Seeing Red Violet

Have I mentioned that my laptop is on it's way out?? It's like running Photoshop on a 32 gig flash drive!  In need of a serious technology upgrade.  This laptop is starting to hinder my blogging abilities (ah-hem... web habit)... and now you're experiencing a blog time warp...warp...warp...

Can you see the red violet?

Thursday, August 5th

After work I had a hair appointment with Kristy @ Shear Wonders Salon.  It was fun to catch up and try something a little different with my hair.  We added red violet to the mix for more dimension and it turned out great! Oh, and she tried a keratin treatment... my hair feels super soft. ♥

For some reason I didn't take photos of any eats except for this sad slice of pizza I ate for dinner.  I know I made an organic blackberry and mixed greens smoothie with a little OJ for breakfast, so I at least got in some veggies.  Lunch escapes me at this point... maybe a salad???

It was a loooong day.  I got home around 10pm and ended up crashing shortly after.

Friday, August 6th

This tea matches my new hair.

Starbucks was calling to me for breakfast... and I caved.  It's on my direct route too.  Stopping for breakfast tends to make me late.  Another reason why I need to eat more from home.

Venti Iced Passion Tea (Unsweet)

Banana Loaf

I ventured out of the office for my lunch break.  Ran a few errands and picked up this salad from Jason's Deli.

Nutty Mixed-Up Salad
Marinated chicken breast, organic field greens, grapes, feta, walnuts, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, raisins and organic apples.

I ate about 1/2 of what you see there.  Very filling!  I ♥ Jason's Deli because they use real ingredients.  No HFCS in anything and you can find a lot of organic ingredients on the menu too.

Teresa gave me a bag of Tanka Bites before leaving the office.  I've never had buffalo before.  They're really good!  No preservatives or anything bad, and super tasty.

I snacked on about 4 bites. Yum!

Roxy was flipping out to get a nibble, but none-for-you!


I needed an easy dinner.  A class go-to dish is organic black beans and brown rice.  Simple, fast and filling...plus tasty. I always add greens and a little cheddar cheese.

For dessert I blended 1/2 cup of coconut ice cream with frozen blackberries and organic milk.  This milk shake came out super creamy and rich!

I'm finding that my body can't handle cow's milk anymore.  It's like I built up a resistance to it over the past year or so since I switched to drinking Almond Milk.

This smoothie really needed almond milk, not cow's milk.  The ice cream was vegan!

Well that's the end for last week... on to the { weekend } post!

Au revoir!

Boots with a Sundress

I ♥ this Stained Glass at Green Springs!

Well, last night was a LATE night.  Yet again I'm recapping the day before.

I did manage to squeeze in a few healthy habits, including a full workout.  SHADOWSELF (my boyfriend's band) played a show at Gasoline Alley last night.  Even though it was a work night, I decided to go show my support and ended up having some fun too.  They rocked it!


Eats

Brekkie

Green Monster with the little bit of produce left in my fridge: 2 cups fresh organic spinach, 1/2 cup frozen wild blueberries, 1/2 cup frozen pineapple, 1 cup original Almond Breeze.  Not too filling, but it almost lasted me until lunch.  (Sorry no photo! Just imagine a very, very green frothy drink.)

I also had a glass of hot organic green tea.

Lunch

My lovely mother picked me up and took me out to lunch at the local Green Springs restaurant in Safety Harbor.

This was my first time actually eating in the restaurant since they moved to this location.  BTW, this is an old house turned eatery and it is absolutely adorable inside!  Check out that stained glass image above. Beautiful!

I ordered the Grilled Mahi-Mahi Sandwich. Yum!

And we finished off our meal with some handmade Berry Cobbler. OMG to die for!

I barely tasted any added sugar.  Mostly just berries and the crumble on top with a bit of the ice cream.  (Would be a vegan dish, minus the ice cream.)  I'd like to try making this at home!

Thanks for the wonderful lunch Mom! I love you!

Dinner

Again, dinner was rushed.  We stopped by Subway and Marcel ordered the Italian BMT.  I ate about a 1/4 of this sandwich (since I really didn't even want a sandwich).  Seems like sandwiches are an easy solution when time crunched... need to think of something else (healthier) for those type of situations.

At the venue I sipped on a Yuengling, but didn't even drink a whole one (maybe 1/2?).  We played some pool and I knocked a few balls in.  Over the course of the evening I drank 2 bottles of water... and the bartender gave me a free Jägerbomb shot.  THAT woke me up!!!  It has been months (maybe years?) since I drank one of those shots.

SHADOWSELF rockin' on stage!

Thanks to all my Facebook friends who commented on whether or not I should wear boots with a sundress in the Florida summer heat.  

I took the plunge and wore them anyway.  Got a few compliments on my outfit, so I think it turned out to be pretty stylish!  Surprisingly several girls were wearing boots (with skirts or shorts) too.

Dress: Target
Boots: Slouchy Blue Suede, purchased online years ago
Cross-body Bag: Candies
Hair: By Kristy!

Healthy Habits

Nourishment

Fruits: 2 servings

Veggies: 3.5 servings

Water: 1 liter

 

Body Care

Body Brushing & Oil Pulling: check!

Sauna: I skipped the sauna and opted for a workout instead.  Maybe next week I'll get back to this healthy habit!

Exercise: Tempo 2.  Customized this and did a shorter version for the lower body since I was crunched on time.

Supplements

Alfalfa: 6 caps

B-12 Plus: 8 sprays

Au revoir!

P.S. Tonight we're having another (free) movie date night in Tampa, so I will try my best to get my blog on before bed.

Never Throw Away Your Jeans

I learned this lesson the hard way! A few years ago I was up to a size 11/12 on the bottom due to a long period of inactivity after car accident #1, so of course I purchased some new clothing to fit my new size. Once I was able to exercise again I got back into size 8s and some 6s. What did I do with those bigger jeans in sizes 9 and 11? Gave them away to my friends and thrift stores. At the time it felt great to clean out my closet and make room for the new clothes that actually fit.

After car accident #2, I gained back some of that weight and really wished that I had my old jeans back. I couldn't fit into the smaller ones, but kept them piled in my closet for a future day when I would lose the inches and be able to fit back into them again. Didn't want to make the same mistake twice, you know? I couldn't throw away the small ones if I may fit in them again soon.

I've been working my butt off (literally) with at a 4-day boot camp, at least 3 full T-Tapp workouts per week and better eating habits since January of this year. My hard work has paid off! I've lost 9.5 inches in the last month... and counting... My body feels so much stronger, toned and smooth.

This morning I decided to wear a new top that I got with a gift certificate last weekend, but really wanted some skinny black jeans to go along with it. I tried on the dark skinny jeans that I've been wearing the last few months -- they were too small! So I tried on another pair of my old jeans stockpiled in the closet -- they fit! And another pair, and another pair... pretty much all of them fit me again. Amazing! I'm very motivated right now, but wish I had a new pair of black skinny jeans instead of my old faded pair for tonight.

The jean shorts are another story. I'm not ready to bare my blinding white legs to the world just yet... need a little more time for that one, but again I'm keeping them in the closet.

The only bad thing (or good depending on how you look at it) about T-Tapp is that you drop so many inches that your clothes don't fit correctly anymore and you have to go buy new outfits!

I'm so close to my goal that I can almost taste it. Another month or two and I should be there.

Au revoir!

Blogging Backwards

It's late on Sunday afternoon. I skipped out on posting and I'm blogging backwards again...


Friday, November 20th

Skipped my morning routine completely. Just not feeling up to it, but SO happy it's Friday.


7:45am: 2 scrambled eggs

1.5 servings of veggies!

Morning Supplements:
Alfalfa: 3 caps
Priority Women's Complete Multi: 2 caps


12:00pm: slice of pumpkin loaf

12:50pm: Panera - chicken caesar sandwich, broccoli cheddar soup with french bread

0.5 servings of veggies.

1:15pm: Starbucks grande nonfat caramel macchiato

I did 2 sets of Hoe Downs with Jen after lunch... and I still feel full!


Afternoon Supplements:
Alfalfa: 3 caps
Cellfood: 8 drops
Gentle Transition: 2 caps
Priority Women's Complete Multi: 3 caps
Wobenzym: 10 tablets

We picked up a chicken philly cheese steak from Philly Phlava after I got home from work. Not much in the mood for cooking tonight...

7:00pm: 1/2 chicken philly cheese steak, 2 pizza popper thingys and a huge salad

1 serving of veggies.

3 servings of veggies!

9:30pm: 2 pieces of Dove milk chocolate and pumpkin seeds (sorry, no photo)


I drank 2 Miller High Life beers over the course of the evening...

Took the puppy on a long walk this evening too.

I have a feeling that my results may not be that great this week. Don't feel like a big Diva or Goddess right now... Today was full of carbs, non-homemade foods, and lacked physical activity. It feels like I have to be spot on every day with veggies, water, vitamins, good healthy foods and activity to maintain my progress. It's a lot of work! Can't let this slip away from me though... it would only get worse and I don't want to go backwards.

Stayed home tonight and chilled out. Skipped my workout and thankfully got in my body brushing this morning.

Saturday, November 21st

Good morning!


Roxy loves basking in the sunlight.

I'm feeling mighty groggy from last night. Maybe I stayed up too late or my body is trying to tell me not to drink beer and eat sweets/junk late at night?


11:10am: 2 cups of coffee with vanilla Almond Breeze/sugar, 1 boiled egg

The caffeine did my body good this morning. We're in desperate need of going to the grocery store and are short on time to boot. What a sad breakfast.

Marcel has a hair appointment with Kristy today. He has been toying around with getting a mohawk. Crazy change from his naturally curly and super thick head of hair. But he chose the mohawk today!

Before products...

After products...

I ♥ it!
However, this hair is more high maintenance than mine.

2:30pm: bite of Marcel's pizza

2:50pm: 1/2 teriyaki chicken wrap, a little miso soup, some chips, Mt. Dew

After we were done with our day at the salon, literally, we met up with some friends for a bit (who HAD to see Marcel's hair in person) and then headed home to get ready for our evening out.


6:50pm: ate the other half of my teriyaki chicken wrap and a small salad


Alyssa and Bryan, our friends, recently moved to Hyde Park (South Tampa) and we made plans to hang out at their place and hoof it to a local pub. Their favorite place in the neighborhood (so far) is Four Green Fields Irish Pub. This place is seriously Irish!

This is their roof, which they are quite proud of.

America's only authentic thatched roof Irish pub offers a full kitchen, your favorite Irish drinks, and traditional Irish music.

8:30pm-11:30am: 3 Blue Moons over the course of the evening

And they keep bringing them without even asking if ya want another...

Cheers!

Me & Alyssa

Bryan & Marcel

After leaving the pub, and paying a ridiculously expensive amount of cash for Blue Moons on draft, we walked back to their apartment... and pigged out on combos, chips and Ramen noodles. (Sorry, no photo for that fantastic feast.)

I had so much fun hanging out tonight!!! (Just wish that beer didn't break my bank.)

Sunday, November 22nd

Ugh. Hangover headache.

12:00pm: 2 cups of coffee with vanilla Almond Breeze/sugar, Dunkin Donuts egg and cheese english muffin loaded with romaine, 1/2 smoothie (banana, frozen blueberries, 1 cup spinach, vanilla Almond Breeze, organic flax)

2 servings veggies!

2 servings veggies!

4:00pm: slice of whole wheat toast with peanut butter

I did Maxi Max #1 this afternoon and body brushed. Just what I needed!


7:40pm: stuffed pepper and mashed new potatoes with lite sour cream

2 servings veggies!

Off to enjoy the rest of my evening...

Update: Goldwell Trend Zoom Challenge

Just a quick update...

Unfortunately, we did not win a chance to move onto the next level of the Goldwell Trend Zoom Challenge 2009. My hairdresser received a certification for excellent hair though!

Oh well. I might be her hair model for next year's challenge. At least I got a rockin' hair do for free and have been able to have a lot of fun with it since May. I'm lucky to have a boss that doesn't mind purple hair too.