spring break 2015: the highlights.

 ^^nothing like these two friends for an 8 hour car ride. snacks, music, and entertainment included.^^

^^a quick stop at Subway, which meant a chopped salad for me. not too shabby for a ‘fast’ food establishment.^^

^^by the time we arrived around 6 (shaved an hour “off” our time thanks to the change from Eastern to Central time. for an easy/fun first night, we decided to walk down the street and see what we found. we ended up at a little restaurant, and they had karaoke! we didn’t really participate, but one friend got pulled into singing when she was too enthusiastic about a song coming on!^^

Sunday through Wednesday we were superbly lucky, and we were able to hang out on the beach all day!

^^I started every morning with a 60-80 minute walk. I wanted to ‘rest’ from hard workouts, but I just love being active and a morning walk really puts me in a great mood!^^

^^the beach was pretty sweet.^^

^another thing I started most mornings with: some sauerkraut (and unpictured probiotics). being on vacation/out of my normal eating routine can throw digestion our of whack. a little fermented food and some probiotics helps me keep my tummy happy!^

^^beach adventures^^

^^I threw together a lot of salads this week. They’re quick, easy, and cold after sitting in the sun. the bacon I had lying around took my salads to the next level.^^

^^eggs and veggies, perfect before a morning on the beach.^^

 

^^sand art. he was the artist, my relaxing legs became the unwitting canvas!^^

^^sand castle adventures. to be honest, digging the “moat” was my favorite part. back, legs, and arms were definitely sore the next day!^^

^^isn’t it kind of required to eat ice cream at the beach? there was a homemade ice cream shop (Blue Mountain creamery) just one block off the beach which = dangerous/delicious. I honestly don’t remember what I had, but the chocolate chunks in it were amazing!^^

^^a simple, throw together dinner. I cooked a bunch of veggies + chicken the first night we were there, and then I didn’t have to spend an hour on dinner every night^^

^^we walked lots every day, which I loved. between that and my morning walk I was getting 30,000+ steps every day (#Fitbitnerd) which, in normal people terms is about 10-15 miles of walking every day. that being said, I really didn’t feel the need or want to workout every day. I enjoyed relaxing with my friends while still getting lots of movement throughout the day. The one day I did workout, was a more rainy day when we couldn’t get out to the beach. I did a 40 minute HIIT workout. 1.5 miles out, then I ran halfway back to a good hill. I did hill repeats for about 10 minutes, and then headed home.^^

^^another day, another ice cream. personally, I think it’s amazing that I only ate ice cream twice. I normally like a 1 to 1 ratio of days at the beach/ice cream consumed ;)^^

^^my best friend//sometimes we match {by accident}^^

^^our big night out. the restaurant ended up being a disaster– pre cooked/cold food, unwilling to split our check, extra items on our bill, etcetera– but the company and laughter was great^^

Questions of the day:

Do you have a “spring break” this year?

Would you choose to travel to the beach or the mountains for vacation?

WIAW: food freedom.

Happy WIAW y’all! Another addition of my daily meals and activities to share.

I used to be one of those people who had to plan out what they were going to eat before the day even began. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, packed up and planned out– I mean otherwise how could I control what I ate and the ‘healthiness’ of it all, right? And don’t even get me started on the stress of unplanned activities like going out for ice cream with friends or an impromptu dinner out with the family.

Eggs + veggies // paleo banana bread with Kerrygold grass-fed butter.

Random veggies, I only had a few spoonfuls of these.

Coconut cashews// I ate way to many of these to finish up my breakfast, but they’re so delicious I couldn’t help myself.

Now, I can’t imagine going back to that controlling, crazy mindset. The only time I plan things out now are dinners I’m making with the boy or lunches I have to pack on the go. An ice cream run in the afternoon, why not? Dinner out with a friend who’s visiting, sure thing! It’ll sound  crazy to say, but I actually eat healthier now than I ever did before. Getting out of that hectic mindset allows me to be more in tune with my body. If I have a bigger breakfast, I don’t have to stress, because I know my body will just tell me when it’s hungry again.

Afternoon salad leftovers // Chicken, lettuce, walnuts, and a little pomegranate dressing. I wasn’t too hungry after such a huge breakfast so I just went with it.

Workout time- walking, HIIT, and some upper body exercises to round it out.

Cooking with the best friend // and he’s wearing the same shirt I had on earlier.

Dinner as gluten free pizza (homemade!), bacon, and pineapple.

Post dinner: dark chocolate at bible study- YUM.

Stressing about what we eat each day will not make us any healthier. Worry about what you’re eating in the moment. Choose that healthy salad, or a piece of fruit instead of candy. But– don’t stress about that choice all day//week. Our bodies are smart and although it takes practice (and sometimes metabolic healing) we can learn to be in tune with our hunger and nutritional needs. That is the healthiest living of all!

Questions of the day:

Do you eat intuitively?

What is the biggest struggle of healthy eating for you?

sprained my eye?!

so…I got a bike y’all! I’m pretty excited ’bout that. It’ll make the 1.2 mile HIKE from my apartment so so much easier. Plus it’s school colors- win!

 

Monday:

I started yesterday morning nice and early with an awesome workout. I did some elliptical, some arc, and it felt awesome to bust it out early before the day started! Then it was off to classes. Today’s load: Survey of Spanish American Literature {para mi especializacion de español} and Physics. Not too bad for a Monday. After class I headed to the DH to get some nomz. Lunch was a little sketchy, but I went with a salad {that’s the boy pictured eating it :)} and a “moroccan vegetable stew” from the gluten free/vegetarian station at our Dining Hall. It wasn’t the best thing ever, but I felt satisfied and I loved the chickpeas that were mixed in.

After lunch I had an eventful/stressful afternoon. My left eye has been pretty red and aching since Friday. On Friday I went to the infirmary to get it checked out, and they told me to start using some eye drops. When it wasn’t feeling better by Monday, I figured I better get it checked out again. Back to the infirmary for me! There, they confirmed that it wasn’t scratched or bruised, and that it definitely was not pink eye. So from there, they sent me over to the eye doctor for a closer look.

After lots of drops, lights shining in my eye, and some close inspection, the doctor determined that I had “sprained” my eye…. ha! Only I could sprain an eye…and not even know how I did it. So now, my eye is on steroids. I’m just glad that it will be feeling better soon. It’s super irritating and limiting when one of your eyes is in pain no matter what you do. Makes school work and classes a real pain!

Because they dilated my eyes so late in the day, I was basically useless as far as schoolwork goes…so I threw together an awesome gluten free recipe! Which I’ll be sharing ASAP!

A little later, I headed over to the Chapel where the boy was working to bring him a little treat! He’s been extremely supportive and comforting through my whole eye ordeal the past few days, on top of tolerating the ridiculously long time it took me to pick out a bike on Sunday…

I brought him some of the BEST Jeni’s Ice Cream {which is grass-fed y’all!} in Dark Chocolate which is completely to die for. I love their ingredients, all natural!

I headed back soon after that and called it an early night, to rest my little eye. Hopefully things start to clear up today!

 

jeni’s splendid ice creams

My review of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams

This weekend my lovely boyfriend came to visit (I’ll recap the weekend in the next post!) and he brought the most delicious ice creams with him. Well, he actually sent them ahead- you can order them online and get them shipped! So when he arrived, the ice cream was already waiting in my freezer.

Jeni’s is a brand of ice creams crafted to “make the best ice creams possible and make the world a better place”. It is homemade American ice cream with delicious, quality ingredients in each unique flavor. They have signature, perennial, and limited edition ice creams in addition to sorbets, frozen yogurts, and ice cream sandwiches.

I have been lucky enough to visit a few Jeni’s shops (there are 9 in Ohio and 1 in Tennessee) on some visits to my boy. The stores are adorable, and it’s so fun to taste test all the unique flavors-of-the-moment! So without further ado…our review of these delicious ice creams.

The first flavor we tried was- Juniper and Lemon Curd a limited edition flavor. The best part of this was the bubbles of fresh lemon curd throughout the ice cream. The juniper flavor was a little strong though, so if you don’t care for it this might not be your thing. I thought it was scrumptious!

 

The second flavor- Salty Caramel. I feel like salted caramel things are popping up everywhere now- especially in chocolate bars and cakes! And I won’t complain. I think this is a perfect flavor combination and this ice cream was no exception. Smooth, with the tang of the salt cutting through the flavor in the most delicious way.

Third was a classic….dark chocolate! Rich, creamy, the website puts it so well- “tastes like the inside of a truffle”. Enough said.

And I saved my favorite for last. Brambleberry Crisp. This ice cream is so delicious. A mix of blackberries, black currants, and black raspberries layered throughout the vanilla ice cream, with chunks of oat-y crumble-y streusel delightfully mixed in. This is my favorite Jeni’s flavor (so far!)

In order of favorites this is how I rate them…

1- Brambleberry Crisp

2- Salty Caramel

3- Dark Chocolate

4- Juniper and Lemon Curd

If you’re in Ohio I recommend you run to a Jeni’s store to get some of this one of a kind ice cream! If not, you can order online! It’s a little pricey (about $12 per pint). But… definitely worth it for a gift (for the foodie in the fam?!) or for a party, or just because you deserve it!

romp around.

These are some things exciting me lately..

• Rompers Cute, easy, and perfect for the hot summer days. These are some good ones:

Accordance Lace Romper from Anthropologie – I love the open back!

This Floral Patchwork Jumpsuit from Zara -perfectly playful for summer.

• Anything and everything avocado. They are so delicious and nutritional powerhouses. They have vitamins A, C, E, K and B6. In addition they are rich in monounsaturated fats, oleic acid, and omega 3’s which are all amazing for your heart. Currently loving this chunky guacamole  recipe from one of my favorite blogs- Girl Crush. 

• Iced treats. Some are just too good to pass up! These are Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams from Columbus, Ohio. So good! they’re kind of pricey but believe me it’s worth it. I’ll give a full review of the flavors when we try them.

• Veggies. It’s summer and LOTS of good veggies are in season. I’m digging bell peppers, kale, and tomatoes (to go with my avocado of course!)

This is a dinner I threw together recently- kale, bell pepper, romaine lettuce, black bean patty (homemade!), asparagus, and some avocado. That didn’t last long, yum!

• Last but not least- I saw an article on the Harvard Review today that I love. “Move Over Mediterranean-a vegetarian diet is just as good for health.”
• I was especially interested in this- as a vegan and former vegetarian. The health benefits of eating a plant based diet are irrefutable so it’s good to see more scientific studies being done about it.
  • The summary:
    • People who eat a vegetarian diet were 12% less likely to die over the course of the 5 year study
    • It was especially good for men- I love this because men are usually MUCH more resistant to a vegetarian diet!
• Really great and informative! Head over if you’re interested in the vegetarian diet!

 

Happy Humpday, hope everyone is having a great week!