Happy Friday! I'm having myself a little "vacation" today... It's been nice! I'm actually quickly writing a post until my laundry is done and then I plan on having myself a little nap. :)
Tonight is my friend Marina's birthday! We're going out to a club in Toronto called Tryst. She knows A LOT of people so it's going to be a huge party, we have a whole room in the club full of booths... I've never been there so I can't really picture what it will look like, but I'm excited! I will take photos for sure. Before we head out though, myself and my friend Katie are going to go for sushi at this little place just across the street from my building which I haven't ever actually ate at before. I've gotten sushi to go, but I've never sat and ate there. I'm also going to take photos, so stay tuned (Davida, I will let you know if it's review worthy and you can hit it up!).
How has your week been??
My brain feels scattered right now, probably because I'm sleepy and I can just feel how awesome this nap is going to be, so bare with me. I went out this morning to get my nails done and when I got back I made myself the most beautiful salad for lunch! Check this out:
Isn't is so gorgeous? I happen to think that fresh fruits and vegetables are so beautiful, and that's why we're meant to eat them all up! :) Who wouldn't want to eat something so pretty? I started my morning off with another green smoothie. I am loving having these for breakfast... it gets my day off to such a great start. I get a ton of vitamins and minerals in a simple green smoothie that tastes like heaven!
I've been feeling really light and great lately and I think it's because I've been eating so much more fruits and veggies.... I've been focusing on eating more of a plant based diet with only a small amount of animal proteins at lunch and dinner. It's been hard, I mean I get hungry fairly quickly but then I just have another clean snack (ie. my banana bars!) or some fresh veggies or fruits and it's extremely guilt free! My digestion has been great (tmi?) and my skin is clear which is huge for my acne prone skin. Looooove it!!!
This week was ok workout wise. I definitely took some days off and probably shouldn't have considering I have the Toronto Yonge St 10km race this Sunday, but I knew going into this that I wasn't going to try and make it a PB. I haven't worked out today but I did do about 50 minutes of cardio yesterday. I don't normally spend my minutes in the gym doing cardio but I really didn't feel like working out and figure doing stairs would be better than doing nothing, so I took up shop on the stepper, put my iPod on shuffle and finally watched a video that I was tagged in on Facebook this week. It brought tears to my eyes and I struggled to keep them back.
Are you guilty of this? I am.. I'm always really critical of myself and this video definitely opened my eyes! What was your first thought when this video was over? I don't have much to say about this topic that you haven't heard already... I think it's important that we take a step back and really try and focus on the positive and stop focusing on the negative. It made me cry... I just wanted to share that with you :).
Because I'm so obsessed with green smoothies, I want to do a "Food For Thought" on the green moster, Spinach!!
Food For Thought - Spinach!!
I absolutely love spinach... spinach in my salads... cooked spinach... spinach in my smoothie.... spinach, spinach, SPINACH! But can these crazy green leaves really be THAT good for you? 1000000%. Let me tell you why:
Aw, it looks like a heart :)
- Spinach is one of the most nutrient-dense foods available to us. Low in calories and extremely high in nutrients, 1 cup of the leafy greens contain more than your DRI of Vitamin A&K, almost all of the manganese and folate your body needs, calcium, fiber and protein! AND 1 cup only has 40 calories. BOOM!- Spinach is full of antioxidants which help to fight cancer! A New England study showed that women who ate spinach had less incidence of breast cancer. Spinach extracts have also been shown to reduce skin cancer in lab animals (I hate animal testing FYI, I'm just relaying the facts) and shows promise for stomach cancer as well.
- The antioxidant properties of spinach work together to promote good cardiovascular health by preventing harmful oxidization of cholesterol.
- Spinach provides a carotenoid that is proven to make prostate cancer kill themselves. 'Nuff said about that... thank you very much!
Sooooooo, eat your spinach folks! My laundry is done. I'm going to have a nap! Enjoy your weekend and wish me luck on Sunday!
PS - Tonight I really AM sticking to my "clean drinking" rules. NO shots. NO sweets. NO mixing. Food post drinks... NO hangover tomorrow. YES please :)
