I'm still here!

Hey lovies!

Things have been crazy, and I've been more focused on writing over at http://www.wholeful.com/ - However, I've been trying an experiment of cutting out all processed carbs and sugars (not getting too obsessive with it) to kind of see how my body reacts to it. I also had a spout of penumonia a few weeks ago, so that kinda prompted the health change.

So far, 8 pounds lost!!! Yay! I think once I hit 10, I may celebrate. Any ideas? Nothing expensive. :)

Is it just me, or does 15 pounds seem like a much larger accomplishment than 10? Maybe I'm being tough on myself, but part of me is trying to talk myself out of being too excited. 10 could be water weight, and it could be very easy to gain back... I guess I look at 15 pounds at the peak of the hill, you know?

Thoughts?

Need advice...

Okay, so I'm reaching out to my fellow veggies because I'm hoping you all will understand. My husband and I got into a bit of a debate last night because we were talking about when we have kids. I am open to the idea of raising them to eat meat and allowing them to make their own decisions as long as they are equally exposed to a vegetarian lifestyle. This, however, led into the debate as to whether or not we will take our kids to zoos.

For me, I will sooner throw my money down the toilet and flush it before I would ever step foot in a zoo. I think they're inhumane, and they cost 50 x's more per animal to maintain than if they were in a reservation. My husbamd, however, has different ideas. He wants our kids to be exposed to animals and have the ability to see them and/or pet them because they wouldn't otherwise be able to if they lived in their natural habitats (isn't that the point?!). Too me, zoos are just as bad as circuses with animals, and he knows how passionately I am against the existence of zoos. I'm pretty sure my children will survuve their childhood unscarred without visiting a zoo. I want my kids to grow up with a respect for animals, especially those which should exist in the wild. I want them to be raised understanding why it's important that we don't contribute to those things.

Isn't the future compromise of raising my kids half omnivore, half vegetarian enough? The zoo issue isn't really something we can meet halfway on, unfortunately. It's either they go or they don't. The idea of money and time being contributed to zoos makes me sick, especially coming from my own family...

Thoughts???

The new site is LIVE!!!

www.wholeful.com

Check it out, my loves!

Oats!

Do you ever go through "stages" with food where you just randomly start craving something... and then you keep craving it throughout the next week (or 3)? Luckily for me, as of 2 nights ago, my craving has been whole steel rolled oats (what?! how?!) and not ooey-gooey delicious, salty cheese.

I wish I had a picture to share with you of my breakfast the past two mornings because it has been ridiculously satisfying and filling to boot!

What I've been making:

• 1/2 cup uncooked whole steel rolled oats
• 1/2 organic frozen blueberries
• 3 tsp. flax seeds
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 pinch of nutmeg
• 1 Tbsp. almond butter (no added sugar or preservatives!)
• 1 cup water

Basically, if I'm in a rush, I throw everything into a large (reusable) container and pop it in the microwave until the oats have absorbed all the liquid; and voila! Tasty, comforting oats. I got a huge container of rolled oats from the farmer's market for less than $2, a 16 ounce bag of organic blueberries from Whole Foods for around $4; and I have just as large of a container of flax seeds as I do oats (for CHEAP from the farmer's market), so making this breakfast every day has actually been saving me money.

How is that possible? Well, right now it's 11am. Usually by now, I'm craving something delicious and slightly filling since I'm usually starving by now. Currently, I'm still very satisfied and furthermore don't feel the slightest bit bloated with that heavy "full" feeling. So, I'm not sneaking off to the office cafe or vending machine and spending unnecessary cash or calories. :)

Anyway, I absolutely recommend you keep the following on hand for a delicious anytime snack or filling breakfast:

• Frozen berries
• Flax seeds (don't buy them pre-ground, they double the price. I have a magic bullet at home that helps me grind them up as I need them, so I can do a batch per week and then add the ground flax seeds into anything, even on top of toast!)
• Whole oats
• SPICES (cinnamon, cumin, herbs de province, and paprika have all been ridiculously handy in my kitchen)
• Some sort of nut butter (peanut, almond, cashew) - They're incredibly satisying when you're in a pinch and want something tasty; not to mention, when added on some Ezekiel bread or pretzels, they make an incredible post-workout snack!
• Brown rice or quinoa (again, a very quick and simple last-minute snack that's tasty even with just a little added Earth Balance and a pinch of sea salt!)

What are your must-haves?

Inspiration.

I need some serious inspiration (or maybe just some good old fashioned motivation). I'm not sure if it's the rainy weather, the fact that my husband and I will be moving in a month to a new apartment, or the internal conflict I've been battling about my career path and desire to go back to school; but I need to get a little more bounce in my step and get in gear! Seriously, I've even been needing 9+ hours of sleep each night, so waking up early to run has become infrequent obsolete.

Part of me feels like I just need a break to recharge... A week (or month) to just recover from the miserable 8:30am - 5:30pm Corporate America grind. I'm not quite sure how to describe it, but I hope someone out there knows what I'm talking about!

Have any of you experienced this? What did it take for you to get out of it?

Want to help me with a decision?

Hey everyone!

So, I haven't been updating as much because I'm actually working on a website that will involve a lot more than just eating - it'll be a blog, have pictures, have tips, restaurants, books, etc. With that said, in addition to a food section and a blog section, would you all rather see a section on fitness or a section on "life"? I guess the life section would include stuff about travelling, books, etc... But I wonder if I should keep that in the blog part?

Let me know your thoughts!

Happy Thursday. xoxo

Simple but profound

I'll be doing an update soon - I'm considering creating a new blog by buying out a domain in my name. Anyway, I thought I'd post this in the meantime... Not as cute as a piggy in red rainboots, but it gets the point across!:

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