Pretty Food

  

    I am happy with my diet and my lifestyle: a simple statement that means a lot coming from a person recovering from disordered eating.  On top of that I have not weighed myself in over 2 weeks.  I'm feeling much less 'eating disordered' and much more 'health conscious'.  I've been going out of my way to try to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, nuts, and protein.  And I've barely eaten ANY junk-y food in the past couple of weeks.  

    Today was a really fun food day.  I had a schmorgasbord of different healthy foods and they were all absolutely delicious!  For breakfast I had the usual 2 pieces of 100% wheat toast with cream cheese and tea.  Before I went to the gym I had a plum and a handful of almonds (an excellent source of good fat).  After the gym I went grocery shopping and bought lots of yummy fresh foods.  In fact, there wasn't ONE thing in a container in my cart (well except the deodorant!).  On the way to the car I snacked on carrots, and once I got home I snacked on broccoli.  Then I made a fabulous dinner of salmon (This is SO EASY:  massage olive oil, lemon pepper, and salt on the salmon fillet, wrap in foil and put on the George Forman Grill for 15 minutes!), a salad (lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, avocados, with salt and pepper and raspberry vinaigrette dressing), and cheesy mashed potatoes from scratch (click here for recipe).  And I plan on eating some watermelon after dinner for dessert (YUM!!). 

    Between going to the gym with my friend and eating foods that resemble a rainbow, I am pretty damn jolly!  I thought it would be fun to break the foods down by color (Fun for ME!!  Not sure if it's fun for you to read, hehe)  :

Red- tamotoes

Green- broccoli, romaine lettuce, avocado, olive oil 

Orange-  carrots

Pink- salmon, watermelon

Purple- plum

yellow- cheese

Brown- almonds, 100% wheat bread

  The only rainbow color missing is blue and the only blue foods I can think of are blueberries!  Anywho, I have a few topics that I would like to blog about in the near future including:

-Why 113 pounds is such a "critical" number to me

-Being forced to eat out and the stress it causes

-The value put on thinness and body image and body dysmorphia

    But I may not be able to blog a lot in the next week or so because I'm graduating and my parents are coming in for the week!!

    So tell me, when you eat do you think of the nutritional content and try to eat a 'well-balanced' diet or do you just look at calories or fat? (I used to do the latter, now I do the former)

    Also, is there anything in particular you'd like to read a post about?

    Have a great week everyone!!

  :)

Kick Ass, Magnolias, and Cheesy Mashed Potatoes from Scratch

  I kicked my own ass today with my work out.  It was really gorgeous out so I opted out of going to the gym and decided to go for a run instead.  Well, it turned out to be a wog (walk-jog =)) because after 10 minutes of running, I had a cramp in my oblique and it hurt like a bitch!  So I had to space out running and walking.

  I wogged for 35 minutes and really took in the sunshine and the blooming magnolia trees.  Growing up, my aunt had a giant magnolia tree in her yard.  My favorite time of year was when that tree bloomed.  It was so pure and beautiful.  And I'm lucky enough to live in a neighborhood with a thousand magnolia trees blooming every where!

  Anyway, after I came back home I did strength training exercises  (~30 minutes)  with my 5 and 8 pound dumbbells.  I would tell you what they were, but I have no idea what some of them are called.  All I know is that my bum was burning and that I couldn't wait till my ab exercises, just so I could lay on my back and be off my feet!  Feeeeel the burn baby.  And feel the burn, I did =D

  Here is my food log for the day, but I'll keep it nice and sweet since I'm a creature of habit:

*Breakfast:
-Same thing I eat every day (and love!)

*Lunch:
-PB&J
-1/4 cup milk

*Dinner:
- Boiled egg/avacado/tomato/carrot/lettuce/raspberry vin. dressing salad
-cheesy mashed potatos

*Snack:
-tea (LOVE tea!)

  I do want say that I have been trying very hard to actually *make* everything that I put in my mouth.  Well, except things like bread, pasta, cheese, yogurt and milk.  Mostly because I don't live on a farm and have a cow named Betsy.  But I did want to share with you how I make my cheesy mashed potatoes because I've been asked by multiple people.

  I actually make the cheesy mashed potatoes from scratch.  It's easy and takes 10 minutes, tops.

****Cheesy Mashed Potatoes:

1.  Wash potato thoroughly and poke holes everywhere with a fork or a knife.  I like to break the potato apart a little so it can breath.

2.  Wrap potato in several layers of paper towel.  Run the potato+paper towel under water so that the paper towels are completely soaked.

3.  Microwave wrapped potato on high for 7-10 minutes.

4.  Be careful when removing the potato-- do it with an oven mitt!  Remove potato and place in bowl.

5.  Mash potato with a fork.  Add some water so that your potato is easier to mash.

6.  Add a tiny bit of butter and mix with mashed potatoes.

7.  Put any type of cheese that you like on top of your mashed potatoes.  I used to put sharp cheddar on top, but now I put 1 slice of 2% American cheese.  Microwave bowl with mashed potatoes and cheese for 1 minute.

8.  Take bowl out and mix cheese with mashed potatoes.  Season to taste:  I like salt and pepper.

=)  Enjoy eating your own mashed potatoes, made from scratch!



  On a final note, I REALLY need to go grocery shopping.  I am now completely out of fresh fruits and veggies & I hate not being able to eat them.

  So tell me, have you done a kick ass work out recently?