Off for the weekend...

...No, not off from work! Rather, out of town to play two shows tonight and tomorrow night! (Getting home laaate on Saturday!!)

So I'll leave you with a quick post. Here's what my lovely breakfast is to start fueling a long day. My dilemma is that I want to get a workout in but I always wake up hungry, so I'm just eating now and then hoping a short run/workout won't bother me too much.

-oat bran bowl with grapes, a chopped fig, flax, pumpkin, cottage cheese, and PB.

Some of yesterday's eats included:

My wonderful, sweet, amazing boyfriend brought this home to me on Sunday when I had been having a rough weekend:

Letting the pictures speak for themselves....


I can't figure out if it's prettier with or without the flash, so here's with the flash:

You *know* you want some!

This is by far THE BEST gelato (or ice cream or really any other frozen treat I've ever had. Just throwin' that out there! And it probably isn't long for this world, seeing how it's sitting in my freezer! People, seriously, I can't describe how incredible this is!)

OK sorry, back on topic!

Or rather, going back to being grateful for all of the things my bf does for me, including little surprises he picks up for me without telling me. Like this Halloween Smiley Cookie. There's a restaurant in town know for their original smiley cookies and they do decorations for different times of the year. He and I split this, and yes I know there's probably 400-500 calories in this, and yes, I'm also totally OK with that! :)


A random snack.

Yesterday, I also went out to lunch at a Greek food restaurant with my former roommate and had pita and hummus and a whitefish with tomatoes and spinach topping and rice. And later after teaching, I went over to my friend's house and sipped Gentleman Jack and had one slice of pizza while talking and playing Trivial Pursuit on the Wii! So much fun and I was out until 2:30 then I woke up at 8:15 with my alarm! Not enough sleep but that OK!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For a chance to win some Chobani love go here.

And for the chance to win some healthy and delicious cereal go here.

Alright friends, I'm off to finish up a few things and play two shows. I'll be back on Sunday!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Donut deliciousness!

Good morning! I had a great weekend and I want to catch up with a food post before going for a run and then teaching 4-8:30pm. I am getting even busier with new students starting; I'm up to over 25 students right now, although I generally (have time to) see 20 per week. It's insane though, and I'm honestly trying to stay calm and keep myself positive. It's hard though, when one student misses a lesson and you realize that you have zero after school hours in which to schedule a make up lesson (especially since they're usually on a tight schedule too!)

Anyway, I had this for breakfast:

-banana bread with PB
-cottage cheese
-plum

Yesterday I made a lovely dinner of more sauteed veggies with hummus, scrambled eggs, and toast:


This was an amazing combination, and I have some leftover veggies so I might have to have this again today! :) I love dry (unbuttered) toast that's salted! Am I weird?

And I was a bottomless pit yesterday so I cut up a Fuji apple with PB.

Then I broke into the donuts that my bf and I bought from a NEW Dunkin' Donuts that opened a 15 minute walk from my house!!! People, this will be dangerous! Now, obviously I don't eat donuts every day. I remember that the last time I had donuts was when I was in Los Angeles last November. So eating something (anything) once a year is not a big deal at all. And the fact is, I have been enjoying my 6 donuts (over the course of a week and I still have 2 left in the fridge--so no binging!) soooo much! I think it's unreal for any food to be that delicious! It still doesn't mean I'm going to become a donut addict, but I *may* have to include one here or there!

What is your FAVORITE totally non-nutritious food? Obviously donuts are right up there for me! Also, almost anything chocolate is great. And chocolately pastries. And once in a while, if I'm in the mood, french fries with ketchup. And don't forget really good beer (lighter lagers are the best.) I'm a foodie and I'm not ashamed to admit it!

Anyway, back to donuts. :) I still have a maple glazed one and a Boston cream pie one, but I had most of a chocolate glazed one yesterday (and a part of a chocolate filled one, but there's no pictures of that one.)



Finally I snacked on this free sample I got. (I don't normally buy these, but one was OK.)

And my totally random breakfast from Saturday:

OK, that's all folks! I'm off to run, then teach. I hope everyone is having a good Monday so far!

Giveaway winner + more giveaways to enter

Good morning! Quickly, before I announce the winners of the giveaway I had last week, here's my breakfast.

-banana bread with PB (didn't turn out as well as I hoped because I was out of baking soda!)
-cottage cheese
-a sliced plum

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know I'm a few days late selecting a winner for my Nut Clusters giveaway, but here it is.

"I would like to try these products for the simple fact that the name Nut Clusters sounds dirty and makes me want to say "that's what she said". Is that inappropriate or is it a good enough reason? Haha"

Congratulations to Michelle, who also won my last giveaway! I promise this was randomly generated!


But it's OK because Michelle is such an awesome blogger! :) And yes, that is definitely a good enough reason! Haha!

And for the second winner of two coupons for nut clusters The Skinny Plate was selected who said:

"Would love to try these. Nuts are great snack."

Please send me your addresses and I'll put them in the mail.

You can e-mail me at violingrad19 [at] yahoo [dot] com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here are some more giveaways happening in the blog world:

Leah from Simply Fabulous is giving away a bottle of GlamEyes mascara!

RuntotheFinish is giving away gluten free vegan Agape nutrition bars. These things look amazing!

Healing With (Raw) Juices is giving away raw chia seeds! I've wanted to try these for so long!

OK, I'm off for another run. Hoping it goes well! Have an awesome Friday and Saturday everyone! A good friend of mine is coming into town tonight, so I'm packing her up from the airport and hanging out with her! I'm so excited!! And tomorrow I have two gigs to play (a wedding and a formal event of some sort) as well as a lesson to teach, then in the evening one of my friends is having his birthday get together/hang out and I'll still be wanting to spend time with my out-of-town friend. So I might be away tomorrow but hopefully back on Sunday after the zoo race! :)

The ups and downs of life are a funny thing.

Thank you so much for your encouraging comments on yesterday's post! They really mean so much to me, I could not even tell you! I am so glad to be a part of the blog world!

Today went much better! I think my bf and I realized that we had both let things slip in terms of making sure the other one felt appreciated and loved in this relationship. The discussion we had yesterday was very good, even if it was hard, and I think we both feel closer to each other today! I honestly feel like I'm a better person around him, and I love his companionship and constant support of me. I am blessed to be dating him and I can't imagine us breaking up. Therefore, I am going to be more intentional about making sure he knows how much I care about him and how valuable he is to me. This doesn't mean that we don't still have some differences to work through, but I think that we're coming at it from a much better angle to resolve those things.

And on a related note, I'm really proud of myself for not even once--at all--having thoughts of restricting through all of this! In the (recent) past, I've had those thoughts but I haven't acted on them--despite the strong temptation. And in the farther past, this is exactly the thing that would feed disordered thoughts. I'm very pleased about that--like I said, I haven't actually struggled with that for a while, but this is the first time that those thoughts haven't even showed up! :)

So here's the yummy food I've been eating.

Yesterday's breakfast was a great bowl of oatmeal with PB, raisins, flax, pumpkin and cottage cheese:

And a whole plum (I had already eaten most of it--sorry!)


Then, while I was baby-sitting I had one chocolate chip muffin that the mom said I was welcome to--it was delicious!!

I slept in a bit more today but still got less than 7 hours of sleep. Surprisingly though I felt OK and I went on a 5.5 mile "run". (Remember my running is short segments with a lot of walking in between.) It was great though, and I felt awesome afterwards! I have that 5K at the zoo on Sunday, so I think I'm going to do one more "long" run tomorrow and then rest on Saturday (which is a VERY busy day for me anyway, so it works well.)

Yesterday night I made a delicious dinner/snack of sauteed zucchini and EVOO topped with Sabra spinach and artichoke hummus! I think it's a new flavor and I love it!


Speaking of hummus, check out this awesome giveaway to win some free tubs of it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday I got my first ever package from FoodBuzz!! I got ridiculously excited upon opening them! Woohoo!

(I apologize for the blurry pictures!)

So far I have only tried the Whole Wheat loaf and it is excellent! I have been enjoying it--many pieces of it!--topped with cheddar cheese and avocado like this:

And then with spinach too like this:

It also makes excellent sandwiches, such as this one with veggie "bologna", cheese, avocado and spinach:

For a non-traditional breakfast this morning I had the same thing (finished the avocado--so sad!) and had mushrooms and carrots with hummus also.


And with coffee. (By the way, yes my plates are always perched precariously on the edge of my computer desk, where I'm eating while either reading blogs or doing e-mail!)


The bread is so delicious and I am very much looking forward to trying the other loaf soon! Thanks FoodBuzz!!

My bf and I went on a real date to get dinner at Chik-Fil-A (my first time ever!! I got the char grilled sandwich and fries and I loved it! It seems A LOT better than most fast food places!) and to see "The Hangover" which looked good and was still showing in theatres. It was hilarious (minus a few raunchy scenes!) and I actually really enjoyed it!

We sneaked these in and I had quite a few. (Like definitely more than one serving...so good!) This has been kind of a major choclate week for me!

Finally, I've been snacking on many Shapers whole grain chips (black bean and salsa flavor!) because I fund big bags at Big Lots for $1.80! They're very comparable to Sun Chips in their nutritional facts and I've been enjoying them frequently!

(Thank you Google Images!)

Here's one more great giveaway:

AnAppleADay is giving away Tropical Traditions coconut oil to cook with! I've wanted to try this for so long because I've read about it frequently in the blog world.

Good night everyone!

Blah day.

Good evening everyone. It's Monday around 9pm and I wanted to recap my day quickly, because there were some lovely eats. As for exercise...does a 40 minute walk and a few push ups count? ;-) Honestly, it's getting colder here (= 50 degrees is cold for me!) and although I don't want to make excuses, it made it really hard to want to exercise. (And my gym was closed for Yom Kippur.) So I just enjoyed the walk.

BUT...

I did sign up for a 5K race this Sunday at the local zoo! It should be super cool, because I'm heard that you can see the animals while you run! And all the proceeds benefit the zoo, so it doesn't matter that I will probably have to take many walking breaks. Plus, my boyfriend is running it with me! I'll let you know how it goes!

Onto my food.

I made a bowl of oat bran today, but I need to switch it up soon, because I didn't enjoy this very much. *Gasp*

-pumpkin
-ground flax
-some black grapes cut up
-1/2 a banana
-cottage cheese
-PB

With coffee:


Then I was literally on the computer all morning (blog addiction! But don't tell anyone!) until lunch. (Wow, that really makes it seem like I have no life!)

I made this lovely meal:


Started with this:

(one zucchini, 1/4 white onion with EVOO and garlic)

Then I added this to the pan, which was EXCELLENT, by the way!


Leftovers in the pan:

Up close and personal:


With dry toast. I hate butter! I do salt it though--is that weird?

Went out for a walk, did some work around the house, overall it was a very lazy day! I need to do something with myself in the mornings! But tomorrow and Wednesday I have LONG days of baby-sitting 8:30am-12:30pm, then teaching all afternoon (3-8 and 2-8 respectively) both days! So I'll keep busy enough. And I'm honestly exhausted. I have no idea why, but I considering getting in bed right after I finish this post to be asleep by 10pm. That's super early for me, but my body is asking for sleep. I don't see why I should fight it. I just hope I'm not getting sick! (By the way, I sleep a ridiculous amount--like I think I need 9 to 10 hours each night (does anyone know why this is?!?) and the past 2 nights have been closer to 6, so maybe that's why!)

How much sleep do you get every night? How much do you think your body really needs and does its best at?

I use to survive on 3-6 hours in grad school, but I felt awful all the time. Now my body has rebelled and insists on at least 6-8 every night, but more like 9-10 is better!

Back to food though. I had a quick snack before teaching from 5-7pm.


And finally for dinner, I made soup and toast, because I have been freezing for the past 3 days! I wanted something warm!


I ate the whole can. Everyone knows there is not really two servings in there!


Toast with cheddar cheese!


And since I have been hungry ALL DAY (argh!) I made a dessert sampler plate--YES, this is a VERY good idea, in case you were wondering!


-1/2 a banana
-1 Kashi Trail Mix cookie
-PB
-1 square amazingly ridiculously good 70% dark chocolate bar from Whole Foods!
(And unpictured, I had sugar free hot chocolate with this!)

**Edit: I'm not going to lie. I had two more squares of dark chocolate, more PB and the other half of the banana! Such is life!**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Onto other matters. I have been given this award by Kris and Nancy!


Thank you girls!

And for my nominations, I present this to:

1) Michelle: She's doing clinical rotations in Minnesota, but this girl's a Pittsburgher at heart and we share that love! She also a darn good runner, but sadly I don't share that with her!

2) Emily: Studying hard to be a dietician, completing an awesome internship, and the first (and to date, only!) food blogger I've gotten to meet in real life!

3) Heather: I love her eating style and her general positive attitude. Such an inspiration!

4) Caitlin: She's a wildly popular food blogger (for good reason!) and she probably won't ever even see this, but I just had to give her an award for all of her accomplishments, her general outlook on life and her endless energy! She pretty much amazes me EVERY SINGLE TIME she posts!

5) Jess: She's still in high school but this girl knows what she wants from life and has her stuff together! And she has a kick a%& blog, too!

6) Sarah: What an amazing runner she is, regularly hitting the double digits of miles! I think if you added up my mileage for the whole week, it still wouldn't break the big 1-0! Plus, she's freaking hilarious in her writing style!

7) Sophia: This girl is living life fully in Southern California as she embarks on her college career! I'm so proud of her for fully beating ED (from one recovered woman to another!) and we share the experience of both being missionary kids! (More about this in a future post!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OK, I'm going to get in bed and read about teenage vampires. (A.k.a, Breaking Dawn, or the 4th and final book in the Twilight series, which I just started for my FIRST TIME!)


Have a wonderful night everyone! No post in the morning tomorrow because it's an early morning for me. Goodnight!