Try Something New Everyday!

Let's play "Guess What Xtina Ate for Breakfast!"

Breakfast 1: Oat Bran w/ Raspberries

Breakfast 2: Skinny Caramel Latte and Reduced-Fat Very Berry Coffee Cake

EHHH you're wrong. The raspberry oats were Victoria's. I ate coffee cake for breakfast. This is a big deal. I rarely eat anything other than fiber cereal, oats, or toast w/ pb & banana...especially during the work week. What's the occasion? Nothing other than FREE PASTRY DAY at Starbucks...like I needed an excuse to eat something fatty. How fun. In my twisted mind I'm already undoing what I'm about to do on Saturday morning...

COOPER RIVER BRIDGE 10K

bb snapture on the way home from work

I'm nervous. The 5K last week went really well--my official time was 27:21--but, in case you can't multiply, a 10K is twice as long. And I did something really bad to my ankles last week. I blame my new sneakers. They feel bruised and when I go down the stairs, I feel like they're going to snap. That can't be good. I decided to take it easy last night and tried something new: YOGA.

Yoga = bizarre. First problem was the guy next to me. WHY did 1 of 2 men in the class have to place his mat next to mine? Spot to the left of me was already reserved for air thank you very much. Don't worry, I made it a point to "accidently" whack his hand with mine...twice. And at the end of the class he apologized for "hitting" me. Good. Now he knows that I take up two spaces and he will never park his sweatiness near me. 

Ok, back to being serious -- it was a good switch-up from the treadmill pounding and I got a good stretch but it was just too slooooooow for me. I can't handle posing in the same position for more than 5 seconds...unless you are taking my picture and planning on tagging it on facebook in which case I will sit and let you snap 500 pictures of me. I'll give Yoga another try next Monday but I also plan on trying Zumba too. According to Eco's site, Zumba "fuses hypnotic latin rhythms and easy to follow moves to creat a dynamic fitness program that will blow you away...an absolute blast in one exhilirating hour of caloric-burning, body-energizing, awe-inspring movements meant to engage and captivate for life."

Key Phrases:

• easy to follow - unless i'm popping adderall, this is my level
• one exhilirating hour - as if 55 minutes isn't enough? geez.
• caloric-burning - great news, more eating 

Please oh pleeeeeease let me learn awe-inspiring moves that will blow someone away. Like maybe if Lil Wayne ever comes to Charleston I can bust out my Zumba moves and become one of his girlz. 

xtina + weezy + nicki - it could happen, right?

Ok probably not, seeing as last week my trainer told me "You don't have very much control over your body today." Uhh. To that I said "Fine, time to lay." And spread myself on the floor until he let me do something different. In that moment, I am 100% sure he hated me.

Let's end on a happy note with a link that is very appropriate to this post. All single girls need to check out this Glamour article!


CIAO!

The Most Inapprop Post Ever...NSFW!!

Friday's 5:30 therapy session: Whole Foods. Mission: Cheese. I frolicked over to my 2nd favorite section to buy a cheese that Jenna and I tried last week. We literally had a cheese party with two of the workers who let us try 9 different kinds. My intention was to go back for the Cave Aged Gruyere. It is a hard cow cheese from Switzerland that has been aged for a year in underground caves. It has an intense, smooth flavor with little salt crystals throughout. I picked up a slab and then asked the cheeseman about another one we tried: Robiola. Unfortunately they were out of Robiola. Cheeseman came around the corner saying, "We might have some next week, but for now, see what you think of this. It's another soft Italian cheese." He whipped out his permanent marker, scribbled on the wheel of cheese and said, "Here ya go, enjoy!" 

In case you didn't know, "N/C" means no charge. No charge for a 1/2 pound of cheese? HAPPY FRIDAY TO ME! I didn't even have to flirt. Now, here's the stuff I paid for:

• Bananas
• Pear, for an upcoming amazing sandwich
• Apples
• Honey Wheat bread...bc I could smell it through the bag and just had to have it
• Sweet potato
• Parsnip, gosh those things are freaky looking
• Luna Bars

I sliced the sweet potato and parsnip, tossed with olive oil and cinnamon and baked it for...a long time.

I panicked when I realized I didn't have any ketchup and nervously grabbed my favorite Classico four cheese pasta sauce. I ended up grating Pecorino Romano cheese on it...It became 5 cheese!

A hot mess that tasted delish.

Saturday's breakfast was simple but oh so tasty: Sweet & Salty oat bran:

• 1/3 cup oat bran
• 1/3 cup original almond milk
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/2 sliced banana
• spoonful of cinnamon raisin swirl peanut butter
• spoonful of fluff

I mustered up the energy to go to the gym 2 hours later. I was deeply concerned about the state of my abs and/or I wanted to work up an appetite for lunch...which was out of this world. I headed over to Village Bakery for a daily special. Village Bakery is a cute little breakfast/lunch place on Pitt St. in Mt. Pleasant. It's in the same restaurant family as Mustard Seed, Sette, Boulevard Diner, Longpoint Grill, and Uno Mas. They've got great fresh sandwiches, delicious sides, and a pretty decent breakfast menu, too! They also have a selection of teas and desserts! All of their sandwiches are served on freshly baked bread that you can buy by the loaf. One of my favorite sandwiches from Village Bakery is their Turkey and Provolone sandwich: smoked turkey, provolone, and a cranberry relish. And what they mean by cranberry relish is fresh cranberries that have been simmered in orange juice and sugar. Yum. 

Saturday's special was "Balsamic roasted chicken, baby spinach, mozzarella, with a sun-dried tomato basil aioli served hot on a ciabatta roll."

Look at that ooey gooey cheese madness.

As my side I chose the Irish salad: wheat berries with bits of cabbage, potatoes, and corned beef. This was interesting and great!

I washed it all down with a Zevia Black Cherry. This flavor has some kick! Great stuff. 

And now it's time for the Not Safe For Work part of this post. Drum roll, please...

Yes, people, this is real life in the Ethnic section of Publix. I shamelessly snapped a picture of this with my Blackbaby and immediately proceeded to message this to as many BBM contacts as possible.

Reactions:
Aaron: Oh my..
Ally: LOL!!!!! Buy me some while you're at it.

Alyssa: Lol - always the most random stuff with you.

Anna: Wtf!? Bahaha. Isn't it like some sort of english pudding crap?

Brandon: What the f is that? It sounds like a disease.

Callie: hahahahah wtf!

David: Hahaha! Wtf is that sgit! Yeah, he spelled it like that.

Erin: Aaron said its an english dessert?

Frankie: That's English bread pudding and I like the name. I'm telling his wife!

Gerry: Get me 2
Heather: No way!!! Lol lol lol. (Me: Should I buy it?) Eww no thanks spotted dicks can't be a good thing.
Nancy: What the f is that!? Better be good!

Heather 2: What the hell is that??

Heera: Wtf!

Laura: Wtf bahahhahaah

Megan: Bahahaah you crack me up!

Nick: I'll take my dick withoout spots, please.

Nikki: wahaahah gross u ate it? 

Santo: That shit looks disgusting! What is that? Are you eating dick tonight? Promise me you'll blog about it. 

Sean: Stay away from that. You could end up with a spotted baby. 

Scott: They make medications for that.

Anonymous: Just call me.

Conclusions:

• Everybody says wtf. 
• A lot of people toss in a "b" when laughing
• I shouldn't buy it.

Whose reaction was your fave? Mine was Santo's. 

Falling back in love...with Oat Bran

For the past two weeks this little creature-of-habit has been eating Fiber One original cereal with a banana and skim milk. This morning I woke up and really wanted oat bran. Luckily when I got to work, Victoria had some left in her stash. I bummed ingredients off of three coworkers and made this new creation:

• 1/3 cup oat bran
• 1/3 cup skim milk
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/2 banana, sliced
• 1 tbsp honey peanut butter
• pretzels

It was great! All it was missing was some chocolate drizzle -- I could have made Chunky Monkey oat bran! Maybe next week...

 

In other news...last night at the gym I attempted to pick up a kettle ball. 

As it creepily reminded me of this guy,

I stood there like, "Ok, now what?" A beast of a man came up to me and asked if I needed help. Was he kidding? All I could do was mutter "Be my trainer." SMOOTH. Long story short, he showed me what to do, and after 5 minutes with him, I decided he was my new man trainer. We discussed training options, and I told him I just needed a few sessions of him screaming at me/teaching me how to use the machines. I also made sure he could handle a clumsy, goofy, easily-distracted girl who may or may not fall off a machine. He said he could, as long as I could handle his corny jokes. This should be fun. I start Tuesday night. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated.

There's an Egg in My Oats!

Call me crazy, but I really wanted to combine my two new faves: oat bran & a fried egg. Don't scrunch your nose up just yet...

In the bowl:
1/4 cup oat bran
1/2 cup water
1/8 cup cheese
1 fried egg
s&p

As the oats were thickening, I fried the egg. I plopped that baby right on top and added some cheese:


I put the lid on the old Oikos container, stuffed it in my purse, and headed to work. Three minutes later (yes I work that close), the steam had melted the cheese! Yum!


I ended up adding ketchup for more flavor. I secretly want to add ketchup to eeeeeeverything.

After work I went to my aunt's house to visit. Before eating dinner, my cousin Gabby and I squeezed in some exercise. I ran two miles, then walked one, then we rode bikes for another two together. She is so cute! I forgot to take a picture of her on her bike though.

I borrowed Kelly's sweet ride. I can't be trusted with a real baby on a bike.

For dinner, Kelly roasted a chicken with rosemary, lemon, and garlic.


She also roasted potatoes, carrots, turnips, and onions. The turnips were SO good -- definitely a new fave.

In addition to the roasted vegetables, she made a spinach souffle.


My plate:


Baby grabbing the camera:


Now I'm home impatiently waiting for my girls to come on tv...Golden Girls that is. I'm actually watching that oooold movie, Ghost, right now. Whoopi Goldberg makes me smile. And Patrick Swayze, well, he really is a Ghost now, haha. Okay, okay, an angel. :)

Feeling better already...!

Day 3 of Operation Goddess complete! Woohoo! I swear I feel better already, haha.

Here's what I ate throughout the day:

Breakfast: 1/3 cup oat bran + 1/3 cup milk + 1/3 cup water + 1/2 banana, topped with a couple cranberries, walnuts and pumpkin seeds and green tea
Snack: 1/2 banana
Lunch: 1/2 pita pocket with rosemary ham, cheese, dijon mustard. Small bowl of spinach with raspberry balsamic dressing
Snack: apple
Before working out: couple bites of last night's food bc my stomach was growling

After I worked out, Brandon came over. We threw together yummy salads that consisted of spinach, chicken, sliced peaches, cranberries, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, and raspberry balsamic vinaigrette. Yummy!


I will try to do a better job of taking pics of everything I eat. It's so much more fun than reading text. Night guys!

Step by Step Pumpkin Oat Bran!

Come here fall and give me a big hug!!

I dread the summer coming to an end, but this year, I think I'll go all grammy-like and embrace the seasons! Last night's soup was warm and cozy, so why not make breakfast the same?

We went on a 2 1/2 mile run together (sort of...) and then it was time to welcome pumpkin into our lives. Last night when we were at Publix getting stuff for the soup, I couldn't find pumpkin. I asked ones of the workers and she told me they don't usually get pumpkin until October. Okay, so I'm a little early! I was like eeeeek, bc it was 8:40 ish and Whole Foods closes at 9. Don't worry, Brandon's beast of a truck got us there in time.

Here is a step-by-step process of how I made the oat bran!

In a saucepan over high heat, add 1/3 cup of milk and 1/3 cup water. Add 1 tsp vanilla if desired. I always desire vanilla.


Once the liquid is boiling and acting crazier than Britney Spears, remove from heat and add 1/3 cup of oat bran.


And pumpkin:
Then add your toppings! For the pumpkin oat bran I used the following:
-cinnamon
-a dollop of vanilla greek yogurt
-a swirl of maple syrup
-a few walnuts and dried cranberries.

The work of art:
Verdict: Success in my mouth!

Oat Bran Obsession

Uh oh...I have a new obsession.

After reading about Oat Bran all over Jenny's blog, I picked some up at Whole Foods last weekend. I only scooped up a little bit for Brandon and me to try because I wasn't sure if I'd like it. Turns out I'm in love, and I went back and bought like 2 lbs of the stuff...for now. It took me about 4 tries to get it right, but I think I have it down. Like oatmeal, you can mix anything in it. But it has more fiber! Exciting! Some of the things I've added so far are banana, almond butter, jelly, flax seed, cinnamon, apple pie spice, and brown sugar. (Not all those at once obviously).

Here's the combo I like best:
-1/2 banana, sliced thin
-1 tbsp almond butter
-1 tbsp blueberry jelly
-1 tbsp flax seeds

Perfección en la boca!


Is there a way to not be so clumsy? It's getting old. While the oats picture was uploading, I went to fill up my camelbak. It still had a little water in it, and as I was unscrewing the top, I dropped it. It bounced and splashed water all over my legs. NICE. Let's not even discuss the awful burn on the back of my arm from ironing last week, or the two iron burns from the week before, or the burn on my knuckle from the rotisserie chicken warmer at Whole Foods. I guess that's why my friends still call me a hot mess.

Happy Wednesday!