Mumble Jumble

Hey hey hey 😀 Hope you’re having a fabulous almost-Friday! I LOVE reading all of your name suggestions for the cafe!! I knew you would be an amazing resource and I can’t wait to meet with the owners and pick one out. We’ll let you know tomorrow 🙂

The rest of yesterday started out mellow, then turned into a frantic scatterbrained frenzy.

Lunch was glorious:

I made a Thai-style salad beast, by putting greens, bell pepper, shredded carrot, cucumber, fresh pineapple and 1/2 diced avocado into a bowl

Then topped it off with a dressing made of raw almond butter, rice wine vinegar, cayenne and Nama shoyu and fresh cilantro

Face was rocked 😀

Next time I think I’ll skip out on the avocado, though. The salad had plenty of healthy fat from the almond butter and didn’t technically need more, but the taste didn’t match as well as I thought it would. Mung bean sprouts would be great in this, too 😉

I had a training appointment, came back to the casa to walk the puppers and make dinner to pack up and take to the gym.

Tonight was the Jumble-aya from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan (I’ve made this before, and knew it would be perfect to have after work).

I packed it up into containers to take to the gym, and one for the pilot:

When the batch was finished (using sticky brown rice.. one of my favorite carby delights), I was really, really hankering for some sweets.I didn’t think it would hit me so soon (Lent started THAT DAY) but I think it was the fact that I was subconsciously telling myself to stay away from them. This my friends is why diets are painful and often unsuccessful. What makes you want something more than anything in the world? Telling yourself you can’t have it.

Lent obviously isn’t a *diet* but staying away from sweets has that same forbidden attitude, which should make these 40 days very interesting (and very rewarding when I stuff my face with a Liz Lovely cookie, or three, on Easter).

To fill the *sweets void* I had some brown rice cereal:

 

After leaving the casa and getting to base for pilates, I realized that I left my base ID at home. I did this last week, too, and they will NOT let you on base without an ID. It doesn’t matter how much you beg, tell them you work there, or bribe with raw macaroons… they just won’t go for it. Last week, I drove the half hour home to get the ID then back to base (and missed pilates) but tonight I just wasn’t going to do it. Thank goodness Ashley met me on base to get a visitor’s pass for me (thank you, friend).

Zumba was glorious, and then I came to the squadron to wait for the pilot who is debriefing right now after his flight.

I wrote this post from the squadron bar (yes, they have a bar at their place of employment) and munched my jumble-aya.

Usually don’t mind hanging out at the squadron but I couldn’t wait to get home, take a shower and put some jammies on 😉

The pilot and I came back to the casa and CRASHED!
I’m off to make some green juice, meet Ashley at the gym and then go for a run. I *will not* let the cold get in my way….

See ya this afternoon <3

xoxo,

Gina

Q & A (from the Ask Me Anything page)

You have a huge amount of people that follow your blog, which is awesome! How did you get people to notice it in the beginning?

In the beginning, I just wrote my little heart out about things I know and care about. I also made sure to read and leave quality comments on other blogs (more than “looks good!” but tried to think of something fun and different to say) with hopes that other blog readers and bloggies would visit my blog. I kept on trucking on, and am very fortunate to have the amazing readership I have today.

What exactly is in the Indian dish that you always get? Any other suggestions for healthy, low-cal Indian food?

I LOVE baigan bhartha (pureed eggplant with tomatoes, peas and spices) and dal bukara (which has lentils and spices), with some tandoori roti (whole wheat naan) to scoop everything up 😀 Other low-cal and healthy options are veg jalfreezi (mixed veggies, I ask for no potatoes), channa masala (chickpeas with tomatoes and spices) and (assuming you eat meat) anything from the tandoori menu, which is grilled meat with peppers and onions.

I’m training for a half marathon & trying to lose about 7 lbs. Online I’ve found that I should eat 1395 calories/day to lose, yet I see so many bloggers who eat WAY more than that and maintain a low weight. Any thoughts on this??

I think that during training isn’t a very good time to focus on weight loss goals, as you can inefficiently fuel yourself and result in injury. Some bloggers have super metabolisms, which I wasn’t blessed with, and I know for me, I wouldn’t be able to eat as many calories as they do (or the types of food they do) on a regular basis and maintain my weight. Every body is different and it really is an art to find what works for you. I’d say focus on your half marathon training and goals (making sure to fuel your body with the best nutrients and not worry too much about calories), and if the additional training doesn’t get you where you want to be, tweak your eats once the half is over.

When I’ve seen you have goat cheese on your salads at restaurants, is that on the menu or are you asking for it? Do most restaurants have goat cheese as a substitute in their kitchens?

Many restaurants carry goat cheese, and if they do, I’ll ask for some on my salad instead of whatever cheese is offered. Usually I’ll scope out the menu to see if “goat cheese” is a component of any of the meal options and if it is, you can bet your booty I’m asking for some 😀

if/when you have babies…how many do you and pilot want? Will you raise them vegetarian/pescatarian or no? and will you continue to make menus and be head chef for the cafe even when you move? ps I think you rock 🙂

I want 2, and the pilot wants 100 (haha), so maybe we’ll compromise and have 3? We’ll have to see how all of that goes 😀 We want to raise our kids eating white meat only (organic), with red meat on occasion (kind of how the pilot eats), but if they decide they don’t want to eat meat later on, that’s fine too.

I’d love to continue to make menus for the cafe after I move- I hope it works out that way!

how much do you weigh? you talk about weight being just a number but how do you know if you’re gaining ‘weight” or muscle??

I don’t like to talk about weight on the blog for obvious reasons. That information wouldn’t help anyone and would just make readers compare themselves to me, which is just silly because the chances are very low that they would have the same height, weight, activity level, body fat, and age as I do. Every so often, I pinch myself with the calipers (or have a friend do it) to check my body fat but usually I’ll just go by how my clothes fit. If my jeans are comfy, things are bueno. If they start to get tight, it’s time to evaluate my workout routine and eats (by going through my planner).

what nationality is "the pilot?"

A mix of seksi, hawt, Irish and German 🙂