First post EVER!

My mom always said that if I were an Indian my name would be: Girl who plays with food. Please excuse the political incorrectness of that, just know that that statement says a lot about me. I admit, I do play with my food on occasion but truthfully I think food should be fun! Though I’ve graduated from my days of hiding the gravy inside the potatoes and calling it "Mashed Potato Suprise", my attitude towards food is basically the same. Keep it fun, enjoy every bite, and repeat. Since coming to college I began to explore my freedom in more ways than one. Luckily, this journey has lead me to the realization that I am the boss of what goes into my mouth and my body is a beautiful machine that knows exactly what it's doing. It's my job therefore to do the best I can to allow for optimum system function. I began exercising and basically became obsessed with nutrition and fitness. Since my junior year of high school I had stopped eating red meat and in my sophomore year of college I went vegan...dun dun dun! A lot of people think vegan is extreme and well, it is! But it's not hard if it's something you want and you choose to make it convenient for yourself. I like to think of myself like a scientist. I believe what I know until better, more accurate facts come along and when that happens, I need to be prepared to shift my thinking. Going vegan just seemed right to me and I haven't looked back since. Lucky for me, there has yet to be a vegetable I won't eat, I didn't eat much meat to begin with, and I love to cook!

I am currently a third year Bachelor of Music in Voice at the University of California Santa Barbara. I am twenty years old and am a California native. Obviously, music is a big passion of mine ( I sing opera for my major!). I also speak German and love almost all things German. I am Jewish and have recently begun to discover more about this part of myself I've never met before. I am a recovering cheese addict, I am still addicted to TV shows that have to do with crime (my top two are Dexter and Criminal Minds), and my guilty pleasure band is Say Anything.

My goal with this blog is to keep myself on track with staying healthy and motivated. I owe my inspiration to Tina Haupert and her blog Carrots 'N' Cake. Her optimistic, fun-loving attitude about having a healthy, balanced lifestyle is a priceless lesson that I hope to cherish for my entire life. Thank you Tina! Also, I've decided to join Tina in her "Lose The Dough for the Big 3-0" challenge. It started on the 19th so that makes today one week exactly. I've been doing alright so far. I scheduled in workout times and am making an effort to watch what I eat (hence the new bloggizzle).

Breakfast this morning after my 7am cycling class was a tasty bowl of cinnamon apple oats and green tea.

My cinnamon apple oats were:

• 1 cup vanilla almond milk
• 3/4 one large Fuji apple
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats (Quaker)
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1 tsp light agave
• and of course a heaping scoop of peanut butter!

Normally I'm an almond butter type of girl but I went to Costco yesterday... I couldn't help myself. I've decided to switch to peanut butter and I have to say, the salty contrast was quite nice.

There was an extra slice that I just had to eat obviously!

After rushing home from class I whipped out the left overs from dinner last night as quickly as I could! Vegan creamed spinach, roasted brussel sprouts, roasted butternut squash, Hummus (my sustinance) 8 sundried tomato basil Wheat Thins, and some beautiful mango slices.

For a little afternoon dessert, the last piece of the lemon cake with lemon sauce. It needed to go, it was not going to last much longer.

And now I am feeling fuller than I want to...maybe a glass of green tea to calm the bubble belly and I guess now I don't have any more good excuses to avoid my reading :(

Be back at dinner time!!