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! :)

What's wrong with me? HELP!

Okay. Something is wrong with my body lately. I've been feeling overly bloated at nights since the beginning of the week and my sleep pattern has been weird. Monday and Tuesday I slept 7.5 and 8.5 respectively, so pretty good. But then W-Th I've been waking up at 4am, not good! And last night I woke up at 2.30am!!! fortunately after a big dose of carbs (two Tj's English Muffins) I went to sleep again. As someone who's trained to establish relationships to everything... my first reaction is that my over-bloadtness is causing me sleeping problems. Does it make sense? But the problem is that I don't know EXACTLY why? I don't know what I'm doing wrong? No Clue! First, I thought it might be the big bowl of kabocha that I've been having as dessert. Okay. Cut that! No help! Second, I jump into the "Raw" and food combining thing yesterday (after reading Natalia Rose's book, read Gena's blog and emails with Maggie) Unfortunately I still felt sickly bloated last night. Really don't know what to do now.

So, let me show you guys what I've been munching a little bit, and help me to find out the mystery.

Thursday: Green Oats with frozen blueberries and ABU. Nothing extraordinary.
Lunch was a big salad made with romaine lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, black beans and jicama. Olive and Balsamic.
Snacks were mainly fruits.
Dinner: a sauce made with onions, grounded lean meat, celery and tomato sauce over "noodles" and some steamed broccoli.Dessert: Sea Salt Dark ChocolateFriday: the first day of "Raw" food. In quotes, because as Maggie, I just want to try this to feel better with my belly, I don't want to loose weight and I will focus more on food combining than eating 100% raw.
Breakfast: A navel orange and a big fuji apple. With coffee with almond milk.Lunch: salad made with romaines, mushroom, cucumber, jicama rice and 3 oz. of smoked salmon. Dressing: 1 tbsp of each olive oil and balsamic. Veggie + Flush= Good.
Snack: more fruits in the morning and Amazing Grass Energy Bar, which is raw in the afternoon. And white fungus drink too. Which is mushrooms so I guess it's okay to combine with everything.Dinner: sauteed chinese cabbage with black fungus, mushrooms and spicy si chuan sauce. A big bowl celery oat bran (I used 2/3 cup of oat bran instead of the usual 1/2 cup) and chinese pickles.Dessert: Dark chocolate and dairy free chocolate pudding.Veggie + Starch = Good

So, everything seems pretty normal, right? Any thoughts about what's wrong?
Anyway, I will continue to experiment with this "Raw" combining food thing until next Friday to see if it's really as good as it sounds. I know there are couple of you who are dietitians, I'd love to hear your opinion about raw food and the food combining. Do they make sense at all? And of course, any one of you, who can be considered an amateur dietitian, I'd love to hear from you.

Bad food blogger & Skin Type Solution review

First is first... I'm such a bad food blogger. I noticed that since I began the summer internship my food choice went down pretty fast. I don't know how you people do to have a full time job, workout and still manage to eat and take picture of your amazing food. My intention was there but my action didn't follow. When I get home at night I just want to spend <20 style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">

Breakfast: green monster with berries pie that I made with frozen blueberries and strawberries, topped with a crust made with oatmeal, flaxmeal, ABU and agave nectar, topped with more ABU and greek yogurt.
Dinner (both Monday and Tuesday): my latest obsession celery blended oatbran; stir-fry tomatoes with mushrooms, tofu and dry shrimps.
Dessert: KABOCHA!!! A big bowl of it! And Lindts Truffles. (they're good but I found them not as bitter as I like)

Book review: Skin Type Solution
About the author: She spent the last 10 years defining and clinically testing her Skin Type solution on thousands of patients at the University of Miami clinic to assure that her scientific criteria work for everything, of every skin color, ethnicity, age and sex. And it does.

Her system: measures four factors in skin: oiliness vs. dryness, resistance vs. sensitivity, pigmentation vs. non-pigmentation, and tightness vs. wrinkling. Determine where you fall in each of the four categories serves as the foundation for typing your skin. So, you need to fill out a questionnaire first to determine what's your skin type and then she writes a chapter for your skin type with what you should pay more attention; what products to use and avoid and a detailed routine of your skin care with a list of products that you can find easily and cheap.
This book will save you the expense, trouble and waste of buying the wrong products. Her recommendations are ingredient driven. She's reviewed the clinical trial data for the products when available.

Some skin care myth that she talked about: the more expensive a product, the better it will work. Totally not true according to her because what you pay when you buy big brand's product is its bottle not its ingredient. What you actually get is exactly the same cream, just in different container with different marketing strategy.

My take of the book: I really like it. What she says makes sense to me. And because of her expertise in the area (she direct the university of Miami cosmetic center, the first university run cosmetic research center in the US. She's the first cosmetic dermatologist in the US dedicated to the field of cosmetic dermatology who is also a full time university faculty member, teaching and conducting research), I can trust that she know what she's talking about. Her recommendation is really skin type specific and she gives a list of products that you could purchase. They all work and most of them are really cheap. I've already began the routine that she recommended for my skin type and I already notice that my skin is clearer and less break outs. So, girls.... get this book and begin to GLOW!!!

Question: Do you know what's your skin type? What's your skin routine? How much do you usually spend?

Ready for the weekend? YES~~ Another getaway!

Packed again?

You might wonder where I am going this weekend? hahaha.... yeah~~~ I'm so happy that I can do something fun every weekend! This weekend I'm going to the YOGA RETREAT in SevenOaks. It's my first retreat and I'm so excited about it! Two and half days doing yoga, hanging out with my favorite instructors and other awesome yogis!

Here's the itinerary:
FRIDAY
Arrival: anytime between 3:oo pm and 5:00 pm. Your room will be ready to check in.
You can hang out, check out the lay of the land, swim, hike, whatever!
Dinner: We will all congregate around 6:00 pm for dinner.
Practice: We will have our first opening yoga practice beginning around 7:30 pm. Be prepared for around a 2-3 hour practice. DOn't worry, this involves a bonfire and drumming!
SATURDAY
Breakfast: Served b/tw 8:00 am-8:30 am
Morning Practice: 9:30/10 am-12 pm: Involves a Spontaneous Asana Hike! Bring your shoes.
12-1: FREE TIME
Lunch: Served between 1:00 pm-1:30 pm
1:30-3:30: FREE TIME
Afternoon Practice: 3:30-5:30 pm: Involves Flow Yoga, Flying/Acro Yoga and Restoratives
Dinner: 6:00 pm-6:45 pm
Free Time
Evening Practice: 8:00 pm-10 pm: Ecstatic Bliss Yoga (we're keeping it a secret!)
SUNDAY
Breakfast : 8-8:30 pm
Morning Practice: 9:30-10:30 This will be a light practice/meditation to prepare us for the Sweat Lodge
Sweat Lodge: 10:30-12:30/1:00 pm
FREE TIME
Leave anytime you want on Sunday! Stay and hang out and enjoy the outdoors.

Fun eh?~~

I'm slacking on blogging all my meals which I think at this point isn't interesting nor necessary since I spent most of my day at work, and packed lunch is JUST not interesting and pretty to anyone. So, I'm going to post about my breakfast and dinner only.

Wednesday Dinner: sauteed BLACK bean sprouts with chinese pickles and soy sauce, topped with sesame seeds. (Yes, Maggie, now I add sesame seeds to everything) It was soooo good!!!

I lost the pic of the rest of my dinner which was sauteed greens and celery oats. Dessert: KABOCHA!!!
Breakfast for Thursday:
sammie
Again: I couldn't taste grass in this package either and I didn't add banana purposely to taste it. So far so good! ^_^
Dinner: steamed fish with more black bean sprouts & pickles, sauteed greens and celery oats. KABOCHA as dessert obviously!
These are snacks that I packed for the weekend. I hope I don't consume all these!!!
Today's breakfast: Greener oats (I'm adding more and more spinach each time) with raspberries and ABU.
Question: How often do you go for a getaway? Which cities would you go?

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?