Almost Wordless Vacation Recap

So I haven’t been on the computer in a week, and it honestly felt so freeing to just forgo technology (well, besides my phone and iPod) and just enjoy a few days of fun with my family. I also had an extra day away because I had to go up to my college town for some job training for my weather anchor position at the school’s TV station. I’m actually starting to get pumped up for school to start in just a week–well, maybe not school but having my own apartment and being on TV.

Anyways, here’s my mostly wordless vacation recap of my trip to Estes Park, CO with some words at the end about my intuitive eating/exercise experiment!

The cheese-free individual-size hummus pizza at Poppy’s…I devoured it all!

The view of Fall River from the condo.

Tanning by the pool.

Noodles in the deep end of the pool.

A mini Stanley Steamer model (steam-powered car) in the EP Museum.

Spicy sweet and sour tofu & veggies at Thai Kitchen…super spicy, but so good!

Sissy time!

The view from our hike around Lily Lake.

Tall iced soy skinny mocha enjoyed by the Big Thompson River.

Some awesomely bright flowers!

First time trying the Coconut Bliss brand of coconut milk ice cream–verdict = so good, even for the insanely high price ($6/pint). I had some chocolate hazelnut ‘ice cream’ topped with fresh raspberries.

The coolest owl cookie jar!

This really cool, super-vintage looking church just outside EP. It was even cooler inside!

The Big Thompson river.

First time trying vegan sushi! I had the sweet potato rolls filled with Japanese sweet potato, avocado and cucumber. And I loved the pickled ginger on the side.

Me and my sister down by the river.

I think I honestly kicked some serious ass on my self-imposed intuitive eating and exercise challenge. I didn’t record any of my meals or exercise in the calorie counting app I have since last Tuesday and I didn’t freak out (too much) about my macro balance. I feel like I ate more than I usually do, which I know is still probably not enough, but it was definitely a start. I feel like my meals out were pretty balanced–the first night, I had a small vegan pizza covered in veggies; the second night I had a Sunshine veggie burger (without the bun) topped with fresh guacamole; the third night I had sweet and sour tofu and veggies with a little brown rice on the side; and the last night I had a strawberry, spinach and walnut salad with balsamic and some vegan sushi. I honestly loved all the dinners that I had and didn’t have too much of a problem finding something healthy and vegan at the restaurants we went to. I challenged myself to try the Coconut Bliss brand of coconut milk ice cream despite it being higher in calories and saturated fat than my tried-and-true brand. I skipped my usual cardio circuits but was not a couch potato–I played tennis with my dad for an hour one day, walked around town a lot, went on a hike and did some swimming in the condo’s pool. I felt a little more comfortable in my skin than I usually do at home, despite wearing just a swimsuit a lot of the time. I tried a lot of new-to-me things, had some old favorites (veggie straws, baby carrots and PB Puffins, say what?!) and didn’t try to think too much about the food. Overall, the 5 days I spent intuitively eating were some of the best days I’ve had in awhile, and I want to try to keep eating the same way. Now that I’m home, I have more access to veggies, protein, etc. but that doesn’t mean I can’t keep eating more adequately and enjoying my food. And while I’m excited to go back to my regular exercise, I realize that a few days with less intense workouts won’t kill me. So I’m going to try to live every day like I did on my vacation–without the pool time, of course 😉

Do you eat intuitively or plan out your meals? Have you ever had vegan or vegetarian sushi?

WIAW: Randomness

Some weeks, I just don’t get around to taking pictures of all my meals for WIAW. Blame it on laziness busyness. I was running around like a crazy person this last weekend and I kinda forgot to snap some pics of all my food. Most of it was pretty boring (aka using up whatever I could find at home since there wasn’t much Ashley-friendly food) but with the stuff that was good, well…I was too busy having fun to really remember to get pictures.

So for this week’s WIAW, it’s pretty much some random food pics that I managed to take within the past couple of days, plus some non-food stuff (aka outfits and such). Oh, and a random survey. Just the way I roll. Random is good, peeps.

Peas and Crayons

Early morning breakfast (hence why the lighting sucks). Coffee overnighters topped with PB Puffins. Probably my favorite overnight oats combo right now.

What was the last thing you bought? The necklace in the picture below. Not even kidding. I’ve been dying to buy the owl necklace since I first saw it and I finally had to cave and buy it online, since I never saw it once in any American Eagle store. Stupid shipping & handling, but it’s well worth it for this beauty.

This picture looks reallllllllly awkward. I was wearing a grey lace-front shirt so it's kinda see-through. But the owl really pops!

What’s the weirdest thing anyone’s ever asked you? If I’ve skipped a grade. IDK where that came from, especially since I didn’t know the person who said it. I guess I am small for my age, though. Someone thought I was a HS freshman when I was a senior. Ugh.

A GIANT date! Okay, so it doesn't look so big, but trust me, it was like almost the size of my palm!

A typical yogurt mess: plain Greek yogurt mixed with blueberry protein powder, topped with Bear Naked Fit triple berry granola. It's even better in a pink bowl.

Best Halloween costume? Oh gosh, I loved so many of them. I was a blue M&M once (funny story: a few years after I wore this costume, a guy in my class said he was going to be Eminem for Halloween, and I was so naïve that I said “What color?” since I thought he was talking about M&Ms. Silly child!), bride of Frankenstein and a pirate. Uh, yeah, I think that was my favorite, since I wore obnoxious boot covers with jangly coins on them. I like being loud.

Amazing froyo (when is it ever NOT amazing)? Irish mint swirled with Oreo froyos, topped with raspberries and strawberries. Bliss in a cup.

What are you wearing right now? Look at the picture below. That’s exactly it. A light yellow hoodless sweatshirt from Hollister (hand-me-down from the lil sis. Anyone find that weird?), khaki twill shorts from Hollister and got-wet-in-the-random-rainstorm tan mocs from American Eagle. This is what I consider casual.

I used to be scared to wear yellow. Silly me.I'm really into playing around with the color and saturation of photos. It's kinda an obsession now.

 

What is your favorite food that your mom makes? Definitely this really really good chile lime pasta (usually with shrimp). She totally came up with the recipe on her own, and it’s super simple but delish. It has roasted bell peppers, Williams Sonoma chile lime seasoning and it’s just downright amazing.

Green goodness: Late July green mojo chips (aka crack chips), spicy guac/Greek yogurt dip. It's easy being green.

Best concert? The best one I’ve actually been to would have to be Relient K. But my dream concert is Lady Gaga. Shocker, right? But I’m dying to dress up in one of her bizarre outfits without getting looked at like I’m cray cray.

Poor mocs. All wet from the freak rainstorm on my way back from classes.

Things you do for fun? Shopping. Tennis. Mountain biking. Modeling photo shoots. Texting (well, I mostly do this when I’m bored). Fashion magazine-reading. Blog-surfin’ on my iPod touch. All the stuff cool kids do, obvs.

My second-ever Halo bar! I liked this one almost as much as the S'mores kind. I think I love vegan marshmallows more than regular ones, especially when they're combined with peanuts and flax seeds...

 

Answer one (or many!) of the questions above!