K.I.S.S. & Gym Motivation

K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple, Stupid. This has got to be one of the world's greatest sayings.  Everybody has their own preferences, but I feel like it's kind of a general rule of thumb that the simpler things are, the better - right??

Over time, I think the American diet has gone towards the crazy-complicated side of things and has, unfortunately forgotten to keep it simple, stupid.  This detox has made me realize quite a few things about our taste buds & their relationship with Americanized cooking/eating habits:
- way too much of our food is loaded with unnecessary amounts of sugar
- restaurants have started to cover up the natural tastes of food with "flavorful" sauces and spices that actually detract from the dish
- artificial sweetener is kind of gross in large doses.... ugh.

Instead of going off on another tangent, I'll just leave you with this statement - keep your cooking simple, natural, and light - the deliciousness will surprise you.
[keeping your life simple, on the other hand, is a whole different beast] 

ANYWAYS!  How's my mini-detox diet coming along you ask?  Swimmingly, thank you.
I'm going to have to go through a full 24 hours of my meals because I was too busy yesterday to fill you guys in on my eats - I was gone from 6 am to the wee hours of the next morning [parents, if you're reading this, sorry!!]

Breakfast:

My taste buds are already changing! Instead of my usual sweet & satisfying bowl of oatmeal, I actually wanted oatmeal sans splenda and no-sugar added syrup.  I made a bowl of never ending oats with about 1 1/2 cups of water and 1/4 cup of 2% milk, a tsp of vanilla & some cinnamon. I topped it with some fresh blueberries, fiber one cereal, rice puffs, and walnuts.  SO GOOD.  and filling (obviously). 

Lunch:
I always pack a lunch and some snackies for work, because I don't trust myself enough to go out into the real world and buy food that lacks sugar, refined grains, and all the other yummy and un-nutritious things that lurk in restaurants.

Today [yesterday, actually] I packed a

Tuna and Pinto Bean Salad with Baby Spinach!
Ingredients:
- 1 can of white albacore tuna
- about 1/4 cup of pinto beans (or beans of your choice)
- 1 tbsp of Miracle Whip
- Garlic salt, pepper, salt to taste
- Baby spinach
- Lemon & garlic salt.

Mix together the tuna, pinto beans and miracle whip, then add in your tasties [garlic salt and peppaaa] then top with baby spinach.  Squeeze some fresh lemon on top of everything and top with garlic salt and peppaaa - again.  This is soo light and so fresh and sooo tasty.

I also packed some blueberry pie oatmeal that I prepared the night before and stuck in the good ol' refridge and took to work.  Nifty, huh?  I ate it cold for the VERY FIRST TIME - and it was like a huge bowl of rice pudding/regular pudding/oatmeal all mixed together into a guilt-free dessert

Snacks included a plate of veggies and hummus from an office party we went to [with the city attorney...coool!] and a Medifast pancake - this filled me up like no other.

After work, still satisfied from my snackies, I headed to the gym to get my work out on.  Unfortunately, I ended up having to do a bunch of training and certification stuff plus factor in time to talk to the hottie benching a crazy amount of weight next to me... So I only did a quick cardio sesh and an upper body workout with weights.

DINNER: SUSHI - for my friend's belated birthday celebration.

You may recognize this place from a couple posts back, because it's my favorite new sushi spot.  I got a specialty spicy tuna and avo roll and a classic california roll [we also had miso soup and edamame, duh] and yes, I did finish everything.

And for dessert, we headed to get froyo (conveniently located down the street) and my only option was no-sugar-added Strawberry with some nuts and fruit... NOT THAT I'M COMPLAINING!  It was delicious and I had to put a lid on it so I could take a picture before inhaling slowly eating my cup :)

Okay, the reason I was out so late was simplyyy because when I get together with this certain group of friends, we tend to embark on completely spontaneous and incredibly fun adventures.  So, we did some exploring around NORTHERN CALIFORNIA... a good 6 hours of exploring, that concluded with a midnight breakfast at a diner in Santa Cruz.  I got whole wheat pancakes, whole wheat toast, and an egg :) See? It's possible to eat healthy and detox but still enjoy yourself!  Of course, I took a picture of my friend's dish: buttermilk pancakes with strawberries and copious amounts of whipped cream because it look way better than my dish.  Let's just pretend I ate that :) cause it's believable.

So - there you have it.  I've enjoyed my NSA (no sugar added) and bad-carb-free diet thus far... it might be something I continue to practice in the future.  Hmm??

I'll update you later with today's eats!
I'm off to "bump into" the hottie at the gym again. Talk about GYM MOTIVATION
if you're in need of some gym motivation but you don't have a hunk to drool over... visit this site: my gym motivation. or this site: yum.

LATER GATORS