Blogger Blackboard

We did it! We made it through the first day back after a long holiday weekend. The rest of the week will be a breeze now. I'm happy to report that I was able to take advantage of Cyber Monday one more time and bought a present for someone. I felt much better putting my credit card number in yet again when it was for somebody else :)

I've been craving salty foods lately and tonight's dinner was designed to feed that craving without going overboard with the salt shaker or opening a bag of chips.


I grilled a Helen's Kitchen Tofu Chicken Steak and smeared a little plain Oikos on top for a dressing. For my sides, I steamed 1/2 cup of mixed veggies and mixed 1/2 cup of brown rice with a few squirts of low sodium soy sauce. The soy sauce killed my salt craving instantly. I think I might've just been dehydrated. I've read that your body can crave salt when it's dehydrated and I also drank about four glasses of water after dinner so there's that...

This is completely off topic, but that's okay. I'm a big fan of The Simpson's. Actually, more of a big fan of anything Simpson's before the year 2000 or so. The episodes and the movie after that year...meh. I do still watch though and always make sure to catch the opening credits just to see what Bart has written on the blackboard. Now I can just check out the new blog, Bart's Blackboard to find out what he wrote! This blog has every phrase Bart has had to write on the blackboard. After perusing the site, I started thinking that healthy living bloggers need a blackboard! Here, I'll start: I Will Not Be Embarassed Of My Sweet N' Low Consumption.
Your turn in the comments!

Cyber Monday

Someone take me off these retail websites! I see so many things I "need" for myself, but can't find any Christmas presents. I hope everyone is dealing well with being back at work. It's been a busy morning and I'm finally getting a break. I'm glad to be busy though :)
Sorry for not posting last night, I needed to get out of the apartment and went on a little nature walk. After dinner I was tired and the last thing I wanted to do was open up my laptop.

That brings us to this morning. It was very warm (53 degrees!) when I woke up. The nice weather made me excited to go running. I ran 5 miles in 47 minutes. After my shower, I made pumpkin oats. Can't get enough of this breakfast!


1/2 cup oats, 1/4 cup fat free cottage cheese, 1/4 cup pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, a packet of Sweet N' Low for some extra sweetness (oh my god!!!! I'm going to die!!!!), and blueberries. Yum yum!

My lunch today is the same thing I ate yesterday for lunch. I made two wraps to get rid of random things in the fridge before they went bad. I grilled up portobello mushrooms and mashed chik peas and put them in whole wheat wrap with plain Oikos, fat free cheddar cheese, sprouts, pickles and ketchup.



I managed to drip the Oikos all over my computer keyboard. Good thing my work has a great cleaning supply closet! They must think I'm a pig though. Better the keyboard than my sweater again right?

My Cyber Monday purchases haven't been too bad. I bought a fleece to wear running from Old Navy and a subscription to Real Simple Magazine for $5. I love their recipes. They're really simple. Oh, I'm funny! Have you bought anything yet on Cyber Monday?

I Make Them Good Spoons Go Bad!

A great benefit of reading healthy living blogs is you get to learn from other blogger's triumphs and failures. Unfortunately, I have a long way to go in this area. Take last night for example. It was a perfectly good evening of pasta, vodka, and "Mallrats" on dvd. Things were going fine until I decided to make banana soft serve in the blender. Now, just last week, one of my favorite girls taught us all a lesson in how NOT to make banana soft serve in the blender. Well, I just don't listen.


I'm sorry Missy :( You see, everything was going fine with the blending at first, but the bananas kept getting stuck. I would add water and they would loosen up a bit, but then they'd get stuck again. I wouldn't say I was drunk, but I was quite buzzed. In my buzzed/drunk state, I grabbed the nearest utensil to smush the bananas in the blender. It was working fine until I heard...CRUNCH! Only a little tiny part of the spoon broke off, so I shrugged my shoulders, turned the blender back on, stuck the spoon back in and started singing, "I make them good spoons go bad!" (set to the Cobra Starship song for those of you not in the know) Then I heard CRUNCH! again. It finally dawned on me then that I should probably stop sticking the spoon in the blender. I lost the spoon, but the blender is fine and the banana soft serve was delicious (only a few chunks of spoon were found). So please, learn from your fellow bloggers people!

Surprisingly, I woke up fine this morning. I headed out on a run without any real plan. I ran through the college campus across the street from my apartment for about 50 minutes. It was fun because there were a lot of hills and I ran up and down some bleachers to kick the run up a notch. I followed up my run with some ab exercises and stretching.

I cracked open a can of pumpkin for my breakfast oats.

p-p-p-pumkin face p-p-p-pumkin face!

Lady Gaga should remix that. I mixed 1/2 cup oats, 1/4 cup fat free cottage cheese, 1/4 cup pumpkin, bananas, raisins, and pumpkin pie spice. Yum!

Enjoy your Sunday!

Sweet Potato Pasta

I'm a bit drunky right now so this post will be short. Thank you so much for your kind and supportive comments on my last post. I was very nervous after I hit publish and only received one negative email, so that's good. I saw the "Fantastic Mr. Fox" earlier today and it was so cute! My favorite Wes Anderson movie was "The Royal Tennenbaums", but this may have replaced it. Go see it!

Tonight's dinner was different from my usual pasta dinner. I usually have my pasta with some broccoli and cheese or balsamic. Tonight I made sweet potato pasta!
Sweet Potato Pasta
Ingredients:
1 box of whole wheat pasta
Extra virgin olive oil
2 sweet potatoes
sea salt
pepper
2 shallots, sliced
1 tbs chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/3 Greek yogurt

Instructions:
Cook pasta according to directions on the box. While the pasta is cooking, heat about a tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the potatoes, 3⁄4 teaspoon sea salt, and 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add the shallots and rosemary and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender, 3 to 5 minutes. When pasta is done cooking, reserve 1/2 cup pasta water, drain the pasta and return to the pot. Toss the pasta with the potato mixture, Parmesan, and reserved water.


Serve with a dollop of the Greek yogurt.


Also, drink a much needed cocktail.

Have some Diet Coke with your vodka

Nighty night!

Refocusing

Hi blog friends! Is everyone recovered from Thanksgiving? I hope so. The past couple of days have given me an opportunity to examine my life and some issues that I'm having. I won't go into too much detail, but one of these issues has to do with this blog. I started MelissaNibbles in an effort to meet other people that were health and fitness minded and to focus on leading a more balanced life. Like the header says, "a healthy lifestyle of balance and fun." Unfortunately, I don't feel like that part has happened. To be honest, the blog has caused me to become more focused on my food intake and workouts than I've been in a long time. I'm constantly comparing my workouts to other bloggers, pushing myself to run more miles than my body is ready for, lift too much weight, and overtrain. My workouts aren't fun for me anymore. I don't take the classes I'd like to at my gym because I don't think they're blogworthy. It's silly, I know this, but it is what it is. I've found a lot of fun and interesting recipes in the blogworld, but I've become restrictive in my food choices. I limit bread, sugar, and almost everything else it feels like. I feel guilty if my meals aren't 100% nutritious because I don't want people judging me. I'm afraid people will wonder, "What the hell is she writing a healthy living blog for? She doesn't eat healthy." I know it may not be true, but sometimes it's a lot of pressure. Especially when I get negative emails or comments. I want to correct this behavior before I end up going back to old habits.

From this point forward, I'm going to concentrate on the "balance and fun" part. I might not be running X amount of miles everyday because I might choose to do something else. I might choose not to work out at all. I'm going to stop counting calories and eat what I feel like eating. If I gain weight, so be it. I can always lose it if I need to. I'm afraid if I don't do concentrate on these things, I'm going to be living a very unhappy life. I want to enjoy living. I hope you'll continue reading and not be offended if I eat something that might have high fructose corn syrup in it (the horror!) every now and then. I just feel like it's time to focus on what this blog was supposed to be about in the first place. My healthy eating philosophy is still focused on local, organic, wholesome ingredients. I love food, I just want to love food AND life!

Okay, now that that crap is out of the way, let me backtrack to yesterday. I was busy most of the day, but did make some yummy food. For lunch, I made a little tasting plate with a sample I received from Somersaults Snack Co. I'll be posting a full review in a few days after I've tried the rest of the samples. Yesterday, I tried the sea salt flavored Somersaults in a little tasting plate with carrots, lemon zest hummus, and a few tortilla triangles.


This was a great lunch! The sea salt flavor is pretty salty, but duh...that's in the name. They're made of whole grains and sunflower seeds, taste similar to a pretzel, but sweeter. So good! Perfect to snack on during my ladytimes ;) I can't wait to try the other flavors.

I wanted something light for dinner because of all the Thanksgiving goodies I had the day before. I also wanted something cheesy. Broccoli slaw "pasta" it was.


I mixed the slaw with grilled portobello mushrooms, a garlic and herb flavored Laughing Cow, and topped with mozzarella cheese. I served the slaw with a Quorn Chik'N Cutlet. Hit the spot!

A few hours after dinner I had a vanilla Chobani with 1/4 cup Kashi GoLean Crunch and chocolate chips mixed in. I don't have a picture because I ate it in bed at 11:30 while watching Friends. Sorry.

Enjoy your Saturday everyone. I think I might head out to see the new Wes Anderson movie, "Fantastic Mr. Fox." I hope the Twilight kids aren't taking up all the parking spots. I don't want to walk a mile to the movies again. Have a fun day!

Apple Bomb

Hi friends! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Yesterday, I woke up and headed out on a run. I have to say, it was probably the worst run I've ever had. My legs felt like lead, I had a headache, and I started crying halfway through. Despite these things, I ran 4.25 miles in 40 minutes. After showering and making myself somewhat presentable, I met one of my best friends and her husband (I hooked them up!) for breakfast. It was so nice to see them and catch up. They live in NYC now and were home for the holiday. After that, I went to my other best friend's parents house for an early dinner. My friend wasn't able to come home for Thanksgiving (she lives in Chicago), but I'm very close with her family and am always welcome in their home. I came home around 3 and watched about ten episodes of this show called, "The City." I never watched it before, but it was free in the OnDemand package of my cable and I had nothing better to do. It was kind of boring, but this one girl, Olivia, had pretty hair so there's that. All in all, it was a pretty good day, minus the bad run of course.

I didn't sleep very well last night (2 hours?) and, consequently, I was very tired this morning. I wasn't going to go to the gym, but I needed to work out some stress. I told myself to just make it a light workout and not to overdo it. I did a strength training exercise for each body part and my cardio party dvd. I'm glad I worked out because it felt good to get moving.

For breakfast, I tried my hand at recreating a childhood favorite. I used to eat those instant Quaker Oatmeal packets and the apple cinnamon was my absolute favorite. I received dried apple slices in the package from Newman's Own and used them in my oatmeal.


I cut up two apple slices and mixed them with 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup Cabot Fat Free Cottage Cheese, cinnamon, and a spoonful of Dark Chocolate Dreams PB.


BOMBASS. That's what I thought after the first bite. It tasted just like my childhood oats, but a lot more natural because there wasn't any added sugar of HFCS. Have you invented a recipe for your favorite childhood meal? Leave it in the comments!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you enjoy your day and eat without guilt. The holidays are a time to focus on family and friends, not for obsessing about food and workouts. It will all balance out in the end. I promise you :)

I'm taking some time away from the blog today, but will be back tomorrow with regular posts. In the meantime, I figured I would take a moment to list a few things I'm thankful for.

• My health. I'm thankful that my body has treated me well over the years. I abused it quite a bit in high school and feel lucky not to have any long lasting effects from those years. Even though I suffer from fibromyalgia, I feel fortunate that it's a manageable disease and not a serious or life threatening illness.
• My friends old and new. I don't have a huge group of friends, but I have a few that are very near and dear to my heart. Most of them live out of state and I miss them everyday. I'm lucky that they're just a phone call away...or a g-chat away. I'm thankful for the new friends I've made recently. I've connected with some amazing women recently and feel lucky to have met them.
• Family. Every family has it's ups and downs, fights and squabbles, but we love each other regardless. I know my family is always there for me when I need them and that's what matters most.
• Music. It may sound silly, but I'm thankful for music. I played piano and violin when I was young and my father is also a musician. Music has always been a big part of my life. If I'm feeling down, it helps lift my mood. If I need to escape or relieve stress, I can put on my ipod and a song can take me away even just for a few minutes.
• YOU. I'm thankful for my readers. When I started MelissaNibbles, I didn't think anyone would read it. Thank you for taking time to read my thoughts, opinions, and for even leaving comments! This blog has brought a lot of happiness into my life. I've met new friends, found new recipes and workouts, and it's just a lot of fun. Thank you!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families!

My Apologies

I apologize for the lack of posting earlier in the day. I've had a rough day. Some decisions were made today that are pretty life altering and I've been trying to figure out what's going to come next in my life. Things like this can't be figured out in a day though. Life must carry on, so here I am posting. I'm sorry if I sound vague, but it's not something I care to go into detail about on the blog. I promise you'll all know soon enough what's going on (if you haven't figured it out already).

This morning I slept an hour later than usual (hooray!). The extra sleep gave me energy to get out there and rock my run. It was foggy and a bit misty outside, but I braved the outdoors. I ran 5 miles in 46 minutes. After my run, I stretched and did my abs routine. I didn't eat very much today, but I did remember to take pictures. Do I get a pat on the head for being a good blogger? ;)

Breakfast was vanilla Chobani with 1/4 cup Kashi GoLean Crunch


Lunch/Midafternoon snack was 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese, blueberries, PB Loco Cookie Dough Peanut Butter, two crushed Newman's Arrowroot Alphabet Cookies, and cinnamon.


I tried to make dinner a little special. I made whole wheat pasta, tossed in a handful of broccoli, mushrooms, and chickpeas. Then mixed it together in a cheesy sauce of plain Oikos and fat free Kraft Cheddar.


I just took two Tylenol PM and am going to lay in bed and watch "Amelie". This movie always makes me happy. I hope you have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble Gobble!

Newmans Giveaway Winner!

Thank you all for entering my Newman's Giveaway. The winner was chosen using random.org.

Here are your random numbers:

27 

Timestamp: 2009-11-25 23:16:16 UTC5

Congratulations to #27: Eating RD who said...

Yummy! I love Newman's Own, especially since they donate some of their profits to charity. I think you should have a spa day with a nice massage or facial? Or maybe a nice picnic?

Sounds good to me. I need a massage! Email me your address and I'll send out your goodies ASAP.

Franco Salad

Hi friends! I hope your day went well. After work today, I met up with my friend that I was supposed to meet up with yesterday. We met at a lovely, little hole in the wall coffee shop The Better Bean. I really like the laid back atmosphere at the Better Bean. You could sit at small tables or in a little couch area. They not only serve coffee, but sandwiches, wraps, and baked goods. I thought it would be crowded with college kids, but there was just one other person in there. It was fun catching up with my old friend. I'm sorry he's dealing with his breakup, but I'm glad to have my friend back. I know it's difficult to balance your girlfriends and your friends-that-are-girls. It's even more difficult when the girlfriend is the jealous type. We never dated and she still would get mad if he talked to me. Women aren't the only ones who do that, men are like that too. I guess it's a personality thing. Oh well. He's a great guy and will find someone better suited for him soon. Any single ladies out there? Hahaha!

When I returned home I watched an episode of GH. James Franco is on it now and I'm loving it. His acting style is intriguing. He slurs like a drunk, but still retains an air of mystery. His character's ringtone says "I've never eaten meat since..." What is that?! I want it. Also, he talks someone into having sex with him by saying, "If it makes you feel any better, I don't want to have your babies." That's how I get people to have sex with ME!! See, we're made for each other. After watching GH, it was time for dinner.


I used a Veggie Lovers mix from Shaw's and added tomato, pickles, a crumpled veggie burger with a little hoisin sauce on it, and Cedar's Lemon Zest Hummus in place of dressing. I like the lemon flavored hummus, but I'm starting to crave the spinach & artichoke flavor already. I swear that stuff is crack to me

The plan is to run 5 miles tomorrow morning. It's raining right now, hopefully it will clear out by the time I wake up.

*Don't forget to enter my Newman's Giveaway!

Lighter Options

Good morning friends. I'm sorry to report that I won't be attending Zumba this evening. I have tentative plans to meet up with my friend that I was supposed to meet up with yesterday and figured it'd be best to just stick to my morning workout routine. Zumba will have to remain a Saturday morning thing.

This morning's strength training workout consisted of hammer curls, lat pulldowns, tricep extensions, and shoulder side raises. I followed the strength training with 20 minutes of intervals on the elliptical and a 5 minute cooldown on the treadmill. I'm sore already!

I kept my morning bowl of oats simple today, well simple for me anyway ;)

Just a 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese, banana slices, and a little scoop of Dark Chocolate Dreams PB. Delicious!

I'm extremely bored at work today. I've been surfing the interwebs and came across an article in the NY Times about Lighter Thanksgiving Desserts. I think offering a lighter alternative to your guests is a great idea. Especially if you have a diabetic in the family. You don't even have to get as fancy as they do in the article. Fruit salad or fresh fruit with a yogurt dip is an easy alternative as well. Would you eat a lighter dessert on Thanksgiving if it were offered?

Lunch today was yummy and something I'm definitely going to recreate in the near future.

A whole wheat wrap stuffed with Cedar's Lemon Zest Hummus, grilled portobello mushrooms, sprouts, and cucumber. I love mushrooms and had grilled some for my boyfriend's dinner last night. I decided to grill a few extra and throw them in my wrap for lunch today. I'm glad I did because they were delightful.

*Don't forget to enter my Newman's Giveaway!

Say Yes To The Zumba?

One day down! Woo hoo! This day at work draaaggged. It was busy in the morning, but after 1, I was bored to tears. I sat reading blogs and g-chatting until 4. I guess it makes up for the crazy week I had last week.

I was going to meet up with a friend for tea after work, but he got stuck at work so I just ended up going home and watching GH. I haven't seen my friend in almost a year and a half. We used to hang out all the time, but then he got a girlfriend and she didn't like him talking to his friends that are girls. They broke up a month ago, so I guess we're friends again??? I don't know... After watching GH, I watched two episodes of "Say Yes To The Dress." Melissa is to blame for this new obsession. I can't believe how much money people will spend on a dress! I'd buy a condo or a car, not a dress. To each their own though. Anyway, after being a couch potato for a few hours, I figured it'd be a good idea to eat something. I was craving a sandwich earlier in the day and figured I should honor that craving at dinner.


I mashed a little more than 1/4 cup chick peas with some fat free ranch dressing, spread them on two slices of Ezekial 4:9 with sprouts, pickles, tomato, and cheddar cheese. Carrot fries on the side please! This dinner hit the spot.

I'm having trouble deciding what I want to do workout wise tomorrow. It's a strength training day and my gym is offering a Zumba class at 5pm. I might strength train in the morning then go to Zumba at night. I hate thinking about working out all day though. If I don't go to Zumba at night, I'll just strength train and do the elliptical for 20 minutes in the morning. It would be fun to mix it up though...What do you think I should do? Sleep well my dears :)

Another New Look

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a restful weekend. As you can see, I have another new look! I love the new header and I can assure you that this is the one that's going to last. All the credit goes to Emily at The Blog Fairy. I had no idea what I really wanted. Emily asked me a few questions about myself and my personality and provided me with a couple of examples within hours. Thank you Emily for helping me figure out my vision and doing such beautiful work. You're a genius!

This morning was another great morning for running. It was about 50 degrees when I woke up! Unfortunately, that's about as warm as it's going to get today. It's still warmer than average for this time of year, so I guess I shouldn't complain. My rest day yesterday set me up for a great run this morning. I ran 6 miles in 55 minutes. I ran a new route as well and that only added to the fun.

After stretching and showering I made my morning oats.


In the bowl went 1/2 cup oats, 1/4 cup fat free cottage cheese, 1/4 cup pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, and a handful of blueberries. I wasn't sure how the blueberries would taste in this mix, but they were fabulous! It was like eating a bite of blueberry pie and then a bite of pumpkin pie. I've found a new favorite!

It's been a busy day at work, as Mondays always are. I broke for lunch around noon. It was a walk through strawberry fields.


Whole wheat wrap with PB Loco Cookie Dough PB and strawberries. Sweet and yummy!
I hope your week is off to a good start!
What is your favorite pie flavor?

*Don't forget to enter my Newman's Giveaway!

Nothing Tastes As Good...

Hi guys! I hope you had a great Sunday. Today was a rest day from the gym and I didn't have anything exciting on the agenda. This morning I got my hairs did, but that's about it. Nothing spectacular, just took about two inches off. My oats today were pretty stellar though. I call this one, "Strawberry Pie.


Strawberry Pie consists of 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese, cinnamon, sliced strawberries, a spoonful of PB Loco Cookie Dough PB, and two crushed Newmans Own Arrowroot Alphabet cookies. It was delightful.

I spent the afternoon catching up on saved shows on my dvr. One of the shows was last night's SNL with host Joseph Gordon Levitt (I thought he was a great host by the way). One of the jokes in Weekend Update referenced a comment made earlier in the week by supermodel Kate Moss. In an interview, Moss stated that "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels." Dreamboat Seth Myers commented, "Said the rest of the world, BACON!" I prefer frosting, but I get Seth's point. To be honest, I think Moss said it because she knew it would be shocking and would get her press. It obviously worked. I wish the media wouldn't report on it though. It just brings that random interview into the spotlight and on the tv screens of every young girl out there. Now this story is going to be the talk of the pro-ana and pro-bulimia websites that many young girls spend time on. The media isn't doing anyone any favors by reporting one sentence taken from an interview with a fashion industry website. Why can't we ignore celebrities when they say foolish things? Now we're going to have to endure a month of her on tv talking about her weight and apologizing for her comment. It will probably only add more fuel to the fire and more "inspiration" for the pro-ana websites. I don't even want to know why she thinks that. Who cares? I mean, using a $1000 vibrator probably doesn't feel as good as shooting heroin, but I'm not about to do that either.

I was all worked up over Kate Moss I didn't realize it was dinner time. Dinner was yummy in my tummy!


I baked a Quorn Chik'N Patty, topped it with Classico Sweet Basil Marinara, and served it with cheesy broccoli slaw "pasta." To make the cheese sauce, I simply stirred in a heaping spoonful of plain Oikos Greek yogurt and about 1/4 cup of fat free Kraft cheddar cheese. I had a random serving of tomatoes and cucumbers because they looked good sitting in the fridge. If you haven't tried broccoli slaw "pasta," you're missing out. It's the bizness.

What do you think about the media's coverage of Kate Moss?
*Don't forget to enter my Newman's Giveaway!

Sushi Retreat

Last night my manperson and I headed out to see "Couples Retreat" and to grab some dinner. A little "date night" if you will. The theater was PACKED. We ended up having to park in a parking lot down the street from the theater. Those Twilight kids are crazy! It annoyed me that "New Moon" was playing on almost every screen because the movies that I wanted to see were only playing once or twice during the day to accommodate "New Moon." I think that's unfair to other movie goers and also to the other movies. Yes, "New Moon" is breaking box office records, but how can it not when it's almost impossible to see anything else? I really wanted to see "Pirate Radio" but the only time it was playing was at 11:30 PM. There's no way this old lady would go to the movies at that time. Okay, rant over. "Couples Retreat" was...okay. It was your typical Vince Vaughn movie, wait, that's not true, it wasn't. I know a lot of people thought this movie was funny, but I think I laughed once. I felt like I was watching the show "According To Jim" in movie form. It was that bad. I know I'm a movie snob and I don't deny that, but this movie was terrible. Christian kept asking me, "What did you expect?" and I guess I just thought it would be more funny because my beloved Jason Bateman was in it. "Arrested Development" was hands down the best television show in history (I will fight you on this) and he seems to make good career choices, so I guess I thought this movie would be a bit better. If you want to see it, I'd say wait for it to come out on dvd. Okay, moving on...

After the movie, we went to our favorite sushi joint, Hayashi. Fun fact, we had our first dinner date here! We started with a little edamame.

Melissa Nibbles!

The boy enjoyed some miso soup

slurp slurp

And we devoured Sake-Avo Maki (Salmon, Avocado) and Caterpilla Maki (Eel, Cucumber, Masago Covered w/ Avocado).


Even though I didn't enjoy the movie all that much, I definitely enjoyed my Saturday. I tried a new aerobics class, relaxed, and had a great date night. Life doesn't get much better :)
What is a movie that everyone else liked that you hated?

*Don't forget to enter my Newman's Giveaway!

Newman's Giveaway!

I received a huge package (that's what she said) from Newman's Own the other day.


There's no way I'll be able to get through all this food alone and I don't need this many packages of cookies in my apartment. What better excuse for a giveaway?!

You can win this bundle of goodies:


I decided to get a little creative with this giveaway. Everyone I know keeps asking me what I'm doing and what I want for my 30th birthday, this is where you guys come in. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment telling me what you think I should do to celebrate my 30th birthday and what I should tell people I want. Then, if you have a blog, post a link on your blog about the giveaway and post the linkback here. It's that easy! I'll pick a winner on Wednesday November 25th at 5PM. Good luck

Zumba!

Happy Saturday everyone! This morning I stepped out of my comfort zone and attended a Zumba class at my gym. The class description for Zumba reads: "Dance away your worries to Latin and International music. Have fun while toning and strengthening the body." I've been wanting to try a Zumba class for quite some time now and was excited when my gym added it to their aerobics schedule.

The class started right on time at 8:30. The instructor was very energetic and upbeat. I think that makes a big difference in an aerobics class. We went through about ten short dance routines featuring moves inspired by salsa, meringue, and even a few Bollywood dances! I especially liked the music. Most of the songs were by Daddy Yankee, Shakira, Wyclef, and Beyonce. There was one song that I really liked that went something like, "We like dem girls that shake that @ss, shake that @ss!" I'm not a big rap or pop music fan, but I have a soft spot in my heart for songs that have filthy lyrics. If you know who sings that, let me know. Overall, I liked Zumba. I think it's a great workout if you're feeling tired, but still want to hit the gym. It's VERY low impact (I didn't break a sweat) and you really have to get into the moves to feel like you're working out. I plan on going back again because I think it's a good cardio workout to do after strength training. Plus, it's fun to mix it up once in a while.

After Zumba and showing off my new dance moves to my boyfriend, I indulged in my favorite breakfast.


Chobani with 1/4 cup Kashi GoLean Crunch of course! I'm a creature of habit, what can I say? A few hours later, I made a comforting bowl of oats.


In my belly went 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, blueberries, and a spoonful of PB Loco Cookie Dough Peanut Butter. So good!

We're off to the movies to see "Couples Retreat" (I love Jason Bateman!) and then grab some dinner afterwards. Be sure to check back later if you want to win a Newman's Own goodie bag!
Have you ever tried Zumba? Did you like it?

Massage Tips

The weekend is finally here! Yay! What a long week. After a long day, I didn't feel like cooking. Throwing together a salad was the easiest option.


I used a Veggie Lovers salad mix from Shaw's and added feta, cucumber, strawberries, a Quorn Chik'N Patty, and Cedar's Lemon Zest hummus. I really liked the contrast of the sweet strawberries and sour lemon hummus.

I really could use a massage right now, but I'm having trouble finding a place I like that has convenient hours. At my last doctor's appointment, my specialist gave me a few massage techniques I could do myself. I thought I'd share them with you all. Maybe you could use them when you're feeling tense. The exercises are off a print out he gave me that didn't have a source cited on it. I'm assuming it's something from his own files that he gives his patients. I apologize for not having the exact source for the exercises.

1) For tight leg muscles, Sit on the floor with legs extended. With hands in fists, press knuckles into tops of thighs and slowly push them toward knees. Keep pressing down as you return to start position and repeat. Continue, changing your direction and pressure to focus on sore spots, for one minute.
2) For sore arms, Make a fist with left hand, elbow bent and palm facing up. Wrap right hand around left forearm, thumb on top. Rotate left forearm so that palm faces the floor, then turn it back up. Continue for 30 seconds, moving right hand around to focus on tender areas. Repeat on opposite arm.
3) For sore back muscles, Sit on a chair with knees bent, feet flat on the floor, and bend forward at the hips. Bend arms behind you, palms facing away from you, and make fists. Knead circles into your lower back on either side of your spine. Continue, working your way up, for a minute or more.
4) For foot pain, Sit on a chair with feet on the floor and place a tennis ball under ball of left foot

. Slowly move foot forward and back for 30 seconds, then in circles for 30 seconds, pressing harder on the ball when you feel a tight spot. Repeat on right foot.

I hope you find these exercises useful in relieving your own tight muscles. I'm still having a hard time managing my pain. I've heard magnetic bracelets are supposed to help too, but I don't want to start throwing money at every little thing someone says will relieve my pain. Stretching, massage, and Sam-e are the only things on my pain relief plate right now.

Time for sleepies. Have a good night and an even better weekend!

Let It Rain, Stretch It Out And Then Meet Up!

That's right. Bring it on I say! I'm at work and would rather get the rain out of the way today than have it rain over the weekend. If you're new to the blog, you might not know that my boyfriend is an avid birdwatcher. He's been trying to spot a certain owl for a couple of weeks now and keeps missing the bird. He checks the bird blogs and the owl always appears at this particular location either before or after he leaves. I want him to see his precious bird this weekend and I doubt Mr. Owl will come out to play if it's raining. It hadn't begun raining when I woke up this morning so I set out on my run like normal. I was happy not to have to wear a jacket! I planned on only running 4 miles, but I felt great and wanted to go for 5. Well, a few feet after I passed the point where I would need to turn around to run 4 miles, it started raining...heavy. I took that as a sign to be satisfied with 4 and head home. I ran a little over 4 miles in 40 minutes. I'm happy the rain came because not only did it cool me off, but it gave me a little extra time to stretch before I hit the showers. Stretching is VERY important.

Stretching improves muscle balance around joints and helps increase your range of motion. Stretching before exercise warms your muscles up and prevents injury. Stretching after exercise helps relax and elongate your muscles. It only takes a few extra minutes to add a few stretches like toe touches and lunges. Do your body a favor and streeeeeetch it out!

After stretching and showering, I made a bowl of pumpkin, raisin oats.

I mixed 1/2 cup oats, 1/4 cup fat free cottage cheese, 1/4 cup pumpkin, raisins, and cinnamon. Pumpkin raisin oats has become a favorite of mine. I think I'm going to stock up on cans of pumpkin before they're out of the stores. That way I'll have pumpkin oats well into the spring!
I've got quite the busy day here at work and have to stay late. My post may be a bit later than usual tonight so I apologize in advance. Have a great day!
What is your favorite stretch?

*December Meetup! For those that are interested, there's going to be a healthy living meetup on December December 19th at 7pm. We'll be meeting at the statue in front of Fanuiel Hall across the street from the stairs to the Government Center T stop. The plan is to look at Christmas decorations and find somewhere to get our eat on! Hope to see you there! Feel free to email me with any questions.

Sweet Potatoes If Your Nasty

One more day until the weekend. We can make it! Thanks for your comments about my rants in the last post. It was fun wasn't it? I'm thinking of making every Thursday a day for rants. Nothing too crazy or whiny, just a few silly items to get off my chest (and yours in the comments!). It could be next big thing and make me famous.

Were you able to watch Janet Jackson's special, "In The Spotlight" last night on ABC? I watched the first ten minutes, but fell asleep. Luckily, I was able to watch the rest online tonight. There are a few clips that broke my heart, but I related to as well. Janet (Ms. Jackson if you're nasty) spoke openly about her weight struggles and how she deals with it. She admitted that her family picked on her about her weight and she carried that with her all her life. I think we all tend to do that. You get used to hearing someone tell you something is wrong with you, it becomes second nature to believe it. You can see a few clips here. Janet is writing a book about her struggles, and I can't wait to read it. I've always been a fan of hers and marvel at how down to earth she is. Especially coming from not only a famous family, but a family in which almost every member has body image issues. How do you even try to overcome that? I can't imagine having to live up to not only your family's expectations for your looks, but the world's. It's ridiculous the amount of work female singers have to put into being in shape. Will you read Janet Jackson's book?

I got home late from work tonight and was starving when I walked in the door. I cranked up the Janet Jackson (Pleasure Principle oh oh oh!), and made myself a yummy dinner.


A Boca Burger on a romaine bun with spinach & artichoke hummus and pickles. For my sides, a baked sweet potato and roasted brussels sprouts. After I took the picture, I added Laughing Cow Garlic and Herb Cheese to the burger and inside the potato skins. Very comforting after a long day. My plan is to go on a 4 mile run in the morning. I really need to stick to that plan and not overdo it. I can't help it though, my runs are a major stress reliever for me this week. We'll see how it goes. Have a great night friends!

Three Things

Good morning and happy Thursday to you. I had the most AMAZING bowl of oats this morning. May I introduce, blueberry pie oats.


I mixed 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese, cinnamon, blueberries, and crushed three arrowroot flavored Newman's Own Organics Alphabet Cookies on top to make the crust. The kind people at Newmans sent me a very large package of samples yesterday and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with these cookies when I saw them. They made a perfect "pie crust" for my oats. I could eat this combo everyday and probably will. Oh, and be on the look out for a Newman's giveaway coming soon!

I woke up this morning before my alarm as usual. I just wasn't tired anymore. I bounded out of bed full of energy and ready to run. I stretched, worked my abs, and left rambling comments on people's blogs while I drank my coffee. When that was done, I set out on my run. It was only 25 degrees out, but I bundled up nice. The plan was for 4 miles, but I felt good and went for 6. I ran 6 miles in 57 minutes.

I have a bit of a sweet tooth again today. My lunch is a wrap filled with Barney Butter and banana slices. One of my favorites!

smushy smush

So, I'm super annoyed today for some reason and since this is my blog, I'm going to rant about three things that are bugging me. Here we go...

1. Women who call their female friends "bitches," "sluts," "whore", etc...Not only do you sound like an idiot, but when you call yourself names like this, you're making it okay for men to call you a bitch or a slut. Embracing and using this language sends a strong message that it's okay for men to demean you. You might think the meaning behind the language has changed, but you're wrong. The sentiment is still the same. Show some class and stop talking like a fool.
2. Co-worker that walks by my office every five minutes and says, "Hi! How are you?" then just stands there. Why do you do this every five minutes? I'm doing fine and that fact isn't going to change in five minutes. I think we've reached our quotas of hello for the day. Go finish your part of our report so I can go home sometime this century.
3. People reminding me that my 30th birthday is in a few weeks and asking what I want. I know when my birthday is. Why do you need to email me or text me every day "UR GONNA B 30!" "WHAT DO U WANT FOR UR BDAY. UR 30!" Seriously, every day. It's not my friends either, they've stopped (finally). It's rando's that I haven't talked to in years. I really couldn't care less about my birthday. I've never had a birthday party in my life, even as a kid, so it's not like I'm going to have a party or something. And why ask me what I want? Am I 5? Even if there is something I want, we haven't talked in like ten years. You're not buying me sh*t and you know it. There is something I want, but I doubt it will happen. Anyway, I appreciate your kindness, but stop texting me!!!

Okay, rant over. Thanks for listening. I'm not going to be selfish here, what's bugging you? Let's talk it out. Leave your annoyances in the comments.

Fauxburger

Tonight I took two of my favorite veggie meals and combined them into one delicious dinner. I made a fauxburger using a Helen's Kitchen Tofu Chicken Steak. I slathered the chicken steak with Cedar's Lemon Zest Hummus, threw on some pickles, and served it on a romaine bun. For my side dish, I made pasta out of broccoli slaw. To make the "pasta," I steamed the broccoli sauce then stirred in some Classico Sweet Basil Marinara.

All together!

As you can see, I topped the broccoli slaw "pasta" with Kraft Fat Free Cheddar. Yes, I know I've eaten cheese almost every day this week. I'm hormonal...wanna fight about it?!

I'm sorry this post is short, but I'm enjoying some alone time with my main squeeze. We've both had stressful weeks at work and he won't be around tomorrow night. I need to relax and soak up his awesomeness when I can. We're watching the show "Kitchen Confidential" on dvd. It's based on Anthony Bourdain's autobiography of the same title. Bradley Cooper stars (HOT!) and is very funny. The show was on Fox, but as most of their good shows are (Arrested Development), it was cancelled :(

Enjoy your evening folks! Is there a show you liked that was cancelled?

Taste Buds Are Craving...

Hey guys! Thanks for your supportive comments on my post from last night. You're too kind. I do want to make one thing clear. I don't think there's a perfect way to parent your child. I think every parent figures it out as they go along. Unfortunately, there isn't a guide book to being the perfect parent and what is a perfect parent anyway? You can only do your best with what you're given and hope that it's enough. It doesn't hurt to think about these sort of things before you're a parent though. I'm sure the better prepared you are, the easier it is. Then again, I don't have kids so I'm really not in a position to say that. It's just my opinion :)

It was COLD out this morning when I woke up. I already planned on lifting and doing the elliptical at the gym, so I was happy I wasn't missing out on prime warm running weather. My strength workout today was as follows:

Bent over dumbbell raises 12 reps 3lbs, 10 reps 5lbs, 8 reps 8lbs, 6reps 12 lbs, 12 reps 8lbs
Lateral raises 12 reps no weight

Hammer curls 20 reps 3lbs, 18 reps 5lbs, 16 reps 8lbs, 14 reps 12 lbs, 20 reps 8lbs
Bicep curls 20 reps 5lbs

Overhead tricep extensions 15 reps 8lbs, 12 reps 12 lbs, 10 reps 15lbs, 8 reps 20lbs, 15 reps 15lbs
Tricep Pulldowns 15reps 40lbs

Squats 20 reps no weight, 18reps 5lbs, 16 8lbs, 14 reps 12 lbs, 20 reps 8lbs
Forward lunges 20 reps no weight

I followed the strength training with 25 minutes on the elliptical and a 5 minute walking cooldown on the treadmill. It was a great workout!

Todays oats were random ingredients my taste buds were craving.

1/2 cup oats, 1/4 cup fat free cottage cheese, 1/4 cup pumpkin, 4 chopped Ghiradelli 60% Cacao Chips, banana slices, and pumpkin pie spice. So filling and so so good!

Work is wearing me out this week. I'm ready for the weekend. I have to head into a meeting in a bit, so I'll leave you with a pic of my lunch.

A whole wheat wrap with a Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb spread, romaine, strawberries, and you can't really see them but under the romaine are smashed garbanzo beans. I love this combo. The Laughing Cow really brings out the flavor in the strawberries like WHOA. I also managed to smear the cheese down the front of the black sweater I'm wearing because I'm classy and ladylike when I eat lunch.

Have a great afternoon everyone! What flavors have your taste buds been craving lately?

Food Police

They're coming for you! Just kidding. This article about parents acting as their children's food police made me a bit emotional today. It brought back all sorts of bad memories from my childhood. I probably shouldn't have even read it, but I think reading things like this will help me avoid doing to my own children (future obviously) what my mother did to me. I don't ever want my son or daughter to think my love depends on their weight or looks.

The article warns parents of being "food police." A recent study by The Center for Childhood Obesity Research at Pennsylvania State University, University Park, found that monitoring your childrens food intake actually causes them to gain weight. I'm a good example of this. My mother constantly monitored every bite of food that went into my mouth. I could only eat X amounts of pizza out of the box when we would order pizza, I could only have one dessert per week, and water and diet soda were the only drinks allowed. This completely backfired on her because I would go to friends houses and pig out on pizza, ice cream, and sugary sodas. I would buy sugary sodas and chips at school, basically stuffing my face with what I wasn't allowed at home. I never would've gone to that extreme if my mother had simply taught me proper nutrition, portion control, and moderation. Unfortunately, I don't think she knew those things herself. The article goes on with tips for parents on how to educate their children about healthy attitudes towards food. I hope parents will read it and put those tips into practice.

The food police didn't come knocking on my door tonight. Actually, my dinner was inspired by Heather's favorite sandwich. I liked the idea of taking a childhood favorite and giving it an adult twist. Unfortunately, I didn't have any swiss cheese. I used a Laughing Cow French Onion wedge and it was still very tasty! I mashed about 1/2 cup chickpeas with honey mustard, heated the mash in the microwave for about 30 seconds, and spread it on two slices of Ezekial 4:9 bread with lettuce, sprouts, pickles, and tomato. For my sides, I made carrot fries and steamed brussels sprouts.


This was a great sandwich! I'm going to pick up some cheddar cheese this week so I can make it again with my favorite cheese. You're a genius Heather!!

Enjoy the rest of your night. I'm ready to relax with some dvr'd shows. Big Bang Theory is calling me!
Have you ever run into the "food police" in your life?

Jungle Boogie Oats

Good afternoon! I woke up before my alarm went off this morning. It was only five minutes earlier, but lately I've been sleeping right up until it goes off. I bounded out of bed ready to run again. I've had a lot of energy the past couple of mornings. I think it's the Sam-e supplement I've been taking. It's says it increases your mood, so maybe that just mean it gives you energy? Who knows. I'll take the extra energy where I can get it! I stretched, worked my abs and headed out on my run. I was back to wearing a jacket over my running gear this morning...it made me sad :( I wish it were 50 degrees every morning that I run. It was only 35 today. I still managed to run 5 miles in 46 minutes. I used the Galloway Method on my run today, running for four minutes walking for 1. I used that method when I first started running and it helped increase my endurance and distance. I haven't been happy with my running times lately, so I hope returning to the Galloway Method will help me improve.

After showering, I made myself some Jungle Boogie Oats. After my review of PB Loco's Cookie Dough Peanut Butter, the company offered to send me some samples to try more flavors. I was excited to try the Jungle Banana flavor. To make my Jungle Boogie Oats, I mixed 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, cinnamon, sliced bananas, and a spoonful of PB Loco Jungle Banana Peanut Butter.

Get down with the get down!

I liked the Jungle Banana flavor in my oats. I was expecting the peanut butter to have an artificial banana taste, but it didn't at all. To be honest, I could barely taste the banana. It was VERY subtle. However, when I took a bite of oats with a slice of banana, they seemed sweeter than normal. I think the peanut butter enhanced the bananas more than the oats. I think that's a good thing though because it tasted more natural that way. If you want to try PB Loco for yourself, PB Loco is offering a coupon to all Melissa Nibbles readers:
Spend $30 or more at PB Loco and receive a FREE jar of P.B.Loco Dreamy Creamy Peanut Butter. To redeem this coupon, place $30 or more of merchandise in your shopping cart at Pbloco.com. Enter coupon code BLOG1209 when you checkout. A free jar will be added to your order. Offer expires December 25, 2009.

I've had a busy morning at work so far, but I broke for lunch about 15 minutes ago for this bad boy:

Whole wheat wrap filled with Cedar's Lemon Zest hummus, romaine, cucumber, sprouts, and dried cranberries. The taste of the lemon hummus mixed with the cranberry rocked my face off. You should try this combination soon!

Okay, back to work I go. Have a great rest of the afternoon!
Do you use the Galloway Method when you run? Do you find it helpful?

Tested

Good evening. What a hectic day. If I were to write my day out in this post, it probably wouldn't look bad at all, but I tend to put unnecessary stress on myself and get worked up inside. I've been working on a project at work that's frustrating me a bit and it didn't help that all I could think about was the stupid test.

I arrived at the testing center early and was done in about 25 minutes. Yup. It was that easy. I think they just wanted to see if I could add and subtract. I feel foolish for stressing myself out over something that my 8 year old niece could've passed. Actually, I'm thankful it was that easy. I am kind of worried that they didn't get my transcripts though. I have a degree in business, I shouldn't have had to take a math test. Maybe I should call them tomorrow. See! I'm stressing out again! Hahaha!


Dinner tonight was the other half of the spaghetti squash I had last week. I was surprised it kept so well in the fridge. I mixed the strands with a small spoonful of plain Oikos, broccoli,tomato, and dark red kidney beans. I served it over a salad of romaine and carrot with just a sprinkle of feta. Mixing tomato with spaghetti squash was very flavorful. They were perfect compliments, with each bringing out the flavor in the other. The kidney beans were a good contrast to the sweet spaghetti squash. A delicious dinner was what I needed after a stressful day.

Time to relax before I head to bed. Another busy day awaits! Do you stress easily or are you more laid back?

Saving Money Monday

Here we are at another Monday. Does anyone else have the feeling that this week is going to drag? I hope it doesn't, but I want the weekend to get here!

Surprisingly I wasn't tired this morning. I bounded out of bed ready to run. I checked the weather last night and it said it would be about 50 in the morning! Perfect for a run. I stretched, worked my abs, and ran 6 miles in 54 minutes. Not too shabby for a girl with a "case of the Mondays." After showering and making myself presentable, I fixed myself pumpkin pie in a bowl.


In the mix is 1/2 cup oats, 1/4 fat free cottage cheese, 1/4 cup pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, raisins, and a few Ghiradelli 60% Cacao Chips. I let it sit for about ten minutes before I dug in. It was thick and gooey...what a great breakfast.

I'm definitely in a sweet mood today food wise. I'm about to dig into my lunch which is a whole wheat wrap filled with PB Loco Cookie Dough Peanut Butter, banana slices, and strawberry slices.


At least it's healthy sweet stuff right? I'll get back to my more appropriate lunchtime meals tomorrow I promise :)

As you know, I'm heading back to school in January and starting this week, working a reduced hours schedule at work. These changes are going to mean less money in my pocket every week. I'm pretty good at saving money, but now I'm going to have to be extra careful with how I spend my hard earned dough. I do the typical payroll deductions, etc...but there are a few extra things I like to do to save. I thought I'd share a few of them with you guys because who can't use a little extra money in their pocket right?

• Truly save your money when you save money. Let's say you go to Target to buy a new crock pot and surprise surprise, the one you want is $10 off! What do you do with the extra $10? Don't leave it in your wallet or in your checking account. Transfer that $10 directly into your savings account to make it a true savings.
• At the end of the week, take a peek in your wallet. If you have $5 sitting there, take it out and put it in your savings account. These little additions add up quick.
• When shopping online, before you click to checkout, do an online search for a coupon code. For example, if you're shopping at Gap, enter "Gap coupon code" or "Gap free shipping code" in a Google search. There are a lot of sites out there that have various codes available.
  

These are just a few little tips, but small savings add up! What do you do to save money?

Like My New Look?!

Hi everyone. I hope you had a relaxing Sunday. You can see what I spent my day working on...a new layout! What do you think? I was unhappy with the old layout for quite some time and last night I was able to ask Melissa some technical questions over dinner. Thanks for your help Melissa, you made my Sunday project MUCH easier!

Before I buried my face in the computer for the day, I went up to the apartment gym for my workout. It was a strength training day with exercises for tri's, bi's, and back. I did my usual pyramid sets of seated rows, hammer curls, lat pulldowns, and tricep extensions. I followed it up with some ab work and then 2.5 miles on the treadmill. The entire workout took about an hour and I had the gym all to myself. Perfect.

My bowl of oats was just as perfect.

I combined 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup cottage cheese and a small spoonful of Crunch Time PB. For my toppings, I added 6 chopped Ghiradelli 60% Cacao Chips, strawberry slices, and a sprinkle of Kashi GoLean Crunch. I highly recommend this mixture. It was like Reese's in a bowl.

I spent the rest of the day doing laundry and relaxing. I have a busy week ahead of me at work with a major report due. Tomorrow night I have to take a test at the college I'll be taking classes at in January. I'm stressing out over this big time. I don't even know why. I think I'm just nervous about being in a classroom setting again. I wish the test was in the morning because I know it's all I'll think about all day at work. To relieve some stress, I spent some time in the kitchen making my favorite dinner.


Mac & cheese! I had leftovers from the other night to use up so it didn't actually take me very long to make. I heated up the pasta, threw in 1/4 cup dark red kidney beans and a handful of broccoli. It helped take my mind off the test...eating it was fun too :)

My partner in crime went to a friend's house to watch the Pats game tonight. I'm debating on whether I want to watch GH episodes from last week or Twilight. I got sick of people saying, "OMG YOU HAVE TO SEE TWILIGHT SPARKLY VAMPIRES!!" We put it on our Netflix list and it's been sitting on the dining room table for a week. Neither one of us really has any interest to watch it. I actually really like Kristen Stewart as an actress (I love her cool sense of style too). I'm afraid I won't like her after watching this ridiculousness. I know I'll make fun of the movie the entire time...maybe I'll wait until tomorrow so Christian and I can make fun of it together. Have you seen Twilight?

Okay, I need to make a tv watching decision here. Let me know what you like and don't like about the new layout and have a great night!

Rainy Day Women

Per usual, it's raining on a Saturday here in Boston. Good thing I sucked it up and went running yesterday right? Nothing says rest day like pouring rain. My rainy day oats were perfect.


I mixed 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, raisins, strawberries, and PB Loco Cookie Dough Peanut Butter. A hodge podge of ingredients, but tasty nonetheless.

How did you spend your Saturday? I had a bit of ladies night and met up with Melissa and Shannon. We met at a favorite of Shannon's, Nourish in Lexington, MA.


Nourish prides itself on providing a menu of whole foods made fresh daily from local vendors. Their menu has everything from falafel to bbq ribs. I chose The Big Baby Salad.

The Big Baby contains greens, sliced pears, gorgonzola, walnuts, and I had balsamic vinaigrette on the side. It was delicious and quickly became my food baby. I had a great night with Shannon and Melissa. It's nice to have met other women I have so much in common with.

I'm sad this picture came out blurry. The waitress must've had the shakes or something. I hope everyone had a great Saturday. I plan on lifting and either using the elliptical or running on the treadmill in the morning. Oh and I have to do laundry...blech. Good night!