Drool.

I was reading the internet today and checking my Instagram and Facebook feeds, like I do every day, multiple times a day, and randomly came across a number of new foods just recently released and in stores already or are coming out very shortly. It seemed like every other thing I was seeing online today was about food. I usually notice this kind of stuff when I'm starving, but this time, it was just so odd that I kept seeing food. New stuff coming out. Re-releases of old favorites. And everything looked pretty damn good. And of course pretty much all of what I saw is loaded with sugar and fat. Naturally. Drool.

I'm Ready to Chew Again!

This was it. The home stretch. I did it. I mean, I wasn't surprised that I did though. When I start something, I finish it. (And if I am spending as much money as I did here, you better believe I am not messing around.)  And although I was most definitely hungry (and a little lightheaded) on the last day of this cleanse, I can already feel the benefits of this. Get 'em giiirrrlllll.

On this final day I was beyond busy at work and just didn't have the time to really keep track of all the ridiculous thoughts through my head. Instead I think them, giggle at my ridiculousness, and move on. I actually think this was a good thing because I was slightly more irritable today so there were quite a few not-nice things going through this brain of mine. What I've written over the previous two days were super PG and tame for me and I didn't want to shock people too much with my brand of crazy, critical, and annoyance today. However, one thing that I did notice today, multiple times, was that I was hungry; especially at night. Like wanted to gnaw-my-own-hands-off hungry. Although full with liquid, my body craved food. Real solid food. And healthy food at that...Avocado, tomato, bananas, quinoa, etc... Yum, yum. Can't wait.

Cleanse 2, Day 2!

So I survived my first day and night surviving on only six Blueprint juices yesterday.  Now it's onto day two. This is the hump day of the cleanse. The day after the first day and the day before the last. I can do this!

I had the exact same menu in the exact same order as I did on day one. I did however, get to sleep in a little later than the first day so therefore started my juices a little later which helps me pace a little better and not stress so much about timing them out.

I woke up before my alarm (no surprise there since 7:30 is majorly sleeping in for me (I'm usually up around five) and I knew I wouldn't make it that late). I actually wasn't hungry and felt pretty invigorated. I like it!

Juice Cleanse, Take Two

So here I go again. About to embark on yet another 3-day juice cleanse. The last time I did was right after Spring Break last April in order to give my body (and my mind) a reset. It wasn't about losing weight, but was about challenging myself to see if I could do it. And to rid my body of all the crap I had put in it recently by being at home and eating my face off. I had never done a cleanse before and didn't know what to expect, and after three days I felt rejuvenated, energetic, and excited to have a clean slate internally. It was kind of a cool feeling and one that I am ready for again. I need another reset. Big time. This time around I have been eating pretty healthy and exercising like a fiend, but I still feel I need to hit the "start over" button; more for the mental component which this gave to me last time. Fingers crossed it does the trick again.

This time around I am trying a different cleanse, the Blueprint Cleanse. Last time I had a hard time choosing between Blueprint and the Cooler Cleanse as both were equally popular and highly recommended. Cooler Cleanse won out because it was a little cheaper; however, this time I had a coupon code for Blueprint so I decided to give it a go. It's the same deal though: six juices a day for three days. Nothing else. Nada. Zilch. Just the juices. 

Chicago Still Has my Heart

All my summer blog posts have been about my travels, so why not write another one on that topic, huh? This time, it will be about my trip home to Chicago this past week. I go home every summer since I have the time off, but this was by far my shortest summer trip. It was only seven days long. Sigh. Because my mom went back to work already and both my dad and brother work everyday and I don't have a car there, they didn't think it was a good idea I stay much longer than a week. Usually I would disagree with that and fight to stay longer but because I was gone for so much of the summer already, I wanted to have some free time in NYC to just relax before work starts again. This summer sure flew by. Eight weeks just isn't enough!!

Everyone that knows me, knows that I love going home. I love hanging out with my family and basically lounging around the house. It's like I never left when I am there. I immediately make myself at home while at home. Obvs. Of course there is pool time and downtown time, and plenty of eating time included too. Even though it was a relatively short visit home, there were many highlights this vacay as per usual.

Nut. Milk.

Nut. Milk.

So for the last three days, I have had a liquid diet of juice. By choice. Yup, no chewing. (Not even gum.) Just juice. Cooler Cleanse fresh-pressed, raw, vegan juice. The night before I began the cleanse I didn't sleep well out of anxiety and fear for not eating real food for three days in a row. Although I received a lot of support from friends and family about this cleanse, it still didn't stop the anxiousness. Most people I told about the cleanse were really supportive and excited for me. I was very appreciative of that. People who hadn't done a cleanse before were kind of glad I was their guinea pig because some of them had toyed with the idea of doing one as well. And those that had done it before had nothing but positive things to say about it. This was reassuring and I was glad to have the support and curiosity. Many people also asked if I was going to blog about my Cooler Cleanse experience. My answer: "But of course!!" I love to over-share. And I'm pretty good at it.

I purposely did this cleanse during the work week to assure myself I would be kept busy during the cleanse and not just be laying around the apartment bored or doing longer workouts and running around doing errands on the weekends. Also the timing of it was just perfect which helped my reasoning about doing it (as explained in my post a few days ago.) I also knew that, regardless of the time, if I was spending $174 on juices, I wasn't spending money on anything else and I was going to do this thing just as it is recommended. So how did it go? Well, thanks for asking!! I am sure I will give you more detail than you ever wanted to hear. Additionally, this is probably the longest post I have written to date (although it's three days worth if information so be prepared), but you know what? This is my blog, so I'll do what I want.

Bring it Juice

I love food. Like really love it. I am not from the school of "eat to live" but from the school of "love to eat." And when I don't eat, look out, I get hangry. That's right, hungry-angry. Hangry. And when this happens, take cover because I am not fun to be around. I get snappy and moody. It's not pretty.

Although I am also someone that does try to eat healthy a majority of the time, I do have my "slip-ups" from time to time. But they are totally allowed. I mean, I am not going to live life with no hamburger and fries. I'm not. That's no fun. Everything in moderation is the key. But really, for the most part, my diet is pretty healthy.

Because I love to eat so much, it may surprise some of you that I want to try a juice cleanse. This is not for the purpose of losing weight, but for cleansing my body AND my mind. I want to challenge my body on a different level than I have before. I usually challenge it with exercise and other physical activities, but by doing a juice cleanse, this is taking it to a whole different level. I want to start Spring on a new, high note and also start the last leg of the school year super-charged and feeling great. My Spring break ends Tuesday night so if I do a three-day cleanse for my three-day work week, it will start off the tail end of the year hopefully very positively. I think it will be a good "reset."

GUEST BLOG: Guilty Pleasures Without the Guilt

Many of my friends have been super supportive regarding my adventures in blog writing. They also happen to be very smart and witty. (Remember you are the company you keep!) I always encourage them to help a sister out and give them an opportunity to express themselves if they so desire. I mean, why should I be the only one able to rant about my life? With that being said, here is a guest blog, the first in looong time. Enjoy. 

If you are like me and a lot of my lady friends, whether you are texting, or talking face-to-face; at least part of your conversations include a confession of indulgences followed by a rationalization or apology. Often, we call these indulgences “guilty pleasures”. 

I started thinking about “guilty pleasures” and suddenly thought…Who the fuck said we had to feel guilty about our pleasures?

After talking about this with a few of my friends, I realized, women, or at least the women I know, feel guilty about pleasures that involve three things.

Our Bodies 

Have you ever found yourself pulling out your hair while watching TV?  Your thumb and forefinger focused, fixated and grasping for that particularly coarse strand or split end, anticipating the pleasure of tearing it out and glaring at it with pride before you let it float to the floor? Or perhaps, you’ve gone to brush your teeth and found yourself absorbed, for 20 minutes or more, pinching, prying and presssing that in-gown hair or pimple, knowing you will not sleep until you are rewarded with the overwhelming satisfaction of release? Maybe you are like Sylvia Plath and you derive “sexual” pleasure from the “illicit sensuous delight” of nose picking...

Hey, I'm on vacay!

I was just home in Chicago for the past week for my winter vacation and as per usual it was great. It was the first time I have been home since July so it had clearly been way too long. I love, love, love going home and being with my family for some many reasons; it's the best.

When I am home, there are many things that I do (or don't do) because I am usually on vacation and therefore feel I can do whatever I want and because I can't necessarily do them on a normal basis in NYC. This winter break, there were quite a few things I did that I haven't done in a very long time. Below are some of the things I did at home this past week I rarely to never do in NYC, if ever, anywhere.

1) Skipped workouts. Hey, I'm on vacation so if I want to just lay on the couch all day long in sweatpants, I can. There's snow on the ground and temps are low which means this is not the best running weather for a person with little motivation at the moment. And did I mention I was on vacay? This means I don't have to anything I don't want to, right? But seriously, this has been the longest stretch of not working out since before I started training for the marathon. As much as I do find running and spinning therapeutic and do actually enjoy it most of the time, if I have to force myself to do it, it loses its fun-ness. (Yes, I really just used that word.) This week off will hopefully give my legs the rest they need and I will come back faster and stronger.

"Feeding" into the cycle

It's not a secret I am always trying to lose weight. Or at least not gain anymore. Ever. It seems that the watching of my waistline never stops. This has been an ongoing issue since high school and I don't think its a fight I am going to win.  Even though I am not at a weight that I am happy with, I do however, consider myself to be very knowledgeable in the area of dieting, nutrition, and fitness because it has been such a big part of my life. It's always on my mind. It seems that 90% of my life is worrying about my workouts and my food. It's awfully tiring.

The diet industry continues to make millions and millions of dollars every year and its because of women like me. And even though I know this, I feed into to fad diets.  And fad diets really are just that: diets. They are not lifestyle changes. People will go on these diets, lose weight, and then once they stop, they gain it right back. When they do this, they either go back to the original diet or they try a new one. I know this from experience. A lot of experience. It's not something that I am proud of, but it is the truth. I wish I was someone that ate to live, but as it happens to be, I am someone that lives to eat. I love to eat. There I said it. Eating is fun. It can be sociable. And it's oftentimes delicious. Food can make me feel better and put a smile on my face. I am not ashamed to say so. However, sometimes its the over consumption of said food that then makes me feel even worse. It's a bad cycle to fall into.

No Bake Deliciousness

I am not a huge sweets person, but every once in a while I get a great urge to bake. However, I hate using my oven. (I have lived in my apartment for about four years now and have used my oven three times. Ah, the trials and tribulations of a single NY woman.) Also, since I live alone I don't like to bake because there is no one else to eat what I make and therefore there is always the chance that I will lack self-control and eat the entire batch of whatever it is I made. I would never just make a pan of brownies for fun because you know what, I would eat ALL of them.

I know this about myself and would not put myself in that situation (ahem, Miranda). Not okay. I don't want do this to myself. But I am not going to say I have or have not done this before. So therefore, the only time I will make something is if I am bringing it somewhere. But hey, that's not going to stop me from licking the bowl! Those calories never count anyway.

Just a Spoonful

Sometimes there is only one utensil I need in my kitchen: a spoon. I could probably survive in life if that was the only utensil I had. There are enough foods out there that can be eaten just with a spoon. Most of these foods are jarred, canned, or in a carton. They are easy to eat and usually go down pretty smooth. However, most of these foods weren't originally made to be eaten plain out of their container. As someone who is usually a rule follower, I am a big rule breaker in these cases and eat them by the spoonful. And yes, I double dip in my own containers. So without further ado, here are some foods that I am often caught eating straight up with my trusty spoon.

1) Nutella. Need I say more? I do not, but you know me, and of course I will. I never really was even that curious about Nutella until I went to Israel a few years ago. I did not like the food there, so for breakfast every morning I had toast with Nutella. And they came in these cute individual cups that I could kick myself now for not stealing. They would have been gone within days back in the US but still very awesome. I am sure I could find them here, but why do that to myself? I would end up storing them everywhere. Purses. Gym bags. Pockets. Anyway, after I came back to the US after living on Nutella, Israeli chocolate bars (yum!!) and McDonalds for ten days, I decided to keep the Nutella in my life. I ate all my chocolate bars within a week of being back and I wouldn't dare continue to eat McDonalds here. I wish I could as it is so delish, but bad for the waistline, but the Nutella habit stayed and I really haven't looked back.

My Love/Hate Relationship with Trail Mix

I have a love. This love also happens to be one of my worst enemies. But I just can't stay away. "Why hello there...Trail Mix."  (This of course being said in a Jerry Seinfeld voice like when he sees Neuman.) (Please tell me you get that reference!!) You see, Trail mix and I go way back and it always starts out great, but then we don't agree so much with each other. Since I have such bad stomach issues (Hello Ulcerative Colitis!), I really am supposed to stay away from nuts, seeds, corn and generally anything high fiber. What goes in must come out as the story goes, so this can become a big issue for me. But sometimes there is nothing better than a post trail mix binge poop. Sorry, I had to go there.

Hmmm...Chi vs. NYC

I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and currently live in New York. People are always asking me which city I love more and I never know how to answer. It's really a toss up. There are really so many things to consider when making this decision. One is the city that I was born and raised in and will always be my home no matter what. I miss it often because it is so great. The other is one that I now consider my home because I have fallen in love with it. In order to try to figure this out a bit, I decided that I was going to look at different aspects of each city and see who has the best to offer. So here we go...

Transportation: New York Wins. In New York, you can take a subway or a bus pretty much anywhere. It's very convenient and also saves me money on car insurance, gas, and parking. (I sold my car before I moved out here.) Chicago is more of a driving city because its so much more spaced out than Manhattan. The L just doesn't go everywhere you need it to in a City as big as the Chi. Many people believe that Manhattan is huge, but its really only like 13 miles long and 2 miles wide. Chicago is enormous. If you really wanted to, you can walk the length and width of Manhattan if you needed to. (I have actually done both on numerous occasions.)

Unhealthy Reading

I read a lot of food blogs online. Mostly about food in NYC and Chicago and learning about which resaurants have the best food in town and around the country as well.  I also watch some food shows on Food Network and The Cooking Channel (Best Thing I Ever Ate, Diner's, Drive-Ins, and Dives, Unique Eats, etc...) Because of the knowledge I gain, I am able to make recommendations to friends in the city and while traveling and use the information myself when on vacation. I also enjoy looking at, what my family calls "food porn;" pictures of specific food items or meals that others post online. Its kind of strange that I enjoy reading about restaurants and food because I rarely eat out. Looking at this stuff online is kind of a mentally unhealthy thing to do since I have such food and weight issues, but its better than eating the actual foods. Instead I stare at them and pretend that I know how good they would taste if I actually allowed myself to eat half of these things.

Because its not good for my wallet or my waistline, I maybe eat out once a week. If money were no object and food didn't have any calories, you better believe that I would eat out all the time. But since I don't make a lot of money and everything that I eat sticks to my ass, I do not have that luxury. However, looking at pictures of these foods and reading about the best of the best, might actually do more help than harm. They give me something to look forward to and I know when I do eat these foods to really enjoy them because I eat them so infrequently.

With all the reading about food that I do, and places I have actually eaten at, I sometimes think that if I had only a few meals left to eat on Earth, what would I eat? Or if I was on death row, what would be my last meal? Well, below are my top five favorite meals.

1. Lou Malnati's. (Chicago) Deep dish sausage pizza with a side of creamy garlic dressing.  I fantasize about this pizza. It's thick. It's cheesy. And and there is a whole LAYER of sausage on the bottom. But this pizza is kicked up another notch with the addition of Lou's  creamy garlic dressing. The extra flavor it gives when you dip is just amazing. If you haven't tried this combo of pizza and dressing, do it. You will thank me later. Hmmm....maybe I should have my mom send me a Lou's-To-Go?

Comforts of Suburbia

Although I consider myself a New Yorker now, I was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago. I never actually lived in the city of Chicago, so I grew up a very suburban life. And I loved it every second of it. After all, we know how "fast" those city kids grow up.

But even though I love living in NYC, there are some suburban comforts that I miss and that I definitely took for granted all these years. When I do go home, I get so excited to do some of these things that I accomplish them all in one day and then spend the rest of my visit bored. So what suburban Chicago comforts do I miss the most?

1) Driving to Target and Costco. Yes, there is now both a Target and a Costco in Manhattan. It also happens to be located a few blocks from where I work which is a total score. I often will run over on my lunch break to pick up a few things if I have time. But here's the thing, city Targets are often so picked over. They run out of stuff so freaking fast. If I can't find something there, I will look online, but sometimes I even have to have my mom run over to the local Target and pick up what I want and send it to me. And without a car, a visit to Costco can sometimes be a difficult task. I can only get a few things at a time and that are easily transportable by bus/train. I can't do a one stop shop. I have to make multiple trips or wait for one of my fantastic friends with a car can take me. I love them for that. And I would never even attempt to head over there on the weekends because its a zoo. It's crowded on the weekends at home, but not unbearable like it is here.

2) Chain Restaurants: Chili's and Cheesecake Factory especially. NYC is home to some of the best restaurants in the country, yet sometimes I just want some Chili's chips and ranch (AMAZING!) or a big salad from the Cheesecake Factory. I really think that Cheesecake Factory would kill it here so I always wonder why there isn't one. After all, there are two California Pizza Kitchen's here that do pretty well (not to mention many other not-nearly-as-good chains.)

 
3) The mall. Specifically Old Orchard and Northbrook Court. Just like with food, NYC has some of the beset shopping in the world. Big flagship stores and cute little boutiques. However, they can be pretty crowded and pretty spread out throughout the city. And the Manhattan Mall on 34th is a joke. When you hit a suburban mall, you get every store you pretty much want all under one roof. And you usually get a Nordstrom too. I miss their shoe department the most. So great. Sigh.

4) Walking barefoot around the neighborhood. Would you walk barefoot on the streets of NYC by choice? Nope. I am not going to lie, but I have walked home drunk and barefoot more times than I can count. I am not proud of it, but sometimes high heels and drunkenness is not the best combination at 3 am. I do however, keep on the lookout for hypodermic needles and glass. Obvi. I am not that dumb. At home, I walk my block barefoot. Feet in the grass. Crossing the street to the neighbors. Shooting hoops in the driveway. Who needs shoes? Puh-lease.

5) Proximity to the Beach. I love the beach. So much. I grew up as a Lake Michigan girl and am not a huge fan of the ocean. As a family we use to go to the beach often and in high school I went all the time, day and night. We were that close to it. A quick 20-minute drive and we were there. In Manhattan, a trip to the beach is an all day (or weekend long) schlep out to Long Island or the Jersey Shore. They are nice beaches, but I miss the lake. And don't even ask why I don't head to Coney Island for the beach. Ick.

As much as I miss these comforts of home, there are so many parts of New York that I would miss tremendously if/when I leave this great city. Growing up with the above comforts/habits has made me who I am today and that is why I miss them so much and make sure to partake in them (and so many other Chicago things) when I go home. But would it really be so bad for a Cheesecake Factory or Nordstrom to open here?  C'mon now.