Let’s Be Real: Is Daily Harvest an Influencer-Only Cult Food Delivery Option?

According to my screen-time record on my iPhone I spend 8 hours a day on Instagram (It’s my job, don’t @ me, mom). so its no shock I’ve run into so many of those Daily Harvest adds. During one of the adds, I decided to swipe up and take a look. Surprisingly, it’s pretty affordable for normal people! I got 9 cups, weekly, for an intro cost of $45 ($65 after your first order). These are marketed for breakfast or lunch, but I’m mostly using them for dinner. I got a couple breakfast options, but prefer a savory breakfast and smoothies/ oatmeal just ain’t gonna cut it. Here’s what I ordered in my first box:

The best stuff:

Coconut Lemon bites: Not a huge fan of coconut that isn’t sweetened but wow yes to this. Great when you just need a quick little something sweet

Sweet Potato + Wild Rice hash: So good. We’re in a committed relationship now

Cauliflower Rice + Pesto: I’m not a pesto person, but this is amazing.

Mulberry + Dragon Fruit: This was an oat bowl and I’ve never had either of these fruits (cause who’s confident enough to pick up one of those dragon fruit things at the store?). Still not 100% sure what Dragon fruit tastes like, but love mulberry.

Everything I ordered was surprisingly pretty tasty good. For someone who literally only makes food for one person, these are fantastic. The serving sizes are great and everything you need to make it is already in the cup, just add water. Another great thing is it’s all plant based meals, which can be hard to make without buying a million different ingredients that go bad in 7 seconds. Truthfully, I will probably do this about 2X a month so that I have a variety of meals and I’m not overstocking my tiny fridge. Trader Joe’s freezer section has some competition.

People Still Like Trader Joe’s Lists, Right?

I know people do these constantly, but its one of the few posts I’ll scroll through no matter whose it is. I’m always looking for new stuff to try, especially in the freezer section. There’s a combined Target and Trader Joe’s a few stop away from me, so basically that’s where 90% of my income is going these days. Let begin with the things I buy every time I go:

 

Cauliflower gnocchi: When will I have the dramatic glow-up that cauliflower has had? Pretty much all Trader Joe’s lists worth their salt have this on it. It’s as good as everyone says it is, but pro-tip put it in the oven with olive oil when cooking (trust me).

Organic Brown Rice Pasta: Does eating this make me feel healthy? Big Yes. Is it? Medium Yes. I’m not gluten free or afraid of bread anymore, thank god, but there was a time when I was. This is the pasta I would go with and now that I’m tight with bread again, it’s still my go-to. Mostly just because it’s actually good. Pasta that claims to be good for you is usually trash and basically dissolves in your mouth, no thanks. This one tastes like actual pasta, as it should.

Cauliflower Stir-Fry: Hitting you again with the cauliflower and I’m not done yet. This stuff has the luxury of cauliflower stir fry, without a million individual bags of frozen vegetables to buy. With corn, peppers, peas, ginger and sesame oil in one bag, all you need is soy sauce. Lots and lots of soy sauce,

Orange “Chicken”: I’ve become sort of a vegetarian in recent years. Not necessarily on purpose, but I’m just not a big meat eater anymore. This stuff is vegan and comes with a little sauce packet and it is divine! Put this with Cauli Stir-fry and you’ve got yourself a meal.

Kung Pao Cauliflower: How many cauliflower things can I buy? Many, many cauliflower things. I cook these for about 30 minutes in the oven and pour the sauce packet over them. Longer cook time, but worth the wait.

Dried Apricots, individual packets: I bought these once on a whim and I love them. I need everything to come in tiny serving sizes because I have no self control!! Tastes like candy, but with no added sugar.

Stuff that’s tried, tested, tasty, but not in the regular rotation:

Potato gnocchi stuffed with mozzarella and marinara sauce: These are basically grown-up pizza rolls and I’m not sorry about it. Put some cheese on top and you’ve got yourself an easy meal.

Vegan Pesto: I’m more of a red sauce gall myself, but wanted to try this out anyway. Tastes like normal, almost suspiciously good? If you’re cutting out dairy, this is a god one. If you aren’t, add goat cheese and put it on Cauliflower gnocchi to really lean into #health.

Candy Corn Popcorn: Candy corn, good. Popcorn, good. Candy corn popcorn, so delic. If you don’t like candy corn, let me live! And, alternatively, if you buy the autumn mix candy corn, don’t talk to me either.

 

How To: Eat Yo Vegetables

Raise your hand if you’ve resolved to be healthier in 2019?

I’d consider myself a pretty decently healthy person—who’s addicted to sugar and will not apologize for it. I’ve recently, in the last 6 months, gotten used to eating a serving of vegetables a day. May not sounds like a lot, but you gotta start somewhere, right?

I’ve never been a huge fan of vegetables, because ew. I usually struggle with them unless they’re drowning in some sort of sauce (ranch?). I somehow found a way of making them taste amazing and, almost more importantly, ready very quickly. I’ve never been the kind of person who can sit and wait for food to cook for an hour. I thought I’d share my go-to in case anyone was looking for a quick recipe! I’m by no means a recipe expert and you can totally tell because my pictures are very basic, but you get the idea.

Note: You can use ANY vegetables, I’ve just been really into asparagus and sweet potato lately.

You need:

• Veggie of choice
• Oil of some kind (I used olive oil)
• Half of a lime
• Salt
• Pepper
• Trader Joe’s Everything But The Bagel Seasoning 
• Turmeric

That’s literally it. I know turmeric seems weird, but its so good mixed with all of the other things.

How I do it:

1. Grab a skillet and oil it with a decent amount of whatever oil you chose
2. Put your veggie of choice in there and cook it on medium heat
3. Flip them after about 5 minutes and add spices( I like mine very brown, so maybe flip them earlier if you don’t)
4. Turn heat on low and add juice from the half lime
5. EAT

I added chicken because it goes really well with all the other spices, but you can use whatever you like! I’ve noticed if you don’t have a gas stove, they may take longer to cook, just an fyi. I eat this all the time (ask my roommate) and I love it!

 

 

 

My Favorite Things in 2018

Does that title rhyme slightly? Just me? Great.

I wanted to do this wrap up of the stuff I really loved this year that I didn’t talk about and/or barely talked about. Sort of like a giant Sunday Summary, A.K.A that thing I don’t do anymore (but can still be viewed if you’re into that).

Best Hair Product of 2018:

The Tragic Before

Technically, this isn’t a product. HOWEVER, I discovered this dry shampoo blow drier trick and it is a game changer. Had bun hair all day and then someone wanted to hangout (and i did not want to have bun hair) so I tried this trick. Here’s the post I did and how it ended up going for me, but spoiler alert, it works.

Best Book in 2018:

If you need to know anything about me, it’s that I love to read. I’ve been slacking slightly with how much, but I’ve been picking up major speed with it lately. I’ve read roughly 20-ish books this year, which is kind of a lot. Trying to narrow it down to the best was hard, but some of the books I read just sort of ran together. Really thinking about doing a monthly post about the books I read the month before (mostly just to push myself to read more). OKAY on to my actual pick: You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero. I know what you’re thinking “Self-help book? That’s for sad weirdos.” Here’s the thing: You’re right! BUT, I’d argue that everyone is kind of a sad weirdo sometimes! I read this when I really needed something to give me things to do after I quit my job and when I needed a distraction from going down the “what if I have to move home because I can’t find a job” hole. I would honestly read it again, that’s how much I liked it. If you’re stuck in place in your life where you have no idea what you’re doing, read this. If you wanna make a crazy change, read this. It’s 2019, the year of making goals and gettin’ bread—as the memes say, so read it!

Best Makeup Product of 2018:

Okay I almost put something else for this that was expensive and to be fair, very good. I feel that I should instead pay homage to a brand who had my back when I was too broke to go to Sephora and get new stuff. That’s right I’m talking about ELF. You wouldn’t think with $1 brow pencils and $3 concealer would be worth putting on your face. I’m here to tell you, your assumptions are wrong. My brows are perfectly filled and my pores CONCEALED! Was actually not a fan of the bronzer cause it was too glittery for my tastes but that doesn’t mean it’s not quality! Okay done with my spiel.

Best Skincare Product of 2018:

Spoiler alert it’s like 2 dollars. Spoiler alert again, it’s lemon juice. I started using it and it felt like a miracle. Then I stopped for a few weeks recently, because I’m skeptical person and sometimes I don’t feel like buying lemons ya know. Started using them again and wow I forgot how good they are. My skin just has so much less redness and blackheads! It’s so great and so cheap.

Best Movie of 2018:

I know you all want me to say A Star is Born, but I’m sorry I can’t. The music is amazing, yes. Bradley Cooper is hot, yes. I absolutely knew what was gonna happen at the end and so I didn’t like it as much. Maybe if there was a world with no spoilers and people wouldn’t have talked about how amazing it was and subsequently ruining it. I also really don’t watch movies in theaters that much. I’ve seen maybe 3 movies this entire year, so I fell like I can’t say what the best movie this year is. I can say what the best movie I saw this year. It’s not new, it’s just new to me. Okay, it’s Steel Magnolias. This is a weird pick for me, since every time anyone would bring this up I’d immediately think “How can that be good? It sounds so corny.” It was on Netflix a few months back and it was a rainy Saturday, so I thought I’d give it a try. It’s set in a small town in Louisiana—hence the name. The thing about movies centered around the South is they’re always over exaggerated. Every other word is “crawfish” or “gumbo” or “pea-can pie!” I get it, its a movie, but that why I never really like them. This one doesn’t do that. Overall, its pretty reflective of life in smaller southern town and I loved it. I cried, I laughed and now I know why it wont so many awards. It’s not on Netflix anymore, but find it somewhere because it’s so good.

Best Show of 2018:

Okay this is so hard because I’ve seen so many good shows this year, but there’s only one that filled me with the most joy every time I turned it on: The Great British Baking Show. Am I late to this game? I really don’t know but this show is so good. I really loved watching to the point of watching two seasons in a about a week. I did it in a weird way where I watched seasons 5 & 6 first and in my humble opinion, those are the best seasons. After that, they change the hosts and Prue isn’t one of the judges and I need her color coordination in my life. I love the accents, the stuff they come up with and  Paul Hollywood is a cutie, I’m just gonna throw it out there. Really into shows that make me laugh and aren’t super dramatic lately and this one definitely fill that for me. I even watched it twice, so if you haven’t yet, here’s your notification.

Best Clothing Purchase of 2018:

This was the year I bought so many clothes, it’s obnoxious. Trying to “re-vamp” my wardrobe and also buying things for a 9-5 job was tough. I think the best purchase and the thing I got the most use out of were my Lululemon leggings. As you know, I’m more of a quantity over quality gal. Trends come and go a lot for me to be buying something that I may not wear in a few years that costs an arm and a leg. Also let’s keep it real, I’m still washing my clothes in a laundry mat for god’s sake. I’m in no place to be buying anything over 50 bucks. I completely believe in a good splurge for things that may be expensive, but you’ve been lusting after for a while. Hence, my purchase of these leggings. I really wanted to see if they are so different from the $20 Forever 21 leggings and I’m here to say yes they are. They fit like a glove, the length is always perfect (aka no bunching at the bottom) and they stay in place when I’m running. I still only have one pair so far, but 2019 I’ll be getting some more and really coming into my basic white girl form.

Best Workout of 2018:

 

So, I’m splitting this up by home workout and workout class, okay great:

Best home workout is always Tabata with Raneir Pollard hands down. He’s so fun and at the same time, the workout is always intense. It’s always my Monday go to for a good strong beginning to my week. Also, they just uploaded a new one!

Best workout class I’ve been to in the city is Yoga sculpt at Corepower yoga. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, If I were a richer woman, I’d be doing yoga twice a week at minimum. This particular class is not only yoga, but a little bit of cardio to satisfy my needs. They have them all over, so check them out if they’re near you!

 

Cheers to 2019! Can’t wait to make many more posts and let me know if there’s anything you’d like to see more of on the blog 🙂

I Survived: Juicing Edition

I did something I have never done in my life. I didn’t eat for three whole days. As a person who never drinks smoothies, much less juice, this was weird. I never thought I would be one of those juice cleanse people, but here I am. Never say never, ladies.

What made me want to do this:

I was, what the marketing world calls, influenced. I saw a person in the health industry that I respected and followed, do it, so I did it. Honestly, it’s on my list of “never-s.” Oh I would never cut out bread and cheese, I love it! I did that. Oh I’d never go vegan that’s so weird. I did that. The list continues, people. I will say I’ve always been a little curious. What’s the hype? So, just like I did when I moved to New York, I decided in 2.5 seconds and did zero planning and research! Kidding, kinda. I did look at a few different places and watched a couple Youtube videos of people who did them. Minimal research, in other words. I decided to do the same one as my girl Blogilates. As you guys know, I’ve watched her workout videos for about 2 years now and I respect her opinion, okay!

Here’s the one I did:

 

I picked Cleanse 2 instead of the first one, simply because I felt I wouldn’t need a heavy drink in the morning. Cleanse 1 has a smoothie-like drink in the morning and night, while Cleanse 2 only has it at night. I also preferred to keep it as fruit and veggie based as I could—since that’s pretty much the point. I realize this is super expensive, but all in the name of research and pure curiosity? *bank account gives me the super side-eye*

Things I’m going to keep in mind going in:

How I feel overall

How I sleep

How bad are the cravings during and after

How my energy levels are (gonna try to keep doing the same things workout-wise)

Day 1:

I did a really intense HIIT workout this morning since I figured today would be the day I had the most energy. First two juices were really good, the third one not so much. Ginger in a drink is really weird, but I also drink apple cider vinegar—which is basically salad dressing water. Around 3pm I was pretty tired, probably could taken a nap. I didn’t drink any coffee today and my head is HAMMERING. The worst part of today was probably from 3-6 and then I was less like “I could eat so many chips right now its insane.” I will say after day one, I’m a little peeved at myself for thinking I was too good for Cleanse 1 for two reasons. Cleanse 1 had NO BEET JUICE—I had to choke this one down it was awful. It also had one more of the smoothie-like drinks and honestly, that last juice is the only thing I was looking forward to all day. So yeah, not my best idea. Good intentions paved the road of my personal hell (okay I’m being dramatic but you get it). I’m really hoping I wake up refreshed and can actually go for a run tomorrow, let’s see how that goes.

Please enjoy me drinking beet juice:

Day 2:

Last night was rough! It felt like one of those nights you eat until you make yourself sick and you have to force yourself to concentrate on something other than food. As I was going to sleep—early I might add, I resolved to quit this whole thing after one day. I did not feel great about it, being a competitive person and definitely wanting to prove to myself I could do it. This morning, however, I felt a lot better. I wasn’t super tired and my body didn’t seem to hate me too much for not feeding it. I decided to keep going, cause why not? I went for a walk instead of a run mostly because my head is still hurting. I definitely had my coffee too and I have no regrets people! I need my bean juice okay!! Now that my head feels normal, I can focus on how I actually feel. Today was about 100000% better than yesterday. I have way more energy, I’m not craving stuff as intensely as I was and I even had enough energy for a run. Yes you read that right, at 8 pm I went for a run. I never run at night. I just don’t have the energy for it and I don’t want to. Went to sleep at little full still, but so much better than yesterday.

Day 3:

I’m ready for today! No cravings really and I worked out like normal this morning. I took it a little easier and tried not to overextend myself, but pretty much could do everything I normally do. My energy during this is wild. I was so worried I was going to be dead the whole time and that’s so not the case for me. I felt pretty great all morning. By 2 pm, I lost my energy. This seems to be the point in my day where I normally get hungry and don’t have a lot of energy. Kinda of weird, but I guess makes sense. At night, I was definitely feeling hungry again. Not as bad as Day 1, but I could definitely go for a sandwich. Luckily, it was the last day so yay!

Conclusion:

This went from 100-0 real quick. I really thought after Day 1, I was going to report that I quit and was not gonna do it again. However, I actually kind of enjoyed it in a weird way? I thrive on a structured diet, no thinking means no room for “oh man what am I gonna eat ugh I’ll just have chips for dinner.” If I was a richer lady, I would just order those meal kits every week and never have to think about meals again. I also loved not having to cook. Cooking has never been my thing, I need meals to be 10 minutes prep-time and thats it. It was a good way to sort of force myself to get back on track as far as my healthy habits go.

How Did I sleep?- Actually very well, but I wouldn’t say a huge difference than normal. I’m a good sleeper, overall. The thing that I did notice, however, was I woke up feeling super rested and not groggy in the slightest. No matter how much sleep I get, I usually want to go back to sleep after my alarm, but this was different. My alarm went off and it’s like my body was ready for it and I was wide awake.

How bad are the cravings?-So very bad the first day, then lessen as the 2nd and 3rd day go on. I could always eat, but I wasn’t ravenous the whole time

Energy Levels?-Surprisingly normal. After the first day, that is. I would say the 2nd day was the best as far as energy and cravings.

How I feel overall?- Honestly, actually really good. I forget sometimes, how good I feel when I’m eating really healthy. I’ve been letting myself snack A LOT and instead of listening to my body, which was really hurting my moods. I’ll also say my mood was really great after the first day, almost giddy?

Will I do this again?

Actually, yes. Maybe after the holidays when your schedule is messed up and you just want to nap for 10 years. It was a great way to get me back on track as far as making sure I’m putting the ~goods~ in my body. It’s not for everyone, but I really enjoyed it.

 

 

 

 

The Tah-dews in Nashville

If you haven’t been keeping up with my ‘gram, I just got back from a super fun little va-cay in Nashville this week. I had the MOST fun (shoutout to my cousins Kristen and Andrew!). I honestly came back a little bummed? So weird, I kind of get like that when I visit the south.  I love NYC, but there’s nothing like decompressing in the south for a few days. When I moved here, I never thought in a billion years I would be saying I actually miss the South. Somewhere the universe is laughing at me and my naiveté. Anyway, I’ve been to Nashville a couple times and I wanted to share some stuff that I did that I recommend!

Fourth of July Fireworks Downtown

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This is highly specific to the 4th, but wow they were great. Second only to NYC, of course. They start at 9:30 and last until 10. I was lucky enough to see them from this GORGEOUS downtown apartment. She had full view of them and I was in heaven. She also had the cutest little Persian cats, so, obviously #goals. Just trying to be the NYC equivalent, ya know?

 

Murals

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There’s actually a bunch of murals I wanted to check out, but we only got to this one. There’s also angel wings one and “Nashville looks good on you.” Found this one via thefashionablybroketeacher on Instagram! She’s based in Philly, but goes to Nashville all the time (jealous), so I looked at her pictures for some ideas! This mural went perfectly with all of our fourth of July garb.

Frothy Monkey

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Horrible name, amazing salad.

Hiking Trails

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No pictures of this because we were so ~one~ with nature, or I forgot, you decide. They have so many just outside the city and they’re so cute. If I lived here and simultaneously had all of my shit together, I would run at least one day. Great for when you wanna workout, but not super hard.

Nama Sushi

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Been to this place twice now, and it’s amazing. We happened to go when they had half-priced rolls which made it taste that much better. You should definitely try the seaweed salad, sounds horrifying but very good. Trust me.

Losers Bar

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Will I come here every time I go to Nashville? Yes. Is it because I saw Garrett Hedlund the first time I went and must see him again? No….maybe a little. They play my favorite country band of all time, Brooks & Dunn, so it is a must-go. 

Meowsic City Cafe

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Cutest little place and I get to pet cats? I’m there. All of the cats are adoptable and even Kristen liked it (and she thinks cats are weird and they say the same about her, probably). All I wanna know is, when are we getting one in NYC?

The Candle Bar

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The day was very gross and rainy, so perfect weather to chill and make some candles! So many fragrances, I could barely choose. I felt like a 60 year old grandma chemist with my beaker and scale! Loved the concept and again, where’s the one in NYC?

Hattie B’s Chicken

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Three words: BETTER. THAN. CANES. Still need the sauce, but the chicken was unbelievable and definitely satisfied a very hungover and hangry me. There’s always a line, but you have to go. With three locations in Nashville, its gotta be good.

There you have it, pals! Nashville is one of my favorite places and is home to one of my favorite people, so I absolutely love going. My only qualm is that we went to a party and all the men wore flip-flops. Guys, get it together! Just kidding (kinda). 

 

Navigating the Health Craze B.S.

I wanna preface this by saying: I am no health expert. I have no formal training and really just google stuff a lot.

However, I have been doing this whole “health” thing for a hot minute (and by that I mean for years). I wouldn’t say I’ve got it all figured out, but I do have a few tips since I’ve basically tried and tested everything from “I only eat eggs for breakfast every morning” to “I eat protein shakes for dinner and also and entire box of cereal.”

One of the worst, and simultaneously best, things about the internet is having access to MASS amounts of information all time. This is awesome because you can pretend you’re a little sponge and just soak up all the information you can! This is also bad because some of that information is probably not even real, some might say fake news. First tip:

1. Research and read peoples stuff even if its just opinions

You may be thinking, why would I wanna hear some persons opinions? First of all, you are right now, fool. Secondly, it could help you figure out a problem way quicker and feel more connected in your health journey. For instance, if someone was like yo, when I eat green beans, my ankles swell (I literally made that up don’t @ me) and then when that happens to you, you’re like oh my god me too! You feel like less of a weirdo and also less isolated. Sometimes, being conscience of what you put in your body all of the time can be exhausting, having a connection can help. Which leads me to my next tip:

2. Find Instagrams, blogs and just people who are also trying to be a health human so you can get ideas.

I recently followed this Instagram where the guy just posts healthy versions of desserts. I made some brownies with just banana, almond butter and cacao powder. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. You can get recipes, ideas for new health stuff you’ve never heard of in your life (like Maca that I recently discovered) and feel like there’s another person in the world who also is tired of people asking why they eat kale. Also important is figuring out what works for you. How do you do that?

3. Try it, all of it

I change my diet pretty frequently. Mostly because I stick to the same stuff every week and then I’m like “if I have to look at another asparagus, I’m gonna lose it.” This stems from a childhood obsession with eating stuff repeatedly, that I love, until I hate it. I won’t touch Cliff bars anymore since I used to eat them all the time my freshman year of college (and honestly they’re basically trash anyway). If you wanna change up your diet then do it. If you try something and it’s awful, stop. You might like things you never thought you would, like kale, or you might be like “yeah green beans are still trash, thanks 5 year old me.” Also a common misconception:

4. Your meals don’t have to be Michelin level

No joke, almost everything I eat is 3 ingredients, max. I can’t stand preparing a meal that takes 30 minutes of my life and 10 ingredients (which is why meal kits aren’t really my jam). Meal prep if you wanna be fancy, but reheated food kinda sucks so I always prefer to do minimal cooking. Best advice to get veggies, quick: olive oil, salt, pepper and bake for 25 minutes. Done and done. Last, but most importantly:

5.  Every body is different~~~***~~~*** (see what I did)

I don’t eat lunch. I do interval fasting and then I’ll eat breakfast super late and then have a snack and dinner and that’s my day. Some people think that’s super weird, but I like saving my calories for the end of the day. I’ve tried to spread it out more, but then I just eat more, so its counterproductive. If you like eating a whole bunch as soon as you wake up and then nothing by the end of the day, then do that! There’s really no right answer. Not all health people eat the same thing because not everyone can do that. You can only listen to peoples advice for so long before you gotta just do what feels good to you. Honestly, it might take you a while to figure out what that even is and that’s cool too. Everyday they come out with something saying “this food is bad!!! Never eat it!!!” and two years later they say “chocolate fixes cancer.”

In the end, there’s no magic trick. The internet can say “drink apple cider vinegar and all your problems will disappear,” but thats just not real. It’s consistency and being happy with what your doing above all the random B.S. you get thrown.

 

 

 

Week 4: The Finale

Oh. My. God

This last month has been the toughest shit ever. Yes, I am a health freak for the most part, but ya girl loves junk on a occasion. I have never gone this far without eating any thing I would consider “bad.” That horrible, dumb quote from Kate Moss that’s like “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” is a giant, awful lie that she tells herself because she hates her body and herself. Guess what? I love myself and I’m gonna eat fries when I’m hungover on a Sunday and that’s FINE. I like my body enough to where I’m gonna do what I want. It aint perfect, but if I have to suffer like this to look like her, then nah.

As a human who interacts with other humans on a daily basis, I am BOMBARDED with sugar every single day. It’s in the office, it’s on the subway and it’s even on my Instagram. There is no point where I “forget” about sugar, it’s everywhere, all the time. Because I am also a human of 23 years, I know what sugar tastes like and my brain is like “oh yeah that shit is good please get back to eating that” so of course I also think about it all the time.

I will say this week wasn’t as bad since I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m kind of nervous I’ll get back into some of my bad habits, but I’m determined to keep this up for the most part. I’m definitely not gonna eat sugar just for the sake of eating it, but will be giving in when I wanna claw my arm off for some chocolate (i’m human).

The 2 reasons I’ve made it through this horrible month:

1. Other millions and billions of people have done it, and if I didn’t do it, I’d feel like a failure. I’m super competitive and I gotta at least be on par with other people when it comes to health.
2. I said I would on this blog. I could have just lied and said I did while I ate my cupcakes, but I would feel bad for lying. Not sure why, cause who cares, but I wanna be authentic on here. I also verbally told people, so again, I’d feel guilty.

Body Feels

My body does look pretty great I will say that. I lost the little bit of “pudge” or whatever you wanna call it and I’m back to my “normal.” Don’t have abs now or anything crazy, but that its what has gotten me through parts of this whole thing is the fact that I look damn good again. I never weigh myself, so I always go by what I look like in clothes (it’s weird but it works). “I “feel” overall pretty good too. Not like “wow night and day totally different person” good, but pretty good. Waking up in the morning is noticeably easy and I have a good amount of energy like all day. The exception is when I eat almond butter, I feel like shit but I think that’s just a me thing. My body rejects all things nut related, I have figured out(or am I allergic??? scary thought).

The Face

My face didn’t change at all really. I’ve pumped my body with enough meds (acutane thank you) to where I just don’t really breakout anymore, so not having a breakout is kinda normal (although even the occasional breakout didn’t happen). I kinda just look the same. I thought maybe my dark circles would get better, but nope. Those babies just occur no matter what, I suppose.

Foods I will Be Keeping Around in my Diet:

Cinnamon

Kinda dumb, but this has made things taste sooooooo much better without adding sugar to it. I used to not like cinnamon very much (cinnamon buns are still really not my thing, no I’m not dead inside), but I’ve found it to be so useful lately when it comes to a sweeter breakfast/snack.

Apple Cider Vinegar 

Okay I’m gonna be really real, I have no idea what this has actually done for me because I’ve added so many things to my diet. HOWEVER, for the simple fact that I still have some left and have gotten used to it, I’m gonna keep it up. I feel like its really good for digestion, but that could be all in my head.

Clementines

Or mandarin oranges, I’m not picky. I absolutely love them and I bought them on a whim. It’s replaced my sugary dessert after dinner and it’s almost as good.

Foods I’ll Probably Never Touch Again

Tahini

Okay this stuff is pretty good, but I got sick of it pretty quick. Might still put it on veggies, but as far as salad dressing and having to buy it all the time, nah. I liked it, but not in love with it.

Almond Butter, Peanut Butter and all the stupid nutt butters

I love this stuff, which means I eat a lot of it. That also means I feel HORRIBLE after eating this stuff. It’s not like “oh wow I’m full whew I gotta chill” it’s more like “please let me go home in the middle of work to sit in the fetal position and fart myself into oblivion.” TMI , but I can’t have this in my home anymore it’s detrimental to my health and happiness.

Chia Pudding

This stuff just takes wayy too much to be good and even then, isn’t great. I’m sure its very healthy, but just not for me. I’ll be sicking to GF overnight oats from now on.

Cacao Nibs

I don’t need to say much more on these, but I really wanna know how health people are eating this. They are literally so bitter. I just can’t. So awful. I spent 20 bucks on a bag of them, please hold me.

 

Overall, I felt the most amazing at week 1 and some of week 2(besides the hormonal thing). Past that, it’s kinda made me hangry and super annoyed. I’m thinking about how badly I want a cookie and it annoys me that I’m not eating it, basically. I love myself and treat myself often, so this has just not been great. I definitely think this is something that’s easier with someone doing it with you. I have no one who wanted to do this horrible thing with me, so there’s no one to suffer with. Misery loves company.

I do feel like this was worth it. I will not be going back to putting pounds of sugar in my coffee, or eating a cookie every night. I’m NOT a diet person, its either a full lifestyle change or nothing for me(and its let me stick to a healthy life way easier). I needed this just to break some dumb sugar habits and now that I have, I’m sticking to it(just not gonna go a straight month without sugar again).

 

I proved I could do it and I’m sure my body loves me not trashing it with all the sugar. By tomorrow, I will be celebrating my victory with a cookie coma!!!!

 

Week 3: A Hard Lesson

This week was 10 billion percent better than last week. No hormones to weigh me down or get in my way!! 

 

I’ve found myself eating more meat lately? Not sure what that’s about but, funny story. So we’ve been having an influx of meetings at work, which means we’ve been having a lot of food just like around our floor. Not really sure what the meetings are about or why people need food sent up and they can’t just like be normal humans and take a break?? Nonetheless, there’s this one specific hallway where they’ll have just like a table of food. Now, I can’t eat the chips (I tried, but there were 2 grams of sugar and I was like not worth it), but there were like little pieces of grilled chicken in a bowl that seemed pretty safe. Basically, every time I walk by, I’m taking little pieces and then putting them with my salads. It’s ridiculous how many grilled chicken strips I’ve consumed this past week. I’ve also eaten fish a little more too. Whole Foods has a fab hot food bar and I love this lemon rosemary one they keep having. Still not buying meat because I can’t stand actually cooking it, but not being totally vegan isn’t horrible.

I have sort of gotten in a rut a little bit. I love my diet of course, but I was starting to get sick of the same old salad. Also, I’ve been snacking too much on almond butter which is actually horrible. I have a weird digestive thing with nuts, but that I mean they just don’t sit well. It could be because I never eat the serving size, but I usually just feel bleh after. I’ve been keeping my almond butter in my desk at work and that is like the worst thing I could do because I’m literally thinking about how much I wanna eat it CONSTANTLY. It’s the only thing in my diet that tastes sweet, so every five minutes I’m like: you know what would be great right now, some delicious almond butter. Sunday, I fund some with 1 gram of sugar so maybe that one won’t tempt me as much, here’s hoping. 

Of course the weekend was the hardest. Saturday I went to brunch and just got something basic with eggs. The friends I was with got a lemon creme filled dessert and I wanted to gauge my eyeballs out so I wouldn’t have to look at the devil’s temptation. It was rough, but in hindsight not that bad. Later, I went to a Mexican restaurant and it wasn’t so bad since I had eaten before hand. Secret to life right there cause you’re way less tempted for the bad stuff. 

Snack/foods that are getting me through this:

 

This should’ve been a purchase at the beginning of this diet, but I’m not a super huge fan of cinnamon, normally. I put this in my Chia pudding and wow, it made such a huge difference. It took it from meh, to actually really good! 

 

I was gonna also put Cacao nibs on here but see the meme below for why not:

Also please look at this sadness:

 

 

Coming up on my last week and I’m literally starting to plan out all the stuff I wanna eat at the end. So much for not throwing caution to the wind???? I’m like oh treat yoself! but also that’s how I’m in the predicament of not being very healthy so my two sides are battling it out we shall see which one wins. It’s a love-hate relationship with this, obviously.

Week 2: The Struggle Bus

As the title insinuates, this week was a struggle. I got hit with temptation left and right and man did I want it. 

First, was Monday. Unfortunately, my coworkers decided to have a little snack-fest for someone’s birthday. It included every food I’ve ever loved: Starburst, chips, salsa, chocolate, and Magnolia Bakery cupcakes. I was internally screaming the entire time. Luckily, there was wine. Did it have sugar? Not a clue, I did try to check. Did I care? No, I needed to do something with my mouth other than moan. I managed to get through it, unscathed. The next day, someone had the audacity to put Baked by Melissa cupcakes just sitting in the break room?? Tempting, but those cupcakes are the size of my fingernail so really not. 

This week I was also visited by my lovely mother nature monthly friend (Did I sugar coat that enough for you?)!!! Maybe TMI, but I wanted to eat everything in my line of vision, including things in my Instagram and in my imagination. I just felt a general ew and bleh all day and could’ve used the sugar as a pick-me-up. I know my ladies out there know this struggle. I resisted because I knew the feeling would pass and I’d feel normal again. I talk a lot about how great this diet is, but ya girl was NOT having it for a few days. 

Luckily, I was right and by Friday I was feeling like a normal person again and I gotta say, my body is already changing. I feel great and I look it, if I do say so myself. It gave me the little push I needed to keep going. On Sunday, I woke up hungover and eating fruit and eggs perked me up way better than any pizza would have (but lets be real, I did still really want the pizza). 

Ive also found I’m not trying to kill myself working out, either. I love my cardio, of course, but I used to have to SMASH my workouts and HAVE to do cardio because I was “working off” something that I ate. I’m less worried about working out on Saturdays as well since I’m not gonna eat something to feel bad about after too. Does it seem like all i do is gush about how much I love this challenge because I DO. 

 

Snacks/foods that are getting me through this

 

 

All the healthy people are talking about this stuff and every time I heard it I was like “wha” and never looked into it. I decided to try this stuff when I saw it at Trader Joe’s and man I’m glad I did. I use this stuff as my new go-to salad dressing. I mix it with olive oil, salt and pepper and it’s so good. 

 

Is it weird that I love arugula? I had no idea I liked it, but when I added it to my salads I was like What have I been doing my whole salad life without this? I still love my kale, so I use this just as a finish-er. 

 

 

 

Also side note: still eating terrifying amounts of gum, in case you thought that was a phase.

 

So looking forward to trying new things next week!