I started off this morning with a bowl of sunny oats. 

(If they look a little too watered down it's because they are .... Oops!)

I'm trying out something new this morning ... Acupuncture!  Is it weird that I'm pretty nervous about this?  I'm going to a place that's been highly referred by many different people, and two of my girlfriends help out there on Saturdays.  I'm not sure if today is just a consult ... or if it's a consult and a session because there was a bit of a language barrier with the woman on the phone when I made the appointment.  I guess I'll just how to see!

It feels like an awesome, brisk fall day outside!

I'd like to preface this entry by saying I think I'm going through caffeine withdrawal.  I've been off the caffeine since Saturday ... Friday morning being my last time of ingestion ... and I sure am one sleepy chica.

Food shopping with Mom was quite the success.  Between Wild By Nature and BJ's, my pantry and freezer are fully stocked at this time.  I'm super eager to use the cans of pumpkin and butternut squash I stocked up on ... just not sure what for yet!

Because my sisters attend a hub-site right by my home, we decided to pick them up this afternoon rather than have them journey home on the bus.  So in between food shopping and picking up my sisters' I scarfed down a yogurt,

and sampled some gluten-free, dairy-free banana nut bread.  Delicious, of course.

Even though I was home today, I wasn't planning on preparing a huge dinner because I was anticipating I'd be at 7PM spin class this evening, but at the last minute I decided it was more important to stay at home with Ryan and enjoy the season premiere of House together.  (We are pretty strong House viewers.)  Monday spinning can resume per normal next week =)

Still, it was nice to not really have too much to do to get dinner together.  All I did was re-heat the rotisserie in the oven, steam some carrots, and mix up the instant mashed potatoes.

Simple and divine.

Now I'm just struggling to keep my eyes open at uh ... 9:30!  Oh well ... I can sleep in tomorrow if need be ;-)

Hey!  Did you all have a good weekend? 

Yesterday Ryan and I did a lot of running around in the morning, and then at 4pm we stationed ourselves at our friends' house to watch the Jets game ... aka less than half way through the game my girlfriend and I snuck out and 2 hours  later we both came back with a new pair of boots ... (That's my idea of "watching the game!")  Some of yesterday's eats included:

Over all it was one of the nicer weekends I've had in quite some time.

This morning I awoke to a work-less Monday morning ... the best kind of course ... and decided I really wanted pancakes.  So that's what I had. 

I created one golden delicious monster pancake loaded with almonds, walnuts, and pumpkin seeds.

On the side I had grapes.

Now I have to scramble to get ready!  My mom's meeting me at my house so we can journey to Wild By Nature together.  DF WF GF haven here I come. 

So today has been super productive, super early ...and now it's 7:15 and I'm sleepy ;-)

I kicked off the day with a bowl of hot cereal and a blueberry yogurt mixed in, and had some juicy grapes on the side.

Then Ryan and I headed over to Sands Point Preserve to check out a medieval festival.  It was such an absolutely gorgeous day to be outside that it didn't matter what was going on.  The festival was cool, but I think we got the majority of our pleasure from navigating the trails there.  Actually, Ryan may have gotten the majority of his pleasure from the tent that was selling real swords ... but regardless, we had a great time enjoying the outdoors.

I did snack on an almond butter sandwich I had packed, but I honestly forgot to take a picture of it.  We had just stopped back at the car so I could change from sandals to sneakers to hit the trails ... so I was probably excited for the trails, inhaled my sandwich, and didn't think twice.  Oops!

On the way home from Sands Point Preserve we stopped and did our food shopping for the week.  We had needed to pick up a few things for dinner, so I figured while we were there we'd just do a quick shop.  One less thing to get done tomorrow!

Back at home I whipped up some fried chicken cutlets, mashed potatoes, and green beans for dinner.  Mmm mmm.

I definitely ate another fried chicken cutlet in addition to what's photoed here. 
 
Now we're just keeping it low key.  I'm all out of bread so I was thinking of swinging by Whole Foods to pick up a loaf, just one more thing I could check off the to-do list, but I'm really not in the mood to go.  It really is a bit of an inconvenience that Whole Foods is the only place I know that sells Udi's Wheat Bread ... But I guess I finally found bread I can eat and enjoy so I shouldn't complain about it, right? 

Let's see how the night plays out ...

The weebly website was acting a little funky over the past couple of days, so I was never able to actually get any posts up.  So let me just share with you a few highlights of my eats since Thursday. 

Stay tuned, and welcome to the weekend!

I've gotten so caught up in the work week that I just realized there's only two days left until I have a full week off!  Yes!

So snacking on that yogurt post-run last night seemed to do the trick ... I slept soundly through the night sans hunger pains =)

When I woke up this morning I ate a couple of waffles,

and later on at work I ate a banana.  (The yogurt came home with me and is back in the fridge.  I guess I maxed out on yogurt yesterday!)

For lunch I was actually looking forward to another turkey sandwich today, even though I had two in row this week ... but I wasn't sure if the turkey was starting to smell a little ripe.  So that got tossed and I opted for hummus instead.

On the side I ate a bunch of grapes.  They were really good and hit the spot.

When I got home from work I had the whole night ahead of me and wasn't quite sure how to spend it.  Predominantly, it was spent on the couch =)

I ate some split pea soup and a little popcorn for dinner. 

I really wanted some crackers or tortilla chips or rice crackers with the soup, but had none on hand. 

I did leave the couch briefly to go for a short walk ... the weather was beautiful of course.  But now here I am ... back on the couch.  I've been looking forward to this lull in my schedule all week.  It feels just as good as anticipated.

Just coming back tonight to post my post-run snack. 

I knew protein would be best so I tried to be good ... a bit redundant and I didn't finish all of it ... but maybe it's just what I need to keep my hands out of the popcorn bowl at 2AM! ;-)

So today was a little on the slow side ... not necessarily in a good way, but I know tomorrow will be more chaotic so I guess I should just appreciate today for what it was!

I got hungry again mid-morning and snacked on a banana.

And by the time lunch finally came around I was absolutely starving.  I had a turkey sandwich again today, with spicy mustard, hot sauce, and baby spinach.  It was quite tasty.

Also with it I had a yogurt (My newest featured food on my Food Allergies and Sensitivities tab, check it out!),

and I also had a really small serving of walnuts ... but my camera seems to have eaten that picture?  I'm sorry!

After work I stopped at Ann Taylor Loft and snagged some really great deals on work pants.  I always have such a fun time shopping in the Fall ... best time of year to shop if you ask  me. 

Tonight Ryan and I were going to have a bowling date night, but all the bowling alleys nearby have leagues tonight so lanes wouldn't be available until about 9:30 ... no good.  Instead I decided to cook us a nice dinner.

I baked some potatoes and pork chops, and steamed some green beans.  I also added a little applesauce to my plate.  I absolutely love applesauce with pork chops.  Mmm.

Now I'm spending some time digesting on the couch and maybe, possibly plan to get a run in around 8pm or so. 
 
Oh and by the way, I joined that spin/pilates studio for 6 months.  I'm super psyched and can't wait to go back to spinning next week!

This morning I am exhausted.  I ended up falling asleep last night about 2 hours later than planned, and had to wake up an hour earlier than usual today ... That does not make for a very good combination. 

Sometime around 2AM I may or may not have wandered into the kitchen out of starvation and ate a few handfuls of popcorn out of the big bowl I have sitting on my kitchen table ... I knew I'd be getting hungry from spinning sooner or later.

Then when I woke up this morning I ate two waffles.

I of course I am bringing other things with me to eat because who knows when that appetite will strike! 

I'm not sure if anyone else is like this, but when my schedule is erratic the littlest thing like waking up an hour earlier really throws me off.  Next week I'll be sleeping till whenever I want =)

So spinning was awesome!  It's definitely one of my favorite types of activities.  I've completely missed not having it in my life, and I really hope I'll be able to add it to my routine.  The studio is about 15 minutes from home and 5 minutes from work, so that's pretty awesome.  The atmosphere was friendly and upbeat, and the spinning instructor was so supportive.  Of course, as with everything in life, there is a fee involved ... And it is a little steep.  But I'm toying with the idea that it just might be worth it ... I walked out of there feeling like I could fly ... Loved it!

Pre-spinning I had a small bowl of lentil soup.  (I really tried to make it look appetizing.)

I promise it was yummy.

I also had an apple on the side ... Finally started missing the fruit in my life.

And lastly, post-spinning I'm surprisingly not finding myself too hungry.  I did slightly get that light-headed feeling post exertion, so I grabbed a handful of dates...

But other than that, I think I'm good for the night.  Just lots of water!

See you in the AM ... it's an early one tomorrow!