elyssa: clean week, version 2.0

location: toronto

wondering where you are. the things you've seen. the places you've been. the food you're eating. italy seems both exotic and familiar. maybe that's because i'm writing this sitting in my favorite italian cafe.

fancy coffee day with the law school girls - a weekly tradition

at l'espresso bar mercurio.

remember when we went there together?

don't worry, in your absence, i'll keep our baby blog alive.

the boy and i had a momentous weekend. on sunday, we hunkered down for 'planning day'. we sifted through our hopes, dreams, and fears for the next 12 months. it was terrifying, but ultimately - rewarding. the day began with muffins - recipe from nutrition nut on the run:

the warmth of pumpkin filled the entire apartment.

and ended with pizza. the boy really enjoyed the 'build your own' aspect :)

girl's pizza: whole foods spelt crust. garlic and thyme infused olive oil. goat gouda. spinach. figs.

boy's pizza: portabello. bell pepper. mozzarella. homemade marinara.

turns out i'm a vegan that eats eggs, goat dairy, and sushi (on a regular basis) - and cream, meat, and poultry (on rare occasion). so, not a vegan - but yea, that's how i choose to self-identify because most of the time i eat like this:

pea and spinach soup from fall soup frenzy I

chia wheat-free bread with nutritional yeast

grilled tofu. homemade marinara. wilted spinach. goat gouda.

planning day was definitely food-heavy - but calories don't seem to factor in on those very special days when the air outside is cold and damp, and inside the mood is warm and happy - cocooned by love.

homemade pumpkin latte.

almond milk. vanilla. dollop of pumpkin - gently heated.

mixed with espresso. more almond milk. foam. cinnamon.

days like that make me feel like this:

thomas kinkade: a cheesy favorite.

new challenge:

thanksgiving (canadian) is around the corner, and seeing that it's the beginning of a new month - i declare this clean week. this clean week is different from the previous incarnation. this week i'm focusing on mindful eating and minimal splurges - without extracting the little pleasures that bring me so much joy in my day to day eating. if i want to drown my breakfast souffle in agave in the morning, so be it. i'm just trying to make sure it all evens out at the end of the day.

i'm happy to report that we're 1 month into school and i'm still maintaining a strong exercise regime. i took a moment to compare my exercise schedule from last september (2009) - and i definitely wasn't hitting up the gym nearly as much as i am now. for my overall health and mental alertness, i do best when i exercise 6 days a week. some days include a rigorous kickboxing session, other just a long drawn out yoga practice - but i need to get my blood flowing each of those 6 days. on the 7th, i rest. completely rest.

september success.

the elliptical as of late has looked unappealing and just all around boring - so i've been incorporating more high intensity interval training (HIIT). i can do this on the treadmill at home, or at the gym. with music, or without. with tv, or without. it just comes naturally, and offers tremendous stress relief. 30 mins total. lately i've preferred 1 minute intervals - 1 of rest. the following as fast as my legs will take me. you look like a maniac that can't sustain a normal running pace for the life of them - but the time passes quickly, and the workout is effective.

current obsessions:

making a huge slow, slow cooked batch of homemade marinara. kidney bean corn soup. yoga with friends. coffee from the french press.

elyssa: the perfect friday

location: toronto

just stopping by to say hello and recount my splendid day. today marks my 2 year anniversary living in my little apartment in the heart of downtown toronto. i can't believe how fast the time has passed.

it was the view that sold me.

but it's the little things that make it home.

anthropologie cabinet knobs (a gift from the boy).

october started off right with an orange monster:

run to your kitchen and make this now: half frozen banana. half cup pumpkin. almond milk. protein powder. tad vanilla extract.

cessy approves.

and yes, i've taken to freezing my bananas (mainly so people dont eat them all when they come over..)

whole foods had a sale on pumpkin!

not the grocery store shelf, but my own pantry.

peppers at a bargain as well.

dal as promised - thrown on a piece of kamut bread.

the air was brisk and cool, so after morning yoga and church —> i put my homework aside and went shopping for new workout clothes.

from the gap: gfast capris + fit tanks in various colors. thank you 30% off coupon - AND from roots: tara tank and what i now believe to be the greatest shirt ever: the batwing top. thus ends my quest for class-friendly gym wear.

a stopover at winners for a discount yoga towel like this one.

last but not least, new boots - the nine west tierney. 30% off. yay.

finishing off the evening with sushi and gossip girl reruns before it's back to the books.

the sushi restaurant down the street from my house is my life. it's the boy and i's go to place - we've been there 100s of times in the 2 short years i've lived here - mostly at 1 am for only a roll or a shared miso soup. if ever i could hope to be recognized as a 'regular', it would be at sushi inn - my 2nd home.

next week is going to be clean week, version 2.0. more on that to come. for now, i'm excited to go do some HIIT downstairs on the treadmill and break in my new workout clothes.

current obsessions: traveling (paris, all of a sudden?). kidney beans. deciding what to do for tomorrow's nuit blanche. regular coffee (i know).

elyssa: getting back on track

location: toronto

week in review:

toronto is bustling with limos and escalades. paparazzi and celebutantes. the whole city comes alive for two weeks every september to host the second most important film festival in the world (second only to cannes). as rail thin women in designer gowns traipse up and down my street, it would be easy to entertain thoughts of inadequacy, but i am forever comforted by my newfound (if struggling) focus on health, not weight.

i'm rethinking the notion of the 1 week challenge. clean week was a disaster on many levels. while my intentions were good - i did end up feeling deprived - and that as we know - can only lead to bad places. i threw clean week to the wind on friday and indulged in a day on the town with the boy and his sister. we had thai, and chocolates, and sushi. oh my. everything tasted so good.

there were some delightful clean meals at home (the problem wasn't what i ate - but the quantities and mood with which i approached my food)..

turmeric eggplant and spinach

butternut squash with apples, topped with earth balance

the best thing about clean week? i'm now on 10 consecutive days of yoga. some days at the gym. some days at home. some 2 hrs. some only 20 mins. i am happy that my practices are showing increased skill, but most importantly - i am happy that i practice everyday not because i feel compelled or forced, but because i genuinely crave a bit of yoga in my day. it is because i love yoga so much that it always naturally finds a slot in my routine - and for this, my dear, i thank you. you gave me yoga.

new challenges:

the food part of clean week went a bit iffy, but my body is feeling rested and renewed. today i got back on track with my exercise and felt better than ever. as i return full time to school, the goal is to exercise vigorously without going overboard. the latter part being the key. i have to remember that when i push myself too far, i will inevitably be too tired the next day to exercise properly, resulting in disaster. moderation: it's an art.

- take more precautions to avoid overtraining (like no weights on consecutive days)

- keep up the yoga

- incorporate HITT (high intensity interval training) into days when i don't want to slug away at the elliptical for 40 mins

- push myself to moderate naturally (avoid obsessive calorie counting)

lastly, this week i've learned the importance of respecting what my body craves. i want to take the time to identify what it is that my body really wants - i.e. i'm thinking of cake, i must need carbs, seek healthy carbs, instead of devouring a random slice of cake. today i craved pb and banana - and i gave myself just that, with a bit o' pumpkin and cinnamon, on a sandwich thin. it kept me happy for a long time..

current obsessions:

celeb spotting. watching old episodes of the OC. baking the perfect vegan orange cake. planning an anniversary dinner to share with le boy.

elyssa: starting clean week

current location: hamilton (the boy's new house)

week in review:

bonjourno, lovely! hope italia is treating you well. i am in a less romantic location - hamilton (aka steel city), ontario. the boy finally fled the parental nest and has moved in with his friends. the transition has been umm..interesting..but i've stuck around to get him all settled in. i arrived friday night after 3 hours on public transit (one of his self-imposed conditions for leaving the house was giving up his car..oh my). i brought this cranberry coconut pumpkin banana loaf as a housewarming gift:



i adapted it from angela's cherry banana coconut butter bread. minus 1 banana for the added pumpkin. a bit ad hoc (can you tell i'm not a baker?), but it came out perfectly. i'm so excited for this new boy's house thing. they're absolutely uninspired when it comes to eating - giving me the opportunity to make and bake absolutely anything i want, freeze it, and send it over for emergency meals. yay, i have guinea pigs!

my weekend here has been blissfully free from calorie counting, but full of healthy choices. a salad instead of a particularly dense wrap. a shared dark chocolate bar instead of a starbucks carbtastrophe. ohh and we made our own fro-yo! what started as a tragic reaction to our inability to drive up the hill to get some yogen fruz from the movie theater, ended in one of the more triumphant moments of our relationship. 1 tub greek yogurt + a bit of raw sugar + dark chocolate chips + some frenzied whipping action and into the freezer for a couple hours. remove every 30 mins and whip some more and you get delicious, legitimate, crave-worthy frozen yogurt. see david lebovitz for details.

one of our less triumphant moments? boy asks what i want for dinner. i (stupidly) say: 'make whatever you want, honey. i want to see what you can do' (assuming he knows the no red meat deal still holds). boy enters cheapo grocery store. boy returns with veal. i grimace. boy cooks veal, promises to makes side of black beans for girlfriend. boy gets flustered cooking and inserts black beans into veal hodgepodge. with hot sauce. i dont do veal. i dont do hot sauce. i starve. canned green beans to the rescue.

need to get back home asap for some green monster action. i miss them so. in the meantime, i continue to take as many free starbucks and poor-man's fro yo as the boy can give.

new challenges:

this past week i suffered from binges, insomnia - you name it. around wednesday night last week it hit me - my body is exhausted. while i am always careful to integrate rest days into my workout regimen, i think i need a rest week. then i remembered my plans for clean week, and i figured it would be good to integrate the two. without the break, exercising becomes tedious..it no longer stimulates me mentally..and my body is in a permanent state of soreness. like the boy said: 'we exercise to feel good. why do we keep doing it when it makes us feel bad?' ergo, the exercise hiatus. the goal is to exercise less, and eat less - and to get everything readjusted to more balanced levels in preparation for the new school year.

- replace intense circuit/interval training with long, relaxing, slower spin bike sessions (avec a magazine or book) - just to keep the sweat in my daily routine
- go to as many yoga classes as possible, and keep yogaing at home
- eat clean:
no dairy (not even the beloved espresso con panna)
no refined anything (sugar, wheat etc)
actually, no sweeteners (no agave, stevia, honey..any of that. i find it's the only way to reset the palette to appreciate true sweetness)
no eating out

i dont intend for this week to be one of restrictions. for every no comes a gazillion yesses. i'm going to cook a lot. eat a wide variety of whole foods. keep the intake down, but nutrients maximized (and make sure i'm getting lots of protein to retain muscle development!)

blog moment:

discovering teri's words on relationship eating

current obsessions:

artisana coconut butter. getting my hands on some glo bars. zac efron. lentils.

elyssa: dinner party madness

location: back and forth from toronto to hamilton

midweek check-in:

so i've mastered eating alone - but who wants to be a sad old spinster that eats alone with the cat? when i'm by myself, the urge to monitor and moderate comes naturally. i dont want to eat 50 grapes - i just want 10. i savor. i notice taste and texture. in a crowd, this skill pretty much disappears. in my experience, the best way to handle moments of weakness is to do what i told you i did at last week's party. go upstairs. take a moment. return to your center (like in yoga). i did this at the boy's house yesterday. his ever-gracious mom was of a mind to force feed my dad and i unlimited homemade crepes. while delicious, i stopped at half a crepe. i was able to resist her urges to eat more by taking a minute to excuse myself and recommit. sounds ridiculous? well, it works! did i experience guilt for just this half? yes, a little bit. while i try not to get caught up in a negative relationship with food (i take my inspiration here from your lovely positive relationship with the cupcake lol), honestly, it's probably because the crepe isn't my preferred indulgence of choice. nevertheless, the situation was handled quite nicely. good thing, because crepes, cinnamon buns, and strudel are a weekly occurrence in the boy's household :)

current challenges:

the exercise regime is on track (i still have lots of time on my hands as summer draws to an end). i am, however, starting to become aware of the rapidly approaching shift in pace that the new school year will bring. my current goal is to spend no longer than 2 hours at the gym. while that sounds like a long time, usually 1 hour is dedicated to a yoga class. so, that leaves only 1 for cardio and strength. on days when i don't do yoga, i like throwing in a bit of elliptical and weight machines before a class. on those days, i can do a quick yoga practice/stretch at home before bed. the point is not to spend my life at the gym. more goals to be posted on sunday!

tonight i'm hosting a dinner party! on the menu: lentil casserole (a la angela), maple glazed chicken legs, roasted vegetable salad (yes, i roasted those vegetables one by one), and pots de creme (aka dark chocolate creme brulee) with whipped cherry topping for dessert. i'm always nervous for dinner parties because it's easy to cook entirely 'my style' and have people wondering 'where was the meat?!' or 'what do you mean, NO sugar?' - so i try to achieve a happy balance all around. chicken is scary as well because when chicken is the star of the show, you want to make sure its not umm..boring. ergo, the maple glaze. i also tried a new technique: leaving it to brine overnight in a sugar/salt 'bath'. we'll see how it turns out!

current obsessions:

cinnamon (hello, fall!), pumpkin (thank you, angela), balsamic reductions (not the healthiest, but sugar + balsamic + slowly boiled = always amazing), getting pictures up on this blog (soon!)