The girl with the insatiable appetite…

“Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.”
–Julia Child

What are some of the things that you are most passionate for? 😀

I’m very passionate about food (obviously! 😉 ), and healthy living.  I’m passionate about motivating people to see who they truly are and that their weight isn’t what defines them.  I’m passionate about the fact that beauty is more then what we see on the surface.  I’m also passionate about animals, service dogs, and have a special soft spot for black labs.  😀  I’d love to hear some of the things that you’re most passionate for too!  

When I woke up this morning, I knew it was going to be a scorcher.    I rolled myself out of bed, and found my way to the kitchen.  I wasn’t sure what my workout was going to entail, and it all depended on whether mom was up for a morning walk.  Feeling pretty indecisive, I decided to break out the goods (aka, oats in a jar) and fuel up.  Heat doesn’t seem to effect my appetite at all. 😉

Speaking of breakfast, I’ve discovered that one of the many benefits of eating overnight oats in a jar is that it slows me down.  Under normal conditions, in a normal bowl, I tend to eat cold oats so fast!  But when I’m busy scraping down every last bit of peanut butter, I take a lot longer.  And who doesn’t love a slow, relaxing morning? 😀

• 3/4 c. oats
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1 banana
• cinnamon and nutmeg
• handful of raisins
• thrown into a pb jar and topped with unsweetened coconut! 😀

The walk never happened due to mom feeling quite sick today.  Blah…there’s definitely something going around, so I’m going to need to keep getting a good amount of sleep, exercising and eating right to avoid it as best as possible. 😀  At least its a short-lived bug, because she was already feeling better before going to work this afternoon.

This left me, however, in a bit of a conundrum.  It was really starting to get hot outside, and I could feel sweat pouring down my face already.

I decided to just suck it up and brave the heat.  At least my 3-mile running route would be shady, and I may as well get used to the heat in case the 10k that I’m not quite officially signed up for yet is a hot day too!  I laced up my sneaks and headed out with zero shin pain.  Phew…so thankful for that!  I definitely had to swallow some pride to keep my running (very) slow and steady rather then stretching out my strides, but it was well worth it.  I decided that I don’t care if I look like a granny as long as I’m having fun while doing it. 😉

When I came home, I iced my shins, had an iced coffee with 1/2 c. milk, and took an iced shower. 

…and an apple was consumed while staying busy with the homework assignments that are due next week. 

I’m in a mish-mash mode lately for lunch.  Today was full of variety.

• pretzels
• cauliflower
• hummus sandwich (ww english muffin, 1/4 c. red pepper hummus, red onions, tomato, basil)
• 4-5 black olives
• carrot sticks
• cheese stick

Oh what fun! 😀

And be honest…am I the only one who plays with their food?  😉  I used to eat my pretzels and cheese sticks like this all the time as a kid. 😀

Despite lunch’s variety, I found myself starving by 2 in the afternoon.  I decided it was the perfect time to pull out the Banana Manna! 😀

This bar has 3 ingredients: Dates, banana, almonds.  Needless to say, I was pretty excited and had some high hopes for it!

Urm…I wish I could give it a more raving review, I really do.  The taste was all there, full of nuts and sweetness, and was similair to banana bread!  But the texture was just sort of strange.  It was a little too soft and sticky, where I personally prefer my bars to be a little more chewy or crunchy. 

Then 3 o’clock rolled around, and I was still hungry.  I told you the heat doesn’t bother my appetite. 😉  I chugged some water, and rolled with my insatiable appetite by having a bowl of natures path blueberry cinnamon cereal with a bit of milk.  I love how crunchy this stuff is!  And best of all, my stomach was finally content. 😀

Speaking of full and content stomachs, I wanted to take the time to point out that its okay to be more hungry and eat more on certain days. 😀  Sometimes its due to not eating enough the day before, sometimes its due to an increased energy expenditure today, etc.  But whatever the reason, it’s still important to listen to your body.  Learning how to stop eating when we’re full is a big part of intuitive eating.  But in order to fully respect our bodies, this also means eating when we’re hungry and not denying the fact that we are hungry. 

Dad had mentioned that he wanted to go running tonight, so I decided to hold off on making dinner and go for a walk while he ran instead.  An afternoon thunderstorm had brought the temperature down a good 10 degrees, which made a world of difference in my energy!  I wanted nothing more then to get up and move! 

While dad went for a 4 mile run, I enjoyed a 3-mile walk.  I absolutely love how fresh everything looks and smells after a heavy downpour. 😀

Once we arrived back home a little after 6, I started prepping dinner.  Tonight I kept things simple but tasty…

First off, I made us each a baked potato, topped with black beans, salsa, and a bit of cheese.  Easy peazy!

On the side I sauteed one whole zucchini and one whole summer squash that I had picked up at the local farmers market last week.  First off, I sauteed them in a pan with cooking spray and a tsp of olive oil.  Then I sprinkled on some basil and oregano, cooked until almost done, and finished with a splash of balsamic vinegar.  The special touch was the sprinklin’ of feta cheese sprinkled on top which melted right into the squash.  Feta is one of my favorite cheeses because it’s so strong that just a little goes a long way.  Kind of like parmesan…only better. 😀

Dessert was a glob of crunchy almond butter on a dark chocolate square. 😀

Tonight’s smoothie snack was one of the best yet, I have to say.  We’re all out of cocoa in the house, which made me go for a vanilla, banana, and pb chiller instead of the usual chocolate.  I made it my usual way: 4 ice cubes, 1 frozen banana, 1 c. milk, 1 T. pb.  But then I added in a splash of vanilla which seemed to just make the smoothie.  It came out thick and frothy…perfect for eating with a spoon. 😀

Tomorrow may be a shopping day.  I’m in desparate need of a fall/winter wardrobe and sometimes you can’t beat a day of retail therapy! 😉  Hopefully I can squeeze in some yoga in the morning too.  I found some great online classes via Youtube last week that left me sore for at least two days, but in a good way.  Love it! 😀

Happy Hump Day!  Now the weekend is right around the corner… 😀

Exercise: 3-mile run + 3-mile pre-dinner walk