Great Friday: finding the cause and good news! :)

After yesterday's panic I feel needing to write another post as soon as I feel better.... not a little better, MUCH better.
Okay. First of all the analysis of the cause of my recent belly problem. Some reasons that you suggested were part of it

• Stress level: I'm pretty relaxed lately as you might have noticed. I've been traveling a lot... enjoy myself in some kind of treat every weekend. And the job that I'm doing right now is pretty awesome and I really love it. So, where the stress comes from? Okay. Remember that famous professor of mine who I am co-authoring a paper? She has been ignoring me again during the last two weeks. I emailed her twice and she never replied. Although consciously I told myself: Whatever! But I unconsciously I was pissed off, feeling again ignored and relating it to be a failure.
• Over eating at night: it could be part of the reason because I barely enjoy what I eat at work, I am always rushing at the morning to fully savor my breakfast, so at night is the only moment that I take time to enjoy the food. And it's hard not to over-eat sometimes.
  
• Lastly, I just realized yesterday that the ABU that I've been having went bad... it tastes sour. I didn't realized it because I always had it with oats, but yesterday I tried it by itself and ekkkk.....! I guess that might cause some chemical reaction in my belly.
  

3 possible reasons and all of them have been solved yesterday. She called me yesterday to tell me that I'm her RA now! Such a good news!!! I asked her to be her RA about 3 months ago and I thought she forgot about it. The advantage of that is NOT have to teach, NOT tight to the academic calender (meaning longer vacations), and lastly have more interaction with her to push our paper.
The other two possible causes are more manageable. I think I did it right because I didn't feel too bloated last night! :)

And a note about my attempt to try "Raw food". I want to clarify that I'm not going RAW, I'll just try the food combining because every article or book that I read about RAW food says to help with IBS. I'm NOT DOING this because someone else told me to, or JUST DO whatever other people is doing. I'm NOT following a trend in the blog world just because everyone is trying, but because it might help my IBS.
That being said, I want to say thanks to everyone who left comment yesterday. Although I felt a little sad that some people judged me following what other people do, I still appreciate your comments because I know you said that because you care about me, you don't want me to try things that might not be appropriate for me or doing it in the wrong way. I really do appreciate that! ^_^

I did continue with the food combining. Maybe that helped me to feel better too.
As I mentioned yesterday, I woke up at 2AM the day before and munchied 2 Muffins, so not much appetite for breakfast. I had a green monster instead: 1.25 cup almond milk, big handful of spinach and a banana.
Packing for lunch and snacks: Orange, frozen strawberries and blueberries, Amazing grass raw bar (full review soon), white fungus drink, salad made with romaine lettuce, tomatoes, jicama rice, black beans, with olive and balsamic.
possible reason for my belly problem: bad ABU
It was so much food that I had to use an additional bag
Dinner was simple: brown rice + sauteed chinese cabbage with mushrooms and miso paste.
Dessert: dark chocolate + steamed sweet potato! YUM~~

This is the last weekend before I go to Argentina (next Friday) so many things to do/buy. ^_^
Hope you guys have a wonderful weekend!

Question: What's your weekend plan? What's the last movie you went to see? I'm going to see Ice Age today! :)

Recap of the week before heading to Chicago!!! ^_^

Lovely people!!! How was your weekend? Mine flew by while I catch up with sleep and rest! Now I am recovered from my last trip, I'm going for another one. Chicago, I'm coming!!! I'm not sure what I'm going to do there, did zero research so far, but I have a friend there, so I'll rely on him! And I'm be meeting more blog friends! SO EXCITING!!!

Recap time!

New Meal: Maggie's style wraps & the famous ABU!!!
New book: skin type solution. I'll do the review when I finish it, but so far so good! :)

Monday: extremely tired and sleepy all day, no workout!
Tuesday: sleepiness continued but went to the gym.
yeah~ this is how I devour ABU, with the jar besides the bowl of green oats! ^_^
Wednesday: still tired, yoga at home.
"pasta" with broccoli and sweet potato chips! YUM YUM~~
fage with ABU and Lindts truffle!!! More YUM YUM~~
Thursday: more yoga and finally got enough sleep!
A fun dinner inspired by Maggie, who just started an amazing site HealthyYum. If you like healthy recipes and stunning pics of food porn, go there right now!!! smoked salmon and steamed broccoli
and sweet potatoe
Time to WRAP!!! so fun!! ^_^
fage with cocoa powder and more chocolates!!!
Friday: gym + packing + excitement!!!
packing lunch and dinner
Now I'm in office, finishing my presentation for next Tuesday. If I knew that I'll present next week, maybe I wouldn't go to Chicago this weekend. Wouldn't I? Really? hahah.......I guess I would anyway! ^_^ I'm just following the rule of PLAY HARD, WORK HARD! ^_^

Question: Any suggestion for what to do/eat/see/buy in Chicago?

About to leave for my first SOLO trip!~~

My super excitement about my first solo trip to NYC continued and intensified as the day approaches. I'm about to leave in 2 hours and I woke up 3.30am this morning!!! I guess I'm excited conscious and unconsciously! ^_^

I haven't done any planning yet until last night.. well, not a planning really! Just google some other solo traveler's tips and advices. I made it a LONG must see/do/eat list... hahaha..... I'm sure I won't finish it all! But the main idea will be to do a lot of

• walking around the city
• eat a lot of famous restaurants among bloggers like raw food and wine, Candle Cafe and other vegan restaurants that I found
• probably a food tasting tour in Greenwich village
  
• Macy's firewall event is a must for July 4th
• shopping shopping shopping!!! ^_^
• hot vinyasa yoga at yoga for people recommended by Sarah

Sounds like a good "plan", isn't it? I'll be updating with tons of pics... stay tuned!

okay. rewinding a little bit about last two days

Wednesday: another great swim early in the morning + work
Breakfast: green monster + banana oatmeal square (recipe coming soon because I'll remake it since it's soooooo good) with a lot of ABLunch/Snack: salad + avocado + greek yogurt with flax and kamut + more banana oatmeal square + apricotsDinner: pizza + kale chipsDessert: dairy free chocolate pudding with blueberries
Thursday: "date" with Dave Farmer for 60 min + work
Breakfast: the sameLunch/snack: almost the sameDinner: leftover fish + cleaning fridge stir fry and porridgeDessert: chocolate pudding + chocolates! :)okay lovely people, my journay is about to begin!! Can't wait!!! ^_^

Crazy coco~~~ ^_^

Hey people!!! Here I present the crazy Coco, who woke up with the idea of a getaway to somewhere ALONE and booked the ticket and hotel couple of hours later!!! Yeah~~~ I’m going to NYC this weekend!
This kind of really last minute trip isn’t normal for me (I’ve never done it). I just feel like needing a break from the planned life, to get out of the main course of life and let life to surprise me. Of course, nothing happens without a reason. The inspiration is actually from my childhood friend Mara, who I talked last Sunday by phone for almost 3 hours. She has always been inspiration to me. Many important decisions of my life were influenced by her somehow. We haven’t seen each other for more than 3 years and haven’t talked for more than a year, but when there’s true friendship, no matter how distance, how long we don’t talk each other, we still speak the same language and share the same sense of humor. And that feels AMAZING!!! If everyone has a soul mate in life, she’s definitely mine. Mara, I love you so much!!!
Anyway, she told me about her last trip to India and I was amazed that they didn’t have any plan before they went there, no hotel booking, no tour, not even knowing what they’ll do there for 2 months. But they just went there with a guide and adventurist spirit. I was happy for her being able to do that and I thought I would never do that because I need a plan, a schedule, a routine, otherwise I feel lost. But the next day, I began to wonder: do I really need a plan to function? What if I try to get lost for once? What if I just follow my instincts? Once the idea got into my mind, I couldn’t get away from it. As I think about it more, I got more excited about the idea. Well…. Then, here I am, ready to get LOST!!! Although not for 2 months and not in an exotic place like India. But 3 days in NYC by myself is a good enough for the first experience.
Oh…. Man! I’m soooo excited!!! Can you feel my excitement already? I bet you do! So, now I need to ask you, where should I go/do/eat in NYC? Not the conventional touristic places because I’ve been there four times already. Or what would you do if you had the chance to get lost in NYC?

Okay. Now back to some exciting food!!! Yeah~~~ I'm being more creative with food since my last groceries trip.
Monday: Swim + yoga
I didn't have time to have breakfast at home after swimming, so extra packing for the day.
Beautiful salad made with greens, tomatoes, celery, beets, chickpeas, mushrooms and half avocado (I found this convenient frozen avocado in Tj's) with Annie's dressing.
Strawberries, apricots, yogurt, pineapple muffin, banana oatmeal squares that I made on Sunday, kamut (they're as chewy as wheat berries) as yogurt topping, low fat plain yogurt.
Dinner was yummy: tenderloin with some veggies and kale chips.Dessert was even better: dairy free chocolate pudding (recipe here) with raspberries.
Tuesday: gym + work
Breakfast: I was craving green monster but still concerned about eating raw spinach So i first steamed it with some water in the microwave, discharge the water and used it in the smoothie. So I used: 2-3 big handful of spinach, 1 handful of celery, a frozen banana and 1 cup almond milk.IT was soooooooo good together with a banana oatmeal square topped with AB.
Can you see the walnuts in there? These are so good!!!
Lunch/snack: another beautiful salad, some ingredients except instead of avocado as topping, a boiled egg and walnuts. Apricots, yogurt, blueberries, kamut and more banana oatmeal square.
Dinner: ginger sesame marinated fish, sauteed veggies and porridge.
Beautiful dessert:
Question: How's your week so far? What's your plan for the long weekend?