Another Wednesday means another What I Ate Wednesday.
You won’t guess where I am? That’s right, I am in Massachusetts. Of course, New England is always calling. For this WIAW, I show you some eats I have been grubbin’ on. But before we do that I wanted to talk about something that may be on your mine. Why are you seeing wheat?
Well to be honest and this is the honest truth; I just haven’t been hungry for anything. So the only thing I manage to eat is a sandwich that someone prepares for me. How does my stomach feel? Most of the times, it’s okay and I try to stick to sourdough or not to whole wheat bread (less bran for digesting). I know it probably not the best thing but I wanted to show you that I am human.
- Hanging with mom at the mall and made a stop at Panera Bread for a delicious panini!
It’s just that I have been all over the place, [even the post is all over] and these eats will show you so. Non-the-less they are delicious. Oh, I had to share with you some yummy vanilla froyo with blackberries and almonds with my mom while we were at the mall. Who can pass up some froyo?
Now for breakfasts, I have been doing this awesome WholeFoods find from Nature’s Path; Qi’a! 
It’s a delicious gluten-free superfood cereal and I’ve mix it into my breakfast cakes. The stats are awesome, you just really have to check it out. I tried out the cranberry vanilla in store and fell in love. And it has 15% of iron, which is perfect for my anemic behind.
For snacks, I couldn’t resist picking up on of these bad boys.
And how bout my lunch today? My friend and I went for Brazilian. My, oh, my! But I think I am the only one who eats Vegetarian style at a specialty meat BBQ place.
Other snacks have included bananas, apples, pears, nuts/seeds and dark chocolate chips. Nothing too interesting. But so far my favorite meal was this one of a turkey and herb sandwich on sourdough bread with blackberries and yogurt. Mmm, mmm good!
Question: Do you ever feel being in the blog/ social media world that you have to be perfect? I sometimes feel that but now I am just being me and showing that I am not perfect, I have flaws… MANY, MANY flaws. But it’s what makes me, me.
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Tags: Anemia, Brazilian Food, Food Allergy, Gluten-Free, Healthy Living, Nature's Path, Product Review, vegetarian, WIAW
Happy Easter my friends. Before this post, I have to share this with you guys. My friend wrote this to me. She is amazing and beautiful, love you!
After watching the documentary Vegucated it really opened up my eyes to a whole new life. I have been really inspired by Sabrina to take on healthy life by having a healthy diet. I have learned the importance of food and your relationship to food. After this documentary it further showed me more changes that I can make. I want to live a positive lifestyle filled with love and now I want to extend that love to a cruelty free diet. I have only started this new change and so far I feel fantastic.It is simpler than you think, its all a matter of choices. As they said it the documentary once you start eating healthier you want to eat healthier. Things taste better and you enjoy it more. As the days go on this change will get easier and just become a new lifestyle. I am going to try my best and try to be as vegan as I can, but I am not aiming for perfection, just being as healthy as I can. My goal for 2013 is to love my body, my life, friends and family, all living things, and be thankful for everything I have. Always think with a positive mind and lead with love and anything is possible…
I will be hanging out with my family and enjoying some quality time with an old friend. I never told you guys about how I took one of my friend’s grocery shopping. I was so proud of her, she really learned a lot and cleaned up her eats quite a lot. Baby steps!
I even showed her how to make a protein pancake. She of course is doing her own variation and she loves it. Can we say healthy breakfast?
Even my dad is getting a little dose of Sabrina. He’s getting into yoga, which is quite adorable.
Oh and I tried this natural candy called Snap. It has no junk and some good stuff in it. I tried the caramel, which was good but too chewy. Probably won’t get it again, although you should try them anyway.
Also this Rise honey almond protein bar was pretty good. A whooping 20g of it. I definitely want to try out their other flavors. Maybe the blueberry coconut?
Question: Ever tried Snap candy or Rise bars?
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Tags: Clean Eating, Grocery Shopping, Natural, Product Review, Protein
I finally bring you a Fun Finds Friday. This week it’s all about yogurt and some other random goodies. All was very delicious and I would try every single one over and over. Of course, some more then others. I haven’t been feeling to well, which you can tell by the lazy hair do. It’s probably just the weather. Any who, moving on…
First up is Dreaming Cow’s vanilla agave yogurt. I’m a sucker for a good ole vanilla yogurt so I had to try this one. It has more of a smoothie consistency which was great because I “drank” it before work one day. But the next flavor that I tried, oh boy.
I love the cow by the way, it it so adorable? It’s so awesome that they list all the goodness it has inside.
Maple ginger? Out of the two, hands down maple ginger wins. I could eat it all day and maybe use it to top the cinna-bun breakfast cake.
Another cute little cow, hehe.
I also found this Greek yogurt by Eros. I didn’t really find a website for this Greek yogurt but seriously, if you spot it, try it! It’s really up there for me in taste. It’s rich and creamy and I love that it only has 15g of sugar per serving versus other Greek yogurts that are higher.
Raw cheese? I also spotted some raw cheddar cheese. It’s suppose to be better on the digestion. From what I could tell, it definitely was a little better and it tasted so creamy and fresh.
Spice Muffin? You should know that I love me a good muffin. The spice muffin was absolutely delicious. I wish they weren’t just in Vermont. Guess it gives me an excuse to go visit, I suppose? 
Question: Any fun finds for you this week? I must get my hands on more Eros Greek yogurt!
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Tags: Dreaming Cow, Eros Greek Yogurt, Food Allergy, Gluten-Free, Product Review, Snacks
Before I go into this post, I would like to have a moment of silence for the tragedy that happened in Connecticut. It saddens me to think that someone would do something so terrible and so close to the holidays. I pray for all the family members that lost loved ones and hope that they can find the strength to cope with such pain.
***
Today was a delicious day of eats. I started out with a microwavable pancake (minus the cinnamon) topped with blueberries, cut up breakfast sausage and maple syrup.
I went to Whole Foods yesterday…uh yeah. I think I have become obsessed with it again. Especially since I found a short cut. But I just wanted to grab (yet again) a few things. I got some organic gala apples, grapes, yogurt, Justin’s vanilla almond butter, trail mix, yogurt and what is that you see?
A gluten, nut and corn free veggie burger. The ingredients look yummy (most are organic) and the stats look good (10% iron!). But how did it taste? Hilary’s Eat Well veggie burger was actually pretty tasty.
I paired the burger with the roasted red potatoes from Whole Foods and green beans. Not to mention a dollop of organic ketchup. I think I may have finally found the store bought veggie burger that can replace my former love for the Morning Star ones!
I also got some snacks for this girl that I am coaching. Yes, I am doing my first real coaching with an actual client. She is 16 years old, so I wanted to give her some healthy alternatives to her favorites. I want to start coaching more people, but more information will come on that later.
Right now I am just chillin’ with Herc. He has been misbehaving for the past few days and he knows it! As you can see, he is hiding and trying to avoid me. 
Question: Have you ever seen or tried Hilary’s Eat Well burgers?
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Tags: Breakfast, Corn Allergy, Food Allergy, Gluten-Free, Mr. Hercules, Pancakes, Peanut Allergy, Product Review, Protein, Vegan, Whole Foods
Here are a couple random goodies that I have tried in the past week or so. But before I go into that, I want to talk about something quite interesting. I have been increasing my calories and protein and have noticed that my muscle and toning is drastically improved. (Not this much though…soon enough!)
I didn’t realize how little protein I was eating versus the amount of activity I do; I work 8 hours and at work I am vigorously active for an hour and I walk around or stand for about 3 of those hours. Not to mention I go to the gym for 45 minutes and when I go home I am cleaning for about an hour.
When I calculated my body only felt like it was eating 1500 calories (net) and I’d like it to feel like it ate 1700-1800 calories. I am now averaging 2200 calories a day, 80 grams of protein and 30 grams of fiber.
My sugars come from natural sources like fruits and veggies and the added ones come from pure maple syrup, dried fruit, vanilla soy milk, Chobani Greek yogurts, and others. I am always amazed at how the body works when you do different things to it. Always.
Enough of the crazy philosophical-ness of the body, onto the goodies. The first I have is Rickland Orchards Cherri Almond Greek Yogurt bar. I tried the coconut almond of this brand but I wanted to try something tart this time around.
I must say, I rather enjoyed it. I love the balance of the stats; 160 calories, 7 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber and 11 sugars. It kept me satisfied for about 2-3 hours which was perfect. If you find them, try them out. I’ll be trying the peach next. That one only has 8 grams of sugar!
Next I have Amy’s Gluten-Free Cheese Pizza on a rice crust. I was going to get their one serving pizza but it was $5.99 versus this big one was $8.99 for THREE servings. You do the math there.
Any who, this pizza was really, really good. I found the crust to be similar to the Pizza Hut crust. I use to love Pizza Hut and now I have something pretty close. If you find it, I’d say go try it out!
Question: Has anyone else found this to be the case when doing vigorous activity or different things to your body? Always having to change it up is always a challenge for me. I always do something different, so it hard to give my body the proper nutrients it needs.
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Tags: Amy's, Clean Eating Program, Gym, Maintain Weight Loss, Pizza, Product Review, Protein, Snacks, Weight Loss
I meant to post this last Friday. I have some fun finds for you guys. You may recognize some of the products from previous posts saying that I was going to try them. I finally have and not to mention there are non-food finds too! It’s just one non-day isn’t it?
The first product is a honey bush caramel tea by Revolution. I really want to get into tea because sometimes at night or after dinner I want “something” but not really. If that makes any sense. I figured tea would be a good option because it’s zero calories and full of antioxidants.
I added a Stevia packet, 1/4 of soymilk and 2/3 cup of hot water. The results? It tasted really good! Like nice warm milk with a sweet hint of caramel. Look for it in your supermarket and give it a try.
Next up is Annie’s GF Deluxe Mac N’ Cheese. I’ve been craving mac and cheese but have been too lazy to make my simple homemade mac n’ cheese. I made it and added steamed Brussels sprouts. The results? It was good, but not as good as their regular gluten-free mac n’ cheese box. 
And finally, we have a hair product! You may not know, but I love hair products. I just don’t really use them. I’ve been looking for a sea salt spray from my hair ever since John Frieda discontinued their beach waves sea salt spray when I was in high school. It was the best spray ever.
I found this one by Not Your Mother’s as a trial for $3.00. I decided to give a try and I have to say it works amazing! It gives you nice beach waves and leaves your hair smelling like a hint of summer. You have to find and try it if you love the sexy, tousled beach wave look.
Question: Has there ever been a product that you loved and their discontinued? Another one that I can remember was VO5 Oasis shampoo and conditioner. Smelled so good!
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Tags: Annie's, Pasta Dishes, Product Review
It isn’t a secret that I love bars. They are just quick, easy and quite yummy. I’ve done other bar reviews for Fun Finds Friday like in FFF#1 and FFF#4. For this Friday, I am going to be review three bars I’ve recently tried; a protein bar, a fiber bar and a “mix of both” bar.
Fit ‘n Crisp by Promax: This protein bar resembles a rice crispy treat. The last time I ate one of those was sophomore year of college. I was a rice crispy addict, so I was excited to relive my fun college days. 
This bar has 13 grams of protein at only 140 calories. But how bout the taste? Exactly like a rice crispy treat, but it did have a little after taste (nothing major). I would definitely get the bar again (Warning: not labeled gluten-free and has a tiny bit of corn derivatives) and it’s also available in cinnamon crunch.
Luna Fiber Bar in Chocolate Raspberry: I’ve already tried the vanilla blueberry flavor, which was absolutely delicious. I spotted the chocolate raspberry and wanted to give it a try.
For 110 calories it has 7 grams of fiber. Taste wise? It was pretty good but not as good as the vanilla blueberry. Most likely I won’t be getting this flavor again. I would have loved the try the peanut butter, except for the tiny fact that I am allergic. Hey Luna, make more flavors please 
Clif Bar in Iced Gingerbread: The white chocolate macadamia Clif bar will always be number one to me. Since it’s the holidays Clif has seasonal flavors; pumpkin spice, chocolate peppermint and iced gingerbread. The pumpkin spice was okay, so I was hoping the iced gingerbread was better.
For 250 calories it has 5 grams of fiber and 9 grams of protein. I had it one of my more hectic days, where I need that “extra.” Call me weird, but I drizzled a tiny bit of maple syrup on it and it tasted like Christmas. I will definitely get this flavor again. And if you haven’t already, try out all of their seasonal flavors.
Question: Don’t you love when companies throw out seasonal flavors or items? Now if only Chobani would do a pumpkin Greek yogurt, and I’d be set!
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Tags: Better For You, Clif Bar, Fiber, Food Allergy, Fun Finds Friday, Grocery Shopping, Healthy Living, Luna Bar, Maintain Weight Loss, Peanut Allergy, Product Review, Protein
A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by SlimKicker for the opportunity to try out one of their new products coming on next year. It’s going to be a fitness tracker and now that I am in maintenance, I am all about working on my fitness goals.
In the meantime, I checked out their website and signed up for their online fitness/ nutrition tracker. It is very similar to Calorie Counter and Lose It. There are several things that make this tracker different from other trackers out there.
First of all, the nutrition stats of your daily eats (after you enter the foods you ate) is pretty impressive. It’s clearer and you can see better what you need to focus on, not only overall, but also for each meal. I obviously need to cut down the carbs and work on my protein and fat intake.
You can also set up rewards for yourself. As you achieve your goals, you get to rack up points. The more points you rack up, the more you get to the next level. You can set which level you would like to reward yourself. I set my reward for level five; a little shopping spree that will consist of buying some new fall sweaters.
This definitely gives me motivation to kick my butt into fitness high gear. I have been slacking in the gym department (by my standards) and need to get hot for Halloween. Here’s what it look it looked like after I entered my first day of meals and exercise. 
Some other cool things is the opportunity to join groups, share daily goals with other SlimKicker members and you can even join challenges. I decided to join the slow down challenge, since everything in my life has been on a fast spree.
I definitely want to slow down my eating and work pace. I’ve been eating too fast and working too fast. I don’t want to mess up my shoulder again now that it’s feeling better.Since I want to rack up points to get my sweaters, you know I will be working on the challenge.
What are you waiting for? Go check out SlimKicker now!
Question: Have you tried any fitness/ nutrition application or website?
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Tags: Healthy Living, Maintain Weight Loss, Product Review, SlimKicker, Workouts
This week has been [yet another] crazy week. Between moving, starting school and starting my new work schedule, I haven’t had time to think. But now that class has started (and the teacher seems awesome by the way) and I am slowly getting use to my work schedule (I do split shifts with a four hour gap in between) I am finally able to relax a bit.
I finished moving all my stuff into the new room. It may look a bit different then the previous picture and well, that’s because it is. I found a better living situation (and cheaper if I may add) and it accepts kitties! I’m going to let my parentals hang with Mr. Herc for a while until I reclaim him, hehe.
So that’s the room and my favorite part is all the flower pictures; some are mine, some were already there. It’s nice, cozy and great atmosphere. I am still in Salem, just on a different side. It’s quiet, which means a better mood for studying.
Yesterday the crisp fall air was upon on. I took no time to whip out my favorite fall work outfit. And yes, my hair is growing longer. Never again will I let the crazy hairdresser cut it so short again. Ever.
I even had a nice warm lunch that consisted of tomato basil soup with Wasa sourdough bread crackers (only has a “may contain traces of wheat” warning, which is a-ok for me) topped with melted butter, garlic and basil.
Snack? Well I suppose it’s the only find for the week. I found these protein fit bars by South Beach Diet when I was in New York last time. I notice that it only has a couple of corn derivatives, but I decided to give them a try since Odwalla and Luna Bars don’t bother me (except certain ones).
I must say, it was really yummy and kept me full. It has 9 grams of protein for 130 calories (versus Luna Bars are 9 grams of protein for 170-190 calories). But, it did make my tummy unhappy. I shall not purchase them again for that reason, but I would definitely recommend giving them a try if you spot them!
Dinner last night was also delicious. I showed this meal in my last What I Ate Wednesday post. Black beans, green beans and a chicken burger patty. It’s just so clean, hearty and filling; lots of protein and fiber.
Tonight, I am going to relax and enjoy some Netflix. Tomorrow is work then some homework, weekly cooking (and meal planning), gym, and more me time. I don’t take me time too often, but when I do I quite enjoy it.
Happy Weekend
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Tags: Chicken, Corn Allergy, Food Allergy, Product Review, Protein Bar, Snacks, Workouts
Happy Fun Find Friday! I’m happy to be sharing some of my recent fun finds. Oh and I know, it’s Saturday!
Since I am moving into a new apartment, working more hours and going to school I am going to need, some quick fixes in every meal department and workouts too. For this week I have a frozen oatmeal find, a yummy dessert and a Power Yoga DVD by Gaiam.
Simply Natural Steel Cut Oatmeal with maple syrup and brown sugar (from Aldi’s) was pretty good. I never had steel cut oats nor have I ever really eaten “regular” oatmeal. Okay, so I cheated and added some things; baking powder and, a drizzle of maple syrup and almond butter to not only get it thicker, but more calorie dense. 
The stats are pretty good and nothing but natural ingredients; 150 calories, 4 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein. With my added almond butter and maple syrup it made it 270 calories, 6 grams of fiber and 9 grams of fiber. I also had a banana on the side. Definitely was delicious for a quick meal when you’re in a rush.
Ghirardelli has a new intense dark chocolate. It’s a Cabernet Matinee mixed with blackberries and a hint of Cabernet. One bite of this chocolate and you feel like your in a fine dining restaurant. No joke! The taste is simply exquisite and two is just enough to satisfy a late night chocolate craving.
Gaiam’s Power Yoga DVD (found at Five Below) comes with two different workouts. Each workout is 25 minutes and one is designed to build strength and the other increase your flexibility. The strength workout is pretty intense. it may look like nothing, but by the end of the workout you are sweating.
The one for flexibility, feels amazing after a ton of strenuous workouts. I love how I feel after it. I look forward to doing it on Sunday after a good week of DAMY Bikini Body workouts.
I definitely would urge you to find the chocolate and DVD. As for the steel cut oats? It was nice to have “regular” oatmeal, as it was very filling. But I wouldn’t by it again any time soon.
Question: Have you tried any new workouts or breakfasts lately?
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Tags: Breakfast, Corn Allergy, Food Allergy, Healthy Living, Maintain Weight Loss, Peanut Allergy, Product Review, vegetarian, Workouts, Yoga
Well to be honest and this is the honest truth; I just haven’t been hungry for anything. So the only thing I manage to eat is a sandwich that someone prepares for me. How does my stomach feel? Most of the times, it’s okay and I try to stick to sourdough or not to whole wheat bread (less bran for digesting). I know it probably not the best thing but I wanted to show you that I am human.
