancer" so I finished it off this morning while hula hooping. I did the 25 minute yoga practice in the special features. It was exactly what I needed to start my morning. That, and green juice. I ran out of cucumbers and pears so I bought some later.

For lunch, I had some steamed asparagus and finally ate at Gypsy Queen Cuisine. It's a food truck providing us with Lebanese/Middle Eastern food. I got a chicken shawarma and ate all the chicken with tomatoes and parsley. It was really filling. The pita was thinner than your typical pita. Since I'm off wheat for digestive purposes, I threw that out.

I came home with macadamia nuts and made a little macadamia nut butter with vegan white chocolate chips I procured at Amazing Savings. I also made another batch of sesame tahini laced with white chocolate (the best thing to make it edible). The macadamia nut butter wasn't as successful though. Too grainy. Maybe I overdosed on chocolate chips.

a
Afterwards, I took a nap. Funny how I'm tired at work but wasn't as tired when I came home. I forced an hour of nap time and it felt restorative.

I hit up the gym for 20 minutes on the elliptical, Turbo Kick, yoga, and Hip Hop Hustle.

Now I'm home, showered, and even dry brushed myself. I'm ready for a movie ("The Girl Who Played with Fire") and reading (The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest). I just made myself my Shakeology with strawberries and some chai tea with honey and almond milk. Fancy.




In other important news, my power adapter is frayed so it works not very often. But I'm planning to go camping tomorrow. I'll miss a few other going-ons, but camping is on my to-do list (at 23)!

All in all, a good day!

Baking dreams

I can't wait for my KitchenAid! I will have to bake my cupcakes for Cupcakes for Cures without it, but I won't bake anything else. I have a few things in mind though so I thought I'd share.

Orgasmic cinnamon rolls - I love vegan rolls cause they seem to take less time and taste fantastic!


Lychee-coconut cupcakes w/ ginger cream cheese


Cinnamon sugar pull apart bread


Coconut mango cake


Stuffed bagels


Dorie Greenspan's tiramisu cake for my first attempt at tiramisu


Dark chocolate eclairs: yes, me and a pastry!


Doughnuts someday when I can find a suitable recipe...

I was supposed to do a trial run of mini cupcakes tonight, but alas, I forgot dates and I didn't get enough sleep last night to function. Step class was definitely difficult today.

Breakfast: V-Core
Lunch: Spinach salad w/ avocado, green bell peppers, 1/2 banana, celery
Snack: 2 ants on a log
Dinner: 1/4 mango, 1/4 banana, 1 c spinach, 1/4 cup water, 1/2 ice, 1/4 c. almond milk = something pretty good
Snack: 1/2 slice of Ezekiel, some cashews

Abused, verbally & physically.

Oh I'm not kidding. Small children are terrible. I was abused both verbally and physically then the kid smirked and ran off. I waited for him to come back to give him consequences, but I got SO ANGRY. I kicked the fence. I said I'm done. Then I remembered what my dad said, it's just a job; don't let them get you angry. So I calmed down, talked to both my parents, and ate lunch.

The other assistant felt the same way today, but it got better when we socialized a little. If it wasn't for her, I'd be a goner.

I woke up a little early and decided to relax instead of doing weights. I'll have to do them tomorrow now. Anyways, I went to Modesto Bakery to get a prosciutto and herb pastry and pain au chocolat for me and Ms. Karen. I ate the inside of mine and had my V-Core for breakfast.

For lunch at 12:30, I munched on the same salad I had on Tuesday.

I ate my two celery sticks with peanut butter at 4PM.

Then I went to buy goodies: dates, organic zero-cal sugar, and vanilla extract. I also stopped by the library to borrow Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table and Loving Frank, which I'll start tomorrow once I finish the end of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

I made it to Turbo Kick plus did 10 minutes on the elliptical beforehand. We even did some PiYo. I was proud of my ability to do burpees in the turbo section when no one else did. I was also the only one to hold the plank for as long as the instructor. :) I have to remind myself to include proud moments of the day.

I went to the store again for berries and light butter for the cake I'll showcase next. Yes, I made another cake after the excitement of the last one.

For dinner, I made myself a peppermint patty green monster for St. Patty's Day consisting of 1 cup spinach, 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1 tablespoon of unsweetened carob chips, and a dash of peppermint extract.

I was supposed to go out tonight.

Okay, so I really suck at being social. I was supposed to go to trivia tonight after kickboxing, but I came home, showered, and decided to bake a cake. Cause I'm that type of girl: anti-social nowadays and in love with baking sometimes.

I couldn't find the perfect St. Patrick's Day baked good. As I said, there are only so many things I have yet to make. However, I want to learn how to decorate a cake better.

But let's start with the day. I got up early and left the house to roam around. I saw my old prof at his wife's bakery that I like to peruse. I told him about my plans.

When I wake up early, I'm hungry. Bad thing. Anyways, I drank my V-Core and my two ants on a log. Still no dried blueberries. I just keep forgetting.

For lunch at 12:30, I had a spring roll with avocado, spinach, bell peppers, celery, and tomatoes. I ate one slice of cantaloupe too.


I had the second slice of cantaloupe and some apples and faux cream cheese for snack at 4PM.

I hit the gym for kickboxing and Round 42. It went by fast. I knew the moves but she changed it out a lot. Nevertheless, I think I did pretty good.

I came home and showered and made a blackberry pie smoothie consisting of 1/2 apple, 1/2 cup blackberries, 1/2 cup almond milk, and cinnamon.


Then I bought some new peanut butter, MaraNatha Organic Creamy PB with a hint of sea salt. It definitely need a lot of stirring. I chose this because it was available at the regular store and I didn't have time to go all the way to another store once I entertained a friend who came over and another over the phone.

I also bought peppermint extract and other goodies for my baking tonight/the next post.

A few successes this week

Good news! I've broken into the 120s again. I'm 129.0 as of today. It'll change, but I hope for the better as my eating habits, my exercising, and my happiness are slowly transforming.

So let's talk about the day. We were supposed to be reviewed at work, but thankfully, nada cause the reviewer has the flu.

I started my day with a V-Core protein drink at 9:15AM.

For lunch at 12:40PM, I made myself a big salad with 2 cups of spinach, some tomatoes, green bell peppers, celery, 1/4 avocado, and 1/3 apple. I also had one of my ants on a log with chocolate chips instead of raisins - I forgot to buy dried blueberries.


I ate the rest of the apple from my salad and my other ant on a log.

I went to the gym! Tuesdays have typically been a day off if I take one. Early days in the week totally suck, but I went. I got there a little early and since all the elliptical machiness and bikes were taken, I rowed for about 5 minutes. I made it fun by competing against the man next to me.

I rocked spin, kind of. I tried hard enough. I like this class so I think Tuesdays will be spin days and Thursdays, I'll lift before Turbo Kick class. Between spin and step, I got on the elliptical trainer to stay warm. Step kicked my butt mostly cause my shoulders were hurting from those 5 minutes of competitive rowing. Haha.

Afterwards, I made a pumpkin pie smoothie, a recipe I adapted from several other raw pumpkin pie smoothie recipes. It was the best smoothie I've made thus far. I like the creamy texture.

Julie's raw pumpkin pie smoothie

1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup Silk unsweetened almond milk
1 cup spinach
1/2 banana
dash of pumpkin pie spice to top it off, which I then mixed with a straw
ice

BLEND!

I complemented it with a slice of Ezekiel cinnamon raisin bread.

After dinner, I read over a hundred pages in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I'm currently 75 or so pages from the end. I've already found the killer, the victims, and all that. There's only one tid-bit story left that doesn't seem as exciting after all that. I want to see the movie now!

So, Ms. Karen has the next couple of books in the series, but I need a break. What should I read next? Suggestions please.

Last week, I weighed in at 131.2 so I've lost 2 pounds, which is pretty healthy. That's what needs to happen: a slow and steady loss to 117.

New special section! What makes Tuesday exciting?

• Peanut Butter & Company come out with a recipe each week on Tuesdays! This week, a PB truffle in St. Patty's Day colors. P.S. I haven't decided what to make for St. Patty's Day! Maybe the truffles??
• The local alternative newspaper, Mountain Xpress, comes outs. I don't have a copy yet but will get one tomorrow morning.