WIAW: I Eat What I Want!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a WIAW post

And even LONGER since I’ve mentioned my journey with intuitive eating. That’s right, my continuing journey…as in, still a work in progress. While I wish I could say that after a year, I’m now “cured” from my disordered way of thinking, I’ve come to the realization that life may never be as it was before…and I’m ok with that. While I can go days/weeks at a time without giving much thought to my food choices, I still have a lot of times where I get overwhelmed and start over-analyzing every.single.morsel or let out a giant “FUCK IT” and beat myself up with an entire bag of yogurt-covered pretzels. Still, every day is a move in the right direction as long as I remember to use those moments as red flags for other things going on behind the scenes.

I wanted to share my eats from this past Saturday not only because I did a little happy dance once I realized I’d taken a picture of almost everything without even thinking about it, but also because I think this day shows the kind of balance I want to strive for on a regular basis….

A combination of foods that make me happy AND foods that fuel my body.

Almond Joy Ice Cream

If you were paying attention to yesterday’s post, you may have noticed that I ate ice cream for BREAKFAST! When I first woke up though, I was still a little groggy so I just fixed a cup of coffee (which I only drank half because it was so damn hot) and some water. and took it with me to the market to meet my friend. While perusing the tents, I sampled a mini chocolate chip cookie dough cupcake (meh) and a bite of some maple bacon cheesecake (freaking amazing)!

The old me would have FRAAAA-eeeeked having started my day without a balanced meal and especially one made up of nibbles of sweet treats, but the mild sweetness of the ice cream was perfect to balance out my earlier bites.

Sushi

After my mind-numbing massage, I came home to some leftover grocery store sushi (I swear Publix makes the BEST salad rolls!) from the night before and an un-pictured lime LaCroix before climbing back in bed for the best nap EVER!

Nature Valley Coconut Protein Bars

When I woke up, I grabbed a bar and a bottle of water and headed to the gym for some walking/book reading. Seriously, have you guys tried this new flavor? My friends over at Nature Valley were kind enough to send me some to sample and after sinking my teeth into that perfectly sweet and salty bar with a coconut yogurt coating,

I was in LOVE!

Disclaimer: I was not paid in any way to review this bar. Actually, I wasn’t even asked to review it. I just love it and wanted to share! 😀

Watermelon

After my walk, I wasn’t really hungry, but a couple of hours later, and on into the night, I snacked on some sweet and juicy watermelon that needed to be polished off BEFORE cutting into the TWO I came home with from the market! Oops?

Sandwich

When I finally DID get hungry, I knew exactly what I wanted…Hawaiian bread! I mean, a sandwich filled with all the veggies I’d come home with from the farmer’s market that morning plus more that I picked up on the way home from the gym (let’s face it, a sandwich just isn’t complete without crisp lettuce and alfalfa sprouts!). While making my epic toasted sandwich, I snacked on some baby carrot.

Orange is the New Black + Wine

A little while after dinner, I settled in with a LARGE glass of wine and my fuzzy slippers for my date night with Mr. Netflix. As usual, an hour or so into my binge-watching, I got a craving for some crunch…

Carrots & Peanut Butter Chocolate Pretzels

Carrot sticks and some chocolate-covered peanut butter pretzels to the rescue! Exactly what I needed…savored…and enjoyed!

I’ll confess that sometimes I have a hard time choosing to have dessert when I’m by myself. For some reason, I feel like it’s only acceptable to indulge when I’m with others…and half the time, I usually end up going overboard. Since that is NOT the way I want to be thinking, I’ve been working on this mentality and have decided that for now, it’s best to pair my “treat” with something healthy to help form a frame of balance in my mind. It may sound crazy, but hey, I never claimed to be sane.

WIAW Teal

Big thanks to Jenn, our hostess with the mostest for chaperoning our Wednesday shenanigans. Be sure to hop on over to Peas & Crayons and check out all the other eats and treats others are linking up today!

What is the best thing you ate yesterday?

Do you find it harder to indulge when you’re alone?

Posted in What I Ate Wednesday | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 29 Comments

My Weekend Lobotomy

 Hello guys and gals!

I hope you all had a fantastical weekend! I’m happy to report that after my week from hell last week, my weekend couldn’t have been further from the opposite. Not only did I get in plenty of mind-mushing activities, but I also got a complete overhaul and am now ready to take on another week…and this time I WILL come out on top (har har)! Yep, in three and a half days I got a MARVELOUS mind makeover and it all started with this…

Coffee Selfie

My little IG/Twitter confession: Sometimes I can’t wait to go to sleep just because I know that once I wake up, I get to have a coffee the size of my head! 😉 It didn’t even matter that I didn’t sleep so well…this coffee tasted THAT good! Plus, I was excited for the evening’s festivities!

Campfire

What more could a girl ask for other than a perfect starry night, a roaring campfire, never-ending Mai Tais (which I’d never had until this point), and discovering some amazing new music? Nothing. The answer is noth-ING! 😉

But just a little aside about that music…because you KNOW I have to share!

Alejandro Rose-Garcia, aka “Shakey Graves” is a music genius and seriously brings new meaning to the phrase, “one man band”! Not only does he rock the guitar, but if you pay attention, you’ll notice that he’s also playing a drum and a tambourine AND singing
AT THE SAME TIME! And that voice!

Seriously you guys, I think I’m in love!

After staying up till sunrise, it’s safe to say Friday was well spent…sleeping and otherwise loafing around…oh, and catching up on Game of Thrones! Only two episodes left and I’m finished! I really could’ve slept pretty late in the day on Saturday too, but again, I had plans that were much more important!

Farmer's Market

Like meeting my good friend Jenn, whom I haven’t seen in for-ev-er, at the farmer’s market and visiting some of our favorite vendors. I know I got a little carried away with my haul, but I just couldn’t resist the deal I got on those tomatoes and watermelons from Blocker Farms! Oh and that bread? That would be homemade Hawaiian bread! #hellyes

Almond Joy Ice Cream

After strolling around the market for an hour, we were hot and sweaty and ready for the second half of our morning “date”…ice cream from Freeze Pleeze! Jen went with the amazing chunky monkey (chocolate banana ice cream with peanuts) while I went with my dream bowl, Almond Joy! The coconut milk was even creamier than the almond milk bowl I got last time and was perfectly sweet for my tastes without ANY additional sweetener. It also made my day when the owners thanked me over and over for my review post last week…I swear I had no idea they would even see it!

Massage

Half an hour after relishing in frozen bliss, I snuggled into a warm massage table and was man-handled in the best way possible! Since my favorite dread-locked, ear-gauged hippie masseuse moved to another place of business, I was nervous about trying someone new, but let me tell you, Estelle from Massage Envy is ahhhhhhmazing! I told her about some trouble areas in my shoulders and hips and she used a combination of functional massage and trigger point therapy to basically form me into a human jello jiggler!

Once home, I indulged in a little afternoon seista. I woke up feeling perfectly refreshed (which never happens) so I went for a great hour-long walk at the gym with my book. When I got BACK home, I showered and got ready for a little date night…

Orange is the New Black + Wine

Complete with fuzzy robe and slippers! 😀

I stayed up till midnight binge-watching the second season of Orange is the New Black (it’s about time, right?) after finally cracking into my wine stash! Then I went to bed and slept until TWELVE THIRTY!! Yep, you read that right…twelve glorious hours of comatose slumber. And that, my friends, is a successful use of Benedryl and wine! 😉

Gym Selfie

Waking up feeling like a new woman, I obviously had to put that energy to good use so off I went to the gym for the second day in a row (go me), but this time I decided to throw some weights around with the boys. Gah, it felt so good to get that pump…and to sweat…and to rock my new TJ Maxx workout tank! 😉

And if all the weekend’s activities weren’t enough, I had a little visual reassurance that I was primed and ready to start the week…

SunsetI seriously pulled over on the side of the road on the way to work to snap a picture of this beautiful sunset! And how about I just noticed the American flag in the bottom right corner? Damn I’m good! Lol

What did YOU do this weekend?

What was the most relaxing thing you did?

Posted in MIMM, Photography, Restaurant Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Thinking Out Loud: Before My Mind Turns to Mush

Ugh…hey.

It has been A WEEK around here, people, let me tell you! Actually, don’t, because I’d rather not relive it all. Suffice it to say (ha, that always makes me feel somewhat Shakespearean) that work has gotten the better of me and I am incredibly thankful that today is my Friday.

#sorryimnotsorry

After TWO jam-packed weekends, I’m looking forward to having nothing on the agenda for the next few days other than carving an indention of myself into the couch as I turn my mind all mushy with too much wine and even more Netflix. But, before I get to my self-induced veg-TEE-bull state, how about a highlight reel from last weekend? Back when things were happy…stressfree…and I had a bird on my head!

Selfie - Zoo

Actually, I take that back…this moment at the zoo last Saturday was definitely NOT stress-free since I was kiiiiiiinda freaking out about this little dude either a.) pecking a hole in my head or b.) leaving me a little “present” in my hair!

But hey, I went to the ZOO!!

Zoo

Although the humidity got the best of us in the end, it was great to get back and check out some of the new exhibits. I loved the kangaroos! And my little giraffe friend wasn’t “trying” to hide this time! 😉

Famished after walking around the zoo for THREE hours and not being able to come to an agreement on dining out choices, I told my crew, we would be eating at the FIRST place I saw after getting off the interstate. And well, I have to admit, I wasn’t hating life when I spotted the golden WF in the distance!

Waffle House - PB & BAcon Wafflewich

Peanut butter waffle with BAAAAAAAACON!!!

I have seriously been craving a waffle from Waffle House for over a month now and let me tell you, this hit THE spot!

Firepit

Oh look, I bought a firepit!

I’ve yet to roast anything but brats on it since it was windier than all get out the night I brought it home. The fire died out faster than I could finish my meat (TWSS?)! But let it be known, those pornirific s’mores are STILL on my mind!

Grilling Out - Burger Beans & Potato Salad

Mom’s birthday dinner last Friday went off without a hitch! Well, that is if you don’t count the fact that I got so wrapped up in cheese and bacon and potatoes that I totally forgot that I was supposed to bring all the fixings for salads…oops? I put lettuce and tomato on my burger. That totally counts.

But let’s just have a closer look at those potatoes, eh?

Loaded Baked Potato Salad

And how about a GIANT serving of this cheesy bacony deliciousness was my dinner TWICE this week?

#noshame

But the dish that really stole the show was dad’s famous homemade blackberry cobbler made with the wild blackberries from the backyard…

Blackberry Cobbler & Ice Cream

For the record, that ice cream definitely left me and my lactose-challenged tummy with some regrets, but the leftovers I put with cottage cheese and ate for breakfast the other day most certainly did NOT! Seriously? HOW do I always forget how much I love cobbler until the summer?! Maybe I’ll find a moment this weekend to bake a cobbler of my own sweet talk my dad into making some more! 😉

Thinking-Out-Loud

As always, a big thank you goes out to my girl Amanda for hosting this week’s brain dump! Be sure to head on over to Spoons and see what everyone else is thinking about this week!

Do you like cobbler? What’s your favorite?

What is your activity of choice when it comes to mind mushing?

Posted in Thinking Out Loud | Tagged , , , , , , , | 20 Comments