Thinking Out Loud- laziness, 3km runs and hilarious-ness

Hidy-ho friends! Happy Thursday! Happy in the sense that it's almost Friday! Whoot :)

Thursday's are also that little bit better when you have a day dedicated to Thinking Out Loud and thanks to the wonderful Amanda at Running with Spoons, she has an entire link-up to speaking the random musings of our minds- just what I need!

So without further ado I give you the random-ness of my brain from the past-week and all the important global issues that have been concerning it... ;)

Lettuce begin!

1. I am an extremely un-lazy person. Like I hate the feeling of being lazy. If I find myself with nothing to do, I will change that. Stat.
Finished all my homework? Prep my lunch for tomorrow. Prepped my lunch for tomorrow? Clean my room. Cleaned my room? Organise my week (ie. clothes ready, bag packed, everything in it's place so I'm not left running around like a mad thing trying to find something) Organised my week? I'm sure there's more study to do!

And then there are the few things I let myself be lazy about. Procrastinate about for days before I do anything about them. I don't even know why- maybe my brain needs something to not focus on?
Anywho, it usually involves veggie scraps and taking them to the compost bin outside. Yep, that's probably a total of 30 steps.. and yet:

Let's just say it builds up :)

2. As a result of my un-laziness, I do typically find myself rather busy and my brain filled with a million and one things while I multi-task like I'm an octopus with 8 legs... but I'm not, so this generally leads to my brain getting slightly fried.

As a result, some of my meals are rather... un-creative?

Exhibit A:

 Roasted veg (sweet potatoes, potato, parsnip and swede) snow peas, peas and popcorn. Done.

 Well, I managed to include popcorn, so I do know my brain is still functioning!

3.  I am also relatively un-lazy when it comes to exercising... but the thing that is really crazy and shocked me the most was how tired and puffed out I got when I tried to increase my pace a little... running a 3km!! I know changing ones pace is a tough thing to do that takes time and patience- but boy was I wheezing by the end of that 8-minute run!

This is my strategy for tomorrows 3km race to try-out for cross country ^^ hope everyone sprints at first and then gets really tired and then my slow pace will happily jog it's way passed them :)

4. On the topic of running, my mum sent me a picture of this running shirt... I don't know how to take this:

I guess it kind of is the story of my life :)
However for all those Disney die-hards out there- this is the shirt I really want:

5. And finally- just for lols, check out this article outlining 23 soul-destroying pictures of food and drink. I needed a giggle and this definitely delivered ;)

Aaaaand that's all the stuff floating around in my mind this week!

What about you:

Would you consider yourself an extremely lazy, or extremely un-lazy person? Or just in the middle?

Ever multi-task a little too much with bad repercussions?

Changing pace- super hard, right?? Right!?!

Be sure to head on over to Spoons to see what everyone else is thinking about on this delightful Thursday. Also have a great day/ afternoon/ evening and as always- eat something delicious!! Bye friends! :D

WIAW #54 A little strange... but definitely good!

Hello, hello! How's everyone's week been going so far? I hope it hasn't been too busy/ stressful (unless of course you thrive off a busy and stressful lifestyle... which I don't generally- although busy keeps me motivated... stressful keeps me collapsing in a heap on the ground!)

This week has been pretty ok. It was a long weekend for us here in AUS and so another short week of school! A positive for some... however when your teachers give you assessments the following week and you end up only seeing them twice this week, well it gets pretty stressful!

But I'm not here to talk about stress today! Oh no, we'll leave that fun post for another day ;). Instead let's talk about something 10,0000x more fun- FOOD!

Thanks as always to Peas and Crayons for this awesome link-up where we can make new friends and gain some meal inspiration!!

Hopping to it:

Breakfast: 7:00 am
These are some eats from the weekend, which started off with a short 6 km run on the treadmill. I have mixed feelings about the treadmill... see if I don't have anything to read or look at it is unquestionably one of the most boring things one can do in life- run on a treadmill not going anyhwere.
Thta's why I always have something to read- hello bloglovin!!
In short, I really do enjoy running on the treadmill because I get to catch up on all the blog posts I've missed ;)

I also very much enjoy eating breakfast afterwards. Especially oats!!

A big mug of delicious cinnamon banana steel cut oats with lots of peanut butter riddled thorughout!! When I sya lots, I mean lots ;)

Sufficiently satisfied... and happy

Lunch: 12:30 pm
After brekky I did a pile of homework, grocery shopping, driving practice, and stopped off at my grandparents as a result of driving practice- so by lunch, I was STARVING! With little time to come up with something that made sense....

Instead I went with something that sounded good- a torn up egg omelet with the best veggie sausages, steamed broccoli, brussels sprouts, peas, corn, spinach and salsa:

It did the trick!!

Snack: 4:00 pm
By 4 the tummy grumblings were back and I excitedly tried a fruit I've only ever tried once before and hated because I picked a really sour one!)

A persimmon! And this one was deliciously sweet and yummy!

Enjoyed with a mug of soy milk :)

Happy Steph
Dinner: 6:45 pm
Dinner was also extremely delicious (even though it may not look it :) with a big bowl of pesto veggie pasta to satisfy those pesto cravings:

Some quinoa penne pasta with steamed beetroot, pumpkin, swede, parsnip and carrot with some sauteed mushrooms and eggplant and some drained mixed beans, all stirred lovingly together with PESTO!!

Hit. The. Spot.

Aaaaaand that's what I ate on Saturday!

Your turn:
Do you like running on the treadmill?
Do you sometimes just throw random foods together because you know it will taste good but is kind of weird?
Favourite way to use pesto? I have yet to use it in a toasted sandwich, but I hear it is very good!

Hungry for more? Check out what everyone else is nom-ing on over at Peas and Crayons! Until next time...
Bye! :D

Slip an extra veggie in!

If you know me you would know:

• That I love positivity, being positive and positive people
• Admire bravery and individuality
• Love to exceed expectations

If you don't know me all that well, but read my blog quite regularly you would know:

• I love to slip a veggie in wherever possible!

Especially now when I'm back at school and meal prep is rushed and lunches are packed and I don't have the luxury to slow roast a big tray of veg and nutritious foods for meals... I love to slip a veggie in whenever, wherever and however I can!

I find that if I don't do this, I suffer! My stomach suffers. My brain suffers. I need the veg!

Here's how I do it!
In a rush with breakfast as you have to make lunch at the same time to pack for later and also get ready for your day and the billion other things mornings entail?

Green smoothie full of greens!

 Literally there was about 2 massive handfuls of kale and spinach in this one smoothie- yet I couldn't even taste it!
1 frozen banana (quite large) + 1/2 frozen mango + 1 massive handful kale + 1 massive handful spinach + 3 big spoons greek yoghurt + 1/2 cup water- whazzed until nice and smooth.

Sipped alongside 2 wholemeal crumpets slathered in crunchy peanut butter:

Nom.
Fresh chopped veggies can take up a lot of room in a container and yet leave you unsatisfied because of their low kilojoules, so to add maximum amount of veggies to my lunch and enhance the flavour I chop the veg up, add to a fry pan with some olive oil and sautee on high heat for a few mins until softened (and also shrunk in size):

This was chopped broccoli, brussels sprouts, capsicum, tomato, snow peas, zucchini and red cabbage, followed by some cooked brown rice and spinach for 1 minute at the end:

So tasty!

And full of so many good veggies!

Sometimes I do crave the crisp fresh veg (which is also so important to include in our diets!) and so make awesome salads by adding in some extra flavour in the form of falafels/ bean balls/ tofu etc.

Chopped carrot, cucumber, tomato, snow peas, red cabbage and baked eggplant falafel.

Love these vegetarian falafel!

All the pretty colours!

And sometimes when it gets to dinner time and I've been crunchy my way tirelessly through crisp crunchy fruit and veg, my mouth just needs baby food something softer, easier to digest and still super yummy!

Enter a veggie mash bowl!

Steam root veggies (pumpkin, parsnip, swede, beetroot), mash root veggies, add cooked rice, spinach, frozen corn and oven-roasted chest nuts!

Pre-mixed:

This rice was rice plus- one of my favourites! It has brown rice, buckwheat, wild rice, quinoa, seeds and probably some other stuff I've missed.

All mixed together and topped with some hommus:

This is my kind of comfort food :)

There you have it! That's a typical day of eating for me, where I try and squish in as many veggies as possible into each of my meals, leaving me energised, focused and full of essential nutrients! Happy Steph!

What about you?
How do you sneak in a few extra veggies?
Do you find you feel a difference when you lack on the veg front?
Ever make food because it's simply easier to eat?

That's all for today folks! Have a great day, enjoy something delicious, tell a loved one you love them and then just smile! Bye for now! :D

Fuel- the battle against time

Happy Monday folks!
Especially happy for me as it is a public holiday! It's amazing how great one extra day in your weekend can make you feel! Interesting ;)

 But I'm not here to brag about the full 24-hours of extra relaxation I get as a result of this public holiday Monday (well, maybe just a bit :) I'm here to talk about food.

Yep, I know this is you right now:

However, it's not just food I want to talk about, it's finding the time to fit in a feed... and sometimes not even being hungry for said feeding.

I know I function best when I have a large filling breakfast with lots of healthy fats, fruit and wholegrains, followed by a substantial lunch filled with veg, a snack in the arvo and a pretty decent sized dinner also filled with veg at night.

I've found what works for my body and stuck with it.

What happens then when life throws the inevitable curve balls it likes to sneak on us from time to time (some of us more than others, am I right?!?) and presents you with scenarios where lunch at your usual time is not an option, or dinner needs to be eaten 2-hours earlier than normal?

We still gotta eat right?

But like this guy above, I find it pretty hard to eat and enjoy my food when I'm not hungry.
Yesterday was a prime example...

My day started off pretty normal with some choc oatmeal truffles and a smoothie which left me happily satisfied and full up to lunch, where I set about making a big ol' grilled veg sandwich:

Pumpkin seed sourdough roll, spread with hommus, topped with spinach, torn up veggie burger, grilled mushrooms, grilled zucchini, sliced tomato, more veggie burger, grilled eggplant and grilled capsicum.

It was a beast!

 Toasted up (making it 10x easier to eat! Tastier too!)

 Aaaaand devoured:

 Now lunch was eaten at around 1:00pm, by my calculations- resulting in me being hungry again by around 4:00pm-4:30pm, making it the perfect time for a snack so I'm still hungry for dinner at around 7:00pm (I do like being organised :)

Then I was asked to work that night at 6:00pm.

Hello curve ball.

Of course it's no real drama- like seriously, there are a bajillion other things that top figuring out when I should eat something in order to maximise hungriness + enjoyment, it's just one of those things I struggle with.

 See I knew I would still need a snack to last me to an early dinner but then the snack should probably be earlier as a result. Gah!

In the end it all got too tough. I was like; Steph, just listen to your body. Listen to your hunger cues. Eat when you feel the need, not when the clock strikes that specific hour you have calculated in your brain.

So at around 3:30pm I had a mug of soy milk as I wasn't overly hungry and then by 5:45pm I was ready for dinner:

 A simple bowl of roasted veg with roasted chestnuts and lentils- simple= perfect!

 I'm never usually hungry when I return home from work (around 9:00pm) so I just slip off to bed instead (because I am usually tired!) but then I figured out the hard way that running in the morning on a stomach that hasn't eaten since 5:45pm the previous night can leave one feeling not so great...

Yet another problem with changing up the times of eating!

I guess it did make breakfast more enjoyable though:

 PB +banana toastie!!

 Yep, I went for my favourite brekky with a side of frozen green grape fro-yo (handful frozen green grapes + 3 big scoops greek yoghurt, whazzed) to replenish my extremely empty stomach after a difficult run!

 Sooo good!

 Whoever came up with the quote; Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels, they're wrong- this tastes better:

 :)

 So I guess what I'm saying in a nut shell is:
Having to change your typical eating times can leave you:

a) Not hungry at all and therefore skipping meals and missing out on essential kilojoules and nutrients
b) Super hungry at strange times
c) Not fueled enough for morning workouts
d) Having to eat for the sake of eating... because you know you have to eat
e) Ultimately not enjoying your food *gasp* It's true though. When you're seriously not hungry, having to eat can be quite unpleasant

But of course we have to remember that this is life, this is going to happen and instead of worrying about it, trying to figure out when to eat and when not to eat and creating so much anxiety for ourselves, we should just let go and realise that everything will be fine. Really.

Your turn:
Do you struggle with having to switch around your typical eating times sometimes?
Do you occasionally have to eat when you're not hungry?
How do you deal with life's curve balls throwing out normalcy?

That's it from me today folks- I'm off to... relax? Yeh, probably not, I'm sure I'll find something for my overly crazy mind to organise! :D Any way, I hope everyone has a great day, eat something delicious for me and also smile! Bye friends! :D