Day 43: The C Word

It makes us squirm when we hear it.  It makes us uncomfortable.  It causes immediate apprehension.  Women absolutely hate to hear it.  Men don't understand why we hate it so much:

Cramps.  F*ing cramps. 

So why am I bringing up this horrific and unpleasant experience?  Because within a month of eating healthy I have been healed! (imagine me saying that like a preacher....much better, right?)  I am not even joking and this may be bordering on TMI, however, since this is a science project to report my findings is a necessity and part of my journey was so that I would prevent myself from downing a bottle of Advil once a week every month.  One of the beautiful symptoms of PCOS is dreadfully painful cramping during menstruation and again, not sure if I have PCOS 100%, however I can tell you that I have passed out before due to the intensity of cramps.  I'm a strong girl, so to be taken out by something so stupid as my uterus is ridiculous. 

                        

Anyhow, this time around I still experienced cramping, but it wasn't near as severe as usual.  I can only assume that me cutting out all the crap (but mostly the starchy goodness and straight up sugar) has played a huge role in the alleviation of lady part pain.  That in itself is enough for me to cut out refined sugar for good.  Seriously.  If I don't have to subject my liver to an overdose of drugs, that would be stellar.
                                                                     

Now that we are out of the icky subject, let's move on shall we!  Today I am shooting a lovely wedding out in Richer, MB so I took Chantelle's advice and whipped up some protein pancakes.  You can find the recipe here.  This time I got a little creative because I only had chocolate protein powder, so I threw in a handful of unsweetened coconut as well so I'd have chocolate, coconut, banana pancakes! Delicious!

 

 So delicious.  I also paired that with some mango (they are super fresh at Safeway right now!) and got myself fed for the day!  I shall pack a bit of almonds in my camera bag to munch on as well.  I have this wedding and then one more wedding next weekend and then I shall start heading to the gym or working out because I need to get my butt moving!   Anyhow, I have to drive out to Richer now so I shall bid you adieu and wish everyone a lovely Saturday :D

Date: September 28, 2013!
Current weight: 239

Goal for the day: wedding day!
What is your plan for food today? 

breakfast: protein pancakes and mango

lunch: 1 protein pancake and almonds (while sitting in my car...)

Supper: whatevs is served :D

Planned water intake: 108 oz (5 water bottles full)

Day 41: It's Just a Little Bit Crazy

I realize I haven't written in about 3 days but I have excessively busy and all over the map.  We drove home from Regina on Tuesday and I have to say that day was quite the write off.  I think being the passenger is even more troublesome for snacking than driving.  We had stocked up on good things from Dad's Organic Food Market in Regina, but when you eat all those good things in the same day it is still a lot of food.

Before we left Regina, however, we met up with Ryan's Gma for some coffee at McDonalds.  Her and her friends get together every week for breakfast there.  It's really cute.  Now this woman knows how to live!! She is 94 years young and still kicking and she has the spirit of a 12 year old!  I love her to bits!

 

However, she was adamant that I eat something with breakfast so I participated in a carrot muffin.  

 During the roadtrip we consumed all the things: pork pepperoni sticks, bean chips, organic gummies, yogurt, water, and tea.  Waaaaaay too much stuff.  In addition when we arrived home, we ordered Boston Pizza to which I had the quesadilla with guacamole.  BUT I have come to the conclusion that I have met my guacamole limit and it almost made me sick.

Yesterday was a bit better in regards to what I consumed.  The only "not so clean" part was the Tim Horton's sandwich that we grabbed while running around downtown.  Last night Stephanie and I planned to go play tennis so I wanted something light to eat, so I made up a smoothie suggested by Stephanie.  The recipe is below.

also, Ryan and I had gone to the local food market and stocked up on lots of nummy things including home made fruit leather.  Granted it was quite spendy, but I would rather spend the money that sit at home for 7 hours waiting for it to cook.  Plus its not something I should be consuming all the time.

 

Today has started off quite well!  I am enjoying my first cup of coffee after consuming a delicious container of cottage cheese with walnuts, 1 tsp of vanilla pear jam from Bobbie, and 1 tsp of cinnamon.  Yum yum yum!!  The rest of the day I will make sure will go swimmingly as tonight I have ballet again!! Woot yay!!  I love wearing my leotard haha!  Sometimes I will just sit around the house wearing my leotard and a skirt.  It makes me feel danc-y.

I will leave today at that, but stayed tuned tomorrow for the C-word.  Duh duh duuuuuuuuuuuh.

Date: September 26, 2013!
Current weight: 240

Goal for the day: walk a bit, ballet, gym time?
What is your plan for food today? 

breakfast: cottage cheese delicious

lunch: bison burger with lettuce

snack: almonds

Supper: something with ground turkey...meatloaf perhaps?

Planned water intake: 108 oz (5 water bottles full)

Day 38: Walk the walk

Good news.  Exercise has not been an issue in the last 2 days!  Yay!  Starting yesterday, I headed out to White Butte Trails to do a photoshoot in the morning, but I went earlier so I could find a great location and prep it for when my client arrived.  I walked around for quite some time before I found a sweet location right inside the bush.  Then I dug a hole for said photoshoot which created some great upper arm workouts.  Then I walked back OUT of the bush to go fetch my client, walked back in and walked back out when the shoot was over.  Later on in the evening I went on a photoshoot in Hidden Valley where we climbed up some pretty high hills and hiked through some brush.  I was sweating and breathing heavily so that is a good sign (of working hard, not my current state of health).

One of the props for the first photoshoot.

In addition to the photoshoot inspired workout, I did consume some delicious food items at Table 10 with Ryan's family.  I ordered the black bean burger with home made yam fries!  Absolutely delicious!!  I maybe should have passed up the bun with burger and opted for the quinoa chili, but Ryan wanted to steal some of my yam fries, so he made a good case for the burger.

Today, the fun walking adventures continued when I headed back to White Butte Trails with a new model where we walked even further around taking pictures at every awesome juncture we could find.  The trails are a fantastic place to go for a walk.  It's peaceful, naturific, beautiful, and continually changing!  If you are in need of some good exercise, please head out there.  You will NOT be disappointed!

After that photoshoot, I headed back to the house to eat some lunch.  I consumed turkey meat, 1 oz of cheese, a bit of fruit, toast and jam, etc.  A mishmash if you will as I had another photoshoot to head to.  For that one, I met Liz at the cemetary where we walked around and took some shots amongst the old headstones and in the beautiful orange trees.  Have I said I loved fall?  No? Because I do.

Lastly, I headed to Wascana for my last Regina shoot before coming home for supper.  I walked around the park gathering images before my clients showed up and then I chased around their 3 and 6 year olds for a good hour to capture their images.  Definitely got my exercise.  For supper tonight, I did indulge in a small glass of red wine because it is our last night with the family before heading home tomorrow.  We also feasted on a delicious stir fry with whole wheat pasta and corn on the cob.  Yum yum!

One thing I can work on is my water intake.  I maybe managed 2 bottles of water.  Not enough that's for sure.  So my goal for the next 2 weeks is to increase my activity and drink more water!

Date: September 23, 2013!
Current weight: 238

Goal for the day: walk a bit, stretch a lot
What is your plan for food today? 

breakfast: Black Forest protein bar

lunch: mishmash (see above)

Supper: stirfry with noodles and corn. and red wine.

Planned water intake: 108 oz (5 water bottles full)

Day 36: Just a Short Post Today

I am fully settled in Regina for the next few days and have prepared the best I could.  I have made sure the make myself very busy to ensure the lack of snacking at Ryan's mummy's house, because she always has a stellar selection of cheeses, baked goods, and awesome bread.  There is so many delicious things here, hahaha.  So far, though, so good.

Yesterday I started off the morning with greek yogurt and coffee and then a few hours later we headed out to Vicky's Cafe for an actual breakfast where I participated in a Mexican breakfast wrap (ground beef, lettuce, tomatoes, scrambled eggs,  salsa on a spinach wrap) with hashbrowns.  As far as the menu goes, that was one of the best options I think.

After breakfast, I headed out to deliver a package to one of my wedding clients and then met up with a girl who is going to be modeling for me tomorrow.  During our meeting, I indulged in a green tea at the coffee shop and ignored the delicious baked goods all together (standardly I would have had a bit of a snack I am sure.) 

 For the remainder of the day I shopped until I dropped, picking up things for my shop and getting props and clothing for my next few photoshoots (yay!)  But, I was on my feet for awhile and for the time that I actually had my phone on me, I managed to walk 4199 steps (but did not have my phone ON me, but rather in the cart at both shops so add a bunch more steps!

After shopping, I headed over to Bobbie & Nathan's for board game night and supper.  Bobbie is a fabulous cook who made us turkey dinner with rice and an amazing summer spinach salad with strawberries and walnuts.  Yum yum!!  During board games we snacked on triscuits and homemade vanilla pear jam (amazing!!).  I also drank copious amounts of orange pekoe tea.  

On the way to Regina on Friday I made Ryan stop at Katie's Kookies in Brandon, so I could stock up on a bunch more protein bars.  They are soooo delicious and this time I got coconut, down n dirty, and black forest. They don't even sound like they can be even healthy a little bit.  Yet they are.  So that is what I participated in for breakfast today and I think we are going out for lunch again today, so hopefully there will be good options wherever we go!

Anyhow, I am a little frustrated in the fact that I am steadily maintaining around the 238 to 240 mark, but I keep telling myself that a) it didn't come on overnight and b) you aren't doing this to "get skinny"  Iknow I just have to be diligent and not cave because I am not seeing immediate results.  That's what old Teri would have done.  Why?  Because it's easier.  So, instead, I just need to up the water, watch the cheese, walk more, and be persistent!

Date: September 22, 2013!
Current weight: 240

Goal for the day: walk a bit, stretch a lot
What is your plan for food today? 

breakfast: Kokonut Crave bar

snack: almonds

lunch: some restaurant

snack: peppers

Supper: whatever Ryan's mummy makes us

Planned water intake: 108 oz (5 water bottles full)

Day 34: Talking to Myself

If you have been following my blog through the last few posts you will have noticed that there has been a lack of consistence in regards to my eating habits, preparing food, etc.  I have reached the dreaded 4 week slump in regards to changing habits and it is change now, or change never. 
First: The confessions.  I bought a box of Lindor chocolates to put into my wedding packages for my August wedding clients.  Well, if you have never tasted a nectar as sweet as a Lindor chocolate then I feel bad for you, but if you have then you know exactly how difficult it is to say no to that little ball of chocolate.  To that extent, I have eaten a total of 14 chocolates in 3 days.  That is sad.  And bad for my stomach.  And my sugar levels. 

 

Seeing as I still have 2 weddings to go, I cannot very well get rid of these delicious beauties sitting in my freezer, but I also know that I can no longer consume them.  Therefore, I have devise a plan to make me think before caving.  Here is my plan:

 

It at least slows me down in my efforts to eat the chocolates haha!  But today's post is less about the chocolate and moreso WHY the chocolate.  Why the lack of preparation, why the lack of groceries, etc.

 It's because I have once again become complacent (I am pretty sure I mentioned this would probably happen in one of the first blog posts)  and this is something that happens to anyone who is attempting to make any sort of change in their life.  It becomes easier just to "not to."  I had to revisit the reasons why making these changes was so incredibly important to me in the first place, because those are the things that we forget about.  We get that feeling once which motivates us to start the change, but then it becomes an afterthought again.  So I thought I would put it into a list.  Why I Should Do It Vs.  Why I Shouldn't Do It and as you can see, its kind of a stupid thing to even compare:

So, now what?  Now that I have organized my thoughts and remember what the hell I am doing this for, it will be easier to get back onto track.  With one hitch.  I am heading to Regina for about 5 days.  But I did it once and I can most certainly do it again!  Protein pancakes, healthy snacks for the car, LOTS of water, plus I have to start my lady hormone test and take my Candidas and detox tea along.  So that's fun.

Yesterday I had ballet class again and it is getting increasingly harder which is another reason why building my strength and flexibility is super important now, so while away I shall walk and stretch as much as possible and then when I get home I will start, sigh, going to the gym for real.  Instead of driving by and looking at it whistfully.  I know I will feel good after going, it's just the GOING.  Just think how sexy I will look during the end of the year recital in my leotard! Boom!

Basically, I need to stop being silly and really just focus on how good I feel when I don't eat crap.  So this is what I shall do! 

Date: September 20, 2013!
Current weight: 239
Goal for the day: walk a bit, stretch a lot
What is your plan for food today? 

breakfast: oatmeal, pb, protein powder

snack: almonds

lunch: stellas

snack: peppers

Supper: whatever Ryan's mummy makes us

Planned water intake: 108 oz (5 water bottles full)

 

Day 32: My Boyfriend's a Prick

...just kidding.  That's what he had to do to me today in order to get my blood glucose levels off the glucometer.  I decided not to put it off because I would have to do it eventually.  So I tried to build up the courage to do it myself, but I couldn't.  Not even close, so I waited until Ryan woke up and after giving him my hand and then taking it away and this back and forth for about 5 minutes, he did it.  The bastard stuck me with a needle.  As much as he said he didn't enjoy it, I'm pretty sure he got a bit of satisfaction out of it.  Basically, I had to take my fasting blood sugar upon waking, eat a carb laden breakfast, wait half an hour and take my blood sugar again.  Then I had to take it each hour after that half hour period for 4 hours.  I literally worked on photos the whole time while waiting for this terror.  So, I'm not too certain what the numbers mean (though I googled them...) so I will have to wait to get my results back from the doc and see what she says! Since I had a few needles leftover after I was done my testing, Ryan decided to get in on the action as well.  I certainly got satisfaction out of pricking him with a needle, even if it was just once.  I was curious to see how much it would go up if I ate, like, pure sugar...but not enough to poke myself in the finger again.

 

If one thing came out of using this handy dandy little machine, it is the fact that I vow to NEVER let myself get diabetes because I couldn't stand using needles every day.  Ugh...I feel bad for people that have to use this thing...

Anyhow, enough about the glucometer-whosey-watsit.  Another thing I had to start today was my lovely detox tea.  Technically I had a cup last night, but then realized that may or may not have been a bad idea depending on what type of "detox" I could expect.  Luckily, no accidents occurred throughout the evening, so I must not have had a potent enough cup.  My goal is to drink 3 cups of this stuff ever day to get rid of the crap that's feasting on my sugars.  It doesn't taste too bad, it's just incredibly strong tasting.  

 

 

As for food today, it was a bit of a wonky day as I fasted pretty much through lunch and into dinner.  So I pretty much "binged" once I was done my last glucose test.  This binge was less crazy and more like a mishmash of a lot of things, not necessarily bad things: nuts, cheese, mini pears, etc.  but it was a lot of stuff in a short time.  Note: Do not normally go more than 2-3 hours without having something to eat or I will eat ALL the things.

 

Mini pear.  I bought it because, well, its cute!

Unfortunately, today was a pretty pathetic day in terms of exercise and I have absolutely no excuse.  The only type of exercise, maybe, I got was doing a photoshoot with a fellow photographer where I let her shoot me so I had to climb up some walls and do some levitationy type things again which worked my core!  But not intentional exercise.

For supper tonight I whipped up a delicious taco salad and found a random avocado hiding in my fridge, so had half of that as well!  Now, onto the tea!

Date: September 18, 2013!
Current weight: 239.2
Goal for the day:  nothing *hangs head in shame
What is your plan for food today?

Breakfast: protein pancakes with no protein powder

Lunch: not substantial: a mix of things

Snack: almonds

Supper: taco salad

Planned water intake: 108 oz (5 water bottles full)

Day 31: Naturally

This morning I woke up relatively early for my Dr. appointment.  Now this is not your typical wait 1000 hours to see a clinician, but rather I went to see a naturopathic doctor at the Centre for Natural Medicine.  The whole reason I had started this healthy eating situation was because I didn't want to wait until my original appointment date in November to "get healthy."

 

Since this was my first visit, it was more of a consultation for the doctor to find out what troubles me and what I think is going on.  There is a lot of communication (which is the best part!) instead of the eye rolls that one gets when talking about a self diagnosis.  Dr. Korsunsky allowed me to swear occasionally as I talked energetically about my woman problems and the fact that I am pretty sure I have PCOS (Polycyistic Ovarian Syndrome)  I advised her of my symptoms that I have been dealing with FOREVER, and even when I had lost a lot of weight when I was in Korea, my problems did not cease.  

Definitely one of the best things that came out of our conversation was the fact that women who deal with PCOS standardly do have a harder time losing weight as a result of the hormone imbalance in the body.  She advised me to pick up a book in regards to this (because I love learning about these things) so once I understand what is happening, I will be more apt to do the things that are required to maintain a stable hormone level without popping pills.

Now, again, because this was the first visit there is a lot of testing that has to happen to fully determine that what I have IS in fact PCOS or just similar hormone issues.  Therefore, I was sent home with a variety of fun things: A glucometer to test my blood sugars (if HAVING diabetes isn't enough of a scare to make you eat healthy, pricking yourself with a needle after every meal certainly is!).  I am actually excited about this, because I wanted to use it as a science experiment, showing the results of my blood sugars of eating pure carbohydratey goodness alone compared to paring carbs and protein together.  Apparently the test only takes one day, but I do have it for a week, so let the science experiments ensue!  In addition to that, I have 2 lab tests I have to send to the US testing my saliva for female hormones (done over the span of 30 days, tracking a full "woman" cycle) and the second to test my male hormones to see where they are coming from.  In addition to that, the fact that I have been eating so much sugar for so long there is believed to be copious amounts of bacteria feasting off those delicious undigestable things in my belly, so I have some candicin to take for a few days and a detox tea which tastes like licorice! (yummy!)

If all that isn't enough, I also have to go back for a body composition test and some other hormone test thing.   All in all, I think myself and the doc are on the same page which makes me feel good.  However, she did say that I am to pretty much cut out all starches because PCOS victims have a hard time breaking down the sugars yadayadayada.  Therefore I am to immediately cease any consumption of breads, potatoes, rice, etc. and keep my protein high.  When I advised her of my last 30 days, she said to keep following that ideal and don't expect huge results, but expect lasting results.  Go me!

As for the glucometer, all I can say is that Ryan will be the one poking me with the needle because I couldn't even do it in the dr's office today.  In addition to that, I am REQUIRED to exercise once a day...more than just a walk.  Dammit. Hahahaha! We shall start that slowly.

I am excited to see what comes out of this from primarily a scientific standpoint, but also for my health of course. I mean, if I don't have to drug myself with 5 extra strength advil per day for 1 week every month or worry about facial hair sprouting off my face...that would be stellar :P

Date: September 17, 2013!
Current weight: 240
Goal for the day:  walking
What is your plan for food today?

Breakfast: coconut yogurt

Lunch: eggs with cheese and elk peppettes

Snack: almonds

Supper: turkey meatballs with fresh basil and grilled veggies!

Planned water intake: 108 oz (5 water bottles full)

Day 30: I've Been a Bad Girl :(

So, I'm sure the title gives it away, but yes, today and yesterday have been not so splendid in terms of clean eating.  What happened?  Lack of groceries and preparation.  Laziness.  Workaholic-ness. It's about 4 weeks since I started.  Gah.  There are not enough excuses for this.


 

I found this on Pinterest and found it quite motivating considering the day I had today.  I didn't necessarily binge eat, I just didn't eat very well today.  Sad panda.  So where did it start?

It started yesterday when I once again procrastinated going out to get groceries because I wanted to do a photo shoot instead and then got into working on the photos.  Then I went to my mom's yesterday and had wine, peanuts, handfuls of Chicago style popcorn (cheese and caramel...or the devil, as I like to call it), and for supper: chicken wings, egg rolls, sushi, and a delicious parfait situation.  At least I didn't bring any home.

Then today I woke up and waited until Ryan woke up because we were going to go out for breakfast due to lack of groceries, but he didn't wake up early enough so I was slightly angry and took it out on my oatmeal.  I had oatmeal with JUST protein powder because we had no more peanut butter left.  It was so dry and proteiny which made me even pissier at Ryan (I could be PMSing as well......).  I blamed him for my crappy breakfast when in all honesty the whole time I stayed home and stewed in anger at him sleeping in, I could have driven (or walked!) to Superstore to buy eggs for breakfast. 

Finally, Ryan woke up and decided he wanted to go get something to eat, so he suggested Tim Hortons and I settled for chili without the bun (score some points for me!).  That is all I ate for actual food today.  The rest of the day has been a mishmash of foods that I accumulated during my grocery trip that I had been putting off.  I had elk peppettes, babybel cheeses, almonds, coconut yogurt, Welsch's fruit gummies with yogurt ( because they reminded me of the fun fruits I had as a kid!).  Then I bought some delicious concord grapes and decided to try making grape juice.  It was so sweet that I could feel my blood sugars get a kick in the pants almost immediately. 

 

So yah, all in all I have been neglectful but not too worry, I have been experiencing the lovely side effects of all these food items.  I will spare you the details, but my guts have never been more confused.  As you will notice, I didn't post anything yesterday.  I wonder if I had posted about my crappy day yesterday it would have gotten me back on track.  Probably.  Oh well.  That's why I am writing today.  To get things back to healthy!  Tomorrow is the Dr.s appt so that will be neato.  Plus I now have pretty much all the groceries I will need to get us through until Friday at which time we leave for Regina for a few days.

On a positive note, I got in some unintentional ab exercise today while I worked on creating levitation images.  Give me exercise in the form of a photoshoot and I am all over that.  I did about 50 crunches (wearing a dress!) without slowing down. Put me in a gym outfit and tell me to do them and I will complain at #15....

Date: September 16, 2013!
Current weight: 240
Goal for the day:  walking and unintentional abs
What is your plan for food today?

Breakfast: oatmeal, vanilla protein powder

Lunch: T.H. Chili

Snack: All the things in the grocery bag :(

Supper: grape juice 

Planned water intake: 108 oz (5 water bottles full)

 

Day 28: Sweet and Sour

So when life hands you lemons, you.....make a bunch of different things.  In this case it wasn't life handing them to me.  I bought them at the store.  Either way, I wanted to use up my lemons today so I ended up making a bunch of different things.  First, for supper I found salmon fillets in the freezer so bbq'd up some lemon and dill salmon!  Absolutely freaking delicious!  I paired my salmon with purple sweet potatoes...the kind I used to eat in Korea!  These are actual sweet potatoes, whereas the Canadian sweet potatoes are really just yams.  I found the purple ones at the Asian Market on South Pembina.  They are suuuuper delicious and like a sugary potato.  I tossed those in tinfoil onto the barbecue with some vegetable seasoning and I ate them like candy!

 

Then I wanted to make some homemade lemonade, so I peeled 2 lemons and then tossed them into the juicer.  It made about 1/4 of juice which is more than sufficient because even with about 3 cups of water it was still quite sour (even after adding the agave syrup!)

 

Despite the tartness, it was quite refreshing!  Then I had a bit of pulp from the lemons and I didn't want to waste that zesty flavor so I tracked down this cool vegan lemon melt-ball recipe!  They are super delicious.  Check out the recipe here. I got creative and tossed an almond on top!

 

They make a super good treat and great sweet fix without all the crap!  Yippee for that!  So, I managed to take something extremely sour and make it into something deliciously sweet.

As for my exercise today I practiced my ballet at home and then had to utilize some maneuvers for my photo project so I definitely worked the muscles today!  I am loving ballet, I can feel my posture improving immediately!  

 

I love feeling strong and now that I am into ballet I am going to start heading to the gym a few times a week to build up my strength so that will be good for me!

Ooh! In other news, my naturopathic appointment got moved up to Tuesday (I wasn't supposed to go until November which is why I started this project in the first place!) so it will be interesting to hear what they have to say.  I filled out my little form and compared to some people I'm pretty healthy, its just the stupid hormones.  Anyhow, it will be good if they can suggest some things that will make that part of my life a bit easier.

Date: September 14, 2013!
Current weight: 239
Goal for the day:  ballet practice
What is your plan for food today?

Breakfast: oatmeal, vanilla protein powder, 2 tbsp of pb

Lunch: eggs with laughing cow cheese

Snack: Peach Cookies (I sent the rest to work with Ryan so I wouldn't eat them), almonds

Supper: Salmon fillets and sweet potatoes

snack: Lemon Melt-away Balls 

Planned water intake: 108 oz (5 water bottles full)

Day 27: Everything is Just Peachy

I'm pretty sure you can't tell what I am about to write about.  Peaches? How did you know?  Yes, today was a definite peachy kind of day.  I have had a bag of peaches kicking in my fridge for awhile and I wanted to try making some peach juice through the juicer!  Nummy, nummy!  So, I created a lovely concoction of 2 peaches (make sure the pit is out!), 2 small crab apples from yesterday's market, and 2 carrots.  Absolutely delicious!

 

Lots of people have been asking me if buying a juicer is worth it because they aren't cheap.  All I can say is that it is one of the best things for my lifestyle.  I'm not a huge fan of cooked vegetables nor just eating fruit on its own.  So prior to juicing, I was maybe getting in 1 or 2 servings of fruit and veg a day.  Not good.  This way I get it all in in one punch and it's delicious!  That being said, if you are a person the bought a Magic Bullet and used it for a week and never touched it again, or if you purchased a blender in the hopes that you would prepare smoothies every day and you didn't, then DO NOT spend the money on a juicer!!  You will not follow through with using it very often and thus, waste your money.  I use mine about 4-6 times a week.

One of the things that always bugged me about the juicer though, is the leftover pulp.  If I lived in a house I would use it to grow a garden, but alas, condo forbids that.  (In the meantime, Ryan has been placing it around our little trees in hopes to attract the rabbit friends....it has been working thus far. Hahaha!)  Today, though, I got ambitious and wanted to make some delicious baking with the pulp.  Now, you probably know by now that I am not a recipe follower, and it doesn't help when the recipes you do find have ingredients that you do not have in the house.  What did I do?  Created my own!  (Ps. peach cookies are hard to come by....)  Anyhow, the recipe is below and I just tasted one (or a few :P) and they are quite delicious!  That being said, I feel they are not super clean haha!  They have sugar and flour in them, but now that I have a base recipe, I can try new concoctions (using oatmeal, agave syrup, etc.)  Anyhow, they turned out sweet!

EDIT: I FORGOT. ADD 1 TSP OF BAKING POWDER!!

So today started off kind of rocky (but I shan't blame it on Friday the 13th.  It's my own stupidity.)  I had a mashup of vegan cupcake, cottage cheese, and walnuts for breakfast, followed by 3 cups of coffee, then heading to Stellas for lunch with my friend and hairstylist, Les.  There, instead of opting for a salad, I settled for a chicken burger (on a large delicious whole wheat bun) and cilantro dipping sauce for my hashbrowns.  Yep.  That was today.  What was supper you ask?  If I said my peach cookies, is that bad?  Just kidding, I also ate my leftover Taco Smashers.  Delicious! 

So yah, not the most stellar of days in my books, but I will not eat past 8:00 tonight.  (so...now.) because I feel so gross when I wake up after I eat late.  It shall be green tea and water for the remainder of the evening.  With that, I bid you adieu.

Date: September 13, 2013!
Current weight: 239

Goal for the day:  ballet practice
What is your plan for food today?

ugh. I don't want to talk about it...

Planned water intake: 108 oz (5 water bottles full)