It's been a whole year since I've posted anything.
A ton has happened since then! If anyone is still reading this, I've started a new blog over at
www.enchantedlights.blogspot.com
while I considered continuing this one, I can't identify with the girl who wrote these entries.
I am now 118lbs. Working a professional full-time job downtown. About to move into my first apartment. :)
So please follow my new blog if you would like to read about my new misadventures!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Thursday, February 3, 2011
How often do you feel like poop?
Lack of updates can only mean one thing!
I've been stuffing my face with crap these past days. Ever since I got back from Seattle, I have not been sleeping enough and have consequently been unprepared for the days. This entire week I feel like I've been playing CATCH up with work & school. (I've pretty much given up on my non-existent social life)
And let me tell you, my body HATES me for it. I wake up tired after 8hrs of sleep, even when 7hrs of sleep has been my usual for the past year. I'm sore everywhere, I'm having trouble breathing properly, I feel congested and bloated, my skin looks awful, I have mood swings from here to Portugal, and the list goes on and on and on. Not sure how other people function on cookies and pastries, but I can't do it. My mind's been feeling kinda fuzzy lately ...
Last night before I went to bed, I told myself that I would stop treating my body like CRAP and go back to eating good food.
This morning's breakfast was my go-to detox breakfast ... also great for hang-overs :)
6:30am (or upon waking) - 1 glass of room temperature with lemon juice
7:00am - 1 glass of ice cold water
7:15am - 1 piece of fruit (today was a mandarin orange)
7:45am - half cup of cooked quinoa w tsp of butter/olive oil dressing (any other whole grain works too, best to choose amaranth, brown rice, and to avoid oats because they weigh you down more)
8:00am - cup of matcha green tea
Trust me when I say this breakfast leaves you feeling great. The room-temp water floods your system and helps you wake, the cold water boosts your metabolism while the fruit gets your digestive system working. The whole grain with fat gives you physical and mental stamina, and the hot tea soothes.
For lunch I steamed up a bunch of veggies. A small sweet potato, and mushrooms/spinach cooked in egg whites. PRODUCE POWER!!
My afternoon snack was supposed to be a mug of chamomile and an orange.
However, a single-portion bag of chips got added into the mix because it was free (with voting for student boards) and I was still hungry. Not very detox-friendly with the excess sodium, but practically no sugar which is great.
I had chicken soup planned for dinner, but wound up feeling light-headed and dizzy at around 2pm so I ended up going home in lieu of my last lecture. Seriously for the whole day I've had a massive head-ache and my skin has been driving me NUTS - it seriously feels like I have hives but I haven't been anywhere near shrimp ... I think this is a combination of sugar/caffeine withdrawal.
I ended up taking a nap when I got home, and when I woke up an (unplanned) hour later, the original dinner plans got scratched because all I wanted were comfort foods.
A piece of CHIA bread with Trader Joe's sunflower butter (SO GOOD) and mixed berry jam, half an apple with cinnamon and a blob of edamame hummus.
I didn't end up having the edamame hummus. I've tried to like it, but it just tastes sour to me. Maybe it's gone bad?
I did polish off the last of the vanilla soy milk with a cup of cereal. (Kashi Heart to Heart, Puffins, and blueberries)
For dessert, I mixed a half cup Fage 0% greek yogurt (also from TJ's) with a fruit cup. This was REALLY yummy, but I'm getting kind of a sugar high right now from the syrup.
Next week is killer:
Monday: Real Estate Development Investment Analysis due
Wednesday: Portfolio Theory midterm
Thursday: Urban Land Economics and Real Estate Economics assignments due (AHHHH)
Friday: Real Estate Investment Pro-Forma Due (AHHHHHHHHHHH FML)
Seriously. Just end my life. I'm going to need some serious veggie power to help me get through the next week.
I've been stuffing my face with crap these past days. Ever since I got back from Seattle, I have not been sleeping enough and have consequently been unprepared for the days. This entire week I feel like I've been playing CATCH up with work & school. (I've pretty much given up on my non-existent social life)
And let me tell you, my body HATES me for it. I wake up tired after 8hrs of sleep, even when 7hrs of sleep has been my usual for the past year. I'm sore everywhere, I'm having trouble breathing properly, I feel congested and bloated, my skin looks awful, I have mood swings from here to Portugal, and the list goes on and on and on. Not sure how other people function on cookies and pastries, but I can't do it. My mind's been feeling kinda fuzzy lately ...
Last night before I went to bed, I told myself that I would stop treating my body like CRAP and go back to eating good food.
This morning's breakfast was my go-to detox breakfast ... also great for hang-overs :)
6:30am (or upon waking) - 1 glass of room temperature with lemon juice
7:00am - 1 glass of ice cold water
7:15am - 1 piece of fruit (today was a mandarin orange)
7:45am - half cup of cooked quinoa w tsp of butter/olive oil dressing (any other whole grain works too, best to choose amaranth, brown rice, and to avoid oats because they weigh you down more)
8:00am - cup of matcha green tea
Trust me when I say this breakfast leaves you feeling great. The room-temp water floods your system and helps you wake, the cold water boosts your metabolism while the fruit gets your digestive system working. The whole grain with fat gives you physical and mental stamina, and the hot tea soothes.
For lunch I steamed up a bunch of veggies. A small sweet potato, and mushrooms/spinach cooked in egg whites. PRODUCE POWER!!
My afternoon snack was supposed to be a mug of chamomile and an orange.
However, a single-portion bag of chips got added into the mix because it was free (with voting for student boards) and I was still hungry. Not very detox-friendly with the excess sodium, but practically no sugar which is great.
I had chicken soup planned for dinner, but wound up feeling light-headed and dizzy at around 2pm so I ended up going home in lieu of my last lecture. Seriously for the whole day I've had a massive head-ache and my skin has been driving me NUTS - it seriously feels like I have hives but I haven't been anywhere near shrimp ... I think this is a combination of sugar/caffeine withdrawal.
I ended up taking a nap when I got home, and when I woke up an (unplanned) hour later, the original dinner plans got scratched because all I wanted were comfort foods.
A piece of CHIA bread with Trader Joe's sunflower butter (SO GOOD) and mixed berry jam, half an apple with cinnamon and a blob of edamame hummus.
I didn't end up having the edamame hummus. I've tried to like it, but it just tastes sour to me. Maybe it's gone bad?
I did polish off the last of the vanilla soy milk with a cup of cereal. (Kashi Heart to Heart, Puffins, and blueberries)
For dessert, I mixed a half cup Fage 0% greek yogurt (also from TJ's) with a fruit cup. This was REALLY yummy, but I'm getting kind of a sugar high right now from the syrup.
Next week is killer:
Monday: Real Estate Development Investment Analysis due
Wednesday: Portfolio Theory midterm
Thursday: Urban Land Economics and Real Estate Economics assignments due (AHHHH)
Friday: Real Estate Investment Pro-Forma Due (AHHHHHHHHHHH FML)
Seriously. Just end my life. I'm going to need some serious veggie power to help me get through the next week.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Seattle nom noms!!
Reason for being MIA: Seattle Weekend Trip with the girls to celebrate Sammie's 22nd!
We set out early Saturday morning with a jam-packed two-day itinerary. Even though Seattle is only 3 hours away from Vancouver, I really haven't made many trips there. I woke up before my alarm went off (6:25am) and puttered around trying to pass time before my ride came.
We had breakfast planned for 10:30am ... that's practically my lunch time! I wasn't particularly hungry for breakfast, but ate out of jitteryness/unrest. SWUD fail.
However, this ended up being a good decision because we didn't arrive at our 'breakfast' destination until noon. Harris Avenue Cafe in Bellingham.
An apparently popular destination for locals and tourists alike. We had to wait for 20 minutes before we were seated. Sammie (birthday girl) and Hambie.
Wendy, Cindy, and Nom nom face.
The other girls opted for breakfast choices like scrambles, french toast, oatmeal, and waffles, but seeing as I already had breakfast, I wanted a sandwich! I ordered on of their 'hot sandwiches' which included grilled chicken breast and pesto spread. It came with a side order of chipotle black bean soup.
I was pretty shocked when it came ... I didn't know 'hot sandwich' meant burger ... wasn't too happy about it.
So I sandwich-fied it by cutting it in half! Look at that ooey-gooey cheese. I ate this half and all of the soup.
After stopping at Seattle premium outlets and spending far too much money, we decided since no one was hungry for our planned lunch (Carl's Jr) that we would skip it and go straight to Pike Market instead. I've never been here before, but by the time we arrived a lot of the shops were closing.
We still managed to see some pretty cool sights though. Like this giant gummi bear made out of gummi bears.
We wandered around for too long though because we were almost late for dinner! We pushed back our dinner reservations to 8 and made it in the nick of time. The Purple Cafe Wine and Bar is a very popular spot on Saturday nights ... good thing we made a reservation because the wait was 2.5 hours long...
Check out this massive selection of wines! Heaven ...
We started with a trio of appies that the waitress recommended. From top left, a garlic and hummus spread, medjool dates stuffed with goat cheese, and duck pate. The duck pate was AMAZING but the others were mediocre at best.
But my Lobster mac and cheese more than made up for it. A bowl of cheesy goodness with GIANT and plentiful bites of lobster meat. I passed this around the table and it was unanimously voted the best dish of the night (and possibly the entire trip).
The birthday girl got a red velvet cupcake at the end of her meal!
Which we helped demolish within seconds.
An enjoyable experience for sure!
Nighttime shenanigans ensued.
And before we knew it, it was Sunday and time to check out of the Sheraton Seattle!
We vetoed our Cheesecake Factory plans for more time at Pike Place. Wendy suggested we go for clam chowder, and oooooh, what an idea!! A bowl of hot creamy clam chowder served in a soft sourdough bowl with oyster crackers on the side.
Dip the 'bread' hole in the soup.
You can also rip off the top of the bowl!
No bread shall be wasted.
Playing with food is so much fun.
After brunch we explored other parts of pike market!
Good thing the chowder was filling ... cause there were A LOT of delicious looking pastries.
'Highly Sociable' cats too. Not sure how they are different from normal cats, but they sure were cute stacked on top of each other.
And the very first Starbucks!!
Watching cheese being made in a big vat.
After many touristy activities, we went shopping! Cindy played mommy and watched our stuff.
And then it was lunch time ... I was still full from breakfast, so opted for something sweet instead. We went to Jollibee's, a Filipino fast food chain. I ordered a Halo-halo (??) which was shaved ice with mixed beans and jelly at the bottom and a scoop of ice cream!
The weirdest dish - Wendy's! That's pig's blood, served over rice. I tried it, and really really liked it.
After more shopping, we made our way back up towards Bellingham and stopped at Bellevue to shop at Trader Joe's (my heaven ....) and have dinner at a Taiwanese Cafe called Facing East. Sammie, Cindy and I decided to share a couple of dishes since none of us were that hungry. Started with a Taiwanese pork bun, which was marinated pork strips with a sweet relish in a soft doughy bun.
Squid pottage. None of us knew what pottage was but it was just rice noodles in soup with squid balls.
Also some sticky cake. I don't even know what was in this but it wasn't that great.
This had to be the least memorable spot of all our stops, but every meal tastes fantastic when it's shared amongst friends. By the time we drove back up to Vancouver, we were full of food, but stuffed to the brim with incredible memories of the times shared.
In my opinion, the best way to OM NOM NOM!
Regular programming resumes tomorrow!
We set out early Saturday morning with a jam-packed two-day itinerary. Even though Seattle is only 3 hours away from Vancouver, I really haven't made many trips there. I woke up before my alarm went off (6:25am) and puttered around trying to pass time before my ride came.
We had breakfast planned for 10:30am ... that's practically my lunch time! I wasn't particularly hungry for breakfast, but ate out of jitteryness/unrest. SWUD fail.
However, this ended up being a good decision because we didn't arrive at our 'breakfast' destination until noon. Harris Avenue Cafe in Bellingham.
An apparently popular destination for locals and tourists alike. We had to wait for 20 minutes before we were seated. Sammie (birthday girl) and Hambie.
Wendy, Cindy, and Nom nom face.
The other girls opted for breakfast choices like scrambles, french toast, oatmeal, and waffles, but seeing as I already had breakfast, I wanted a sandwich! I ordered on of their 'hot sandwiches' which included grilled chicken breast and pesto spread. It came with a side order of chipotle black bean soup.
I was pretty shocked when it came ... I didn't know 'hot sandwich' meant burger ... wasn't too happy about it.
So I sandwich-fied it by cutting it in half! Look at that ooey-gooey cheese. I ate this half and all of the soup.
After stopping at Seattle premium outlets and spending far too much money, we decided since no one was hungry for our planned lunch (Carl's Jr) that we would skip it and go straight to Pike Market instead. I've never been here before, but by the time we arrived a lot of the shops were closing.
We still managed to see some pretty cool sights though. Like this giant gummi bear made out of gummi bears.
We wandered around for too long though because we were almost late for dinner! We pushed back our dinner reservations to 8 and made it in the nick of time. The Purple Cafe Wine and Bar is a very popular spot on Saturday nights ... good thing we made a reservation because the wait was 2.5 hours long...
Check out this massive selection of wines! Heaven ...
We started with a trio of appies that the waitress recommended. From top left, a garlic and hummus spread, medjool dates stuffed with goat cheese, and duck pate. The duck pate was AMAZING but the others were mediocre at best.
But my Lobster mac and cheese more than made up for it. A bowl of cheesy goodness with GIANT and plentiful bites of lobster meat. I passed this around the table and it was unanimously voted the best dish of the night (and possibly the entire trip).
The birthday girl got a red velvet cupcake at the end of her meal!
Which we helped demolish within seconds.
An enjoyable experience for sure!
Nighttime shenanigans ensued.
And before we knew it, it was Sunday and time to check out of the Sheraton Seattle!
We vetoed our Cheesecake Factory plans for more time at Pike Place. Wendy suggested we go for clam chowder, and oooooh, what an idea!! A bowl of hot creamy clam chowder served in a soft sourdough bowl with oyster crackers on the side.
Dip the 'bread' hole in the soup.
You can also rip off the top of the bowl!
No bread shall be wasted.
Playing with food is so much fun.
After brunch we explored other parts of pike market!
Good thing the chowder was filling ... cause there were A LOT of delicious looking pastries.
'Highly Sociable' cats too. Not sure how they are different from normal cats, but they sure were cute stacked on top of each other.
And the very first Starbucks!!
Watching cheese being made in a big vat.
After many touristy activities, we went shopping! Cindy played mommy and watched our stuff.
And then it was lunch time ... I was still full from breakfast, so opted for something sweet instead. We went to Jollibee's, a Filipino fast food chain. I ordered a Halo-halo (??) which was shaved ice with mixed beans and jelly at the bottom and a scoop of ice cream!
The weirdest dish - Wendy's! That's pig's blood, served over rice. I tried it, and really really liked it.
After more shopping, we made our way back up towards Bellingham and stopped at Bellevue to shop at Trader Joe's (my heaven ....) and have dinner at a Taiwanese Cafe called Facing East. Sammie, Cindy and I decided to share a couple of dishes since none of us were that hungry. Started with a Taiwanese pork bun, which was marinated pork strips with a sweet relish in a soft doughy bun.
Squid pottage. None of us knew what pottage was but it was just rice noodles in soup with squid balls.
Also some sticky cake. I don't even know what was in this but it wasn't that great.
This had to be the least memorable spot of all our stops, but every meal tastes fantastic when it's shared amongst friends. By the time we drove back up to Vancouver, we were full of food, but stuffed to the brim with incredible memories of the times shared.
In my opinion, the best way to OM NOM NOM!
Regular programming resumes tomorrow!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
SWUD: Day 1
The homework monster attacked me last night.
Which resulted in wearing sweatpants to school today. Let's pretend it didn't happen, ok?
Since I had a snack right before bed last night, I wasn't hungry when I woke up. Kept breakfast light with a yogurt bowl. (Blackberry yogurt, 1/2 banana, blueberries, chocolate granola, small handful of Puffins)
Hard to stop eating though, I had five granola bar clusters. UGH too full. (9/10)
But then ... hunger surprisingly struck by 10:30am, I guess this means I need a mid-morning snack for this semester. (Since I don't get a chance to eat lunch until 12:30 - 1:00. Ate the afternoon snack orange before lunch.
It just BARELY held me over until actual lunch. Fav sandwich combo: Whole wheat CHIA bread, turkey slices, spinach, and cranberry cream cheese.
Lunch was followed by a very stressful two hours of trying to finish my assignment. Good thing I didn't go into medicine like my parents wanted cause I'm too dumb for calculus. (I can still manage your portfolio though!) I was getting hungry again and since I already ate my orange, needed to find snack pronto.
Friend texted me a photo of a scone, it's a sign.
I walked 20min and halfway across campus for this blueberry baby. It looked suspiciously 'cake' like in the counter display but I braved it since it was the only scone available.
ARGH this isn't a scone!!!! IT'S A FREAKING TRIANGLE PIECE OF CAKE. I was angry. It ended up getting tossed out cause I sure ain't eating that.
So I went to the nearby religious college and they had this raspberry whole wheat scone. I was desperate, it had to do. This one wasn't very tasty (whole wheat flour tends to have that effect on baked goods) but at least it wasn't suffering from an identity crisis.
After my last class, I stopped by shoppers to pick up some snacks. I rarely keep 'junk food' in the house because I end up eating it all, but this isn't a long-term solution because eventually I will end up in a social situation with junk food and will be completely defenceless and end up eating everything in sight. (Pretty much what happened the entire winter break) I need to build up my resistance and co-exist with said foods.
Baby steps with relatively safe foods:
BBQ and Sour Cream and Onion Popchips: I'm not a salty snacker at all but these are surprisingly addictive. Each bag has two servings of 180cal each.
Mini chocolate chip button cookies: they're marketed as 'organic' and are individually packaged in 100cal packs
Double Chocolate Zone Bars: chocolate bars disguised as nutrition bars, at least they're portable
Gum: cause it was on sale
I also picked up ... a 6-pack of scones from COBS bakery! In my (quite informed) opinion, COBS has the best scones around. They're just the right size (300-330cal each) and are super crumbly. Now instead of walking around campus like a madwoman and wasting money, I can pre-plan my scone consumption.
In the bag: 2 raspberry white chocolate (my fav), 2 double chocolate (these aren't as sweet as they sound), 1 fruit, 1 cinnamon. 4 of them went straight to the freezer, and the other two are being stored in the fridge. I didn't eat them yet. Promise.
I have another assignment due tomorrow and I read the Harvard case study while on the stationary bike. Lesser of two evils ... 15 minutes went by pretty quickly! This could become a habit.
Since I had a late late afternoon snack, wasn't feeling at all hungry until 8:00pm. I had a weird craving for tuna waffles. (Sounds bizarre, but they're common in Taiwan and I've seen them on the menus of several Taiwanese cafes)
I made the tuna salad by combining 1/2can of tuna with a squirt of mayo and some tomato sauce. Added in a sprinkle of lemongrass and dill. Also mixed a giant handful of spinach with tomato sauce and nuked it in the microwave. The only waffles I had were blueberry ... odd taste combo for sure, but it satisfied the craving.
I think I waited too long to eat dinner because that waffle was gone in a flash. Dessert was completely necessary. Frozen grapes + a corner of the raspberry white chocolate scone. (Oh you know it was bound to happen)
Now all that food is expanding in my stomach and I'm too full. (9/10) I'll get better at this with practice.
Which resulted in wearing sweatpants to school today. Let's pretend it didn't happen, ok?
Since I had a snack right before bed last night, I wasn't hungry when I woke up. Kept breakfast light with a yogurt bowl. (Blackberry yogurt, 1/2 banana, blueberries, chocolate granola, small handful of Puffins)
Hard to stop eating though, I had five granola bar clusters. UGH too full. (9/10)
But then ... hunger surprisingly struck by 10:30am, I guess this means I need a mid-morning snack for this semester. (Since I don't get a chance to eat lunch until 12:30 - 1:00. Ate the afternoon snack orange before lunch.
It just BARELY held me over until actual lunch. Fav sandwich combo: Whole wheat CHIA bread, turkey slices, spinach, and cranberry cream cheese.
Lunch was followed by a very stressful two hours of trying to finish my assignment. Good thing I didn't go into medicine like my parents wanted cause I'm too dumb for calculus. (I can still manage your portfolio though!) I was getting hungry again and since I already ate my orange, needed to find snack pronto.
Friend texted me a photo of a scone, it's a sign.
I walked 20min and halfway across campus for this blueberry baby. It looked suspiciously 'cake' like in the counter display but I braved it since it was the only scone available.
ARGH this isn't a scone!!!! IT'S A FREAKING TRIANGLE PIECE OF CAKE. I was angry. It ended up getting tossed out cause I sure ain't eating that.
So I went to the nearby religious college and they had this raspberry whole wheat scone. I was desperate, it had to do. This one wasn't very tasty (whole wheat flour tends to have that effect on baked goods) but at least it wasn't suffering from an identity crisis.
After my last class, I stopped by shoppers to pick up some snacks. I rarely keep 'junk food' in the house because I end up eating it all, but this isn't a long-term solution because eventually I will end up in a social situation with junk food and will be completely defenceless and end up eating everything in sight. (Pretty much what happened the entire winter break) I need to build up my resistance and co-exist with said foods.
Baby steps with relatively safe foods:
BBQ and Sour Cream and Onion Popchips: I'm not a salty snacker at all but these are surprisingly addictive. Each bag has two servings of 180cal each.
Mini chocolate chip button cookies: they're marketed as 'organic' and are individually packaged in 100cal packs
Double Chocolate Zone Bars: chocolate bars disguised as nutrition bars, at least they're portable
Gum: cause it was on sale
I also picked up ... a 6-pack of scones from COBS bakery! In my (quite informed) opinion, COBS has the best scones around. They're just the right size (300-330cal each) and are super crumbly. Now instead of walking around campus like a madwoman and wasting money, I can pre-plan my scone consumption.
In the bag: 2 raspberry white chocolate (my fav), 2 double chocolate (these aren't as sweet as they sound), 1 fruit, 1 cinnamon. 4 of them went straight to the freezer, and the other two are being stored in the fridge. I didn't eat them yet. Promise.
I have another assignment due tomorrow and I read the Harvard case study while on the stationary bike. Lesser of two evils ... 15 minutes went by pretty quickly! This could become a habit.
Since I had a late late afternoon snack, wasn't feeling at all hungry until 8:00pm. I had a weird craving for tuna waffles. (Sounds bizarre, but they're common in Taiwan and I've seen them on the menus of several Taiwanese cafes)
I made the tuna salad by combining 1/2can of tuna with a squirt of mayo and some tomato sauce. Added in a sprinkle of lemongrass and dill. Also mixed a giant handful of spinach with tomato sauce and nuked it in the microwave. The only waffles I had were blueberry ... odd taste combo for sure, but it satisfied the craving.
I think I waited too long to eat dinner because that waffle was gone in a flash. Dessert was completely necessary. Frozen grapes + a corner of the raspberry white chocolate scone. (Oh you know it was bound to happen)
Now all that food is expanding in my stomach and I'm too full. (9/10) I'll get better at this with practice.
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