Latest obsessions

Health, health, health I tell you!

Here’s what I’m up in a crazed daze about lately:

Trader Joe’s always and forever till I die, homie. More specifically, their salads and their new Mini Cafe Twists (made without dairy, butter, eggs or yeast). I’m not actually sure what they’re made of, but at only 30 calories a piece they’re pretty awesome with some strawberries and light whip cream. Strawberry shortcake in the spring and summer sun is one of my all-time favorite desserts!

I also decided that instead of buying a ton of ingredients and ending up with a ton of produce that goes bad, salad burnout, or crappy tasting salads, I was just going to run to Trader Joe’s and buy salads every week. With a ton of options at $3.99 a piece, they make super healthy, yummy lunches. I’m in love with the Spa Salad (chicken, noodles, grapes, mandarins, and lettuce in a curry dressing for only 320 calories!)

AND… to top of my week of wanting to feel healthy… I bought myself a new treat. There are very few things I love more in life than wearing yoga pants. On a whim last weekend, I picked up a cute pair of Victoria Secret’s PINK MVP yoga pant (in a fun paint splatter print). Not only are they SUPER comfy, but they don’t rub when I run, and they hold all my lady bits in, making me seem a whole ton more firm than I really am. Score!

Loves I tell you. Loves all around.

Currently Feeling: Excited to get the new Girl Power Hour blog calendar launched, the the blog guide I wrote sent out. Lots of work for exciting new things coming up!
Currently Anticipating: My roommate coming home from vacation. Sometimes it’s nice to have the house to yourself, but then I start to get freaked out by every little sound and can’t wait for the safety in numbers!
Currently Needing: A pedicure. Or a new fabulous toe color. I’m bored with pink, and my Miami gold sparkle pedicure is chipping off big time.

This is Life. Jump In. Make it Count.

Last week I went to a fantastic “Belly, Body & Balance” workshop. With cocktails in hand, we split into groups and traveled around to three stations – Belly (how to make fresh guacamole and more with Chef’n tools), Body (an ab workout with Sassy Fit) and Balance (a workshop from Stratejoy on how to “trust your gut”).

If there’s one thing I’m always trying to be mindful of in my life, it’s balance - how much time I spend with my friends or my family, how much I’m giving myself to work, or working out, or reading, or volunteering. Making sure I take time to calm down, take a break, have a drink or three, breath slowly… 1…2…3.

Balance is top of mind since I’ve left college and entered the busy, stressful world of “my career.”And while sometimes I feel like I know all the answers, there are moments when I’m reminded that I can always learn something new.

Molly from Stratejoy gave me the most poignant damn 20 minutes of learning that I’ve had in a longtime.

Not only did she teach me that balance isn’t about spending an hour a day on the six pieces of the pie in life (relational, personal, professional, financial, spiritual or physical), it’s about making sure that when you’re going to bed, and when you wake up in the morning, that you’re happy. And calm. And stress and anxiety free.

That should be the definition of balance.

I’ve always had the list thing all figured out – balancing and planning my week. Making sure I’m on top of my calendar for the weeks and months to come. But Molly told us, – our little group of spandexed women sitting cross-legged – to take a step back from our calendar and not decide what you need to do (because it will all get done) but how do you want to feel.

She recommended sitting down on Sundays, while preparing for the week, and deciding…

How do you want to feel this week?

And once you’ve decided how you want to feel… what have you committed to? Will these commitments help you experience your desired feeling? Or do you need to cancel or add things that will.

So this is officially my new Sunday evening routine.

How do I want to feel, universe? Is it playful, sassy, flirty, fashionable, strong, positive or frugal?

This week, it’s healthy. Next week… who knows.

That’s the interesting thing about balance – it’s a constant ebb and flow. An up and a down. And it’s a wonder it took me this long to realize it’s going to take me listening to my thoughts, feelings and needs on a weekly basis to ever really feel like I’ve conquered it all.

You can see my pics and notes from the event in my Whrrl story here.

Currently Feeling: Smiley after a great day with my family.
Currently Anticipating: Sharing my new herb garden with you (tomorrow); I’m so excited to watch things grow!
Currently Loving: Strawberry shortcake. I can’t get enough of it lately!

The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat

I’ve been hearing about this Zumba stuff for quite awhile. First was from the lovely Chelsea from Chelsea Talks Smack, who I believe actually taught/teaches a class. Next, an insanely bright yellow sign cropped up in my neighborhood, advertising a Zumba class. And then the final straw, the studio I go to every week for celebrity bootcamp added a class.

So I had to try it. At least once. Like that crazy Nia fitness class I went to last year.

You say bandwagon, I jump!

And so I did. Literally. I jumped. And sashayed. I shook my hips (and they don’t lie). I pivoted my pelvis with my hands in the air. I sassified it up, twisting my hands, dipping and pursing my lips. I sweated. I danced in my yoga pants under rainbow disco lights. I smiled. Because dancing just does that to you.

Zumba is Latin rhythms and dancing, with a bit of salsa and some occasional lunges and strength training moves. Basically it’s just learning new steps and dancing routines for an hour, to at least six or seven songs. As each song went by, the more confident and sassy I became. I turned into the whitest, nerdiest Shakira out there. For an hour. It was totally liberating.

Pretty soon, this is going to be me:

(Is it weird that I’m already looking up Carmen Miranda costumes for Halloween?!)

Currently Feeling: Ready for the weekend and slowing down a bit! I’ve had a busy week.
Currently Anticipating: The Seattle Fashion Week launch party tonight at Hard Rock Cafe with two of the Girl Power Hour gals.
Currently Hating: That I have to wait so long for my BooksFree.com books to arrive! I’m ready to dive into another book, yo!

Pretty soon I’ll be calling myself a Fat Kid

Nearly a year ago, I posted a quick post called, “This is Why I call my boyfriend a Fat Kid.” It contained a picture of his freezer:

In case you’re too lazy to click through to the post from last year, that’s 1 Costco-size box of Eggos, 1 bag of “chicken fries,” 1 bag of honey BBQ chicken wings, 1 Tony’s pizza, 1 box of bacon wrapped scallops and 1 box of Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches.

Gross, right! Well I think of this pic every time I step into the kitchen at my new job and see this:

In case you can’t make it out, that’s 1 box of Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies, 2 boxes of trail mix (one with a special yogurt and peanut butter & jelly mix), 1 variety box from Pepperidge Farms, which includes Goldfish AND Milano cookies, 1 variety pack of Tim’s Cascade potato chips, including the always irresistible Hawaii Sweet Onion, 2 boxes of variety packs of chips, 1 box of Grandma’s Cookies, and 2 boxes of single cereal, including my all-time fav, Golden Grahams.

All of that is in our kitchen at work. For us to take when we feel so inclined! And when I say this kind of food is gross, I really mean I want to double fist it into my mouth right meow!

AAKKKK.

Between this and trying to squeeze in a new “working all day” workout routine, I’m fo sho going to turn into a fat kid.

Currently Feeling: Really great after a productive and enjoyable work week. Nothing like starting a weekend off right!
Currently Anticipating: The first Halloween party tonight! Whoop!
Currently Needing: To attend the gym I joined downtown near my new office. Why does it always take me so long to get over the hump of winter workouts at a gym? I hate it so!

Check it off! I crossed the finish line!

I completed my first 5K last weekend! (Something that is on my Bucket List). Some of you know that I’ve been training the last two months for it… sorta. One of my best friends, Kristen, and I tried to work up to running the entire 5K with an interval training program we found on Runner’s World. But, it turned into us kinda bailing out more often than not to bike ride or sunbathe and running only three days a week.

But I did it! I ran the whole time… I’m pretty proud. I’ve never ran a race before, and it was super fun. The biggest challenge I thought was sticking to my own pace at the beginning while every one took off a breakneck speed. I’m pretty slow, but I wanted to make sure I paced myself, so I could run the entire time.

I didn’t feel like it was a huge struggle, but I was glad to see that finish line (with beer and bananas. Oh my, what a pair). I’m definitely going to sign up for another race in a couple months to keep up the cardiovascular momentum!

And of course, after all that running and working out, a girl’s gotta eat. So, I washed down my 5K calorie burn with a corn dog! DUH.

Currently Feeling: Pumped from the Pearl Jam concert last night. Eddie makes my heart sing.
Currently Anticipating: Sunbathing today! End of summer, what? It’s supposed to be 89 degrees in Seattle.
Currently Loving: That I can smell the saltwater air coming through my windows right now. I love living near the water!

Update: 100 Salads of Summer

Last week, I started picking my way through the list of 101 Salads for Summer that I previously posted about. I decided that I’d just randomly move through the list as my taste buds see fit. The first two I picked out were:

# 2. Mix wedges of tomatoes and peaches, add slivers of red onion, a few red-pepper flakes and cilantro. Dress with olive oil and lime or lemon juice. Astonishing.

My notes: I love that these “salads” can be served alone, or work great as a side dish too. I think I’ll have a better understanding of how to pair veggies, fruits, oils and ingredients after this. It’s hard, however, to figure out the proportions of these salads since each “recipe’ is just an ingredients list. I thought the red onion WAY overpowered this salad; next time I’ll use way less. The cilantro is also powerful, and the red pepper didn’t stand out enough. The colors in this salad are simply amazing though! Red, green, orange, yellow, purple! I threw mine over some quineau and served it with chile lime verde crusted salmon.

# 3. A nice cucumber salad: Slice cucumbers thin (if they’re fat and old, peel and seed them first), toss with red onions and salt, then let sit for 20 to 60 minutes. Rinse, dry, dress with cider vinegar mixed with Dijon mustard; no oil necessary.

My Notes: Who doesn’t love cucumber! I once again guessed on the ingredients – and didn’t put enough Dijon mustard in the cider vinegar. But this was super easy breezy. I served it with a portebello mushroom Garden Burger over a lettuce leaf, sprinkled with pepper jack cheese. Kinda random, but I’m cutting out carbs this week to make up for all the wine I drank last week! (I had two wine tasting events I attended. Uber fun; but that much wine is terrible for the waistline).

The next two I’m going to try:

6. Sichuan slaw: Toss bean sprouts, shredded carrots and celery, minced fresh chili, soy sauce, sesame oil and a bit of sugar. Top with chopped peanuts and chopped basil, mint and/or cilantro. (The full trio is best.)

14. A classic Moroccan thing: Thinly slice carrots, or grate or shred them (the food processor makes quick work of this). Toss with toasted cumin seeds, olive oil, lemon juice and cilantro. Raisins are good in here, too. There is no better use of raw carrots.

(I have a box of fresh cilantro now that I’m trying to use up!)

Currently Feeling: Over packed with all this volunteering I’m doing – but at least I’m staying busy!
Currently Anticipating: The season opener of Top Chef 6 tonight! There are two Seattle chefs on it this season, and I’ve met one of them!
Currently Needing: To stick to my 5K training program. (Don’t laugh). I finally registered for one in September, so I can cross it off my to-do list for 2009!

Atleast once a day, kiddies!

Apologies in advance, for I’m about to talk about something slightly gross and inappropriate…

No, not fat people, chicken farming, vaginas or puking…

FLOSSING.

I’ll admit. I spent a huge chunk of my life not flossing. I’d always dread the dentist cause they’d jam their floss in between my teeth (in a very ungentle fashion), leaving my gums sore for days afterward. And they’d lecture me each time, “Do you FLOSS? You need to FLOSS. At least once a day!”

I think flossing was flushed down the same shoot as washing my face every night. (I know, I know. I’m gross. And I can’t believe I’m admitting this on the worldwide Web.) I guess I can just blame my MOM. Thanks a lot mom. You forgot to teach me, at a young age so it was ingrained in my being, that I needed to floss and wash my face every night. Hmph.

So it wasn’t until recently that I started to become a Flosser. I don’t know if it’s because my teeth are moving, leaving larger and larger gaps as I get older (that’s really exciting to think about), but in the last six months or so, I feel like I always have something stuck in my teeth after eating. So I started flossing after every meal, and OH.MY.GOD.

Have you seen the stuff that gets stuck in your teeth after a meal? I mean, I’m pulling out huge chunks of chicken, steak, bacon (Mmm. Maybe I should save that for later) or whatever else I’ve eaten. It seriously, seriously disturbs me. I mean, if you don’t floss after meals, or at least at night, that food is just sitting in your teeth ROTTING. Like rotten meat. In your TEETH and mouth. The same mouth you kiss people with! And if you don’t floss and get that junk out of there, where does it go? Does it just disintegrate into your gums? Have you ever had a chunk of something come out of your teeth in your mouth, and you’re like, “Hmm. I didn’t eat corn for dinner…” Yah. Because if you didn’t floss, it’s probably the corn you ate LAST WEEK.

Do you see how neurotic I’ve become about this? I’ve starting carrying around floss in my bag. And the times I haven’t had floss (like when I forget it camping), I make my BF drive me to the store so I can buy some. I mean, I’m probably diddling away my severance package on dental floss. Thank god the BF is just as neurotic about it. I mean, we both shiestly sneak away after every meal so we can floss, which is kinda weird, but at least I know I’m not going to be kissing someone with rotten food in their teeth. I think if I find myself single again someday, “Being a Flosser” is going to go on my list of requirements in a mate.

Cause all I’m going to think about every time I kiss someone from here on out is, “Gee, I hope you don’t have ROTTEN DEAD BABY ANIMAL hiding away anywhere in there.”

I bet you want to go floss now.

Currently Feeling: An extreme need to grocery shop. I’ve been getting creative with all the boxes and random ingredients, but now I’m out of eggs, bread and milk. Booo. Hisss.
Currently Anticipating: Bike riding tonight and then Superbad at Redhook Brewery outdoor summer movies.
Currently Loving: Tuna. With lots and lots of pickles!

Trimming down my lady bits

I posted a couple weeks ago that I was trying a Summer Slimdown diet I found on Pretty in the City. I spent tons of money on fresh ingredients and special Tupperware for my salads, breakfasts and snacks (Um, if you haven’t seen the Fit N Fresh Tupperware, you must seek them out immediately. They come equipped with containers for dressing, silverware, frozen ice pack, etc. AND I found mine at Ross). Anywhoo. I did the diet for only a week, but I didn’t have as hard of a time with it as Karyn from Pretty in the City. I didn’t find myself headachy or starving. But then again, I try to keep a low sugar, healthy diet anyway. I liked the food, and I lost two pounds in the first week. (Water weight, but at least the scale was moving down!) Then it just became a little too hard to maintain with all the summer fun, barbecues and, ahem, wine. The lack of variety got to me (you can only have olive oil or guacamole for dressings or dips), so I eventually lost track of it as my healthy ingredients started to rot. I will say, if you decide to try it – I added a couple squirts of balsamic vinegar to my salads. Salads with just olive oil? Yuck! AND the Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar’s are Aaaa-mazing. Did anyone try it and succeed? Karyn has lost somewhere around 15 pounds, and I’m totally jealous.

Moving right along… I’m trying something new – but not a detoxish type thingy or pseudo fad diet. I’m going to do something FUN. I was reading Sweats in the City, and she posted an article in the New York Times with 100 quick and easy summer salads. How cool is that!

I’m always wanting to expand my salad options… I’m super uncreative and usually just eating sliced grilled chicken with some veggies and a random dressing. So, I decided that I’m going to try out two salads a week until I get bored with it. I haven’t decided yet if I should jump around, or start at 1 and work through… No diet. Just a little healthy food adventure I’m creating for myself. I’ll share the ones I super duper love here!

Currently Feeling: Surprisingly fresh even though I went to bed at 4am last night cause I was uploaded photos and writing blogs. WTF?
Currently Anticipating: Walking down to Purple Wine Bar & Cafe to meet Paolo, Cari and Al for lunch – and taking some pics of Seattle along the way!
Currently Contemplating: Finding a digi cam class to take.

Hotttt child in the city

For those of you who follow me on Twitter, Facebook or read my “Currently”s, you know that I went to hot yoga last night with my sister.

To say I was a bit nervous is an understatement – my anxiety toward the class continued to build as the day went on. It started with my post on Facebook about how I was nervous to go to hot yoga. From there, I received THIRTEEN comments from people, which either gave me advice on how not to pass out, or said things like, “Even sports athletes pass out!” or “Did I tell you about the time I passed out, got a concussion and had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance in the middle of class???” (True story). Gee, thanks friends.

It only escalated more when even the yoga teacher told me, “I see people swaying back and forth all the time – just lie down if you feel like you’re lightheaded. By signing these two papers, you agree to not leave the room, NO.MATTER.WHAT. Even if you think you’re going to pass out, just lie down, don’t leave the room.”

Um, yah. About that last part. Have I told you that I have minor anxiety about being sick in public and not being able to get away? If that doesn’t make sense… image why I have a fear of flying – because if I have to puke or have to go to “the bathroom” or catch the Ebola virus, I don’t want to be stuck in a place with a bunch of other people, in a situation that I can’t escape from. What can I say, I have a thing for being sick in the privacy of my own home. So let’s say I feel like I’m going to puke or pass out, I don’t want to be holed up in a room with all the other people in the yoga class.

After that little proclamation, I was ready to throw in the towel and give up completely. My heart was already palpitating a little bit. And to make matters worse, one of the most gorgeous, hot-bodied men I’ve seen in a long time was in line behind me, sans shirt, waiting to pay his price for the class I was signing up for. Scenes were flashing through my mind – I’d slump to the ground in a sweaty heap, my tongue would be lying out of my mouth, drool trailing slowly down my left cheek, the ambulance would come and they’d have to CUT OFF my yoga pants with scissors, and I’d be wearing granny work out panties. (Isn’t that why women wear cute underwear all the time – for the fear that we’ll be caught somewhere with our pants down, literally, in gross undies?!) And the hot man would be there to see the whole thing.

I sucked it up though, entered the room and set up my yoga mat. (My little sister was there to taunt me with the fact that hot yoga burns as many calories as an hour of running). I was only two minutes in, just sittin’ around and waiting for the instructor to start, and I was already thinking about how nice a hammock in a stiff breeze would feel. Or maybe dunking my head IN a pitcher of margaritas. Or taking an ice cold shower. That room is mother freakin’ HOT. I tried not to think too much about just how hot I was, cause then that good ole anxiety would start to creep up again, but if I panicked, I’d be STUCK in the room with everyone else watching me have a minor meltdown.

Anywhoo, hot yoga (or Bikram yoga, as it’s named after the founder) is a series of 26 postures and two breathing exercises. I didn’t know this, but it’s the same EVERY.time. In Power Yoga, or the yoga most gyms offer, it’s usually always different, ranging in different poses and sets of moves. But, the 26 poses in Bikram are exactly the same, from beginning to end, every class. The poses work in intervals, pushing yourself for one minute in a few poses, then doing them again for 30 seconds. Sort of a rise and fall – bringing your heart rate up and then letting it come back down. Wooo boy, did I appreciate that. And by “that,” I mean the slow down part. When you’re out of breath and your heart is rapidly beating, being in a 105-degree room with 40 percent humidity only compounds the agony. It’s like if you decided to run a marathon inside a sauna. So I appreciated every little rest and small sip of water I was gifted. (Cause, no lie, water sips are regulated in the class since actually having too much water can make you sick).

I totally managed to survive the class without passing out or panicking. It was a lot different than yoga classes I’ve attended in the past – a lot less relaxing, to tell you the truth. I feel like Bikram is more about pushing past a mental state of wanting to breakdown, rather than slow breathing and stretching while listening to a babbling brook. Afterward, it really is like no other feeling. Kinda like, “I can conquer the world!”

Oh, and I had NO idea that much sweat could come out of my body…

Currently Feeling: Sleepy from staying up too late to finish my resume for the career workshop I’m in today. (Good thing someone pushed me to finish by a deadline).
Currently Anticipating: Happy hour with Adam tonight.
Currenty Wishing: There was another “good” fat on this diet besides almonds, avocado and olive oil. Those three things are getting mighty boring for dressings.

Detoxish Type Thingy

Today I am starting a summer slim down detoxish type thingy. I prefer to call it a thingy instead of a diet because I’m an avid anti-crash diet type of a person. I’m abhor things like the Cabbage Soup Diet or those weird liquid diets made from lemon juice and cayenne pepper. But, I recognize the fact that I sometimes need a little jump start to again realize how great negating certain things from my daily food intake can make me feel. Like duh Je, pizza and beer make you feel sleepy, bloated and run down. Plus, I have an entire lake weekend planned in a couple weeks with all 10 of my high school girl friends who are triathaloners, marathon runners, nutritionist grad school students, skinny, size four biatches. As sad as it is to admit, at a size 8, I often feel HUGE around them. I would just like to feel proud of my curves and muscles, which means getting rid of just a little more squish. (Even though I successfully took off 10 pounds before leaving for Mexico in April by sticking to eating right and exercising via the help of SparkPeople.com).

I read about this detoxish type thingy on Pretty in the City. It’s from a nutritionist, and is focused on veggies, fruit, lean protein, healthy grains and healthy fats. I’ve been doing some version of this for at least three years now (based on the South Beach Diet, with low sugar and complex carbs), but am often falling off the wagon with a combo of my love of dinners and happy hours, and the contents in my boyfriend’s fridge. So, I’m going to try to do this for at least two weeks to kick my butt back into shape. And since weight loss is a 70 percent diet, 30 percent working out equation, I will supplement this with Jillian Michaels’ DVDs, paddle boating, bike riding, rollerblading and a jog or two if I can push through the boredom.

Yesterday I bought all the ingredients for the diet, and was able to purchase everything at Trader Joe’s, which thrilled me. I spent an hour or so, chopping everything up into freezer bags since it’s largely vegetable based and easier to just grab a handful of pre-chopped veggies to throw into a scramble or salad. It will be a lot of preparation and discipline, but I have nothing but time on my hands, so I don’t think that will be an issue for me.

I’ll keep you guys updated here, if you want to know how it goes or are interested in doing it yourself. To read the detailed plan for the detoxish type thingy, click through to the link for Pretty in the City. Wish me luck!

Currently Feeling: Super excited to head social media marketing for Girl Power Hour (a volunteer opportunity I took on as of yesterday).
Currently Anticipating: Trying out hot yoga with my sis tomorrow. (I had to cancel on her last week).
Currently Needing: To visit my friend Justin in L.A. I’m so bummed I had to cancel my Fourth of July plans there because I got laid off!