Monday blue~

yes, unfortunately today was a blah day, big contrast with my weekend.
I woke up at 5.30 after only 6 hours and half of sleep, I couldn't go back to sleep so I got up. When I don't have a good sleep, it seems like beginning my day at left side. I tried to cheer up my day with a good breakfast. Today's combo was

• 1/3 cup Old Wessex's 5 grains oatmeal
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 cup pumpkin
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/4 cup cottage cheese
• 1 spoon of Better n' peanut better (I've been wanting to try it for ages! finally found it in WF)
• new oatmeal bowl (cute catty, right?)
  

It was delicious!!!!! After I finished the bowl, I got another spoon of the PB, wanted to taste it alone!
It's a yummy.... just sweet enough for me (other kind of PBs are too sweet for my taste)
After breakfast, I tried to do some research. But I was feeling dizzy, tired, asleep.... couldn't really concentrate on what I was reading. I finished the work for the paper I am writing with a professor, so now I'm alone doing research in other topics, which makes me feel lost sometimes.
Mid-morning snack was a bowl of Tj's fiber cereal and a tea. I didn't feel hungry but I needed to keep me awake.
More snack: pumpkin seeds in my new rice bowl.
I was craving meat! weird, because I haven't had red meat for a month or more, can't remember last time I had it. So for lunch I had Tj's roasted sirloin.

It's my favorite red meat, it's already cooked, just have to heat it in microwave. As side dish, I sauteed some baby spinach with mushroom, garlic and oyster sauce. And some porridge that I made with leftover aduki rice and pumpkin, plus some sugar and pumpkin spice.
mmmmmmmmm..........so good to satisfy my craving!!!
When I finish those pieces, I had another piece of sirloin....
Usually I eat them to get iron, but today I really enjoy it!
After the big load of meal, I had a yogi ginger tea to digest it.
Unproductive reading continued during afternoon until I went for a spinning class. The only productive thing I've done today I guess.
before that, I had my afternoon snack. An apple with PB. I'm trying to find the way to eat apples without getting hungry afterwards.
Look this bite.....so yummy~~~~~~~
It worked well...I didn't get the hungry sensation, but the combo was way tooooooo sweet.

Great 55min workout! Back home, showed, I began to prepare for dinner. I felt needing more veggies and something warm. So, soup was the choice. I made red lentil soup with a lot of veggies (onion, tomato, carrot, okra) and some oats to give it consistency.
I also had some kabocha squash..... today is really a pumpkin mania day!~~~~~
Dessert 1: argentinian chocolate called Two Hearts, which comes with a little love note inside.
Today's note is a sad one: " Nuestro amor nadie lo acepta, todos repiten que no, cuanto mas gente se oponga mas nos queremos tu y yo" (nobody accepts our love, everybody repetes no, but when more people are against, more we love each other). I'm not sure it is so in real life, because your parents and friends opinion matters and quite much. They won't be against a relationship if there is no good reason. So, sometimes we need to listen to them and think about it seriously.
Dessert 2: fage with blueberries.
I received a couple of request/question about the seaweed soup, so I'll explain it a little more. It's really easy to make it, you just need to get the seaweed from korean/chinese market. You can find them already in a soup package like this

it comes with 2 packages inside. One is for seasoning and the other is oil. If you can get this, you just have to boil water, put everything in the water and you'll get a chinese flavor of seaweed soup.
You can also buy seaweed raw, without the sesoning. It looks like this
In this case, you can put whatever seasoning and ingredients that you like and put the seaweed almost at the end of cooking. My favorite way to prepare it is to boil hot water, put some tomatoes, one beated egg, salt, sugar and sesame oil.
Seaweed is very popular in asian cuisine. I grew up having seaweed soup at least once a week. What I found about its benefits

• enhance immunity by stimulating the production of vital immune cells including NK-cells and interleukin and interferon compounds which inhibit malignant cell growth as well as helping the body fight bacteria and viruses.
• fight allergies by stimulating the production of interleukin 12 and interferon-fA (proteins secreted by immune cells) which help to suppress the overproduction of Ig E (a class of immunoglobulin) which brings on the sneezing, wheezing, nasal congestion symptoms of allergic reactions.
• inhibit blood clotting by preventing fibrin compounds from clumping and sticking to artery walls: triggering factor for heart attacks and strokes
• decrease cholesterol levelsby altering the activity of enzymes in the liver that control the way fatty acids are metabolized, resulting in lower cholesterol levels in the blood.
• lower blood pressure.
• stabilize blood sugars by slowing the release of glucose into the blood stream, helping to keep blood sugar levels stable and preventing excessive insulin responses.
• relieve stomach disorders by preventing the attachment of H. pylori (a bacteria known for causing ulcers) to cells that comprise the stomach lining.
• improve and support liver function by enhancing the production of HGF. HGF stimulates the regeneration of liver cells. Healthy liver function helps strengthen the entire body.
• maintain skin moisture and tightens the skin by boosting the production of a protein called integrin, which increases skin firmness and repair.
• inhibit abnormal cell growth by turning on a cellular switch that eliminates malignant replication

Rich in alginates which helps bowel cleansing, and detoxification.

Rich in polyphenols: very potent antioxidants.

Rich in iodine: boost thyroid function.

I'm heading to bed soon! Hopefully tomorrow I'll be more productive.
Night night~~