So Close I Can Smell It

Helloo beauties! Happy Monday! Yes, I am legitly happy this Monday morning (despite it being quite early as I write this). Pourqoui? Well, this work week marks the last mad work week of…well…atleast this month! Yes, it’s gonna suck – 57 hours total; 4 AM wakeup calls with 12 PM bedtimes (I actually had a good night’s rest last night – hense getting up early to write this post!) – but after this, I’m no longer obliged to be at my job-from-hell everyday! Whatwhat. I’m thinking I’ll put my last shift just at the beginning of September. Fair? More than fair.

Why else am I happy? T-minus one week until mah birfffdayyy!!! It’s so wierd to be leaving the decade that was my teens and turn into a 20-something. Like the people on Friends! Fgwefuwgriuehrogihrgeld… 0_0

Oh, and as if I needed another reason to be happy – my haircut went absolutely swimmingly. Indeed. I forgot to snap a before, but here’s a rough, not too far off idea of where I was when I walked into the salon:

After:

Loved this place. It’s an advanced hairdressing school that was recommended by my friend, and they did basically exactly what I had wanted. If anyone in the Toronto area needs a good, cheap haircut, holla at me – I’ll hook you up ;)

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But first, one more piece of biznatch, the winner of my CSN Stores giveaway never emailed me! Lame. I gave ‘er the weekend but no word, soo, here goes the draw for another winner. Drumroll…

I?m hoping to pick up a Shun 8? chef?s knife soon!

Congrats! Annalene, please email me with your contact info so I can pass it along. If you don’t, legit, I’m claiming this one and buying a parfait glass and some plates. Finders keepers, losers leapers weepers keepers …fgsugrugheor…

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So as it’s supahearly, I’m enjoying a meager prebreakfast this morning. Not terribly aesthetically pleasing or exciting. Instead, I’ll indulge you in yesterday’s much prettier, deliciouser brekkie:

[[ PC Steel Cut oats cooked in Tazo Vanilla Rooibos tea. In the mix: cinnamon, chia seeds (new fave - it puffs up the whole bowl!), egg whites, almonds, mashed nanner and diced strawbs. Topped with diluted Maranatha AB and a strawb. ]]

Cheating? Perhaps.

Delicious? Absolutely.

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Also, random, but I had a mini-ED triumph a few days ago: all of us refeeders know that when we initially gain weight, it goes to one or two uncomfortable spots. Be it your legs, your tummy, your butt (luckkkyyyyyyy) – it’s not a comforting thing, esspecially when your ED-wounds are still fresh and easily irritated, as it were, by any sudden and visible (or heck, even invisible) changes to your body. Personally, it was always the perma-food baby that was born during refeeding that triggered me to skip my last big snack-of-the-day. This time around, I refused to let it get to me and relented to the food baby growing inside me. I will redistribute I will redistribute I will redistribute I will redistribute…

Wellll on Saturday, I had to stuff my face silly in the evening as I had missed my afternoon lunch due to an awkward work shift I was forced to take (t-minus less-than-10-work-days till I’m done my sucky job!!!). Obv, mayjah bloating and food baby-itis ensued. Whatevs. I brewed myself a mug of ginger and mint tea and continued on with life.

Low-and-behold, two-ish hours later, I’m feeling darn near normal. My hand goes to my stomach, in that self concious way I know we all have felt our tummy before – feeling around for who-knows-what (a kick?) and felt…flat? You know that wake up in the morning flat empty belly we have? Well, that was the case at around 10 PM, post a mad feeding frenzy.

Bottom line: I thinkkkk I am redistributing!!! At long last – good things are happening.

Bottom line, le deux: neither physical, nor mental, recovery happen overnight. But stay consistent and stay strong against the voices that tell you that your beer belly will never go away. Because it will. As demonstrated by my own tummy :)

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For the record, I do love my food baby (most of the time). Namely because it’s composed of these yummy foods:

[[ Shoddy picture, I know, but I had to share - I tried April's Protein Cookie Dough. Baller! It's SO SO SO good. Here, I used two scoops of Aria Vanilla Whey Protein, about two-ish tbsp of Silk soy milk and a little over a tablespoon of almond butter. Ahhhhh you guys it was so so good. I think this would make in impeccible pancake or oatmeal topping. Here, I paired it as an evening snack with some graham crackers, fresh cherries and blueberries. ]]

[[ I still can't have egg yolks :( I can't even tell you guys how much I miss omelettes - I remember having them overcooked slightly (liquidy eggs always made me gag) with some cheese and veggies inside. This was before I turned seven an my allergy worsened. Recreated this memory here with 1/2 cup egg whites with some nooch and seasonings mixed in for colour and nutritional punch. Stuffed with ricotta cheese and bell peppers. Yes, my omelette-flipping skills still need some work, but trust me, it tasted supah-yum. Paired with sauteed broc, corn and more bell pepper. ]]

Ballllllllerrrr dinnner

[[ I believe I'm offically on a broccoli kick - it makes a minimum of two appearances a day. Never raw though. No. Wierd aftertaste. Unacceptable. Here we have EVOO-sauteed broccoli and green/red/yellow peppers. ]]

[[ ...aaand baked mac and cheese! Made with Averie-inspired cheeze sauce (nooch, soy milk, seasonings, red pepper, guar gum, and turmeric) mixed with cooked whole grain macaroni (just pre-al dente) and topped with good ol' cheese. Baked at 375* for about 25 minutes. You guys - better than KD. No lies. Real flavour. Try it. Baller. ]]

[[ Soooooo my Greek yoghurt hiatus didn't last long. It's not my fault - I had a coupon and it was expiring! What would you have done??? Unfortunately, they were out of 2% plain, but the 0% was actually quite good for a nonfat yoghurt, which are usually really watery by me. This is the only flavoured Chobani I've ever come across in Canada - severly want to try the peach or honey flavours!!! ]]

(I always keep my dinners sitting on the window sill…)

[[ Quinoa Curry Bowl - quinoa and TVP cooked in coconut water with looootsa curry, garlic powder and coconut shreads. Also added were some julienned carrot, bell pepper, baby corn, corn-of-the-cob, green beans, snow peas, edame and spinach. Basically, whatever needed to be used, asap. ]]

Aiight my loves – time to get this show on the rooooad! (Onemoreweekonemoreweekonemoreweekonemoreweek…) Can you all believe it’s already mid-August?! Wheeeere has this summer gone?!

PS. Terra Chips giveaway by the lovely Sophia!