First Shabbos!

Breakfast

I was so happy to set my alarm for 8 instead of 6:30 on Thursday night and strolled into breakfast with my fixins. I made oats with banana and walnuts which really hit the spot.

I also had some black coffee with a little sugar. Coffee is coffee at this point, know what I mean?

Workout

After doing some easy stretching and letting my breakfast fully digest, I threw on my workout shoes and actually went for a run around the campus. I came up with a loop around the school that starts uphill and finishes downhill. I did it four times and then cooled down on a shady grassy area behind some dorms. Then I did some circuits that I picked up from the Jillian DVD which included jumping jacks, push ups, bicycles, toe touches, high knees, butt kicks, and double crunches. Then I finished up with some more sit ups in my room (cause the grass was attacking me) and stretching.

Lunch

I basically lazed around my room after my shower, anticipating seeing some of my favorite ladies for Shabbos from when I was here last winter. I knew there was going to be intense amounts of delicious food so I wanted to leave plenty of room. The cafeteria kitchen pretty much shuts down on Friday in preparation for shabbos but they do leave some potato kugel. I enjoyed a few pieces with some hummus,

and also and orange. It would be a long time before eating again and this little lunch did a good job holding me over.

The family who housed my roomie Chelsea and I were really nice and the kids were bundles of energy!

Meet my alarm clocks. These two came bursting in the next morning and it's a good thing I can quickly flex my abs because yes, there was stomach jumping.
Both our Shabbos dinner and lunch and third meal were wonderful and we got to spend them with some of our favorite people! As a reminder, part of Shabbos is that no electricity or electronics are used from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday so there are no pictures of the food. But trust me, I was wishing I could have snapped shots of everything because it's always a feast worth remembering!

When Chelsea and I got back to our dorm we met up with our much missed roomie Sam! We decided to go have a little fun in the downtown area of Jerusalem and meet up with Chelsea's boyfriend and some of the guys from his study program.

Preparation.

The girls!
Sam and I went Polish if ya know what I mean!
Chelsea and her boo. Aren't they adorable!?

Breakfast

This morning I was a little late waking up and just barely made it to breakfast. I was in such a hurry that I forgot my camera and I was forced out of my normal oats and had cereal with banana and walnuts and milk (I know, milk! Ahh!) But it's all good. I was just happy to have something in my tummy before classes.

Snack

During a little break between classes I snacked on these rice cakes that my friend Netanya and I went halvesies on.
I dunked mine in my hummus, a winning combo in my book actually.

Lunch

Lunch today was brown rice, peas, and crazy salad fixings. I also had some veggie soup.
I got creative with my rice cakes and spread them with hummus and topped it all with cucumbers, onion, tomato, bell pepper, carrot, green olive and pickle chunks. It wasn't graceful to eat but it was tasty and afterall... it's an all girls school hahaha.
An ity bity green apple for a little something sweet.

Snack

I started a class today learning Hebrew, wooohoooo!! It's going to be tough since I have had no training at all and its seems like many of the girls have been to Hebrew school before. After class I has a little snack of more rice cakes and hummus and peach applesauce. Yum!
Dinner

I totally forgot that I took the battery out of my camera when I went to dinner so there's no photo of dinner tonight sorry! I had flashbacks of my childhood at dinner tonight because there was rice and corn, a dish that always reminds me of my mommy. There was also veggie medley, soy patty, salad, and a really tasty soup that I suspect was made with beef broth....but who really knows.

Right now I'm in the internet room where those of us who were going into internet withdrawls bombarded directly after class. I'm having a weird crampy stomach ache right now and I can't figure out why! I was in a rush more than once today at meal times...maybe I ate too fast? Nothing a good night sleep won't fix.

It's weird to say good night when I know you're all still in the afternoon. It's also weird that Sunday was a school day for me and it's a rest day for you all! It's all backwards up in the Holy Land haha.

Toodles!

Getting Back in Control!

Last night I ended up having a bowl of raisin bran crunch for 'dessert'. Looking back, I really didn't need to have another bowl of cereal. I woke up this morning feeling disappointed with my will power lately and I think it's time for me to get serious about portion control again. If I'm serious about getting fit I need to get serious about healthy portions.

Breakfast

For breakfast this morning I made a batch of my usual banana oats. I just wanted to remind everyone of this nifty extra step! Try cooking the bananas in the pot (raisins opt.) to bring out the extra sweetness in them. It works, trust me!
In the mix

• 1 large banana
• 1 handful raisins
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1 tps. chia seeds
• 1 tsp. flaxseeds
• shake cinnamon
• scoop peanut butter

Accompanying my lovely oats today is a mug of chia tea with a splash of sugar free vanilla syrup and almond milk, and a Women's Once a Day.
My car appointment is at 9:30 this morning so I gotta get a move on it!

See ya!

Lunch at Home is Always Good

Lunch

For lunch I made a tasty sandwich with

• yellow mustard
• romaine lettuce
• sprouts
• grilled red bell pepper
• tomato
• onion
• cilantro
• a little hummus
• salt and pepper

Sliced kiwi, carrots, sugar snap peas, and hummus on the side. And the rest of this diet iced tea for a drink.

A little while later I throughly enjoyed a bowl of my favorite cereal. I really need to get over this stuff!
Opera rehearsal at three, work at six, no rest for the wicked!

Hopefully I will get a chance to practice my italian pieces later today!

Adios!

First Day of Spring Classes

Breakfast

This morning my brother and his crew came over for breakfast before they hit the road for home. I made the biggest batch of oats I've ever made!! In the mix

• 4 large bananas
• 2 1/2 cups oats
• 5 cups water
• cinnamon
• vanilla extract

Once the oats were finished I set up an assembly line of add-ins: raisins, brown sugar, almond milk, peanut butter, and raisin bran crunch.

To mine I added raisins, a little brown sugar, peanut butter, and almond milk.

This is Matt's bowl. We raced to take a picture of it! He definitely won.

Banana oats and Java. Breakfast Perfecta!

Lunch

The first day of classes have been pretty chill so far. My music analysis class only has twelve people as of today! My next class directly after that is a big lecture GE but it is super appealing to me: Intro to Ethics. I never realized that I would probably really enjoy philosophy but I am actually really excited to get into this class!

Lunch was some homemade bean soup that mom packed for me, some sugar snap peas, and some hummus.

A little later I enjoyed my favorite vice: blueberry pecan cereal bahhh!
I have choir tonight at five so I am going to try and utilize my time wisely until then. The weather channel said this morning that it may be rainy by Wednesday :( I think I will try to sit outside and do some reading for my ethics class.

See ya at dinner time!

Sadly, Time to Go Home

Midnight Snack

So even though the kitchen was technically closed for the night, we got to playing some bananagrams and decided to make a midnight snack: quesadillas!

I used hummus instead of cheese and put cilantro, black pepper, and garlic powder on the inside. Oh, and a little guac for dipping of course.
It was so tasty! Who needs cheese??

Breakfast

The next morning I started with a mug of the usual java: hazelnut and soy.
Dad was eating an eggy breakfast sandwich and making it look ridiculously good. I followed suit and made myself a breakfast sandwich that gave his a run for it's money.
Toasted cracked wheat sourdough with

• hummus
• green onions
• grilled eggplant
• tomatoes
• cucumbers
• avocado
• salt and pepper

To round things out I used some homemade grape juice (Mom's idea!) to take this bone health packet. I tasted like a smoothie!

Lunch

It was finally coming time for me to get on the road and go back to Santa Barbara but, as usual, I found a clever way to stall: eat lunch! I had the last of the mushroom and spinach risotto, some split pea soup, and walnut wheat sourdough toast with roasted garlic hummus.
I also had a 5 hour energy with lunch for an extra boost before hitting the road.
A little dessert was some spoonfuls of this amazing raspberry sorbet right out of the container!
Snack

Not pictured for driving safety are some cucumbers, crystalized ginger pieces, a chocolate brownie Z Bar, and an apple that I snacked on while I drove down.

Dinner

When I finally made it back I met my brother and his buddies and a local burrito joint. This is an iPhone picture sorry about the quality! My burrito was a whole wheat tortilla filled with:

• rice
• black beans
• guacamole
• cilantro
• onions
• salsa verde
• pico de gallo
• lettuce

I sliced it in half and put the other half away before I even had a chance to argue with myself!
After kickin it with my brother and his buddies I retreated to my apartment and enjoyed a bowl of my favorite cereal.
I was so tired by the end of the night I slept so hard!

On the Menu: Lunch and Studying

I just got back from my voice lesson which was great. I'm working on some American folk songs and I got to hear what they sound like with accompaniment for the first time today. They are not what I was expecting and I like them much more than I thought I would!

Before my lesson I did a little studying and had lunch. Some of my hearty cream of vegetable soup with a little wild rice, part of a pita and some hummus. I decorated the top of the hummus with paprika, salt, and pepper which of course makes it taste even better!

Cereal for dessert. It's study food!
The sky is looking very gray right now and there are big puffy clouds everywhere. It's supposed to be raining at least by tomorrow but I won't be surprised if it were to pick up any minute now.

My friend Aaron is in an ensemble called B.F.O.M. (pronounced bee-fom) which stands for: Brothas From Otha Mothas hahaha. They're an accapella group who do arrangements of popular songs and they are pretty snazy! Somehow whenever they have a performance something always comes up for me so this time I've committed to going and finally getting the chance to hear them perform. That's not till 8:20 tonight so I'm going to get cracking on the studying.

Till dinna!

The Sweet Tooth Monster Attacked

So, I don't know what was up with me last night but I was having a crazy sweet tooth and I wasn't aware of it in time to talk myself down from some less than amazing choices. It is important to give in every now and then and last night I certainly did.

As a sort of pseudo-dinner dish I mixed up:

• 1/3 cup rice pudding
• small handful chocolate chips
• small handful walnut pieces
• generous shake of cinnamon
• soy milk
• a little maple syrup
• scoop of peanut butter

It was pretty tasty actually and was perfect for relaxing with my room mate and watching "Groundhog Day" on TV. That movie is crazy! I never got to see the end and I really need to know what happened! Bill Murray is my favorite :)

I left to go meet up with some girlfriends of mine to paint tambourines! It sounds a little odd but trust me there is a whole story behind it. It was really fun to go back to arts and craft mode after such a long time!

When I got home I was sort of hungry and well... my cereal addiction kicked in big time. This is definitely not the only mug I had last night. You know, I really wanted it and I let myself have it. It was not the best decision but I can't change it now. All I can do is try to do better today!
I didn't have the best start in the world this morning but I'm making do. I decided that I probably need the extra sleep and ignored my alarm for cycling class. Unfortunately once my brain is awake and turned on there is pretty much no turning it back off so I ended up getting up anyways. I decided to whip up some creamy banana oats for breakfast. In the mix:

• 1/4 cup rice pudding
• 1/4 cup oats
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup plain soy yogurt
• 1 small sliced banana
• 1 Tbsp. milled flax seed
• shake of cinnamon
• splash of vanilla
• very small about of pure stevia
• scoop of peanut butter

Stevia is a natural sweetener derived from the leaves of a plant. I highly recommend it but also advise a lot of testing to find your level of sweetness. It does have a distinct flavor to it that is unlike other sweeteners and I have to be in the mood for it. Other than that it's great and has zero calories.
Notice how the texture of these creamy banana oats is totally different!
Banana oats, green tea, and two Gummy Vites sounds good to me!
Today is one of those long day where once I leave home I'm on campus till 8 o'clock tonight. Bleh. Not my favorite schedule but I'll make sure to pack some awesome snacks to look forward to.

Hopefully I will be able to better fend of the sweet tooth monster today. I'll sure be busy enough that I bet I won't even have time to think about it!