My Achy Breaky Head

Ugh.  I had a strange, achy/heavy head feeling all day; which I’m sure was made worse by my crappy food choices.  I didn’t work out.  I’m not ready for any of my tests; probably because I didn’t study enough.  Ughs all around.

Jimmy Dean French Toast Griddler.  (p.s. these have just 210calories and 2g of saturated fat)

A huge honeycrisp apple topped with melted part-skim mozzarella and honey.  Win!

Popcorn, popcorn, popcorn.

A mini sandwich cookie that was the best thing I’ve ever eaten, seriously.

Buffalo chicken pizza (with ranch).

Adam and I made a huge pile of Dove chocolate wrapper.

Pleeeeeease, think smart thoughts for me tomorrow!

Good Vibes, Good Vibes

This has got to be another quick post; this week hasn’t even started yet and I already can’t wait ’til it’s over!  Today was busy, busy, busy, busy, busy (said in the magician-voice from Frosty the Snowman).  I will note that I let myself get too hungry this afternoon and ended up eating way too much; I’ll have to be careful not to let that happen again during “hell week.”

I wanted to eat breakfast on the walk to campus so I made a smoothie to go.

This was a serving of frozen Goya soursop pulp, a medium frozen banana, and a 1/2cup each coconut water and Silk Almond Milk.

It was creamy and nice, but much sweeter than I wanted (who am I?!), so I shared a lot with Adam.

We worked on campus all afternoon and I ended up getting lunch from the food aisle in the bookstore.

Amid the rows of chips I was able to find this Spicy Thai Tuna Medley.

Yum!  I never buy these because I can’t justify the cost, but the flavor is great.

I took a break mid-afternoon to hit up the gym before I left campus.  35minutes on the elliptical, random, level 6.  I took a long walk home to stretch out and stopped by the co-op to pick up a few things.

Then I worked.  (And worked and worked and worked.) It was a busy day but all of my homework for next week is complete, which means I can just focus on my exams.  Amid lab reports I ate this mini mint chip ice cream.

I probably should have made time for some veggies.  We went to the grocery store at 9pm and by the time we got home I was starving!  I dug into a nice big pickle.

And then opened up a box of French Toast Griddlers.

I tried these at BlogHer and was so obsessed with them that the rep gave me some free coupons.  Remind me after this week is over to tell you guys more about them.

I should have stopped there.  A mini bag of chips.

A serving of crackers with part-skim mozzarella melted on top (I love how this looks so much more decadent than it actually is!).

And a thing of Hi-Chews.

by the way

I knew that I was going to have a tough week, but apparently I’m sending break-down vibes to my belongings as well!  One of my favorite tops came out of the dryer with a big hole and this morning my i-pod broke.  I can’t bring it in to the store for at least another week and if it’s unfixable we can’t afford to replace it for years.  I’m so disappointed!  But it’s a good karmic reminder that I need to keep my cool this week.

Wonky WordPress

I’m blogging after midnight on a Friday and I haven’t gone out or done any drinking; what is wrong with this picture?!?!  [Actually, you can subtract 30ish minutes from this post time-stamp because WordPress was being redonkulous]

I got in bed before 10pm again yesterday and could still barely peel myself out of bed; who’s going to tell my body about next week’s all-nighters?!  I have 9am class on Friday so I did at least manage to eat before I left the house.

Brown Cow 0% Vanilla Greek Yogurt (A 99cent find I was quick pleased with, although the texture was a bit thin.) with a strawberry honey straw.

In between my 1st and 2nd class I worked on Orgo with a friend.  And had a minor breakdown when I realized how little I know.  I also drank a big cup of coffee with skim milk. :::imagine a cup of coffee here; as I said, WordPress is insane:::  And snacked on some celery I took home from food lab.

I went to Orgo (and felt my blood pressure rise just a bit more), and then Anatomy (little higher), and then got the most ridiculous e-mail ever about our lab homework for next week and sort of lost it.  I AM SO ANGRY!  I’ll leave it at that.

Adam actually met me at school to study and I wasted a good 45minutes spazzing out at him about next week.  And then I realized something crucial – complaining doesn’t change the situation.  So I got to work.  We stayed at school until 7:30, but I am done with my homework for Monday.  I ended up grabbing dinner from the food court when I realized I wouldn’t be escaping campus as soon as I’d planned.

A Crunchwrap Supreme, with chicken, from Taco Bell.

Actually, we left school at 7:30 so we could get to UPS before it closed.  Then we went back.  I had to pick up my gym bag and do my printing; we didn’t really leave school until 9:30.

When we got home we had to put some laundry in …… and then we went for a run.  It felt a little crazy, but I made a committment to get back into shape, so I’m going to do the damn thing.  ~2miles/21minutes.  I did a quick strength/stretch when we got home, and it felt good.

Bedtime, no?

When is the craziest time you’ve ever worked out?

An Afternoon Giveaway

This is going to be a quick post, but I wanted to give y’all time to win!

Today’s been a bit crazy, but I found out some major good news about an issue with my program (via a 1.5hour meeting I didn’t have time for!) so I’m happy.  I had my 8am library class today, so I packed a Chocolate Bumble Bar to nibble between classes.

I’ve liked every BB I’ve ever tried, but this flavor is definitely a new favorite!  It was sweet in the most pleasant way, sort of like cocoa mixed with honey?!

I attended a “Welcome to the Dietetics Department” lunch this afternoon.

Fruits,

veggies,

small slice of cheese pizza.

You’d be surprised how “normal” the food is at dietetics events; the last one was just cookies and pretzels.

I snuck in a visit to the gym after my meeting.  35minutes on the elliptical, random, level 6.  Followed by a few minutes of strength/stretching.  I can’t believe how long I went without working out last year; I think I’d be going insane with school if it wasn’t for the gym!

I just got home a few minutes ago and I’ve already housed this Yoplait Greek Strawberry Yogurt.

I tried a Yoplait Greek at Kristen’s house a few months ago when I was in Orlando for my half marathon, but I hadn’t seen them available in Buffalo until last week.  While I finally found them here so I scooped some up (with my own money, fyi).  A Yoplait rep contacted me to say she saw them on the blog, and I thought of you guys!  I feel like a lot of people wouldn’t think of Yoplait because it’s not one of the “traditional” Greek brands, but it’s actually a really good product.  Additionally, I feel like this stuff could be “Gateway Greek,” for people who haven’t made the leap yet; the strawberry one is actually strawberry flavored rather than plain with fruit on the bottom.  The rep was more than happy to send me so coupons, and that’s where you guys come in!

Want to try some Yoplait Greek yogurt?  I will be picking two readers (randomly) to receive a free coupon.  All you have to do is vote for me for Foodbuzz’s Project Food Blog.  Then take a screen shot of the voting page and send it to me at emilyhwaxATgmail.com.  You have until noon on Thursday, good luck!

Holiday Dinner

Today was an auspicious date – National Cheeseburger Day.

Or was that Cheeburger?

Cheeburger, Cheeburger seemed like the perfect spot to celebrate such an event.  Adam and I were both a little underwhelmed by the food (and service!) quality this evening, but the menu process is a lot of fun and his parents had a really good time.

I ordered the turkey burger platter for dinner, mostly because I needed to get in some veggies in the form of a side salad.

I split with Adam and served him most of the cheese, 90% of the balsamic vinegar, and all of the croutons.  Here is what I ate –

I actually looked at the menu ahead of time this afternoon, and the husband was so proud when I ordered my milkshake without a choices anxiety attack.

That’s a half-serving shake, cinnamon bun and marshmallow flavored, with skim milk substituted in.

The burger toppings were a bit more of a struggle.  I looked like I was cramming for the SAT when the waitress came to the table, but I ended up putting together something good.  Here is the platter –

My turkey burger,

which came topped with….

cheddar cheese, peanut butter, and jalapenos!  The rest of the table couldn’t believe my order but I thought the combination was great.  The different kinds of saltiness worked together well and the creaminess of the pb kept the peppers from being too spicy.  I ate two bites with the bun before I scrapped it, but I finished every last bite of the turkey patty and toppings.

Along with the side salad the platter also came with fries, which came with a side of creamy horseradish sauce.

I planned on eating 1 or 2 and sharing the rest, but no one else wanted any and when the piece de resistance came to the table I knew I was beat.

Nothing beats french fries drenched in malt vinegar.  I ended up eating about 1/3 of them.  All in all, especially given the location, I think I kept things pretty healthy.  Could have been better, but could have been worse too.

By the way; I just did this –

Wish us luck!

Just Call Me Mrs. McDreamy

Tuesday, every other week, is my crazy day.  I have class from 8am – 7:40pm and I stay on campus the entire day!  During my late night yesterday I found time to pack my lunch (and write this post!).  I packed a turkey sandwich

(3 slices of honey roasted turkey, blue cheese Laughing Cow, whole wheat Sandwich Thin),

and a nice purple plum.

Golly, what an innovative sandwich!  I bet you guys were shocked to see that combo!  Thankfully I have a little something not so boring to make up for my predictawich.  Remember when Adam and I helped some friends out by acting in an orientation video for the medical school first years?  Yeah, it’s hilarious!

Our scene starts at 2:52, but the whole thing is pretty funny.

A Lesson Learned

Today has been insane, and it’s still going!  I’m going to be up very late tonight; I’m never doing nothing on a weekend again; “oh my god! oh my god! oh my god!” I’ll leave it at that.

For lunch I dug into my Naan Pizza sample stash from Tandoor Chef.

Spinach and Paneer Cheese.

Here is the ingredient list,

and the nutritional panel,

both of which checked out positively.  The fact that these pizzas are packed with real foods is definitely what keeps them from tasting frozen.  In fact, the taste was divine!

I burnt the crust last time, but now that I know my oven is set too high and lowered the temperature accordingly I was rewarded with perfect crust; it had great chew and was just crisp enough.  There was just the right amount of red sauce and its tang complimented the paneer cheese.  This was pretty plain, a child would probably enjoy it, but still had a great degree of interest.

I ate the entire pizza (technically two servings) and that ended up being just right.  I needed some extra lunch calories since my “breakfast” was coffee, but it wasn’t too much cheese and this didn’t leave me feeling heavy at all.  I was perfectly full and awake for Orgo and Anatomy class.

I had a bit of a quandary about how to divide my time this afternoon – study or gym?  I have three medium assignments and big presentation due tomorrow so I knew I needed to work.  But along the same vein I can’t go to the gym tomorrow (I have classes, with breaks, from 8am – 8pm) so I wanted to work out.  I ended up deciding to work out, even though I didn’t really have time, but to push the timing back.  Adam met me on campus after class and we spent a few hours studying together. 

I had to organize some e-mails when I got home so I got in a small serving of carbs before my run.

That’s a Van’s pancake (1/2 of a serving) topped with Smart Balance and Crofter’s strawberry.

Running with Adam was wonderful, he definitely pushes me to go faster than I do on my own.  We kept it casual, the husband says we ran ~2miles but I have no idea what our time was; we ran the whole time and the pace felt pretty good though.  We finished things up with a short walk, and some stretching.

Dinner was speedy, tasty, and healthy.

I put some of the (best ever) chilli leftovers on a bed of steamed dinosaur kale.

The kale was pretty bitter, but it felt good to pack in the nutrients.  I totally save the bites with sharp cheddar in them for last 😉

I’m going to be up past midnight (ack!) but if I do any snacking I’ll put in the morning post.  Wish me luck!

Was it the healthiest decision to honor my workout today, or should I have tried for an earlier bedtime instead?  What do you prioritize over exercise?

Tough Transitions

I did not get enough done today (don’t I say that every day?!?!) so I’ll keep this post simple.  I did accomplish a walk to the farmer’s market/co-op for some local goodies.

And a trip to Wegman’s to complete the groceries.  We had a hot bar coupon so the husband and I got lunch.

Can you guess which side of that container is mine?

I filled up on an assortment of veggies,

with sesame tofu and chicken.

Not even an hour after eating I felt empty.  The feeling was so bad I ended up walking to get a (ginormous) slice of bbq chicken pizza.

Post-pizza I had a Double Fudge Brownie mini ice-cream.

And then I was FULL.  I ate my 2nd lunch around 3:00 but I ended up calling it dinner because I haven’t gotten hungry again!

I am finding the transition back to school to be much harder than I expected; and I didn’t think it would be easy!  I think part of the issue is that I didn’t just quit my job and go to school, but rather worker bee –> unemployed –> student.  Do you have any advice to help me become a student again????