I don't normally do blog posts in the morning, but since I'm on vacation I figure.. why not? :)
For all of my US readers, happy day off! I love having long weekends... I think it's something I look forward to most in the summer. That and vacations. Yep. Loving staying in bed right now sipping on my coffee :). I was doing some blog reading this morning and a bunch of blogs I read participate in a link up every Monday called Marvellous in my Monday which is hosted by the lovely Katie over at Healthy Diva Eats so I decided to join in for the first time today!
Did you get up to anything exciting this weekend?
Our weekend was very low key but still good times! On Saturday afternoon we went for a small walk downtown (I LOVE walking... I probably get somewhat annoying with how much I always just want to go for a walk) and then we thought about going to the Blue Jays game... then we thought maybe we'd go to this chicken wing place instead because we had tasted their wings but have never actually visited. The restaurants name is Drums & Flats. It's such a cute little place and they have some of the best chicken wings I've ever had.
I only ordered 1 pound to take home because I knew if I got more to eat "later"... I would literally do just that... EAT them later. So to help keep my waistline where it is (or get smaller. Just not bigger!) I opted for 1 order to just eat and be done. I ordered what is called their "Hog Ranch" type. I mixed the wings, so I got both Drums & Flats (you have the option of picking one or the other as well) and had them prepared in their famous "double dipped" type. So basically they brush on a sauce and grill them on the BBQ, then they brush them AGAIN in a different sauce and broil them in the oven or something (I can't remember the exact science behind it) but you end up getting a bunch of different flavours in your wings. Mine was ranch with real chunks of bacon bits. So basically the 1 pound I ordered was basically like 2 pounds because of the extra bacon. Oy vey. HOWEVER they were SO GOOD and I was so full after eating them. I don't think I ended up having dinner that night. Lol.
Later that night I got C to watch a movie with me. Normally we watch a movie that is probably more on the "guy type" of movies. I LOVE girlie movies. I love chick flicks. I love romance movies. I love musicals. I'm basically the most cheesy when it comes to the types of movies I like. Have I ever confessed that I used to own The Lizzie McGuire movie on VHS and since I no longer have a VCR, I recently purchased it on DVD off eBay? I also own Enchanted... which is a half real, half cartoon love story. I don't think I've ever met anyone with as cheesy of a movie preference as me. If you can relate, please comment below so I know I'm not alone :). ANYWAYS... I just wasn't in the mood for a fast paced, action filled movie, but I also didn't know WHAT it was I wanted to watch. So after about 10 minutes of CB naming off movies in our DVD cabinet, I finally said YES to the movie :)...
YES! MAMMA MIA!! I had a brief stint where I literally obsessed with ABBA music. And why not? They're songs are amazeballs. Needless to say, I was in all of my glory watching AND singing along to this movie while watching CB looking like this:
I'm just joking. He only looked like that at the part where the huge group of men bust out into a choreographed dance in their speedo's and flippers. He did good putting up with me singing and loving every minute of this movie haha. This was obviously a major highlight of my weekend. Yesterday I really focused on what I was consuming because for most of the weekend I didn't really make the best choices in terms of food. So for breakfast I started off with a couple of ounces of Kombucha and a Berry protein shake.
I just want to say that I haven't had protein powder in a while. Mostly because I've been too lazy to go out and grab another bag however I had a sample pack of vanilla protein that I put in this shake. It's not my normal Sun Warrior protein but it was protein none the less and I wanted some protein in my breakfast since I had gone for a run in the morning (hello gorgeous weather). After finishing it though, and this might be too much information, but I was gassy ALL DAY. I wasn't bloated per se.. but just gassy in general. What the heck!? It just goes to show that you really have to be careful when it comes to what you consume because even protein powder, which most people never second guess, is FULL of chemicals and awful things for you. I wrote an article on "What's In Your Protein" a while back and wanted to mention some of my findings for you!- There are a lot of artificial sweeteners in protein powder, and of most concern is aspartame. When human’s consume this chemical, it is broken down in our body and converted into formaldehyde which is a toxic preservative.Aspartame can cause nerve damage in the brain, eyes and the nerve cells that control body movement. (source)- a lot of different protein supplements are loaded with different heavy metals. According to findings at ConsumerReports.org many of the popular protein supplements contain anywhere from 0.6iu – 16.9iu of Arsenic, 1.6iu – 5.6iu of Cadmium, 1iu – 13.5iu of Lead and 0.2iu – 1.1iu of Mercury. Too much arsenic can cause blurred vision, constipation, cough, darkening of the skin, dry eyes/mouth/skin, nosebleeds, swelling, edema, chest pain, weight gain and more symptoms which can be read about here.Crazy right? I thought so too. So if you're the type that loves a protein shake after a serious lifting session, please make sure you're using raw, organic protein. My favorite (and Tosca Reno's favourite) is Sun Warrior Raw Protein, I like Vanilla! You can click on the Raw Elements badge on the side of my blog because they sell Sun Warrior in Canada. Use the code "sarahohm" for 10% off! :)So to finish of my day in food yesterday.... I bought my first watermelon of the summer!! I love watermelon SO MUCH I almost ate the whole thing yesterday. I also really love how pretty pink watermelon is! 
Mmmm. I ate that whole bowl like nobody's business. Then I spent the rest of the day peeing. :).OH! And yesterday at Loblaw's I was doing my normal peek-a-boo around the organic section of the grocery store and noticed that Nutritional Yeast was on sale! I picked up a container after seeing a few other bloggers rave about it, and decided to test it out for myself. I used it as a seasoning on some baked kale last night for dinner (along with some organic gluten-free pasta and raw, vegan rose pasta sauce!) and I have to admit, it was SO GOOD. 
I had Instagramed this photo and got some other recommendations on how to use nutritional yeast going forward! Using it on popcorn since it has a cheesy flavor and using it on baked cauliflower! Both amazing ideas that I will be testing out for sure. As you can see I had a foodie filled weekend and I loved it! Today I plan on going for a little walk to Liberty Village to go to the health food store there - Vibrant Lifestyle and pick up some goodies!Also - have you noticed that my blog is taking more of a nutritional/foodie turn to it? Obviously I'm still IN LOVE with fitness and running, but I think for a month or so I want to focus on food and nutrition and see what the feedback is like! Please let me know what you think and anything you'd like me to cover (education vs. recipes, etc..).Q: What was the highlight of your weekend? What was the best thing you ate?Q: Have you tried nutritional yeast yet? How do you like it?Happy Monday!
