Super Scooper

Being surrounded by tons of delicious ice cream while either A) stressed out from dealing with customers or B) bored due to lack of customers ... is HARD.


Butter Pecan, Turtle, Black Raspberry, Oreo Cheesecake, Coffee Ripple... the list goes on and on. Not to mention tons of candy toppings and brownie sundaes! Oh my! It's enough to make any girl that cares about her health go running!


Ice cream every once in a while is good. Every day is very, very bad. I am struggling with this so much right now. I go to work every day telling myself I will NOT have any of this. Then I end up taking a bite or two and I justify it because it was just a "sample size." Then at the end of the night I ruin it out of habit. It's late (11pm or later), I'm stressed, and my feet hurt. For 2 years I have been used to grabbing a treat at the end of the night, a milkshake here, a waffle cone there. Now, even when I desperatly want to break this habit, I can't seem to keep from slipping up.


Trust me I have tried many times to completely cut out ice cream when I work. And trust me, every single time it has failed. As soon as you say "NO! ABSOLUTELY NONE OF THIS"... doesn't it just seem that much more appealing?




I need a solution! I know I could easily cut out 5-10 pounds if I stopped eating so much ice cream 5+ times a week...

My [Potential] Solution :

Have a very filling, healthy dinner so I will be full during work and cut down my urge to nibble on ice cream and in turn shove 2 milkshakes down my throat at the end of the night. A lot of times I will grab something for dinner on my way out the door (I almost always work the closing shift... 6/7-11pm). I think having a big (and healthy) dinner will be the first step in keeping myself on track.

Any suggestions?!

Roadtrippin'!

It's been about a week since I last posted, life has been crazycrazycrazy.

I took a road trip last Friday-Sunday to visit with my best college friends. The trip was supposed to take 3 hours... we missed an exit in Atlanta and our GPS took us a new way, a way that added an extra 2.5 hours to the trip!!

However, I didn't mind the 5 + hour drive. It was absolutely stunning! Mountains, farms, little quaint towns, lakes. It was the epitome of a seneic drive.

That Saturday we laid out by a friends pool for 5 hours... BAD IDEA. I was so BURNT and now I am peeling... grossssss. I decided to not wear sunscreen for some stupid reason. I seriously which I hadn't done that, peeling = disgusting.

BEFORE [at a Brave's game a few weeks ago]

AFTER [me 2 days ago, holding up the present I got my sister]

Crazy how different it is?!

I have basically been working non-stop since I've been back. I feel in a slight funk, I've only worked out once this week and I haven't done any yoga. I actually attempted to stretch earlier and it was painful. One thing I have been good about though is ab workouts. I have been doing ab stuff while watching tv at night! I'm really liking this concept, because its an easy way to atleast work some sort of exercise in at the end of the day.

I am supposed to be going out on a boat tomorrow and then going camping at night... but I think I might have to skip the boat for the sake of my skin. It really can't take much more right now.

I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend!!

Keurig Krazy!

My week has been pretty blah. If I haven't been at work, I've been doing housework. Nothing eventful.

I've been doing a lot of yoga lately. I started out doing short yoga sessions as a way to stretch before I worked out... turns out the yoga itself was a work out! I've been doing yoga along with my workouts every day and man can I tell the difference! I use either the Yogamazing podcast or 20-minute Yogadownload.com podcast.

Yesterday, I was able to strongly hold a pose that last week I feel over doing and couldn't even imagine doing for half a second.

On Tuesday afternoon/early evening (4:30ish) I decided I wanted to go for a run for my exercise. Note: I am NOT a runner, for me it is painful and I never run very far. But I wanted to push myself by running outside.

30 seconds into the run I could tell something was wrong, 2 minutes later my lungs were burning worse than I have ever felt and constricting at the same time. I couldn't get a full breath so I walked back home, defeated. Turns out the air quality that day was "Orange: Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" ... having slight asthma, I would put myself in a "Sensitive Group." So I retreated to my air conditioned gym.

On a coffee note!

I am very close to purchasing a Keurig single cup coffee maker! Does anyone own one?

I am going to get the Special Edition B60. It can brew a perfect cup of coffee in 30 seconds (can you say perfect for me in the mornings running out to class??), it has a setting that can allow you to fill a whole travelers mug (again, perfect for class!), there is no mess or cleanup (all you have to do is throw away an empty K-cup).

It's a little bit more expensive than a regular coffee maker but there is no wasted coffee, ever. It's supposedly a perfect cup of coffee every time and you never have wasted coffee sitting in the pot to get cold.

I'm a little bit excited for this :)

Since I've gotten my camera back I've only taken a picture of a few of my eats.... oops!

A couple of days ago I decided to try a Think Thin bar! I went with the peanut butter flavor and I ended up rather enjoying it! It's 240 calories but it packs 20 g of protien into one bar and 0 g of sugar (among many other great things) !

So that was my lunch 3 days ago and for dinner the next day I was craving spinach... weird I know. I looked in our freezer and saw that we had some spinach I decided to make a spinach pasta. It was really yummy.

I cooked the spinach for 6 mins then took it out, added lemon juice and lemon pepper, and cooked it for another min. Then I cooked some whole wheat pasta to go with it. I topped the spinach with the pasta and a little more lemon juice. Then I decided to put a little vinegar on top for an extra taste... except that way more than intended came out! (oops!). Then added some feta cheese on top! (I wanted mozzerella but we were all out). All in all it was a good and very easy dish!

After dinner I decided I wanted to try Tinas Iced Coffee idea to have the next morning!

Mine turned out less than fantastic... thanks for the not-so-wonderful coffee I used to make it. I will defenitly have to try it again when I have some better coffee because I absolutely love the idea of having my own iced coffee in the summer!

Currently drinking: New England Coffee Hazlenut Creme. It's alright... it was on sale at Publix and I decided to try it. It's ok but I'm not in love. C+

Finally Found My Camera!!

Good news! I finally found my camera!! I'm so relieved.

On a not-so-fun note, today was an all-around bad day.

I woke up 2 hours late, sat around watching tv, had to drive my sister around, came home for dinner, and went to work. Work was insane. Beautiful hot day + last day of school = craziness for an ice cream shop!

Well that was depressing... I'm determined to make tomorrow better! Hopefully it will include waking up on time and working out!

Livin La Vida Mocha

If my love of coffee is strong, my love of coffee mugs is even stronger!

I have the beginings of a wonderful coffee mug collection [which I will photograph when I find my camera in my mass of unpacked college stuff], but I still want more!

I went a little bit Flickr crazy looking at all the cute coffee mugs! I love them all!!

This purple one is one of my favorites!

Do you have a favorite coffee mug you own?

Also, I found a recipe for Coffee Jello I might try this week... it sounds interesting...

Magazines!

I'm leaning towards SELF... but I'm not sure yet.

I also am looking for a good summer book...

First Taste

So I don't have any pictures but I tried hummus for the first time in my life the other day!! I have always been scared of it for some reason. But I finally tried it... and I love it!!

I've been making wraps with hummus for lunch the last 3 days!

Also, another new product I tried was Soy Crisps!

They were sooooo good! They taste even BETTER than the Quaker Oats version! I will defenitly be buying these again (on sale for $2!)

As a little treat for eating healthy (Oats every morning, veggie wraps for lunch, and salmon for dinner) I decided to make Rice Krispie Treats with my sister.

Making these brings back memories!

Aloha!

This morning, I ate lunch with my little sister at her elementary school. I loved how all the little kids kept telling me random facts about themselves. ("I'm the second tallest in the class!" "I bought a fish and then it died.") So I was able to enjoy a wonderful cafeteria meal of grilled cheese, tater tots, and a cup cake. yumm.

After that I ate a real lunch. I went to the Corner Bistro near my house and I ordered a small house salad. And when they said small, they meant small. This thing was tiny... good thing I wasn't very hungry! Then I was finally (!!) able to grab my much needed coffee!

But I completely made up for this in dinner! I decided to make a full luau inspired dinner for my family! I had a bunch of Hawaiian party decorations so i decided to go all out!

I grilled salmon (fish is tropical, right?) and then I made sweet potato fries (which I have been dying to try!). The sweet potato fries turned out amazing! Definitely something I will have to do again!

Along with that I grilled a bunch of fruit (pineapple, papaya, bananas, and plantains). The pineapple and the papaya were superb... the bananas and plantains I would never do them again. The bananas and plantains got really hard and it just tasted like cardboard.

To drink I made a random concoction of things. It started out as a strawberry lemonade and then for some reason I decided to add Bacardi Peach Daiquiri Mixers. So the in each drink I had 4 "mushed" strawberries, pink lemonade, and the Peach mix. It turned out so good! However, next time I would probably do less strawberries (4 ended up being too much) and I would probably add some lemon juice to make it a little more tart.

Then for desert we had key lime cake with fresh strawberries and pineapple on the side!

All in all, I would say it was a success!

Ice Cream Will Be the Death of Me

Summer has been so great to me so far! I have been spending much-needed time with friends and I have been able to pick up extra shifts at work!

This past week was National Ettequite Week and I celebrated by going to tea at a tea house in the historic downtown near my home in Georgia.

Yesterday I started back at my job at Bruster's... To say the least, I'm not overly thrilled. I know that I should just be thankful that I have a summer job and that, yes, it is just a summer job... but it's defentitly not ideal. I worked at Bruster's Ice Cream for 2 years in high school and it was a wonderful job then... I tried looking for an office job at the 100's of medical offices near me but noone is hiring...

One obsticle I face with working at Brusters is simple

ICE CREAM.

I love ice cream. I love trying all the different flavors (we have over 200 special flavors we rotate and that are made fresh in the store each day). However, that much access to ice cream is NOT helping in my goal to loose weight this summer. Last summer when I left Brusters to go to school, I lost 10+ pounds in the first few weeks just because I wasnt eating ice cream...

So now, with the thought of all of this on my mind, I am going to go do some yoga and then head to the gym before my shift tonight!

Back On Track

SUMMER!

Home sweet home. I'm not really sure how I am going to survive my first summer home from college... I guess we will see.

One great thing about being back home is the fact that I have a kitchen!!! How amazing! Being in college with a worthless mealplan, no room to cook, and a microwave as your only device makes being home with a full kitchen seem marvelous.

All of my friends and I have been complaining for about 4 weeks now about how we need to start working out again/eating healthy. We all let finals and general end of the year-ness get to us. I can't tell you the last time I have eaten something healthy...ugh. And working out? Yea, I couldn't tell you the last time I did that either! Sheesh.

Today is Sunday and I am declaring it the begining of getting back on track!

This morning I woke up at 10! (MUCH better than my 1-2 PM rut I was getting into)
For breakfast I had 2 eggs, scrambled, with wheat toast and cranberry juice.

Now it's time for lunch... I'm feeling a salad.

I won't have any pictures for a while... my camera is still packed away somewhere with all of my stuff in the garage...

5 Hours Til Freedom!

SUMMER

I have a final at 4 then im DONE

"Sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprevation."

Yet another late night (and to think it's still early in the 'late night' ahead)...

I sit here gripping my 3rd Venti Skinny Hazelnut Latte of the day... Is it healty? Probably not. But I just keep telling myself that these are only 2 weeks out of my ENTIRE life. That seems to be helping with the motivation to keep moving along.

I don't exactly remember the last time I had a full nights sleep... I think it was last Wednesday night... Wow that is really depressing to think about. Shesh. BUT I will be able to sleep in this Thursday because it is Dead Day before finals start! That is exciting...

Ben Harper and Citizen Cope will be performing in Auburn tomorrow for AU students to celebrate the end of classes and I am PUMPED!!!

400 Million Cups A Day?!

Way to go America! American's consume over 400 million cups of coffee a day.

That makes me feel better about my 10 cups. :)

Speaking of 10 cups of coffee... This weekend killed me. I am completely exhausted. I can't go out ever again (or atleast until next fall). For some reason I have been living up my last 2 weekends here to the fullest and it is taking a big toll on my body. I could go to sleep right now and it's only 8 pm... but nope, I have a 10 page paper due tomorrow, 2 exams on tuesday, lab final wednesday, and then finals start Friday.

Ugh. I'm complaining...

On a brighter note!!

I had a first date this afternoon!!

We met through friends and he asked if he could take me to lunch today (since we both had crazy schedules starting at 1 pm until late tonight). He picked me up, paid, opened the doors. All the right things :) Not to mention he is a strong Christain, a bit of a dork (my type), and studying to be a doctor. Perfect? We will see. :)

As stressed as I should be, I am still so giddy!!

I really wish he and I could talk more... I have to use every once of my will power to not text him and wait for him to initiate. I know that is the best thing to do...
ahhh dating.

Flopping

I haven't any 30 Day Shred workouts in over a week!

And I haven't eaten anything healthy in who knows how long!

I have been eating out at least twice a day this whole week (there are a lot of Philantrophy events being held at resteraunts around campus right now and my sorority gets spirit points for going).

Ugh.

Finals are quickly aproaching and I am NOT ready... I need more hours in the day...

Anybody know a cure for procrastination? haha

Whole Latte Love

I am taking a short paper-writting break... (a.k.a. procrastinating... again...)

This week has already been extremely busy for me and it's only Tuesday!!

Currently I am working on my final research paper for my English class. We were able to choose one topic to cover for the entire semester and then write a research paper about that topic at the end of the semester.

I picked to do mine on coffee. Surprise, surprise. hehe

I knew from the moment I started researching everything that I had fallen in love with this subject. Of course I already knew I loved the drink but who knew there was so much to learn on it!! Every time I sit down to do research I feel a little guilty because I feel like I am just reading for pleasure, when I'm really not! (What a great feeling!)

But now it's crunch time and I really need to get my paper done.

Actually I need to get all of my studying done... I am not ready for finals in one week... uh oh!

After years of waiting...

About to leave to go see Wicked in Birmingham!! I can't wait!!

Morning Ya'll!

I had to wake up 2 hours early to take a calculus exam I missed when I got sick. I wasn't excited when I was waking up but once I was out of bed I was glad I got up early!

However, this is not a typical morning.

My typical morning include me laying in bed until the VERY last second. I will stay in bed, hitting my snooze button, until 8:45 for a 9 am class...

I know that a lot of it has to do with getting to sleep earlier than I normally do but I would also not like to feel like I got hit by a bus every morning! Mornings are miserable! I cling to my coffee for dear life all day long, without it I would be extremely unproductive.

Anybody have any tips/tricks to make waking up easier??

This morning I had Kashi Heart to Heart oatmeal topped with almonds and the VERY yummy Bear Naked granola. Along with my Starbuck's Breakfast Blend coffee!

I love love love Bear Naked Apple Cinnamon granola! It was SOOOO good!

Off to a full day of classes...