Body Woes and Sweet Treats

Reasons I have not written lately:

1. School. I don?t know so many of you juggle regular posting on top of school work. Maybe my time management skills need some refinement.

2. My Halloween was lame and I didn?t want to talk about it. Therefore I?ve kind of avoided the window where that was the hot topic.

3. Lack of things to say. This goes along pretty closely with school. I don?t have a whole lot of excitement going on right now, that?s for sure.

4. A rut. A body and eating rut. I?ll admit right now that I?m not happy with the way I?ve been eating and I?m not happy with my body. I?ve put on a couple pounds but even with numbers aside: I?m not as comfortable with my body as I was a few months ago and I don?t like the way my clothes are fitting. I?ve lost some of my physical strength and personal motivation therefore I don?t feel as fit right now. And I?m just generally not very impressed with my overall lifestyle habits as of late. The snacking adds up, the little forgotten bites add up, the drinking adds up, the lack of strength training adds up, the sitting around studying adds up. And it?s all been adding up to a not-so-happy me who doesn?t feel right about writing here when half of what I?ve eaten all day is unaccounted for and is junk, when all I want is sugar and carbs, when I don?t feel like exercising.

This being said, I?m getting tired. Tired of my bad habits, tired of mediocre constant snacking to fill voids unrelated to food, and tired of being disappointed in my reflection in the mirror these days. I?m really aiming from here on to give myself an extra little kick in the behind to smarten up. I know I?m capable of doing so, I just need to rediscover my inner discipline, which I?ve been ignoring for the last little bit. I?m not much of an all-or-nothing person so it?s not like I?m going to be cutting out all sugar or running a marathon next week, but a little more attention to planning and thought about what my body actually wants and needs should help.

(And no, I haven?t put on a ton of weight or anything. My clothes all still fit. It?s more of a ?where the heck did my muscles go and why do I now have a large tummy pooch and jiggly thighs?? deal. I know it?s my body?s retaliation to some of the crap I?ve been feeding it. And no I?m not eating ALL crap. I still eat lots of veggies and all of the other good stuff. But the balance is closer to 50:50 than 80:20 so it?s time for a fixer upper)

And because I?ve now rambled plenty enough, here are some of my food highlights from the past week:

Oats in a Mug. Oats are oats but I had an urge to eat them in a mug. So it happened, deeming this breakfast a highlight.

Do you believe in ghosts? Well I sure believe in this one as it was the most delicious ghost I?ve ever eaten. The white chocolate outside covering a chocolate fudge center might have helped.

And sticking with the Halloween theme, some mini chocolate treats were also had in the spirit of the season. Amazingly enough this is nearly all of the Halloween candies I ended up eating in total, if you add in another bar or two and a few Tootsie rolls. Power to the resistance!

The Post-Halloween morning I got to enjoy an extra special breakfast: Oat bran in a jar! Not only was it special because it was oat bran? in a JAR? but also because it was decked out in Reese?s pieces. Thanks Halloween.

Following the oats theme, I discovered a lone packet of Apples and Cinnamon reduced sugar instant oatmeal in the cupboard and ate it on a more rushed morning. I threw in extra plain oats because those reduced sugar packs are still just a tad too sweet. And my sweet tooth is large and in charge so that?s saying something.

A slightly embarrassing admittance: I?ve polished off an entire box of Minibix Chocolate Crisp this week (sometimes in bowls but mostly in handfuls). In my defence, the box is small! Oh this stuff is addicting. It was on sale at Costco so I had to buy it, but it comes in a two-pack so I now have a whole other box to indulge in?oh boy.

I also finally tried the coveted Peanut Butter & Jelly Larabar! Oh yes I did. Oh yes it was good. Oh yes it tasted just like a perfect blend of peanut butter nuttiness and jelly sweetness. Oh yes I?ll be eating it again.

I DID eat things other than oats and sugar. I think? Let?s see what we?ve got.

That looks like some veggies.

So does this.

Mushrooms and green beans?

I DO eat veggies.

I also have a new obsession with Mary?s Gone Crackers crackers. And veggie burgers hidden under spinach piles but that?s not a new obsession.

Once in a while I follow recipes like the one I found in the Nutrition Action Newsletter for Moroccan-style Couscous (bottom recipe).
For the record, it was okay but I probably wouldn?t make it again. The combo of flavours wasn?t my fav.

Apples are good. I?ve eaten them on the regular. Sometimes chopped, heated and topped with plain yogurt and cinnamon.

With all of that said and done, let?s just polish this off with some food porn:

In conclusion, I?m going to try to start eating better. Try to start really THINKING about what I want to eat and put an end to the mindlessness. Plan out better meals. Put a little more care into my body. It probably deserves it.
And with that, hopefully I?ll become a bit more consistent of a blogger too.

A big Merci to anyone who actually read through these ramblings and continues to read on a regular basis even though all I do is complain about school and post sporadic recaps of days and days of random foods. You guys are pretty awesome