Fit.Fun.Food

Finally Friday!

2011-09-23T15:31:00.000-07:00

Hello all, from my horribly messy kitchen! Hey, you can't be fabulous in all areas of your life. My outfit – for tonight's Maggie and the Romantics show – is fab enough to cancel out the mess that is my kitchen.

A few new things to report.

My PT said it's actually bad to stop using my arm all together, which is good because I was starting to get lopsided; one shoulder goes up higher than the other. Apparently "avoidance behaviors" can cause more problems and make the injury worse. Now, I'm sure that's not the case for everything, but I'm trusting my PT on this. Repeat after me, Maggie: I have faith in my PT. Good. Keep it up.

Can't hurt to try, I suppose. By "use" he meant wash face, wash hair, etc. No heavy weight lifting. Or yoga. How lame is that? I've injured myself TWICE with yoga. But no more. I will give up downward dogs for life if it means a healthy arm. That's a promise.

The other great thing I've found recently is a few Bible verses about worrying.

1. "So do not worry...seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be give to you as well." Matt. 6:33

2. "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done." Philippians 4:6

Great, huh? Especially the second one.

Now a pic of my wonderful band.

Love to all!

Maggie

Again?

2011-09-22T10:05:00.000-07:00

So...I sprained my elbow again. I guess. That's what my PT tells me. It may have been by stretching it too much ... because that's about the most strenuous thing I did with it. Oh well, what's done is done. I'm chronicling this here really for my own benefit rather than the random peeps who may stumble across my blog. Hopefully I'll be looking back at this in a few months, possibly more, and thinking, "Gosh, my elbow feels pretty normal now.

I'm not going to whine about it, just chronicle the progress...otherwise I may go crazy. There may/may not be random anxiety moments, but that's just me.

Disclaimer: I know this is really no big deal, which is why I'm going to try to "work on" other things in my life as I wait for this elbow to heal – or while I wait for it to slowly deteriorate to the point where surgery is the only option. Whichever comes first. Things I've been thinking about improving/working on:

1. Reading my Bible more. I've always called myself spiritual, but I don't engage in any real spiritual activities. Maybe it's time I did a little more exploring of my faith. I also want to get more involved with the community at my church.

2. Becoming the most awesome jazz singer ever. Doesn't take a good elbow to sing the blues, and Maggie and the Romantics are really doing well these days.

3. Doing the best job I can at work. My PT said typing won't hurt it, but I shouldn't type for hours on end. That said, I can get a lot done in 10-minute segments, and after all, I wasn't hired for my typing speed.

4. Not complaining about it. 'Nuff said.

5. Finding other ways to get exercise that don't use my arms a bunch. They've gotta be out there.

6. Being the best possible patient ever. I'm icing at least 3x a day, and doing heat intervals when I can. I'm elevating. I'm icing after I type and heating before. I'm doing my ROM exercises and gentle (emphasis on that word) stretches. I'm learning self-massage techniques to get the swelling down. I'm attending PT once a week. What more could I do, really?

7. Finding my identity in things other than my body. I'm not as bad as some – but I could do better.

So, that's about it for now. My arm will get better – I hope. I was thinking about it this way. If I was right in thinking that it would never get better, that would mean a couple other things are true:

My physical trainer is wrong.
My friends and family are wrong.
The internet is the best source of information.
I know more than doctors.
I have some rare illness that inhibits ligament healing.

Hm...none of those are very likely.

Time to ice my arm.

Love,

Random stuff

2011-09-10T09:06:00.001-07:00

Look at that mess...what is that? Well, it's sweet potato cakes, broiled cod, mango salsa, guacamole and raw crudites!
Who's that girl? Oh, she's just fantastic. Look at her all dressed for work.

That's all.

Green and glorious

2011-09-06T17:36:00.000-07:00

This is my "Long-day-at-work-followed-by-long-meeting" face. Cute, huh? I'm not complaining. it still boggles my mind how lucky I am to have a full-time job in my field of expertise. I'm never going to be a millionaire, but who cares when I've got an interesting life and a plateful of...

GREEN!!!!

It wasn't really on purpose...that's just how I eat. I wanted something quick n' easy, so nuked eggs, broccoli, toast and guacamole was in order. It might sound weird but the combination is hitting the spot.

I'm currently working on learning "It Might As Well Be Spring," this adorable jazz song, for my next concert. Yeah. I'm in a band. We're called "Maggie and the Romantics." Maybe that's a little conceited, but it wasn't my idea to put my name first. Blame my bandmates.

I'm going to spend the rest of the evening doing PT exercises, making my food for tomorrow and probably watching a little mindless TV...

How do you wind down?

-Maggie

Old ladies, unite

2011-09-05T07:50:00.000-07:00

This morning, I realized that I am an old lady. Why, you ask? A few reasons.

I take a ton of supplements. Multi-vitamin, Vitamin C, Calcium, Magnesium, Fish Oil and sometimes Cod Liver Oil. I used to take Metamucil until I realized I was actually eating enough fiber already.

Because of my recent arm injury (see yesterday's post), I can tell when it's about to rain. Seriously! It gets all achy and sore! This did not happen when I was in dry, dry Durham!
I eat oatmeal for breakfast. :) Maybe that just means I'm healthy. More specifically, I've been eating Irish oats from Trader Joe's. I love TJ's...almost had a heart attack when I went for the first time in about a year.

Also, I have bunions. Yes, little bunions. I didn't actually realize they were bunions for the longest time. I just thought I had weird feet. I've noticed they've grown a bit in the past year – probably from wearing heels (which I only do occasionally, by the way). Oh well, they don't really hurt and there's always surgery. So...do you guys want to see a picture?

Moving on...

I'm currently enjoying an amazing savory breakfast of Irish oats, eggs fried in coconut oil and broccolli. All doused with smoked sea salt, chili powder, garlic and turmeric. Yum...

I've realized that the best diet for me (right now, anyways) is a balanced, mostly organic one with limited sugar and little to no preservatives. I've tried high protein and paleo...but it didn't work for me. I know that everyone's different and some people have amazing results with those, but this is what makes me feel good.

After breakfast I'm planning to go into the office to do a bit of work. I know it's a holiday, but I love my job and if I don't do some work today, I'll be swamped tomorrow.

Then it's errand time. I need to get more eggs...I eat way too many! I've been thinking about getting some Vitamin E oil for minor acne scars...Does that work?

Questions:

1. Are you an old lady? How so? Do you have bunions? Tell me I'm not the only one. :)

2. Vitamin E oil for acne...effective?

3. What are your Labor Day plans?

Love to all!!

Maggie

The end of Summer and sucking it up...

2011-09-04T08:33:00.000-07:00

Hello!

It's been a while since I've updated, but I miss the feedback and the community of blogs, so I've decided to start again.

Wow, I can't believe it's already September! August flew by WAY too fast, mostly because I had my head stuck in my butt for the greater part of it. Yes, I have realized that although I'm now 23, I'm still a huge baby and I have a lot of growing up to do.

It all started with yoga, believe it or not. Since about February, I'd been doing mostly weight training and yoga. Healthy and safe, right? Well...kind of. Inspired by Oxygen magazine and dreams of a tight, muscled body, I committed the cardinal sin of exercising. TMTF (Too Much Too Fast). I was lifting too heavy for my small frame, and my yoga practice was getting increasingly more intense.

Near the end of July I found out suddenly that I had to vacate my apartment at the time and move to a new one...in the middle of the work week. For a few days, I'd work like crazy in the morning, rush home and pack and clean, then rush back to work.

I'm not sure if the stress contributed to what happened next, but it didn't help. FYI, stress is bad!! I'm on a mission to stop stressing before I kill myself. Seriously! Do you know how many awful disorders are linked to stress?

Anyways, one morning before work, I decided to de-stress with some yoga. Now, don't get me wrong. Yoga is great for stress – unless you turn it into a crazy, sweaty boot camp routine like I did.

While doing a particularly intense yoga push-up, I felt a "twinge" in my left elbow. It wasn't horrible, but it was bad enough that I couldn't continue the push-up without pain. I kept doing my routine (real smart, Mags) with a bit of discomfort, finished, went to work, thought nothing more about it.

I decided to see a Sports Med doctor just in case it was something serious. He didn't diagnose it as anything and we found out I had minimal pain and full range of motion, so he suggested the RICE treatment. Over the next few days it seemed to be getting better, but once I started typing a lot at work my whole arm started getting aggravated. Eventually the entire thing from shoulder to wrist would burn and tingle, even when I wasn't writing.

I have to say, I'm incredibly ashamed at the way I handled it. I acted like my life was ending when all I had was some pain in my arm. Okay, some nights it was pretty bad, but still, that's no excuse for being a drama queen.

Long story short, it turns out I sprained a ligament in my elbow – the ulnar collateral ligament, to be precise.

That's where it is, in case you were wondering. The pain – as an orthopedist explained – was caused by fluid pressing on the ulnar nerve during the healing process. And there I was thinking I had some kind of chronic pain disorder...get over yourself, Maggie.

Well, this post has been long and self-centered, and my arm is getting tired (but not painful! Thank god!). I'm doing PT exercises for the arm and it's doing a lot better. Six more weeks until it's supposed to be 100 percent. The best part of that is that I'm ok with waiting. Which brings me to the point of this post.

Things I Learned from a minor injury

Pain is (usually) temporary. Just because it hurts now does NOT mean it will hurt forever.
Medication is not evil. If you have to take Ibuprofen for a few weeks, do it. Your doctor knows what he's talking about, and Ibuprofen abuse means taking it consistently for months. Just don't drink a bunch.
There are MUCH worse problems. Cancer, lupus, MS, degenerative diseases, nerve disorders, deformity, psychological disorders, etc. Everyone experiences some pain in their life. If you didn't you wouldn't be human. Pain can remind you that life isn't perfect and doesn't have to be.
Friends and relationships are immensely important. If you're wrapped up in your own problems, it's so easy to BECOME your problems and focus on them to the point of obsession. Friends keep you sane and remind you that there's more important things.
Life is short. If you spend weeks ignoring the most important things because of a bit of pain (as I did) it'll slip by pretty fast.

There's a lot more I learned, and more that I have left to learn. Stay tuned for more life stories!

Love,

Maggie

Lots of Eats!

2011-01-22T07:26:00.000-08:00

Hello lovelies,

I've been bad about posting, but that's the way it is sometimes. I'm really impressed by people who can manage to say something clever everyday! Most days I'm exhausted by the time I actually get home, showered, fed and turn on my mac. On that note, I'd love feedback. Why do you guys read blogs? What actually makes you subscribe to one blog instead of another? More pictures? Exercise logs?

Well, I've got both today:

Scrambled eggs, leftover roasted cauliflower, salsa and a big dollop of humus – all piled on top of tortilla chips and heated up with salt, garlic powder and hot sauce! I'm going through a spicy phase these days. Sometimes I'll have weeks where I don't want anything spicy, then I'll crave it!

Greek yogurt bowl with rice cakes, brazil and cashew nuts, crumbled Nature's Valley granola squares, with lots of coffee on the side!

A food-light of the week. Pita pizza with scrambled eggs and egg whites, bacon, sharp white cheddar and red pepper!

A lovely weekend lunch! Canned salmon mixed with humus on a lavash wrap with spinach, guac and salsa!

Plain old oats, soymilk and PB...with sauteed apples and cinnamon!

Another pizza! This one had a load of ground turkey cooked with diced tomatoes, garlic, EVOO, italian seasoning and hot sauce. All topped with sharp white cheddar!

Whew! Now I'm exhausted and ready to go off and play with my baby Shmo (that's my dog, btw) or do a crossword...I'm such a bad blogger.

Quick exercise notes:

Still doing more strength training – still loving it.
Went to the gym only twice last week and realized it's so easy for me to overdo it on the elliptical. Gotta watch that. How much cardio do you weight lifters do?
Upped my weights for lower body to 2 15-lb weights instead of 2 10-lb weights.
Gained weight! Muscle? I hope.
Realized I don't really care how many calories the cardio machines say I burned. There's no way they can be accurate, and if they were – why does it matter?
Realized that since I started doing dance and interval bursts and boot camp stuff for cardio that steady state can be pretty boring.

Any realizations this week? Let me know! I feel like I have some kind of revelation/realization every couple days.

Now I'm off to conquer the weekend! Some friends of mine from college are randomly visiting the mountains, and we're going out tonight!

Love to all!

Maggie

Hands off! These are nacho eggs!

2011-01-15T11:34:00.000-08:00

Hello dear readers!

I saw The Green Hornet last night with the boy, and it was so much fun! Nothing heavy, deep, inspirational or Academy Award-worthy, but it was a great way to relax on a Friday.

My boyfriend's mother and sister want to see True Grit tonight, which I'm sure will be a much "better" movie. I'm thinking I'll go to dinner beforehand, but two movies in a row is a little much for me.

This morning I woke up and did two kickboxing videos from Exercise TV. These two videos made a great workout combined!

Greek yogurt (2 percent), with rice cakes, brazil nuts and a natures valley granola square.

More rice cakes and PB and an apple for a snack.

This is the yummy lunch I'm currently eating – eggs, humus, spinach, salsa, hot sauce, garlic powder, all microwaved on tortilla chips! I call it Nacho Eggs. :)

Now I'm off to enjoy the rest of my Saturday by running around in the snow, cleaning my room, watching too much Angel on Netflix and scouring the bathroom floor.

Have a great day!

-Maggie

Now work it out!

2011-01-13T17:54:00.000-08:00

I love exercise. Who am I kidding – I'm crazy about exercise. I love it too much sometimes. I admit that I'm kind of addicted to it. Maybe I'm not supposed to admit that, but I don't really like hiding things anymore. I think that's one of the first steps to managing your addiction - admitting you have it.

That said, these days I manage my addiction pretty well. I stop exercising before I'm completely exhausted. I fit exercise into my schedule as opposed to scheduling my life around it. I try to follow standard guidelines and not the Energizer Bunny voice in my head.

I'm very, very grateful that I'm no longer addicted to cardio. There was a time when I'd do at least an hour of hard cardio every day, and I felt so worn out! Now I try to balance strength and cardio and not do it when I really don't want to. That way I always enjoy it. I admit, I don't have all this down perfect yet. But I'm trying. Isn't that what life's about? Always working towards being better?

Okay, I didn't really mean to get into all that. :) I wanted to post a list of my fave Exercise TV for those in need of a quick workout.

First, let me say that Exercise TV helped my combat cabin fever during this crazy snowstorm! It's a great way to get a workout without leaving your home; and you can wear whatever the heck you want without getting looks from people. Heck, you could do it in your underwear!

Without further ado: the top 3.

1. Bootcamp Calorie Burn

I actually have this one on itunes. Kendall Hogan is such a great trainer! This is a pretty challenging workout if you really go all out. I like to use light hand weights and jog in place instead of the marching they do.

2. Less is More Workout

Don't be fooled by the name. This one is hard! I like that she breaks it into 3 10-minute segments by introducing different themes.

3. Dorm Room Shapeup

This trainer has a habit of saying nerdy things like, "Colleges have those all you can eat cafeterias, but don't forgot the salads are good too!" But it's a really fun video that I think is targeted at younger people so it's more vigorous.

There's lots more to choose from, but I consider these the creme de la creme. For other workouts, check out hulu.com for the Self channel.

Woah! I just found a new one on hulu as I was getting the Self link!

It's called Dance and Be Fit. Looks fun! Check it out and tell me what you think!

Here's what I had for dinner

Scrambled eggs and humus on a wrap with BBQ sauce and hot sauce on the side and unpictured kale with EVOO, salt, and garlic.

Have a lovely evening!

-Maggue

Pump It

2011-01-10T17:36:00.001-08:00

For the last week or so, I've been lifting almost every day in lieu of heavy cardio. I was doing at least 35 sweaty minutes most days, but I haven't done any intense cardio for a couple of weeks!

And I'm not going crazy with anxiety! What's wrong with me? To tell you the truth – it's nice. I like not feeling exhausted every day. I like not having to drive home from the gym in dripping wet clothes. I LOVE feeling strong and sexy!

I've been alternating lower and upper body and lifting for 30 to 60 minutes. I actually started with routines I learned from these cheesy videos.

Don't judge! The music and costumes might be straight out of a soft-core porn, but the moves are legit!

Lifting also makes me much, much hungrier for real foods, not fake ones. You know what I mean.

Fake foods:

100 calorie packs of anything
handfuls of dried fruit
rice cakes
lite yogurt
fat-free "cheese" slices
sandwich thins

Not that there's anything wrong with many of those! I love me some rice cakes and PB, but for some reason I've been wanting more –

Real Foods:

Chicken
Turkey
Thick, chewy bread
2 percent Greek yogurt
bacon
hearty green veggies
Eggs

I don't mean to offend any vegetarians or vegans! This is just me right now! The other day I went to Wal-Mart and somehow ended up buying like five different varieties of protein without meaning to. Does that ever happen to y'all? Inadvertent themed grocery trips?

So, what I need from you girls is advice. What are your favorite weight lifting moves? How often do you lift? How do you fuel for it? I really want to learn more about weight lifting! I've been a cardio-addict for so long, and I think it's definitely time for something a little different.

Also, I want this shirt:

And her abs. I want those too. :)

I'll leave y'all with my lunch and dinner.

Lunch:

Mix a pack of salmon or tuna with a big spoonful of humus and eat with chips, falafel ones (yum...). Also had a bunch of leftover kale cooked with tomatoes, garlic, EVOO, salt, hot sauce.

Dinner:

Saute 4 oz ground turkey in olive oil, add about half a can of tomatoes and a splash of chicken broth. Season with salt, garlic and something spicy. Cook that for a bit, then pile it in a lavash wrap with a big handful of grated cheese (I used raw sharp cheddar). Wrap it up tight and sear it lightly in a nonstick skillet for crunch. Serve with more leftover kale because you bought too much it's clogging up your fridge!

Goodnight lovely ladies! Whether you lift, run, dance, do yoga, rock climb, ski, ride horses or just stretch a lot, you are beautiful and sexy! Live it up!

-Maggie

p.s. Anyone else snowed in? I have about a foot and a half of white stuff all over my house, driveway and yard. What is this crazy weather!!??

Fried, boiled or sunny side, any way you want it!

2011-01-09T08:46:00.000-08:00

You know that part in the Twilight series when Bella craves eggs like mad because she's pregnant with a vampire baby? That's been me these past few weeks, minus the vamp-etus. (Vampire + fetus.)

I've had eggs on wraps, eggs on sandwiches, eggs cooked with humus, slapped on salads, sauteed with tortillas, and almost every other way you could think of! I really don't know the source of this craving, but I'm not worried.

Not an egg recipe but still great.

Take a lavash wrap.
Spread with humus; sprinkle with cheese.
Cook chicken with spinach till brown.
Scatter on wrap.
Wrap tightly.
Sear in a nonstick pan till lightly toasted.

So, onto the egg ideas. No pictures this time, but I promise you these recipes won't disappoint!

Egg & Tortilla Bowl

Put a handful of tortilla chips (or those amazing falafel chips) in a bowl.
Scramble as many eggs and egg whites as you can handle.
Put hot, cooked eggs on top of chips along with any random leftover roasted veggies you have on hand. (I used roasted cauliflower, but sauteed peppers, brussels sprouts and even canned tomatoes could be good.
Heat that baby in the microwave for 1 minutes or so.
Top with a dollop of humus, some salt and hot sauce if you're spicy like that.
Crunch it up with your fork and eat!

Egg & Humus Wrap

Scramble your eggs and egg whites in olive oil.
Cook up some sort of meat (or not, if you're vegetarian) with some sort of veggies (Bell peppers are fantastic.) As far as the meat, sandwich meat is the most simple choice, but bacon and chicken sausage are also great! I like to use a fattier meat to balance out the lack of fat in the wrap and the egg whites.
Spread your wrap with red pepper humus and add cheese if you want.
Microwave the wrap to melt the cheese, or just to make it pliable if you're not using cheese.
Pile your meat, veggies and eggs on the wrap.
Wrap tightly (Like a burrito).
Serve with salsa and hot sauce!

Both of those recipes can be altered to create infinite combinations, so be creative!

Other quick ideas:

Scramble some eggs with crunched up tortilla chips. Serve with avocado, salsa and hot sauce.
Heat up salsa in a small saucepan. Crack in a couple eggs and cook until done.
Make an egg sandwich on a bagel thin: MorningStar sausage patties, fried egg, sharp cheddar. Or how about: bison sausage, fresh mozzarella, folded omelette. Or maybe: bacon, goat cheese and scrambled eggs. The possibilities are endless.

Enjoy the recipes!

Questions:

What do you like most about health/fitness blogs: pics, recipes, workout logs?

What foods could you never have enough of?

What's your favorite workout song right now?

Love,

Maggie May

Eggs, Balls and Other Rounded Things

2010-09-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

This is what I just ate. Toast + avocado + spinach + chicken fetus.

And it was egg-cellent.

Who's afraid of a salmonella outbreak?

So I've been really into my kettlebell lately. After seeing a workout in Women's Health mag, I was inspired to buy a 10-pound kettlebell and it's so much fun! I recommend it to any avid fitness-lover.

I've been doing the workout for about two weeks now and I definitely notice definition in my abs and back that wasn't there before, and my butt's nice and round!

Hm...feeling brief today, so I'll call it quits.

Anyone know good exercises for kettlebell?

Love,

Lady who Lunches

2010-08-25T11:45:00.000-07:00

Hello ladies!

I make the same lunch and breakfast every day during the week, but most days I'm so busy I can't even think about what I'm cramming down the hatch. I love Wednesdays when I can relax, eat mindfully, and enjoy every morsel. Here's my usual turkey, avocado, humus, spinach, whole wheat bread combo. Today I get to enjoy the flavors instead of sneaking bites between typing news stories.

This bread is from quite a while ago when I visited Whole Foods in my hometown (good old dirty D), so it was stale, but still satisfying.

Before assembly...

And after!

With the rest of my day, I think I'll make a trip to Wal-Mart for apples, dried fruit and other sundries. Then I'll pay some bills, cash some checks and relax with a good book. I just got a Jodi Picoult novel, "The Tenth Circle," from the library and I'm really excited about it.

Love to all,

Maggie

Two-Minute Workouts

2010-08-24T16:31:00.000-07:00

Hello all!

I realized that a typo in my post could be taken in a funny way. :) I said I'd started to do "two-min" workouts when I meant "two-mini" workouts. But then again, training in short burst is pretty popular these days. I guess that could work if you did like 20 2-minutes workouts. Or you could do 2 minutes with the shake weight. I hope you all know what I'm talking about...no?

Watch this.

No innuendo whatsover. No sirree.

Moving on, For breakfast I had –

Pineapple Chobani
A crunchy Cliff bar of the White Choc and Macadamia Nut variety
16 Honey roasted almonds
One Gala apple
Coffee with soymilk
Two Viactiv supplements (just like candy, but fortified with calcium!)

I took my first phone pic of my lunch!

And...I can't seem to upload it...Oh well. Anyone with a Mac know how to upload cell pics?

At least dinner, which I'm currently consuming, is awesome! Fried flounder on tortillas with pepperjack singles, spinach, salsa and my first ever Florida avocado! Can't say I'm crazy about them...I like the Hass avocados better...but they're not bad!

Once again, it was better than it looks. Bigger too. I had this x2.

And now, since I've confirmed that other people like to veg out and eat dairy products after a long day of work and exercise, I'm going to do just that.

All 8 seasons of Family Guy are now on Netflix instant view, and you can bet I'm gonna hit that up!

Tata!

Maggie

Nommity-nom-nom-nom!

2010-08-23T16:31:00.000-07:00

Hello! I'm glad this isn't a video chat because then you'd have to watch me food-gasming everywhere! I'm eating pan-fried pork chop with pepperjack, avocado, spinach and salsa in a whole-wheat pita! These pepperjack singles by Kraft are perfect for quick, easy, melty goodness!

This doesn't do it justice! It's 10 x more amazing.

Course two is roasted veggies with EVOO and salt.

And....I just finished it and I'm back to update the post. After course two, I hit up some pita chips and salsa.

Today was super-intense at work. I finished my feature stories – one about highschool band performance and another about a local author's new romance novel – and I got started on my 4 news stories.

At the end of the day I was so dead! Do you guy's ever feel that? I've started doing two min-workouts a day, one at lunch and another after work, to give me a little pickup. Is that weird? It feels great but I have to be sure not to overdo it. I've been hearing a lot lately about female athletes undereating and I really need to watch that.

Sometimes I do feel unhealthy thoughts rising up in my head, thoughts that think waif-ish is beautiful; voices that say depriving myself of food is self-discipline; and over-exercising is a way to deal with strong emotions. I want to realize these voices and consciously NOT do what they say!

This week I want to re-affirm my commitment to a healthy lifestyle that balances exercise and eating and friends and family and work.

That said, I have a great salad combo for y'all!

Spinach base
Chopped avocado
Dollop of humus
Roasted Brussels sprouts with EVOO
Salt, peppah, whatevah...

Mix and consume, and thank me for the green goodness in your mouth! Did that sound kinky? Don't take it like that. :)

Love to all!

Maggie

I do like my mornings

2010-08-21T08:08:00.000-07:00

Good morning, good morning!

It's only 11 and I've:

Done Fitnessista's Boot Camp Workout
Returned a library book
Picked up soy milk, mango and avocado from food lion
Started the Times crossword

I love my mornings. It feels so nice to get so much done before noon...Johnny's still asleep, but I guess that's what he likes. To each his/her own.

For breakfast, I broke into the mango, cooked up some oats and continued with the tropical theme by crumbling some of a Cliff crunchy macadamia white chocolate bar! I love these new bars Cliff thought of! They can do anything!

With this lovely picture, I leave you girls to your mornings!

Questions:

Are you a morning person? If so, what's your perfect morning?

Love,

Maggie

Food Pics! FInally!

2010-08-18T13:17:00.001-07:00

Hello girls,

Thanks first to my wonderful sister who supplied me with various calming herbs and stuff to help me sleep! Lavender essential oil does wonders for stress! I've been smelling this little bottle of it throughout the workday, and I've succeeded in not letting anything get me worked up.

First day back was very productive, but sleep that night was just not happening...I tossed and turned for 2 + hours...I feel okay today, though. It's probably due to the great sleep I had Sunday night.

Today I worked till 12 and left to take advantage of my half-day. At the gym I elliptical-ed for 50 some minutes while reading "The Lovely Bones." I can't tell you how often I hear – "I don't know how you can read and run at the same time!" I just say – practice. It makes me feel really productive to exercise and read in tandem.

After that I hit up some consignment stores, bought nothing, stopped by the grocery store for various items and headed home for lunch, which was...

Whole-wheat pita bread with avocado slices, turkey and veggies on one side and...

Humus and veggies on the other.

The tomatoes were grown by a friend of my bf's family and they're luscious! Home-grown tomatoes are nothing like the store-bought kind! If you have access to a garden or farmer's market, get some now while they're in season!

Johnny made a blog-worthy lunch today too. I've converted another innocent soul to the wonders of oats + nut butter.

How beautiful is that? By the way, he also figured out yoatgurt all by himself. Isn't he great?

If you're reading this baby, I love you!

That's enough for now. I think in a bit I'll bake something having to do with blueberries. We have about a million pounds of them from another neighbor.

I hope you all have wonderful days!

Love,

Tossin', Turnin', etc.

2010-08-01T14:17:00.000-07:00

Do you ever get in you bed with droopy eyes and a head that feels like it weighs a ton, thinking – "God, I'm going to sleep so well." – Only to toss and turn for hours and hours?

That happened to me three times this past week! It was awful! I literally couldn't sleep until 2 or 3! Not a good thing when you have to get up at 6:45 each morning!

It's not that I'm not tired, but my brain just won't shut up! And the longer I can't sleep, the more anxious I get about how awful the next day will be! It's like this evil feedback loop!

Needless to say, this has been the week from H-E-double hockey sticks.

I'm going into next week determined to get good sleep, and hoping that I'm not going to jinx it by saying that.

Do any of you girls have trouble sleeping? What do you do?

Love,

There's nothing like...

2010-07-28T15:16:00.000-07:00

There's nothing like dried mango. Those leathery, gummy, so-so-sweet amber bits that go 'scrunch' in your mouth.

I take that back. There's nothing like devouring one good book after another, and each time thinking 'Damn! I wish I wrote that first!'

No really, there's nothing like having the whole gym to yourself, being able to take as long as you want and sweating out 3.5 miles while you gaze out at a misty, blue mountain backdrop.

Really – there's nothing like half-days!

Wednesday is the day I get my comp time. So I work like crazy while we get the paper done, then I leave at 12 to do exactly what I want for the whole day! Today it was: gym, lunch, quality time with boy, library, gas station, grocery store, health food store, home.

My boy's at the neighbor's house, helping to do some sort of yard work, so I'll be chillin' at home with a glass of wine and something good for dinner - sweet potatoes? Always a winner.

Anyways, as far as pics - here's my lunch and the print of the awesome hippy dress I found at a thrift store.

Since I've obviously become a bookworm, let me know what your favorite books are? Or, your favorite genre.

Right now I'm loving gothic action-dramas and trippy sci-fi novels. In that order, I recommend "The Thirteenth Tale," by Diane Setterfield, and "Idlewild," by Nick Sagan.

Love ya girls! Go eat some mango!

Readin', Writin' and Rain

2010-07-18T11:17:00.001-07:00

Ladies, it's a lovely, albeit torrentially rainy, day in Western North Carolina, and I've taken refuge in the Dillsboro Chocolate Factory and espresso bar! Sunday is kind of an adventure/exploring day for me. Thank god I don't date a clingy boyfriend, because sometimes I just love to go off by myself and roam around. We're both pretty independent that way; we're a good pair.

A friend of his came to visit late last night and today they're scoping out the nearby college library, so I let them have boy time.

For the past hour I've been working on a short story – something I haven't done for a long time – and it felt so good! I've been reading up a storm lately and the more I read, the more I feel like I have to write! I figured I'd wait until I couldn't possibly hold it in.

I was thinking of posting my stories on the blog, but I'm not sure if it's anything y'all would want to read. Thoughts?

Anyways, in my reading, I've come across some amazing books!

Right now I'm reading "The Year of the Flood," by Margaret Atwood. If you like science fiction, a dash of feminism, descriptive, funny prose and crazy imagination, you'll love this book. I won't spoil the plot, but it's a sort of dystopian vision of life after a second flood.

The next thing I'm loving right now, is "Inception," DiCaprio's new movie. Not only is it directed by Christopher Nolan, of "Dark Knight" fame, but it also features Ellen Page and that cutie from "10 Things I hate about you." Go see it! According to a review in the NYTimes, it falls short of genius, but if you want to see a mind-bending film with an original plot and great special effects, you can't go wrong with this movie. My boy and I are big "filmies" and we're still talking about it since last night.

So, one more thing I want to talk about is food consumption and amounts. It seems that a lot of us get comments about our eating: how much, how healthy, etc. My boyfriend noticed that I eat a lot, probably more than him, but I know I need this much to keep up my body. What do you girls do when this happens?

Anyways, I'm off to write some more and maybe try to find the Super Target that I've heard tell is nearby.

Love and Kisses,

Maggie

Maggie's back...back again!

2010-07-14T14:24:00.000-07:00

Hello!

It's been a long, long time, I know, but I hope y'all will welcome me back into the blog world!

I don't have pictures, but I do have updates!

I've been working for almost two months now, and I still love my job! I've written about kids cooking classes, a paster who dropped 90 pounds in 6 months, eco-friendly school buses, annexations, elections – I even wrote a huge front-pager about the July 4 fireworks!

I've gained weight and I like it! I really do! I can do so much more with my body, I'm not tired all the time, I still eat a lot! It's official – I actually eat more than my boyfriend!

Without pictures, there's not much else to do...but I promise pictures, updates, stories and more; hopefully on a more regular basis.

-Maggie

Motivation, where are you!?

2010-05-31T08:27:00.001-07:00

Hello girlies!

First off, thanks to everyone for the great posts! I've said it before, but I really appreciate the blog community and all the wonderful, beautiful, unique people in it!

Second off, I try not to post if I don't feel like it, I gotta admit I don't know what to write today! I usually think of something every couple days to post about, but recently food hasn't been overly interesting to me. That doesn't mean I haven't been making amazing meals! Last night I made salmon and sweet potato hash browns with melted cheddar, salsa, guacamole, BBQ sauce and a side of broccoli and bok choy! That was partly due to boredom, though.

I guess I find that the healthier a state I'm in, the less food occupies my mind. I forget to take pictures until after I've eaten. I've also stopped thinking about food so much. When I do, it's usually no more than 30 minutes before I eat, and usually it's because I've got some delicious meal plan in my head, not to count calories or plan exactly what I eat. It makes me wonder how healthy it is to be so obsessed with food that I post everything I'm eating? Please keep in mind that I'm speaking only for myself! I'm sure there are many people who can focus on food but not obsess about it.

That said, I'm going to try to take more pictures of the interesting food I cook, because I'm a darn good chef!

Here's the only food picture I've taken recently!

This was meant to be a wrap, but these tortillas were smaller than I thought and it turned into a fajita creation filled with avocado, canadian bacon, egg, tomato and spinach and salsa added later.

Sorry for the shortness and emptiness of this post! I hope all of you are doing well!

Love,

Questions:

Where do you draw the line between a food focus and a food obsession?

What are you up to this Memorial Day?

Trucker caps and running shorts? Why not?

2010-05-24T18:04:00.000-07:00

Hey lovelies!

I wanted to mention first that I've gotten a couple anonymous questions over the course of this blog and haven't been able to answer the questions. Is there some setting to change in blogger that'll let you reply to comments? Anyways, one person asked me what I'm aiming for as far as eating. I guess that means food intake. Honestly, I have no idea how many calories I'm eating these days because I've stopped keeping count, hopefully for good. I'm following a nutrition plan from my dietitian with optimal numbers of servings of all the food groups. They're amounts that are healthy and also will help me gain weight slowly. It's been really helpful! If anyone wants more details, please feel free to e-mail me!

Second week of work started out fine! I was surprisingly not tired, even after minimal sleep! That's good, because I did my first long interview for a feature story today and it wouldn't have been good at all if I was falling asleep! In addition to that, I:

Wrote a story about town budgets
Edited two paper submissions about events
Typed up the notes for the aforementioned interview
Scheduled other interviews
Enjoyed a brisk lunchtime walk around town!

All in all, a good day!

Right now I'm eating Ginger People Peanut Ginger Chews! Not as good or as the Originals, but not half-bad either! I'm also mulling over the various escapades and eats-capades from my weekend.

1. My parents sent me flowers to show how proud they are of me!

2. I ate a sandwich of champions! Egg + cheese! Can you say power duo?

3. I earned this little guy's trust! I was in charge when my housemates were gone this weekend and he wouldn't eat food unless I sat alone with him in the bathroom with him and watched him eat! Then he slept in my bed! I'm glad I didn't roll over on top of the little fluffball and crush him!

4. I ate alone, not counting three dogs and two cats, and watched Juno! Much-needed recharging time! This was a yummy but unsatisfying quesadilla...more cheese next time?

5. I ate a lot! Of eggs! Note the shmear of pesto on that bread! Yum...

6. A cat pooped in my shower. 'Nuff said. Pictures definitely not needed

That's all for now! As far as exercise, I've been running through town after work often and it's really nice! I don't think a lot of these people have seen joggers before...it's not the preppy, athletic town that Chapel Hill was. For example, my run takes me past a tattoo parlor, a paper mill, an open air produce stand and a Bojangles. But I love it! I will never get tired of getting strange looks from guys in trucks wearing suspenders!

I love you girls! Have great evenings!

-Maggie

Questions:

How do you feel about quiet time? I think everyone needs it, but what's your quietness quotient?

Do you ever feel a little weird because of your healthy habits (like running in a rural mountain town)? Any funny stories?

So much life...so little time!

2010-05-22T06:28:00.000-07:00

Hello, hello, hello!

These last two days have been a whirlwind! I started my new job as a reporter on Thursday! So, was anyone else out there a little shocked by how early you have to get up for real jobs? Maybe I've just been pampered, but getting up at 6:45 will take a little getting used to. So will being tired at 8:30! I'm not complaining, though! Here's me in my cute, preppy journalist outfit before my first day! Can you tell I'm half-awake?

Yup, I was running on adrenaline. That day I got to look at a lot of crazy public records showing all the weird crimes people commit around here! You wouldn't believe some of this stuff. The second day, I got to write my first story! It'll be in the next edition of the paper with my byline and everything! It's so rewarding to know that I'm finally getting paid for the what I learned all those 4 years in college!

Breakfast on those two days was eaten in shifts, because at 6:45 I just don't want my huge oatmeal bowls! I usually had a Greens Organic bar, a whole milk stoneyfield yogurt with granola and an apple or two. It keeps my energy up (that and coffee) to be snacking all morning.

I haven't been photographing dinners because I always forget when I eat with others. The woman I live with is convinced that I has celiac disease or a tapeworm, because she can't see how I eat so much and stay so trim. I really don't know how to address the issue with her so I just go about my business.

It feels so good to be done with the workweek! Even if it was only a 2-day week! I plan to relax and enjoy today! I have the newest Women's Health with the lovely Lea Michele on the cover.

Yes, it's backwards. I have a love-hate relationship with this magazine. I always tell myself it's a "good" diet magazine, because the articles and the design are really good and it features some healthy looking models, but it's still a diet-focused magazine. There's a teaser on the front cover for an article called "12 New Ways to Control Cravings." And I wonder where some of these voices in my head come from...

Well, chicas, that's all for now! I've got grocery shopping, book shopping, book reading, running, cooking, baking, phone calling and crossword puzzling to do!

But first, here are some eats!

An egg sandwich on Ezekiel with 2 fried eggs, EVOO, spinach and avocado!

Yeah, you guessed it...with cinnamon raisin PB and mango!

And this morning's concoction! Wow, I shock myself. Will the madness never stop?

Love,

Maggie

Questions:

What's the oddest comment you ever got about your eating/fitness/health habits?

What's that one food you never get tired of?

What's your list of -ings today?

I was meant to be a mountain girl

2010-05-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

Hello ladies!

I've been so absent lately because of all the moving and the changes in my life right now. I moved to my new home in western N.C. on Saturday and I've been settling in a living it up since then! The mountains are so incredibly beautiful! Every time I walk outside I'm smacked in the face with crisp, wet mountain air, trees everywhere and the gray-blue peaks of the surrounding mountains! It's so peaceful and spiritual here! I hope I never get tired of it!

I start my job on Thursday so I've been spending my time exploring the town, reading, running in the mountains and cooking lots of oatmeal with soy milk! Last night I went to a contra dance in a nearby town that was absolutely crazy! It was full of gorgeous, nappy-haired, pierced hippie goddesses and skinny, bi-sexual boys with spiky hair and grommets in every spare bit of skin! I wore a very short dress that highlighted the cleavage that I'm slowly regaining! I noticed that my legs are also getting bigger and my favorite skinny jeans are getting skinny again! One thing I really missed when my weight was down was being able to wear tight clothes! Maybe that's anti-feminist of me, but I feel like it's empowering in a way.

Part of me wants to share pictures of myself in the dress, but I still have this weird fear of triggering someone with the way I look. I don't look like I'm in the danger zone anymore, but I still have a little ways to go.

I haven't been taking a lot of pictures but I do have one oatmeal bowl to display.

It's your typical oats, cinnamon raisin PB and apple combo, but I added a little gluten-free granola!

I hope all you ladies are well!

Love,

Maggie

Thank you, soy milk!

2010-05-14T06:15:00.000-07:00

Hello girls!

Do you have those foods that you've decided you don't like? Maybe because they're too greasy, too fatty, too sugary, or maybe because you've had an ED and the ED told you to stop eating them? It's hard for me to tell sometimes whether I like the foods I like because they're healthy for me or because that's what my ED wants me to eat. At any rate, I never thought I liked milk in my oats. For the longest time I cooked them in only water, telling myself I liked the gumminess. Well, yesterday I cooked them in soy milk and I was pleasantly surprised at how good they were and how well they cooked! I think I may be a convert!

Soy milk oats with TJ's crunchy salted PB, fuji apple and homemade granola! And coffee...always coffee.

A not so happy note was the reaction I got from a friend yesterday after not seeing her for a while. We went out for frozen yogurt and after all topics of conversation had been exhausted (which took quite a while! We're a talkative bunch!) friend one said--"Maggie, you need to eat!"--friend 2 followed with a stern--"You're too skinny, Maggie."

I'm sure you all know what this feels like, especially if you're trying to get better. I don't like feeling like I have to prove myself to anyone by eating a ton just to show them I'm not starving myself. I never know how to respond to those comments either. I could brush it off, but these are my friends and I want them to know what's going on with my health. Sigh...I feel like I know how to answer this question for other people but not when it happens to me.

Anyways, here's some more food!

Leftover carnitas on TJ's soft whole wheat bread with avocado, spinach and tomato! Oh my god...yum!

Yet another avocado sandwich! I know I'm getting repetitive...I can't help myself! This one has humus for the protein. It was really good but the salsa I put on my side salad was so spicy that I couldn't really taste it!

And now I'm off to take belated graduation pictures in my cap and gown! I actually lost my cap and gown when it came time for me to walk, so I didn't end up doing the ceremony! Oh well...I guess it's just a ceremony and I'll get the diploma either way.

Have a good, sunny, beautiful day, girls!

What's your opinion of ceremonies like graduation? How much do they really matter?

How do respond to comments about your body?

The other "F" word

2010-05-11T18:40:00.000-07:00

That's right. Fat. Unfortunately, fat doesn't have such a good reputation. TV show's bombard us with the message that fat looks great on burgers, but not on our thighs. Low-fat this and non-fat that crowds the shelves of our grocery stores. Plump is a compliment. Fat is not.

Most bloggers know that there are loads of healthy fats out there, but did you know that even a little saturated fat is good for you? Fat is involved in numerous functions in our bodies! It cushions our organs, improves our mood, smoothes our skin and glosses our hair, among many other things. There are vitamins that can't be absorbed without a certain amount of fat!

I think it's time fat made a comeback! I've been "fattening up" all of my meals lately and the change is amazing! I feel prettier, my face is clearer and I feel more satisfied at meals! I urge anyone out there to add some fat to their diet and see how it changes you!

Why not try:

Avocado on an egg sandwich, a veggie burger or a salad
Vegetables sauteed in olive oil, not steamed
A little butter for your bread...or your oatmeal
No naked apples! Pair them with peanut butter
Salmon sandwiches! Add avocado for a double dose

This dish was a triple threat with avocado, egg yolk and olive oil!

Love,

Maggie

A real foodie...

2010-05-06T11:34:00.000-07:00

So, I call myself a food lover. I find pleasure in grocery shopping. I browse recipes in my spare time. I would consider myself a foodie, but until recently, I did some things that stopped me from fully foodie-ing it up in the best way.

A real foodie...

...Shouldn't count calories because calories have nothing to do with flavor.

...Should be adventurous and try new things. There's no excitement in safety foods.

...Should eat with other people, not alone. Food among friends is always the best, the sweetest and the most remembered.

...Shouldn't live on energy bars. Even if Clif bars taste like dessert, they're not.

...Should use olive oil, butter, canola oil, peanut oil--anything but PAM. Not only does it taste better, but it's so much more satisfying!

That's all I've thought of right now. Feel free to add to the list! I was thinking about all this because it is a little ridiculous to love food so much but also have so many restrictions around it. My mantra these days is "Feeling full is good." When you're full you don't get preoccupied with food, you have time to think about other things. It's easier to identify with other people. It's just easier to enjoy life! Who wants to be empty?

So, anyways, yesterday I finished college!!!! I'm an adult now, I suppose! Today I moved out of my apartment for good and drove back to my parent's house, via TJ's, and now I'm relaxing in the late afternoon sun at the kitchen table. It feels so good to be done and so exciting to be going on to something new in about a week! It is a little sudden, but I'm going to live it up with my family and friends in the time I still have in Durham!

Here's what I've been eating these past couple days.

Another TJ's steak burrito. These things are awesome, but they don't have all that much protein so I added some more ground beef. Man, I love the way cow tastes.

This is where my last salmon filet went...into a sandwich with pesto, tomato and spinach on Ezekiel bread! With sweet taters, salad and broccoli on the side!

Mmm...look at that baby...

This is one of my new favorite snacks! First, you half and core an apple. Smear both sides with the PB or nut butter of your choice. I use Smuckers crunchy natural. Then press both halves into granola! Trader Joe's maple pecan is great! I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but my nutritionist said I should never eat any food "naked." That means I try not to have just plain apples any more. I'm definitely not complaining!

I wanted BBQ pizza...so I made it. 'Nuff said.

I've been indulging more, and one of my favorite treats is sushi! This was so, amazingly good! Salmon and avocado! Double dose of healthy fats!

Last night, I had this amazing plate. Panko-coated tilapia with sweet potato fries and salad with feta dressing!

This was the last meal I'll ever make in my old apartment! Grilled chicken salad with pita and lotsa feta dressing! Funny story about the veggies. I ran out of everything but spinach, so on the way back from campus I stopped by the dining hall. I don't have a meal plan anymore, but I randomly asked some guys if they had leftover swipes, telling them it was my last chance to be a moochy senior. They laughed and swiped me in! It was fun to do something so weird, but I realized how much better I eat since I don't have to eat dining hall food!

That's all for now, girls! Good luck with all your exams and papers! Don't stress too much! Be full this week! Full of life, fun, energy, compassion and curiosity!

Love,

Maggie

Bite the Apple!!

2010-05-02T10:07:00.000-07:00

Hello girls!

My biggest news right now is that there's a new man in my life! That's right! He goes by Mac, he's got a sleek 13-inch display, he's almost impervious to viruses and he always wears this cute Carolina blue carrying case! You guessed it! I'm a Mac user now! No more viruses! No more miniscule battery life! No more crappy DVD player! My dad and I bought the lappie yesterday and I've barely used it because I'm a little afraid of messing it up! It's like an untouched child right now...a new page...a new beginning! Okay, that might be a little melodramatic. But I sure feel cool posting from the pristine keys of my Apple.

This weekend has been so much fun and a little exhausting!

Friday: My nutritionist meeting answered a lot of questions about serving sizes and other things I was wondering about. My nutritionist brought up the widespread "butter fear" that people have. My weight dropped a little, but then again, I found out I was eating too small a serving of some foods, so hopefully I'll be up again next week! It's really weird to be weighed regularly again, but I do believe it'll help keep me on track.

Okay...so my computer just deleted a large portion of what I had written from here on...Sorry to disappoint, but you'll be getting an abbreviated version. I have so little patience for technology!

Friday and Saturday were spent with friends, doing a lot of Contra dancing! If you've never heard of it, it's kind of like square dancing! You wear long skirts and do a lot of spinning and twirling! It's a great place to meet quirky hippies!

Here's the eats!

Dr. Praeger's Cali patty with guac, tomato and spinach--smushed and grilled on Ezekiel bread! So, so, so good! You gotta try it!

I have this times 2 most nights! This is a big bowl! Did you know that a serving of whole milk yogurt is one cup?

Yummy TJ's steak burrito with guac and salsa and broc! Carbalicious, def!

Weird combo...but amazing! Guacamole and chickpeas on pita!

Salmon-gasm! A fried salmon patty with guac on a whole wheat bun with sweet potato fries! They cook and taste so much better coated in olive oil!

So that's my weekend in food fotos!

Next week marks the end of my college career! I hope I can get healthy again and make the most of the rest of my life!

Love,

Maggie

Are you a Mac or a PC?

What's your favorite kind of dance?

Any seniors out there? What's next?

A "cultured" girl, or why yogurt is amazing

2010-04-29T12:37:00.000-07:00

If I could pick one word to describe what I've been eating this week it would be--Yogurt. Yup. All the time. I'm shooting for three milk servings a day, which equals about 2.25 cups of flavored yogurt, I believe. I'm a little unclear on that, though. Anyone know for sure?

But back to yogurt. I went through a tub of TJ's whole milk yogurt plus a 6 cup package in less than a week! I need to get some more! It's so good and creamy and amazing! Plus I've been trying to use up all the cereal I have araound so most nights I have one or two big bowls of cereal and yogurt. I love it but I'm going to need to mix it up soon! I don't want to get bored of yogurt! The only thing I would change about whole milk yogurt is how soupy it is. I usually pour off all of the liquid from low fat yogurt, but you can't do that with whole milk yogurt because you have to stir in the cream on the top. But I'll keep eating it!

It's only been about a week on this plan but I definitely feel better, stronger and more vibrant. When I work out, it's much less of a chore and I'm trying to listen to all of my cravings and not force myself to exercise when I don't want to. Another change is that my appetite had skyrocketed! I'm exercising way less and eating way more, but I'm still a hungry horse all the time! My dad thinks it could be hormones too...maybe I'm just remembering what it feels like to be hungry.

Also, my dinners and lunches are getting better!
An EVOO pan-fried salmon fillet on top of a TJ's frozen soba noodle bowl! With EVOO sauteed brocolli on the side!
A TJ's frozen personal pizza with meat and meatless balls, BBQ sauce and more EVOO sauteed brocolli!
An egg, guacamole, tomato, spinach sandwich on Ezekial bread. This was a winner!

So, I've noticed that adding more fat to my meals in the form of avocado, nuts, egg yolks, salmon and EVOO has made my complexion a little clearer and it's also made me feel much calmer and happier. Does anyone else notice this? If you eat a pretty low fat diet, I would suggest adding more fat to see if you notice a change.

So here's what's coming up for me:

One more paper to e-mail to my prof
One more exam. Open book! Hallelujah!
Movin' out of my house!
Cleaning my room first...
Contra dancing this weekend!
And TJ's! Right now! I need more yogurt!

That's all lovely girls! Thank you for all the sweet comments! Good luck to all of you in your schoolwork/jobs/personal lives! How are things going? Are you stressed? Happy? What's coming up for you?

Love,

Maggie

Learning to slow down...because what's the rush?

2010-04-26T16:24:00.000-07:00

Hello lovelies!

Cutting back on exercise has made me realize how much I could and probably did miss out on when I was spending all that time in the gym. I'm starting to see clearly how crazy it got. There were weeks where I did an hour of strenuous cardio every day ini addition to weight training. I can't believe I can be so hard on my body! I'm not training for anything; I'm not a professional athlete--There's no reason anyone needs to spend that much time in the gym!

More and more, I want to learn how to pamper my body and how to respect it and listen to it. As women, we're taught to ignore our cravings for food, sex, attention, respect and so much more! What if we ate our fill, literally and figuratively, at every opportunity? What if we took our share and then some? I always feel like ED is a shrinking pill in more ways than one. You get smaller in body but you also shrink out of people's notice. You get small in mind and spirit. You disappear a little. I don't think I want that ever again.

But more happy stuff. I tried full fat yogurt at the suggestion of my nutritionist, and it's great! I loved stirring up the cream layer on top! I felt like Laura Ingalls Wilder in Little House on the Prairie!
Yum...look at that goodness. By the way, TJ's maple pecan granola is the shiznit!

The other tip I tried from my nutritionist was eating red meat. Last night at my home-sweet-home, I made hamburgers for me and my little sister, salmon burgers for my mom and older sister, and sweet potato fries for all! It was soooo gooood! And we watched a great girl power movie about body image.
I love America Ferrera! She's so beautiful and talented! I wish she was more popular in the mainstream! The movie was a little cheesy but it made some good points about what really gives a woman worth. I'll give you a hint: It's more than just her body.

Today was a really good day!

I know what's going on again in philosophy because I put down the crossword for one class period and then went to office hours.
I had a great lunch with a Dr. Praeger's patty in a wrap with nooch and humus and veggies!
I mailed my formal letter of acceptance for the Sylva job!
I'm getting up for an 8 a.m. yoga class tomorrow...hm...should I be more excited?
I was asked to be part of a photo project on body image! More details when I know 'em!

Here's tonight's great dinner!

Cauliflower sauteed with EVOO. Have you noticed I'm eating more fat? I think it's good for your mood because I feel much more relaxed.
A breaded tilapia fillet from TJ's on a bun with sauces and coleslaw! Oh my lord, this was so good.

That's all girlies! Do yourself a favor today and take a big bite out of life! Treat yourself for no reason other than that you're beautifully, wonderfully, skillfully made!

Love,
Maggie

How do you celebrate your body?
What's your favorite uplifting movie?
Whole-milk yogurt: thoughts?

It's about time!

2010-04-24T17:17:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been so sporadic lately! Things have been so busy what with the end of the semester looming ever nearer! I still have two exams and one paper to write. I also have homework problems for my Math class that I just spent three hours working on! I don't know how I did it but I did!

Do you ever get so into the zone that you don't notice how much time has gone by? I can get that way with anything! Even if it's something I don't like! That's what makes me wonder if I'm a little ADD...because I can hyper-focus on things. Anyways, I'm pretty sure I got many of them wrong. But here's to hoping they'll give me extra credit!

In other news, I went to the nutritionist and got my new eating plan. It's based on portion sizes, which I really like because, like I told you guys, I'm tired of calorie counting! It makes the rest of my life feel just as measured out. I want an unmeasured life! I want heaps of life, not just a half-cup serving!

Here are two lovely unmeasured meals from today.

I made huevos rancheros with pineapple, spinach and tortilla today! And the other half of a perfectly ripe avocado! Man this was good...I love the way egg yolk turns into this delicious sauce!
Just a little peek inside...look at that guac...don't let the brown fool ya! It was amazingly fresh!Tonight's dinner: A jazzed up TJ's frozen chicken masala dinner with olive oil sauteed cauliflower, spinach and pita. I was pretending the pita was naan and I tried to cook it directly on my stovetop like I've seen it done traditionally...that's why there's burn marks...yeah...Also, there's some rice under there. Sometimes white grains are so good!

I also snacked on a Fuji apple and a handful of nuts today. I'm still not up to the amounts on my meal plan so I'll definitely snack later. It's funny how the plan is actually similar to what I already eat. I seem to get hungry at all the right times. Part of that's because my nutritionist is really great and very good at tailoring these things for my needs. Oh yeah, almost forgot! I'm up a couple pounds! I'm not sure how much is water from my period, but at least I'm not down!

So, it's half-way through the weekend...this means I need two lists.

Stuff I've done

Went to a hookah bar with my sister last night and smoked a mango hookah! I don't do it often, but I really do love the smell of hookah!
Went out for frozen yogurt (vanilla with granola, hot fudge and PB chips) afterwards, then went to a sketchy night club where we consumed a little PBR and danced to Lil' Wayne!
Went to a yoga class this morning, which was very relaxing.
Took pictures of my friend Ezra riding his bike with no hands while texting.
Pizza party on Thursday!
Lots of Philosophy homework! Not enough writing!

Stuff I have yet to do

Write on my final story for Medical and Science reporting! I'm doing common diet myths and the truth behind them.
More PHIL homework...if I can stand it...
Girl night with the women in my family tomorrow! We're makin' salmon, sweet potato fries, salad and watching chick flicks. It's a choice between "Real Women Have Curves," "In Her Shoes" and "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood."
Drive my little sister to church tomorrow
Do errands: buy trash bags, pick up birth control, etc.

Haha...I love lists...

That's all ladies! I hope you all have lovely nights!
Love and Kisses!
Maggie

Questions:

Do you like lists? Show me your weekend Top 5 to-do list!
Which movie should we watch?
Have you ever dressed up a frozen meal? What did you do?

It all started with a burger...

2010-04-20T17:56:00.001-07:00

Sometimes, all it takes is a plate of grease and carbs to change your outlook on things.

This is the first thing I ate when I got into Philly Thursday night for the conference. It was amazing. I hadn't had that much animal fat in months. And you know what else? It ruined my sleep, stopped me from getting up at 6 to hit the hotel gym...and completely transformed my weekend.
I didn't exercise at all this weekend. And I ate. A lot. I indulged every craving, trying not to feel guilty about any of it. I was far from sedentary! The conference kept me running around, attending great seminars on journalism and editing and the job world. I met so many interesting people, all of them so passionate about what they do! I walked through Philly every day at lunch and basked in the city bustle! I forgot how much I really love cities!

All in all, it was great! I loved getting away from the stress--not thinking about schoolwork or the gym or calories or any of it. I felt really free and I want to keep that feeling! For the first time, I felt peaceful without the gym. I felt collected without counting calories. I pray that this won't be the last time I'll feel that for a while. I promised myself to keep a lot of things the same from this weekend. I'm drastically cutting down my exercise. I'm going to indulge and enjoy feeling full and happy and calm. I'm going to get out of the gym.

But besides all that, something else amazing happened this weekend.....

I GOT A JOB!!!!!

That's right! On May 20th, I'll start as the newest member of the reporting team for the Sylva Herald! Oh yeah! This girl's got plans! It doesn't pay a huge amount, but that's life, right? At least it's something I love!

I hope all of you had great, relaxing weekends, because mine was really enlightening and I'm pumped about changing my old habits and striving to be happier and less pre-occupied.

Love to all!

Maggie

The rest is yet to come

2010-04-20T13:18:00.000-07:00

This isn't a real post, guys! Just a note to say that I'm still alive, still stressed, still a student, still healthy (mostly) and still me.

But who am I? Well, after this weekend, I'm not quite the same. I'm going to post for real tonight, but I wanted to say thank you to all of you for the lovely responses and the compliments on my food! That surprises me the most because my pictures always look like badly lit soap opera stills to me!

Then again, I'm not going to refuse a compliment!

More tonight!
-Maggie

Let's get professional...professional!

2010-04-13T18:11:00.000-07:00

Hello blogadeers,

Did you catch the reference? I hope so. And I hope you don't think I'm a COMPLETE geek! Although, I am a partial geek. This is just a short post to say that I'm going to be MIA for a bit because this weekend I'm attending a copy editor's conference in Philly! I'm so excited for the city and the sessions and getting to skip class for a couple of days! It'll also be cool to play grownup and be all professional (hence the title of this post). I'm also wondering if any of you live around the Philly area? It would be my first blogger meet-up!

This morning I started of with...
Oats and coffee. Another "big breakfast." I'll be honest you guys...my breakfast before usually totaled 350 calories, whereas I'm trying for 400 now. That's not including my vitamin chews and creamer in my coffee. I know those aren't really food and it's weird that I counted it in. Gabriela was right, I think, that calorie counting can be fine if you don't get obsessed. Problem is, I'm obsessive. But I talked to my dad today and the goal is to make small changes. I wish it could all be better sooner. Another thing I feel weird about today is exercise. I know I should cut down but my head doesn't want to.

Anyways, lunch was a stunner! I had a salad with a Boca burger, red pepper humus and whole wheat bread from TJs. I enjoyed it in the sun before class!
The day was blah-di-blah and normal so I won't go into everything. I did stop by the Women's Center for a class project and picked up this book from the library.

So far it's about a women who recovered from an eating disorder and decided to look into the causes and long-term effects of eating disorders on the women that have them. I highly recommend it.
I snacked on my favs: apples, Clif Z bars, my granola cookies!

I met my friend Deborah for a late-ish dinner at Noodles & Co., where I got my old standby: Japanese Pan Noodles with sauteed chicken! Yum...sometimes you just want something predictable and carby!
Now I'm off to snack, read more of this book and possibly do a little work if I feel so inclined. Hey, no judging! I'll be working my butt off soon enough!

Love,
Maggie

P.S.
I didn't love the fake sugar taste in this yogurt...but Walgreen's only had Lite yogurt!

P.P.S
I was craving salty PB! That's my second to last medjool date and a small handful of Kashi Strawberry Fields, a very disappointing cereal.

Questions:
What's your favorite comfort food? Pick one healthy and one non-healthy.
Any cool weekend plans? I know the week's still young...

Numbers in my head

2010-04-12T18:07:00.000-07:00

Hello all!

So, some of you know that I struggle, going back and forth, with the problem of calorie counting. It's funny how it helps some but not others. It seems like it's the same with a lot of diet advice. It may be great for somene who's dieting, but devastating for someone with an ED. My dad always comments about women's magazines and how I shouldn't read them because they're not meant for someone like me. Anyways, I counted yesterday and I made it up to 2000. And I was fine. I didn't die. I was hungry for breakfast in the morning. And you know what? I felt good.

This morning I broke out of the ordinary and packed a breakfast of delectables.
Half a DCD and apricot sammie on whole wheat.
Two of my oatmeal cookies.
One Fuji apple. I love the heavenly glow on these pictures, don't you? I've really started liking DCD! At first it was too sweet, too unlike real peanut butter, but I've really warmed up to it!

For lunch I ate this wrap, which I was able to snap a discrete picture of with my camera!
The afternoon was eaten up by phone interviews and the gym, where I did 10 miles on the elliptical and 15 minutes of abs. I know I really shouldn't do so much cardio, even though it makes me feel elated. I'm going to switch to lower-impact exercise some of the time and add in more weights.

In my New Media class we watched Minority Report! What a great class. We also watched a clip of Adora Svitak, child prodigy. This girl is adorable and so poised, but she seems a little too poised. I can imagine that she has a hard time relating to others her age. But it is impressive that she's already written so much. Take a look at her site and tell me what you think!

In class I snacked on Special K cereal and blueberry yogurt. I took a picture but I can't figure out how to get it off my camera phone! Any suggestions? I know it's possible!

Dinner is a spinoff of Jessica's eat at The Process of Healing. "Chik" patty Parmesan sandwich with portabella mushrooms, marinara sauce and laughing cow on a sandwich thin. Broc and humnut sauce on the side.

I will definitely snack some more this evening! In the hour during and after dinner, I got a huge chunk written of my latest article about exercise for people with depression and anxiety! But the load is never-ending...I'm going to spend some time on my other two articles, read some philosophy and hopefully watch the next episode of glee! Or should I read a book? Is that better for me? Should I be educating myself even in my spare time? I joke, you guys. But I do have a short story by Kafka that I've been meaning to read. Ever heard of The Hunger Artist?

That's all, dears!
Maggie

P.S.
Times 2...I started eating and forgot to photo.
P.P.S
Yogurt with 2 of my amazing oatmeal cookies, apricot with DCD!

Questions:
When did you start writing? Adora started pretty young!
Are you a cardio girl or a weights girl?
How do you relax? Reading or the boob tube?

A Difficult Truth...

2010-04-11T19:12:00.000-07:00

Hey girls!

So, this weekend started off kind of poorly. I went to the school nutritionist to get a consultation about my health because lately I've been feeling too skinny and I want to know how to gain weight healthily. To make a long story short, I'm skinnier than I thought. I don't want to put numbers, but it kind of freaked me out. It scares me that my body can get out of my control even though control is what I'm afraid to lose! I don't want to fall back into the ED, but I'm scared that recovery won't be as fast as I want it to be! My first thoughts were...why me? I'm sure many of you have felt like that. Why us? WHy do we have to have this nagging problem that doesn't leave, even if you think you have a handle on it?

Bottom line is: I need to gain weight. Now. Not next week. Not next month. I'm starting now and I will succeed.

Friday night, I didn't feel very much like going out to bars like I'd planned, so my sister drove over from Durham to see me and we watched a movie together. I really love her. It was exactly what I needed.

I also made a great dinner that night. Tried out Amy's Breakfast burrito with grat results! I was suprised by the potatoes, but all in all, it was filling and flavorful! I also roasted a sweet potato and consumed these carby goodies with tomato and BBQ sauce.
After a quiet, contemplative night, I was back on my game (mostly) the next day. Churned out some homework in the morning. Ate oats!
Some combo of fruit and nuts...It's hard to remember sometimes...

Got in a good workout at the gym: bike, elliptical and arm weights. I also ran into some good grad student friends of mine and planned to go to the catholic service on Sunday!

When I got home, I refueled with my favorite salad, veggie burger, pita and humnut sauce concoction.

Hm...one thing I always ask myself is why my pics look so lame...

But more importantly--after this yumness, I went grocery shopping with my friend Karen and got some goodies for last night's AMAZING dinner party. After shopping and girl talk, I hung around my house, baked some great oatmeal raisin cookies, snacked on said cookies with PB, read blogs and prepared food for said AMAZING dinner party.

It really was AMAZING, you guys! I wish I had pictures! But I decided not to ruin the ambience with food blogger habits. But I'll tell you--we had udon noodle/veggie stir fry, teriyaki shrimp, roasted tofu, veggie potstickers, peanut sauce and lots of wine! People, food, wine--the things I love best! It was exactly what I needed, for the second night in a row! I think other bloggers have talked about this--ED makes you want to isolate yourself, but I think that's the last thing you should do! In fact, do the opposite of whatever it tells you and I'm convinced that's the way to beat it.

Here's a snack I mustered up last night.
See that cookie thing? That's one of my homemade goodies! Verdict: a little..."healthy" tasting. But still good and carby!

This morning, before church, I ate a big breakfast on the request of Johnny, who says I eat wimpy breakfasts. This--I did not know. But then, he eats half of his days calories at breakfast then works all day.
This was big and filling! But I was still hungry for lunch not too long after church.
Asian salad with dinner party leftovers + pita! This was so good, you guys! I admit, I licked up every drop of that peanut sauce! An hour and some writing later, I went for a 5-miler around town. I ran slow, so it was actually very relaxing! I snacked on a bowl of yogurt and cereal (cause some fitness mag told me that was a great recovery food) and hung out with my neighbor Mark for a good bit.

At 6:30, I left for my friend's dance concert, eating an Amy's Indian spinach wrap for dinner on the way. (too small, I know. It doesn't end there.) The wrap was great! Especially dipped in more of my peanut sauce!
Haha...that's not my hand...I just found this picture on google to add color.

The concert was also so much fun! It would take too long to go into detail, but my favorite was this sexy modern dance piece set to "Bad Things" which is the theme from True Blood. Have you heard this song? It's so naughty, but sexy!

Since then I've been chilling in bed, writing, reading blogs, psyching myself out for the week and snackalacking.
Y'all know what this is...
And then this...yogurt, PB bumpers, oatmeal raisin cookie! I'm a night eater, I know.

G-g-good night g-g-girlies!
-Maggie

Questions:

What are healthy ways to gain weight? What food groups do I need the most of?
What are your feelings on dinner parties? Old-fashioned? Snooty? AWESOME?
Are you a night eater?
What's your favorite healthy convenience food?

An Egg-cellent Idea!

2010-04-08T17:05:00.001-07:00

WOAH MAMA!

Check. This. Out.

Oh yeah....it's an egg baked in a sweet potato. Excuse me while I gasm all over this! Now, don't get all excited! I haven't actually made this, although I plan to very soon! Here's the recipe, which I found on a facebook fan page for sweet potatoes. Laugh all you want! I know I'm crazy!

In other news, I feel a little less stressed out tonight! I don't have anything I need to do this second, but I have several things coming up that are weighing on my mind.

I have to write a news article on the effects of exercise for persons with depression and anxiety.
I have to start working on another, longer article on common nutrition and diet assumptions and the truth/falsity behind them.
I have to finish a fake article on Quick Mexican Cuisine for my diversity and comm. class.
Reading and a problem set for philosophy due on Monday.
2 appointments tomorrow! One with a fitness instructor that I'm interviewing for a story, the other with a nutritionist, who will hopefully give me some eating tips!

Then it's the weekend! Thank the Lord! I'm going to a concert tomorrow night with my sister and friends, Saturday I hope to have some sort of brunch-type thing, Sunday I'm going to a dance concert! Sounds good, right? But before that...one more night of homework, one more day of class. I'm going to try and knock out the fake article, and work on researching the other stories and organizing said research. Any journalism students out there? Isn't it annoying that most of our work has do to with waiting for people to call you back? And that you can only do that between 9 and 5 in most cases? But I chose this field and I love it! Hooray for health journalism!

Now to the food. This morning I had oats before going to the gym for an hour of the elliptical (10 miles! Not bad, not bad at all) and leg weights.
I've been reading that you're not supposed to eat fat right before or right after you workout. Honestly, I haven't been able to tell the difference in how I feel.

Lunch was great! I brought a Morningstar Farms spicy black bean burger and a TJ's whole wheat pita from home and combined that with a dining hall salad of spinach, tomatoes, cukes, artichoke hearts and a big dollop of humus. It was great and very filling!

After a long written test in Medical and Science Reporting and a very cool and fun photo page assignment in editing, I refueled again with a chocolate chip Clif Z bar and a Fuji apple!

I got out of class early and talked to my sister on the phone for about half an hour then moseyed home (and I mean moseyed! I'm trying to relax, y'know!) and took a shower.

My dinner tonight was exactly what I wanted! Don't you love those days? When you crave something very specific and you make and you eat it and you know you got it right and your mouth is like "Yes! Yes!" and your stomach's like "Oh baby!" and you food-gasm like crazy? No? Okay...I guess I'm a foodie.
Course 1: Simple salad with spinach, tomatoes and TJ's sesame ginger dressing.

Course Deux: Whole-wheat pitas stuffed with tempeh, fake meatballs, mango, roasted sweet potato, BBQ sauce and TJ's pumpkin butter! Oh. Man. This was good.

Now it's back to a little work, a little gmail chat...possible a little youtube?
Goodnight all you wonderful girls!
-Maggie

Questions:
Fat before workouts? What's your opinion?
What does your workload look like?
What's one thing you did to de-stress today?
To the seasoned bloggers--any tips for getting more followers?

All's quiet on the home front!

2010-04-07T18:27:00.000-07:00

Hello girls!

Not much to report today. I'm definitely feeling the humpday! I think I'm also feeling 3 solid days of hard workouts, so it might be time to take it easy. I'm trying hard to listen to my body for hunger cues and exhaustion cues. It's hard, but I think today my body's saying, "Maggie! For God's sake! Relax!"

I was going to have a rest day yesterday but I ended up doing Zumba and the elliptical because I really felt like a lot of exercise! I never know when to listen to that voice. Anywho, it was fun to do Zumba again after so long, but I got a shock seeing myself in the full-length mirror! I'm too skinny! I want boobs and a butt again! Still, I'm a darn good dancer, I must say!

Now it's time for list format, cause I'm exhausted.

Made quinoa pancakes last night with some of my besties, and spent the evening laughing and talking!
Been eatin' lots of PB!
Went to Pilates today with my darling Debs!
Worked like a madwoman today on scheduling interviews for my final 2 news stories.
Wore my new H&M dress to lunch with my class yesterday and had a great southwestern chicken salad!

And here's tonights dinner.
I was going to heat up an Amy's burrito, but I decided to save those for when I'm really in a rush. So, I made my own version! Spicy black bean burger, salsa, mango, tomato, spinach and laughing cow in a flatout wrap! It was off the chain! And of course I had to have my nooch sauce.
The innards of said wrap.My late-night snack of the week. apricots with PB and yogurt with PB bumpers! I eat so much peanut butter! Partly out of extreme love for its creamy goodness and partly because I've really been trying to up my protein intake. I've switched my magazine reading to Oxygen, because I like their outlook on fitness better, and I read that to gain muscle a woman needs 4 ounces of protein at each meal. I don't know if I've been getting that much, but I'm seriously trying!

Well...that's all I can muster tonight! Hopefully I'll be back in full color by the weekend!

Questions:
What's your favorite group exercise class? Pilates? Zumba?
What fitness magazines do you read? What do you think of the way they talk about dieting and weight?

Goodnight lovelies!
Maggie

Monday, Monday, wherefore are thou Monday?

2010-04-05T18:52:00.000-07:00

Hello all!
Welcome back! My name is Monday and my job is to stress you out and push you kicking and screaming back into the grind. Okay...so it wasn't that bad a day, but compared to this relaxing weekend, it was a little depressing. At least it's one Monday closer to graduation!

I must say that I'm quite anxious to hear about my job prospects! Even if they turn me down, I want to know! I'm also getting sick of long-distance! Girls, if you can avoid it--DO! It's not natural for humans to communicate solely through the plastic speakers of a laptop!

Easter was so great! I wore a cute new Charlotte Russe, bought during a girly shopping trip, and played piano for the service. After church, we made a fantastic Easter dinner at my parents house.

Quinoa risotto with baby artichokes, pesto and shrimp. With lots of asparagus and an unpictured salad with avacado! Here's the recipe for the risotto. This guy is an amazing blogger!

I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out, doing crosswords and finishing up a blog post for class. My dad spent the afternoon removing a nasty virus that masqueraded as a security program from my computer. Have you ever heard of Antivirus pro? It's horrible! I must have accidentally clicked on something that let this hell-beast onto my computer and for two days it blasted me with pop-ups, fake security messages and porn Web sites. Lesson learned? Be careful on the internet!

Once I was home for the night, I tried a Jillian Michaels workout. Even though it was only 20 minutes, I was sore this morning! Must be those darn squats. I ate a packaged breakfast in class, cause I was too lazy to get up early. But I did manage to pack lunch!

Turkey, humus and veggies on a pita.
Breakfast of a Clif Builder bar and a Fuji apple. Love these!

In my break I bought sunscreen for my annoyingly pale complexion and mailed my rent and utilities for the month.

After Div/Comm, I treadmilled for about 45 minutes, finishing off 5.2 miles! It felt great to run again! I forgot to mention that I ran outside this weekend for the first time in a while! I ended up running just over 5 miles (with a little walking) in about 50 minutes. Not bad!

In New Media they showed us....The IPAD! In my opinion, the IPad's amazingness is a little "padded."

Consumed some snacks while listening to the Apple guys tell us that journalism is completely changing. Apple and a protein bar.
After class I spent a long time at my buddy Mark's, talking about rap music. He's such an expert! We both agreed that Bedrock is a great song! And so is this one.

I was starving for dinner! I had such a problem deciding what I wanted to eat for some reason! It was so annoying and I was getting super hungry, so I decided to fall back on my comfort flavors/textures: whole wheat grains, BBQ sauce, nutritional yeast. I made a BBQ tempeh pizza with salsa, laughing cow, peppers, tempeh and BBQ sauce on a whole wheat pita. I was craving some....nutritional yeast! So I had humnut sauce on caulis.
Now it's off to write an article on healthy Mexican food for a fake Hispanic woman's magazine! I also feel like I need some more PB in my life. Like right now.

Questions:
What's your favorite rap song?
Have you ever had a virus?
What's your go-to comfort flavor and texture?
Ever noticed that asparagus makes your pee smell funny? Just sayin'...

Love!
Maggie

And she breaks free!!

2010-04-02T19:07:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

The weekend has started out very well, and I only hope it'll get better! Earlier in the week I was really looking to the break for two reasons.

I have lots of plans with friends/family that include brunch, dinner, Easter festivities, a shopping trip to H&M and possibly salsa dancing! I'm a highly social person, and I need to be with people sometimes otherwise I get all mopey and sad.
The gym is closed Friday through Sunday, which gives me an excuse to make myself stay away from it for a bit. It's like I have two voices in my head. One telling me to follow my compulsion, the other telling me to take a frickin' rest! I indulged the first one until the end of the week, and now I'm listening to the other.

That doesn't mean I didn't fit in a workout today, of course. After a very full day which included Panera, clothes shopping with my dad, dinner at my favorite chain, Noodles Co., and a Good Friday service, I was finally back at my little house. Roomie is gone for the weekend so I can prance around in my sports bra, dancing to Justin Timberlake and Crazytown!

I made up my own cross training workout!

20 minutes of a 40-30-20-10 rep sequence. Basically, I did 40 each of burpees, jumping jacks, high knees, side-to-side lunges, weighted squats, pushups, crunches and alpine climbers. Then I decreased it to 30 reps, and so on, down to ten. I was sweating! Then I danced around to my itunes party shuffle and finished off with 10 minutes of side abs work. I'm so proud of myself! I don't need the gym!

That's all for now! I'm going to watch Charlie's Angels after taking a good shower!
Random snack plate!
Great bowl of pre-gym oats with PB and strawberries!
Good old PB and pumpkin butter!

Love you guys!
Maggie
Questions:
Ever made up a workout? Feel free to share!
What was your latest, greatest clothes purchase? Ann Taylor petites totally came through today for me!
So...I just saw Shopaholic...and thoughts? I honestly thought it made women seem stupid, clumsy and petty...

What is this feeling?

2010-03-31T18:21:00.000-07:00

Hello all!
Lately I've been feeling...I don't know how to describe it. Not quite sad, not depressed, not unhappy...kind of uninspired, I guess. I've also been exhausted and completely loaded with work. The funny thing is that I don't feel panicked and stressed, I just feel worn-out. Maybe it's senioritis? Spring fever? All I know is I can't wait for this weekend! Lots of time with the family and a trip to H&M are in my future!

I think part of the problem is my recent lack of socialization due to extreme amounts of work! That sounded scientific...Basically, I'm really looking forward to spending quality time with my family and with people who love and accept me no matter how weird I am! I really am thankful for my family and I don't know what I'd do without them.

Breakfast was eaten in philosophy class, which I kind of enjoyed today! Last night I actually got really interested in the reading! Am I a nerd, or what?
PB Bumpers, Greek yogurt and dried apricots. Great combo! I love how much protein Greek yogurt has. For some reason I've been craving protein lately and I try to succumb to that craving often!

No pics for lunch, but it was the same as Monday, as I am a creature of habit, thank you very much.

Between classes, I got in a bike workout and some arms and refueled with a Zone bar of the Fudge Graham variety and an apple of the Granny Smith variety. By the time I finally got back for dinner I was starving! I made a mixture of my favorites: Mediterranean food and nooch!

Flatout wrap with a crumbled Sunshine Falafel Burger, spinach and tomato. I also dolloped a lot of tzatziki sauce and salsa on top. It was great and very filling! My stomach's feeling like a little dessert soon...this is what I had last night.
Stoneyfield yogurt, mango and PB bumpers. Mmmm!

Well...sorry for this short, uninspired post, but Miss Maggie has nothing great to say today! But, I suppose I could think of a question or two.

Love,
Maggie

Questions:

How do you get out of a schoolwork rut?
What do you do to relax and de-stress?

Call me Missus Flinstone...

2010-03-30T18:43:00.000-07:00

Hey girls!

Thanks for the comments! Also, I love to get advice on exercise! I'd be the last person to say I know everything about how to do it healthfully! But let's continue this conversation--how much is too much? How much is enough? I read an article today that looked at confusing fitness advice from scientific studies. Some say 20 minutes is enough; others suggest an hour a day. How do you decide how much to do? I wanna hear what you have to say!

I started off the day with a great bowl of oats, a big cup of coffee and an interview with the mother of my profile subject. It's always great to hear someone gush about how much they love their daughter!
Oats, strawberries, two kinds of PB! and Kashi GoLean Crunch.

The interview took about 15 minutes, after which I was hop-skip-jumping off to the gym. I did the elliptical for the first time in forever! It felt great! I did 10 miles in about 56 minutes, followed by ab work for 15 minutes. After that, I rushed off to medical and science reporting, stopping at the cafeteria to assemble my salad.
It's my new favorite combo! Spinach, tomatoes, some kind of fake meat product (TJ's meatless balls, in this case), all smothered with humnut sauce, hot sauce and Worcestershire. Yum. I ate this quickly before class and spent 45 minutes talking about health and fitness and Chihuahuas, for some reason!

In editing we had a quiz on sports editing and then a short lecture on the same subject. I have to admit, I zoned a little and read articles on cnn.com. Hey, at least I was looking at news!

After class got out early, I went off to enjoy the sunshine and, like the workaholic I am...do homework. I had a big ol' juicy Gala apple somewhere in there. I spent a long time walking home since I was dreading all the work I had. I stopped at Walgreen's to pick up PAM and came out with energy bars and an unexpected run-in with my old roommate!

Eventually I got back home, showered and did a little homework before making an amazingly satisfying dinner!
Flatout pizza with roasted garlic tomato sauce, Amy's barbecue burger, 2 laughing cow wedges, spinach, tomato and BBQ sauce! On the side I had steamed broccoli with lots of humnut sauce! Those are two flavors I can't seem to do without: nooch and BBQ sauce.
I love how you can see the steam!

So, since then, I've been working on my profile story, blogging and watching hip hop videos. I'm loving Bedrock right now! I'm also contemplating what to eat for dessert/snack. I have frozen yogurt...mango...cereal...and there's always PB...

That's all ladies!
Love,
Maggie

Questions:

I already said it, but what's your view on exercise? How much is enough?
Do you read the news? Where do you get it from?
What's your favorite hip-hop song right now? Any good suggestions for me?
What should I eat for dessert? (kidding...)

Rainy Mondays

2010-03-29T18:23:00.000-07:00

Morning came too early this...morning. Wow, that was articulate! I sound just like a journalist should! Oh well...all I know is I'm a better journalist than a math student. This morning's test wasn't as easy as I thought it would be! I ran out of time on one of the questions but I did finish one bonus question, so maybe I'll pull a B!

Breakfast was eaten quickly before class with the LA Times crossword!
PB bumpers (best cereal name evarr!), mango and Greek yogurt!
Lots of this! Full caffeine!
After the exam I knocked two interviews out of the way for my next story! I hope I get a better grade than the last one. So many silly spelling mistakes! I can't believe myself sometimes...At least I learned quite a lot about the dangers of fasting. Basically, your body shuts down and starts eating itself because you aren't putting any fuel into it! I try to think of that image when I know I haven't eaten enough in a day. Sometimes fear is a very good motivator.
Here's my flatout wrap with humus, turkey, spinach and tomatoes. Add Worcestershire, hot sauce and some nuking action and you get an amazing lunch! Discussion in class was also great. We talked all about the way race and gender is presented in the media. Very enlightening!
I snuck in a workout after class. 45 minutes on the bike! A nice rest from running, because my calf feels tight again. I didn't feel like strength training so I headed off to a class meeting, quite sweaty.
Snackage in packages.

After the meeting, I had some spare time so I went back to the gym to lift leg weights. I did about 25 minutes of machines and some more stretching. Is that a little much? Sometimes I don't really know.

After that, you bet I was hungry! I had a skype date with John tonight so I hopped in the shower super quick and started on a yummy dinner that I ate while talking to John on skype.
A classic Morningstar burger on a sandwich thin with spinach, laughing cow and tomato. Plus a pile of cheetahs and various dipping sauces. It was great and filling! Now I'm sipping on a Fuze beverage and watching Alladin on youtube with the boy on skype chat! Oh, the wonders of modern technology!

You might notice my eats are a little minimal as of now...I plan to snack on some sort of nut butter in the near future...

Also, today I called the nutritionist to schedule an appointment today. I hope it goes well!
Good night, lovelies!

Maggie

Questions:

What's your opinion on fasting?
What's your favorite new technology?
What's the best fake meat product you've tried lately?

A confrontation of sorts

2010-03-28T15:14:00.000-07:00

Hello lovelies!
The interview went so well! It was conducted by two really sweet middle-aged people at the newpaper who asked me a few simple questions and then let me ask anything I wanted to know. They're offering two jobs--one is more of a desk job and the other would be a sort of roving reporter. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I wouldn't be suprised to get an offer!

The rest of the time in Sylva was just as nice. I took two days off of working out and spent time with my dad and with John's sister Jen. After my interview on Saturday, my dad and I drove and walked around little towns in the area, shopping, talking, eating, taking pictures.

Here's my dad on a bridge in Bryson City, N.C.
There's a great story here! We met this very eccentric old lady named Dodie who owns an antique shop and is currently running for the N.C. House of Representatives! She was a complete spitfire and she sold me these boots for $5!
They hurt a little, but I'm hoping to break them in! You pay a price for beauty, right? That night I went out to a celebration dinner with my dad and Jen. I got a burrito at the restaurant (which was really like two burritos) and a salad with Tahini dressing. In the middle of dinner my dad whispered not-so-quietly to me to "Eat my food." Honestly, even though I know he cares, it really bothered me! I ended up eating all the salad and about a quarter of the burritos with some salsa, rice and sour cream. I wasn't trying to make a point. I simply wasn't that hungry. When we got home, my dad cornered me in the kitchen and told me very sternly that I should have eaten more. I was a little taken aback and didn't know how to respond other than that I wasn't that hungry and would probably have a snack later. I also told him that the incident was a little embarrassing. "I didn't say it half as much as I was thinking about it," he said.

I did have several snacks later. I'm almost ashamed to write this incident, but I wanted feedback. Was I wrong? Right? Should I eat more than I want just to please my dad? Honestly, I still need to gain weight and shouldn't worry about eating too much, but how do I talk to my dad about that?

We did talk the next morning and he asked me to contact a nutritionist at the school. I'm going to call tomorrow for an appointment and keep one of those food diaries in the meantime. It's weird to not know how okay you are. Sometimes I feel like I've got it all under control, but then I realize that I'm still very controlled by my old ED.

Today I got back into my routine after driving all day yesterday, contra dancing like crazy and getting frozen yogurt with Deb! (And watching the animated Robin Hood on youtube, not gonna lie.)

I studied philosophy all morning (Test tomorrow!), ate a BIG bowl of oat bran with mango, PB and kashi cereal. Dranks lots of coffee! Ran for the first time in a week! (5 miles!)

When I came back around 4ish , after a session of weights as well. I ate a veggie burger and about 1.5 apples. I realized the first one was a little gross and switched to a new one. I also had a Fuze juice. Those things are great!

After studying, blogging, talkign to John and watching Alladin, I started to get hungry at 6:30 and made an involved dinner that didn't get done until 7:45! I was very hungry and it was very good, unmeasured, eclectic and totally out of my comfort zone!
Quinoa with EVOO, peppers, spinach, balsamic, hot sauce, garlic powder and Worcestershire sauce; TJs meatless balls, and BBQ sauce!
Also, steamed caulis and brocs with unpictured humnut sauce. I swear I'm addicted now! I don't feel right unless I've had it at at least one meal!

Now it's back to study, study, study; read, read, read; talk to John, bed. But first, here's some other goodies I got at used bookstores in Sylva!
I'm such a bookworm and a fantasy lover, I admit it!! the book in the lower corner is The Golden Compass. I've already started it and I love it!
50 cent magazines for the elliptical! How could I resist?
Oh, look how pretty and tired we are! This was the morning I left Sylva.

Questions:

How do you talk to your family about eating problems?
What's your favorite book right now?
How many rest days do you take per week and how do you spend them?

Have a great evening, y'all! Much love!
Maggie

It's been a while!

2010-03-25T19:51:00.001-07:00

Hello blogbots!
I haven't posted for a couple days and I'm sorry to say that I don't have much to say! I've been quite busy with schoolwork and planning for my job interview this weekend. I'm in Sylva, NC right now and it's the cutest town ever! My bf's mom is letting me and my dad stay in her house for the weekend. It's so beautiful! I've never been anywhere more peaceful! Well...if it weren't for the 2 little yappy dogs that won't stop barking at the thunder! But they're still super cute. One's called Dag and the other's Shmo.

So, what happened to me last week?

Made an awesome dinner! If you haven't tried Sunshine burgers, rush out and buy them!

They taste just like restaurant falafel! I put one in a pita with tzatziki, spinach and tomato.
Drool.
More drool.

Broc and nooch on the side.

2. MY FRIENDS VISITED FROM SLC!!!! I HAVEN'T SEEN THEM IN A YEAR!!!
Jen
I love these people so much! I forgot how nice it is to be around really good friends who understand you and love you even though you're weird and crazy! In fact, they love you BECAUSE you're weird and crazy! And they accept you for it!

3. I also DROPPED my phone down a TOILET!! This is the second frickin' time I've done that! Either I'm a klutz, or my phones have a special attraction to white porcelain! Whatever the reason, it wasn't good 'cause I had a lot of phone interviews for my next story! In the end, my good friend Mark gave me an old phone of his and I had it hooked up to my family plan. Crisis averted!

Sorry, this is a short post. Tomorrow is my job interview at this tiny little town paper! I'm excited and nervous but I'm hoping that my undying charm and charisma will carry me through it!

I hope all of you guys are doing well!

Questions:

Any seniors out there getting crazy senioritis? What are your plans after graduation?

Who's your oldest friend? Why do they make you feel special?

What's the most amazing dinner you ate recently?

Good night lovelies!
-Maggie

It's been a while!

2010-03-21T19:55:00.000-07:00

Made an awesome dinner! If you haven't tried Sunshine burgers, rush out and buy them!

And on the seventh day...She rested!

2010-03-21T15:48:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it wasn't the 7th day, but yesterday I didn't make myself go to the gym! I didn't push my body too hard! I didn't stress (too much) over calories burned!

Instead:

I worked hard on schoolwork that really matters to me and wrote a great article about the dangers of fasting!
I walked and lunched with my daddy through the sunny streets of Carrboro! It was 70 degrees!
I bought a yummy load of groceries at Harris Teeter, or, The Teet as we call it.
Went out to an Indian dance show, at samosas and watched Bend It Like Beckham with friends! (We were on an Indian kick. But seriously! Bend it like Beckham is a great girl-powery movie!

I woke up at the great hour of 10 on Saturday and skedaddled over to Weaver Street Market (kind of like Whole Foods) with my breakfast and laptop in tow.
Oats, berries, cinnamon raisin PB! I felt kind of silly warming this up in their cafe, but they didn't have free wireless so it serves them right! After being very productive, I bought about $75 worth of veggies, veggie burgers, yogurt, cereal and other assorted goodies. Then who should call but my dad! He just got a haircut and wanted to hang out, so he drove over and we walked to a cafe called Sandwhich (clever, eh?) and ate in the sunshine.

My daddy! You see where I get the hair color?
What's this? Oh, just a little turkey, avocado, tomato and lettuce on sourdough! There were kalamata olive on the side too! We spent the afternoon walking and browsing in thrift stores where I bought these! My feet look gross, but you get the idea. I can't wait to pair them with a white sundress and be all 1950s pin-up girl!

That night I went to a crazy Indian dance show at Memorial Hall with Debs and Karen! We thought we were going to get free Indian food but no...we got cheap Indian food, which was still really delicious!
Lovely Debs.Lovely Karen w/ chickpeas on the side!M-m-m-my Samosas! I joked with my friends about taking a day off of running AND eating fried food! These were really good with the sweet tamarind sauce! I also ate a lot of Karen's chickpea mess. After the show at my house we watched Bend it Like Beckham and I snacked quite a bit on caramel greek yogurt, PB bumpers (my new cereal!), nuts, PB, etc. I've been craving yogurt very late at night these days and I think it helps you sleep, although a doctor would have to back me up on that.

All in all, I did feel a little lethargic yesterday and part of me WANTED to exercise, but the most important thing is that I didn't. I spent time doing things I care about and it was fine! I'm still alive! I want to keep doing this but it won't always be easy, I know. I want to thank everyone out there who's comments and posts create this community of love, caring and healthy living! We're strong women and we shouldn't have to sit in silence and anxiety, worrying about every little bit of food intake or calorie expulsion.

Love you all!
Maggie

Questions:

What do you do on a rest day?

Who makes you feel loved?

How do you feel about Bollywood?

Just for good measure, here's some other random eats of mostly the snack variety.
Vitatop with yogurt, puffins and trail mix.
Puffins, yogurt, berries. What a pretty color, eh?Vitatop with PB and crumbly puffs!Breakfast today! A little bit o' same-old, same-old. Oats, apples, cinnamon raisin PB and kashi GoLean crunch.
Lunch today after a looong run! Spinach, tomato, Morningstar spicy black bean burger, humnut sauce and Ezekial bread. Shoutout to Gabriela for the inspiration!
Gotta throw this one in...me and pretty Steph at the UNC Holi festival! It's an Indian festival where all castes are united and equal for one day, but here at UNC it's a big ol' free-for-all of water and colored powder! I look suspiciously clean because I scrubbed my face off right after. Couldn't go to a musical looking like a homicide victim, could I? But I still have green dye in my hair!

All right, this is really the end!

LOVE!!!!
Maggie

A sucky suprise and a pictureful post!

2010-03-18T17:13:00.000-07:00

Hello Lady Blogs! (I came up with that when my bf asked me what kind of blog animal I'd be.)

I've missed blogging because until today I was super busy with practice for this musical, "I Love You Because." But I found out today that I was cut at the the last minute!! Right before the first show! I don't want to complain too much, but apparently I didn't follow the cast as well as the music director, so they cut me! My buddy Danny, the conductor, resigned when he heard how I'd been treated. I couldn't believe that I'd spent so much time on something then just dropped! I'm still really angry, but I'm also glad that my life is mine again. I just wish I'd known months ago!

Has anything like that ever happened to you?

So, the last couple days have been good with not counting. This morning I had a weird moment. I ate a pretty big breakfast and felt really uncomfortable with it in me so I kind of tried to escape to the gym, I think. It made me feel really weird and frantic. Especially because I was planning to rest today.

Does anyone have suggestions for how to enjoy a rest day? (I wish it weren't so hard.)

But I did get in a good run, even if I feel kind of guilty about doing it. Today I also interviewed a nutritionist about fasting. It was so interesting! Did you know that the body cleanses itself really naturally without those nasty detox diets? In fact, the best way to "cleanse" is to eat real, natural foods and drink lots of water! It might seem second nature to us health nuts, but a lot of people don't know how to take care of their bodies!

In other news, here's some yummy eats!

Class was canceled on Tuesday so I took the chance to make lunch at home and transformed my pack of goodies into a pizza!

Mango, greek yogurt and puffins!

Salad and dinner a la Snackface! Sweet potatoes, turkey meatballs, BBQ sauce and pumpkin butter in a toasted pita! Deeee-lish! You gotta try it!

Late night dates and PB!
Roasted veggies! Because raw carrots are creepy and boring!
Humnut sauce for dipping roasted veggies. Third time's the charm. I'm addicted!
Main course of that dinner! Chipotle-Lime Chicken burger on whole wheat with spinach, tomatoes and BBQ sauce!! What do I not put BBQ sauce on...?
The aforementioned big breakfast. Oats, mango, Kashi GoLean and a lot of almond butter!
That brings us to tonight! With salad and...
Another pita pizza! This one has a Chik patty, roasted tomato humus, laughing cow, spinach and tomato!

Alrighty, I can feel myself getting hungry again and I'm going to head out in a bit to a concert. It'll be my inaugural ride in my new car!
Have a lovely night, ladies!
Love,
Maggie

Thankfulness! And YACs...

2010-03-15T19:45:00.000-07:00

Hello lovely blogerellas!

I want to to start off by thanking everyone for their amazing, thoughtful comments! I never knew how many wonderful people were out there in the blog world who would understand exactly what I'm going through! It helps to know that I'm not the only one with these problems! It helps to know that there are people who've overcome these problems! Once again, thank you all from the bottom of my heart! Your support means a lot to me!

I want to thank itsawrapteacher as well for the amazing giveaway goodies that showed up on my doorstep yesterday! I dug right into those dates and you can bet I'll be having Udon noodles post haste! (is that the right term?) Anyways, it was amazing!

Before I get to the eats, I have one question. I'm writing a news story on fasting for my Medical and Science Reporting class. Do any of you have stories about fasting that you'd be willing to share? You can email them to me or if you're comfortable with it, we can find a time to talk on the phone. Let me know!

Yesterday for breakfast I was running super late so I got creative. My oikos was almost gone, so I took the container, threw in cinnamon puffins, mango and trail mix, snapped on the lid and took that baby to class with me! "Is that a new 'thing'?" I asked myself. "Will it grow to rival OIAJ?" I wondered. Probably not...but if it did, I would call it Yogurt in A Container, or, YAC (pronounced Yak). Yes, I know yogurt already comes in a container! A girl can dream, can't she?

It was so good, I had a similar combo for breakfast today, with Kashi GoLean crunch instead. I wanted a lot of protein because I'm going to hit the gym in a bit.

I didn't count calories yesterday! And it went fine! I did find myself estimating calorie values, but I tried to stop myself using Jessica of The Process of Healing's advice. I don't want to sound too positive, though, because I know it won't get better in a day. For instance, I counted breakfast this morning. It's the hardest meal not to count, I think. But I'm proud of myself that I got through a whole day. Lunch was a humus wrap again, but completely unmeasured.

I snacked on this bar today. It was a great buy! Clif company is such an epic win every time! They make protein bars better than Powerbar and granola bars better than Quaker Oats!

Dinner was taken to practice tonight and it was...unamazing. I made a combo that I thought would blow me away! Chik patty, BBQ sauce, pumpkin butter, spinach and tomato on a whole wheat wrap. Then...I nuked it. Lesson learned: not everything is better microwaved. The tomatos made the wrap a little soggy and the spinach just fell apart. The taste was still quite good and I didn't mind the weird texture of the chewy wrap and drippy BBQ sauce but it wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I also brought carrots and the rest of my humus to snack on.

I was all snacky when I got back so after gossiping to Karen for about 30 minutes over the phone I ate some various cereals and stuffs

Yes! That's a medjool date you see! And mango! Later on I was peckish again so I had a late nighter of mango dipped in greek yogurt with cereal!

TOday I'm going to get a picture of today's lunch by taking it before I leave the house! I'm bringing sliced deli chicken, spinach and tomato slices, soaked in balsamic vinegar, to put on a pita with laughing cow cheese! I'm also bringing along raw veggies and roasted tomato and garlic humus and a Clif Z bar (PB flavor). There will most likely be another cup of coffee at some point.

Questions:

Have you had a dinner fail recently? Lunch fail? Breakfast fail? What was it?

What do you do for breakfast when you're in a hurry to get to class?

Any one else like the TJ's greek yogurt better than Stoneyfield?

Could YAC become a thing? (just kidding...this one's not serious.)

Much love to you all!

Maggie

Sigh...Back to reality

2010-03-14T16:59:00.000-07:00

Today marks my last official breath of freedom before graduation, girlies! It's a scary feeling, a sad feeling, an exciting feeling, and (the worst) a stressful feeling! I have so much work coming up that I neglected on purpose to be with John! Oh well, that's the price you pay for having an amazing boyfriend.

I believe strongly that if you're doing something you love, or if you're with someone you love, you're not wasting time, no matter what else you're supposed to be doing! The reality of that is that I now have an article to write for which I have to find six sources, a midterm in philosophy in a week and a mountain of random reading. Plus, my internship coordinator is going to give me a new assignment soon! Oy vey! At least the food is good!

Friday night, John and I went on a date to Pen Ang, this great Malaysian/Chinese place on Franklin. We got wine, I got mango shrimp and he got lo mein. I ordered extra mild and got what seemed extra spicy to me! Maybe I have wimpy taste buds.

John: I promise I wasn't boring him!

Lo Mein!
Served in a mango shell! How classy is that! After a while I got used to the spicy and polished this baby off.

In a trend of amazing dinners, I made chicken adobo for Saturday, our last night together. Remember that black eyed peas song that talks about being Filipino and eating chicken adobo? No? Well, that's why I decided to make this a couple months ago. I'll let you in on a secret...it's the best date food ev-errr! Men love it!

Basically, you cook chicken and any kind of veggies in oil til they're browned. Then add balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar and garlic powder. After that, just let it simmer until everything's cooked all the way through and the sauce is kind of sloppy-thick. So easy! I added crushed tomatoes for some zest. It's also great with wine! This is our sketchy 10 dollar wine from this tiny little alley store. It was actually really good!

We also tried humnut sauce for the first time! Verdict? I liked it...but then I had it again tonight and loved it! I can see how this stuff is addictive!
I had it tonight with lots of broccoli for dipping and a main course of a TJ's masala burger on a sandwich thin with BBQ sauce! I always get really excited about putting BBQ on stuff. You could say I'm a bit of an addict, but seriously! It tastes good on almost anything!

Some other eats:
The incredibly involved food we packed for John's day of traveling. Humus, carrots, a PBJ, date balls!, fried polenta (that I put way too much oil on) and a wrap with mozzarella, humus and leftover chicken adobo! Unpictured, we included 2 hard boiled eggs. I know how to feed my man!

I don't remember when I ate this but it was good! Oat bran (which I haven't had in forever) with berries and cinnamon raisin PB.

This picture leads me into something more serious I wanted to bring up. The reason I haven't had oat bran in so long is because it was one of my ED safety foods. I would eat 1/2 cup cooked with water and salt for breakfast every morning. I knew exactly how many calories were going into it and I would sometimes take an entire hour eating one bowl so I could distract myself from my insatiable hunger. I remember feeling horrified and scared when I found out that cup measures aren't accurate. I had been eating too much , I thought.

I don't like telling this story, but when I do, it reminds me that I never want to be that girl again. I never want to be afraid of "too many" calories.

Lately I've been having a problem with counting calories again. I don't know why I do it, really. It just becomes a habit that's so hard to break! Does anyone have advice for breaking harmful habits like these? I recognize that it's bad this time and I don't want to fall back into that cycle.

Do any of you girls have former safety foods that trigger emotional reactions?

How did you overcome your habits?

How do you stay strong against their powerful attraction?

You girls are lovely and amazing! Have a wonderful night!

Love,
Maggie

So many good things!

2010-03-12T12:58:00.001-08:00

Hello lovely girls! (and possibly boys, if there are any reading.) Two great things happened to me today that totally made up for the fact that it's grey and rainy!

I got a job interview at a little newspaper in Sylva, NC! It's great because that's my boyfriend's hometown and his mom offered up her house for us to stay in for next year! So John and I could live there, I could work, he could apply for grad schools and we could enjoy the beautiful mountains all summer, the next year and the next summer! That is, if I get the job. But I'm hopeful!
I won my very first giveaway! Thanks so much, itsawrapteacher!
Ok, one more. I found out I might be getting a caar soon! My grampa's barely driven green Saturn Ion! Apparently that's why my sister and my mom are visiting him in Ohio right now!! So excited to finally have wheels!!

In other news, spring break is going way too fast! It's been so wonderful having John here but he has to leave on Sunday morning! Knowing myself, I'm going to be a basketcase when he goes!

Anyone else doing long-distance? Thoughts?

This morning was like any other this week: relaxing and slow. I ate this:

Kashi GoLean Crunch with TJ's yogurt and a pink lady apple. Have you guys tried this cereal? It's off the hook! There's so much protein in it! It was so satisfying! Maybe a little too satisfying because I skipped my mid-morning, pre-gym snack. Ah well. Gym was great! A lazy 45 minutes on the bike with Women's Health, ab work for 20 minutes then one last mile on the treadmill. My foot is feeling so much better! I'm trying to take a tip from Gabriela at Une Vie Saine and rest when I need to.

After the gym, I returned Galaxy Quest and Voler to the library and got home super hungry! I made this baby:

TJ's soft whole wheat bread with tomato and garlic humus, spicy black bean dip, turkey, arugula, yellow peppers and leftover chicken from last night! Yum! I ate a couple bites cold but then caved in and nuked it. I don't feel really satisfied unless I eat hot food sometimes!

The other night I saw Alice In Wonderland and loved it!! I want her dresses! Before hand I went out to Noodles & Co. (love that place) with Johnny and Karen and got the Japanese Pan Noodles with chicken.Lovely, stylish Karen!

Aw...

Here are some random eats for your enjoyment! Still no dinners, darnit!

Yummy wrap with tomato garlic humus, turkey and veggies. And a salad!
Same wrap, but half demolished!
The last of my PB puffins and the first of my cinnamon puffins!
Oats, mixed berries, smuckers crunchy PB and TJ's low fat granola!
Johnny!

I'm also thinking of buying boots and these are my two choices. Zigi Soho Bamboo Boots Nadara Howard Boots

Any thoughts? Where do you girls go for shoes? What's your hot shoe choice this season?

That's all for now, lovelies! Have great weekends! Any exciting plans?

Love,
Maggie

Distracted Dinners!

2010-03-09T18:05:00.000-08:00

It always happens! I make a great dinner and forget to photograph it! Honestly, my dinners are probably the most attractive meal I make but I'm usually so excited about it that I forget to pull out the old laptop and snap a photo! Last night Johnny and I made TJ's masala burgers, cheetahs!, asparagies, a beautiful side salad and lots of BBQ sauce for dipping. It was amazing. Like, foodgasmic, transcendental, healthy, spa-quality food! But I forgot to photograph it. Tonight we made BBQ chicken and cauliflower skewers with quinoa, carrot, red pepper pilaf! Once again...unpictured. I'll have to get better at that, but here's some stuff I have been eating.

Two great breakfasts!

Oats, Pink Lady apples, cinnamon raisin PB and TJ's granola! And a crossword, of course.

This morning's concoction. The color was so beautiful! It's puffins, vanilla yogurt and mixed berries! All courtesy of Trader Joe's.
My lunch today! TJ's soft whole wheat bread, TJ's kalamata olive humus, spicy black bean dip (also TJ's), sliced turkey, spinach, cherry tomatoes and sprouts! It was such a filling, wonderful lunch after my run today. I realized I'm a little extreme in the workout department sometimes and I really should tone it down. I ran fewer miles today and still felt really satisfied afterwards. I also wanted to break in my new inserts!
Hopefully these babies will do something for my annoying foot pain. Anyone else getting aches and pains from exercising super hard?

Here's a little treat! My boyfriend Johnny Toledo wanted his eats featured on my blog so here is his little concoction. A Flatout wrap with Swiss cheese, tuna, BBQ sauce, spinach, sprouts and vegetables on the side for dipping in humus! He's not too bad at this healthy foodie stuff!
Two questions for you girls:

How do you choose what to do at the gym? Is it what makes you feel the best? Do you look at calories? Does it mimic another outdoors workout you do? How do you break the monotony of one machine if you get into a rut?
Any recipes for quinoa? I just got a box at TJ's the other day and I'm loving it!

That's all for today! John and I are going to have a cuddly night in watching Galaxy Quest!

Love,
Maggie

Steampunk, Vietnamese and last minute plans!

2010-03-08T14:35:00.000-08:00

Two nights ago Johnny and I planned to go out to dinner then see a steampunk show at Mansion 462. Steampunk, for those of you who don't know, is the most awesome mix of Victorian fashion and new-age, technology. Think Golden Compass, Wild Wild West, etc. Okay, so it's kind of nerdy but it's also really cool! It was called the Clockwork Cabaret and I was super hyped about it! I love anything to do with weird, vintage-y stuff!

Before the show, we had to get dinner, which was not what we expected but still amazing! Lime and basil is this great, tiny Vietnamese restaurant that's usually crowded, but definitely worth the wait!

Here's John eating his noodle soup with all kinds of deliciousness in it. This baby had pork, shrimp, chicken, squid and fish balls! The fish balls and squid were my favorite and I think I also ate all of the squid.
I got a stir fry with shrimp and lemongrass and we both got these amazing summer rolls with chewy rice paper, crisp lettuce and thin slices of shrimp and pork. There was a peanut dipping sauce on the side that was good enough to eat by itself!Here's a slightly awkward pic of the two of us, taken by a women at the table next to us.

When we went to the club after a lovely dinner of pho and stir fry, we found out that it had been canceled last minute! So instead of calling it a night, we went to a little coffee shop and bar called Jack Sprat for drinks with my lovely friend Karen of Photography: Through the Looking Glass.

Here's a picture of us afterward in the cold wind!And here's Karen! You should check out her blog! It's awesome!

At about 12:30, I got a major snack attack so we headed home and ate puffins and peanut butter while watching The Neverending Story. So cheesy! So 80s! I couldn't stay awake and passed out on John's shoulder at 2:00.

That was my lovely night! Hope y'all had a lovely day!

Love,
Maggie

Super Relaxation Time + Boyfriend!

2010-03-07T08:48:00.000-08:00

Hello lovelies!

This will be my most picturey post so far because Johnny brought his camera down from Toronto! I've also accumulated some random breakfast photos over the last couple of days.

On Friday I was so excited to pick Johnny up from the airport that I forgot all about photographing breakfast! (It was some yogurt mess) My sister drove me to the airport and wonderful, romantic, kissy reunions were had outside the car at the baggage claim. Kind of like this:
Yup, we're a cute couple. Johnny was exhausted, so after a quick lunch at my house, he promptly fell asleep and I promptly went to the gym. Only did the bike because the top of my foot has been hurting. Does this happen to any of you other runners? When I came back at 4, he was still sleeping! So I snacked on a Mojo Cliff Bar (PB and J flavor! Yum!) and cuddled in bed with him. Dinner was pasta, TJs turkey meatballs and also TJs roasted garlic tomato sauce! We also used up the last of my veggies to make roasted cauliflower and carrots. Anything tastes amazing if you douse it in EVOO and roast it in the oven!

The night included a Walgreen's trip, fro-yo, wine and Push. Great movie! Not very realistic, but sometimes that's what you want!

Yesterday Johnny slept till...3? He's recovering from travel so I can't really nag him for being a bum. :) I did a lot of work in the morning including job finding research, calling people about interviews for my next news story, etc., all while eating this.

Yummy oats cooked with strawberries, swirled with cinnamon raisin PB and sprinkled with granola! They were pink!
These are the flowers Johnny got me for V-Day! They're kind of gothic looking now that they're mostly dead but I can't stand to throw them away!

The gym was great! I ran for 30 minutes without too much foot trouble, then went on the elliptical for 30 minutes with The New Yorker. I don't know why I used to like the elliptical so much! I found it really boring today! I saw some guy friends at the gym and they informed me that I was totally showing them up by being such a gym rat. I couldn't tell if it was a compliment or not. Have you ever got one of those remarks from other people?Lunch had to be had when I got back. A PBJ on a sandwich thin with puffins and greek yogurt for sides. I had such late lunch that I wasn't hungry again until 7:30 ish, when I suddenly became ravenous! We walked down to Kildaire's, the new Irish pub on Franklin but it was crowded with people watching the Duke vs. UNC game and the host told us the wait was an hour! Too hungry for that, we walked to Lime and Basil, a vietnamese restaurant next door with the best summer rolls ever!

I'll post the pics of our night soon, but here's this morning.

TJ's Organic Morning Lite Cereal with vanilla Oikos and a yummy TJs trailmix with peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, cranberries, cherries and nuts! Gotta go now! Johnny's getting grumpy because I'm ignoring him for blogs. :) Today my dad's going to come to Chapel Hill to take us out to dinner and take me to TJs. Yay food shopping! I need vegetables!

How were y'alls weekends? Any other boyfriends visiting for break?

Finally Finished!!

2010-03-04T19:59:00.000-08:00

Why is it that the day before my amazing boyfriend comes down from Canada, my body gets covered with scrapes and blemishes! I guess the one's on my legs are my fault...so much for leg-shaving in a hurry. I also have a nasty zit on my chin that even shows through concealer! You can see it peeking its little red head out and yelling "Hey, guess what! I'm going to stick around for the whole spring break!" I hope not! Oh well, Johnny loves me anyways.

This morning I didn't have medical/science reporting because we had a free day to work on our stories. Mine was on a study about how antidepressants can delay lactation. Interesting, huh? I didn't know jack about lactation until I started the research. I finished the story today around 5 and emailed it to my teacher. I hope she likes it!

So, instead of a rushed gym trip this morning, I had time for a leisurely breakfast with my blogs and news sites!

This is my favorite! Oats, cinnamon raisin PB, pink lady apple and granola on top! I'm proud of myself! I finished an entire bag of apples before they went bad!

I talked to my dad on the way to the gym! I love him! We're so much alike!
The gym was okay-ish. My foot's been hurting, but I got through almost 6 miles on the treadmill, plus some arm weights. I think I'll go down to Fleet Feet on Saturday to check out their shoe inserts. I had a chiropractor at a health fair tell me recently that I NEED shoe inserts soon if I want to keep running!

I ate my lunch (unpictured) while half-studying for my editing midterm. Do you ever do that? Kind of study, while actually spending more time on the crossword, blog posts, etc? It's cause the stuff is so easy! The midterm was easy too! I was so happy to walk out of that classroom! I scurried back to my house and fixed some nutrients to fuel me for finishing that article!

That's greek yogurt (I'm getting used to it!), cinnamon raisin PB, more apples and some kind of TJ's crunchy cereal. It was major yum and I finished my article!!

After that I did random stuff: cleaned, ate a date ball (recipe here), read blog posts, etc. Then I took my butt over to Caribou Coffee to work on revising some old news stories. I'm hoping to get something published in the UNC Health Scene paper or some other paper around here! That means emailing or calling all my sources to see if it's ok with them to use their quotes. Hope they say yes!

Movie plans with a friend fell through, but I did have a yummy dinner of a pizza on a Flatout Wrap with roasted garlic TJ's tomato sauce, leftover cauliflower stuff from last night and TJ's turkey meatballs. With yellow pepper and kalamata olive humus on the side!

I spent the evening texting with my sister, browsing blogs and half-watching The Mummy Returns. Here's dessert!
Oikos, PB Puffins, some kinda cool TJ's nut, fruit and chocolate mix.

I'm still feeling even more energy and I'm noticing that hunger doesn't always mean a gaping pit in my stomach. Sometimes I can tell by my mood or my energy level. I hope I can get better and better at reading my body's cues and eating intuitively!

Love,
Maggie

A typically lovely day

2010-03-03T19:11:00.000-08:00

Hello all! I'd like to thank those of you who have been so supportive in their comments! My story's pretty long, but I can say that this isn't the first time I've found myself needing to change the way I eat. The good part about this time is that I don't feel so resistant to change. Not that it's always easy, because sometimes it's really hard to break out of old habits. But I think it'll be worth it and seeing all the good examples out there is really inspiring.

Morning looked like this:

Yes, that is the Times crossword! I have a calendar with puzzles that get progressively harder through the week but I can still do Wednesday in pen, thank you very much!

I did more crosswords in Intro to Math Logic. Don't judge, y'all! I'm a senior in a required class! I'm not supposed to pay attention!

Between class I studied for tomorrow 's editing midterm then rushed to Diversity and Comm at 12:30. I packed another humusy wrap for lunch and warmed it up in the dining hall mic on the way. After class I got in a 45 minute bike at the gym before New Media. I ate one of my favorite bars during class.

I love that it has caffeine. Class was great today! We watched a parody documentary of a kid using Chat Roulette, a crazy web application that I'd never heard of until today. It's such a creepy idea!

After class and some pilates, I was a very hungry girl. I fried up one of my homemade veggie burger and added BBQ sauce, sauteed onions, spinach and ketchup for dipping. Then salad, of course.
After some studying of editing and watching of informational Webinars (what a stupid term) there was some more eating.

It's a no-pudge brownie with strawberries, angel food cake fro-yo, Kashi cereal and some unpictured Dark Chocolate Dreams. Love me that stuff!

Alrighty, I'm off to chat with the boyfriend on skype! He gets here on Friday morning!!

Epic Dinner Win

2010-03-02T20:36:00.000-08:00

Day two of eating more. How much am I eating? I'm estimating between 1700 and 1900 calories, but I haven't been measuring too strictly. Here's how I feel:

Definitely more energy! I used to get really tired around 10 at night. Tonight and last night I felt relaxed but not too tired to do more of the mountain of work I have. bleagh...
I feel more hungry more often, which is a great feeling! I eat about every 3 hours and it keeps my energy up and makes me excited but not famished for my next meal.
I'm more excited to work out because I have more fuel in my body. Today I ran on the treadmill for about 20 minutes at a 6.5-7.4 mile-an-hour pace, and then I biked for about 30 minutes. I also did a yoga video, courtesy of Netflix instant view, which was very relaxing!

I think I'll keep this up! My best friend Lindsey was really supportive of me when I told her the other day. I love that girl!

In other news, I turned in an awesome story design in editing today! It was a partner project, but I did all the InDesign work myself! Yay for me! Aside from that and a great workout, the biggest event today was the incredibly scrumptious, way-too-time-consuming, dinner I made!

Ready for it?

And this...

Okay, so the color's kinda wonky, but I swear it was amazing!
At the top we have corn tortilla pizzas with:

BBQ sauce
Cauliflower sauteed with sesame seeds, cashews, red peppers, onions, sun-dried tomatoes, hot sauce, cumin, garlic, ginger, Worcestershire and EVOO!
Cheddar cheese on one, homemade guacamole on the other

And, of course, a salad. Didn't your mommy always tell you to eat your veggies? It was a total foodgasm and I wish I wasn't sick so I could taste it better!

Breakfast and lunch were awesome too but I don't have a picture so I won't tease you.

Here's a question, if a meal takes a long time to prepare do you push through and do it anyways or are you more of a quick fix person?

Change is Good

2010-03-01T05:12:00.001-08:00

I woke up earlier than usual but with a lot of energy for some reason! I hope I don't crash later on. Maybe it's because I'm trying to eat more food. Yesterday I definitely felt the effects of that! I went to Monty Python and the Holy Grail at The Varsity Theater ($3 shows, baby!) and I felt great and really energized the whole evening! Maybe a little too energized because I couldn't sleep til one and here I am, awake before my alarm!

But I'm convinced it's a good idea to gain a little weight. I don't want to be waifish, reserved Maggie again. I want to be healthy, happy, vivacious Maggie! This morning I still felt a little of last night's amazing snack in my stomach and honestly, I'm tempted to skip breakfast, but I'm not going to.

Change means commitment. You can't try to change for one day and expect to see results. I'm going to see it through til the end of the week then keep going from there. What's for breakfast this morning? I'm thinking PB puffins, yogurt and apple.

The apple's for later because my stomach feels a little weird still and I wanna space out the meal. Lunch is all packed and it involves humus, turkey, pico de gallo, lots of veggies and a wrap so you know it's awesome!

Much love and more pictures soon!

A baby blog! How cute!

2010-02-24T14:28:00.000-08:00

Hello all! Until I can start uploading pictures, my posts will be all text, so bear with me. Maybe if you're lucky I'll throw in some random web images like...Taylor Lauterer's abs. How's that for enticement?

But seriously, I hope this blog will turn into something. I've been reading some great fitness/food blogs like Une Vie Saine, Peanut Butter and Jenny and Daily Nibbles and they got me all inspired to share my own creative recipes and my insatiable love of exercising.

8:30 came too soon this morning! I groggily rolled out of bed and after throwing on gym clothes, I sauteed and packed some yummy leftovers for dinner. Yes, I know I'm planning waaay ahead, but I like to able to grab food and go 'cause nights are really busy these days with musical practices until 10! What did I make? Trader Joe's Salmon Patty, cut up and pan fried with leftover rice noodles, red cabbage, red peppers, brocolli, soy sauce, pad thai sauce and a little EVOO. Drooling yet? Yup it's as good it sounds.

Breakfast was taken to go because I took too long looking at blogs and doing the New York Times crossword. I made a mini PB & J with and Arnold's Sandwich Thin, crunchy natural Smuckers PB, Trader Joe's strawberry preserves and a sprinkling of granola and dried fruit for texture. And of course I had coffee...

Philosophy was a little snooze-inducing, but I fought it off with the Daily Tar Heel Crossword and my thermos of coffee. Between classes I researched fasting and detox diets for my next story in Medical and Health reporting! There are some crazy people out there, let me tell you.

At 12:00 I heated up my whole-wheat, homemade mac and cheese and ran off to Diversity and Communication. We had a guest speaker today who talked about interracial relationships in film. Interesting! But I could've used more film clips. Kidding...

Gym today was intense! 45 minutes on the bike, 15 minutes on the treadmill, 30 minutes of weights for legs. When I got back and showered, the tummy was rumbling again so I had a spoonful of PB dipped in granola. Yummy.

Now it's off to rehearsal for "I Love You Because" until 10! I hope I can stay awake...But I'm bringing The Independent crossword with me just in case.

Love!
-Maggie

Just Eat Breakfast Aready!!

2009-07-11T07:37:00.000-07:00

How often do we really eat breakfast foods for breakfast? How often do we really even eat breakfast at all? Most of us don't have an hour to spend preparing a good mix of protein and carbohydrates or else we simply don't have the motivation to pour the milk and crack open the cereal. Yes, breakfast is the most important meal of the day but why does it have to come so early? I have many friends to whom the idea of stuffing eggs and bacon down their craw at 8:00 is a little repulsive. My roommate last semester would swear that breakfast made her nauseous (as she downed her pre-class Dr. Pepper after rolling out of bed). I was heading back from an afternoon class with a friend when I found out that he hadn't eaten anything but a stale donut all day. Personally, I couldn't live like that for long. If I skip my coffee and cereal I spend most of the morning feeling like I've got cotton balls stuck in my ears.

So, why do we skip breakfast? Especially when the whole world of doctors and nutritionists are bombarding us with its benefits. It could be the lack of time--from students to professionals, America is always on the go. The egg McMuffin is undoubtedly a very shrewd capitalization on this assumption. Some people do it to lose weight--ironically, this group tends to consume more calories a day than those who eat breakfast. These extra calories are often high-fat, high sugar foods consumed late at night. Along with these reasons, I'm sure that people have many other justifications for not eating breakfast--disinterest, lack of appetite, etc. etc.

My advice to the students, the professionals, the dieters and all the rest of the working world zombies with growling stomachs is to relax a little, sit back and take 30 minutes to eat a good breakfast every day. You'll find it keeps you awake, more relaxed, more alert and more functional. Don't believe me? Check out the studies--
-http://ohioline.osu.edu/flm97/fs04.html
-http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2248/is_132_33/ai_53870301/

Still not convinced? Here's what I eat:

-Whole milk Stonyfield yogurt and Trader Joe's Maple Pecan Clusters
-Frozen waffles with peanut butter, strawberry jam or Nutella
-What I like to call a "toad in the hole": A fried egg cooked inside a piece of crusty multi grain bread with lots of butter
-Leftover sausage pizza (I'm human too)
-Lean Pockets (I kid you not--they make breakfast varieties that are quite tasty)
-Strawberry crumble muffins(My personal recipe. I make a batch and freeze them.)

And of course, I always, always have a cup of coffee.

Grilled Apple and Peanut butter Panini

2009-01-06T11:01:00.000-08:00

Craving peanut butter and something warm and gooey...I stumbled upon this recipe. All you need is peanut butter (I used Skippy Natural but any kind will do), white bread (whole wheat may be healthier but it won't taste half as good), a small granny smith apple, brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Spread a thin layer of peanut butter on one side of two pieces of bread--on second thought, put as much as you want! This sandwich can be anything from healthy to heavy (in a luscious way, of course). Slice the apple and arrange as many pieces as you want on one piece of bread. Mix up a spoon of sugar with a shake or two of cinnamon and sprinkle the mixture lightly on top of the apples. Scrape a bit of butter into a heated nonstick pan and slide the sandwich on in there. You can add more butter before turning so that each side is just as crisp and buttery. If you want, you can even sprinkle some of the extra cinnamon sugar into the pan for a sticky, sugary accent! I devoured this in record time and washed it down with a cup of milky coffee. The apples cook just enough so that they stay slightly firm and form a great contrast to the melting, drippy peanut butter and the crunchy brown sugar! Yum!