Big Winner

No... this is not an April fool's post, but did you see Wealthy Tipping Point? She totally got me! I actually called PerMa to tell her the news before it dawned on me what was going on!

However Caitlin's post plus an event this afternoon reminded me that I actually am pretty good at winning random things.

This afternoon I won Caroline's waffle give away (yahoo!!)

I won Kaitlin's coaches oats give away a few weeks ago

I actually tend to win those games where you grab the stuffed animal with the claw (I don't know whether to brag about this or not)

And the best thing I've ever won?

My sophomore year of high school, I won a 58 inch flat screen TV with 5 dvd changer and home theatre system in a raffle.

No I'm not lying it's in my house right now, I miss it very much when I'm at school watching The Office on my laptop.

Something I did not win at today? Satisfying my hunger... hey BPS round two! I did try very much though!

For lunch I had leftover Annie's mac and cheese but today I added baked beans, spinach and mushrooms. Plus grapes which are needing to be eaten!

Snacks included dates stuffed with various nut butters

more dates and cashew butter a few pretzels and the taste of a PB cookie larabar (which I finished)

I wasn't hungry for quite some time for dinner but then suddenly I was starving again (hate that) so I made a quick tofu scramble. I used

1/2 crumbled block of tofu

1 tsp garlic

1 tbsp nooch

salt and pepper

an entire green pepper

Plus Ezekiel sesame toast with smart balance light and fruit spread.

dessert plus more nuts ( I AM A HANGRY MONSTER)

  

Peace!

Caitlin

What's the best thing you've ever won?

Fun plans this weekend? Eleven mile tomorrow... fun in my mind!

Fear and BPS

Have you seen Matt's post today? It's a great article, check it out!

In addition to my cold, this afternoon I got hit HARD with a case of BPS

Bottomless Pit Syndrome

I think a combo of biking and hustling around campus causing my normal raging appetite plus my body fighting this stupid cold made me feel that enough food didn't exist in the world...

For lunch I packed a hummus,avocado, nooch sandwich with spinach, dijon and tomato. Plus some grapes and dill pickle cashews

Snacks included

this amazing combo of pumpkin, the rest of the PB2, stevia, pumpkin pie spice and a scoop of cottage cheese... holy yumtastic!

Followed by 2 mini lara bars, a handful of trail mix, a slice of sesame bread with cashew butter, a handful of dates and a few spoons of nut butter.... slight satisfaction.

Eventually I just decided to have dinner<-- yes DINNER not breakfast for dinner!

One of my absolute favorite foods growing up was mac and cheese. In times of restriction this became a major fear food for me. Probably because when I was younger I would kill the whole box as an after school "snack"... yea.

A lot of mac and cheese does not have the greatest nutritional stats but a while ago I grabbed a box of Annie's natural organic, the ingredient list is really legit so I felt good about it!

I jazzed it up inspired by Gabriela with spinach, broccoli and mushrooms. I also added a scoop of yogurt recommended per the box and it was super creamy!

Plus a great amount of black pepper and hot sauce, how I've always done it and clearly always will! It was perfect, comforting and absolutely delicious. I am already excited to have leftovers for lunch! Mac and Cheese, I will never abandon you again.

Plus another piece of toast with sunflower butter and fruit spread.

*Also, I really want to do a Q&A vlog but I don't have any Q's! Please feel free to ask anything about running, weights or myself and I'll answer what I can!*

Peace!

Caitlin

Do you or have you ever had fear foods?

How to you jazz up pre-made meals?

Let's talk Politics

Don't worry we won't get too in depth... I don't want any hate mail or anything! I've never talked politics before basically because that's not what the blog is about ,but, fun fact about me is I am very interested in them and grew up in a somewhat political family.

We would watch the Daily Show and Colbert Report every night during dinner! I also spent my Halloween weekend on a whirlwind trip to DC to go the the Rally to Restore Sanity!

I've mentioned before that I go to school in Wisconsin and if you are familiar with what is going on at the WI capital you can imagine that it has spread to a tiny, liberal arts, hippie campus like mine. Given my new found dislike of Scott Walker and my love of activism you can imagine how dumb excited I was to be standing right outside of my dorm, on my campus of merely 1250 students, roughly three feet from this person..

Reverend Jesse Jackson.... I DIED.

I sadly didn't get to meet or talk to him but I probably would have fainted anyway, I was nervous taking pictures! He was here with the Autonomous Solidarity Organization and WI senator Tim Cullen to promote voting to stop the bill that is currently being passed in WI.

ASO Speaker

For lunch I packed a salad with 1/2 a bag of spinach, a red pepper, 1/2 an avocado, salsa, the rest of my chili-lime white bean dip and nooch. Plus two pieces of Ezekiel sesame bread.

I was SUPER snacky this afternoon

I had this bowl x3 plus some more not plated *by the way I'm having NO issue making it through my twelve bags of pretzels... I'm already down to 10, if the addiction is wrong I don't want to be right!*

Plus a peanut butter chocolate protein bar

plus a zillion handfuls of butter cashews and dark chocolate almonds (flavored nuts are too dangerous)

I took a break and shockingly actually got somewhat hungry for dinner though not starving so I made some scrambled egg whites with cheese, fruit and a sprouted grain english muffin with smart balance and fruit spread.

Followed by a few handfuls of trail mix

(what is WITH me and the snack food!?)

I'm off to attempt at some homework but more likely fall asleep =)

Peace!

Caitlin

Are there any celebrities or political figures you have met or would love to meet?

What's your latest snacking addiction? PRETZELS AND NUT BUTTER... though that's not new =)

Full Day

Did you see my post this morning? I hope it provided some kind of insight for some of you out there! I didn't post breakfast this morning because I normally eat while I post but today I had a breakfast "date"! That's in quotes because really I was meeting with my bio group to finish a paper we have due tomorrow.

I did have a pita with PB2 and fruit spread before hitting an interval bike workout. 10 min. warmup, 50 min. intervals, 10 min cool down.

I thought about packing some yogurt and cereal in an almost empty PB jar but instead I challenged myself with something I really wanted! We met at my schools coffee shop so I got

Whole wheat bagel topped with butter and cinnamon and a small iced skim latte for protein

Yes that is a checker board on the table

Yes I go to a tiny liberal arts hippie school... I love it =)

Surprisingly the bagel kept me way fuller than even nut butter does! Maybe it has something to do with all of the crack butter toffee almonds that made there way into my mouth last night.

For lunch I packed a small spinach salad with strawberries, cucumbers, a big scoop of cottage cheese and wheat germ.

The star of the show though was these cinnamon roasted chickpeas with almond butter! Last night I roasted 1/2 a can of chickpeas in cinnamon and topped them with about a tablespoon of almond butter when they were still hot. I put them in the fridge overnight and had an amazing lunch treat!

Snack was the rest of my hummus =( mixed with a little nooch and baby carrots.

Dinner was an omelette. I can't believe I made it until Thursday without an omelette! It was actually just two eggs and some garlic, for whatever reason i haven't been feeling cheese lately.

With roasted broccoli and sesame toast with almond and peanut butter (you know I can't choose) and honey.

For dessert I had a fun bowl of PB2, quaker squares some banana and dark chocolate.

I also had two more spoons of nut butter and a little more cereal.

Quote of the day taken from a facebook status of one of PerMa's friends:

"Keep walking towards it"

Peace!

Caitlin

What are you currently walk towards? The status of recovered =)

What's your favorite non-dessert dessert food? Cereal or nut butter! Or both!

Separation is Key

It was snowing today when I left class. There were tears. Although from twitter I am glad to know that it's not just my neck of the woods!

Remember this morning I mentioned that PerMa sent me this book?

Well as I mentioned I haven't finished i but I have already been applying some of the tactics of recovery and they have been helping! I'm going to start giving sharing somewhat regular tips as I come across them and they help me!

I've posted my favorite tips so far right on my bookshelf so I see the whenever I'm on my computer.

Tip #1- Separate your personality from your E.D.

Your E.D. will tell you one thing, whatever it is, it is a lie. It is wrong. It goes against your true values. It can only hurt you. Learning to separate your thoughts and beliefs from your E.D's is the first major step. Literally say out loud what it is telling you and then say the truth. Address it like a person. For me, the way I've been telling the difference is asking myself "would you tell someone else to do that?"

For instance, today I thought I should have a light lunch so I can eat a ton of crap at night and feel alright about it because I need the calories. Then I stopped, does that really make sense, would you tell anyone else to do that? Clearly it was E.D talking. Caitlin then said but I'm starving now and I need good fuel to make it through my afternoon class. I had a wrap with a lot more hummus than I normally use (which is not enough) a ton of baby carrots, cashews and raisins (both energy dense).

It completely filled me up without stuffing me at all, I was awake and alert through the afternoon and only just got hungry for an afternoon snack when I got back instead of sitting through the second half of class starving.

Apple and almond butter

For dinner I was inspired by Namaste Gurl ! I made some nooch pancakes, I followed what's on her blog but I added cumin and a handful of frozen corn to make them mexican!

I topped them with a bunch of mushed avocado, greek yogurt and salsa. I also had roasted red pepper and broccoli (o my I forgot how much I loved it, definitely back in the rotation!)

Now enjoying a sprouted grain english muffin with PB2 and dark chocolate chips and watching the newest House! I'm so behind on shows!

Peace!

Caitlin

Do you talk to yourself? I always have and now do even more... yes out loud no matter where I am, I whisper to myself in public.

What shows do you watch every week? I love House, Glee, The Office and 30 Rock. When I'm at home I also hit up Real Housewives of New York and Bethenney.

How I Jam

Recently my workout music had not been doing it for me. In fact there have been a few time where I've biked for an hour with no entertainment... painful. The other day I splurged (just a little) on iTunes and got some new tunes. I made a new playlist and it totally powered me through my run this morning!

In a running song I look for:

A good beat: Ke$ha does a great job with this

Motivation: 'Till I Collapse, Heart of a Champion and Lose Yourself are my favorites.

Something fun: Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga... enough said

Snackage

Triscuts, banana and dark chocolate dreams plus the rest of the banana

un-pictured apple and a few almonds

Dinner was my take on Carrie's lucious bowl! Do you read her blog? She's amazing!

Spinach, mushrooms, broccoli and yellow pepper topped with a vegan boca. I made a sauce out of tomato sauce, hummus, red pepper flakes and garlic salt all mixed with some water and microwaved, it turned out really well! The sprinkled it all with nooch.

For grain contribution I had a brown rice wrap with a little fruit spread on the side, straight off my desk... all class.

Peace!

Caitlin

What do you look for in workout music?

What's top on your playlist right now? Born this way! I know I'm not alone!

Vegan "Cheezy" Mediterranean Lentils

Ingredients

Serves 1

1 cup water

1 tsp EVOO

1 heaping tsp minced garlic

1/3 cup onions chopped

4 artichoke hearts chopped

1 medium diced tomato

1/4 cup dry lentils

1 heaping tbsp nutritional yeast

How To

Bring water to a boil in a large sauce pan and add lentils. Once the lentils are almost cooked add all of the veggies and garlic. Stir frequently until most of the water has evaporated. When the lentils are cooked and there is still some water in the pan add the nutritional yeast and olive oil. It is important to have some water left in the pan to get a sauce from the yeast. Garnish with hummus and enjoy!

This would probably also be great in pita, I'm going to try that next time!

Mail Time

Personal Catch-Up

Do you ever feel like your life is as much work as your work/ school life? My afternoon class was canceled today giving me an extra two hours. Instead of relaxing I celebrated the fact that I could finally catch up with things in MY life instead of school. I did things like

E-mail my grandparents and some friends

wash my hair/shave my legs

Read your blogs (finally!)

Update my iTunes

Paint my nails

and even some homework that's not due for a while so I wasn't stressing

About 30 minutes after breakfast I had this (granola crisps and PB)

Then 45 minutes later I was starving but I couldn't eat my lunch because I had some stuff to do so right before I left I made an almond butter and jelly wrap to go.

I was into seeing people celebrating before noon =). There was also a guy with a beer at 8:30 this morning... in the gym... lifting weights, I laughed out loud.

For lunch I broke the eat your colors rule to honor the holiday! I had a huge salad with spinach, asparagus, cucumber, broccoli, lima beans, sweet peas, snap peas and avocado. Dressed in dijon, white wine vin and garlic salt. It was a very good salad!

One thing I had to do this morning required me to go to the dining hall where I found fresh made, vegan, gluten free chocolate chip cookies! I totally had to grab one to go with lunch. It was delicious! A great soft texture, sweetened (at least partly) with honey and I even detected some banana. Points for my school!

Snack plate

I had more crackers and raisins than this, the crackers were dipped in cream cheese right out of the container

With dips on the side

I've also had

a big handful of cereal, more strawberries

A few handfuls of butter toffee almonds (does anyone know if I can make these? They are too good to not have around 100% of the time)

some cashews

while I had the peanut butter out some sweet potato chips made their way into it as did the rest of my pretzels (can we talk about how I killed a 3/4 pound bag of pretzels from Sunday until today... no shame)

One of my cookies from last night

Told you I've been eating a lot!

Dinner was vegan "cheesy" Mediterranean lentils (recipe posted tomorrow!) with sweet potatoes roasted with evoo, apple cider vinegar cinnamon and paprika and cucumbers with more hummus.

Peace!

Caitlin

What would you do with two extra hours?

How was your holiday?

Great Eats Day!

I actually love when the beginning of my week is busy because it means that it winds down nicely! Basically all of my food today has been nothing short of amazing... love that!

I packed a mexican salad for lunch

In the mess, spinach, red pepper, avocado, nooch, salsa, red onion, jalepenos, black beans and garlic salt

And for the second time I used my new toaster oven...

Homemade Spicy Brown RIce Chips

Ingredients

Cooking spray or olive oil

1 brown rice wrap

cumin

chili powder

How To

Preheat oven to 300

Either spray or brush the wrap with oil on both side. Sprinkle one side with cumin and one side with chili powder. Cut into as many chips as you would like. Place on cooking sheet and bake for 6-7 minutes (I did mine for about 9 and clearly they were a little brown... still very good though!

I can't wait to make these again and with different spices!

I was still hungry so I had one of the emergency granola bars I keep in my backpack.

This snack rocked!

I cut up a flat out and toasted it (obsessed) topped each piece with nut butter, cinnamon, honey and raisins. Let's talk about how there are four kinds of nut butter represented on this plate... I couldn't decide =).

Other random snack-

Pretzels dipped in the nut butter while waiting for flat out to toast

a graham cracker

some cashews

a few blueberry nut clusters

Diner type food

This looks crazy but it was almost too good for words.

I made Sarah's broccoli-feta stuffed sweet potato. I followed the recipe for the most part except I made the filling in the microwave. I also added mushrooms and topped it with green olives... because I love olives!

I will be making this again... it is so so so so good. Just so good!

Dark chocolate coconut square right after

A little bit later butter toffee almonds, dark chocolate (plus some) and mango

Plus two mugs of cheerios, milks and banana

and right now some sesame toast

I did homework through ALL of this and I'm finally done! I still have some reading and stuff for the rest of the week but all of the crazy urgentness is gone =D!

Peace!

Caitlin

Do you like to get all your stuff done at once or do you plan it spaced out? I live by GET IT DONE

Best thing you've had to eat in the past 5 days? Either ice cream at the beach or that sweet potato