No matter how much you may love your life–your daily routine, your meals, your workouts, etc.–there’s always a time for change. I’ve been making some changes lately and loving them…so let’s get to it, WIAW-style! (P.S. These are all my meals from Monday)
Breakfast: grain free almond joy pancakes (almond flour, raw cacao powder, unsweetened coconut shreds, cacao nibs, raw cacao protein powder ‘frosting’), roasted kabocha.
I’ve been moving away from my beloved homemade buckwheat waffles to grain free pancakes. I change my breakfasts up every few months and now I’m on a pancake kick, especially almond or peanut flour based pancakes. They’re not pretty but they’re tasty and easy to whip up and change around. The almond joy inspired combo is a real winner…I can’t believe I hated coconut for so long!
My new hair (and new-ish dress).
I had a long overdue hair appointment on Friday. Seriously, I hadn’t gotten it done since August, yikes. I got more blonde highlights added and took the plunge and got full bangs, rather than my usual sideswept. I gotta say, I love my new bangs. I feel more adult and fashion-y, if that makes any sense.
Lunch part 1: green smoothie (made with unsweetened almond milk, spinach and Sunwarrior vanilla).
I don’t do smoothies a lot (they’re too filling for me, and I’d rather eat my calories) but I wasn’t feeling a salad today so I went for my greens in smoothie form. I actually didn’t finish this because it was getting too filling, but it was pretty delish. I think I’ll be doing more green smoothies for lunch this semester on busy days.
Lunch part 2: Whole Foods salad bar leftovers.
Sorry for the millions of Instagrammed WF salad bar photos–can you tell I’m obsessed?! I’ve just been trying to get my fill of the salad bar while I’m still home on break because as I’ve said before, the WF near me at school has a subpar salad bar. Though, I haven’t been there in over 5 weeks, so maybe they’ve improved it…? I celebrated the Golden Globes on Sunday with half of this box, and saved the rest for Monday’s lunch. Leftovers have never tasted better!
Snack (reused photo, minus the bok choy): half garnet yam with peanut flour ‘frosting’, sunflower seed butter, mini dark chocolate chips and chopped dried fig.
As you may have noticed, I haven’t been eating too many grains lately. Not necessarily on purpose (oh and BTW, I am NOT going paleo, I could never eat all that meat/eggs), just because I’ve found that other things are more appealing to me, plus I just like to switch things up and I’m actually doing a lot more experimenting now without relying on grains for most of my meals. Anyways, my favorite snack at the moment is a sweet potato/yam topped with SSB, peanut flour paste, dried fruit and chocolate chips. Sweet potatoes are a great filling snack option, and they’re just amazing topped with nut butters and chocolate. Trust me, it sounds weird but when the chocolate gets all melty, you’ll understand my obsession.
Dinner: peanut coconut curry kelp noodle stirfry with kale, pineapple, peanut flour and edamame.
I’m so glad I discovered kelp noodles, because they’re my favorite easy go-to dinner lately. They don’t add any weird taste and soak up other flavors easily so they’re perfect in stirfrys. I know a lot of people like using spaghetti squash as a pasta replacement and as much as I love squash, the spaghetti variety isn’t my fave. Kelp noodles are also a veggie-based pasta replacement (a sea veggie, so they have a lot of minerals!) but I just like them better, and there’s minimal prep work involved with them.
Dessert: PB chocolate protein microwave cake topped with sunflower seed butter, mint chocolate almond milk ice cream, Alter Eco dark mint chocolate square.
This is a normal dessert for me, but I’m planning on switching it up. I like having some protein before bed to keep me from getting hungry, but I’m going to forgo my usual almond or coconut milk ice cream for awhile. It’s kinda expensive to buy (even just twice a month like I was doing) and has a lot of sugar. I’ve been cleaning up my eats a bit lately and am trying to go for more natural sugars. Even though the ice creams aren’t unhealthy or as sugary as normal ice cream, I just need to take a break from them for awhile and try out different desserts like banana softserve, nuts and dried fruit, etc. But the daily dark chocolate habit won’t be changing anytime soon 😉
Have you been making any changes in your life lately? What’s your go-to breakfast?
Those pancakes definitely look delicious; I used to hate coconut as well, but now I love it!! I actually love drinking smoothies, as I have found they are a great way to get in extra servings of veggies:) Some days I don’t think I eat ENOUGH grains, which leaves me with a desperate craving for bread and potatoes in the evening:) So I think I will be trying to incorporate more into my diet, especially since your body uses mostly carbohydrates for fuel, as opposed to protein or fat. And being a dancer, I definitely need that fuel. Not that I am saying your decision is bad; it is just what I am trying to do! I have never had a sweet potato paired with chocolate, but it sounds so decadent! I agree that coconut and almond based ice creams are quite expensive, which is why we don’t buy them too often. But when we do, I try to make them last as long as possible–they are so delicious. Though I don’t have just one “go-to” breakfast, I love eating pancakes with almond butter, green smoothies, or oatmeal.
Oh don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against grains (I love me some quinoa and buckwheat!) but I’ve just been trying to go without them lately to see how they affect me!
Pancakes with almond butter are amazing! I ran out of AB awhile ago so I think a purchase is in my future soon!
Yes, I didn’t think you had anything against grains; I am sure you love them:) Good luck with your experiment!
I have a jar of sunflower seed butter I was getting tired of eating on toast so I’ll have to try it your way on a sweet potato 🙂 Thanks for the idea!
It’s sooooo good on sweet potatoes, you’ll love it!
i have yet to try spinach in a smoothie, looks good though
It seems really weird, but honestly I can’t taste the spinach at all and it makes it a pretty color.
I looooooooooooooooooooooove your haircut! :] I’ve tried to get one like yours but it just makes me look like a small child and since I’m almost nineteen, that’s definitely not the look I’m going for! >.< It really suits you though :']
I love, love, love smoothies as well but like you, I'd rather eat than drink my calories. Sometimes it's good to have a change though! :] I usually put a banana, milk, natural or vanilla yogurt, cinnamon and vanilla in my smoothies…So delish! I've wanted to try putting spinach or other greens in my smoothies but I've just been too scared to try ;[
At the moment my 'go-to breakfast' is a small tub of yogurt with a chopped banana and topped with cinnamon :] I'm only slightly obsessed with yogurt and cinnamon at the moment! Haha
Awwwww thanks 😀 I wish I had had a banana to put in my smoothie, they always make them way more delicious!
Love your hair, girlie! I’m due for a hair appointment soon and I’ve been toying around with the idea of replacing my side swept bangs with full ones, but I’m still kind of undecided. I guess I’ll have to wait till I’m sitting in the chair to see what I end up with 😀 As for breakfast, mine has been the same for MONTHS – yogurt bowls with cereal, fruit, and almond butter. Love them too much to change them just yet. But I’ve been trying to make other changes with my eats by making my meals bigger in an attempt to snack less. I mean, I love snacking and all, but feeling hungry all the time and constantly picking away at things throughout the day gets a little bit annoying sometimes.
Thanks girl! I always make my hair decisions last minute, and I (usually) don’t regret it!
I’m excited to read more about your meal changes. I have the same issue with snacking and I’ve been thinking about increasing my meals so I can’t wait to see what you think about it.
Ahhhh I LOVE your new hair! Gorgeous 🙂
Awww thanks!!!
I absolutely adore your hair!! You are just beautiful girl.
Thanks girlie 😀
Your hair looks great girl! Love the full bangs! Very stylish.
Aw thanks! I’m glad I took the plunge and got them cut.
I’ve been craving pb and microwave cakes for the past three days for breakfast :P. i also had a smoothie this morning, but i kind of want to try something completely different for my daily breakfasts….
Haha I have such a problem with breakfast ruts! First it was overnight oats, then smoothies in a bowl, then pancakes, then waffles and now pancakes again.
I’m loving your hair! So pretty! And congrats on all the changes:)